How is it December already??

Well, let's just get right to it. Here are some pictures. :)

THANKSGIVING!!

The REAL Thanksgiving. :)

...And some adorable children.

And then, on the weekend, we went out to Iowa with some of Ryan's family and went to a super fun Christmas light parade in downtown Burlington.

Waiting for the parade

Blurry figures on Snake Alley

Waiting for the parade...

...And it begins!

That last picture is an excellent segue into our next segment:  Getting ready for Christmas!  These were taken at our apartment, which is overflowing with festivity right about now. :)

(I should really crop out the mess to the right. Ignore that part.)

Merry Christmas season, everyone! 

A tribute to my old friend...

You may remember it looking something like this:

Now, of course, it is called "Paint", and looks more like this:

It's so unpretentious, has so much character, feels no need to incorporate excess bells and whistles...

...And is so much fun. 

This is me having fun with Paint. :)

But just like John Henry (vs. the steam-powered hammer) the appeal of Paint's simplicity, despite it's relative inefficiency, is hard to explain.

(Meet the steam-powered hammer:)

Yes, I recognize that Photoshop is better, and more powerful, and more effecient, and I do like to use it for most projects.......

Hey, guess what season it is!

Fall is super.  Writing a paragraph about the superness of fall sounds overwhelming, so it is time to bust out the bulleted list.

• Pumpkin bread! (Well, pumpkin in general...)
• Apple crisp! (Well, apples in general...)
• Yankee candles!
• Changing leaves!
• Hot drinks in cozy mugs!
• Blankets!
• Hats and scarves!
• Bonfires!
• S'mores and hotdogs and...baked beans!
• hay rack rides!
• Pretty cornfields!
• Fireplaces! (or videos of fireplaces, in my case)
• Marching bands!
• Apple Cider!
• Pie! (can be any season)

 Okay, and so much more...but that's good for now.  One picture for the road:

Some of the kids (and John and my dad) were in town on Saturday, so we took them to see Uncle Ryan's cool architecture studio.  Good times. :)

Hey, guess what day it is!

September 27!  This is a good day.  Not only do I know several cool people with birthdays on the 27th (happy birthday), but 5 years ago today, Greg introduced me to Ryan and Julie at a bonfire in Belvidere.  Hahaha....  Bahahahaha.......  It was something like, "Hey Sarah, have you met my siblings?"  And I said, "No.  I probably should..."  Boy, I did not foresee what would happen over the next 5 years.  Irony is my favorite.  Life is good.

:)

Where to begin...?

Well, we got married, for starters. :)

Then, we went to Mackinac Island:

Selfie on a tandem bike. :)  Aren't we cool...?

Um... Too much fun in the children's section of Fort Mackinac...

ICE CREAM!

Then, I had a birthday!  Ryan deserves an A++ for how he handled the pressure of celebrating his wife's birthday 11 days after the wedding....

Mmm...fajitas...

We even had party hats.

Yay :)

So, Then....

We painted some more... (We previously painted the office and bathroom).

We have a column now!  The best part of the apartment. :)

ALSO, there was that whole Sunday School camp out thing...(the EIGHTH one!) Fall has officially arrived (Yay).

What was left of the group by Saturday morning. :)

That's all I will leave you with for now.  Hopefully this makes up for my recent posting deficiency...for the 3 of you who follow this closely... Haha.