fall musings

I love autumn, I always have. There is something so perfect about the golden hues of the earth that I can't help but get caught up in the beauty of God's world. Ohio has much better fall foliage, but I guess I'm stuck with the mediocre autumns of Indiana for the next few years. I still have my fingers crossed that the reds, yellows, oranges, and golds will hold out until next Saturday. I want a few wedding pictures that capture the beauty of fall.

Aaron visited Sunday night through this morning. Our time together goes by so fast, but the next time we see each other (in one week!) will be forever. It's weird to think that something I have dreamed about my entire life is actually coming true. I feel so undeserving and unworthy of such an amazing opportunity, but I know it is through God's grace that I am so blessed. So thank you God for an amazing guy and for the promise of a beautiful marriage. Married life is going to be weird, but I was already picturing it while Aaron was here. We did some cooking/baking and got everything put away in the apartment. Aaron also applied for a pretty awesome job and he found a bunch of places to call and send applications to. My fingers are still crossed for a job with health insurance, but we'll take anything over $10 an hour right now! As I mentioned, we had a chance to cook and bake which included baking cookie brownies; making chicken, bacon, ranch quesedillas; and making Velveeta mac and cheese. We also got all of our new dishes in the cabinets and we got out our mixer (which we haven't had a chance to use). Once the house is completely in order - after the wedding - I will update photos on facebook for everyone.

I've been thinking a lot more about my list and I have become more deliberate in getting things done especially because Holly and Ellen have each started a 101 things list. The novelty wore off for me for awhile, but the excitement is back! My list ends on April 30, 2009 but I'm already contemplating starting a second list because I am now in a more permanent phase of my life rather than where I was roughly 3 years ago. Some potential completions by the end of the year are:

• Going to see Twilight at midnight on November 21 (#93)
• Donating blood - I have a small time-frame between now and the end of January, when I go back to Haiti, after that I won't be able to complete this one (#77)
• Donate a toy for Toys for Tots - Aaron and I decided not to exchange Christmas gifts this year because of how tight our budget is, so I suggested buying a gift together that we could donate and he seemed to like that idea (#71)
• Have a snowball fight (#68)
• Sell something on eBay - I have some text books from undergrad that I'd like to attempt to sell (#56)
• Build a snowman (#44)
  

Those are just a few things I've been brainstorming, but I'm hoping I can get more than that accomplished. Aaron compared the items on my list and my want to check them off to his gamer score in XBOX...he claims it's something we have in common, lol.

I leave you with two pictures from Aaron's visit. One is of him "mummified" in the bag our blender came in and the other is of him lounging on the couch talking to my mom (notice how his pants are almost off and he's wearing my snow boots!)