Great Deal and Random Stranger

I found a great deal at a grocery store yesterday. I was so excited, I just had to share. A local grocery store (Giant)'s ad said the following: purchase 4 General Mills cereals and receive $6.00 off your General Mills purchase and a coupon for a free gallon of milk at your next visit. I had 2 coupons of my own that were $1.00 off 2 boxes of General Mills cereal. I ended up buying a box of Rice Chex, a box of Corn Chex, and 2 boxes of Cheerios. The total came to $11.96. Subtract the $6.00 advertised discount, subtract $2.00 from my coupons and you end up with 4 boxes of cereal, a coupon for a free gallon of milk at your next visit for the great low price of $3.96.
I am so proud of myself. I might go back today and try it again! That is a deal!

Additionally, while I was looking around the store at this particular shopping trip, this strange guy saw me and said, "Hi!" About 5 minutes later, he came back to where I was still standing (me trying to figure out what cereals I wanted to buy), and asked, "are you single?" When I responded No, he said, "too bad, you're beautiful!" then he walked away. Can you believe that? I was so shocked at the nerve of that guy. I was wearing my wedding ring. I guess this baby needs to get here so people definitely know that I am taken!

24 weeks

I think these pictures are silly, but it has been requested from family members that I periodically post them. So...here you go! Me at 24 weeks. Everyone here says I look really good. Honestly, they wouldn't tell me I look terrible (at least not to my face) so I guess I will believe them. I think I look pregnant, but I still have people come up to me from my new ward surprised when someone else told them I was pregnant. Others are surprised at how far along I am. Oh Well!

New Callings - some not so new

It becomes inevitable when you move to a new area that you get new callings. After the first week of choir practice, I was unofficially assigned to be the ward choir accompanist. It is not a formal calling in this ward. The choir director found out I could play more than the simplified version of the hymns (that's all she can play), and voila - I'm the new accompanist. I was the ward choir accompanist in the Urbana ward for the 4.5 years we lived there. This calling is not so new.

I am also the Valiant 8 primary teacher. This is a new calling since I have never been in senior primary. My primary experience has always been limited to junior primary. It's fun that the kids actually bring their scriptures, open then, and know how to read them. Sharing time in senior primary is also different than junior primary. The kids actually make most of the singing time decisions.

I was also called to the be ward organist. It has been more than 6 years since I have played the organ (every week that is). This particular organ takes some getting used to. First of all, I can barely hear the organ where I sit, but it is blasting out the congregation. Also, the congregation always sounds a beat behind me. It must just be the way the sound travels. It will eventually all come back to me.

Bruce is the new Elders' Quorum president in our ward. I guess he didn't put in enough time when he served for nearly 4 years as EQP in the Urbana Ward. This is not exactly a new calling for him. Last week was his first week as EQP, and it was also Ward Conference. He left for church at 11:30 and didn't get home until 10:00 that night. I guess they expected him to jump right in. This call was different than the first time though.

The week Bruce was called as the EQP in the Urbana Ward, other new things were starting at the same time. 1) his year long experiment that had him busy 8-10 hours a day 6 days a week, and 5 hours on Sunday. 2) He started helping someone else with their research trial involving weight training.
This time, he was called the same week the college let out for spring break. It was a much more relaxing week.
Bruce actually enjoys the EQP calling - it enables him to work closely with the brethren of the ward and he gets to know them on a more personal basis. This ward is different than our last and with it brings different challenges.

Township/Borough - What's the Difference?

Apparently, there is a difference. According to Wikipedia, "a borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely. Often, a borough is a single town with its own local government. However, in some cities it is a subdivision of the city (e.g., London, New York City, and Montreal). In such cases, the borough will normally have either limited powers delegated to it by the city's local government, or no powers at all."

According to Wikipedia, "the word township is used to refer to different kinds of settlements in different countries. Township is generally associated with an urban area. Though all townships are generally given names and may be abbreviated "Twp.," their function differs greatly from state to state. While cities, towns, boroughs, or villages are common terms for municipalities; townships, counties, and parishes are sometimes not considered to be municipalities."

Well those definitions don't really clarify it, but I have an example that defines the differences.

1) We pay a Doylestown township and a Doylestown borough tax - and we don't even live in Doylestown. (This comes out of Bruce's pay check - probably because he works in Doylestown.) My guess is that we will have to pay a Lansdale township tax and a Lansdale borough tax at the end of the year because we live in Lansdale. Hip Hip Hooray! :)

2) Anyone who knows me knows that I like to read and can't live without a library card. I went a mile from our place (I have a Lansdale address) to the local library to obtain a library card today. When I showed the librarian my proof of address, she told me that I would have to pay a $35.00 yearly membership fee to use that library because I don't live in the borough. I live in the township; therefore, I can't use the borough library. I have to drive 25 minutes away to Norristown to obtain a library card at the county library. I can then use that library card at almost every library, except that one. Are you kidding me? Lansdale is Lansdale, but I guess not.

Bruce and I never thought we would say that traveling to the St. Louis temple was so convenient. Now we go to the D.C. temple - which is great because it's beautiful, very large, and has sessions that start every 30 minutes and the last one is 8:00 Saturday night. (This is compared to 45 minutes and the last session starting at 2:30 in the afternoon). It's still a 3 hour drive away, but a much different 3 hour drive. We could drive to St. Louis on a Saturday and see very few cars on the freeway. Additionally, more than one freeway led to the temple. Now we drive bumper to bumper in 3-4 lanes of traffic, getting stuck in a traffic jam every 30 minutes, and pay $20.00 in tolls. Outrageous!! One major freeway takes us to the temple from our direction. Last time we went, there was a fire on the freeway and they closed it down. How did we get home? I don't know. We waited forever, a miracle had our GPS tell us a different way to go, and what should have taken us 3 hours, took 5.5 hours. There's got to be an easier way.

We've also noticed that big companies have very poor customer service - especially Comcast. They don't really have a competitor, and enough people live here that they are going to get a lot of business as it is.

Add this to the price of milk, bread, gas, and every other necessary item and Pennsylvania is really starting to get on my nerves.

Weekend in Richmond

Bruce and I just spent a fabulous weekend in Richmond Virginia with Bruce's brother and sister in law Blake and Suzanne. We met up with Suzanne at the Washington D.C. temple where we did a session. Then we drove the rest of the way to Richmond. Blake and Suzanne just had a baby boy in January, and we joined them for Ezra's baby blessing on Sunday. We had a great time visiting, playing Buzz word, and of course soaking up the cuteness of baby Ezra (7 weeks old). Isn't he adorable - just look at that smile!

I hope he will always love his aunt Brittney and be that happy to see her.
We're also glad that Suzanne had her camera. We forgot ours. Thanks Blake and Suzanne for a great weekend. We hope that living in Pennsylvania means that we get to see more of you.


Blake, Suzanne, Ezra


Blake and Ezra

ANNOUNCING.....

85% sure we are having a little GIRL!!!!

After 5 years, we are generously blessed with a baby. We are super excited. We were kind of hoping for a boy first, but when it really comes down to it - we're just excited to be having a baby. The ultrasound technician said four things about our little Girl!
1) She's Cute - for the entire 20 minutes baby girl was on the screen, she always had limbs on or around her face. First, her hand was tucked under her chin. Then one hand was draped across her forehead while the other played with the ambilical cord. The technician thought she had some cute mannerisms. After I thought about it for a minute, I realized that the most common placement of my hands is somewhere around my face. I don't frequently put my foot on my forehead, but maybe I should start practicing.
This picture is my favorite one of the group - I love that her foot is almost touching her forehead - maybe she'll be flexible and a gymnist. (not at all characteristic of her parents)(Bruce can almost touch his toes - if his knees are bent:))


2) She was very cooperative. The technician was able to get all of the proper measurements very easily. She didn't have to poke and prod to get the baby to move in the proper position. Hopefully her cooperation will continue for the rest of her life.

3) She is very modest! (YEAH!!) Baby girl had her ankles crossed the entire time. It was difficult to see the true gender of our baby. She would only let the technician get quick glimpses. She was pronounced a girl simply because the technician couldn't see something. When she did get quick glimpses, she saw 3 white lines which generally indicates a girl. This is why she is only 85% sure. I guess there is a chance I could still have a boy, but I probably won't have another ultrasound done simply because I don't really need one. They were able to see everything they needed to see from this one, and I'm not sure my insurance will actually cover another one. That's okay with me!! We really don't have a preference either way. Maybe we'll still be surprised.

4) She's healthy!! Everything looked normal. Heart rate was about 130 which is in the normal range, and she weighed in about 13 oz.

Other facts!! Mom is doing great. Some swelling in her legs, especially behind her knees, which causes occasional pain; other than that I am anxiously awaiting her arrival.

I'm 20 weeks and a couple of days and due around July 19th. I just barely started outgrowing most of my pants, and I bought my first pair of maternity jeans yesterday. They are much more comfortable than expected.

Hardest part now - waiting!! I guess we still need some time to decide on a name. Naming your child brings a lot of unexpected pressure. :) Any ideas???

Success!!

Two pictures. First: Bruce ready for his first official day of work. Second: Bruce with his first paycheck.




Yeah! Life is good!