Hello Old Friend, I've missed you...

Yesterday was September 23rd. Check your calendars. What does it say? "First day of Autumn." Hello my dear old friend, I've missed you.

It is my most favorite time of year. Everything is beautiful, everything is bright and brilliant. I love everything about the season: the colors, the smells, the CLOTHES, the days that make you want to stay inside and look out the window, and even the days that make you want to run outside and soak up the last bit of sun that the year will offer. I love the excitement of football, the sweaters, hats, and gloves that people bundle up in while they cradle hot chocolate or coffee in their hands. I love the promise of the oncoming Thanksgiving holiday. Its a time where loved ones come together and eat, eat, EAT and just enjoy each other's company. I love the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, I love harvest, I love the pumpkins popping up every where in the garden, and I love...well, everything about it.

I can't believe how fast the year has gone. About this time last year Beau and I were snuggling into our apartment in Toledo and I was (as always) decorating for my most favorite time of year. Here is a snippet of what I did last year:


One of my favorite family fall traditions is picking apples. Last year Beau and I went picking apples for the first time:

We even bought some pumpkins and carved them for Halloween:

This is always a happy time of year for me. This fall is going to be one of the best ever. 2 more weeks and Beau will be home, 20 more days and I will be walking down the aisle to start the rest of my life with the most amazing man the Lord has ever created, and this Thanksgiving my HUSBAND and I have plans to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with our beautiful sister and brother in law followed by a Thanksgiving feast at our apartment. Yes I am planning a big ole Thanksgiving feast complete with beautiful festive decorations! What better way to spend the holiday than with our amazing family.

I am so glad you are back Autumn. I've missed you.

Back from a brief respite

Hello everyone!

As Jenna kindly reminds me, I have not written in quite some time. Boy have I been busy I have been home a full month now and it doesn't even seem possible. I don't know where the time went.

I will start off at the beginning of the adventure between leaving New York for a kick ass road trip with my sisters and our wedding...

Princeton, NJ to Toledo, IA. Departure Time: 4:00pm Eastern Time- Arrival Time: 2:00pm Central Time. Trip Duration: 27 hours STRAIGHT. A few things:
1) the Catskills are BEAUTIFUL and I highly recommend that EVERYONE sees Pennsylvania at least once in their lifetime
2) South Tama done me wrong when it came to Geography. And here is why I say that... Me: (to Beau and Sarah) "Its a 12-15 hour drive from here (meaning New York) to Toledo I looked it up on google maps" Beau and Sarah just look at each other and then look at me. Sarah: "um..." (with a 'you're such a dumb ass' look on her face) Beau: "oh yea? How did you come up with that? (being as sweet as he can) Me: "well it said on google maps that would only take about 15 hours and I was guessing that Chicago is only a 6 hour drive from here because it takes roughly 6 hours to get to Chicago from Toledo." Somewhere in my head that made sense. This is what I learned from THIS: It takes 7-8 hours ALONE to get through PA non-stop. You do the math. AND, Beau and Sarah I think just go along with a lot of what I say sometimes.
3) The train station is indeed a very dramatic place. Leaving Beau there reminded me of the old black and white movies. I thought about running after the train. But the lack of steam made it less dramatic and there was no theme music playing in the back ground so what's the point?
4) Sarah and Jaqui are two of the BEST people to go on a long road trip with. I love those ladies even more because when you have 27 hours to kill, you really get to know someone.
5) The Bermuda Triangle is NOT located over the ocean somewhere, it is right there in Illinois. (We got lost and added 4 hours to the trip)

Once we were home wedding planning got into full swing. It has been a little more stressful trying to get everything done while in New York, but now that I am home and close to everyone and every thing the process has been much smoother and I am ready to marry the man of my dreams. Time consuming? Yes, but its going to be everything I could have ever hoped for and I am just anxious to see all our loved ones and share this day with them.

And since wedding planning has been so time consuming, I have not spent a MOMENT on grad school. Not a single moment. However, I was inspired today to actually get that stinking resume done. The one that rears it ugly head and reminds you that you are indeed a college graduate and that (like it or not) the government is going to want you to start paying back your dues in 6 short months. Why can't I just click my heels together and automatically be placed in my dream job telling them just what my terms are? Soon enough...

Thats pretty much the skinny for right now. How are all of you?!