Pumpkins

We carved our pumpkins last night. Can you figure out who did each pumpkin? ;)

Where I've been

This is where I've been... my cubicle... home sweet productivity. I'm on quite a deadline so I've been here.

This is a Green Ash by our apartment. It is beautiful. I think the autumn colors are just about over here, but it has been beautiful around here.


Saturday night Erik and I went over to Brenda & Chris's for a bonfire. It was nice to relax around a fire and hang out with friends for a while. We also got to enjoy their dogs. I love both of their dogs but I really like there Border Collie/Springer dog named Mongo. He is a sweetie.

I made Apple and Oat Bran Muffins yesterday. They turned out better than I expected. I think I would add a little bit more cinnamon next time, but still very good. Otherwise I slept yesterday and enjoyed a day away from my cubicle. :)

Happy and Healthy

I've been thinking a bit about what makes people healthy and I'm working on becoming a healthier person overall - mind and body. I've heard some people gain weight and get somewhat depressed when writing their thesis - I am determined that that won't happen to me.

I just wanted to share what a blogger wrote and I agree whole heartedly with her. This is from Kelli at http://www.africankelli.com/

"Ultimately, what I think we need to remember is that we cannot shop ourselves green with new light bulbs or hybrid cars. We cannot eat ourselves thin with 100-calorie packs of crackers. We cannot pull ourselves out of financial ruin by shopping sales that “save.” Nice marketing ploys! If we make these choices because they fit in our budgeting, nutrition, environmental plans — that is another story. Simply, I think we can focus on using less and walking more — those two things alone will make us all healthier."

I also found another website that I have enjoyed looking at http://northernimages.com/lakesuperior/index.php
It is a has some beautiful photos of a place Erik and I hope to live someday. :)

Erik and I went down to Nebraska City this weekend. We really enjoy that area. It is beautiful and the trees are just starting to change colors. It was a rainy weekend so I didn't take any pictures, but it was still a lot of fun. We went to Kimmel's Orchard and the Peddleton Outlet, had lunch and worked our way back to Lincoln.

The past week or so

This weekend we went to a Lincoln Stars hockey game. That was a lot of fun and I knew how many periods there are in hockey. :) haha. Saturday and Sunday we went to the farmers markets. Saturday we got jalapeno catfish cakes and Sunday we bought pumpkins, radishes, cabbage, bell peppers, and broccoli.

I got some huge zucchini from Martha and made zucchini brownies. I sent most of them right out of our house so I wouldn't chow down on them. I sent some to work with Erik, some to our neighbor, Abby, and I sent some all the way to Fargo, ND because test takers need to eat veggies - so zucchini brownies are just the thing. Forget that they have plenty of sugar in them. :)

And we caught up on cleaning and laundry, but that isn't fun but it did occupy a good part of the weekend.

I've been working on a presentation for school. I had it printed yesterday and then someone found 3 mistakes (2 typos and one redundant sentence) so I had to have it reprinted. That was a bit of a bummer.

Yesterday it was 84 outside and today the high is suppose to be 62. Quite a difference, but I'm definitely not complaining. I'd much prefer the cooler weather.

I have been reading the icanhascheezburger site a lot lately. They are just so funny.

Last night we went out for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Paz. We met up with two of Erik's work friends. That was nice and I love eating there. It is in walking distance too so we enjoy the walk to and from there.

I've been window shopping lately online for clothes and electric tea kettles and area rugs - which are so darn expensive - definitely not worth it right now, but fun too look. I really dislike our carpet in our apartment. I've had an increasing disliking to the carpet for a few months now, but we won't have for too long, so it is fine, and it works.

We also dog sat last night. We watched Jessie for the night. He is a fun and good dog. I can't wait to have my own dog... and barn cats, and horses and maybe a rabbit too.

Tippers

I spent some time at the barn taking pictures on Monday night. This little guy is such a sweetie.

First Anniversary

Friday was such a nice day! I worked from home. I got a lot done in the morning, then when Erik came home we went to Pioneers Park and hiked around. There were these purple flowers everywhere and they were full of moths, bees and other insects.



When you are walking through the prairie you have to be aware that you scare up the grasshoppers when you are walking and they hop all over the place including on you. I had some hang on to my chacos and Erik counted over 10 in the first half of our hike that had landed on him. One landed on my pinkie and stuck - he didn't want to leave.

Erik and I came home and got cleaned up and we went out to dinner for our anniversary (even though it is on Sunday). We went to a local restaurant called Fireworks. It was an excellent dinner. We had flat bread with a red pepper dip for an appetizer. Erik had a Thai peanut pizza that was wonderful and I had rotisserie chicken with steamed vegetables and a baked potato. Our service at the restaurant was excellent. I don't think we have had such great service ever. We had about 7 different people help us. It was a great dinner and we'd go back to Fireworks again.

Then we came home and watched Music and Lyrics. It was a cute movie. It was a very nice night.

Busy busy bee

Oh my it has been a busy month. I can't believe it is already the end of the month - I'm freaking out a little about how much I have to do, but I can't work on things 24 hours a day - I need a break. I'll get through it anyways.

I found my sixth job to apply for today. I was surprised and excited. Maybe two weeks ago, I finished this little baby quilt for Abbey Wren. She was due the 24th, but has not arrived. Erik thinks she will come on our anniversary. I'm excited for Courtney and John!

Erik and I were back in MN this weekend for another wedding for Danny and Odessa. It was a lovely wedding. I didn't get any good pictures because it was dark in the church.
On Friday we went out to dinner with Erik's parents and Saturday I went out to the ball park to meet my Dad for a few hours. It was a beautiful day. It was too short though. I didn't really want to leave.

We returned to Lincoln on Sunday with a half a brown grocery bag full of Haroldson apples so... I've been baking! :) I've made a rustic apple tart and apple cinnamon muffins. Erik said he knew someone at work that would take the apples I don't want but truthfully it has been a lot of fun baking with them.

Here's my rustic apple tart: