Big News

I have an announcement.

You ready?

I'm not sure I even am!

Okay, here goes. =)

We accepted an offer on our house.

So...

It looks like the Super family is moving in August.

=)

Well, that’s going to be new…

It was quite an exciting day for the Super family yesterday. We received an offer on our home and put in an application…for a diabetic pump.

Since Kyle was diagnosed with Type 1 back in May (cinco de mayo to be precise), we’ve gone through a life-changing experience. Every item of food revolves around needles and medicine and counting. I told my coworker this morning how we (or more he, as my math is a bit shaky at best) count carbs and have to also adjust his insulin based on his blood sugar, and she said, “How do people who don't do math do this? Or how do people who don’t care handle this?”

I just shrugged. 

This is a scary disease. All of our meals (okay, the majority of them, lol!) are based on how many carbs there are in that food. It’s become more normal for us, even in two months, which I’m so grateful for, but it’s still…scary.

The pump scares me. It’s permanent. I don’t like to think of such a permanency for a disease, but…he’s going to have this for the rest of his life, and this will make life so much easier for him. He won’t have to take five shots a day. He won’t have to run back to the house if he forgot a needle.

One of our friends has the pump and loves it. My cousin’s husband has the pump and loves it. Our doctors love it. His first nutritionist (and super amazing mom-to-be!) loves it. And she perhaps had the best advice:

“Yeah, it is scary. But do some research on it. Ask nurses, ask doctors, ask people who have it. See what they think and which one they use. Ask his doctor about it. Get all of your questions answered and see if you feel more comfortable.”

It’s nice to know that my fear is justified. And I did take her advice. I’ve done the research on the company’s websites, and we’ve asked everyone around us. I’m still hesitant, because this is a big deal, but I am more comfortable. My husband’s excited about it, and anything to make his already way-too-busy life a little simpler makes me excited as well.  

So. We’re getting a pump. 

Pause

Is procrastinating similar to waiting?

I am waiting. Waiting for news, waiting for an appointment. Waiting, sometimes knowing when things will occur, but most often times not.

Therefore, I procrastinate.

When I have a huge list of items to accomplish, I am on the ball. I will finish the agenda in record time and have time to relax in the afternoon. When I have one or two things to accomplish, though…oh, I procrastinate.

To keep me procrastinating a few more minutes this morning, I decided to make a list of…Great Fun in July!

Sorry. I’d come up with a better name, but the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet, lol.

·      Spending time with great friends in Tennessee

·      Spending Friday afternoons at the pool

·      Eating an average of a snow cone a week – a different flavor each week!

·      Eagerly anticipating Baby Ella’s arrival next month!

·      Reconnecting with an old college friend

·      Preparing for the beach and my sweet husband’s 29^th birthday

·      Starting our Ruth Bible study at church

·      This sweet baby’s two-year-old birthday party

·      Grilling with friends

·      Finishing that stupid transfer class

·      Making new desserts, including blueberry cream pie, oreo treats, and the Chocolate Trilogy

·      Watching the sweet pup find a new boyfriend

I feel like there’s more…and there is. =) But, as with everything, I have to be patient. I’ve never been a very patient person, but, if I’m learning one thing this summer, it’s patience. And, as I keep trying to explain to God, I don’t think I requested to learn patience. I know better, haha! But He knows more than I do (shocking, huh?).

And the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places and give strength to your bones. You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. -- Isaiah 58:11

It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

All recipes (minus the soup, obviously) can be found by clicking here.

My sweet husband and I celebrated the end of a decade-long love with J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series by having a date night in the house. We borrowed "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" from a sweet friend, and I made a surprise dinner.

First, the least Harry Potter-esque entree: potato soup. I had trouble figuring out what would be a good main course for this surprise dinner, so I settled with potato soup as warm and yummy -- and had Kyle make it!

And now...for the magic!

Mrs. Weasley's rock cakes (as we all know Hagrid's would be too tough to eat...)

Kyle LOVED these, which was quite surprising, as they have raisins (I was unaware that he was a raisin fan) and they're really not sweet. Seriously. I put two tablespoons of Splenda in them, and that was the only sweet thing. They were pretty yummy. In fact, I decided to have two for breakfast with my coffee this morning!

Next...acid pops!

How do you make acid pops, you ask? Quite simply.

Dip a lollipop (or, in our case, a blow pop) in just a hint of honey (I read recipes where you dip them in water, but honey worked best for me, as it didn't activate the third ingredient) and then roll it gently around in pop rocks.

How stinking cool is this?? And three small bags of pop rocks (around $1.09 each at the university bookstore) covered more than 10 blow pops.

And then...the item I was most looking forward to...

BUTTERBEER!!!

We both, naturally, were stuffed. Seriously, I feel like I need to run a half-marathon to run off the calories simply from last night's meal. And tonight...the end is here. 

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?"

American hero

Keep this sweet family in your prayers.

Sarah Kate and Angie

Family picture

Our friends Chris and Angie, along with their adorable daughter, came over last week for dinner. Chris left for annual training yesterday, and, in three weeks, he'll head to Afghanistan for about 14 months. This is obviously going to be very hard for all of them, so keep them in your prayers for safety and comfort while Chris serves his country.

Sarah Kate absolutely loved Vicki, and, I've got to say, Vicki wasn't too opposed to SK, either, ha! SK looovvveedd when Vicki licked her hands (which was pretty much every time SK got within licking distance of our pooch), and Vicki loved to taste the remnants of dinner on her fingers.

Speaking of dinner....I made a blueberry cream pie that evening, and it was so good, I have to share the recipe!! (Sorry, no pics!)

Blueberry cream pie

Pie crust (I mean, you can make your own, but when Pillsbury has a great one anyway...)

Filling

3 cups blueberries

1/4 cup splenda blend

1/3 cup all purpose flour

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup fat free cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumb Topping

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 Tablespoon splenda blend

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Sprinkle of nutmeg and allspice

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup plus 2 1/2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

Mix together the sugar and flour. Add in the sour cream, eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Put the blueberries on the bottom of the crust. Pour the filling over the blueberries and spread it out.

Now make the crumb topping. Mix together the sugar, brown sugar, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Pour the melted unsalted butter into the bowl and mix everything together.

Add in the flour and mix until the ingredients form a crumble topping.

Crumble the crumb topping over the pie.

Mix together 1 large egg and a Tablespoon of water and brush over the edge of the crust.

Bake the pie at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. Let the pie cool before cutting into slices. Then enjoy!

Cannonball

I guess it's official. Well, technically it's been official for about 20 days, but...we're selling our house. Or at least trying to sell our house. Selling would mean that we're in the process of signing a contract with someone else. Trying to sell is where we are now.

The house looks amazing. And I'm not trying to sell it to y'all (but if you're interested in an amazingly-priced, awesome house in north Louisiana, hit me up), but it looks gorgeous. Kyle and I, along with some generous, kind friends and family members have been working to make sure the house is in tip-top shape for its open house this coming Sunday. It's received a semi-professional paint job, had new door frames put on, has been steam-cleaned, polished, and emptied. I'm going to admit, the house has never been prettier.

It's been quite a headache trying to sell. I'm very impatient (who knew, right? lol), and I've had to rely on God for this because, as Kyle and I are both struggling with, we cannot control this. God knows whether or not we will sell and when that happy day will come. I've been talking with Him about this a lot, and I've had to realize two facts: 1. God knows I want to sell our house. 2. God knows if that's the right thing or not. And while I could sit here and say, "I know it's the right thing," I don't know. I'm clueless. =) But thank goodness Someone does know and Someone is looking out for me.

At any rate, please pray for us as we go through this process during the heat and humidity of a Louisiana summer. Pray that we listen to God and follow His will. I would like His will to be selling the house, but pray that we are wise and good listeners in this situation.

And today...we paint trim! ;)

The Civil Wars

(We interrupt your normally scheduled blog relating to Tennessee adventures due to more recent adventures and due to the lack of my ability to go to Walgreens and get the underwater camera film developed.)

So my Thursday night technically started on a Wednesday...

Kyle called me up at work Wednesday morning and said, "Hey, so my work is giving us tickets to see The Civil Wars in Jackson tomorrow night. But I know it's a work night, so do you want to --?"

"YESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!!"

The Civil Wars is my current Ob.Session. And, yes, that's two words to demonstrate how obsessed I am with them. I grew up listening to Joy Williams and had her CDs (you remember CDs right?) and even saw her in concert in high school. Her voice is magical. And so is her fellow song member of the Civil Wars, John Paul White, who is a double for Sirius Black.

John Paul White

Sirius Black

See???

So last night we headed with a friend to go see The Civil Wars. The venue was (no joke) a Mexican restaurant by day and music venue by night. Quite interesting. They had folding chairs set up all over the floor (which I was very happy for) and the music was loud but not so loud that you couldn't talk to people around you (music so loud that I can't talk to anyone is usually why I'm a bit anti-concert. 10 more points for Gryffindor...oh, wait...)

 Here's a video of them performing part of one of my favorites of theirs, "Barton Hollow."

And, the last song their played, which, every time I hear it, basically takes my breath away. So sad, but such an AMAZING song:

Sigh. Heart. Heart. Heart.

And more fun pics!!!

Who's excited about seeing The Civil Wars???

Beautiful hair, beautiful face, beautiful voice. Le sigh.

And, yes, I'm still on Cloud 9. Why do you ask? ;)

Shopping

(I'm three for three this week, what what!)

Shopping on vacation is great. Shopping at an outlet mall is even better.

Our closest outlet is about four hours away, so anytime I see a good outlet mall (Tanger is the best), it’s time to HIT THAT UP. We made a map, we had a plan, and we executed it beautifully. So beautifully, as a matter of fact, that our husbands’ eyes nearly bulged out of their heads when they saw our loot.

I think the picture is shaky because Sean was about to pass out.

My best buy of the day was a $60 Banana Republic sweater for…$1.98. Yep, less than $2. And, if I do say so myself, it looks pretty dang spectacular on me. That was the best buy. However, our biggest buy…

Some girls get tattoos to commemorate friendship or a fantastic vacation. We opted for Coach purses. I’m usually fairly practical when it comes to purchases, but…well, it’s a good memory, lol!!

I walked around the Coach store with about every purse in the store on my shoulder until I found “The One” (which needs a name, I believe, but I haven’t come up with one yet). 

As soon as we walked in the store, Rindy looked around and said, “Ladies, we are leaving here with Coach purses!” (She’s been eyeing hers for some time.) And, sure enough, we did. 

We also ate at The Chop House twice that day. Yes, that’s correct. We went for lunch, and it was absolutely delicious. I had lobster fettuccini, and everything was so delicious that we called the boys to come meet us there for dinner.

What’s really funny is that I asked Brooke where a good place to eat would be…and she suggested The Chop House! I’m just sad there’s not one ANYWHERE around me. Boo on that!

And next (maybe?) we discuss...Dollywood!!

Hide and seek, adult-style

The girls on our Tennessee trip are incredible hiders. So incredible, as a matter of fact, that on the last night, we finally had to come out and let the boys know where we were.

The ritual of hide and seek begins with pool. The boys would go down to the bottom level to play pool around 11 p.m., and we, being tired, would stay awake by playing an impromptu game of hide-and-seek. 

For example, on Night 1, we made our plan and headed to the second level’s laundry room, where we could hear the boys playing. When they finished their game and headed to the top floor, where they wrongly assumed we were, we bolted downstairs to Rindy and Dustin’s bedroom. Rindy led us into a storage closet, turned off the lights, and we waited.

We didn’t wait for long. Dustin, turns out, is an excellent seeker, and he and Kyle found us quickly. However, Sean, who had split up and taken the top level, wasn’t so lucky. Dustin turned out all the lights on the bottom floor as the five of us hid in the storage facility.

Lesson learned (to make this shorter): Don’t turn all the lights off in the basement when the guy who is trying to find you was locked in the basement with the lights off as a joke by his older brother when they were kids. He will not go down in a darkened basement when he knows there are five individuals hiding there.

The last night, however, was epic. Our floor had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The three girls hid on side of the closets in the second bedroom, squeezing up tightly on that one side. The boys came searching, opening the partly opened door of the closet…and, again, wrongly assumed we were not in the closet, as they couldn’t see us on that side.

Favorite quotes from that evening:

“They’ve got to be on the move.” Nope.

“I heard them downstairs!” Nope.

“They must be outside.” Nope.

“I checked that bedroom. It’s clear.” Tee hee…nope!

“They’re really good at this.” Why, yes, we are.

They turned off the lights on the second floor, thinking we were not there and we wouldn’t run around in the dark (because they thought we were moving from location to location). Dustin would jerk open every door and do his “raptor cry” in anticipation of scaring us…and failing. He and Kyle took the bottom floor with a walkie-talkie, and Sean took the top deck…leaving us alone on the middle floor.

They all three finally came back in the bedroom we were in (not looking for us, because they had “checked” the closet twice by this point), and that’s when we finally came out to some very shocked expressions. They were quite surprised that we had stayed in one location the entire time.

Seriously. How many 30-something and late-20-something-year-olds do you know who wouldn’t play hide and seek in a three-story cabin?

Gatlinburg overview

How do you know the vacation was AWESOME?

Because you don’t rest until you come home.

Some vacations I need to take to rest. Work’s been hard, or life’s been hard in general. However, this time, we vacationed simply to play hard. And we succeeded.

We, along with Rin and Dustin, headed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, last week to spend some time in a three-story cabin overlooking the Appalachian Mountains with our friends from Ohio, Sean and Tina. And, I would like to give credit to Brooke for being our online tour guide, as she was in Ohio but still managed to give us good tips for where to shop and eat via Twitter. Also, she is absolutely correct in saying that she lives in the Promised Land. I want to look for jobs up there!

There’s so much to say regarding this trip, and I’m sure there will be multiple posts regarding our time, but this one is just an overview with a few pictures thrown in.

This was my view every morning as I drank my coffee and sat in a rocking chair on the top level. This cabin was awesome. Not only did each of us have a full floor to ourselves, but it also had a pool table room, a hot tub, a sauna, and great places to hide for great hide-and-seek games (more on those later!).

Boys grilling dinner, including the infamous “triple burger,” which apparently is a diabetic's friend, as Kyle consistently has perfect blood sugar after this meal (but probably higher cholesterol, lol).

Tina and me just before dinner. This was taken after a busy day at Dollywood, where we rode every roller coaster at least once (sometimes up to three times…What can I say? NO LINES!!).

The three of us before shopping (post-shopping post to come later; we RACKED UP.)

Last day at the cabin. I already miss it and the people in it!