Jano (& Eric's) Wedding

Yay, they are married!

We had a great time at our friend Jane's wedding this weekend and since Jane is such a great blogger I figured I'd give her some blog time on Pennyrile. I've known Jane for almost 5 years since getting invovled at Quest and moving to Champaign. Jane was in my small group for 3 years until Matt and I left to start a new small group (and Jane did a fabulous job stepping into the role as a co-leader with another friend from church). Around this time I think Jane met Eric and things went uphill from there. Unfortunately for us in Champaign they went so uphill for Jane and Eric that Jane moved 3 hours away a couple months ago so that she and Eric could live in the same town. I guess that makes sense since they did get married this weekend:) We miss Jane but are so happy for her. She is such a warm hospitable person and she will be a huge blessing to Eric and her new curch family and friends. We hope Jane is having a wonderful time on her cruise while we all sit in IL looking at the snow on April 6th!

All dressed up and ready to go. Unless someone decides to invite us to a wedding in the next week or two this is our last night out to a formal affair as a family of 2 with no babysitter to pay.

Baseball Is Back

After a 5-month break, baseball returns to action with an opening game tonight and Opening Day tomorrow.  I pride myself in making bad predictions, so here is my attempt at breaking down the NL Central this year:

Cubs.  I see the Cubbies staying on top of the division, even after their postseason failures.  They've got too much offense, too much good pitching, and enough veterans to be able to handle the ups and downs of the season.  They do have the potential to collapse if their pitchers (read: Zambrano, Harden) get injured or their new OF Milton Bradley becomes the clubhouse cancer in Chicago he has been elsewhere.  But I don't see it and I have the Cubs down for 95 wins this year.

Cardinals.  Last year, the Cardinals surprised a lot of people by being over .500 and competing for the wild-card.  I think they're going to surprise people this year, with having Chris Carpenter back and having a closer who can get the done (I believe Jason Motte will do well).  They still have some holes in their lineup, but Mr. Pujols is good enough to carry their offense.  Expect the Cards to be in the wild-card hunt the whole year.  If they stay healthy and the Cubs don't, I could see the Cards winning the division.

Brewers.  Oh, my dear Brewers.  Last year was so amazing.  I'd love to believe they will follow up their postseason appearance with a repeat performance, but I don't see it.  Yvonni Gallardo should have a breakout season if he stays healthy and Ryan Braun should be able to compete for the MVP.  But they've got too many holes in the pitching staff, especially the bullpen.  They've got a great offense, and that will help them win a lot of games, but not enough to get in the postseason.  My forecast has them finishing a few games over .500.

Reds.  Everybody loves the Reds this year and lots of people are picking them as a sleeper team in the NL.  I don't see it.  Their manager (Dusty Baker) has only had success with veteran teams and they have the same nucleus as last year and they were way below .500.  I'd be surprised if the Reds win 80 games.

Astros.  The Astros are getting old, they have one great pitcher (Roy Oswalt), two great bats (Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman), and that's about it.  Pencil the Astros down for 70 wins and thank me later.

Pirates.  They haven't been good for a long time.  I don't think they'll start being good this year.  Be happy with 70 wins, Pittsburgh fans.

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And here are my overall predictions for who will make the playoffs and win it all:

American League

Division Winners: Rays, Athletics, Indians

Wild-card Winner: Yankees

Championship Series: Yankees over the Rays

National League

Division Winners: Cubs, Dodgers, Mets

Wild-card Winner: Cardinals

Championship Series: Mets over the Dodgers

World Series

I've got the Mets over the Yankees in a 7-game classic.

Pennyrile Approved: Cottage Cheese

With so much uncertainty going on these days with how food is prepared, along with a lack of trust for food distributors, combined with so much advice on what to eat or not to eat, society is longing for a voice of truth to rally above the noise.  We here at Pennyrile like to eat and we like to give advice.  So we'll start a new food series with a tribute to one of the must underrated delicacies known to humanity.  

Cottage cheese is a cheese curd product that is not aged or colored.  It can be eaten by itself or with fruit, on toast, in salads, or part of other recipes as lasagna or desserts.  My preference for cottage cheese is by itself in the small curd variety, but I have nothing against the large curd style.  According to Wikipedia, cottage cheese "is a favorite food among bodybuilders for its high content of casein protein while being relatively low in fat."  So delicious and healthy.

For those of you who enjoy milk and cheese, you will find cottage cheese to be the perfect mix of the two in terms of taste and texture.  Some mornings, I enjoy cottage cheese with a glass of orange juice for my breakfast.  On occasion, I'll sneak in a snack of cottage cheese about an hour before dinner.  I've even been known to wake up in the middle of the night and slurp some cottage cheese!  (OK, that last sentence isn't true).

If you haven't had cottage cheese recently, give it another chance.  Let the curds and whey soothe your appetite.  Throw in some fruit to spice it up.  Share it with a friend.  Tell your neighbors about it.  Cottage cheese is officially.....Pennyrile Approved. 

37 Weeks

37 weeks and feeling big

Well, I'm 37 weeks pregnant and can have Grace anytime. I can't believe that I'm considered full term. I feel like Grace is going to be inside me for a little while longer but I also think I'm getting huge so I keep thinking she might be early. Yeah I know I should convince myself she's going to be late and the doctors tell you that 1st babies will be late to help keep your patience up. I'll be totally fine if Grace is late because what's 1 week in the big picture. I just can't wait to meet our baby. Today I went to the doctor and she told me that Grace was head down and I had dropped. She even had Matt and I feel the head. It was pretty cool. I know the fact that she's dropped doesn't predict anything as far as when she will come but it encouraging to know my body is preparing for labor.

Our friends Kortny and Jeremiah had their baby girl one week early this Sunday and it pretty much put me into freak out mode. I realized we haven't packed our hospital bags, installed the car seat or pre-registered at the hospital. As long as Kortny was still pregnant I was totally fine with my to do list since she was technically due 2 weeks before me I figured she'd have her baby first. Now that she had her baby I feel like I could have mine anyday and am not quite ready. So today I'm going to start working on those things. We had a great visit with Kortny and Jeremiah at the hospital today and it made me a little less scared of labor. Their baby is soooo cute too.

Kortny and her new daughter Olivia

Today is officially the first day of my leave since everyone was on spring break last week. I am so thankful I decided not to go back after break. I've been pretty tired the last few days and can't imagine trying to teach. Good job ladies who teach right up until their deliveries. I have missed school a little today but I'm sure in a couple days I'll forget everyone went back without me.

Burp Cloths

I spent the day decorating cloth diapers to make cute burp cloths. My friend Amy gave me some cloth diapers (including several other very practical things) for a shower present. She claims they make the best burp cloths and I believe her. I realized too that I only had received 3 or 4 burp cloths until I got the diapers. So I'm sure they will prove to be much needed. Anyway, I decided to make a project out of them. I have lots of scrap fabric, my mom had some ribbons, and I bought some ribbons for $1 a spool at Hobby Lobby. I don't think they turned out as nice as they could have because the diapers were pretty stretchy to sew with, but I still think they are very cute and I can't wait for Grace to spit up on them.

When Will Grace's Birthday Be?

I've been thinking a lot lately about when Baby Grace will make her grand entrance into the open air. When I'm uncomfortable I want it to be as soon as possible and when I'm thinking about labor I don't mind putting it off. I've read a little bit online about how to know when a baby is going to arrive and have come to the conclusion that only the baby (and God) knows. Seeing as next week I will be 37 weeks and a baby born after that point is full term I've been thinking a lot about the fact that its getting really close. So, I decided to create a poll on my blog as to when baby Grace will arrive (another friend who's blog I follow just did this and I think it was a great idea). Please take a minute to take the poll so I will know when I'm going to have my baby! If you actually think you know her birthday feel free to comment on here too:)

Surprise Shower

Amy (our fearless Bible Study leader), Anne, Emily, Karrie, Carissa (also pregnant), and Trisha

I just had an awesome day with some of my great friends from college. My friend Emily emailed me several weeks ago and asked me if I wanted to do lunch today and of course I said yes. So, I've been eagerly anticipating this day for a few weeks and was so excited to spend quality time with Emily. We headed off to one of our favorite places, Chile's, and when we walked in she said we had a table already. I found this slightly weird but didn't even think twice about it. We got to our table and the girls from our college Bible Study (minus Erin who is in East Asia doing missions) were there waiting to surprise me. I'm not a huge surprise party person but this was perfect. I never suspected anything and 5 people who I love to death and don't get to see nearly enough were there waiting to give me a shower. They came from far and wide. Amy drove all the way from Detroit and Karrie drove from the Chicago area. The funny thing is it turned into a joint shower because our friend Carissa is due practically the same day as me. She just hadn't passed the news along to anyone else until the surprise shower plan was in full swing. So, she knew about the shower and also got to be honored. We had a long lunch and then everyone came back to our house to hang out for the whole afternoon. We got to spend about 6 hours together and I LOVED it! Matt was so awesome too because he willingly left our house and did his own thing all afternoon. He's such a great sport. Afterwards he said he didn't mind at all because he knew I was having fun and it meant a lot to me to have my friends around.