Life Archives - Page 8 of 11 - Sobremesa Stories

Five on Friday: Christmas Break!

December 18, 2015 By Lauren

Oh. My. Word. What a week! I am so glad to have made it through these last few weeks and finally be at the point where we can enjoy two weeks off. I can’t wait to celebrate Christmas with family, enjoy sweet time with friends, and take some time off from the routines of everyday life. But before I get too carried away, here are a few updates from our last week of the fall semester!

1) Fun Deliveries

All of those packages we ordered over Black Friday have been starting to arrive and it’s been so fun to come home from work to surprises on my doorstep! I don’t want to give too much away since I’m sure I’ll do a nursery reveal, but I’ve loved seeing some of this room start to come together. A friend from our church small group came and helped Jordan put up trim in the nursery and our entire upstairs hallway (shoutout to Bret for helping and Madi to letting us steal him for the night) and now hubby has been starting to assemble some of that furniture that’s been arriving. I am so excited to have all of break to start putting that room together and am grateful to have a husband who’s willing to work on it with me. Make sure to follow me on Instagram for more updates like this picture below that I shared this week!

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Five on Friday: Sick Puppies and Holiday Cheer

December 11, 2015 By Lauren

Happy Friday, friends! We made it through the week and now (if you’re a teacher like me) it’s just ONE more week until winter break! I am so ready for two weeks off to sleep in, sit by my Christmas tree, and enjoy sweet time with all my favorites. One. More. Week. But until then, here’s a few updates from this past week and weekend!

1) A Sick Puppy

This little lady has randomly gotten sick a few times over the last few weeks and we’ve seen some changes in her appetite, so we decided to take her to the vet just to get things checked out. She was completely fine and her normal rowdy self, so they said to switch to a food for sensitive puppy tummies and see if that helped at all. I’m glad she’s fine, but it really was so pitiful and sad to see her hurting. I know I’ve said it before (like in this post about how getting a dog made me a better human), but worrying about her this week reminded me how close she is to my heart. This girl is a part of our family and brings us so much joy. To say I’m glad she’s just a princess with a sensitive tummy is a major understatement!

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Five on Friday: Christmas Decorating And Family Fun

December 4, 2015 By Lauren

Happy Friday, friends! We made it through another week and if you’re a teacher like me, we are just two weeks away from Christmas break. We had such sweet time together and with people we love over Thanksgiving and I’m so grateful for this season that lets us slow down and cherish the people we love. I hope your bellies and hearts are still full from last week like ours are! Here are some updates from our last two weeks since I took a 4-5 day blogging break over Thanksgiving.

1) Thanksgiving Weekend

That five-day weekend could not have come at a better time. I had been feeling worn down (mostly physically from this whole pregnancy business and two weeks of a yucky cold) and five days to just rest and be with family was much needed. We spent Thanksgiving day with Jordan’s family eating yummy food, laughing at silly kiddos, and watching my husband and his three siblings play FIVE HOURS of foosball. Five hours, people. What in the world? We hung out with all of his siblings and their significant others several times over the weekend for some family pictures, leftovers, and even one epic game of Settlers (that I WON, I might add). I’m grateful that Jordan’s family lives close and that they are people whom we love dearly and always enjoy spending time with. I know that’s not the case for everyone and we are oh so grateful!

I’m green, and my initial placement totally won this game for me. Just saying. #SettlersNerd

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Six Month Pregnancy Update

November 23, 2015 By Lauren

Holy moly, this pregnancy feels like it’s been flying now that the fall is in full swing (and winter is rapidly approaching). This past weekend marked 24 weeks, or six months, of pregnancy and I can’t believe that we are just about four months away from meeting our little man (assuming he doesn’t decide to make an early appearance). Here’s a few updates on how the pregnancy’s been going so far!

Nursery Updates

Now that Jordan’s done with cross-country, we’ve jumped full force into some nesting! We took everything out of the baby room (including Olive’s kennel – she was VERY confused) and knocked out painting it last weekend. We have a pretty good system down where I cut in around the windows, ceiling, etc, and Jordan does the roller. We painted the walls a beautiful, cool shade of pale gray (like everything else in our house, I know – see our home tour here for evidence).

My backwards cap wearing partner in crime (and his coffee)

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Five on Friday: Sick Days and Lots of Painting

November 20, 2015 By Lauren

With Thanksgiving and a short week next week (followed by just THREE weeks until Christmas break!), this week has felt a bit slow. I know sometimes those weeks are necessary because they force us to take a breath, slow down, and not let time fly by us, but it was definitely a long one. I’m grateful for lazy nights, sick days, and the time to heal when our bodies wave the white flag of surrender!

1) Sick Days

In my four years of teaching, I don’t know that I’ve taken a single sick day. I hate making sub plans and usually feel like it’s easier to just tough it out and rest when I get home. But I got knocked out by some sort of yucky cold this week and that combined with pregnancy (aka the fact that I can’t take my favorite cold medicines of choice due to this whole growing a human thing) meant I had to give in and take a day off. I spent the day on the couch reading, blogging, and doing lots and lots of grading. I’m still feeling a bit under the weather but I’m glad I gave myself some space to recover. And snuggle my sleepy puppy, of course.

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Five on Friday: House Projects and Awesome Husbands

November 13, 2015 By Lauren

With cross-country winding down and some of our commitments slowing as the holidays approach, this week felt a lot more open. We only have about seven weeks until Christmas (what in the world?) and then the baby countdown really starts, so it was fun to feel our schedules slowing down a bit this week. I’m grateful for my husband, my puppy, and the beautiful home that we are slowly preparing to welcome our sweet baby Caleb into (you can read my letter explaining his name here)!

1) The End Of A Season

I’ve mentioned this a few times, but my husband coached high school cross-country this fall. He’s had 6:00 AM morning practice almost every morning since Memorial Day, afternoon practices that went until dinnertime most nights, and lots and lots of Saturday meets. And this past weekend, his runners rocked it at State, officially ending their season! It’s been so fun to see him jump into coaching this year. He loves his students so well and is so intentional in the ways he coaches them, both as runners and as men. He’s well on his way to becoming Coach Taylor and I’m pretty happy to be his Tami!

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Five On Friday: Baby Name Reveal & The KC Royals

November 6, 2015 By Lauren

With finding out our little one is a boy and game after game of Royals baseball these last few weeks, it seems like our whole world has turned (royal) blue! This week was full of fun celebrations and surprise days off and I loved every minute of it!

1) The KC Royals – World Champions!

Oh. My. Heavens. What a week to live in KC! The Royals officially won the World Series and our city went (and has been going) NUTS! We had a few friends over to watch the clinching game and we all ran out into the street whistling and spraying champagne as our neighborhood erupted with fireworks and gunshots. It was CRAZY! I love how much people around here support the Royals and I loved watching my hubby become a 7 year old boy who jumped and hollered around our house when his team won. Since so many folks were pulling their kids out of school to attend the Royals’ victory parade on Tuesday, they canceled classes for what we all called a “Blue Snow Day” so everyone could attend the citywide celebration. Over 800,000 folks showed up downtown and the whole city turned Royal blue! I sure am proud to be a Kansas Citian!

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Five on Friday: Koalas, Baby Gifts, and Sleepy Baseball Games

October 30, 2015 By Lauren

Now that the school year’s in full swing, it feels like the weeks are flying by! We only have about 7 weeks until Christmas break, and then after that it’s only another 10-12 weeks until baby arrives and our world pretty much stops for a while. Where the heck is the time going? Here’s a few updates from our fun week this week:

1) Sweet Mama Friends

I have felt so loved by some of my sweet mama friends these last few weeks! This past weekend, my friend Courtney texted me out of the blue and asked if I’d be interested in any of her maternity clothes. I said “HECK YES!!!” and picked them up and it was a bucket full of cute tops, dresses, leggings, and a few pairs of jeans and pants. Such a blessing! Then my sweet teacher friend Megan (who is pretty much the most thoughtful person in the whole world) ordered these adorable bibs below and had them sent to my school mailbox as a surprise after she found out I was having a boy. Seriously?! So stinking cute! I’m so grateful for how the moms in my world have already made me feel like a valued and loved part of their community. Maybe this whole mamahood thing won’t be too bad!

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Five On Friday: Gender Reveal!

October 23, 2015 By Lauren

Hi friends! It’s been a fun week in the English household. We got to see our little bean on the ultrasound, celebrate some fun Royals’ victories, and soak in slow time together. Weeks like this are my favorite! Here’s a peek at what our week looked like:

1) Trip to Branson

We headed out to good ol’ Branson, MO for a weekend getaway with our brother and sister-in-law. If you’ve never been to Branson, well, let’s just say it’s the Southern Baptist version of Las Vegas, complete with as many rhinestone-studded, Gospel-singing shows as any good Midwesterner could ever want. We didn’t do anything in the weekend that we couldn’t have just done in KC, but we still had lots of fun going on a walk around the lake, admiring the pretty trees, watching lots of baseball, and seeing The Martian, a movie we’d been super excited for! It was slow and joyful and exactly what we needed. I’m grateful to have family around who we love spending time with! We love you, Markus and Missy!

Jordan and his brother, Markus

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Overcoming Busyness: Why No Is Our New Favorite Word

October 19, 2015 By Lauren

When we catch up with the people we know and share life with, the question “How are you guys doing?” is often met with one consistent answer: BUSY. The people we love are working their you-know-what’s off at entry level jobs, going to school, and navigating the new waters of grownup relationships, marriages, and even the first few years of parenthood. And in the midst of all that, they are getting oh so tired of asking the same questions over and over: When will we catch up? When will this season end?

This fall, our schedules have seemed a little fuller too and we’ve been feeling the crunch of busy. Jordan is coaching high school cross-country, which means he leaves our house at 5:45 AM for morning practice and doesn’t usually get home until 5:45 PM. Combine that with my pouring time into blogging, teaching, and experiencing all the ups and downs of growing a tiny human, and our days and lives have felt a lot busier these last few months.