cooking like crazy!

for thanksgiving this year, my mom decided to take advantage of having me home and put me to work, which basically meant i did most of the cooking and she did most of the cleaning. so, tuesday before before thanksgiving, i made two pumpkin pies (homemade crusts and all), and then wednesday i took the day off from work to prepare a sweet potato souffle, green bean casserole, two pans of stuffing, egg casserole (for breakfast), cinnamon muffins (also breakfast), and to top it all off, i made a spice cake for my grandpa's birthday (it's his favorite).

between thanksgiving at the midlands and now with my family, i feel pretty prepared to host thanksgiving at my house someday! although i might need katie's advice on the turkey :)

reception site selected!

after 3 weeks of intense searching, we have finally settled on a reception site for the wedding :) i had been feeling like we were just going to have to settle for a place that was just available, affordable, and capable of getting the job done, even if it didn't feel particularly special to us, but my mom kept looking diligently and we actually ended up picking the second-to-last place we looked at!

it is called the Royal Fox Country Club, and we love it for several reasons. first and foremost, it reminds us of W&M! the building is modeled after Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home in VA, complete with a small rotunda. the interior has a unique colonial feel, with a wood paneled library and decorative oil lamps. second, we'll have the place all to ourselves, so we won't be competing with other DJs or wedding guests. third, the rooms have lots of big windows looking out over the golf course with pretty picture spots close by. and lastly, it was both available and affordable, haha.

with the major decision made (church and reception site), it's on to colors, dresses (including mine of course), flowers, photographers, DJs...so i guess there's still lots to do, haha. oh well, we are definitely making progress!!!

cliche town names

i think it is my destiny to move to a town with a cliche name...apparently it's the cool thing to do. after all, chris and katie did recently move to Farmville and i just found out that anna, a friend from high school, moved to Summerland, CA. Summerland? Seriously? i'm reminded of the first time i told someone (jennie perhaps?) that i grew up in Naperville, and she thought i said "Neighborville". ahh if only i had grown up in Neighborville...then i could be a part of the cliche town club too :)

my new office

as you all know, i recently started my new job and so far i really like it! the work is challenging, my days are busy, and i think i'm really making a difference, so that feels great. you should also know that with my new job came an office upgrade...as in, now i have one and it has a much different feel than a room full of, say, 7 other people. so here is the grand tour!

this is my desk, with my chair for meetings (usually it's just leonidas's chair, but every now and then a real person sits in it, haha). my chair is a giant blue velour-ish feel...it's not your typical office chair but it's comfy and leonidas and i both fit in it when he feels like the other chair is getting lonely.


here is the view from my desk...the highlights include a picture of my fiance :), my morning cup of peppermint tea, and my favorite blue pencil cup/square.


and here is where leonidas is supposed to lay! i used this box to bring things into the office, and then i realized with a few towels, it would make a good little puppy bed. he's also got his two blue dog bowls, and several toys/cheweys not shown here.


so that's the grand tour! hope you enjoyed it :)

going to the chapel...

this weekend my mom, alex, and i went on the hunt for venues for the wedding! and we are really really really excited that we found a church! i took a few pictures of the outside and the interior to give you guys a feel for it...it's really old (built in the 1800's i think), we'll pack the house (it only seats 200), and it's gorgeous inside with stained glass windows, lighting in the pews, and a really pretty alter. my amateur photography doesn't do it justice, but hopefully a photographer will!

here's the exterior (keep in mind, it's november so the grounds will be really pretty in august)


here's the alter (with my mom and the rental attendant)...the windows are colored but with the sun coming through, it's hard to see.

and here is the interior from the entrance to the chapel...

we are...PENN STATE!!!

on halloween day, my family and i celebrated with a little family rivalry...northwestern vs. penn state football! it was a chilly chicago day so we were all bundled up for the afternoon in the stands (i wore a northwestern tshirt under my penn state sweatshirt...nothing like a good compromise!). we got to watch joe paterno himself make his way out on to the field with the ever-inspiring nittany lions...in the end, penn state came out on top, so at least some of us were pleased :)

pumpkin carving

i love love LOVE carving pumpkins, so i was super excited about this halloween for alex and i to carve our first pumpkin...i even sported my "i heart pumpkin pi" apron for the occasion (thanks kayla!).


we decided (meaning i decided...but alex was a good sport, haha) to carve the old WM logo, feathers and all! here's the finished product...


here is it lit, complete with a pumpkin spice candle! what do you think? i was pretty proud of us/myself :)

wm homecoming!

for homecoming, alex and i made the trek down to williamsburg, starting in the dulles airport, where alex was really pleased that i was taking pictures...


when we got there, we wandered around the campus and saw our favorite sites...including the crim dell.


then, alex successfully snagged us some tickets to the sold out JMU football game!

moving to Chicago!

so i have been a serious blogging slacker, but i have been taking lots of pictures, so i'm going to try to update you all even though it's late :) a few weeks ago, i made the big move to chicago! thanks to lots of help from my parents and alex, i finally made it. on the way, we stopped at alex's parents new house and took some pictures with the truck for posterity's sake.


we actually saw some serious snow on the drive through the PA mountains...in the middle of october, i was NOT prepared for that!


alex forgot his sunglasses, so he got to sport mine while he was driving...i think he pulls it off quite nicely, haha.