moved in...

but, by no means settled. here is the first photo taken in (or in front off) our home. rick took it and please notice his signature tilt. moving day went very well! we had many good friends and family come and help us and got everything unloaded by 1:30. from there we unpacked and set up what we could. it is sorta a mess right now as i decide where i want everything put and have many boxes to unpack. but, we will get there. i did my first load of laundry in our washer and dryer saturday and yesterday did my first load of dishes in the dishwasher. i actually had to read the directions of how to turn it on :) and the oven is taking a little while to get used to. but, we are so happy and blessed. matt and i say every night, 'can you believe we live here?!' God is so kind.

final stretch.

i have come to terms with the fact that my house is going to be a mess until moving day...which is saturday. we are in our final days at 825 high...which makes me very sad. but, we are also getting pretty excited too. on saturday, we headed out towards lancaster to go to a few stores, not thinking we'd find anything. we ended up buying 2 tables at two different antique-ish shops and then a couch, console table, and coffee table at pottery barn outlet!! it was quite overwhelming that matt ended up having to take me out to dinner instead of sticking to his original plan and making me a nice one at home :) but, we really love all the stuff we purchased and got some major deals. buying that stuff made it more real that we are buying a house! so, it was a good day.

and then yesterday, we road tripped down to gaithersburg with the smith's to go to jer's graduation party. he is graduating from the police academy on wednesday!!! so exciting. and of course, it was so good to see a favorite.

we miss ange so much here...i don't think gburg realizes what they got! we laughed a lot, got to meet LG, go to church, and had some good fellowship. so, it was a good day.

a nice weekend to lead up to this crazy week. i do ask for your prayers this week. i have a lot to do and a short time to do it in. i know it'll all get done, but it's overwhelming to think about it all right now :) thanks!!
5 days!

is this real life?!

cutting matt's hair has become quite the event around our house. matt hadn't cut his hair since november (he was going for a new look) and we finally decided it was time for a trim. what a ham.



this one is my favorite.



ange sent this video to traci and it has been cracking us up for the past few days. definitely watch it for a laugh.

the meal sheet.

one of my goals for 2009 is learn to cook better...and actually enjoy it. yes, it's true. i don't really like to cook. matt likes it more than i do. i'm more of a baker. but, i'm really trying to enjoy it. i figured out that one of my problems is i don't really plan ahead for each meal. because i had the time, i would usually just go to the grocery store each day to get dinner for that night. if i didn't know what i was going to make that night, i would aimlessly wander around the grocery store trying to figure exactly that out and it would inevitably end with a frustrated phone call to matt :) a few weeks ago, i made 'the meal sheet.' i made it to suit me. i've changed and added things and i think i've got it.


i really only need it for dinners, so from the left we have the day, what i'm going to make, what i need for that specific meal, if i need to prep anything the night before, lists for the stores i buy at, and what is on sale where that week. so, it's meal sheet along with store list. now i try and do most of my shopping at the beginning of the week and just go for little things or anything i forget throughout the week. this has really helped me get organized with meal planning. and since it's organized and i know what i'm going to make ahead of time, it has caused me to enjoy cooking a little more. i hope i can keep up with it and hopefully my enjoyment for cooking will follow. if you have any ideas for additions to the meal sheet, please share. but just to warn you, they might get turned down. traci's was :)