Everything Since August...

What's happened since I've last posted?

1. Ryan and I both started our new jobs.  He does something for Columbia Management with RFP's and fixed income that I honestly still don't understand.  And I am a teacher at Pembroke Hospital for boys with diagnosed behavior problems.

2. Jed and Jess came to visit back in the beginning of September!  It was so much fun.  It was nice to see that they haven't changed a bit :) There wasn't any awkward "Hey, haven't seen you in over a year... (silence)..." or anything like that.  Now, we are working out a time to go visit Texas next year!  Or... Utah reunion cruise, anyone?

Add caption

3. We redid our bathroom.  Probably not the most exciting news, but I'm glad it happened!  I know I took "before" pictures, but I can't find them!  Anyways, picture a blue shower curtain, blue bath mats and, nothing on the walls, and no wood cabinet next to the toilet.  It was an ugly bathroom before.  Ryan and I installed a new "green" shower head to make our bathroom Eco-friendly :) And we recently installed a curved shower curtain rod... now the inside of our shower is very roomie!  The picture of the shower curtain didn't come out too well, it looks plastic in the picture but it's a shimmery satin.  Very pretty!

4. Ryan and I tried Ethiopian food for the first time.  We loved it!  It's not like Indian food where you have really strong spices.  We found that the food was very rich-tasting and incredibly flavorful.  Nothing like Indian food at all.  Don't get me wrong, I love Indian food too!  But this isn't like Indian food.  And the plates are crepes, and that's what you use to eat the food with!  You use your hands, and I find that really unique :)

5. A HUGE storm hit New England (mostly Connecticut) around Halloween and our parents were without power for a while.  Ryan's parents only lost power for 3 or 4 days, but my parents lost power for a whole week.  Any my grandparents, too!  It was very sad to drive into town the following weekend when we went home to help clean up, and see the devistating scene.  Trees down everywhere.  I can't even imagine what it's like for those families down south where the tornadoes hit.  Here are the before and after photos of my backyard.  The before pictures were taken in the morning, and we worked SO hard and even neighbors and their pastor came to help!  Finally, around 4:00, our yard was ...better.  I don't have pictures of Ryan's parents' yard, but Ryan's mom blogged about it and posted pictures here: Click here.

6. Ryan's grandmother, Renee, came to visit last weekend with Ryan's parents. It was really nice having them all together here.  We all had a lot of fun!  Thank you Tamara, Neil and Renee for everything!

Oh! And I got my Christmas Eve dress!  I'm not a fan of the lace stockings with the dress on the picture though.  I've been watching this since FOREVER for it to go on sale!  Finally, it did :)

photo