It's nice having good friends to hang out with

This weekend was another that was filled with fun times with friends. As nerdy as it may sound, Saturday morning, Angela, Ashley, and I attended the water aerobics class at our gym for the first time... and it was SO FUN! We were, by far, the youngest and fittest three in the class, but we had a good workout nevertheless. Angela and I plan on going to the class every Tues. and Thurs. and Ashley is going to join us for the class on Sat. I'm pretty excited about it! Ryan and Chris came and worked out at the gym too (with their temporary trial memberships) while we sculpted our guns in the pool. At one point we caught them laughing at us through the window, but I think they were just jealous of our sweet water aerobic skills :) So, after our class, us girls went to the local farmer's market and filled our bags with fresh vegetables and bread, and then had lunch at McFoster's (see pics below). When we finished our lunch, we all went our separate ways. Later that evening, Chris and Angela invited us over to try out their new grill that Ryan helped Chris put together. First we went grocery shopping to get all the food we were going to need, and then enjoyed a delicious meal of bonzia burgers, an Italian sausage for me, baked beans, salad, and black diamond watermelon that we picked up at the farmer's market. Yum, yum! After our meal, we went over to our place and watched the movie "21" and had ice cream for dessert.

Sunday, Ryan and I had a wonderful time at church. We're so grateful that we have moved into a ward that is so kind and welcoming. Everyone has been really nice and we have already made a couple of friends - Jocylin and Jamison. Ryan got up and bore his testimony in sacrament meeting about how thankful he is that we have a living prophet on the earth today. I love to hear Ryan speak in church. He is an awesome speaker and has so much to offer. It's been great for me to be able to go to Relief Society again. (Relief Society is the hour-long, all women meeting at church- for those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term). In our last ward, they put me in primary to teach the 5- and 6-year-olds, so I have really missed Relief Society! In our meeting, we had a very humbling lesson about faith and service. I love those lessions that inspire me to be a better person. I can't wait to hear what they have in store for us next week! Anyway, after church, I prepared a big Sunday dinner and invited Bob and Ashley to join us. Later on, Chris, Angela, Cris (a fellow med school student), and Aster (Cris' little midget dog) joined us for some of my homemade apple pie. We had a good time talking and eating and watching Misha and Aster play. Aster is about the size of Misha's head and they were so funny to watch! Aster would get up on the couch and paw at Misha's face while Misha would nudge Aster with her nose. Misha was actually really gentle, aside from the occasional paw that would knock poor Aster right over. The really hilarious thing to watch was when Misha would get frustrated when Aster wouldn't play with her. Misha would whine and scratch at the floor near where Aster was standing and would bounce her front paws really hard off the ground over and over again. Ha ha! Not sure why she does that, but it's funny. I wish I would have recorded it so you could see what I mean... hopefully I'll remember next time.

I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel really homesick from time to time, but I can tell you that it is a whole lot easier for me to be away from my family when I have good friends to depend on and spend time with. Thanks to all of our new friends for making my move to Nebraska not suck so bad. You're the best!