they're dating! wow. so sweet.

this week has been crazy. so fast, so tiring, but also productive.
where do i want to go?
what do i want to do?

i wish i was in portland right now

I love autumn, but this cool days and nights that suddenly arrived have made me a bit sad. It means that winter is on the way, and I really don't want this winter to be like I remember last years (depressed, lonely, sad, & very cold). But I want to blame that on being a newbie in a unfamiliar state, with a limited network of friends and family nearby. I am, however, very excited for: hot chocolate, apple cider, pumpkins, crunchy colorful leaves, and [occasional] soft white snow.

The house is slowly being cleaned, and I think it's time to host another party. Maybe a harvest party with pumpkin carving?

This weekend I'm heading to Hyde Park. I haven't been back since I graduated over three years ago. I'm happy to go and walk around my old neighborhood, hang out with Ruthie & A, and spend some time around the city. I'm also secretly hoping to spend some time at Nordstrom Rack.....it's embarrassing to admit, but I love that place and Wisconsin is lacking. I am a sucker for shopping. I'm also excited to visit HPB again and see K&E on Sunday.

Today I went kayaking on Lake Mendota for a little bit. It was neat...only my second time kayaking, and my first time with a whitewater kayak. Now I'm back at home very early in the day because I'm banned from work. Today is move day for our office; tomorrow we'll be on a brand new floor with brand new everything. Unfortunately, I'll still be in cubicleland.

i just finished the first harry potter book.
i didn't like it much.
is that blasphemous?

i'm updating my blog template, as you can see. i've added the new blogger comment system, and probably won't add back in my old comments. i'm trying to simplify. at some point i'll be re-adding some links, but for now this is it. i wish i could archive my posts by years, but monthly is the best option for now, as annoying as it looks. sorry. hopefully one improvement will be adding photos.

the chickens are huge now. i wonder how much bigger they will get? they're 14 weeks old now. and pullets/hens can start laying at around 15 weeks, but may take as long as 22. i hope to get fresh eggs soon! i'm all ready for them to be in the egg laying stage. i've bought their oyster shell (for calcium), i bought a bag of grit which i started scattering instead of pecking at sand, i have the beginning stages of a nest box ready for when they start to lay. bring on the eggs!

so this weekend i spent time in illinois visiting college friends both named K. sweet to visit with them both. and i went to my first drag racing event. an all day event on saturday in byron, IL. it was much more enjoyable than i expected (considering i'm not a car person). it was fast paced because there were races every 60 seconds or so, and there were a bunch of cars, trucks and motorcycles, along with vehicles that i do not have a vocabulary to describe. they were fun to watch fly down the track. I got to meet most of K's family, and I got a great tan too. :o)

this morning i attended the rez, which was cool. i really need to find a community of faith and worship to belong to in madison.

last weekend we washed and then re-stained our back deck. this was a huge feat, because we have a monstrous deck! it too two days with three people working on it and now it's finally done and hopefully will repel water for at least another year. and best of all we used an old gallon of deck stain in the garage so we didn't have to buy that expensive stuff.

in other boring house news (hey, we're homeowners, that's still crazy to realize) we got a new stove/oven tonight. this totally rocks. when we bought our house it came with new appliances, all except the stove. the stove we currently have doesn't work properly and is not reliable. luckily our next door neighbors are remodeling their entire kitchen and sold their basically brand new stove to us for a very very good price (it's only 1 year old). maybe this upgrade with entice me into actually making healthy meals from scratch more often.

heading to illinois for the weekend. i hate driving, but i am doing it! good thing i have an ipass to make things easier. and two cool friends both named kirsten to spend time with. and, a possible ikea trip....it might be a bad idea for me to go in that store alone though.

last weekend was lots of fun with our family celebration party. so many people made the trip to our house, and celebrating together was special. not to self: next time do not buy a cake with red icing where the amount of dye probably outweighed the amount of other ingredients.