Cool Autumnal Things

I stole the title for this blog from one of Josh's facebook album titles, but it just fit so well I couldn't help it.
I thought it seemed like a good time to give an update on what we have been up to this fall so far.
And I have some good pictures to include with the update! Yayyy!!

Here is a picture of Joshy on his bike! We went for a Sunday drive up the Alpine Loop and it was beautiful. My legs were quite cold by the time we got home, but it was very fun. Here is a picture of us at the top:














And me taking a picture of us while riding:














We also carved pumpkins with my sisters and niece and nephew. Here are Josh and Xavior working hard at their masterpieces-



















For Halloween, Josh's department had a costume contest, so we decided to dress up as Josh's professor and a sack of potatoes (because his research is on potatoes). The final product turned out so well that we won a prize! It was a little ceramic pumpkin with candy inside. It was great- it's my first Halloween decoration and it satisfied my need for Halloween candy, without having to buy either one!














On Halloween, Josh had to leave to go to Long Beach, CA for a conference. He was presenting some of his research on greenhouse gas emissions from turfgrass.
I was very proud of him for going, but it was awful to have him gone. AWFUL! I think it gets worse and worse the longer we are married when he goes somewhere, because I just more and more used to having him around. So after the longest 4 days of my life, he got back on Thursday (my birthday)!!
He took me shopping at Anthropologie, and I actually felt like I could splurge and buy something since it was my birthday present from him. The best part was just having him home and being able to walk around Gateway, talk, catch up, and just be together. Then we went to dinner at The Pie, another of my favorite things. It turned out to be a really great birthday, thanks to wonderful Joshy.

Josh was also in charge of Date Night this week. We have started rotating who is in charge every week, and I think it will be really fun to do this way. I am much more of a planner than Josh, so I like to plan it out in advance what we will do. Josh is much more spontaneous than I am, so it is always more of a surprise when he is in charge. This week, he made dinner at home and it was delicious. I love when he cooks because it is always different than the ideas that I have, and it usually turns out great. We had lasagna, salad with pepperoni and olives, and garlic bread. Mmm, I want more of it all now!
Then we played Yahtzee, which is our favorite game of the moment. Then we walked over to Gloria's Little Italy and picked up this incredibly delicious delicacy!



It's cake with cream and strawberries. Italian cream is one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. I am not even a cake person, but I could eat this every day.







So what started out as a rough week has turned out to be just wonderful. It is amazing what a difference having the love of your life around makes!

Oh, and Xavior went home this week, too! So I went from having two other people around to having no one else around! It was great to have him here and we loved getting to know him better. It was also good to have our first experience as parents of a teenager.

Life is good, I love Josh, and I am so grateful for all I have been blessed with!