pumpkins, work and life

we seem to be melding into life here in our new city fairly well. we pretty much know our way around town and only have to refer to our map on rare occasions, we're participating in activities despite the rain (a big one if you live in the pac nw) and we're now well-equipped with proper raingear. that wasn't the case on sunday, however, when we went to the pumpkin patch with our friends liz and gloria. it was steadily raining and a little chilly, but we had a great time! how many people can say they've taken a hayride out to a pumpkin patch in the rain while sitting on soaking wet hay bales? not many, i dare say.

fall has arrived and the colors are bursting from the leaves. it's a little later than we're used to, but seeing all the glorious golds, reds and oranges is amazing! it's a time of change and we're embracing it.

work continues to go well for me (lucky) although it's really sucky to leave mn and kandinsky every morning. i feel like i'm missing out on so much. we should come up with a "life leave" benefit that resembles the maternity leave benefit. that might not be such a good idea for me, though, since i'd always want to use more life leave than i'd accrued. mn and i definitely think we'd be much better people if neither of us had to work and were independently wealthy. but unless we hit the lottery, that won't be the case. so if i must work, i can't imagine a better place than the art museum here. the people are fun, the work is exciting and innovative, the creative process is collaborative and invigorating.

we've been readying the apartment and are super excited about the arrival of our new roomie. we know she's going to fall in love with the city just as we have. we plan to do our very best to introduce her to our favorite spots, and we're sure it won't take her long to discover favorite spots of her own. welcome, vivi! we love you!

thanks to all of y'all who continue to read our chronicles of adventure. we're so thrilled we have a way to share all of our craziness with the people we love the most. we gotta give a shout out to my lil bro who is (or was - maybe he's back already) touring the coast of florida on his hawg. we love you, lil bro and we hope you had a great trip. everyone take care and keep reading. we love y'all.

here are some photos from our trip to the pumpkin patch - enjoy...

the hayride out to the field - these are our friends, Liz & Gloria


Liz & Gloria with their pumpkins


our big rainbow umbrella


aren't we cute?

harvest moon

first and foremost, happy anniversary to chris and stacy!!! both of us hope you're able to celebrate two glorious years of wedded bliss. we send our love and congratulations! it's hard to believe it's been two years since granny and i cut a rug on the dance floor at your wedding reception :) what a blast!!! while i have an opportunity, i wanted to thank each of lucky's family members for being so sweet and welcoming to me over the past few years. you are such a kind and loving family. i'm so grateful to know you.

speaking of lucky, today was her first day at her new job. it's been strange not having her at home - very sad and lonely. kandinsky has been wandering around in a daze all day - wondering why her mama isn't here, i'm sure....

as the fall colors begin to descend upon the pacific northwest, we've been able to appreciate its beauty and splendor. plus, it's always fun to hear the crunching of leaves below one's feet while walking. today is especially gorgeous - it's 72 degrees and sunny. my kinda weather :)

fall is a particularly important time of year to my family since my brother is a farmer. during fall harvest, my parents help him out (even though they say they're retired!), so long hours are an integral part of their lives for the next few weeks. it's not uncommon for my brother and dad (and sometimes my mom too) to work sixteen hours a day, six days a week, so please say a special prayer for them as they work tirelessly to get the crops harvested.

as always, we love and miss you so very much, and we're sending LOTS of love and hugs across the miles.

the final countdown

it's true - after 3.5 months of not putting in a nine-to-fiver, i'll be returning to the world of fica-paying citizens. only this time, i'm excited about it. it's not going to be a drag-myself-out-of-bed kind of thing (well, maybe the first few days will be since we've gotten out of our early-to-bed, early-to-rise habit). it's going to be exciting and interesting and explorative and collaborative and invigorating. i'm really looking forward to it. stay tuned for more about my adventures back into the working world.

things have been going really well for us. we've done a lot of fun things - minnesota went to her first "art as business" class and feels confident it's going to help guide her through the tumultuous waters of the art world, we went to the coast, we hiked to the top of multnomah falls, we went to an arcade filled with video games from the 80s (i was in heaven, flashing back to my childhood days when i would play galaga for hours on a single quarter, only taking breaks to roller skate) and we went to breakfast at one of portland's best breakfast places. some of these things we've done with our new pals liz, gloria and wendy. it's wonderful to have found such great friends here - we really enjoy getting to know each of them and sharing our views of the crazy world in which we live.

the weather's begun to turn a bit colder here and the gray days are a little more frequent. although we really have nothing to complain about because it's been fairly mild and manageable. there'll be five or six days of bright sunshine and one day that's a little gloomy, but overall ms. sun has made her presence known more days than not. the weather is just another part of the experience of a new place and life is basically all about experiences and perspective, when you get right down to it. seeing different places, different things; seeing how you react to different places, different things; growing as an individual and learning how to be a better person based on what you learned through these experiences. we're always trying to be better people: to be more polite, more aware, more compassionate, simply because at the end of the day if we make one person happier just because of something we've done or said, our lives will be better because of our actions. being good people isn't difficult. you take a little more time to let someone go in front of you in line, you help someone pick up something they've dropped, you smile at the homeless person who's down on their luck, you reach out to someone just because you can. kindness goes much further than any of us could ever imagine...so everyone please play nice.

ok, i'll step down off my soapbox for now. i know my ramblings can get to be a bit much - thank goodness my girlie is so understanding about my going on and on.

here are a few shots of our latest adventures and experiences. please know we think of y'all every day and we miss and love you very much.

the beauty of nature


view from the top


aren't we the cutest girls ever


hey, look - i'm balancing a rock on my head


kandinsky made a "home" in some plastic we had lying around