Fall Has Arrived

Today is the first day of fall, my favorite time of year! JD and I celebrated its arrival by staying home this weekend and relaxing for the first time in many weeks. In fact, after watching two movies on Saturday, we got bored!! But we were productive in some ways. We worked on our garden on Saturday morning, or should I say, we removed our garden on Saturday morning. Yes, it's sad, but we still have plenty of room to plant vegetables without providing weeds the opportunity to thrive in our backyard. We hung out with some fellow grad students on Friday, ate some pizza, and played a board game. Sunday, we attended church (and heard an awesome sermon!) and went to the movies with Danielle. We saw Easy Virtue, which was really funny and satisfying. I highly recommend it. Now that I feel pretty caught up on my school work, and I've gotten some quality relaxation time with JD , I think I might be ready for the week!

Happy fall! (Yes, we grew those pumkins!)

Oh, I've been telling some of you about the insane gnat swarm that has taken over the town. But I have the sneaky suspicion that you're not taking me seriously, so I have proof. Behold the plague: no, it's not snow. No, it's not dust. It's gnats, and they extend for miles in every direction!!

Sandwich, IL

JD and I had the best time this weekend with Emily, Danielle, and Farran, hanging out in Sandwich, IL. Danielle's family owns a farm there, and ever since Emily and I heard that there is such a thing as a Sandwich fair (although it has nothing to do with sandwiches), we knew we had to attend. So, Friday we all drove the hour and a half to Danielle's farm where we played with all her cool farm stuff!!

We named these kittens Smoky and the Bandit. They liked to chew your fingers.

Danielle on top of her old pig house.

JD and I climbed to the top of a grain silo.

That's Farran in front, me and the dog, Buddy, in the back right, and Danielle in the back left.

We had a big fire with marshmellows and s'mores!

Saturday, JD had to drive to Indiana for work, but I went to the fair with the girls. It was so fun! We saw prize vegetables, photographs, art and crafts, pies, pigs, sheep, rabbits, the list goes on. We also enjoyed way too much fair food and a crazy ferris wheel. I think I may be back next year!

Julie in the cow barn.

Emily in her second life as a milk maid.

Thanks to Danielle and her family for a great time! In other news, Michael got a kitten! She's black and white and precious! I can't wait to meet her this fall.

Labor Day '09

I'm sure it won't suprise you to hear that we had another awesome Labor Day weekend up in Michigan. Stephen kicked it off by flying to Bloomington to visit JD and I, checking out the house and our town. Friday, the three of us drove up to St. Joseph to meet up with JD's parents, grandparents, older brother Phil and his wife Nim, and the Batson clan.

Once there, we enjoyed the usual massive meals,

chiling out by the pool and in the hot tub, riding dirt bikes and four-wheelers, knee-boarding, jet skiing, boating, playing bocci ball, reading, you get the picture.

JD and I brought a selection of our garden tomatoes - red, yellow, orange, and green!

We also played our traditional Monopoly game (I was the banker). And for the first time ever, JD lost!! (to Eric).

Here, JD cozies up to a front-porch visitor.

But the big event of the weekend was fishing on Lake Michigan. The crew brought home enough salmon to feed the 16 of us and trout to last a month!

The fileting process was done by the ship captains.

Ah, it was the perfect break from school and work. Now, we have to make it to Thanksgiving.