last night's ladies night

We had a "spa night" where we made different face masks and

We made oatmeal and banana masks to open up the pores. We smelled like breakfast.

Megan did the best job of getting it on her face. We were dripping the concoction all over Shannon's kitchen.
After the banana and oat mask, we did a cornmeal and warm water to exfoliate. We didn't take any pictures of that because we were too busy to eat the super delicious dessert Megan made.

We then made a cucumber and plain yogurt cooling/soothing mask. Shannon and Abigail decided they really wanted to dunk their whole faces into the bowl with the mask goo.

Shannon before.

Abigail before.

Shannon getting a face full.

Abigail in the bowl.

Shannon after. She had it in her eyelashes and everything!

Abigail after.

I don't think I've laughed that long and hard in a while. It was really fun! But things are always fun with these ladies. Living in Williamsburg has definitely improved since I've gotten to know them better. I thought I would be really sad about not being able to afford to go home for Thanksgiving and Dan & Emily's wedding, but it's not so bad. I know I'll enjoy being here as much as if I were there. I mean, of course I'm disappointed I don't get to see my family, but we'll see each other in December. I'm not half as homesick as I was last year, for many different reasons (one of the biggest being that no one close to us died around this time this year, that makes it a lot easier). I am definitely looking forward to being home for Christmas, though. I'm hoping to see a lot of people before they move from Michigan, seeing both of our families, and enjoying a little of Michigan's winter weather (I reallllllly hope it snows while we're there). On the way home last night, David and I talked about how I feel like we're no longer strangers here. I like it here. I like the people, the attitude, the weather, etc. I love Michigan, I'll always love Michigan, but I don't hate it here. I like this area and I like Virginia.

time for pictures

I finally uploaded pictures from my camera. Some were there since September!
Gabriel's favorite blanket. We bought this last month for $10 at Target, it's soo incredibly soft and warm and Gabriel loves it. Everytime it's on the love seat, he's on it, fast asleep.

Jackie's been sleeping out in the open more recently. She's enjoyed the top of the fridge.

And she even cuddled up with David when both of us were in the same room. She usually will only allow herself to be cuddly and be pet when one of us is there.

The rest of these pictures are from Ladies Night last month.
There was a lot of attention given to the newest lady to join us, Lydia:

(arrg! my computer won't let me rotate it for some reason. sorry about it being sideways! haha)
Megan and Lydia

Danielle and Kristie with Lydia

Abigail and Shannon


and that's all I got! I should start taking more pictures.

praise jesus and launch the missles early!

I am incredibly excited.
First off, the past two nights have actually been fun! There was laughter! New people I've heard about and finally met! Exciting plans for the future! Pool, beer & wine, spoons, poker, nannies, lightbulbs, Star Wars naked jokes, the list goes on...
Okay, let me start making sense. Thursday night was supper club, the last one of the summer, but it was much larger than the summer ones. I finally met Leanne and Diana, who David told me I would like (and he was right!), I got to sit in a very comfortable papasan chair and play Loaded Questions with a huge group of people. There were lots of inside jokes created and brought up again.
Last night was the meet and greet they had for the first years. We went last year and it was awkward, but useful. This year was much better seeing as we actually knew people. I enjoyed staying in the corner, playing (really badly) pool with Megan and chatting. David invited people over for poker afterwards, which I didn't automatically groan at since I would actually have other people to talk with! Hurray! Actually, the ladies decided to go see The Nanny Diaries instead, since we were right around the corner from the movie theater. I read the book last summer and it wasn't horrible and neither was the movie. We almost took up a whole row, which was awesome. When we got back to the apartment, the guys were playing poker and chess in the dining/living room, so the ladies ended up in our computer room, playing Spoons (which I haven't played since 10th? 11th? grade? So it was tooootally fun!).
Basically, it was a great way to end the summer. Two nights of fun, meeting new, awesome people, making Facebook friends, making plans and ending up with a Ladies Night with some gorgeous, intelligent, hilarious women every 3rd Friday of the month.

I'm also excited because Monday starts all the school hullabaloo again. As much as I love sleeping in, not having to rush to finish my to do list and be incredibly tired at times, I also miss being a teacher. I miss my ladies at work, I miss my students, I miss exposing them to new & exciting literature-and-writing-related things. And the classroom! Oh, to have a classroom of my own! I can only imagine how that will change things. I will be able to find things and be better organized! And be able to set up things early instead of having to do it in 5 minutes! Oh, and the laughter. The belly-aching, teary-eyed laughter that comes with the school year. It's one of the best parts and it's what keeps us all sane. Hopefully, this year will be better (or at least on the same level as last year) and not really horrible.

Oh, and I'm going back to dance class. :)