An angel on the bus...

Today I saw an angel on the south loop bus.... and then there was a cat in the elevator. Did I mention that I almost hit a (real) squirrel this morning, too? Wow - it is Halloween!

I hope you're all enjoying the Halloween spirit. It's my LEAST favorite holiday, but Jared and I do like handing out candy to trick-or-treaters and eating the pumpkin shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's. We also watch witchy movies... Sabrina's Halloween episodes, Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown Series, Beetlejuice...etc. We love staying in with candles lit, movies on and pizza in our bellies. But as for the whole get dressed up, being scary thing... it's not us!

But there's a huge Freakfest tomorrow in Madison and OAR is headlining. We were so excited to see OAR but then we realized that we already had plans to be in Chicago for a family get-together. We're going on a coffee tour, a Frank Llyod Wright house tour and out to dinner. Then we're heading home late Saturday. It should be fun, but a busy day.

What else, what else... oh, today is the first ever fall Open House at Butler. I'm actually sad deep in my heart that I'm not there... planning it, working it and just being there for it. I know that it was time for me to move on when we moved here but I still miss my old job. Someday I'll have a new job that I love as much as I loved that one.

Happy trick-or-treating!

What a wonderful world...

And I think to myself...what a wonderful world...and a wonderful week...

Well, I'll say, it has gone from a bad/sad week to a great week with the help of some extremely amazing and supportive friends. I am so blessed to have such amazing women in my life!

The sun is shining, the colors are rich and beautiful, the flavors are strong and vibrant, my relationships (from all over the world) seem to be flourishing, I've been able to start spreading joy in and around Madison, I feel so supported from my husband, friends and family, I feel like I'm starting to find myself all over again in this new place I call home. It's funny how a move makes you redefine who you are, what you like ... etc. I don't think I expected that but I'm definitley embrasing it.

Hope all is well, wherever you are!

Reunited and it feels so good...

It might not be quite that corny, but my last night I saw my long, lost sorority sister/old roommate/mom in the house - Mandy! She lives in Alaska now but she was home doing some recruiting for her company at UW-Madison. While she was home she gave me a call and, luckily, I was free! I spent a few hours with her and her family at her parent's home in Verona! It felt so much like being with my own family. They were all so welcoming and loving and just overall so much fun to be around. It's been a rough week for me and I think it was just what my heart needed yesterday.

Also, I want to say a quick word to anyone from Butler's Admission Office who may be reading this... GOOD LUCK! The Fall Open House is on Friday, October 31st, and it is the first of its kind! I'm just hoping for record numbers and smooth sailing for the event ahead. I wish I could be there but at least know I'm thinking of you all!!!

Walking in the Whispers of Snow

Walking to my car yesterday felt like I was walking in the whispers of snow. There were little snow flurries all around and I couldn't help but just smile... well, more like beam. Again, no snow stuck, but it was beautiful. It's what I always want on Christmas morning. Thousands of tiny snow whispers dancing through the air! It was a great way to start my evening.

Also, for those of you who know how indestructible my laptop is, I think it's nearly done. The milk, mountain dew, routine drops and hard wear and tear has finally caught up with it. Yesterday it took me FOREVER to get online and several of my keys quit working. In the past they've stopped working and then started again but all last night I could get them to start again. Jared keeps trying to get me to use his Dell so last night I did and I kind of liked it. It was really fast and it seemed to hold up with my wear and tear - aka Phinneas on top of it!

I wonder if its snowing in Indiana...

The First Wisconsin Snow

Oh yeah, I wanted to be sure to document the first snow of the year. Of course, nothing stuck to the ground, but it still snowed. I'd forgotten how funny the dogs got around the snow. Benton wants to fight it. When I let him out to potty while it was flurrying, he kept running in circles and looking up at the snow like he was going to fight it! It was the cutest thing ever.

The visit with Nick and Steph was even more fun than I expected. We had a great time hanging out, enjoying each other's company, exploring the Dells and bringing our baby turtles home. I was really sad to see them go yesterday, so were the boys. Oliver is still upset today. We'll see them in a few weeks for Thanksgiving... that's what I keep telling myself!

Phil the Turtle

We got a turtle. His name is Phil!

He's awesome. He's about the size of a silver dollar. He lives on our kitchen counter for the moment until we make sure all of his equipment is working (filter/heater). He loves walking around out of his tank but he is afraid of Phinneas (who I think wants to eat him).

I'll post a picture soon!

HIgh School Musical 3 and Other Fun Activities

My nephew and my sister are visiting this weekend. They are actually arriving today around 3. I'm actually looking forward to it. As I said before, I've tried NOT to plan but I have a little bit anyway! :)

Here's what we've got...
Tonight we'll go out to dinner, show them around town and just hang out. Then tomorrow, I'll let them sleep in. We're meeting Jared for lunch at Epic and going on a tour of his office since its so unique. After than I think Nick and I will take Ben and Fin on a walk to the park near our house for awhile. Then I think we may go out to dinner and to see HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL #3. (I told Jared that he could go see something else.) Saturday we're going to the Farmer's Market and we're going to see if we can get some less than face value tickets to the Badgers game... fingers crossed. If so, we'll go to the game or we may go to a pub and watch the game. Usually that's a lot of fun anyway! But both Nicholas and Steph LOVE football so I thought it would be fun! We may go up to the Dells on Saturday as well. I know Nick would like some of the stuff up there and it would be a nice day trip. We'll see what we end up doing... Then Sunday we'll get up, have brunch, get them loaded up and then they'll head out pretty early. They lose an hour going home and Nicholas has school on Monday.

I think it'll be fun!