Oh the times, they are a-changing

A lot has changed for us in the last couple of months. We moved back to Ithaca (hip, hip, hooray!). Brian started his first year teaching 5th grade, and is extremely busy with that. I am busy too with Graduate school. I'm trying to front-load all of the big projects now before our little one arrives in 3 weeks or so (minor freak-out). Oh yeah, speaking of which, we are having a kid in November! I feel like I'm entering uncharted territory with this new endeavor, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. Otherwise, we are doing the best we can to balance work and life, getting outside in this wonderful place as much as we can. We thank our lucky stars every day that we are able to live in such a perfect place. Amazing hiking, swimming, camping, local culture, events, and a great community. I know it's a little weird to love a place so much, but I really do.

I've been keeping up with the snapshots idea that I started in June-ish. Here are some recent favorites:

Above is my view when I look down, lol. 

Isn't he just the most beautiful dog in the world?

I know some of you want a more recent belly picture. Brian took this yesterday. My innie is becoming an outie.

 

It has been a beautiful fall. We collected leaves yesterday (above). I love every season when it arrives. There is something particularly inviting about fall. Somehow, I welcome the long sleeves, jackets and sweaters. 

Summer Fever

I wish so much that I had the time to fully explain everything that has happened in the past few months. It being our last summer before Brian started his career in teaching, and our last summer childless, we played all summer. Literally. I don't think we were home for more than 3 weekends between June and September. The biggest highlight was our trip to California. We visited my sister Sariah and her husband Brett. It was so much fun.

We went to this place called "Burger", and Brian had a Donut Buger. A Glazed Donut cut in half for the bread. "Weird", I said. "Awesome", Brian said. He loved it. I prefer to separate my meat from my dessert.

It was an awesome trip, and so great to see them!

While we were in California, we went to Yosemite. I love Yosemite. I wish that I could express the incredible-ness of this park.

The huge rock faces always entrance me. It is just magnificent and surreal.

We went swimming at the bottom of Yosemite Falls (above). Coldest water I have ever been in (despite the smile on my face). Your wrists hurt immediately. We also swam in the most beautiful lake I have ever seen (below) at 10,000 ft. The water was cold there too, but it was worth it.

We went down to the Mariposa Grove in the southern-most section of the park. I had never really seen many sequoias, so it was  new to me. The bottom picture is of the Grizzly Giant. That was a huge, tough-looking tree. It's definitely seen hard times. The pictures just don't do it justice. None of them do actually. That park just has to be experienced to be understood. Definitely one of the most magnificent places on earth.

It was such a great trip. Can't wait until we go back!