{reconnecting}

I really believe that God brings people back into our lives when we need them, no matter how long it has been since you last connected. Tuesday morning, Jenessa and I met at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and it was just the thing I needed. We hadn't seen each other since my wedding day 4 years ago! And while we still keep in touch through our blogs and email, face-to-face contact is worth so much more. We chatted non stop for 2 1/2 hours and when we realized it was nearing lunch time we both had to laugh at how much we obviously needed to catch up. We definitely can't let that much time go by again before we get together, especially since we still felt there were tons of things to talk about that we hadn't even gotten to yet. Thanks Jenessa for all of your wonderful advice about you know what...it really calmed my anxieties and lifted my spirits! :)

{fall splendor}

There is a tree in the parking lot where I work that is so gorgeous every fall. It turns the brightest shade of orange with some hints of red thrown in, and every year I marvel in it's beauty. This year, I get to park next to this lovely symbol of fall every day, and I had to take a few pictures of it this morning. It was very foggy and gave the tree even more of a presence. Sadly, it is already losing a lot of its leaves, and we are supposed to get a major storm tonight so by tomorrow it may be nearly bare. I might try to snap a few more when I leave work today. Nature always has a way of putting a smile on my face. :)

{MIA}

I just realized that I've been away from the blog world for 2 weeks now...shame on me! Things have been busy I guess, plus we were gone all last week for our anniversary. On Sunday the 7th we drove to Lexington with my parents to visit my grandparents. They just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary...aren't they cute?!


I made them a scrapbook of the years they have been together from their wedding to present day. They had so much fun looking at it. It was great to visit with them but the time passed by way too fast.

On Monday before we left for our trip we met with a kitchen contractor who works with and Amish man that makes the cabinets from solid wood, and for about half the price of store bought cabinets. We're waiting to get his quote and praying that it will work out.

We had a lot of fun during our week in Chicago...shopped a bunch and ate out more than I care to do again in such a short time span...but it was a lot of good food! Our first shopping trip was to IKEA and I finally got an Expedit bookshelf for my scrapbook room! I'm really excited about it...now if I can just get Dan to put it together. :) We passed on the kitchen cabinet idea after meeting with the contractor, and realizing that we were insane to think we could fit that much in our car. That decision definitely lowered my stress level by a ton. We watched a bunch of movies while we were there...Knocked Up being my favorite. I haven't laughed that hard in a looong time! Thursday was our anniversary and it was very low key...had our favorite Chicago style pizza from Giordano's and exchanged our gifts. Dan got me a cute purse and slippers from Old Navy and the new KT Tunstall CD. I got him a Red's sweatshirt.



By Sunday we were on our way home and I was so glad to be back in my cozy house with Melvin and Chloe. I hated leaving them for that long!

I do plan on getting some scrapbooking done soon, so I will be sure to share my creations. Hope everyone is having a great week!

{its the most wonderful time of the year}

OK, I know that is from a Christmas song, but I really think that October is the most wonderful, beautiful, cozy and lovely time of the year. I could probably blog every day during this month about how much I love it and never get tired of talking about it (although I would probably lose the few readers I already have out of sheer boredom) LOL :)

This year, Dan and I get to take a whole week of vacation together for our anniversary which is such a luxury for us. I finally have a job that isn't super busy in October and Dan was able to get his vacation time in which isn't always an easy thing. We're taking off to Chicago next week and I'm so excited. Not only will we be staying downtown to celebrate our 4 year anniversary, but we will also get to spend some time with Dan's aunt and uncle who are a blast to stay with, AND we will be buying our new kitchen cabinets at IKEA! I'm so nervous that we aren't going to get everything we need while we're there, but hopefully it will go smoothly and we'll get home with all the necessary bits and pieces (and they will all fit in our car! *fingers crossed*)

Dan was able to take 2 weeks of vacation so he is off this week too. It was much needed...he works the night shift and it is a very physically and mentally demanding job. We've been looking for a new job for him for some time now, so if you could send your positive thoughts and new job vibes our way, it would be much appreciated!

Hope everyone is having a good start to their week!