pumpkin carving

This year for Halloween we carved pumpkins with my cousin Mandy and her husband Wes. We had so much fun visiting and enjoying their new baby girl, Cambria. Mandy also made a delicious apple crisp for us to enjoy afterwards.

Tom and I decided to go with a Phantom of the Opera themed pumpkin. . .

I had to take a picture with the flash so you could get the full effect of Mandy and Wes's pumpkin - the nose is the best part!

Unfortunately we still have almost a week until Halloween and our pumpkins are already shriveling up, and the eye of the mask is now WAY too big. It looks more like an alien.

More Halloween pictures to come; bet you can't wait to see what we've come up with this year for costumes! We set a high standard last year, but I think this year's will be pretty good also.

Our apartment pics

Finally I am posting the long-awaited pictures of our apartment! I thought we would start off with the piece de resistance. . . our dining room table which we refinished all by ourselves. It turned out very nice, no?? We reupholstered the chairs, and even grew those centerpiece pumpkins in our very own garden. Be impressed.

Don't the backs of the chairs look like music stands? We thought so too. Quite fitting for our apartment I think.

The living room . . . yes, that is Breaking Dawn on the coffee table/cedar chest. I read it again in preparation for the new movie. And no, I'm not obsessed with Twilight, I just needed a fun book to read while Tom stays up late doing homework.

In the background is the card table we were using before we finished our beautiful masterpiece of a dining table.

The rest of the living room, with a few close-ups for your enjoyment. :)

And now on to our music room! Can I just tell you that I love the fact that we have a music room?? It is perhaps my favorite room in the house. On Sunday afternoons Tom gets out his violin and we play music together. It is absolutely wonderful.

Trusty old Chopin still sits atop my piano.
Also in the music room is what is perhaps my favorite part of our apartment - the bookcase. We also refinished this along with the dining room table and chairs. I love the way it looks, oh so much.

This room says things to me like: sophisticated, classy, refined, well-versed.

Sneak-peak of the bathroom. I just love our shower curtain.


And last but not least, the bedroom. My grandma made this quilt for me as a high school graduation gift. I got to pick out the colors, the pattern, and most of the fabrics. After six years I still love it. And now that I am married I finally get to use it!


Well, that's it! I hope that you enjoyed the tour. It's even better in person so if you're in the area come over and visit some time. Tom and I would love to show off our place to you. We're quite proud of our own little place.

Thoughts for today . . .

Thought #1: One of the greatest things ever is still getting wedding presents 2 1/2 months after the fact. Ever feel bad about giving belated presents? Don't. They are awesome.

Thought #2: I have been reading lots of blogs lately and I have come to the conclusion that there are two different kinds of blogs: good blogs and ok blogs. What is the differential factor? The pictures. Those with good blogs actually know how to take pictures. Photographers make excellent blogs. Ok blogs come from people like me who aim the camera and push the button. I wish I had an excellent blog that people would be jealous of, but I really don't have enough interest in photography to take the time and effort to learn how. Hence, my readers are stuck with an average, ok blog with amatuer pictures. Sorry.

Thought #3: I need to play the piano more often. Too many things to do and so little time! I just need to make the time and do it! I am somewhat self-concious every time I sit down and play because I know that my neighbors can hear me, but that's just something I'm going to have to get over.
I went to a piano concert up on campus Thursday night. To sum up . . .
Del Parkinson + Franz Liszt = pure, talented amazingness
P.S. If I was born circa 1820 I would have had a major crush on Liszt (like pretty much every other woman in Europe).

Thought #4: I need to blog more often too - as mediocre as the posts may be.

Thought #5: I really wish we had money so we could travel. Top destinations on our list:

• Washington, D.C. - oh how I miss you!


• California - visit the fam, go to the beach and Boardwalk, enough said


• South Africa - Tom could show me around his mission areas, I could finally use my passport, and we could go to Kruger National Park - South Africa's equivalent to Yellowstone (elephants, lions and leopards = way cooler than bears, elk and coyotes!!)