Rainy Day Random

It's raining today so I thought I'd pop-in and share some randomness.

First off, when people say fall is beautiful they must live in a place where the trees outnumber the buildings.  This weekend when I was in Connecticut I had to admit, it was lovely.  And these are awful photos.  I was in a moving train or car when I took them.

I do not remember fall being pretty like this in Denver.  I recall strictly brown leaves.

But, would someone please explain to me why it being dark at 4:30 in the afternoon is a good thing?  Just one of the many reasons to hate fall.

***

Now this:

Can you read that?  I'll transcribe:

Free Advice
Life is a porcelain teapot factory.  When you are born the factory explodes.  Your task is to put all of the teapots back together.  And if you actually succeed in reassembling a single teapot, you will accidentally leave it out to collect rainwater.  You must then separate all the drops from each other and return them to the water cycle.  This is the most you can hope for.  Also your hands are made of teapots and rainwater.  Also you're blind.  Also the word "vase." Do you feel insecure about how to pronounce it?  Advice probably won't help.  But it might.  Email for free, confidential and compassionate advise.  Like everything else, this is not a joke, but it is funny. 

I saw this on the subway platform.  New Yorkers are funny. 

***

One of the teenagers in the youth group knows my love for hedgehogs and she will send me random texts of things she finds.

Cuteness!!

Speaking of hedgehogs...when we were Upstate with Terri Mom and Allen Dad a couple of weeks ago I got this little guy at at gift shop.

He came with a name already: Ganley.  And he fits in the palm of my hand!

***

Sometimes I throw fits like a three year old and Dan has to console me.  I tell him it's good practice for when we have toddlers.  This particular day I was upset that the pot pie filling boiled over in the oven and filled the apartment with smoke.  He threw all the buddies on top of me and said they were giving me a hug.

***

Most of the time I think fresh flowers are an epic waste of money so I tell Dan not to buy them for me.  But sometimes I really want a bouquet of flowers.  A nice alternative:

Handmade paper cut-out flowers.  Dan made these for me over the weekend and had them on the table when I arrived home from Connecticut.

I'm kind of a spoiled girl.

The day is over halfway done and Momma and Poppa are arriving tonight!! Happy humpy day.  

Weekending it - Derby Style

This was a social weekend for me.  On Friday night Dan hosted a poker night at our place with a few guy friends.  Evidently they had fun although there are no photos because #boys.

I got to hang-out with Rebekah on Friday night.  She made a delicious shrimp and rice dish for dinner and I brought Sprinkles cupcakes for dessert.  We enjoyed caramel hot chocolate while watching Cinderella.  It was a great girls night.

On Saturday I headed to Connecticut with my friend Julia to visit our friend Amber and see her play roller derby.  We had the best time.  First Amber took us for wings at Eli Cannons and then we got epic cupcakes at Nora's.

While Amber was setting-up for derby, Julia studied for her test and I people watched at the arcade.  At 5 pm we headed to the gym to watch the double header.  You guys, I have never seen derby but it was SO entertaining.  I would never be able to do it since I am not aggressive and I prefer to skate without the goal being to knock into someone.  But, it was fun to watch.  We learned all the rules and really loved seeing Amber in her element.  Her derby name is Slamberry Shortcakes which was so perfect for her and she played awesome especially having just recovered from a severely sprained ankle. 

The games or "bouts" are also fundraisers for various charities. This one was themed and Amber's team dressed as vampires (hence the blood on her face) and the opposing team was zombie school girls.  

Amber is number 213.  "Cakes" is on the side of her helmet.

She is the one with the star on her helmet in this picture.  The star means she is the jammer and has to fight and push her way through the block.  

Her team won and she scored a lot of the points!!

All of her derby teammates were so nice and it was such an open and welcoming community.  I was so relieved to see Amber so happy and so well loved although I miss her close friendship desperately.  I am jealous of all the people that get to be a part of her life now.  

Then we stayed to watch the A team in Amber's league, the Wailers, play.  That team was way more aggressive, as if that was even possible.  I felt bruised just watching it.  They played well but lost to the Philly team. 

Amber and me.

The double header ended at 10 pm and after helping tear things down we went to a late night diner dinner and then collapsed in bed at 1 am.  Sunday morning we woke up too late for church so Amber, her roommate, Dora, Julia, and I went for a nice brunch before we caught the train back to NYC.

Back home, I shared some pastries I brought back with Dan and we snuggled in to watch X-Files. 

It was a fun friend weekend.  Now, on to Monday, but looking forward to my Momma and Poppa coming on Wednesday and only a four day week for me! 

Peeks from the Week

Eeesh this week has felt soooooo long.  And there is still a full day ahead before the weekend.

Part of why I dislike fall is the sudden return of evening commitments.  In the summer our nights are free.  We almost never have any obligations on week nights.  Then when fall hits it feels like the calendar fills up.  This isn't a bad thing necessarily, dance class starts back, we have our small group Bible study, and youth events begin again.  All good things.  But I mourn the loss of the free, open, and careless nights of summer.  Also, that darn sun setting so early.  The sun is down by the time I leave for work which makes it really hard to do things like go for a walk after dinner or go get ice cream.

Ugh, anyways, fall is here and by this point in October I've made my peace with that.

This week, I honestly have nothing to show.  I had high hopes of doing some baking after dinner and sharing a recipe but energy was zilch and I opted to watch X-Files instead.  Also, guys, X-Files is scary!  I mean it's kind of horror movie level but at the same time the plots are so implausible that it's not reality scary.  Scully always keeps it real and the episodes are always resolved by the end so there isn't that "what just happened? is that alien in my bedroom" feeling at the end.  Also, I will never watch this show without Dan.  He will protect me.  And the 1990s feel is comical.   Just watch the opener:

How can anything that hokey be scary?

Next,  I had a huge presentation at work yesterday to show senior staff the project I have been working on for the last 6 months.  It didn't go exactly as I planned but it did go really well.  So I need to track down a greenbone for that and rejoice that it is over and I have approval to carry on the good work.

Tonight Dan is having a poker night at our place and I get to hang out with Rebekah and watch Cinderella!! Then tomorrow I head to Connecticut with a friend to hang out with our dear friend who moved away a couple of years ago.  She is in roller derby and it will be my first experience seeing it and her in it.  SO EXCITED.

Also, I discovered this song this week and I am obsessed with it.  I know, I'm a bit behind but better late than never.

And that's a wrap.  Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Friday. 

Show and Tell Tuesday: Halloween Costumes

Linking-up with Andrea today to highlight our Halloween Costumes through the years.

This is a picture of me and my sissies circa 1988.  Jessy was a princess and Mandy and I were bunnies. I am the white bunny. 

As I was going through all my old childhood photos, sadly I only came across one other photo of our Halloween costumes.  Fortunately it was probably the best costume combination that Mandy and I ever had.  Raggedy Ann and Andy.  Mandy = Andy, obvs.

This was us in third grade.  The outfits were layered combinations of our clothes, thrift store finds, and dress-up clothes.  Our mom made the yarn wigs.  It was our first Halloween at a new school.  Previously we went to a private Lutheran school and they did not allow Halloween but when we moved over to the Catholic School it was a big deal with classroom parties and everything, so we went all out.

I don't have any other photos of costumes during elementary days but I remember I was a box of crayons in 4th grade, a flapper in 5th grade, a hippie in 6th grade, a picnic in 7th grade (that was a cool costume), and then a black cat in 9th grade:

Fortunately for Dan, he has a few more Halloween costume photos.  His mom made his costumes. Look at how amazing these are:

Batman and a Ninja Turtle. He looks pretty excited.   Both costumes are still entirely relevant choices today!

I'm not sure if Terri Mom made the costume below but it is pretty cute too. 

Now, as adults we've either had youth group parties or friends from church have hosted costume events.  I scrounged these photos up.

Dan as a "Rock Star" back in 2010.

Me as a Banana back in 2011.

I was an ice cream sundae and Dan was a Giant's player in 2013.

And then last year we were the classic combination:  Peanut Butter and Jelly.

This year we don't have any Halloween plans.  No one is having a party.  We can't host again this year since my parents will be in town and we don't have a youth group event.  BUT I was just thinking it would be super cute if we tried to go as Raggedy Ann and Andy.  Maybe next year?

Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to see all the other costumes that link-up!

Weekending it

It's fully fall here today.  Temps in the 50s and thick coats.  I need to get some long sleeved shirt (preferably ones with sleeves the reach at least my wrist).

This weekend was full and filling.  Friday night, straight after work, Dan and I took five of the teens from church to Staten Island for our first fall youth group event.  It was an outdoor go-kart, mini-golf, and batting cages place.  Dan went there for his bachelor party back here.

It was dark and cold but we pretty much had the place to ourselves which was nice.  We did go-karts first. 

I was NOT a fan.  One girl, who was not part of our group, rear-ended me HARD and I had my tongue out at the time (since I was concentrating).  The force caused me to bite down on my tongue and that combined with the head trauma was the worst.  Those cars are dangerous!

We did mini-golf next and it was Dan, me, and our solo high schooler on one team and all the middle-schoolers on the other.  It was a basic course nothing fancy or exciting.  Dan won. 

The batting cages were HARD.  Holy cow I could barely hit the softball at slow pitch.  I blame my cold hands.  The boys loved it and the only other girl in attendance did really well.  Apparently I'm weak.  

Overall a great event.  Everyone had fun and there were no tears from any participants. That's a plus!

Saturday morning I rolled over and there was iced coffee and my favorite donuts on my bedside table!  Dan was already up and doing all the laundry by 9 am.  He is crazy spoiling me lately.

In the afternoon we had plans to go to IKEA and grocery shopping and chores but decided to take a cat nap first.  We never really got out of bed.  I turned on X-Files on Netflix and immediately got hooked.  It's SO 1990s and I love it.  It's like the adult version of Goosebumps.  I think we watched 12 episodes this weekend.  Oops.  Dinner was cereal and eggs. 

On Sunday I had the day off from teaching in the pre-k classroom and was able to attend the adult service which was nice.  After church we worked on small projects and prep for the week.  I finally got rid of our old dining room chairs when cousin Kourtney brought a friend with a car.  I also did some crafting and made some summer sausage.

Dinner was pot pie which looked beautiful and tasted great but the filling boiled out and started burning on the bottom of the oven.  I'm fairly certain our fire alarm isn't working.

We spent the rest of the night watching X-Files.

Stop back tomorrow for Show and Tell Tuesdays: Halloween costumes!!!

Peeks from the Week

Yay Friday!!!

I'm thrilled that tomorrow is a no-plan day and I can put effort towards regaining perceived control of my life.  We have to deal with the bugs, I need to feed my soul with crafting, we need to get back on the routine bandwagon again.  Gosh we suck at hanging on to that speeding wagon.

I am down lately.  It's the little things that tick me off, like my shirtsleeves being too short.  It annoys me how much that annoys me. When the bigger things in life are out of control I fixate on the smaller things which I should be able to control.  I can't control the sad diagnosis for a family member, broken bones and hospital stays for others, worry for siblings and parents, fear for the future, and pain of the past.  That's life.  But I can control the length of my shirtsleeves, or figure out a way to create fort knox in our apartment against the roaches of the city.  Right?  Right???

I can't control whether people read this blog, like it, or comment.  But I can control how much or how little I care about that and how it determines my self-worth.  It shouldn't.  I can focus on the fact that we started this blog to capture memories so that we can share with family and look back and remember better.  I can decide not to care about how my outfit compares to the woman next to me on the subway and I can choose not to over analyze how I think the person I passed in the hall makes me feel like I'm back in high school and have no self-esteem.

I can turn the music up louder in my ears to block the annoying noises around me and think about the fun times we shared with Terri Mom and Allen Dad this week.  I like how Terri Mom winks and Allen Dad chuckles.  I like how Dan tries soooooo hard to cheer me up.  I can look forward to seeing a good friend next weekend and my parents coming to visit at the end of the month.

Last night when we got home from work there were pretty flowers left from Dan's parents and a sweet note from them.  We had Chipotle for dinner and ice cream for dessert.  Tonight we are taking the youth group to go mini-golf, go-carts, and batting cages and tomorrow is blissful Saturday.

Really, things aren't so bad. 

Fall in Boscobel

Boscobel holds a special place in my heart, and I think Dan's too.

We took a day-venture there the first summer we were together and totally fell in love with the place.  I even imagined us getting married there!

We took my parents there almost two years ago right before Dan and I got engaged.  It was just as lovely in the fall.

Our first winter as an engaged couple we took an overnight trip and saw SPARKLE Night of 10,000 lights on the grounds and spent an enchanted evening in the town nearby.  We hadn't been back since.

On our fall bucket list this year we decided to return to see the fall leaves in the Hudson Valley and we brought Terri Mom and Allen Dad along so they could experience it as well.

Getting to Boscobel is a bit of a trip.  We take the subway into Grand Central station and purchase Metro North tickets on the Hudson Line.  We enjoy a lovely train ride upstate to Cold Springs, a little over an hour out of the city.  As soon as the train leaves the Bronx it's like you're in another world.  Trees, nature, and cute quaint towns dot along the wide and gorgeous Hudson River.  The town of Cold Springs is darling as well with its antique stores, bed and breakfasts, boutique shops, and restaurants.

On this visit we ate lunch at a nice Italian restaurant and then explored some of the shops on Main Street.  There is usually a trolley that takes visitors to Boscobel but we were told it wasn't operating so we got a car service to take us up the road.

Even though it is mid-October, because the weather has stayed so warm (woot!), the leaves were only just starting to turn but it was still beautiful.

The weather on Monday was hot and the sun was so bright that it made taking pictures difficult so these are a little dark.  Sorry.

There is an exhibit, gift shop, trails, and house tour but we just strolled around the grounds taking in the views.

The trolley we thought wasn't coming in fact came by while we waited for car service.  We hopped on hoping to catch the next train out of town.  The trolley went rogue and ended up driving 30 minutes into the state park to "pick-up" hikers!!! We had no clue that was happening and when we stopped no one boarded the trolley.  So bizarre but since we missed the train we just decided to enjoy the fall scenery.  By the time we made it back into town it was time to catch the next train so we ran out of time to grab ice cream and show Terri Mom and Allen Dad the waterfront.  Oh well.  Next time.

We arrived back in Bay Ridge by 7 pm and we were all exhausted.  Dan and I tag teamed to make chili and salad for dinner and we went to bed early (for us).  It was a great visit and another item off our fall bucket list.

One of these days Dan and I will have to actually take the tour that goes inside the house at Boscobel.   We just can't imagine anything could compete with the view outside.