Elevator Run-In

I got home Monday night and had a run in with a very large tenant that lives in my building. I may have been standing a little close to the elevator, and when the door opened I found myself eye to eye with a HUGE Great Dane! More like a horse if you ask me! I think they said his name was Hercules, and he lives in a studio with two people. Talk about a tight squeeze!

Funny Quotes

I love my sister-in-law Sandi's blog. I was just checking it out, and noticed there were new quotes from her kids on the right hand side. Here are my current faves! My niece and nephew are a riot!

--"I know why I have to wash my hands. It's because the grasshoppers peed and pooped and barfed on me. --Sienna

--"Grandma is single?! At HER age??? And NOOO husband?" --Braden

L to R: Sienna, Ryan, Connor, RJ, Sandi, Braden

More Trapeze!

Britt organized a bunch of us to get together and take Trapeze lessons in DC! Here is our group! Lytle, Britt, Katie, Alex, me, and Emily (and some dude flying in the back!)

Before we ascended the really tall ladder, we got a quick set of instructions from Brent.
At first he showed us some tough love, but then he turned out to be a New Yorker too! so we were totally BFF... also did not hurt that he was super hot... ;)
Here I am climbing the steps! I did not look down!
That's me and my pal Brian, TSNY is his Trapeze school. He was SO friendly and remembered all our names!Here's a shot to show you how high I was!Here I am about to take off!! (with Britt climbing the stairs!)
This first video is just a little longer and dif angle from the clip I posted before...


This was my second attempt at being caught! It really is so much fun, the more you do it, the more fun it is!!!


I'm pretty much ready to quit my job and join the circus. The End!

Flying Trapeze!

I went to visit Britt in DC and we took flying trapeze lessons! Here I am flying! It was SO fun!

The Hallmark Channel

I love the Hallmark Channel. Every Hallmark movie is so touching! I am addicted. Especially this time of year! I definitely suggest you see "The Note". It actually has a sequel that I am recording with my DVR tomorrow night, can't wait to watch that too!

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I have the SUDDEN URGE to open my window and scream at the insane construction workers JACK-HAMMERING on my street! They may as well be in the room next to me, it's SO LOUD! Sudden URGE followed by sudden REALIZATION... I'm moving! To the SUBURBS! Where there will be NO MORE construction at midnight!!! Thank heavens.

Iron

Today I ironed my shirt with a flat-iron... and it worked!

Sleepy Hollow

Last night we went to Sleepy Hollow to experience the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and we did just about that! First of all, when we got off the train, the train stop was deserted, and it was very dark. We saw a staircase going up this cliff, so we started walking up it. When we got to the top of the stair case, we were confronted with a dark and narrow path that was lined with very tall hedges, and we couldn't see where it went! I was leading the way, and when I turned around to consult with the others on whether or not we should proceed, Brenda was already turned in the opposite direction and halfway down the steps! I think she thought it was a little creepy... it was! We ended up following her and walking down the road. I had a map, and aside from walking through several very dimly lit deserted neighborhood streets with very old scary houses , we finally heard music and made it to the Phillipsburg manor (our destination!). Here's what we did/saw!

The Headless horseman ! Very spooky! (he may have been a little spookier if he'd been riding a black horse that didn't look so tired!)
Here's the scary bridge at the Phillipsburg Manor.
Here's Brenda and me in from of the scary bridge.
There were several ghosts at the Phillipsburg manor, but they were too creepy so I didn't take a picture. After checking out Sleepy Hollow, we headed north about 20 minutes to the Van Cortland Manor to see the Blaze, a giant walking tour of thousands of carved pumpkins all lit up. This year they had over 5,000 pumpkins!
The Van Cortland Manor itself was super cool, here's some shots of that. Spooky blue! The house turned pink and purple too.Here's our group! Me, Sarah, Brenda and AprilThey had massive pumpkin designs where they connected a ton of pumpkins into the neatest shapes! All carved and flowing into each other. This was a spiderweb.
This one was a dragon!
These pumpkins are a beehive, and each little pumpkin is a bee buzzing around it!
And this one was my favorite, a field of sunflowers! Each of these is about ten feet tall. So cool!

Rhode Island

This past weekend a large group of my friends went to Rhode Island! It was a fun Fall weekend getaway, and we all had a blast! Here are some of the highlights!

Here are two of my car mates, Jeff and Sami...
Me and John, my photography skills are something to aspire to!Jeff cracks me up. He fell asleep and his broken glasses were hanging off his face. Hilarious.On the trip up, we got so hungry! I thought I saw a sign for Denny's and was really excited, only to find out it was a Benny's. They used the same font and everything! And they didn't even have any food, it was a hardware store!

Here's where we stayed! Beautiful Boulder Cottages!
This was the main house where everyone hung out. Here's my cottage, I stayed here with three other girls.
Ash, Colin and I took a stroll down to the "pond" which is more like a huge lake that is right by the ocean. I neglected to take an actual picture of the water...
Here I am picking apples! On the trip, our friend Jenn taught us how to make Apple Sauce, and already I've made is twice this week out of these very apples. It's delicious!!
We drove into Newport, Rhode Island and checked out my new summer home. Only 111,000 square feet and 70 rooms, but I'll make due. (right!)
We took a walk on the cliffs by the mansions, here I am with Shawn, Rachel, Ashley and Peter.
Can you believe this view?! Talk about a beautiful day!!
The drive out of Newport, looks like you're driving into Heaven with the bridge going into the sky!

We all took turns making meals, here's Courtnie and Peter grilling up something delicious!
Here's some shots of the big house. Totally awesome huge kitchen (two ginormous islands!)Family room! A giant screen TV is behind the portrait of the Osprey... which actually live on the "pond"Don't even get me started... This may have been my favorite thing!
Here's some photos from around the cottages. The leaves were gorgeous, I love the Fall!

Would you like a shower with that van?

I was inspired by a recent story of my brother-in-law Matt that literally brought me to tears I was laughing so hard. Matt had been living in Pohnpei, Micronesia, and happened to borrow his friend's car when a rain storm ensued. The friend's car had a HUGE permanent sunroof, and every turn, Matt got to take a little shower. He liked it almost as much as the cockroaches he was sharing his ride with. I dedicate this cartoon to Courtney and Matt! I'm so glad you're both back to the States!!

Back in Action!

I finally have internet! First things first... Jon came to visit me, and we had a great time! I only took one picture, but Jon took several, here is a link to Jon's Blog.

Weekend Fun

Here's a peak at my weekend in Rhode Island! I get internet at home this Friday, at which point I will post WAY MORE photos of the fun weekend... but until then, here's a shot to wet your appetite. At an apple picking farm somewhere in Rhode Island! :)
L to R, front to back: Anna, Dave, Alisa, Courtney, Sara, Wendy, 2nd row back: Peter, Liz, Noelle, Brittany, Maria, Jenn, Rachel, Libby, Kim, Sara, Sami, Mark, 3rd row: ME!, Ashley, Shawn, Jenna, and the back row standing is Colin, Hyeku's friend (forgot her name!) and Hyeku. What a great trip!

Christmas in October?

I can't help myself! I keep thinking of and singing Christmas songs, and now I've got my Christmas Pandora station playing Christmas songs! I'm keeping it really low, though... so my co-workers don't think I'm crazy! :)

A Farewell to...

Blogging? well, for the past couple weeks, I have been without internet/TV in my new apartment. I went through several stages of "life without" including: recognizing I could not live without, coping with my inability to live without, and getting over my need to be constantly connected/entertained. This new found freedom has even left me able to leave my cell phone IN THE OTHER ROOM for extended periods of time, without incidence. (since you are wondering, I am currently blogging from my work computer!)

I have found several things to fill the internet/TV time slots, much to my enjoyment. #1 organizing stuff (this is extremely helpful considering the recent move, and my need to do it anyway). #2 straightening my hair- great time filler. #3 reading books. I never seem to have the time or energy to read, but without internet and TV, I have already read 1 and a half books in the past few days. Go figure!

Book Review
A Farewell to ArmsI started to watch this movie the other day on my seven inch hand held screen, and about twenty minutes into it, I turned it off! It was a really good story (plus old movies are great) and I suddenly desired to read the book before finishing the movie!

I read this book in less than two days, it took me approximately ten hours. After the first 5 or 6 hours I was sort of disgusted with men in general, and when I walked down the street I couldn't help but judge everyone of that gender I happened across. At the end of the book, I felt beat down and broken hearted. Who would willfully subject themselves to reading such a sad sad sad (and at times, disturbing) story? While I did feel sad after reading this book, I also felt (and feel) affected in a way. I've avoided reading these types of books my entire life, and just stuck to entertaining science fiction novels. But this book, and the one I'm currently reading, and how they look into the human soul and honestly portray how people really are is so interesting. The way Hemmingway portrayed the damaging impact of war on those involved was very well done. His imagery was very good also.

I tried to watch the rest of the movie last night, but now our DVD player appears to have retired. Oh well, onto the next book!