Autumn Days

We're Missing You!

Thanksgiving is taking way too long to get here. I can't believe I've survived a whole 2 1/2 months without our family and friends. Now don't get me wrong - I am LOVING having JD all to myself! But we still miss you all sooooooo much; it hurts. Tonight, JD and I went to Connections at our church, Eastview, in hopes of meeting some new friends. Connections at Eastview is the same thing as GroupLink at Northpoint; you meet other couples to form small groups. Well, unlike the hundreds of people that show up at a Buckhead GroupLink, maybe thirty people came, and only two of those people were young, married, and without children. The couple, Justin and Ashley, seemed nice. Ashley is working on a doctoral program in psychology at ISU, and Justin is a band director at a local high school. We're going to spend some time hanging out with them while the church checks to see if there's another established group that we could all join. If not, then we're starting our own to which we'll add couples as they pop up. Pray for us! Here's a couple of pictures of the pumpkin we carved this weekend:

Getting Away

This weekend, JD and I packed up to spend the weekend at Batsonland - Kim and Andrew's house - in Michigan. As usual, we had too much fun. We saw Joey and Eric play football on Saturday morning, followed by Jake's afternoon game. The day was gorgeous and unseasonably warm for an October fall day. We ate lots and relaxed in the sunshine. Sunday, after a dip in the hot tub, the family went skeet shooting, which I tried for the first time. Everyone's patience with me still did not result in a single hit, but the boys were great shots. We ended our visit with a trip to the pumpkin patch. Every time we visit, not only are Kim and Andrew amazing, generous hosts, but we live fun-filled days, only to crash into bed each night. It was the perfect escape from all the work at home; plus we loved seeing some family finally.

Around Town

So I thought that you might like to see a few places that we frequent, all places that we spent time this weekend too. Places such as my closet ... I mean office! at school:



Yeah, I share this room with someone else too. And here's the building where I teach all my classes:



I tried to get into the room, but it was locked. JD's waiting for me to finish taking all these pictures:



And here are some cool plants they have in the quad:



This is a shot of our street: Fell Avenue, on Homecoming Day at Illinois Wesleyan, hence all the cars:



Sunday morning, JD and I headed to church:



Yes, it is in a cornfield!



But aesthetic appeal isn't everything! In other news, this is JD's first week of work in the field. The company officially considers him "trained," although that's not the word he would use to describe himself right now. His return to work will change a lot around here; it's been so nice to come home and find that he's already done all my chores. We've discovered that he'd be a great stay-at-home dad.