Happy Turkey Day!

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with a few good friends at our little apartment. Ellen and Dane came over as well as a little doggy named Annie that we were in charge of all weekend.

As you can see we had a PJ's all day rule. So we stayed comfy and cozy, especially with our little cuddle bug puppy on the couch. We each were in charge of 2 dishes for dinner and it was a nice little collaborative effort. I volunteered for the turkey, my second after last year's first. And of course I had to do the stuffing too... my favorite!

Dane was is charge of sweet potatoes, Swedish beans, and threw in a pumpkin/pecan pie as a bonus. Kris made a mountain of mashed potatoes and green beans. And Ellen made some tasty appetizers, baked brie cheese and a cheese and sausage platter.

Then we sat down for a nice little dinner.

It lasted about 15 minutes, then we were off to the couches to lounge around.

This little one got no turkey or pie, and she let us know she was disappointed in us by pointing this little pout right at us as we enjoyed our feast.

But soon after she recovered and let Ellen know she was not mad at us anymore.

And then she and Dane settled down for a nice little nap-a-roo.

How was your Thanksgiving? I hope it was great!

Bump in the Night

Tonight Kris finished his last final for Fall Term A. After an intense week of studying, cramming and spending a lot of quality time at his desk he finally got to press send, for all 39 pages of that final paper. He momentarily celebrated, relieved to be finished and happy to have a week off before his classes resume.

I spent the night trying to put the finishing touches on our Halloween costumes (big reveal pictures later this week). Then I tried to clean up my "creative mess." Kris met me in the kitchen smiling and just happy to be finished, when suddenly...... "Creeeeek, Craaaack, Boom!" Comes from our closet. In just a single moment Kris was no longer by my side, but across the apartment in our bedroom trying to close the curtain that substitutes as a door. Leaving me standing alone with the mysterious noises.

Awesome, my hero!

Back by Popular Demand... Not Really

The blog took a bit of a break, it was a long summer and it needed some time off. I know you all have been hanging on the edge of your seat, just waiting for a new post... well maybe not.

Anyways, the wait is over, here is just a glimpse of what we've been up to.

The shelter where I work had it's annual fundraiser last weekend, Gimme Shelter. Being the Volunteer Coordinator I was on the hunt for the best and brightest of volunteers to work at the event. Luckily I stumbled upon this guy, you know the one I share my life with?

So I put him to work at the back bar and he fell into his role quite easily. He served wine (yes it is from a box), a local blonde brew and soda. Just loook at that fantastic hair...

he tells me it runs in the family.

The night was a big success and hopefully we raised the moola we need to keep sheltering and housing homeless families. Here's a few of the lovely people I work with who are dedicated to ending family homelessness, even if it is one family at a time.

Well, that's a wrap for now. Hope to write again soon.

2 Weeks, 3 Cobblers

I spent my 2 weeks in SF at Katie & Rich's lovely home. Such a fun time and great stay. Rich and I had a lot of quality time together as he is off work for the summer and my days were free. Katie would often return home to me and Rich cooking up dinner and playing with the kitty Oliver.

Somehow Rich managed to cook up a cobbler, crisp and crumble in 2 weeks time. I like to take a little credit for providing moral support and encouragement for his creations. By the end of my stay I was no longer calling him Rich, instead it was just Chef.

Now I'm back in Ann Arbor and there is no cobbler, no crisp, nor crumble on my stove.

My question is, Chef, have you figured out how to FedEx your baked goods yet?

Napa Wedding

Kris and I finished up my visit to SF with a wedding in Napa of our best friends from UCSB, Tara & Chris. It was a gorgeous wedding full of love, laughs and fun. The bride's brother joked in his speech that we were at the wedding of Ken & Barbie... but seriously, I have to steal a line from Zoolander here, but aren't they "ridiculously good looking"?

I was a bit nervous as I had the big responsibility of reading from the Old Testament in their Catholic Ceremony. I think my knees were knocking in nervousness as I read, but thankfully I had a podium to hide behind. I also had Kris' smiling face to look to in the crowd. Despite my insecurities in public speaking it was a huge honor to be included in the ceremony.


The bride's family is from Ireland so a traditional Irish Jig was performed at the reception by her cousin and then the bride herself joined in! Amazing.

It was a great way to spend our last day together for a few weeks. And we had a wonderful time catching up with old friends and new. We even met some U of M alumni!

Unfortunately we had to drive separately back to SF at 10:30pm as we each had rental cars. Then I was lucky enough to leave for the airport at 4:30am to catch my flight back to Ann Arbor. I have never slept so hard on a flight, seriously, the lights were out and nobody was home!

So there's just 4 weeks left of Kris' internship and then he'll join me in Ann Arbor. It's been a pretty intense work schedule for him, often working until 11pm or even 2am and then waking up and doing it again, with no weekends off (hence the separate rental cars at the wedding). Needless to say we are both really looking forward to the Fall, for football, walks, and adventures. Just 29 days to go!

Reunited and it Feels So Good

How could it not when you have this guys around? Special, right?

So happy to be back in the City... My City... Our City!

A Fish Named Frank

A few months ago I offered to fish sit for some friends who were headed to Chicago for the summer.

Meet FrankKris and Frank took a liking to each other after spending 2 weeks of quality time together once school ended. I didn't quite have the same luck with Frank. While I was admiring him the first week that he was with us he freaked out and lodged himself between the side on the tank and his filter. This resulted in me yelling, "Frank's Stuck, Frank's Stuck!" Until Kris came running and freed his little buddy.

Then Kris left for SF, and it was just me and Frank. He did OK for the first few weeks, then last week things got bad. He spent most of his time barely floating at the top of his tank and was not interested in food. I thought he was going to the big Fish Tank in the Sky for sure and even contacted his owners. They told me not to worry, I was a good fish sitter no matter what happened.

That's when I decided to take action. I found a place called the Fish Doctor, zipped over there, told them Frank's symptoms, purchased some fish items, followed their advice (including some gross things I don't care to repeat), left for a walk, and returned an hour later to a brand new Frank. I'm not kidding, this was not the same fish that had barely moved for days.

Moral of the story? Watch it Frank... I saved your life!