okay, okay...
mama joan gave me the nudge that i needed to write again! (and realized that i was, in fact, referring to myself as the SOMEone who was slacking!!!! you sillies who thought i was talking about you!)

i guess i thought that i haven't had much to say lately.

but now that i think about it, i suppose some things have been going on. first off, i've been dealing with a very high-profile case at my school and was going to have to testify in court (as an expert witness-ha!-while their attorney would rip apart my credentials--talk about losing sleep and heart palpitations and headaches, etc!--i was a mess) this wednesday, but i received the fantastic news yesterday that they settled out of court!!! hooray!!! but now a new chapter begins with this family. but at least our special education team doesn't have to go to court. ahhhh.... such relief......

we've had some nice, warm summery days lately. but when i woke up this morning, there was the perfect crisp smell of fall in the air. it makes me want to go school clothes shopping!! talk about a pavlovian response!

matt and i also went to virginia beach to see our friend, amanda henry, get married. for those of you who don't know, amanda is my mom's best friend's daughter. and mary henry passed away a few years ago so the wedding was a little bit melancholy in some respects. mary's brother performed the ceremony and said it so perfectly: "the one element missing from this beautiful day is mary henry. and we all miss her." he said a few other things after that, but the first part was so honest and so simple and it acknowleged what everyone in the congregation was feeling.

we also got to meet our new baby nephew, caleb!!! such a cutie looking like his uncle joey (michelle's brother). i held him for a long time and he was so warm and snuggly and sweet!!! and hannah was as talkative and cute as ever! matt and i had such a fantastic time with mom, dad, ryan and michelle, too (but they take the back seat to the cutie babies--sorry guys!). actually, it was one of the most fun receptions because we all danced for hours!!!! ry, michelle, matt and i did a rock circle during "pour some sugar on me", dad chest-slammed, milli vanilli-style with graig, the bride's brother, and we took a ridiculous walk on the beach--good idea inspired by mom, but unfortunately lead by ryan-- through tall beach grasses and soft sand in high heels at 1 am--it was quite an epic evening! it was way too short of a visit, but wonderful to be on a vacation with family for two days!

matt and i are going to home depot and lowes today to see if we can figure out something for our back patio area. the one goal we have for out there is to be able to have little campfires, so the ground covering needs to be nonflammable. we're setting a timeline of having it done by christmas. i know, that seems far away, but all november weekends are already booked. in fact, ryan is going to be coming out here for a long weekend in november!!!

we also have our plane tickets booked for christmas-hooray! and thanks to matt's bosses who gave the whole company an extra four days off. so now we can have a longer trip and not be so rushed.

well, does this blog at least tide you all over? well, it's going to have to! :)
p.s. justin-HILARIOUS video of that little girl escaping from church!