Arizona or BUST!

So last Sunday, September 5th, we said goodbye to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and niece (Mike's brother Ryan, his wife Laurel and their 7 week-old baby Kaylee) as they drove off to begin their new life in Tuba City, Arizona.Laurel just finished her pediatric residency here in Indy. In med school she got a government grant that requires her to work in an "under-served" population to "pay back" the government after completing residency. She'll be working in a clinic on a Navajo reservation. It's pretty remote... the closest Wal-Mart is over an hour away! But she called the other day and said that they have a Sonic Drive-In! Ha!

Anyway, they left last Sunday, and the Sunday before that we hosted a going away party for them. It was the first party we've hosted in the new house and it was a success. We packed probably close to 40 people in our house! Wow! It was so much fun, and Mike's mom did an amazing job planning it and getting all the food together. Here are a few pictures from that day:

Look at all that food!

good friends, good fun

Laurel, Kaylee, and Aunt Dean (Mike's dad's aunt)

Kaylee and Aunt Rachel

And my favorite picture of the day: Mike holding Kaylee in church. He carried her from the parking lot and sat down in church, and she laid on his chest for almost the whole service! She loves her Uncle Mike!

So they packed up their Honda Civic and took a few days to drive out to AZ, stopping every 3 hours to feed the baby. Whew! We will truly miss Ryan & Laurel, for so many years they've been our go-to couple. If we were going somewhere and wanted to invite people, they were usually the first ones we would call. They are such precious people, and I'm jealous of the people in Tuba City! Even though we'll miss them terribly, we are so excited for this journey they've begun and look forward to visiting them!

The Emerson Sisters do INDY!

The 2nd week in August my sisters came to town! Holly came from Corpus on a jet plane and Melissa was kind enough to bring her sweet Jake, as they drove all the way from Savannah, GA! It was our first opportunity to host overnight guests in the new house and it worked out beautifully!

Friday we went to get groceries and cooked up a delicious meal for the men... while they cooked steaks on the grill. :) We ate dinner and had a great time taking pictures and swapping stories... I think we went out for a walk that night too... it all sort of runs together now!

Saturday we slept in (ahhhh...) and spent the afternoon at the Indianapolis Zoo. We felt like kids again as we saw the dolphin show, looked at the fish and other animals, and actually pet the little sharks in the pool! We even paid a dollar to feed a giraffe a slice of sweet potato.

After the zoo we went over to Riley Hospital, and I showed Holly (the Child Life Specialist) around. That night all of us went to the tennis courts and laughed a LOT as we just lobbed the ball over the net. Boys against girls wasn't as advantageous to us as we thought it would be.... after the tennis we came back to the house and opened up birthday presents for Melissa and Holly!

Sunday we went to church and then the Indians game. We happened to go on Souvenir Sunday and all walked away with our very own red Indians cereal bowls! Score! We had nice seats in the shade, which made it even more fun. AND Holly caught a soft baseball that gave her a FREE $5 footlong at a Subway restaurant all the way in Corpus! After the game we went to Ryan & Laurel's to see them and of course sweet baby Kaylee.

All in all, it was an amazing weekend. We had so much fun cooking together and just hanging out and talking. We hadn't seen Jake & Melissa since their wedding last September, and Holly since Christmas! And we had never even spent much time with Jake b/c the first time I met him was the weekend of their wedding when everyone was going in different directions. We all got along so well, and I was especially pleased to see Mike and Jake fitting in so well with us. It bodes well if he plans on spending Christmas with the Emersons too....

I love my sisters very much and hope this can be some sort of annual thing! We'd love to travel to Savannah or even meet up in Charleston, or Corpus on the beach!

Sorry there are no pictures on my computer to upload! However, if you want to look at ones that I took, you can visit my facebook page at www.facebook.com/rachelcouts and check them out!

Falling behind again....

I am finally catching up! Look out!

Rachel's Fab 4 (2010 edition)

I made a list like this last year and thought it was time to make a new one! These are 4 things that have given me joy or less stress, or just made me laugh in the past couple of months.

1. Pandora.com

Oh, Pandora, what would I do without you? After years of doing my job every single day, longing for some stress relief, I finally discovered Pandora about a year ago. If you're not familiar with it, it's like online radio... but you decide what type of music you want to hear. For example, one of my stations is the Steve Tyrell station. On this station I hear Steve Tyrell (obviously) plus a lot of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Michael Buble, Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, etc. I also have stations that play music from GLEE (actual Glee music along with lots of 80s classics), Wicked (more modern Broadway), Thoroughly Modern Millie (old Broadway), Selah (praise & worship) and of course I have a Christmas music station.

Listening to this music puts me in a better mood so that I can go about my day. Thank you, Pandora!!

2. E-mealz.com

I love to eat. I love to cook. I'm a Pampered Chef consultant, for crying out loud! But I still struggle with grocery shopping and not over-spending due to poor planning. This is where e-mealz.com comes in. You pay $15 for 3 mos worth of recipes, grocery shopping lists, and meals plans and it is WONDERFUL. I get online every Thursday to print out the meals for next week and make my grocery list. I usually cook at the most, 4 meals/week b/c I'm often times gone in the evenings for meetings or volunteering. Not all of the recipes are tasty, but for the most part they're good. I have to substitute a lot of times b/c the meals call for dried noodles in a bag (for exampe) which I will never make. I still make a ton of PC recipes and try to mix them in with the e-mealz recipes as well.

I have chosen the option to have "Low-Fat Wal-Mart meals for 2" as my weekly meal plan so I'm not throwing away lots of food. You can choose almost any store in your area, and any type of food like low-fat, low-sodium, vegetarian, etc. I love it! AND if you enter the coupon code "Dave" (Dave Ramsey) then you can get your 3 month subscription for just $12! Thanks, Kim, for recommending it to me!

3. LA Gear Walk & Tone shoes

Remember LA Gear? Remember HOW COOL it was to have a pair of LA Gear shoes and not the Target knock-off? I do. 4th grade, baby. Well for a while I've been wanting some of those toning shoes, with the balance-ball-inspired technology. I found some! Here's the irony... they are LA Gear and they hail from the shelves of Meijer... now LA Gear is the cheap knock-off! Either way, they are great. When I wear them, my legs get tired quicker so I know they're working. I wear them when I do ordinary tasks like housework or shopping. They work, y'all! My shoes look just like these:

4. Brother Label-Maker

Oh how I love thee! Mike bought this for me the week before we moved and I was PUMPED. Then it got packed away in a box and I actually forgot we had it! Since I found it, I have become a labeling maniac! I started with the binders on my bookshelf, and made it to my closet...oooo the possibilities! Can you tell I'm excited? I labeled all of my sewing stuff and my PC things. Plus, since it's almost back-to-school time, folders and binders and those plastic totes with lids are all on sale! Organizing makes me so happy in this house! Finally, everything has a place!

What is part of YOUR Fab 4?

The newest little Couts

Nooooo, not us...

This is our very first niece, born July 15, 2010 at 3:21am. We are so happy to have her in the family, our sweet little Kaylee Marie! Congratulations, Ryan & Laurel!

Dear Small Group,

I LOVE YOU! Thanks for having all these fun babies! Never a dull moment, right?

Pictured: Feiocks, Sanders, Bartels, Shaughnessys, Couts.

Not pictured (we missed you!!): Downeys, Henneys (except you were there via Skype!), Larisons, Heldmans

Recently

YES! We have finally closed on our house (a month ago this week, but whatever) and have been busy making it a home over the past month. We have learned a lot about ourselves and about our marriage in this time (LOL) because of all the home-improvement things we've done (OK just painting and a little decorating) but it is becoming more and more like home all the time.

Every time I walk in the door, I am overwhelmed by how faithful God has been to us, and how WORTH IT it was to stay in that apartment for 3 years.

Moving day was an adventure and we decided that we will NEVER move again. Famous last words, right? Here's a little synopsis of our moving day....
1. We started at Mike's parents' house to load boxes that we had been keeping there for a few months, and put them into the 26-foot Penske truck. We took them to our new house and unloaded them into the garage.
2. The next step was to go to the apartment and load the truck with all our boxes and furniture. When I arrived at the apartment, I noticed that the Penske truck wasn't there, and I just figured it was because Mike had to drive really slow in it. As it turns out, on his way to the apartment, he got it stuck under a 100+year-old railroad bridge. SO that left me to supervise the whole move from then on.
3. GOD IS SO GRACIOUS, let's not forget that! He sent so many people to come help us move, many of whom we didn't even expect. They brought their flatbed trailers, enclosed trailers, pickup trucks, etc and (are you ready for it?) it turns out that we never actually needed the 26-foot truck. With everyone's help, we emptied the entire apartment (minus a few odds and ends) with just those trailers and trucks and LOTS of muscle. Thanks to all who helped out:
Jay
Rick
Tom
Ryan & Laurel
Anne Marie & Jeff
John
Stephen
Mom & Dad
Josh & Patrick
Mike R
Bruce
Ken & Theresa
Rob
The Other Mike R

I'm probably forgetting someone... but there were so many people to help us!

Since we moved in, we have done the following:
-painted the great room Cottonseed (very light yellow)
-painted the kitchen Cracked Wheat (little darker, with a brownish tone)
-painted the hallway, dining room, and living room Informal Ivory (just a tad darker than stark white)
-painted Mike's office Smurf Blue (OK it isn't the name of the color, but that's what I think when I see it)
-painted my office a color I can't remember... but it's almost the same as the great room, a very light yellow.
-painted the guest room Liberty Gray (which looks more like a darker periwinkle)

The whole painting thing was the biggest challenge for us, but we learned a lot along the way. Since purchasing the house and moving in, we have made the typicall 5,774 trips to Lowe's and Home Depot. Oh and BB&B. Yeah, my favorite.

Well, that's pretty much all we've been up to recently. Thanks for reading all the way to the end. I actually don't have pictures of the rooms, but that would be nice for you to see them, huh? You can visit my facebook page at www.facebook.com/rachelcouts for more pictures.