They weren't kidding

It's true that fall here is beautiful. And it has finally come! Here are some pictures of my town in all its autumn glory.

My room is in the house in the back, second floor on the left.

This is a cemetery a couple blocks from my apartment. It's a nice place to run.

This weekend was a good one. Mostly because I finally got a chance to make and can applesauce from when we went apple-picking several weeks back. I got six pints out the batch! It is nice to have time to just putter around the kitchen.

A lot has been going on. I'm getting settled into my school; I'm working in four different classrooms, mostly with language arts. Possibly the coolest part of my job is that I'm learning to play the trombone with the band (there is only one poor little sixth grader for all low-brass, he is sooo over powered). When I told the band teacher that I played tuba for eight years, he nicknamed me "Tuba Girl". I think it has a good ring to it :)

I'm working a lot, which is both good and bad. Time is flying and I can tell that I will never be bored in this job. But I rarely get home before it is dark (that is partly because it's getting dark so flippin' early!), and when I'm home I have zero energy (thus the declining number of blog posts). I have promised myself that I won't work at home, which takes some pressure off and lets me actually relax a little each night.

In conclusion, life is good and I'll keep you updated.

In the news

Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize with the UN Commission on Global Climate Change, my friends have started getting married, and the kitchen herb garden is growing tall.


I just got back from Minneapolis where two friends who met at Goddard Space Flight Center in the summer of 2006 got married. Congratulations Luke and Rayna! It was great fun to see friends, reminisce, and dance. It delights me how natural it was to see them again. We practically breathed each other for ten weeks then went our separate ways. Many of these people I hadn't seen for over a year, but it seemed simple to pick-up where we left off. That has been the case with many of my friends who I have moved away from over the years and it gives me hope that it will be the case with many others. Besides going to the wedding, I went to the Mall of America to ride roller coasters, ate lunch with the bust of the Pope at Buca de Bepos, and walked around downtown.



Of course going to a wedding makes me think of my own "special day". Even if I never find my Prince Charming I want to invite everyone to come celebrate with me because it would be one helluva party. There are important people in my life who have never met each other and might not cross paths except at my wedding. That sounds very ego-centric, but I realize that is the case with all of my friends, which is why I look forward to meeting your important people at your wedding (or wedding-like party).

One thing I realized yesterday is that every group I'm close to loves to dance. And that makes me happy. So all I can say is that if I do ever get married, we are going to need a wicked huge dance floor and its going to be going all night.

And now for something completely different...

A cool interview

So, normally I'm not such a fan of the Colbert Report. But the pure awesomeness of a man who has been to the moon, *twice*, and the fact the Stephen seems completely star-struck won me over. Enjoy.

Things that I like.

1) Apple picking! I went to an orchard slash harvest festival this weekend and it was a blast. Now we have half a bushel of apples to do something with. I'm hoping to can me some apple sauce this weekend.




2) Live bluegrass at a wicked cool club (and yes, they actually say "wicked" out here). The club is called the Stone Church and it really is an old church. It has some pretty sweet acts come through and its fame is widespread (whenever I tell someone here where I'm living, they ask if I've been there). The atmosphere reminded me so much of Flagstaff: lots of dreadlocks, local artist work on the wall, awesome people watching.

3) My new bookshelf! I got it for free from the side of the road. I love this state. Now it actually feels like I live here!



4) Waking up early (or at least I'm hoping that I'll like it soon). Check out the time down there and then think of me setting my alarm for 5:30 AM. I more fully appreciate what all you teachers out there are working with :)