October

We've had a great October this year with all the beautiful weather and festive activities. Our ward helped the Cleveland Food Bank by collecting donations in all the nearby neighborhoods. We ended up with 850 lbs of food!

For Halloween I dressed up as a crazy old cat lady and Jeff was my cat. Jeff kept telling people that I wasn't actually wearing a costume. :)

I love Ohio in the fall, but I can't say I'm looking forward to the long winter months ahead.

September

Here are a few highlights from our month. We have a new kitty to foster. We’re on kitten number 22 and going strong.

I made a TON of cinnamon rolls that are seriously to die for. Here’s the recipe, you won’t be disappointed.

For Labor Day we took a walk down by Lake Erie and looked for airplanes from the air show. The weather didn’t cooperate, but it was fun to feel like we were at the ocean with the huge waves.

The tree lawn fairies were good to me, and I found an end table that is in really good condition. I had to stop and think about whether I was stealing someone’s table they had sitting out in their yard. I might have left it if it wasn’t sitting next to their garbage cans. Nothing beats free furniture.

We scored some awesome tickets from a friend to go see the Cleveland Orchestra. It was at the Blossom Music Center, which has a covered pavilion and is built out in the forest. The rain, nearby crickets, and birds, accompanied Beethoven’s 9th.

During fall break we went to the temple in Columbus. Then we hit Amish country and the Smucker’s store on our way home.

Rhino Obsession

Take a look at my newest painting!

I recently bought a ceramic rhino while I was in Washington, and since then I've been obsessed. I'm not sure what to do with it yet since I am currently out of wall space. Maybe I'll have to start rotating through some paintings.

Jeff and I spent hours cleaning the house and finishing projects yesterday. It was nice to really buckle down and throw out the clutter that piles up. The empty space on the kitchen wall would not leave me alone so I hung this old thing:

I painted it a couple years ago and just couldn't find the right space for it until now.

Clocks

Jeff and I have been staying up way too late, and I think that not having a clock in our family room may be contributing to the problem. Since I didn't want to spend money on a new one, I took an old clock that we weren't using and gave it a makeover. I just popped off the plastic covering, gave it a few coats of paint and crackle and there you have it.

Before:

After:

Tree Lawn Treasures

I'd have to say, driving around on trash day is one of the most exciting days of the week in Cleveland. Not only are the garbage cans out, but people dump their junk like couches, tables, beds, toys, chairs, you name it, on the tree lawn. But as they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. I found a desk next door that was ripe for the picking. I cleaned it up, replaced the knobs, and gave it a fresh splash of paint. I love it! Now all I need is a chair to sit at my new desk...

Cedar Point

After our wonderful trip to see our families, Jeff had two more weeks of summer vacation. We were able to pack a lot into that time and did some amazing things. Cedar Point was one of them. If you haven't heard of Cedar Point you are missing out. It is one of the best amusement parks in the world and has roller coasters so tall that they will make you wet your pants. Well, in my case it was more like blacking out as all the blood left my head. Next time I'm going to see if I can get one of those suits that fighter pilots wear to keep them from passing out. Luckily we went on the worst one first (or best, depending on who you ask) so all the other rides felt like a walk in the park.

Palmyra

Over the last weekend of Jeff's break we visited Palmyra. We went to the Sacred Grove and the other church history sites in the area. It was pretty busy because of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, but still lots of fun!





The pageant was amazing! I couldn't believe how big the cast was.



We decided a little too late to take this trip so all the hotels were booked! Since we didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for a room, we ended up in the only hotel we've ever known to use incense as an air freshener. Let's just say every piece of clothing we brought with us went right into the wash when we got home. I think next time I'll sleep in the car.

On our way home we stopped at Niagara Falls and rode the Maid of the Mist.

Talk about slacking on the blog. We have been pretty busy since the last post in April. Jeff survived his first year of medical school, we celebrated our third year wedding anniversary, and visited our family in Utah and Washington. It was a blast! Here are some picture highlights.