i feel uncomfortable when...

1. receiving an absurd amount of literature about my cord blood.  whatever you want me to sign up for to 'win' anything having to do with cord blood - i'm not interested.  i'm sorry.  the name alone makes me want to ralph, adding 'giveaway' to that phrase does not make it any better.
2. picking up a super cute patterned maxi dress to try on & realizing its actually a pants jumpsuit. more than 5 times.  sad.  a special thanks to target & forever.  this bump aint havin' it.

[here]

3. when you see someone you think you should know, but you're not really sure if you know them or not.  you accidentally make eye contact and then sort of smile in case you do know them but they don't really respond so maybe you don't.  awkward.  however #3 is still better than when you think someone is waving at you & they are actually waving at the person directly behind you.  c'mon you know that's happened to you.

4.  reading aloud - i'm a fourth grader in a 26 year old's body.

5.  the existence of this dress and the fact that i smooshed it up against my pregnant body.  what kind of world are we living in!?

and what about you?  anything making you squirm these days?

today...

today...i woke up when i should be getting in my car for the office.

today i thought my makeup was in the car where i put it on at my one stop-light each day.  it wasn't.  my face looks like...well, my face - but lets just say, it ain't pretty.  a bit of mascara certainly wouldn't hurt the situation.

today i rubberbanded my pants shut.  at work.  one word - sad.  the constricting waistband while sitting just wasn't going to happen today.  maternity pants, this song's for you.

at around noon i realized that my underwear were on inside out.

happy tuesday everyone.

you know what monica would say...it's just one of dem days

[found here]

ridiculousness & daily shenanigans with jenna(s)

i had plans.  we had plans.  jenna and i were going to have a lunch date and then get a little bump picture to document week 13.  i was going to save it until sunday [my decided 'update day'] but after having one of the most awesomely awkward days of my life i decided that it just needed to happen right now.  i'll get a little less gas-station-y pic this weekend.

so how did our plans unravel to the desperate point of taking bump pictures in a marathon in front of some brewskis you ask?  we picked jalapenos.  a little mexican restaurant that is essentially a cave for our dining destination.  not a joke, it looks like the middle of the night inside - mistake #1.  the food, queso & conversation were all perfect but the lighting?  non-existent.  we finish our meal with 20 minutes to spare, on accident.  what luck!  mistake #2 we keep talking instead of getting up and going to a photo-worthy location.  we walk outside and think about just getting a shot outside the building's bright blue walls.  it is freezing!  mistake #3, underestimating 20 degree weather with short-sleeves.  the coat cannot come off.  the bump is in hiding.  so where do we go with our 2 minutes to spare?  the gas station next door of course.  not at all bizarre and weird to take pictures of yourself in the middle of candy aisles accentuating your bulging stomach...no, not strange at all.

other awkward happenings of the day:

:: getting to the mexican restaurant before they can even unlock the doors.  how sad to be waiting outside for food.  c'mon that doesn't do anything for a girl's self-esteem.

:: i poured out two different cans of coke in my car today.   on accident, duh.  who would do that intentionally?  drink 1 i was actively drinking.  holding it while getting into my car after biblestudy around 8am.  i have a giant bible, pop, purse and keys in hand.  something's gotta give and lucky for me it was a half-full coke that poured all over my center console and in between my seat.  treat!  drink 2 was old & got moved to my back seat holders to make room for the drink 1 can after the spill.  while my car was stopped, perfectly still, the can leapt to its demise onto the floorboard in my backseat.  pop just a'pourin.  the upside to this is that i still had about 400 napkins that i stole borrowed from panera from the first incident.

:: i parked nearly sideways in a spot without realizing it.  i walked out of the gas station and literally burst out chuckling.  what the heck is my deal?  who doesn't notice something like that?

:: after lunch and m&m's i'm officially too big for my 'skinny' belt. [term used loosely].  i could barely breathe.  sad.


what a day.  at least i saw this:

[here]

and this:

so happy for school projects

ben has been working on a school project nearly all day.  and i couldn't be more excited about it.  he has to show a video of his family history.  do you know what that means?  LOTS of old family photos.  i could literally show you like 300 that are amazing & awesome [full of mustaches, large rim glasses & chubby cheeks] but i'll keep it to just a few...for now.

benny's parents.  look how pretty!

[bears, mustache, chunk...what's not to love?]

 

 heck yeah short shorts in the mountains

 

and last but not least, the reason i'm scared to give birth...ben's giant little brother

business or pleasure?

when spending countless hours milling around an airport people often ask if your travel is for business or for pleasure?  ok so no one asked me that this time but if they had...well i'd have to say this was pretty much both. while i wouldn't be able to go on adventures if it weren't for work, it is the perfect opportunity to hangout & have fun halfway across the country too with my dear friend, jules.  since she lives about 3 hours away it isn't often that we get to see each other but since we're coworkers we do get to talk...a lot.

the past few days we've been out in colorado meeting with young life [the ministry we both love & lead] for work.  it was a blast and i think that things went well.  i think it is extra special fun because the women that we meet with have the same mission as us [in life] so even though we may be doing something silly, like selling clothes, being together is more special than that.

as i packed for this trip i was a little frantic, and last minute [as usual].  we had 400 loads of laundry to do and waited until the day before i left to do them, of course.  i had no clean clothes.  i'm not exaggerating.  so after 24 hours spent in the laundry room i started making my stacks and planning outfits.  i was actually quite proud of myself because i felt like for a super-fast-pack-up i had put together some pretty sweet fits.  on my flights in and out i thought of how i'd be the most comfy.  leggings.  duh...no brainer.  so i packed leggings for the ride in and out, a black long-sleeve tee for the way out and a black tank for the way back and long sweaters for both ways.  seemed pretty fool-proof to me.

that is until i get to security and they call my sweaters 'jackets' and make me strip down to my all black skin tight outfit that could easily be mistaken for a black unitard.  so i have to walk through security like that.  and the shoes...oh gosh the shoes. i wore my boots, tall socks and leg warmers.  i forgot i had to take off my shoes.  so there i am [twice] in my black unitard, socks and legwarmers hustling through security hoping that no one will see my rear end or bra straps.  i'd show you a picture of the madness but then there would just be more strangers out there witnessing my public indecency.  lets say, lesson learned.

and in case you were wondering..

some other eventful tid bits were that i am seriously allergic.  maybe to planes.  maybe to the person behind me with a cat secretly stashed up their shirt.  i have no idea.  but my nose was a faucet and i went through an entire pack on mini tissues from ky to dallas.  disgusting evidence below.  you can't just put something like this in the flight attendant's trash bag.  how embarrassing.

jules and i met up in dallas to finish the last leg of the trip to colorado springs together.  its always good to be with friends.  could you imagine wheeling all this through an airport alone?  i wish you could see how ridiculous we looked.  i'm sure a room full of security folks had a blast viewing our luggage struggle.

our rental car was super phatty, just like last year and even had one of those handy dandy reverse cameras so you don't run over things.  julie's response "forget everything you were ever taught about backing up!"

 we were really excited to make it to town, pumped about our meeting and hanging out, mountains & having multiple chins!

 view leaving the airport...

we organized, and practiced and ate.  a lot.  maybe we were silly.  and maybe we were drank too much pop.

here's jules and i on the big day.  its a big ol' presentation for us.  kind of like a first day of school pic.  if my mom was there we could have gone out on the back porch and put our backpacks on.

one last anecdote: in dallas i found cow mannequins wearing leather jackets...i thought "now that doesn't make a bit of sense, or does it?"

there was this one time...

when i looked up at the sky and thought "the clouds are moving really fast today for clouds." and then i thought "but my car is passing these clouds like whoa so maybe they aren't that fast afterall."  ben gently reminded me that sometimes my car can appear to pass airplanes too but that doesn't mean that my car is in fact faster than a plane.  which turns out is true.  clouds = mindfreak.

lesson learned.

[via]

i can drink so much diet coke.

i am so very excited that today is, indeed, friday.

and it's fall.

and it is so windy outside.  i love when it is warm and windy.  yesterday it was 90-something degrees, and i thought "this is not fall" but today is a different story. it's perfect.  when i was in college  there would be days when i could barely make forward progress walking or open the building doors because it was so windy.  i like days like that.

there's a lot going on this weekend.  i really am thrilled & giddy with anticipation.

tonight we have a LHS football game to attend & homecoming tomorrow with our high school friends.  we don't have homecoming {obviously} but i hope to see some of my sweet girls all decked out & ready to twirl.

uk also has a football game {hooray} saturday

i'm getting all my hair chopped off by my dear friend, doni.  it's been about 2 years since i had short hair so i'm excited for the change & so is benny.  he's been asking for me to go for a chop for a while.  more hair tales {not tails} to come in the near future i hope. snip snip.

we are having our first official book club meeting to talk about 'hotel on the corner of bitter & sweet'.  yes we are all in our mid-twenties.

i have the honor of celebrating my friend mere and her baby-to-come, elle.  i cannot wait.  i want to post what i got on here because is the sweetest, most darling thing in the world but i don't want to ruin any surprises!

{ahhh babies!}



speaking of babies, my good friend ang fooled the world of facebook by putting my face in a hole.  if you are our fb friend and were curious...

no, i'm not pregnant. let me put that rumor to rest.

i look forward to time spent well this weekend.

with friends, family, my hubby & precious time with the Lord.  i want to go outside, rest, run errands and more.  maybe even blog.

you can learn a lot in prison...

i think yesterday marked the beginning of martha moving to a new network. that or i saw the replay of it.  in the three minutes of the show that i had the pleasure of watching she exclaimed with delight....

that her favorite rapper {she must love more than one} is eminem.

does no one else think this is odd?  just me?  fine.

'i'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany."

.if you don't know that reference...you really gotta figure it out.

um. public libraries.  how do we i not take advantage of this amazing gift!?  i knew that they existed but i certainly had not utilized these buildings lined with bound papers filled with words just for my seeking eyes to find.  oh, and fo free. f-r-e-e.  well i may be paying taxes for it, but all the more reason to get in there.

today i reserved my first book online at our lexington public library.  i am not the most computer saavy.  or obviously, library savvy so this successful "hold" completion made. my. day.  and they get the book i requested to my branch within a day or so of requesting it if it's available.  could it be any more convenient?

the only trouble i've had thus far on my journey is that the l.p.l. apparently is not a lover of classic christian literature.  sad.

thus far i have requested a "hold" for:

the hotel on the corner of bitter & sweet
by jamie ford
for our newly formed book club

-and-

the chronicles of narnia
by c.s. lewis
for my own enjoyment
 {i'd really like to buy the fancy, beautiful edition at barnes & noble but that will wait}

and i also found out that i have a $0.10 fine. he he he.  the one book i may have checked out 4 years ago must have been a little overdue by the time i got it back to ol' willy t. {our university library...which is gorgeous by the way}.

if you think i'm rambling like an idiot, here are some pretty home libraries to distract you...

{japenese library below}

{you're standing at the top of a staircase looking down.  what a great use of storage, right?}

{don't miss that card catalog! gimmmmme!}

{apartment therapy & house beautiful}

always a day late

i really wanted to link up to carissa's miscellany monday but i missed it again.  lame.  i'm posting this anyway...don't hate me for my tardiness!

{flickr}

{one}
i make cloud pictures almost every time i'm outside.  driving is somewhat distracting if you're always making bumblebees, houses & gnomes in the sky, but it's something i love & love to do.  i actually think finding hidden pictures is one of my few non-spiritual spiritual gifts.  i believe it all began when i had these flowery curtains in my childhood room.  i could find about 23 different faces by looking at the different combination of blooms.  i'm sure you can see the direct correlation between curtain pictures & cloud pictures. 


{two}
i'm still overwhelmed by this weekend / week.  soon i will step back, collect my thoughts & happenings and share them.  so many awesome things, so much opportunity & potential, so much fun, so much heart ache.


{three}
we have an adventure in the works for our 2 year anniversary.  i know 2 years isn't any type specific 'milestone' but for us it is an opportunity to celebrate marriage & what an awesome gift it is to have a spouse & partner in ministry.  i'm excited about the roadtrip, the places, the adventuring, the people we will visit while we are there and most of all so excited to spend quality time with my awesome husband.  i'll share more about those preparations soon.  the countdown is on...only a month and 3 days to go.


{four}
spiders.  sick.  i hate spiders so much and they are every where.  i don't know if it's a summer thing, or a heat thing but i feel like they are every place i look.  i feel creepy crawly just typing about it.  i want some spider spray stat!  today, there was on in my shower. YIKES!

{five}
immediately after i post this i'm going to write another miscellany monday post so that i will be prepared next time that dreaded monday tries to sneak up on me.

miscellany monday

if you're reading this from my blog originally you must go visit carissa, the host of miscellany monday.  she is hilarious & her blog is fantastic. 

if you're visiting from carissa's, welcome!  we're so happy to have you!

{1} this weekend was relaxing & blissful!  i hope yours was the same!

{2} 3D movies:  they are everywhere.  every movie is "coming soon in 3D".  i don't care for 3D movies, they make me motion sick and cost extra to go to.  why would i want to pay more for a migraine & nausea? i'll continue to see my films in the good ol' fashioned flat way, thank you!

{3} today is the last day to enter this super awesome giveaway!  hey, guys & girls...you want a the softest shirt ever fo FREE?  go {HERE}!

{4} the first..eh four times that i read carissa's miscellany monday i called it 'melancholly monday' {in my head}...i guess that is a true reflection of my subconscious peeking out.  what if every monday was a holiday?  the world would be a better place.

{5} inception anyone?  it's the new leo decaprio movie & we saw it this weekend.  ben & i both loved it!  i want to see it again so i can play detective & sniff out clues.

{6} for the past year & a half i've been trying to talk myself into being a grown-up.  i'd really like to learn how to cook, plan meals in advance, grocery shop well.  i'm afraid it's just not my strong suit.  i don't know what will happen if we ever have kids.  they may only eat fruit roll-ups.  they're part fruit right?

happy monday friends!

excitement isn't the right word...

tonight, yes, tonight...my husband will be going ghost hunting with his poppa, tony.  i'm pretty sure that neither ben or his father believe in ghosts but we'll see what happens on their adventure.  they are going to {waverly hills sanatorium} in louisville from midnight until 4 am.  check out that link for the history of the place.  i'm sure they will scare each other to death.  maybe ben will make his first ever appearance on {with grace & lace} to fill us in!  hint hint.  benny, it would be a perfect debut.  my husband, the ghost hunter.

{via}

i, on the other hand, will be going to louisville for another reason.  i will be having a weekend filled with fun for me {and ammunition for ben}.  me & some girlie friends are luggin' our sewing machines & tools down to louisville to have julie's momma teach us some tricks of the trade.  she is super knowledgeable so we're hoping some of her skills will rub off on us.  i'm sure our trip will also include giggling, driving, squealling, world market & fabric stores.  all of the above sound like bliss {and also sound like things YOUNG ladies would take part in....not OLD ladies}.

can't wait to share our happenings!  happy weekend friends.

prequel to this weekend:

...in 3 short days...
.just add sewing machines.
{and cheryl}
{and a few more buddies}

{clip art via}

here they are...

the sole flowers that popped up at our new house this spring.  4 pink tulips.  that's all the previous owners left for us.  that & weeds.

at least these pinkies are pretty!

this past weekend we tons of fun.  i can't wait to share it with you in it's entirety but first i wanted to voice some very interesting news.  i did yard work.  yes, it is true.  i know your jaw is on the floor but i do not lie.  ben was at work on saturday afternoon, it was gorgeous out & we had just had a huge storm the night before.  i knew that all that rain would have softened up the ground, making my job much easier.  i set out with my limited amount of gardening tools {and gloves of course}.  i weeded...and weeded....and weeded.  our house was a jungle.  i should have taken a before and after picture.  i didn't landscape anything, i basically just preformed emergency over-growth surgery.

we have so many things we'd like to do to the outside of our house but i'm not sure how long it will be before we get to it.  our neighbors from both sides congregated in our front yard to talk shrubs, give support to our first de-jungle-ing efforts and gossip.  i felt just like i was on a tv show.

to our left we have the nicest, most helpful neighbor in the world.  yes, he is more helpful than your neighbors.  he kindly told me that i had trees growing in our gutter and promptly brought over his extension ladder to remove them for us.  who knows how large i would have let these maples get before i spotted them!  i'm not the most observant apparently.

this was the view:

{this isn't our house but it looked just like it}

i felt so relieved that our nice neighborly neighbor had been so helpful & that our gutters weren't going to break and fall off the house!

i was relieved until i walked around the back of the house on sunday to find that the entire length of our house was surrounded by a flourishing, floating, mini-hedge.  fortunately, i have the sweetest husband who climbed right up on top of the roof to remove the forest that was attempting to consume our home.  thanks benny!!

i feel like i should give benny a second shout out for mowing our foot tall grass and mowing over the giant patch of weeds that i think was once referred to as a flower bed.  most of the weeds came up to at least my knees and some even my waist.  but benny had no fear and trampled them all.  i hope they suffered a terrible death.  i feel pretty confident that we will shortly be writing a revenge of the weeds post.

all gardening & landscaping tips are welcome here at {with grace & lace}.  do share.  oh oh oh, and if you just LOVE to do yard work and just don't have enough to do at your place...swing on by.  i'll let you garden your little heart out.

just checkin' in

{apartment therapy}

i just wanted to check in and share a few random thoughts for the day.  i have some lil tidbits to share later {which i'm thrilled to record} but those will just have to wait.

{1} i have constant fatigue.  i could sleep anywhere at any time.  what is wrong with me?

{2} benny's working for the evening so other than a quick hangout & a YL support team meeting i'm going to have to keep myself occupied.  the possibilities are endless.  aaaand i have a list as long as my arm of things that need to get done. {ie. skirt my desk, clean my car, shower, kitchen & bedroom, vacuum, etc., etc., etc.}  will anything accomplished or will i watch spencer's descent into madness on the hills? decisions, decisions.

{3}  i had such a fun weekend in northern ky, i can't wait to share!

{4}  last night we had yl club for lhs students and it was amazing.  it was a night where the death of jesus is presented & what it means to follow christ is discussed {well, as much as you can fit into a 15 or 20 minute talk}.  it was so awesome to be reminded of the awesome truth of God's grace myself and to feel so keenly aware of the huge and desperate need that there is for a Savior at that school.

{5}  i have a piano, but it's not in my house.  i wish it was, and that i'd have a place to put it.  i also wish that i knew how to play.  i think i could re-teach myself the basics if i had it in front of me.

{6} we're having a super gloomy week here in ky, i hope it's nicer where you are!  yesterday, we did get to see a double rainbow though.  "very rare." says ben as he's trying to coax me into standing in the pouring rain.  double fun.

{7} political signs in front yards.  does this happen everywhere?  i really hate it.  if you have one in your yard, i don't hate you, just the signs.  they are blanketing lexington as we speak. they don't sway me to vote for one candidate over another, they don't teach me anything about what the candidate is about or what they have to offer.  it only shows me that your yard is filled with signs.

{8} i could eat a gallon of ice cream.  but i won't.

thank you gmail for saving all my gchats

ang & i talking about up-coming events at the school we lead YL at, tuesday via gchat:

Angie: lol isn't prom not for like three weeks?
i thought it was the beginning of may?


me: no its this week
it is the beginning of may


Angie: oh man.
wait..
which is it
may? or this week
lol
nevermind


me: right now is the begining of may ang


Angie: and i've lost my mind


me: its may 5th today


Angie: WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?

like i always say...we're the funnest friends anyone could ever have...right jenna?

holly asked me to...

and i just want my friends to be happy.


i posted this goregous pic that also includes miss lauren before i found out that soon she will be mrs. lauren.  {it was like a photographic prophecy}.  congrats lauren & brad we are sooo excited for you.  you will be a beautiful bride {but we may avoid jowling on your big day}

weekend rundown

it seems that i may be on a 'that's amore monday' hiatus...i think it will be short lived though.  i've just got a million of other thoughts on my mind...i haven't stopped loving things though friends...so it's only a matter of time before it returns.

{i think this is from flickr but i didn't tag it...dangit}

 
this weekend i was a total & complete bum.  i think this may have been the laziest weekend i have ever had {apart from one while being deathly ill}.  i was 100% healthy and lazy as can be.  on friday i made a "could do" list instead of a "to do" list which lead to very little actually being accomplished.  i must say that i feel refreshed & had fun as well.

for a little recap:

this weekend our leadership heard from a strong woman of the Lord about john 15.  about being dependent on the Lord rather than doing more acts.  about bearing the fruit that the Lord has produced.  about having a life that worships the Creator rather than worshipping our ministry or the "good" that we can do.  it's about Christ and knowing him more fully, rather than laboring to earn our grace or working to make our ministry "successful."  it was a powerful reminder to stay connected to the vine for apart from Him i can do nothing.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other."

-john 15:1-17

after leadership we headed off with a group of friends to little irish bar & grill.  as a large party but were prepared to be sweet & patient.  we got seated immediately {SURPRISE} so shamrock's was off to a good start.  from there we proceeded to invest in a 3 hour meal.  bless her heart, the server was kind but waiting on the 10 or 12 of us took her nearly forever.  by the time we got home i was ready for bed.  yes, i did go to sleep immediately following dinner {don't judge}.
 
saturday...
 
to start of the day we ran early morning errands to the bank {since they unexpectedly closed my checking card without sending me a replacement}, to best buy {since ben's charger died for his beloved computer} and to donut days {since we love donuts}.
 
from there my productivity takes a turn for the worse.  this may ruin all credibility to my love of scripture but i feel i must be honest.  for the vast majority of my day i watched 'the hills' marathon.  it's complete & utter garbage but i like it.  i'm so sorry but it's true.  oh and i caught up on the project runway finale!  my pick wins...hooray! 
 
while watching trash on television i also proofread my husband's very long english paper.  in most cases being nitpicky makes you annoying but being nitpicky also makes you a fantastic proofreader.  i hope that he gets all the A+'s.  he is such a good student!  i should show his kindergarten picture again shouldn't i? 

 
saturday was a rainy nasty day but before the big storm hit we made our way to the poston's.  silas was so tired he wouldn't even take his tiny hands away from his eyes for us to see him.  that little booger.  later more friends joined us and we had a night full of laughing and fun as we all wrapped up in kaitlin's new comforter.  she really loves her new comforter.
 
sunday...
 
further laziness ensues.  i can't even believe i'm going to share this.  ben & i wake up at like 8:15.  too early for a sunday.  we get in a wee little fight to start off the day.  no good.  we make up, i shower and then go back to sleep...yes back to sleep.  i "napped" from about 10 am until 2 pm.  yes, that really happened.  i can't believe i slept so much.  and after doing nothing for the whole day before.  how embarrassing.  sunday i did nothing {again} but i did get caught up in my reading for bible study about giving & treasure in heaven {which i would love to share with you soon}, did some dishes and also finished sending out our fundraising letters for camp.  i know those aren't huge accomplishments but they were things i was happy to take care of. 
 
we had an informational yl/camp meeting that afternoon for parents & campaigners {biblestudy} later that evening.
 

i had quality time with the Lord, with my husband and with my friends.  not too shabby for the laziest weekend of my life.