coming soon.

We are overjoyed to announce that little baby Krueger will be arriving in October of this year!

Lots more to come about how we told our families and how we're all feeling very soon. For now, we're going to keep staring at the most precious picture we've ever seen.

spring break 2011.

Our week in Texas for spring break was wonderful. It was pure fun and happiness from beginning to end. 

I never pulled out my camera during the week. We were so busy running around town and soaking up time  with the people we love, the camera was the last thing on my mind. I'll do my best at a short and sweet, almost picture-less recap of our time in Texas. 

• We celebrated Kyle's 25th birthday...twice. The first celebration was at the beginning of the week while his younger brother was still in town on his spring break. Celebration part 2 was on Kyle's actual birthday and we at at a delicious pizza place downtown. 
• My mom and I did some shopping. We did more browsing than purchasing but it was such good time with my sweet momma. 
• We ate loads of delicious foods during the week. Between TWO cakes from Julie's, fajitas from Pappasito's and a plethora of other yummy meals, our tummies left Texas very happy!
• Two of my very best friends came to my house for dinner and one of them even spent the night. It was SO good to have some time with my girlfriends. I don't get enough of that lately and I think it was good for all of us!
• I was able to go with my mom to her ladies' church group meeting and luncheon. They meet once a month and I love when I am in town for their meetings. The speaker was wonderful and I always love getting to spend time with my mom and her friends. 
• Tucker had a great time taking full advantage of couch privileges at my parent's house. 

• I took full advantage of sleeping late as often as possible.
• I enjoyed a girl's lunch at Lopez and was able to spend some time chatting with some fabulous mommas and babies. 
• We finished off the week with a dinner party at Troy and Ivy's house. The guests included the Sturgeons and Baethges. I cannot say enough about what a great time we had!! It was one of the highlights of our week! We laughed until we cried and loved getting to spend time with three wonderful couples. We'll host the next party if they'll all just make their way to Georgia!
• We stopped to visit my grandparents on our way back to Georgia. It was a very quick visit but we were glad to see them. And of course, Grammy sent us back with loads of treats. 

That's three boxes of homemade chocolate chip cookies and one of Grammy's peanut butter fudge. 

That's the short version of our week at home. It was relaxing and we're already anxious to go back! Summer will be here very soon and we're hoping there are long trips home and weekends at the lake in our future. In the meantime, we are enjoying our time back in Atlanta where the temperature is currently 42... a far cry from what we experienced in Texas last week!

party in the atl.

Let me start by saying that we will be ignoring the fact that this trip took place over a month ago and this post has been in my 'drafts' folder for about that long. Let's pretend I have not put it off for that long and that I am on top of everything in my life. Deal? Deal. On with the recap...

We spent Valentine's weekend with two of our favorite friends. Troy and Ivy made the trip out to Atlanta and we had the best time! 

They arrived Friday night and we spent the evening catching up and enjoying a delicious dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants. 

Tucker was thrilled to have people sleeping on the pull-out couch. He seems to think that bed is just for him.

Saturday was filled with sight-seeing, beginning with lunch at The Varsity...

After filling our tummies with hot dogs, we headed downtown to World of Coca-Cola for a tour. This was the first time for all of us to go. The tour was great! We learned about the bottling process, saw some Coca-Cola art and even did some taste-testing.

We even convinced the boys to take a group picture with the Coca-Cola polar bear. This thing was so creepy but I'm pretty sure this is my favorite picture of the weekend!

If you are ever in Italy, I highly recommend that you do not order Beverly at a restaurant. Not the greatest beverage to come out of the Coca-Cola franchise. 

Next on our list was the Georgia Aquarium. Ivy used some fabulous grad school connections and was able to get us a free backstage tour of the aquarium. We were able to see so many hidden areas and learned a lot about the aquarium.

Looking out over the beluga whale tank

We thought it would be fun to make dinner together and prepared quite the feast after our fun day. I didn't get a picture of the whole set-up, but here is my plate filled with deliciousness. The boys grilled steaks while the ladies made twice-baked potatoes and asparagus. 

And we followed dinner with a few rounds of Buzz Words, boys vs. girls style. I'll let the score card speak for itself...

Sunday was a wonderful, lazy day at the apartment. 

Ivy and I had some homework to do (while snacking on a failed attempt at homemade queso) and the boys spent some time talking about math or science or maybe computers. I can't remember... Ivy and I were too engrossed with the queso to really pay attention. 

Kyle had an intramural basketball game Sunday night so we all headed over to campus to cheer him on. Ivy is the greatest intramural-watching buddy ever. We kept ourselves entertained with coffee and court-side manicures.  

After the game we got dressed up and went on a Valentine's double date at a great restaurant in our neighborhood.

And as if their presence wasn't enough, they brought me a set of these adorable Valentine's coffee mugs that I had been tempted to buy! So thoughtful and sweet.

Troy made a great toast before dinner one night "to friends who are more like family" and it perfectly sums up how much we love these two. Sounds cheesy, but it is completely true. I am so thankful that Troy and Kyle have remained such wonderful friends over the years. I am also thankful that not only do he and I get along great, but he married a girl that I absolutely love spending time with. I can't tell you all how many conversations we had that weekend about trips we hope to take together in the future and things we want to do as our two families grow. What is even more fun that talking about those hypotheticals is that I know they'll all come true. I see many years ahead for the Krueger-Ruths duo!

thankful thursday.

Just a few things I am thankful for on this cold and rainy Thursday...

• Next week is spring break for A&M so I have a little break from school (except for one class which is ignoring the week off!)
• Our upcoming trip to Texas, we leave next Friday!
• A long phone chat I had with my sister the other day. She is my favorite girl in the world. 
• This Lenten season. I love this season in the liturgical year. I am already looking forward to mass on Easter. 
• Kyle's upcoming birthday. He'll be 25 and I know that he is going to love the presents I have for him!
• The Blue Bell ice cream that is currently in my freezer (although I am trying to show some restraint!)
• Tucker's great recovery! We probably still have another few months before he is completely healed but the surgeons couldn't be happier with how he is doing!
• Comfort foods. My grandma makes the most incredible shrimp gumbo and I made my first pot yesterday. Our apartment smelled just like her house while it was on the stove and I think she would have been proud of how well it turned out!
• My LeCrueset dutch oven that makes it easy for me to make giant pots of Grammy's gumbo and my favorite corn chowder. 
• The delicious southwest chicken salad we are going to have for dinner tonight. 
• This weekend's forecast, sunny and cool. We plan on spending a lot of time at the park. 

I hope you are all having wonderful Thursdays and giving thanks for the big and little joys in your life!