I'M ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE

and so it begins

We went and cut our tree down this past weekend...our eyes were WAY bigger than our space in the apartment. Last year we got a pretty small tree that fit nicely in our space, but this year we thought we need a slightly larger one. Well, when we got home we found that slightly larger was several feet higher and much wider. I didn't get any pictures of the tree cutting experience this year since it was raining while we roamed the tree farm, but I do love that we get to go cut the tree down and know it is ultra fresh!

Thanksgiving

COOKED.

ATE.

PLAYED.

SLEPT.

Snow!

We got our first snow last week and I sure loved every little flake. I must say though, Oregon is so nutty about snow...really, we didn't get much more than you can see in the below picture, but almost the entire state found it necessary to close schools the next day due to the ice. Wow. Needless to say, it has been unusually cold, but I'm loving the cooler weather!

And just because I think she's cute and I can't take her out in the snow, here is Ella in her new "hiding" space. She thinks because I put her bed in this basket she is invisible to Gypsy. She is cute, she pops her head in and out like a jack in the box.

FALL COLORS

One of my most favorite things about living here is that we actually have changing seasons. The fall is the absolute best; the colors are so pretty! We went on one of the rails to trails paths this past weekend and had a wonderful time.

WE'RE FAMOUS...OOOOO-prah

Janelle & Allison on Oprah

Not that I'm a big fan of Oprah, but it was still exciting to go. The episode was of Oprah and her best friend Gail camping in Yosemite and we mostly watched video of them on their trip so kind of lame episode to be a guest on, but still way fun. The show was centered around friendship so it was neat to go with Janelle and be goofballs about the whole thing together. You know ,we were those really cool people dancing in the audience before the show started. I can't tell you why, but my feet and arms just couldn't stay still while singing along to Usher's OMG to the tune of O-O-O-OPRAH in place of his lyrics.

Mustache Madness

(the 8th grade boy, the bandito, the villain)

I love having Sarah here! So far we've hit two great shows; The Weepies and Ingrid Michaelson. This past Saturday was the Ingrid show and her fun friend Amanda was also in town to join us. In light of it being Halloween weekend Sarah bought us some finger mustaches to use as our costumes. AWESOME. EASY. FUN. We had a lot of fun being silly with them and I must say a great night was had.

AWESOME PACKAGE

So I came home from my trip to find an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G package from dear Ame. THANK YOU AMY!!! It contained some Halloween goodies, but the best part of it was the wing sauce! Amy learned of my love for wing sauce when she was here this past month and just knew my cabinets needed some. I can't wait to have something to eat it on. In fact, maybe I'll order a pizza tonight so I can taste some of the goodness. Packages are so fun to get!

MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME

I made another trek to the Midwest to visit with great friends and had a blast. I was pretty lousyabout taking pictures which bums me out since there were such fun things to document.

Highlights of trip

-A barn dance where I learned the term "Peel the Banana" and dressed in western wear. I know, I need a picture of me doing this, but the others will have to suffice.

(Kate, my dancing partner for the night)

-Amazingly fun concert with Janelle and her sister. This was my about my fourth time seeing Joshua Radin and unfortunately I found him to be so-so, but The Script was seriously awesome and I really can't wait to see them again. Best song of night was Rusty Halo.

-Eating at a terrible middle eastern restaurant on campus...you'd think since the food was crappy this wouldn't be a highlight, but we were served by the cutest little boy who was about 10 years old and he kept telling us the food was "delicious" adorable, but incorrect.

-Playing with darling little swissy puppies (Awesome hair, right?).

-Driving in Gary, IN; a heck of a scary place, and seeing a man just walking down the street with a machine gun. Not really a highlight, but still worth mentioning.

-Chicago with Janelle which include city sights, yummy and buttery popcorn and one visit to the Oprah show. The show topic was a dud and we didn't win anything, but the whole experience was still really fun.

-Tornado warnings, sirens, skies...odd.

-Walking on Janelle & Michael's beautiful property and seeing trees full of fall colors and finally getting to see Mr. Bow's creek. What a lovely and peaceful place....it was tick-filled which gave me the willies, but I still loved it.

Too bad the Midwest seems like worlds apart sometimes because I sure love being there.