WDW Day 3, Part 2- Extra Magic Hours are My New Best Friend

We had planned earlier on Monday to visit the Magic Kingdom that evening after EPCOT closed. We thought it might be less crowded and we'd have a chance to get a head start on touring the park. Because we were staying on Disney property we got the privilege of Extra Magic Hours where parks will stay open late or open earlier and only resort guests are able to enjoy the attractions during that time. On Monday, Magic Kingdom had Extra Magic Hours from 11:00pm to 2:00am. We never planned on staying that late, but thought it would be fun to get a glimpse of the park that night. Let's just say our plans changed and we boarded the bus back to our resort at 1:45am.

Once we got off the monorail at Magic Kingdom, we arrived just about 15 minutes before the Magic Kingdom Wishes Fireworks show was scheduled to start. We decided to find a spot and enjoy the fireworks display before heading off to the other attractions. The Magic Kingdom fireworks show was by far one of my all time favorite memories of our entire stay at Disney World. The fireworks sparkling above Cinderella's castle was so iconic of Disney World. I mean really, who thinks about Disney World and at some point doesn't imagine the fireworks lighting up the sky just behind the castle? They played all my favorite Disney songs during the show too (When You Wish Upon a Star, A Whole New World, Beauty and the Beast), and perfectly timed the music and narration with the explosions of fireworks. I cuddled up to my husband and soaked in the moment. It was so romantic, so special, so beautiful, so magical. Ahh, I could go back now just to see that show again.

Seeing this castle for the first time in person was another highlight of the trip

Matt tried to capture some of the magic on video. It was waaaay better in person

After I recovered from the magic of the fireworks, Matt and I battled the crowd and ran off to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain. Unfortunately a lot of other people had the same idea we did, and we had to wait about 40 minutes to ride (which was the longest we ever had to wait the whole trip). Space Mountain was fun, not the most thrilling roller coaster ever, but a neat experience. When we finished with Space Mountain, we headed over and rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. We used laser guns on our cars to help Buzz beat Zurg. It wasn't near as exciting as the Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios, but we didn't have to wait in line, so it was definitely worth it. When we finished with that attraction, it was 11:00, and the Extra Magic Hours had started. I was beginning to get tired, but we realized we had a great opportunity to enjoy some major attractions with a lot shorter wait, and we wanted to take advantage of it.

About to head off to Space!

Don't worry Buzz, we'll help you defeat Zurg

We walked over to Frontierland to ride Splash Mountain. My guide book had warned that during peak season at Disney World, the line for Splash Mountain could easily exceed 2.5 hours, so when we got up to the ride and saw that it had less than a 5 minute wait, we were in heaven. Matt had never ridden Splash Mountain, and I still can't figure out how you can go to Disney World and not ride it, but it was fun to enjoy the first time experience together. I LOVED Splash Mountain. It is probably my favorite ride period. I've always been a big fan of log rides, and this was so much more than just a log ride. Throughout the ride, which was actually pretty long, they told the whole story of Brer Rabbit, complete with talking characters, music, and special effects. I was mesmerized and had no idea how much detail would be put into what I thought was a simple log ride. Even after the 5 story plunge, they had more of the ride with more storyline. I think I'll remember that ride for a long time.

Splash Mountain

We didn't get too wet on Splash Mountain but decided to dry off by riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad another majorly popular ride at Magic Kingdom. Once again we walked right on with no wait. This was one of the rides, I knew wouldn't be that great, but I wanted to ride just because it was Disney World, so not having to wait totally made it worth it. After that ride, I convinced Matt we needed to ride Splash Mountain again, since there was no wait. We enjoyed the journey of Brer Rabbit all over again, and I even managed to keep my eyes open during the plunge the second time. I regretted closing them the first time, but I was scared, and it was instinct.

By now, we were closing in on Midnight, and the park had totally cleared out, so we strolled over to Fantasyland, so my husband could ride Dumbo (Yes, that was on his must do list). I warned him that the line for Dumbo would be one of the longest in the park and that it wouldn't be worth it to ride the kiddie ride. He agreed, but with the Extra Magic Hours extravaganza, we were able to walk right up and hop in. I'm glad he got a chance to ride it. He's so funny about stuff like that, and it was fun to see him act like a little kid with his excitement when he got in the elephant.

Matt's dream come true. Riding the Dumbo ride with his wife :)

After our Dumbo adventure, we stayed in Fantasyland for the rest of the night and enjoyed some of the attractions aimed at younger audiences including Snow White's Scary Adventures, Peter Pan's Flight, and It's a Small World. These were just simple boat rides through animated scenes. They were fun, but totally wouldn't have been worth a 30 minute wait. Thanks again Extra Magic Hours. We also rode the Haunted Mansion ride, which actually exceeded my expectations. I thought the special effects were really neat and they did an incredible job on all the details throughout the ride. That attraction is also a favorite of mine from Magic Kingdom.

The last thing we did that evening was ride Cinderella's Golden Carousel. It was just a basic carousel ride, but taken up a notch in splendor. I had never planned on riding it, because I had heard the lines for it were very long, and it was nothing too special to actually stand in line and wait, but once again we had no wait, and a few extra minutes before the park closed, so we decided to mount a horse and enjoy the music and fantasy.
Finally, after a very long day and night, we made it back to our hotel and crashed. What a fun night, and I was so thankful we decided to visit Magic Kingdom that night and stayed awake to enjoy the rides with minimal waits. It also freed up some of the rest of our week since we managed to see so much of the Magic Kingdom in just a few hours.

WDW Day 3- Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow

On Monday, the third day of our vacation, we headed to EPCOT for the day. Once again, we stood behind the rope at the part of the park leading to the most popular attraction at the time and were led at a fast walk throughout the park to the Soarin' attraction. Had I been prepared for this attraction, I think I would have really loved it. It was a simulation ride in a huge theater where you feel like you are hang gliding over lots of touristy spots in California. Matt and I were both a little disappointed in the ride because we expected it to be more thrilling (moving faster, sharp turns). It was still neat though, and at one point when we were flying over a field of orange trees, they had a scent sprayer so we could actually smell the oranges. Had I known going in how tame it would be, my expectations for the ride would have been different, but it was still a highlight of the day for me.

When we finished riding Soarin' we headed over to the other side of the park and rode the Test Track attraction. Matt was excited about this ride, because he didn't get a chance to ride it the last time he went to Disney World. Basically, this ride was a simulation of different tests GM performs on its vehicles, and we got to be the crash dummies. It was pretty tame at first. We made some hair pin turns, went down some rocky roads, and were exposed to extreme conditions. After the first part of the ride we accelerated quickly and headed straight toward a brick wall. Just as we were about to crash, the wall opened up and we headed outside for a short roller coaster ride in the car. The last part of the ride was really fun. When we finished riding it, we got fast passes so we could ride again later and headed over to Mission Space.

I thought the landscaping was so neat at EPCOT. They had characters like these all over the park.

Mission Space was Matt's favorite ride at EPCOT. He enjoyed the simulation ride of the spaceship's first mission to Mars complete with G-forces. We had a good time and rode it twice.

Matt got a little bored before the ride started and decided to capture the memories inside the spaceship.

Then we went over to the giant globe that held the Spaceship Earth attraction which is basically travel through Earth's history and different technological advancements. It was neat and fun to ride up to the top of the famous EPCOT landmark. We had lunch reservations at the Coral Reef Cafe in EPCOT, so after Spaceship Earth we headed over to the Seas pavilion and rode the Seas with Nemo ride before lunch. Our restaurant was situated by the aquarium at EPCOT, so we had a great under the sea view of fish, sharks, and sting rays while we enjoyed our lunch. The food was pretty good, and it was nice to sit down and relax for a little while. After lunch, we explored the rest of the aquarium and after one other attraction in Future World, we decided to head back and rest before we explored the World Showcase area of EPCOT.

The Coral Reef Cafe

Inside our clam before the Nemo ride

After a short nap at the hotel we headed back to EPCOT and enjoyed some of the shopping and landmarks of the World Showcase area of the park. We browsed the shops enjoyed the attractions of Norway (a boat ride that turned into a mini indoor log ride), the American experience and the movie about Canada. This was really the only time during the trip that I felt a little rushed and that we missed a few things. If we had had more time, it would have been fun to tour the different pavilions at a slower pace.

I made Matt take a picture of Belle and the Beast.

Before we left EPCOT for the evening, we got the chance to watch another fireworks show. We were busy touring, so we didn't get lined up early enough to get a great view of the fireworks, but still enjoyed the show. Since EPCOT closed earlier that night (9:00), and Magic Kingdom was open late, we hopped on the monorail and traveled over to Magic Kingdom to see a few attractions there before we called it a night, but that part of day 3 is going to have to have its own post :).

Disney World Day 2- Sunset Boulevard

Sunday was our first day to go to the Disney theme parks. We decided to go to Disney Hollywood Studios the first day, because they had longer hours on Sunday, and I had a hunch it would be one of my favorite parks (I was right). We got up bright and early because the guide book I had read strongly advised getting to the parks before they opened to avoid long wait times for attractions. We arrived at Hollywood studios about 30 minutes before they opened. We were disappointed when we picked up our map for the park and saw that the Rockin’ Roller Coaster was temporarily closed. This was one of the attractions we were most looking forward to since it was one of two intense roller coasters in Walt Disney World. Thankfully, while we were waiting for the park to open, a cast member told us that the ride would reopen on Friday, the 21^st which was our last day at the parks. It was perfect timing.


When we arrived at Hollywood Studios, we knew that we needed to ride the Toy Story Midway Mania first thing that morning because it was the most popular attraction in the park and would have the longest line if we didn’t ride it immediately, so we lined up behind the rope closest to that attraction. The rope drop remains a vivid memory for me. There was a huge mob lined up behind the rope all planning to head straight for the Toy Story ride as soon as the rope dropped at 9:00am. To avoid a remake of the stampede scene in the Lion King, a line of Disney workers stood in front of the crowd and continued to carry the rope at a fast walk all through the park until we got close to the Toy Story attraction. It was my first glimpse at how well thought out and organized the theme park was. When we entered the Pixar Studios area of the park, Matt and I laughed as we saw what we thought were life size statues of the green army men from Toy Story. We laughed even harder when we heard one of them yell through a megaphone and walk around. It was hilarious. They ran off yelling to the other army men that Andy needed them for a mission. That’s another great memory. Matt got a picture with one of them on Friday when we went back to Hollywood Studios.

After the rope really dropped and we were free, we got in line for the Toy Story ride and only had to wait about 5 minutes to enjoy the attraction. The ride was so fun. We got our 3-D glasses and got in the car that was made to look like Andy’s bed with two guns mounted on the front. During the ride, we used our guns to shoot at various 3-D targets from the Toy Story movie. After everything we did during the whole week, this attraction is still one of our favorites. Matt called it a video game on major steroids. As soon as we finished we headed outside and got fast passes so we could ride it again later in the day without having to wait in line.

In line for the Toy Story ride

Ready to score some points!

After the Toy Story attraction, we headed over to Sunset Boulevard to ride the Tower of Terror, one of the attractions I was most looking forward to. It didn’t disappoint. I still would probably say that I like the Superman ride at Six Flags better because it is taller and the drop is more thrilling, but this one was so neat. From the moment we stepped in line it felt like we were really at the Tower Hotel and the decorations, music, and atmosphere all contributed to an eeriness that continued throughout the ride. It was so fun, so much fun that we immediately got back in line and rode again. Another one of my memories from that day is the picture they take of you when you’re on the ride that we saw in the gift shop after the ride. In the picture I was screaming and had a terrified look on my face with my hands high in the air, all the while Matt’s head is turned and he is staring at me with a smile on his face. He commented several times that he enjoyed my expressions during the rides more than the actual ride itself. He also mentioned how loud I screamed or how nervous I was when I was waiting in line for a thrilling attraction.

The lobby that we stood in while we "waited to check into the hotel"

After we got our Tower of Terror fix, Matt needed a Star Wars fix, so we rode the Star Tours ride which is a flight simulator ride based on the Star Wars movies. I wouldn't say it was one of my favorite attractions, but Matt enjoyed it. After that ride, our fast passes were ready at Toy Story so we walked back to the other side of the park to improve our scores on the ride. I'm a little too goal oriented when it comes to video games, so I'm glad I got a chance to beat my old score :). Matt still beat me though. After that ride, we stopped by Pizza Planet to grab some lunch and then walked over to see the Beauty and the Beast show. Yes, my husband loves me enough to watch Beauty and the Beast with me at Disney World. Beauty and the Beast is probably in my top 5 favorite Disney movies, so it was fun to see the highlights again. I hadn't seen the movie in a long time, but I love the songs and the story line. It was just a 30 minute show so they cut a lot of the plot out, but kept all the popular songs and had great costumes.

Since Matt willingly watched Beauty and the Beast with me, I returned the favor afterward and we got in line to watch the Indiana Jones stunt show. Umm, is it bad for me to admit that I've never seen an Indiana Jones movie in my life? I still enjoyed the show though, and it brought back memories from the Full House episode when the family visits Disney World (ha, ha). After that show, we started to get pretty tired and maybe a little grouchy, so we decided it was time for a break. We caught a bus and went back to our resort for a couple of hours to rest. My guide book recommended this schedule, and we stuck to taking a break in the middle of the day every day we were there. We were able to avoid the hottest part of the day and the heaviest crowds by taking a break in mid afternoon.

After our nap, we went back to Hollywood Studios for the evening. Let me again say how sweet my husband is, because the first thing we did when we arrived back at the park was wait in line for the Little Mermaid show (My all-time favorite Disney movie). Again it was an abbreviated show, but they performed all the great songs (except "Kiss the Girl"-I was a little disappointed about that). We grabbed some dinner when the show was over and then enjoyed a couple of the smaller attractions before we headed over to the Fantasmic show. We got there about an hour early because we had heard that it was immensely popular, and the auditorium often filled to capacity prior to the start of the show.

It was overcast and drizzly and we worried for awhile that they would cancel the show. They did postpone it for about 5 minutes, but thankfully they didn't cancel it. The show was my favorite thing about day 2. They performed it in the middle of the lake and had fountains, a water screen they projected video clips on, fireworks and almost every Disney character imaginable along with incredible musical scores. It was Disney at its finest. I loved it. It really captured the entire Disney experience for me.

One of the few non-blurry pictures of the show. Matt kept reminding me during the show that he needs a better camera.

Our first day at Hollywood Studios was probably one of my favorite days of our entire trip. The whole day was great. The Toy Story ride and the Tower of Terror were 2 of my favorite attractions of the whole trip, and the shows we watched were everything I was hoping for at Disney World.

Disney World Day 1

We just got home from one of our favorite vacations. We had the best week exploring and enjoying Walt Disney World, and there is no way I can cram in all the things we did and all the fabulous memories we made in just one or two blog posts, so I’m going to divide our vacation up into a series of posts documenting our trip. We both agreed that our honeymoon aside, this was our favorite vacation we’ve taken together. It was just full of new experiences and lifelong memories. Disney World truly was a magical place for us.

Here’s a recap of the first day of our vacation. My parents had come to town the night before our flight left to pick up Rhapsody for the week. They got in late the night before, so before our flight on Saturday we went to breakfast, so we could spend some time with them. They also were kind enough to drive us to the airport. Our flight left Tulsa around 10 that morning and after a short layover in Dallas, we arrived in Orlando about 3:30 that afternoon and made it to our resort about an hour later. We checked in, unpacked, explored the resort a little and then freshened up and headed to Downtown Disney for the evening.

We stayed at the Pop Century Resort and were in the 50's building, so we had a bowling pin pool just outside our room.

Waiting for the bus to Downtown Disney

Downtown Disney is an area separate from the theme parks full of shops, restaurants and other nighttime entertainment. We grabbed a sandwich for dinner and spent the rest of the evening browsing all the Disney themed shops. Downtown Disney is home to the largest Disney store in the world, so we browsed that and some other shops. My favorite shop was Mickey’s Pantry which was a store devoted to Disney kitchen and dining merchandise. They had everything from dining ware to aprons to Mickey Mouse ice cube trays and cookie cutters. Downtown Disney is also home to a giant Lego store that Matt enjoyed browsing. They had a wall of Legos where you could pick and choose your own Lego set. We also saw various shops where you could design your own Mickey ears, Mr. Potato Head and even your own Mickey light saber.

Matt was enthralled by the endless Lego structures

Before we headed home for the night, we stopped at the Ghirardelli soda fountain for a decadent rocky road sundae. It was heavenly. You could smell the chocolate from outside the restaurant. After we had walked through most of the shops and enjoyed our ice cream we headed back to our resort to get ready for the next day.

Oh man, it was very good, but so rich that we couldn't finish it.

For me, day one was full of anticipation. We didn’t have theme park tickets for the first day, so the Disney experience didn’t really start for me until Sunday. I was so glad we were in Orlando and that we were on vacation, but I was ready for more and found myself always looking forward to the next day when the vacation would really start. My favorite part of Day 1 was probably landing in Orlando. It finally felt real and I was so excited when we were finally there. The shopping at Downtown Disney was also really fun. We didn’t buy anything because we wanted to wait and see what else we saw during the week, but all the Disney merchandise was still novel to me at that point (by the end of the week, I couldn’t count how many gift shops we had been shuffled through after every attraction we rode or saw), but that first night everything we saw was new and served as fun reminders of where we were vacationing.

Goal Accomplished!

Near the end of last summer, my friend Erica and I decided to try out the couch to 5k program. We started strong but once we got about half way through, school started back and life got busy, and running in the evenings got knocked off of the agenda.

When spring break rolled around, I had a little extra free time and decided to spend some time that week exercising more, so I started it back up with Erica again. I set a goal for myself to be able to run for 3 miles with no walking before we left for Disney World. To be honest, I didn't think I would do it. I thought I'd try it for a few weeks, and when it got difficult, I would stop like last time. When I started jogging last summer, I hated it. I enjoyed the accomplishment and the time I got to spend visiting with Erica while we walked/jogged, but the actually running part, I dreaded every night. We kept consistent this time, and continued making progress each week.

During the middle of week 6, Erica sprained her ankle, and it would have been the perfect excuse to stop and wait for her to recover, but by then I was over half way through and running farther than I ever thought I could, so I kept going alone (Rhapsody took over as my running partner). Erica's ankle is healed now, and she's starting back running next week.

Well, all that to say that I'm proud to announce that last night Rhapsody and I successfully jogged for 3 miles and tonight we did 3.2 miles! I felt a great sense of accomplishment, and the exciting thing is I don't dread it anymore. It's still hard, but I have started to find myself looking forward to running in the afternoons. I don't think I'll ever be a marathon runner or anything, but I do think I'll be consistent at the shorter distances for awhile. My work is hosting a 5k fundraiser in June, and if Erica is up for it, after her injury setback we're thinking about running in it. I'm proud of the accomplishment and proud of Erica too. She's made it past the worst part, and has been a great encouragement for me to keep going. I'm thankful for friends who push me to better myself.

Another Great Weekend

I realize that I'm a little behind about posting about last weekend, but it was another nice weekend that I want to be sure and remember. Sometimes I play a get to know you game with my kids at school and one question that we answer while we're playing asks us to describe the perfect weekend. This last weekend pretty much sums up what I usually say when I answer that question. Obviously, relaxing on the beach in Hawaii would be a more perfect weekend or watching OSU beat OU or Texas in football would probably be better, but for a typical weekend that we stay at home, this one was pretty close to perfect.

Friday night I cooked a yummy dinner that Matt and I enjoyed and then we took Rhapsody for a long walk around our neighborhood and just chatted (mainly about our vacation coming up). We just relaxed at home the rest of the night.

Saturday morning, Matt woke me up early because we needed to take our car to the dealership to get the oil changed. Since I had to get up early on a Saturday, after we dropped the car off, I made him take me to breakfast. We went to Mimi's cafe for breakfast, and it was delicious. We had never been there before, but we will be going back. We usually don't eat out at breakfast unless my parents are in town, so it was a nice treat. After breakfast we came home and spent a couple of hours cleaning house. Matt helped me which made it go much faster. I can't say that I like cleaning house, but oh how I enjoy the day once it is sparkling clean. After housecleaning, we picked up our car, and then I came home and Rhapsody and I went on a jog. The weather was so nice. There was a light cool breeze and the temperature was pretty cool, which was enjoyable.

That afternoon, Matt and I went to the theater to watch Iron Man 2. It was a pretty good movie. I'm usually a fan of comic book movies, so this one didn't disappoint. After the movie, we ran home and grabbed a quick dinner and then picked our friends Jason and Andrea up and headed over the Matt and Erica's. We all went to play putt putt, and again we had so much fun. The weather was beautiful and the course wasn't near as crowded as the time we went before. The best part of the night was that Erica and I tied for first place! Matt better watch out, I'm coming after his record :).

After putt putt, we got sno cones and sat in the bed of Matt's truck and visited. It was opening day for the sno cone shack, and although the weather was a little cool, I thoroughly enjoyed my first sno cone of the season. We sat for awhile and just visited outside about plans we have for the summer and about our high school days since there were like a million high schoolers hanging out in the parking lot. Then we all started yawning and called it a night about 10:00. Yes, we are definitely getting old.

Sunday after church, I came home and rested for awhile and then Rhapsody and I went for another jog. That night after dinner, we went over to the Krebs and played a couple of games of Settlers. Matt was glad they called and invited us, because he was thinking he was going to have to wait 3 weeks to play again. Luckily, they saved the day.

As good as this last weekend was, I'm expecting the coming one to be even better since we'll be spending it in Disney World!

It's May!

I love the month of May for lots of reasons. This year it means celebrating 4 years of marriage in an extravagant way, yearly vacation with my favorite person in the world, beautiful sunny weather, and the end of the school year. This month just makes me happy.

I thought I’d take a few minutes to update the blog on some recent happenings in the Baugher household. It seems like we’ve been running crazy the last few weeks and have had something going on every night.

I’ve had some temporary changes in my work schedule lately. The woman who is in charge of the Owasso family counseling office was put on bed rest for pregnancy complications a few weeks ago, and the clinical director asked me and the two other social service coordinators to help cover some of her cases while she is out. Now I spend my Tuesday evenings in Owasso. Other than having to work during the evening (I’m pretty protective of my nights), I am loving it. It’s a pretty different environment than being in the schools, and it’s refreshing to have a change of pace. It’s almost like a private practice setting in that the families call in seeking help and are motivated to make changes quickly. Also, the families are involved which is so nice compared to what I’m used to at the school I work in where the nurse can’t even get a hold of parents to pick their child up from school when they are sick. I feel like I’m pulling teeth just to get a parent to come in to sign their child up for free counseling. I do have some families in the school that will come in for family counseling at the school, but it’s pretty rare. I felt so energized after my sessions the other night. I needed that reminder of why I chose this field. Family work wears me out though (in a good way), keeping up with the dynamics and balancing having multiple people in a session.
I’ve had some other successes at work lately that I’m excited about. I just did a termination session with an 8th grade girl who made major changes in just a few months and I feel confident she will be successful in high school. Also, yesterday I did a session with a student who has some past trauma. I’ve been working with her for a few months and she refused to share any details about her past for the longest time. My supervisor kept telling me to go at her pace and give her space, but I was hesitant to do so. When I was in school, I was trained in a shorter term therapy model and so backing off wasn’t something I was used to. I followed my supervisor’s recommendations though and it paid off. Yesterday she opened up and we had such a great session. She shared about her situation and uncovered some pretty distorted beliefs about the situation that we were able to process, and it was so rewarding. It was another great reminder of why I’m in this field. When I was in graduate school I learned to capitalize on the successes because sometimes they are hard to see in the ins and outs of everyday counseling and frustrations at the school.

Matt’s work has been pretty stressful lately. He’s actually headed to Florida on Tuesday next week to work on a military project and has been working late this week on another project. I’m hoping he doesn’t have to spend his entire weekend at work He needs a vacation badly.

Outside of work, life continues to fly along. We had our AWANA awards night last night, and that’s always fun to observe. I’m telling you the youth in our church are incredible. They give out awards to high school seniors who have to complete rigorous requirements throughout their years in AWANA including completing 10 handbooks, memorizing over 700 verses, reading and summarizing each book of the Bible and sharing their faith multiple times. When I get bogged down in the problems of North Tulsa and get scared for the future of our youth, I remind myself of the teenagers at church. I’m actually planning to take a break from AWANA next year. I’m cautious to fill up my week nights with lots of activities and there are other things I want to get involved in at church that require evening commitments.

Other things that have filled up our time are our date nights (which have temporarily been moved from Tuesdays to Mondays because of my new schedule) and coffee nights, prayer nights, and men’s accountability groups in our Sunday school class. The girls meet for coffee one night a month just to chat and fellowship, and we also have a prayer night once a month to get together and pray together. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for our church family and the relationships I’ve built with the women in my Sunday school class. The prayer time is always a precious time for us. When the girls are chatting or praying, Matt gets together with the husbands for a men’s group.

Our last coffee night was about three weeks ago, and I think I will remember it for a long time. I had arranged to ride with my friend Andrea to Starbucks. She came and picked me up, and this is how our conversation went once I got in her car.

Andrea: "You wanna know something"
Angela: "Sure"
Andrea: "I'm pregnant"
Angela "What! Are you serious?"
Andrea: "Yup"
Angela: "Congratulations! Are you serious?"
Andrea: "Yes, I found out on Tuesday"
Angela: "Oh my gosh, are you serious?"
Andrea: "I think I'll be due in December, I scheduled a doctor's appointment today"
Angela: "I can't believe it, you're really pregnant?"

The conversation continued and I'm pretty sure I asked if she was serious at least 10 more times. She had told me a few weeks ago what their timeline for kids was, and this wasn't it, so I really couldn't believe it. Then she made me sit through half the coffee night keeping her secret before she finally announced it to everyone. I kept looking at her and smiling when anyone would ask what was going on in her life. I'm so excited for her and Jason. I told her she is one of my first good friends to be pregnant who actually lives in the same area as me. I can't wait to babysit!

Even though things are hectic at times, I am loving our life right now, and summer is just around the corner.