in two weeks time

A lot can happen in less than two weeks. A new batch of baby birds was born outside of my work. Here was them less than two weeks ago:

Here was them yesterday!They hardly fit! Like the baby birds, a lot has happened these last two weeks....

I actually have a GREAT excuse for not blogging very much lately - Joe and I are buying our first home together! I know that brief bit will leave you wanting more, but if I don't catch up on what we've been up to, I never will. So more about the house later.

Two weekends ago my whole family was in town for my sister's good friend's wedding. I don't want to be long-winded here, but I have a funny story about me being impromptu "wedding coordinator." It was actually pretty stressful leading up to it, but probably just because my mom, sister and I were helping with a lot of last-minute stuff. (Note to future brides: even if it's really, really hard to make decisions, give yourself a cut-off date - you don't need to be buying gifts for the bridal party, changing your veil length, or buying material to make bows the day of your wedding.) It was a beautiful wedding, and thanks to a good DJ (and perhaps an open bar) the reception was a lot of fun. A highlight was dancing with my dad (I know we had a father-daughter dance when I was little, but I can't actually remember it).

my sister looking lovely as a bridesmaid (are they called bridesmatrons if they're married?)

Last Wednesday (just over a week ago) we helped pack up our friends Jenny, Drew and Sam. You may remember me blogging about them before - Jenny was the one who got hit by a car while getting her hair cut at the end of last year. Some friends from church hosted a going away party for them on Friday night. I already miss them, and I know many others do, too. Last night at our small group, Danny (their housemate) kept playing with the two little boys who are close to Sam's age - I can tell he really misses them.

Jenny and Drew

Also last Friday a house went on the market in the neighborhood we like. We looked at it that afternoon, and met with our realtor Saturday morning to put an offer on it! I'd love to share more about how that went, but it's a little weird this being a public blog and all... but feel free to email me and I can send you more details. My parents also came down Saturday late morning to see the place. It's big and in a GREAT neighborhood (North Garden Acres in Bryan behind Frittella and the Metro Center), but needs a lot of finishing - the owners stopped on a remodel and need to move. Several people have asked when the housewarming party will be, and I've been telling them I'm not sure when it'll be done, but we'll have lots of painting parties if you're itching to see the place. ;) We plan to close July 21st, but it could be delayed as late as July 31st. We have to be out of our duplex by August 11th, so we plan to move somewhere in that time. I think I've signed my name more times in the last week than in the previous year - we've had meetings for over an hour everyday (except Sunday) since we saw the place a week ago. I'm not really saying all I want to, but I have no time! Basically, so many things have lined up just right with this place - much better than I could have expected - that it really seems like God is making the way for us to live here. Now, what do we do with a house over twice as big as we live in now? We'll see!

Tonight Joe and I will join family coming from my paternal grandmother and her three sisters -
the annual Jasper Family Reunion (where no one actually has the last name of Jasper). I'm looking forward to seeing all the family - it's usually a good time. Of the three weekends remaining before we probably close on the house, we're at the family reunion this weekend, Joe's high school reunion next weekend, and I'll be here the last one, but Joe will be camping with some guys from church. I usually have trouble getting laundry done when we travel on weekends, we'll see how I manage packing up a house! The good news is that we don't have to move in right after closing.

Okay, gotta run. Have a good holiday weekend!