Happy Halloween!

We had our Fall Festival at church last night and the college group room's theme was '60s and '70s. I didn't want to spend much money or time on our costumes, so I went to Wal-Mart hoping to find a couple of cheap tie-dyed shirts. Well, I found a lot of "60s-ish" girls' shirts, but I couldn't find anything for Darby. So I just got him an Afro wig. :) You can't see it in the picture, but it had a purple pick in it.

I didn't think the kids were really going to "get" our theme, but they seemed to enjoy it. We had a disco ball and were playing a '70s disco mix CD. Several of the kids started dancing. And one two-year-old wouldn't leave the room the whole night. She was mesmerized by the pattern the disco ball made on the walls. When her mom finally told her she had to leave, she said, "I'll be back. Don't stop the music." So cute!

Last year we had quite a few trick-or-treaters at our house, so I'm hoping we'll start seeing some in just a little bit. I love passing out candy!

25 Before 25

So it hit me the other day that on my next birthday I will be 25. I don't think that's old or anything, but it does seem strange to me that I'm in my mid-20s. Time seems to be going by so quickly. In December, it will have been 3 years since I graduated from ACU. 3 years! I've started feeling like I'm not really taking advantage of this time of my life. I won't have too many more years of married life without children (I hope!). And by "not too many," I mean 5 or 6, so don't get too excited. :) I don't want to look back at this time of my life and think, "I should have done this or that." (And I'm realizing that I probably won't say, "I wish I had watched more Toddlers and Tiaras.") So I decided to come up with a list of 25 goals to accomplish before I turn 25 (in a little under 8 months). Well, 25 was a little ambitious; I made it to 13. Anyone got any suggestions to fill out the last 12?

1. Take a cooking class.
2. Bake one new recipe from each of my cookbooks.
3. Learn two new songs on the piano.
4. Decide once and for all if/when I'm going back to school and what I will study.
5. Read 5 books that I've owned for at least a year.
6. Find a local charity to get involved with.
   
7. Take another workout class.
8. Start at least two more herbs.
   
9. Visit St. Louis.
10. Devise and stick to a housekeeping schedule.
    
11. Have 3 "dinner parties" (with party defined as at least two other people besides me and Darby).
    
12. Go camping/hiking.
13. Try 2 new restaurants.

Out of the mouths of babes...

This weekend, I was baby-sitting a friend of mine's daughter. She's a very spirited, very perceptive almost five-year-old.

We were playing with her stuffed animals. She was pretending to be the baby ladybug (a boy, for some reason), and I was the mommy ladybug. Here's how the conversation went:

Baby: (crying softly) I don't want to grow up because I don't want to leave you, Mommy.
Mommy: I'll always love you, though, even if you don't live with me.
Baby: No you won't.
Mommy: Yes I will. I'll always be your mommy.
Baby: But it will be different. I'll have a wife, and that's like a different type of mommy.

I was trying so hard to stifle my laughter. What do you say to that? I just hope Darby considers me a wife wife, and not a mommy/wife. :)

My Current Obsession

I have found a new addiction in the world of frugality—free samples! At first, I kind of scoffed at this. I mean, can you actually save any money on little trial-size items? But, I think I have. Here is a partial list of the things I've gotten for free in the past few months:

• Small boxes of Total (2), Honey Nut Cheerios, Fiber One (2), All-Bran
• Fiber One granola bar
• All-Bran drink mix (like Crystal Light)
• Small bag of Bear Naked granola
• Bounce dryer bar (full-size! for writing a review on Viewpoints)
• Eos lip gloss (full-size)
• Ziploc quart-size baggie
• Several paper towels (the good, thick kind . . . not the generic stuff I'm used to)
• Tide total care detergent
• Tons of "feminine" products
• Dove, Aveeno, and Pantene Pro-V shampoos and conditioners

There have been others that I'm forgetting, I'm sure. Anyway, it's so fun to see what's in the mailbox each day! And, I think all total I've probably saved at least $15, which isn't too bad, considering all I do is fill out a little online form. Plus, many of the samples come with high-value coupons, so that's even more money saved.

I only sign up for samples of stuff I would actually buy or use. Otherwise, it can get a little crazy; there's so much free stuff out there. My friend Jenn e-mails a list of freebies every Friday, and I find lots of deals on Hey, It's Free, Money Saving Mom, and Deal Seeking Mom. One note of caution: If you do sign up for freebies, it'd probably be wise to set up a separate e-mail account just to put on online forms. I did not do that, and I've noticed a big increase in the amount of Spam I get. Luckily, I use Gmail, which has a good Spam filter, so it's not too much of an issue.

On Christian Education

I just finished reading The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University. It is written by a journalism student at Brown who transferred to Liberty University (Jerry Falwell's university) for a semester to see what life at a Christian college is like. It's a thought-provoking and entertaining read. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in how non-Christians view Christians. The writer is not out to make fun of evangelical Christians; he does a good job of recounting his good and bad experiences. He really enjoys the sense of community at Liberty and the sincerity and kindness of his fellow students. However, ultimately he cannot get past what he considers the judgmental nature of Christians. He is especially dismayed by the overt homophobia that is displayed by almost everyone. That is a tough objection to contend with. I think treating all people, no matter what their beliefs or lifestyle, with respect and kindness is a step in the right direction. However, I think there will always be a problem when a religion that has moral absolutes meets a morally relativistic culture. It's a tough problem . . . one that Christians will have to do a lot more thinking about.

The most disturbing part of the book to me, though (as I am already familiar with the overt homophobia and sexism present in the Christian community) is the lack of academic rigor at Liberty. The author does point out that Liberty University is one of the most conservative Christian schools in the nation, which I appreciated. I don't want people to get the idea that all Christian schools are like that. Besides the fact that Liberty teaches some pretty indefensible "science" (namely, young-earth creationism), from what the author says, there is just a serious lack of critical thinking or questioning, skills that are central to a liberal arts education. For example, an examination in the course "History of Life," includes these true-or-false questions.

Evolution can be proven using the scientific method. (False)
Science is the only way to truly know truth about the world. (False)
Noah's Ark was large enough to carry various kinds of dinosaurs. (True)

Those are not true-or-false questions! The second one has some value (if it were worded better), but only as an essay question or discussion. I have no problem with matters of faith being taught at Christian universities . . . obviously, I took Bible classes at ACU. But matters of faith or speculation (such as the size of Noah's ark) cannot be presented as fact in an academic context. If someone wants to disagree, they have to be able to, as long as they can present a well-reasoned argument for their case. Only questions about the Bible that can be answered from the text itself should be posed as closed-ended test questions, in my opinion.

Anyway, when I wasn't busy being outraged, I really enjoyed the book. There are plenty of light-hearted moments, too. Like when the author doesn't know how he will be able to list the books of the New Testament in order for his test, and everyone is shocked he doesn't know "the song." It's fun to think about all the traditions that those of us who grew up in the church just take for granted.

Confused

All last week I kept thinking, "I need to remember to send Emerald a birthday card, I need to remember to send Emerald a birthday card." So, on Tuesday night, I sat down and made her a card. I sent it on Wednesday, hoping it would get to her by her birthday on Monday, Oct. 5. I was so glad that I remembered. I have this paranoia about forgetting people's birthdays.

Fast forward to last night, I was sitting on the couch looking at facebook. In the little section that tells which of your friends' birthdays are coming up, I see: John Pierce--Oct. 5. Then, it hit me. Em's birthday is March 5. Our freshman year of college, we had this little joke that everyone's birthday was either on the 5th or 20th because most of us were born on one of those days. So, somehow I got it in my head that Em's birthday was Oct. 5. I jumped up to call her, hoping she hadn't already gotten the card. Well, she had. She said, "I'm so glad you called. I wasn't sure what I should do. I thought, 'Should I call Kayla? Is she ok?'" We got a good laugh at it. I wish I had seen her expression when she opened that card. I told her not to expect anything in March. Only one card per year, even if it is 5 months early. :)

How early can Alzheimer's start?

Fabulous Fall

For the past three years, I have done a post about how much I love fall in late September or early October. Why break from tradition, right?

We've had our first fallish weather this week, and I'm loving it! I love wearing jackets and my cute socks. (I still only wear patterned socks unless I am working out; I don't think I'll ever outgrow them.) I love eating soup and drinking cider and hot chocolate. I love pumpkin pie, caramel apples, and candy corn. I love getting out my fall decorations and being surprised by things I had forgotten I had. I love not waking up hot in the morning. I love feeling warm and cozy in my hooded sweatshirt. I love that new episodes of my favorite tv shows are on. I love that Christmas feels so much closer but not so close that you start getting sad about it being over.

Growing up, summer was my favorite season, mainly because my birthday is in the summer. But over the past few years, fall has definitely taken its place. Especially now that I'm not in school, summer just doesn't hold the same appeal. So, I'm going to soak up my 8 or so weeks of fall loveliness before winter rears its ugly head.

Ok, I'm done.

Update: It's Sunday morning now, and I am feeling much better. I thought about deleting this post but decided against it because it is true and honest. I don't want to be all "sunshine and roses" on this blog if I'm not feeling that way. But now I'm off to teach my little babies at church. :)

Well, this little Illinois adventure has been great so far, but I think I'm through. I want to go "home." (Home being within driving distance of my parents' house and/or Abilene.) I actually surprised myself with how well I adjusted to living here, but lately it's been hard. Seeing everyone's updates on facebook about the ACU game makes me wish I was there, tailgating with the Westgate college group and wearing my purple and white. I wish I could see my sister's apartment in Dallas. I wish I could go back and visit the people I worked with at ACU and all of the people we knew from Westgate. I wish I could have seen my parents on my birthday (although I am happy I at least got to be with Darby's family that day.) And the hardest thing of all has been seeing pictures of my friend Em's new baby. I want to see her in person! I'm hoping to get to see her at Christmas, but I don't know if that's going to work out. Darby and I have so little time to see everyone we want to see.

Obviously, I am exaggerating a little. I do overall still really like it here, and I want Darby to finish his degree. And I guess I want to live with my husband. :) But it's hard sometimes. I just wish there was more time to spend with everyone at holidays. We have to cram so much in every time we go home. And it's too expensive to just fly home for a weekend here or there. Part of this rant is precipitated by the nearly $600 we are about to spend on plane tickets for Thanksgiving (that's to drive 3 hours to St. Louis and then fly to Dallas). To fly out of Champaign, Bloomington, or Peoria would be over $1,000. I'm ok with not having much time or not having much money, but not having either really stinks!

Sorry for the rant. I'm sure I'll feel better in a couple of days. And I am really happy that we're able to go home at all this Thanksgiving. Only 2 more months!

"Oldies"

I recently switched from listening to NPR back to listening to my iPod on the way to work. NPR was making me too depressed and angry (I can get very impassioned about politics). I'll take my "news lite" from The Today Show any day. Anyway, I had forgotten how much I love my iPod. Mainly because I really don't like much new music. Almost all of the songs I have are from 1996 to 2004. The songs from when I was younger just bring back so many good and funny memories.

When I listen to Fuel, I think of the time that Hannah and I had a huge fight because I wanted to listen to that CD every day on the way to and from school. Two guys from church who rode home from school with us were just sitting in the back seat with these stunned looks on their faces. I don't think they had ever seen the way sisters fight. Now, of course, Hannah and I just laugh about it.

Or there's "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakira, which Jessica included on a mix CD she made for our group of friends when we graduated from high school. Accompanying the CD was an explanation of why she chose each song. That particular one said something like, "Just like this song says, I know that 'whenever, wherever we're meant to be together.' " I think she was only joking a little bit. We really were that sappy. I still love those girls.

Alanis Morrissette's Jagged Little Pill was one of the first CDs I ever owned (after Mariah Carey and Celine Dion, of course). Still when I sing along to "You Oughta Know," I sing our altered church van line: "I hope you're thinking of me when you suck on a sucker." The original is not nearly so benign; use your imagination. (This is also a prime example I want to remember when I'm tempted to tell my kids they shouldn't be listening to certain music. I listened to tons of songs that might not have been completely age-appropriate, but I turned out fine. I say, pick your battles.)

Almost every song I have, I can think of some story that goes along with it, usually involving silliness or melodrama. That just doesn't happen with current songs. I don't go on 15-hour van rides with dozens of other teenagers where all we have to do is make up dumb words to songs. (We turned "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys into a love song about a chocolate chip cookie . . . I have no idea.) I don't dress up with my friends and make up a music video for "Lady Marmalade." (I was Lil' Kim, like you couldn't guess!)

So while I appreciate some new music, it just doesn't make me happy like older music does. And I'm not talking old, classic music. Most of the stuff I liked was pretty cheesy, and I was never picky about genre. So what? I'm proudly admitting that I sing along at the top of my lungs to Boyz II Men, Garth Brooks, Ace of Base, The Offspring, and Shania Twain, sometimes one right after another. They may not be "good," but they sure are fun.

Always, Sometimes, Never

Saw this on a few people's blogs and thought it was cute. I can't resist lists or talking about myself. :)

I always . . .

• drink coffee in the morning.
• finish a book if I start it.
• take a nap on Sunday afternoon.
• check my e-mail at least twice a day.
  

I sometimes . . .

• wait until Darby's with me to get gas, so he'll have to pump it :)
• eat chocolate chips straight from the bag, even when I'm not baking.
• wonder if I should go back to school.
• forget to bring my workout clothes to work and am secretly happy
  

I never . . .

• forget to eat a meal.
• stay up all night.
• drink diet soda.
• watch scary movies.
  

Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

The Office Season 6 starts tomorrow night!! I am so excited. I can't wait to pick up where we left off with Jim and Pam's storyline. They are by far my favorite television couple ever. Darby and I are so close to getting Season 5 on DVD. It came out a couple of weeks ago, but we decided to wait until we each received one more $5 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks. That way, we won't have to pay for much of it out of pocket. It was a good decision, but it's so hard to wait! I'm sure once we get it, we will go through the whole season and all of the deleted scenes in a week or less. That's our style.

Routine

This week, we went back to our normal schedule at work (8 to 4:30, rather than 7 to 3), which means I'm back to my normal morning routine: I get up and take a shower while Darby makes the coffee; I fix my cereal, and Darby pours my coffee (I'm a little spoiled). We sit on the couch and watch the last 15 minutes of Saved by the Bell and the first 15 minutes of the Today Show while we eat. (I usually also check my e-mail, facebook, etc. What can I say? I'm a multi-tasker.)

I didn't realize just how much I had missed that routine until we started doing it again. During the summer, my mornings were so depressing. I'd get up, get ready very quietly, quickly eat my breakfast, and take my coffee to go. Right before I left, I'd wake Darby up, so we barely got to say good morning before I was out the door (usually running late).

Now, I love my mornings. I get just enough news that I know generally what's going on in the world, but not so much that I start getting angry and/or depressed. And I get to spend a little time with Darby. The only downside is that, since I drink my coffee at home now, I don't get to use my super-cute Hello Kitty thermos that Darby made (yes, made) for me last Christmas.

See you next summer, HK!

We had so much fun with my parents this weekend. I feel like a real adult having my parents come visit me at my own house. (Of course, I still enjoy the perks of being a kid, like having my parents pay for meals and take me shopping for clothes!)

On Saturday, we drove to Springfield to see some of the Abraham Lincoln sites. We went to Lincon's house, his law office, his tomb, and the Lincoln museum. All were very neat (except the law office, which was pretty much ruined by a hilariously clueless tour guide).

Of course, we enjoyed yummy food. We ate at Dos Reales and Za's, and I cooked grilled chicken skewers and chicken taquitos and made an ice cream pie (which involves layering bananas, hot fudge, and three types of ice cream in an Oreo crust; I used low-fat and fat-free ice cream, so it was healthy, right?)

The rest of the time was spent talking, playing games, and napping. I feel very blessed to have the parents I have. I miss them a lot, and I'm so glad they are willing to come up and visit regularly. Darby and I are counting down the days until we get to see both of our families at Thanksgiving!

Blah Blog

Sorry for my kind of blah blog lately. I have not been inspired to post. And I'm sure you all just wait on the edge of your seats for my next post. ;) I've thought about posting several times in the past week, but then decided against it, either because what I had in mind was too boring or short. Well, no greater inspiration hit, so without further ado, here are all the things I've mentally composed a blog about:

• My enjoyment of food is inversely proportional to the time I spend preparing it. I still love to cook, but things always taste better to me as leftovers. It's very strange . . .
• I wish I could go back in time and tell my teenager self not to worry so much. That in just a few short years I'll feel like high school was so long ago, that I won't remember the situations I found so embarrassing at the time. I think that's got to be one of the most challenging things about being a parent—knowing that your kid could be saved a lot of heartache if he/she would just realize that most of their day-to-day worries don't matter in the long run, but also knowing that there's no way you can convince them of that at the time. It also makes me think: When I'm 40, what will I wish I could have told myself now?
• I do not buy into the "Just do a little bit each day" theory of housework. I'd rather do nothing for two (okay, three) weeks, then spend several hours one night cleaning and lamenting how I always let things get so bad. That way, the majority of my days are spent having fun and only one day is completely miserable, rather than all the days just being so-so.
• I have been very amused by this hoopla surrounding the Republican candidate for governor in Virginia. (He wrote a thesis for Regent University 20 years ago that, among other things, lists feminism as one of the greatest enemies of the American family.) I could go on and on about frustrating it is to try to convince people that Christians aren't completely out of touch in light of comments like these, but that's a topic for another blog post (one I am too afraid to write lest I provoke controversy; I have become tamer in my old age). However, the thing that amused me is that a commentator on NPR seized on the candidate's belief in "covenant marriage." She asked her guest (a Richmond, VA, reporter), "What does that mean?" He said, "It is 'I really do' marriage. It's where a couple agrees beforehand to take extraordinary measures to avoid divorce if their marriage hits rocky shoals." Both the commentator and the reporter seemed incredulous at this notion. I don't know if they thought covenant marriage was some kind of cult or what. It sounds like just "marriage" to me. Out of all the things that were supposedly written in that thesis, it is sad to me that a belief in marriage for life was singled out as especially weird.

Next week, I should have a more interesting update. My mom and dad are coming into town for the weekend. Yippee!

School Lunches

All the advertisements and articles lately about back-to-school, particularly stocking up for school lunches, has gotten me feeling nostalgic for the foods of my childhood. I still pack a lunch everyday, but I've graduated to leftovers or sandwiches and fruit or yogurt. No expensive single-serving snacks for me. Sigh. Here were some of my favorites:

• Dunk-a-roos. Little graham cracker sticks with a tub of chocolate frosting to dip them in. What's not to like?
• Goldfish. A girl at work brought Goldfish for lunch the other day, and it just took me back. Goldfish = childhood.
• Chewy Chips Ahoy. Mmmm. The softest packaged cookies ever. If you heat them in the microwave a few seconds they're even better.
• Juice boxes. Why, oh why, did I have to grow up and find out that most fruit juices are pure sugar and actually not very good for you?
• Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies. These were actually more of a high-school obsession, but I'm counting them because I still often packed a lunch in high school. They are more like fudge than a brownie. And at Christmas time, they come in the shape of Christmas trees.
  

Then there are those foods that I look back on and think, "How could I eat that?" For example:

• Lunchables. All of them. These are vile, but the worst offenders are the pizza ones. Sickeningly sweet sauce and rubbery cheese product shreds on top of a communion wafer? No thanks. Also, they are a huge waste of money. You could buy a box of Ritz crackers, a package of cold cuts, and a package of sliced cheese and make about 10 Lunchables for under $10. Not to mention, it would taste about a thousand times better. But as a kid I loved these! Lunchables has some kind of amazing marketing strategy. I don't think Mom let me have these all the time (smart woman), but I do remember being so happy when I got them.
• Handi-Snacks Cheese and Crackers. These are similar in theory to Dunk-a-Roos, but much grosser. Remember the cardboard breadsticks that you dip in the alarmingly yellow "cheese" spread? Just thinking about that taste makes me gag.
  

Thanks, Mom, for packing hundreds of lunches for me throughout the years. (And, for the record, my mom made me sandwiches and packed fruit for me; I didn't only eat junk!) It is so much less fun now that I pack my own lunch.

What about you? What were your favorite childhood foods?

What I've Been Up To

• Watching Mad Men—A girl at work loaned me Seasons 1 & 2. It's great! Kind of depressing (just because the characters' lives are so meaningless), but very well done. It's like a less embarrassing Desperate Housewives. Darby and I went through both seasons in about 2 weeks. Do you think we need a life?
• Playing Dr. Mario—For a wedding gift, Darby gave me Dr. Mario for Nintendo because he knew how much I loved it. When we got the Wii, though, we got rid of our Nintendo. We've thought about buying the game for the Wii, but just kept putting it off. The other night I said something about wanting to play, and Darby went and downloaded it right then! It was only $10; I don't know why we waited so long. Part of the reason I love the game so much is that I (almost) always beat Darby. I don't know how! It doesn't seem like a game I'd be good at.
• Reading Twilight—Meh. I don't see what all the fuss is about. I can excuse the fact that it's not well-written (hello, Baby-Sitters Club?). But, what I can't excuse is the fact that the plot is completely unbelievable, and the characters are totally unrelatable. The first 2/3 of the book is simply Bella pining away after Edward, even though he is rude to her and tells her to stay away from him for her own good. (Her excuse for not staying away: "He's so dreamy.") Bella is one of the lamest heroines I've ever seen; she is helpless, whiny, and has no self-preservation instinct. There are so many other YA books that are better written and have a better message. Ok. Rant over. I just don't understand how this book got so popular.

BFFs

I love these girls. We are alike in so many ways. We all love to talk, especially about controversial issues (women's roles, politics, religion, to name a few). We love reading, talking about reading, cooking, talking about cooking, eating (as evidenced by the cheesecake picture below), and you guessed it, talking about eating.

But we're also different enough to keep things interesting. Both Kalyn and Brittany are nicer than I am; I'm the one who gets on to everyone in our group for not responding to e-mails or letters quickly enough. :) Kalyn's the absent-minded, artsy type, while Brittany and I are Type-A personalities (oldest children v. youngest child, I guess).

We have so much fun hanging out together. Pretty much because we're all boring. Even in college, we spent most of our time together sitting around talking. When you all enjoy being boring, you're never bored. It's great! Last weekend, we had the best time hanging out in the pool, watching Julie & Julia, eating Kalyn's yummy cooking, and talking, talking, talking. Wish we still lived in the same town (or state!)

I'm tweeting

This weekend, I went to Kentucky to visit my friend Kalyn. Our friend Brittany flew up from Texas. We all lived together sophomore year of college, so it was a "roomie reunion." We had a great time! I'll share more later when I get a few pictures from Brittany. As always, I am mooching off others for pictures.

One result of the weekend (besides the 5 lbs. I gained from eating 1/4 of a cheesecake in three days) is that I was convinced to join this Twitter thing. I've always maintained that I don't "get" Twitter. What do you write? Why do I care where my friends are every second of the day? But, then I found out that Brittany, Kalyn, and Erin all "tweet," and that I was missing out on a lot. Turns out I do care where my friends are every second of the day. :) If this blog isn't enough for you, now you can follow me on Twitter. My tweets are "protected," so you will have to sign up for an account and ask to follow me (kjahewitt) in order to see them. It will be all Kayla, all the time. Woo-hoo!

Eat Your Fruits and Veggies

This week, I made two very good recipes, both healthy because they contain fruits and veggies. (And some butter and sugar and cheese and tortilla chips, respectively.) But the produce definitely makes up for that, I'm sure of it.

This squash casserole is definitely the way to eat squash. It's based on King Ranch Chicken casserole. I omitted the cilantro and used fewer tortilla chips than called for, and it still tasted great.

And these blueberry crumb bars are so delicious and come together so easily. The taste reminds me of the blueberry coffee cake at Starbucks. I love that stuff!

So enjoy and be proud of yourself for getting one step closer to your recommended 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. :)

Summer Goal Update

This is so hard to say, but summer's almost over. (I guess it doesn't really matter to me since I work year-round, but summer just seems more fun.) So, here's an update on my goal progress:

• Go on a picnic. Well, we haven't done this, but we did have a cookout where we ate outside, and we went to the church picnic, so I'm going to call this one accomplished.
  
• Play badminton. We've done this a few times, but usually it's too windy (or I'm too lazy). This might be a fail.
  
• Finish my wedding scrapbook. Ummm...I've gotten a little closer. I'm not giving up yet. I still have a few weeks left. My friend Megan came over on Saturday, so we could scrapbook together. I made cards that night because most of my wedding scrapbook stuff required the printer, and it wasn't in the same room. We had so much fun! I think we're going to make it a monthly tradition, so I should get a lot more scrapbooking/cardmaking accomplished.
  
• Make homemade ice cream. I have made three batches of homemade ice cream, all pretty successful. My favorite was chocolate chip cookie dough. Yum, yum! And eating the leftover cookie dough afterwards wasn't too bad, either.
  
• Take a trip with Darby to either Nashville or St. Louis. We went to Nashville with our friends Dylan and Andrea. Darby and I both agreed that it was the highlight of our summer. We're going to try to take a trip together annually.

All in all, it's been a great summer. We've gotten to see a lot of friends and family, but we've also had a lot of down time. I'll miss seeing Darby all the time when he starts back to school in two weeks. But...the beginning of school does mean we are getting closer to Christmas. And I love Christmas!