What a great weekend!

This weekend was so wonderful! I was going to take some photos and post them for you all to see. So, I checked out a camera from ITS Media (where I work this summer). When I went to take a photo at one point, the camera wouldn't turn on....I was like what's wrong with thing?! So, I opened up the bottom of it and saw that I forgot to put a battery in the thing! Argh! Not my brightest moment! :( So, here's my weekend without photos!

Friday night I went shopping and out to eat with Denise. She had a meeting to go to on the west side of town, so she dropped me off at Kohl's to look for a wedding gift while she went to the meeting. I pulled up the registry and found of the dozen or so items left on the list, most were either too expensive or not in stock. So, I walked down to Target to check out that registry. There were a few more items on that list, but again, most were either too expensive or didn't really go together to make a nice gift....like a lawn chair, a silverware tray, and a candle....it'd be too much of a hodge podge. They did have several DVDs on the list, so I ended up getting all of them (Hitch, King Kong, and Shrek). I also then added a box of microwave popcorn to complete the gift. I was pleased with the final gift (I think Deanna was too - she entrusted me to pick up the gift for us since she's been out of town the past week or so.) I guess that's what I get for waiting until the day before the wedding to buy the gift!

Denise and I went to Panera for dinner. I LOVE that place! I had the cheesy broccoli soup...my fav...and tried the new "Chicken Pomodoro" panini. The soup was delicious, as always. The sandwich was a big disappointment. It is described like this, "Smoked, pulled white-meat chicken, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil & vine-ripened Pomodoro sauce grilled hot on our Sesame Semolina." The mozzarella and fresh basil were clear flavors that I enjoyed, the chicken was ok - nothing special, but the sesame semolina bread was flavorless and the pomodoro sauce was too much like spaghetti sauce. I was bummed, but at least I tried it and will know not to get it again.

Saturday was spent almost exclusively on Jason and Melanie's wedding...getting ready, traveling to, attending, and driving home from it. It was so worth it though! Jason and Melanie are two of my former students - Mel was on my staff during the 2003-2004 school year. We have remained close since then. The got married at Jason's home church in Toledo, Ohio. It was a beautiful and fun event. Her dress was so adorable - it was strapless and a little shorter than tea length. It was white with little sparkles in it. Her hair was done in a fancy updo with a little veil in the back. Her bridesmaids dresses were a limey green. The flowers were in shades of orange and yellow - roses, lilys and gerber daisy's. The reception was outside under a big white tent. I sat with a group of other faculty/staff from the college. I think there were probably about 30 other former students there. It was really good to catch up with them. It was a lovely day from start to finish!

And today was church! I went early (as usual) to do the Living Room. Someone else baked this week, so I appreciated not having that responsibility, especially in light of being gone all day on Saturday. I was walking up to the sanctuary, when I passed the Toddler Room and saw Kassidy in there. I stopped to chat with her a bit and ended up spending the entire service in there chatting with the ladies working in there and playing with the kids. After church we had a baptism party. Some neighbors of the Buller's have a pool, so we used their backyard for our party! They had a graduation party the night before and had left the tent up for us...it's a good thing they did because it rained most of the afternoon! It stopped raining a bit - just long enough for us to do that baptisms- and then it poured the rest of the time. It wasn't lightening, just rain, so the kids played in the pool in the rain. I stayed under the tent and organized the food (as usual :))

Four people got baptized. Two college students that have grown up at our church. They've been away from home and have realized their faith is their own and not just what their parent's fed them They are now ready to boldly declare before others that this is what they want their life to be about! The other two were a mother daughter pair who have come from a really hard place - lots of poor life choices and pain in their lives - they've come to know the Lord and are living for him and wanted to take this next step in living for him. It was a wonderful thing to be a part of! I love baptism days - such joy and hope permeates these events!

I came home after the church thing and took a 3 1/2 hour nap! The rain was pattering on my roof, so it was easy to just keep sleeping! Tonight is the season premiere of "The Next Food Network Star" I'm looking forward to watching it. My students and some of my friends say that I should try to be on it, but I don't think I'd like the pressure of cooking/creating on tv. I'm just happy to watch others do it. btw...I saw the winner of last season when he was in town filming a segment on a local diner this spring. I think that's a plenty long enough entry for today! :)