It's Finals Time...

So let's talk about something else. I talk about (and do) schoolwork quite enough! ;)

As some may have noticed, I've had several (three so far) showers lately. Following showers, it is proper etiquette to write thank you notes (yes, Mom, I have kept up with the thank you note - childhood lessons go deep). I was amused, however, at how strange I felt writing them at times. It felt really weird to be thanking someone for purchasing something that I'd picked out.

I think the beginning of the registry phenomenon has created an interesting space between demanding what you want and sitting back and being surprised. As someone who has used registries before in order to buy necessary and wanted things for friends' weddings and babies, I've always been appreciative of a neat list that said what someone wanted. I was also trained to create birthday and Christmas wish lists by my parents, and the creation of a registry wasn't a far cry from that.

But writing thank you notes after my showers was a little strange, as item after item that we had put on our registry showed up. It was a weird thanking someone for the lovely gift, since we were actually the ones who had picked it out in the first place. So I ended up going back to what I think thank you notes were originally meant to be. Not gushing over what the gift was (though I did some of that), but showing appreciation of the giver's thoughtfulness and generosity in giving the gift. It's not that the giver thought of the gift, it's that the giver thought of the recipient. It's not that gifts are required (because we certainly don't require that everyone give us something), but that people want show their caring in giving us things that will help supply our new home as we start our life together. It's that the giving of gifts by family and friends can be tangible expression of love and support.

And that's what I'm thankful for.

Some Shower Photos...

With Julie...

With Kara...

With Erika (don't worry about squinting, it's not your eyes.

I think we moved our heads at the wrong moment.) :D

A gift for Shannon so he can get the grill started...


Yum!

Gifts...

We had a great time, and I'm so grateful for everyone! There were more pictures (I picked the ones I looked decent in), and they're on Julie's Facebook.

Yeah, so I may need to blog more...

I always have great intentions of posting regularly on my blog, but somehow they seem to fall through. Oh well. Life seems to be varying between "busy" and "nearly insane", but we're making it through. I hope. This week is a rough one, with a tough NT test - my study guide is 28 pages long. Yeah, that's fun.

There are some fun things about this semester, though they too add to the busyness. First, I'm helping Shannon coach soccer. And by "help" I mean make sure the kids keep track of their water bottles, jackets and other things, and give them the hairy eyeball when they don't pay attention. We're having fun, though. And by "fun", I mean that the kids run around the field forgetting everything the coach has taught them while losing spectacularly while we stand at the sidelines. But at least it gets us outside on Wednesday nights (practice) and Saturdays (games). :) And the kids love how muddy it has been, even if my sneakers don't.

There's also been wedding stuff - showers, mostly. Shannon came up a few weeks ago and my work threw us a little shower, which was fun. And then my small group girls threw me another one this last weekend. Lots of fun - and I get to do it again this weekend in West Virginia with his family! After that, there's (I think) not much wedding stuff until we get to the actual wedding, which is in 38 days. Hard to believe, but I'm very excited about it. And definitely looking forward to this summer when we can relax!