Weekend roundup. If you can handle the length.

This past weekend was such a joy.  A visit to Miami (of Ohio) for a joint baby shower for Jord and I, and some really wonderful quality time with friends.  Although I would have died to spend more time with any one of these people, the weekend still didn't feel rushed or manufactured.  Each time I go back to Oxford, I'm amazed by how much my heart feels at "home."  Not that it doesn't feel at home other places.  It does.  I love my home now.  My life with my husband and my family and our church, which are all more than I had hoped or imagined.  I just think there's something so special about being in a place where you grew so much.  Spiritually and emotionally, the Lord used this place and these people to teach me a whole stinking lot.   The minute I drive down High Street, the minute I walk into Kofenya - it's like my body takes a deep breath.  It prepares to learn and grow.  It opens up and eases.  It soaks in everything and every interaction.  I miss it, and that used to feel hard.  But, I think slowly that hard feeling has waned.  I still miss the place.  I still truly, truly miss the people.  But now, it feels more like a deep blessing, if that makes any sense.  An incredibly deep blessing.  :)   

Hanging out with Jord-O for the first time in a long while.  We made sure to hit up all the standards.  Some Kona (maybe I went twice?), UDF, and Uptown Cafe (now Patterson's).

J-Ho (one of the hostesses) and Melissa.

Wonderful quality time with another lovely hostess, Bethie.

We got the sweetest gifts...many of the basics we desperately need from Target (bathtub, feeding supplies, etc.), our Moby wrap (Really excited about this...in black so it will be more versatile...and so Zach can wear it :), an Eloise book, these awesome letters from Anthro, Trumpette socks, a blabla doll (Megs, you know me well), and now I'm getting out of control...you get the picture.  :)

They surprised us by having our shower at our old college house, The Little Yellow.  It was really special.  And, almost all of us lived in the house at one point...whether it was a few years or one summer.

So wonderful to see Nee Nee.

Hi, Little Yellow! 

Bellies!

Little Yellow Junior Year.

Little Yellow Senior Year.

Liz knows how to show that booty off.  Also, she knows how to order chocolate.  Seriously.  She got these pastries for the shower and I think I would eat one every day if I could.

Visiting with Aidan...last time we saw him, he was only a few weeks old.  And now he's so big and he's even talking some!  So fun, and such a joy to see Bethie as a mom and share some wonderful conversation at Kona, where we spent much time doing the same in college.  

 Overall, a really wonderful visit.  I was pretty nervous about the long drive in general and how my back might respond (with lots of pain), but even those weren't too bad.  And, on the way down I stopped in the mall to exchange something and ended up finding some panel-less maternity jeans (And leggings...Gap Maternity is my hero) very much on sale.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  I feel much more myself.  On another note, we had a check-up today and found out that a.  I do not have gestational diabetes (yes!) and b.  Eloise is head down and butted up against my left side.  At this point in time, she loves to kick my ribs.  It it her favorite thing to do.  I won't hold it against her.  :)