a baby is born!!!

sweet baby girl, Laurel Faith Jordan, was born at stephens county hospital in toccoa, georgia this morning at 8:11, weighing 8 pounds 6 ounces and measuring 20 inches long!!! what a beauty! congratulations to my brother and sister-in-law, jason & joy, and their baby girl! Laurel is my parents first granddaughter, the first niece for lindsay, adam & me, and ethan's little sister.

this picture was taken from lindsay's cell phone within minutes of her birth! can't wait to share more pictures and stories! hopefully i will get to see her next weekend if we go up to georgia.

please pray for joy's recovery and baby laurel to eat well and grow, grow, grow!

harry potter

what an exciting year to become a harry potter fan! the seventh and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be in bookstores on july 21st; the fifth movie will be in theaters on july 11th; and universal studios is building a harry potter theme park!!!

i remember when the first book came out and people were going crazy. churches all around were banning the books. people, especially children started to idolize him. i didn't really care whatsoever...books and story characters that became as famous as harry potter did, seemed a bit looney to me. and i thought harry potter was so nerdy.

during my aol chat room days, when i was incredibly bored, i used to go into this harry potter designated chat room where i guess nerds and dorks would gather to chat about the latest book or something. i thought it was hysterical how famous harry potter became. he was ugly and nerdy. (and i was shallow and dumb) i said really immature things in that chat room like "harry potter is so hot" and "i want to marry harry potter". of course i was just mocking the obsessed people in the chat room and all over the world. i was acting really obnoxious....definitely not a "good" use of time. but sadly i found it amusing anyway.

then in my 12th grade english class, one of my classmates read a harry potter book (i think it was the first one) for some project we had to do. i tried making fun of him for it, but he said he couldn't put the book down, that it was really good! i thought, wow, even this guy likes it. but i still didn't have a desire to get into it.

one day during my first summer at college, i caught most of the first harry potter movie. it was showing on channel 5, our campus movie channel for everyone in the dorms. this is when i realized that harry potter was actually "cool" and i completely changed my mind about it being dorky. i really enjoyed the movie, or what i saw of it. the whole idea seemed fun. when the second movie came out, i decided i would read the books before i watched it. but i didn't have time to read harry potter, not with all my college courses.

during my third year of college, i roomed with melissa, katie, and brittany and all 3 of them had read all of the harry potter books! and they all love the books, especially melissa. i couldn't believe how many people around me had read them all. i don't remember any of my friends from high school or people there enjoying the books. but i started feeling like i was missing out on something, so i ordered the first 3 books. they sat on my bookshelf for almost 2 years. then one day, something magical happened...haha. ;) adam and i decided to start reading them. and about 9-10 months later, here i am waiting for the 7th book to come out and the 5th movie and super excited about the harry potter theme park.

it's still a bit looney but now i'm glad to be a part of it. adam and i have thoroughly enjoyed each book. i would read aloud as adam listened. often, adam would say "keep reading!" even when i'd stop for a second to take a sip of water and catch my breath. we'd read at night before bed, while driving in the car, we'd stay up late or spend hours at a time on saturdays to read. haha...i swear it's not an addiction. it's just been a lot of fun! and we finished the half-blood prince about a month ago.

we even tried to make butterbeer as we watched the 4th movie a couple weeks ago. it was so sweet so i think we will try a few different recipes or come up with our own next time. but it is so much fun! i bet the new theme park will have butterbeer!! :)

so if you are not into harry potter, i have to say you are missing out on some fun stories! and if you are a fan, maybe we can visit the park together when it opens! or see the new movie coming out. you know i'll be there. and can't wait to see how the story finishes. i'm kinda nervous if you know what i mean!

where did may go?

honestly...it feels like each month flies by faster than the one before it. this life is seeming shorter and shorter. soon i'll be 50 years old with a grandchild and i'll still be struggling with managing my time and waking up in the mornings. well i hope this isn't the case, but i'm just saying...life is going by really quickly! i'll celebrate my 24th birthday in october this year. i'm currently in this phase where the age 22,23, and 24 all run together and i have to think for a moment to figure out my present age when asked by someone or when i have to write it on an application. is that weird? well it makes me feel old that i can't get my age out as fast as my name.

anyway, i really have no idea what i am talking about...i am excited about the month of june though. my first neice will be born this month. we don't know her name yet and i'm getting impatient about finding out! at least we know she is a girl. it's also a big month for birthdays of some of my closest friends. new freshmen at UF will be moving here during the last week of the month which means new friends! and last but not least, adam begins his job at the florida department of transportation! this means we will be on his health insurance soon(state benefits!!!)...i'm really excited about this because it means we are a couple steps closer to having babies!!! haha.

poland is still on my heart (and adam's). we really fell in love with poznan when we were there back in march. we hope to go back someday. we miss everyone!

also, adam and i are officially members of the gainesville health & fitness center now! we signed up last thursday. it's a really really nice gym and they have so much to offer. and on some of the cardio machines, you have your own tv screen to watch whatever you want! yesterday i spent 45 minutes on the elliptical watching seinfeld!!! anyway, we are excited to get back to exercising regularly. i need to lose about 20-25 lbs!

nothing else is really new. i am trying to get up in the mornings to spend time with God before work but it hasn't been going too well. i hope it will become easier once adam begins his job (this friday). i shouldn't rely on that but i do think his work schedule will help. i have a praise though about my attitude at work! it's still a struggle every week but i have noticed a significant difference lately...it has been much more positive! having a paid holiday and a short work week probably helped! but i still want to be a stay-at-home mom soon. i can't wait!!! :-D

best city in america

gainesville, fl is #1 and not just in sports! my dad received a very interesting article in the mail last week from my grandpa (his dad). i found the same article online from usa today. you can read it here. apparently, i am living in the best place in the usa according to a book by bert sperling & peter sander called cities ranked & rated 2nd edition.

i really do love gainesville, fl but i am shocked it is rated the #1 city. i mean who would think a city in florida that isn't along the coastline would be the #1 place to live in the whole usa! lol! i find it very amusing. i don't agree or disagree. i don't know what to think. obviously it all depends on the factors you use to "rate" a city. even though there isn't a beach to play at, i have an awesome church and a wonderful community of friends here. and the fact that we are all gators here makes it super fun! there are no mountains or beaches but we do have a lot of pretty trees and scenic roads.

anyway, i thought it was a very interesting article and wanted to share it with you. :) post any comments you have!

i just love it!

it's been a really really busy month of may! many events to be celebrated!

so far...
5/4 - adam graduated from the university of florida!
5/11 - two of our friends, jon & pam, got married!
5/12 - adam and i have been married one year!
5/13 - mother's day!
5/16 - first homegroup of the summer!
5/17 - the season finale of the office! (which was amazing)
5/18 - shrek 3 came to theaters! (although we haven't celebrated by actually seeing it yet)
5/19 - danielle (a family friend from childhood) got married!

the only pictures that are up so far are of adam's graduation but please check in again soon to see lovely photos of the other events! (hint: see the right side of my blog where i have links to my pictures, under "picasa stuff")

even though we have been so busy, we have truly enjoyed the month of may! we have been able to spend hours of fun with both of our families, and friends including kimberly and brian (who we hadn't seen since new years) and jen (thanks for coming to the beach with us on saturday!). we also recently got to see our good friend dave who moved to texas last year.

and can't forget about the beach! we have had more time at the beach in the past two weeks than we have had in the past year! yeah i know...ridiculous! i promise we really do live in florida. but no really, it's been super nice: the sun, the water, the sand, my beautiful husband, the pina coladas, the sunsets, frenchy's rockaway grill, etc....sigh...i just love it!

anyway, i know you can just look at our calendar below but here are some upcoming events:

5/25-28 - memorial day weekend, visiting adam's parents in palm beach
6/1 - adam's first day at new job!
6/2 - wendy's baby shower in south carolina!
6/3 - our friend piotr gets married...sorry we will miss it!
6/8 - joy is scheduled for a cesarean section, our first niece of the summer to be born! (baby name unknown)
6/9 - friends allie & stew tie the knot!
6/17 - father's day!

gotta get back to work for now! will be back on later ;)