Disclaimer: I have had this blog drafted since we returned from St. Louis a week and a half ago. I really wanted to include some of the bible verses from the funeral, among other things, but now I can't remember. So here's what I can remember from the weekend we spent celebrating his life.
On Wednesday, February 8 we received the news that Adam's grandpa had passed away. We knew it was coming, but didn't know it would happen to fast. He hasn't been well for quite some time, and was ready to head home to Heaven. Adam was able to call and say goodbye to him the week before, which was very special.
We arrived in St. Louis that Saturday afternoon, and were able to spend the remainder of the day visiting with family. I wanted to help with dinner, so Debbie put me in charge of the salad (because who can honestly mess up a salad?). All I had to do was mix two types of lettuce, add Provel cheese (we are in St. Louis) and black olives. Leave it up to me to cut my finger open with the black olives. It wasn't a bad cut, but leave it to me to cut myself while making a salad.
While it was a sad occasion that the whole family was together, it was wonderful to see everyone. Grandma was surrounded by the people who love her and Grandpa the most. The visitation occurred after church on Sunday, and it was unreal how many people showed up to lend their support to Grandma and the rest of the family. The line was literally out the door for hours! It was so amazing to see how many lives he truly touched.
The funeral took place on Monday morning, and many of his grandchildren spoke or sang in his honor. Adam wrote something for the Reflection portion of the funeral service, and just about ripped everyone's heart out. It was so touching, and straight from the heart.
We attended the burial at Jackson Barracks National Cemetery, and it was so moving. I had never been to a military burial, and was surprised to see how much they do for every service man or woman when they pass. They played taps, performed a gun salute, and there were two Marines on hand to fold the flag and give it to Grandma. It really was so beautiful.
We will all miss him, but are glad he is out of pain and hanging out with the big guy upstairs. Prayers for Grandma would be much appreciated as she transitions to life without Grandpa (physically) around anymore.
We love you!
Grandpa Blumenkamp's Funeral
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
ADAM PASSED THE GACE TESTS!!!!
(GACE = Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators)
He can now teach math in the state of Georgia! This is so amazing for so many reasons, but mainly because now he can apply for math teaching jobs and (fingers crossed!) start teaching in the fall. As awesome as it is that he is currently a community baseball coach at Lassiter, he can now start pursuing his dream of becoming a high school teacher and baseball coach!
Adam has always been good at standardized testing (hello, 1250 SAT score), but he was pretty nervous about the GACE. Of course, he passed with flying colors, and it was such a relief to see that all of his studying paid off. I am so, so proud of him and so very excited for him.
I wish I had a picture of him running around, screaming and flailing his arms when he found out last night, but I was doing it, too. And Ruthie doesn't know how to work a camera, yet. So I will instead leave you with this picture of us at Meagan and Nathan's wedding, because we were kind of doing the same thing last night.
GO ADAM!!!!!
(GACE = Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators)
He can now teach math in the state of Georgia! This is so amazing for so many reasons, but mainly because now he can apply for math teaching jobs and (fingers crossed!) start teaching in the fall. As awesome as it is that he is currently a community baseball coach at Lassiter, he can now start pursuing his dream of becoming a high school teacher and baseball coach!
Adam has always been good at standardized testing (hello, 1250 SAT score), but he was pretty nervous about the GACE. Of course, he passed with flying colors, and it was such a relief to see that all of his studying paid off. I am so, so proud of him and so very excited for him.
I wish I had a picture of him running around, screaming and flailing his arms when he found out last night, but I was doing it, too. And Ruthie doesn't know how to work a camera, yet. So I will instead leave you with this picture of us at Meagan and Nathan's wedding, because we were kind of doing the same thing last night.
GO ADAM!!!!!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Adam and I have been looking forward to this past weekend for months. We were throwing a Super Bowl party at our new place, and were really stoked to finally show off our new digs. And to top it all off, Matelyn came in town!
Adam is in the middle of baseball tryouts, so he has been at the field until about 10pm everyday. I hate not seeing much of him at night, but he is really loving it which makes me super happy. Since I was all alone on Friday night, I made the trek down to Midtown to join Matelyn, Jared, Xavier and Lindsay for a drink a Tin Lizzy's.
I'm currently training for my first half marathon on April 22, and last week was my first official week of training. I polished off the week with a 4.2 mile run on Saturday and I was so proud of myself. I'm starting to think that maybe this half marathon won't actually kill me. Maybe.
The rest of Saturday was spent cleaning and prepping for the Super Bowl party, and then Mate and I headed over to the 'rents house for dinner and drinks. It's always a fun night with Karen and Matt, and Saturday was no exception. We had a delish dinner at Bistro VG and then had a nightcap (my dad's words, not mine) at Aspen's. Mate and I headed back over to our house to pick up Adam, and then we finished the night at The Place. A super sketchy bar right by our house with an average clientele age of about 55. BEST PEOPLE WATCHING.
Adam barely slept on Saturday night, because Sunday was his Christmas morning. He was ridiculously excited about this Super Bowl party which actually worked in my favor because he was more than willing to help me finish clean up and get ready. I think I watched about 2 minutes of the actual game, but had a great time catching up with friends.
My little brother would kill me if he knew I was going to post this picture, but it's just too adorable to pass up. He threw a Super Bowl party on Sunday, and asked this lovely little lady to prom during halftime.That delish cookie cake says "Will you go to prom with me?" SO CUTE.
It was another wonderful weekend with family and friends, and Adam and I continue to be beyond blessed with such amazing people in our lives.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Not much to report from the Baker household, other than the fact that our house is slowly becoming a home. We spent a lot of time this weekend hanging up pictures (finally), and getting things done in preparation for our Super Bowl part on Sunday. Here's a sneak peek of what we got accomplished.
A little while ago (ok, six months ago...), I ordered a 16"x20" canvas of one of my favorite wedding pictures from CanvasPop - I was beyond happy with the final product and highly recommend it. It only took me until this weekend to finally find a frame for it (at Michael's for 50% off - chicka ya!).
While at Michael's buying the above frame, I purchased some supplies to make my own wreath. I've seen so many on Pinterest, so I figured it couldn't be that hard. And I was actually right. I made this pretty little thing using a styrofoam wreath, yarn, a fake flower, ribbon, and a wooden 'B' that I painted white. It was a little time consuming because I had to cover the entire styrofoam wreath with yarn, but it really was so easy. And that says a lot coming from me.
We have these two ridiculously long walls in our house, and I have kind of been stressing over how to decorate them. I finally decided to take one of them and turn it into a wall of black and white art/pictures (there has got to be a better term for this). It looks kind of sad right now, but we plan on growing it out to cover the majority of the wall. (Please disregard the bottom frame that still has the picture it came with. I wanted to go ahead and get it on the wall even though I don't have a picture for it, yet.)
I have been stashing my garter, hanky and hairpiece from our wedding in my nighstand drawer since the wedding, and this weekend I finally did something with them. I put together this shadow box to proudly display all of my fun goodies!
As you can see, we were super productive this weekend! And I have to give Adam props for hanging everything up, and solving my wreath issues/temper tantrum when the yarn kept tangling up. Love that kid.
P.S. Mitchy had his senior football banquet last week. Aren't he and my mom adorable? So proud of that little boo.
A little while ago (ok, six months ago...), I ordered a 16"x20" canvas of one of my favorite wedding pictures from CanvasPop - I was beyond happy with the final product and highly recommend it. It only took me until this weekend to finally find a frame for it (at Michael's for 50% off - chicka ya!).
While at Michael's buying the above frame, I purchased some supplies to make my own wreath. I've seen so many on Pinterest, so I figured it couldn't be that hard. And I was actually right. I made this pretty little thing using a styrofoam wreath, yarn, a fake flower, ribbon, and a wooden 'B' that I painted white. It was a little time consuming because I had to cover the entire styrofoam wreath with yarn, but it really was so easy. And that says a lot coming from me.
We have these two ridiculously long walls in our house, and I have kind of been stressing over how to decorate them. I finally decided to take one of them and turn it into a wall of black and white art/pictures (there has got to be a better term for this). It looks kind of sad right now, but we plan on growing it out to cover the majority of the wall. (Please disregard the bottom frame that still has the picture it came with. I wanted to go ahead and get it on the wall even though I don't have a picture for it, yet.)
I have been stashing my garter, hanky and hairpiece from our wedding in my nighstand drawer since the wedding, and this weekend I finally did something with them. I put together this shadow box to proudly display all of my fun goodies!
As you can see, we were super productive this weekend! And I have to give Adam props for hanging everything up, and solving my wreath issues/temper tantrum when the yarn kept tangling up. Love that kid.
P.S. Mitchy had his senior football banquet last week. Aren't he and my mom adorable? So proud of that little boo.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Yesterday marked our first wedding anniversary! It really is crazy to think we have already been married for an entire year. I can only hope the years to come are even half as great as this one!
To celebrate, we decided against gifts, and decided to spoil ourselves with an amazing anniversary dinner on Saturday night. I let Adam take charge of finding a restaurant and making reservations, and he did good. We went to Kevin Rathbun Steak in Atlanta, and it was seriously the most amazing meal either of us has ever had.
Sunday was our actual anniversary, and we decided to keep it low key. I woke up with Ruthie, since I was planning a surprise breakfast for Adam. If you know me, you know I do not cook (Did you notice the name of this blog?). Thank God Adam loves to cook and is really good at it - otherwise we would have pasta with olive oil every night. Anyway, I decided to make him Eggs Benedict - his favorite breakfast meal! It was definitely tricky, and I probably should have tried a recipe that was more at my level (i.e. toast?), but since he spoils me all the time I knew I could pull it off. And I DID!
The weather was a 10 on the Wizometer, so we obviously had to take advantage of it! We spent the beautiful afternoon on the 4-mile Iron Hill Trail with Ruthie.
I was also in charge of making dinner on our anniversary (me? cooking twice in one day?). We were supposed to have shish kabobs, but we don't have any skewers (kind of a key component of shish kebabs), so we had steak for the second night in a row. I'm sure I did a great job, but it's kind of hard comparing it to the steak we had on Saturday night. Did I mention that food was amazing?
It was an absolutely perfect anniversary, and I pray that we will always have this much fun together. The only thing that could have made it better is if we got up this morning and headed to Jamaica for our honeymoon!
P.S. Shout out to Debbie and Dave for buying us the Kitchenaid Pasta attachment for our anniversary! I cannot wait for Adam to use it. And also to my wonderful parents for the Crate & Barrel gift certificate! We have the best family!!
To celebrate, we decided against gifts, and decided to spoil ourselves with an amazing anniversary dinner on Saturday night. I let Adam take charge of finding a restaurant and making reservations, and he did good. We went to Kevin Rathbun Steak in Atlanta, and it was seriously the most amazing meal either of us has ever had.
Sunday was our actual anniversary, and we decided to keep it low key. I woke up with Ruthie, since I was planning a surprise breakfast for Adam. If you know me, you know I do not cook (Did you notice the name of this blog?). Thank God Adam loves to cook and is really good at it - otherwise we would have pasta with olive oil every night. Anyway, I decided to make him Eggs Benedict - his favorite breakfast meal! It was definitely tricky, and I probably should have tried a recipe that was more at my level (i.e. toast?), but since he spoils me all the time I knew I could pull it off. And I DID!
The weather was a 10 on the Wizometer, so we obviously had to take advantage of it! We spent the beautiful afternoon on the 4-mile Iron Hill Trail with Ruthie.
I was also in charge of making dinner on our anniversary (me? cooking twice in one day?). We were supposed to have shish kabobs, but we don't have any skewers (kind of a key component of shish kebabs), so we had steak for the second night in a row. I'm sure I did a great job, but it's kind of hard comparing it to the steak we had on Saturday night. Did I mention that food was amazing?
It was an absolutely perfect anniversary, and I pray that we will always have this much fun together. The only thing that could have made it better is if we got up this morning and headed to Jamaica for our honeymoon!
P.S. Shout out to Debbie and Dave for buying us the Kitchenaid Pasta attachment for our anniversary! I cannot wait for Adam to use it. And also to my wonderful parents for the Crate & Barrel gift certificate! We have the best family!!
Out-of-Towners
I love my family. And I love it even more when out-of-town family comes to play!
My brother, Jeff, is a corporate pilot at XOJet, and is constantly all over the place. The good and bad part about his job is that he never really knows where he's headed until he gets to the airport. The best part is that he happened to be flying into Atlanta on Friday afternoon! We were able to grab dinner with him on Friday night, and visit with him briefly on Saturday morning before he headed back to the airport and off to who knows where. Even though his visit was short, I love getting to see him every chance I can.
The even better part is that Adam's cousin, Amy, was also in town this weekend! (Clearly, she came in town to celebrate our anniversary.) So after seeing Jefe off, I met up with Debbie, Kelsey, Meagan and Amy at the Marietta Square. We had such a fun afternoon of chatting and laughing. And of course, eating cupcakes!
I think the most fun stop we made was Eddie's Trick Shop. It's basically just a really fun costume store, that happens to sell wigs.
I managed to embarrass myself (shocking, right?) when I decided it would be a good idea to try on these doughnut handcuffs...
...and they got stuck. It took three employees and a lot of laughs before we finally managed to un-jam the lock. (The guy in the background of this picture who is laughing at me was no help.)
It was such a super-fun day, and I'm so glad I got to spend it with some of my favorite in- and out-of-towners!
My brother, Jeff, is a corporate pilot at XOJet, and is constantly all over the place. The good and bad part about his job is that he never really knows where he's headed until he gets to the airport. The best part is that he happened to be flying into Atlanta on Friday afternoon! We were able to grab dinner with him on Friday night, and visit with him briefly on Saturday morning before he headed back to the airport and off to who knows where. Even though his visit was short, I love getting to see him every chance I can.
The even better part is that Adam's cousin, Amy, was also in town this weekend! (Clearly, she came in town to celebrate our anniversary.) So after seeing Jefe off, I met up with Debbie, Kelsey, Meagan and Amy at the Marietta Square. We had such a fun afternoon of chatting and laughing. And of course, eating cupcakes!
I think the most fun stop we made was Eddie's Trick Shop. It's basically just a really fun costume store, that happens to sell wigs.
I managed to embarrass myself (shocking, right?) when I decided it would be a good idea to try on these doughnut handcuffs...
...and they got stuck. It took three employees and a lot of laughs before we finally managed to un-jam the lock. (The guy in the background of this picture who is laughing at me was no help.)
It was such a super-fun day, and I'm so glad I got to spend it with some of my favorite in- and out-of-towners!
Thursday, January 5, 2012
At the beginning of every year, countless people commit to one or many New Year's resolutions. The most popular resolutions year after year include losing weight, managing debt, and to quit smoking. While we can always improve, Adam and I are very blessed that these resolutions don't really apply to us. However, this year I am challenging myself to do the following...
1. Find a forever church
Adam and I have attended church services at a couple venues here and there, but haven't felt home at any of them. My goal for this year is to find a church where Adam and I would like to spend for years to come; where we are comfortable; where we can grow in our faith; where we can find a church family. Any suggestions?
2. Be more patient
This is constantly at the top of my list. Although I have become much more conscious of my impatience, and try to stop myself in the act and tell myself to breathe, I still have a lot of work to do.
3. Run a half marathon
Adam and I decided to run a 10K in 2010, and I absolutely loved it! I felt so accomplished and proud of myself when I crossed the finished line, and could honestly say that I ran 6.2 miles without stopping. I also really enjoyed the training program - it's much easier to drag your butt to the gym when you have some motivation. So this year, I am challenging myself to run a half marathon (13.1 miles - eek!). My friends, Matelyn and Anna, have also taken on this challenge, and we're set to run our first one at the end of April. Wish us luck!
Of course, I also plan on enjoying the married life, spending more time with family and friends, and hope to make a fun trip or two in 2012. And although I don't quite know how 2012 is going to top 2011, I'm pretty excited to see what it has to offer!
1. Find a forever church
Adam and I have attended church services at a couple venues here and there, but haven't felt home at any of them. My goal for this year is to find a church where Adam and I would like to spend for years to come; where we are comfortable; where we can grow in our faith; where we can find a church family. Any suggestions?
2. Be more patient
This is constantly at the top of my list. Although I have become much more conscious of my impatience, and try to stop myself in the act and tell myself to breathe, I still have a lot of work to do.
3. Run a half marathon
Adam and I decided to run a 10K in 2010, and I absolutely loved it! I felt so accomplished and proud of myself when I crossed the finished line, and could honestly say that I ran 6.2 miles without stopping. I also really enjoyed the training program - it's much easier to drag your butt to the gym when you have some motivation. So this year, I am challenging myself to run a half marathon (13.1 miles - eek!). My friends, Matelyn and Anna, have also taken on this challenge, and we're set to run our first one at the end of April. Wish us luck!
Of course, I also plan on enjoying the married life, spending more time with family and friends, and hope to make a fun trip or two in 2012. And although I don't quite know how 2012 is going to top 2011, I'm pretty excited to see what it has to offer!
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