this one's for you, Liz!

I have a confession to make: I have a girl crush on my friend Liz. She's pretty fabulous. She's a former English teacher, so she has an affinity for language and characters and stories and whimsy that I very much appreciate. Plus, she's adorable as all get out. I feel a certain kinship with her- I think we've struggled with similar insecurities over the years and it makes me feel a certain sense of ease to hear her be so open and honest about things she struggles with, whether she's overcome them or not. Plus, she's stinkin' hilarious. I've really enjoyed getting to know her over the past year or so. And now, added to all of her other attributes, she's a brand-new mom. Her daughter Micah was born just over a week ago. She was born 11 weeks early, and is an itty-bitty thing, but Liz's blog tells us that she's doing well, gaining strength, and they're encouraged. But if you all can pray for Liz, her husband Joe, and baby Micah, I'm sure the Messers would appreciate it. You can read all about their new little one on Liz's blog.

And speaking of women I admire... this is somewhat old news by now (I know, I know, I need to update more often!), but my dear work friend Elaine bid adieu to the arts council a few weeks ago to stay home full-time with her clan of Russian royalty (Alexander, Elizabeth and baby Catherine). Elaine and I got to be buddies way back in 2003 when I was a summer intern. We would occasionally go to the Pizza Hut/Taco Bell on Dodge and we would always share a pepperoni pizza and breadsticks. We'd split the third breadstick in half. Our lives were so different then. She had been married less than a year and had only been at the arts council for a few months, and I was 20 years old and was between my junior and senior year at Mount Mercy. Over the past sixish years, I've followed Elaine into two separate jobs, first as Arts Industry Manager and now as Grants Manager. I've learned an awful lot from her and I already miss her terribly. On her very last day of work, we thought it'd be appropriate to go back to the Pizza Hut and share a pizza. Oh, how are lives are so different now, what with her THREE children and me being engaged and all. I'm just happy that she's not too far away. I plan to go to her house for lunch every now and then to vent and brainstorm and commiserate about whatever's going on at the office.

So, the new job's going okay. It was a bit of a stressful adjustment, but I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable in my new role. I think it'll be good. I'm already learning a lot. It's definitely going to keep me on my toes, which isn't a bad thing.

And I'm going to try to not take too much blog space talking about wedding planning and what-not, but it's bound to sneak in here and there. I found my dress last weekend. It's beautiful. Sorry I can't say anything more, but Matthew will read this, after all. So we'll just leave it at that.