Bye Bye Santa Beard

'Twas a sad moment in our apartment two nights ago. Jeremiah went into the bathroom to cut his hair, as he has always done. And kind of like the children's book, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, Jeremiah couldn't settle with just a haircut. He then wanted to trim up his sideburns. And then he wanted to even out his unruly beard. We examined the monstrosity on his chin, determining it to be more than an inch long (the longest setting on his clippers) but not by too much.

We were wrong.

Jeremiah looks like a normal man now, with appropriately trimmed facial hair. We figure his beard must have been between two and a half to three inches long. Ew. As much as I joked about that Santa beard, I really felt for my husband after that trimming mishap. He was a sad man, and I was sad for him. He had been so diligent about growing it out and not giving in to my most desperate of pleas. He was even looking forward to appearing on stage as Santa himself at our cousin's high school band concert (he's the band director) on December 10th. No more cameo in store for him. And I have been dreading breaking this to you, the fans, but I'm afraid our Christmas card photo may look semi-normal now. Unfortunate, I know.

Maybe throw up a prayer or two for rapid hair growth for Jeremiah, in the hopes that his joyful spirit will soon return for the holidays.

Uneventful

I haven't posted anything, largely due to the fact that our lives have really been uneventful. We leave for work by 7am, Jeremiah returns at 5:30 or 6pm and I arrive shortly after him at about 6:20pm. I make dinner (although Jeremiah was the culinary master last night since I wasn't feeling well), we watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, and then I typically fall asleep on the couch while Jeremiah does more work. Good times.

We're in the midst of sorting out our Christmas decor and figuring out what gifts to buy for family. Next week we'll be heading north to Montrose for Thanksgiving and return on Sunday to put up our own tree. We're looking forward to being with family and celebrating the holidays. At that point, there will be much more to share with you.

Hang in there, December should be a more eventful month!

October Recap

Sorry to keep the fans waiting. I really have no excuse. It's been a busy month; however, my laziness got the best of me. 

We've traveled to Penn State twice--once for the football game against Eastern Illinois with the Koehler clan and again two weeks later for Ali and Jordan's wedding. Although the hours on the road have been tiring, it has been so good to be able to see our family and friends. We've also enjoyed experiencing true fall weather in Pennsylvania. Virginia is way too warm. Jeremiah and I are aching for chilly days in the 50s. Today, it was supposed to get up towards 80 degrees. Ew.

In other news, Jeremiah's "Santa beard" is out in full force, much to my dismay. He continues to stand firm in his convictions, refusing to shave until after Christmas. It's officially getting out of control, and I may or may not be plotting a scheme to take his razor to it while he's fast asleep. I'll keep you posted.

What else. Oh! I have been moved to Springfield Park Elementary School to be an instructional assistant to all five of their second grade classes. The teachers in the grade level have made me feel at home there, and I think it will be a great year. A friend of mine from church teaches third grade there, and will be returning from maternity leave in January I think. How fun. I also picked up a second job back at the Goddard School I worked at when we first moved to Virginia. I'm working there from 3:30-6:00 everyday. Not my first choice of things to do when I get off from a day of second graders, but there aren't many options.

Looking ahead, Jeremiah and I are beyond antsy for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Particularly, Christmas. We're currently making red and green color-coded lists of things we need to do or get for the holidays and are debating when to officially kick off Christmas music and movies. Get excited!

On this Halloween evening I'll leave you with a handful of pictures from the month, ending with sweet KangaRuby. We were very happy to be the first stop on her first ever trick-or-treating experience. Mom, are you ready for grandkids?

This is me and my dear friend Katie, who now lives in Texas with her husband, Cory. I was so happy to be able to spend time with them after not seeing them for over a year!

Bring on Fall

Although you wouldn't know it by the forecast, fall is upon us in Richmond. To help usher in the season, my dear friend Jordan invited me to come along with her and her friend CJ to the Chesterfield Berry Farm. There's a lot of random family fun to have, like corn cannons and pig races, and you may also take a short hayride to the pumpkin patch. Other than the fact that Jordan had to pull over to the side of the road so I could barf on the way there, it was a great afternoon! Keep my random sickness in mind as you view the discoloration of my face in the pictures. A semi-unfortunate thing about the Berry Farm's festive goodness was that it cost $12.00 to get in, plus you had to pay for your pumpkin. Kind of a rip-off, particularly for those of us who don't have little kids to enjoy all of the amenities.  Other than that, a good time was had by all! Don't you love my pumpkin? Typical me. It's called a Red Warted Thing. 

Roommate Reunion

This past weekend I traveled solo to Hershey, Pennsylvania (Sarah's house) for a little reunion with my roommates from college. I was so sad to have missed the annual get-together last December, so I was looking forward to this one. It was incredibly refreshing to spend time with these ladies! Unfortunately, our dear friend Jordan wasn't able to make the trip so it wasn't exactly the same; however, the five of us had such an enjoyable time. We talked and laughed for hours on end. Hysterically laughed. I haven't done that in awhile and it felt so good. Here is a picture we took right before we parted ways (Erica, me, Casey, Sarah, and Kristy). And yes, I did look nicer for church, but changed right away to jeans for the five hour car ride home.

The Santa Beard Debate

Dear Jeremiah had a wonderful idea that came upon him like a thief in the night about a week or two ago. A "wonderful" idea.

He thinks it would be so great not to shave until after Christmas. This way, he will have a beard approximate in length and fullness to that of Santa's. And if that weren't glorious enough, he wants to take it a step (well, I'd say a bit more than a step further) and dye that beard white so that he can dress up like and pretend to be Santa for his cousin's daughter, Ruby, during the holiday season.

Let's all pause for a moment and really take this in.

Not a chance I said. I've been through 'No Shave November' and I undoubtedly suffered through 'Manchu March' but I will in no way have my 23 year old husband traipsing around looking like Father Christmas. We have had a few sarcastic debates here and there concerning the issue, but I thought we all agreed this was some weird fantasy of his that will never actually play out in reality, until maybe his hair takes on a natural white color.

But this morning, I wake up to this...

Jeremiah has influenced his new students, less than two weeks into the school year, to win my favor for the Santa beard. Folks, I'm going to need your help on this. Wasn't the Christmas card photo appalling enough last year? Please deter my husband from this crazed aspiration. 

PS. I just noticed he has a student named Cynamon.

Pittsburgh Wedding

This past weekend, Jeremiah and I traveled six and a half plus hours north to Pittsburgh, PA for the wedding of Ben Follett and Amanda Bishop. Ben is our dear friend from Penn State, and we have known Amanda since college, even though she went to JMU. Although the car rides were less than pleasant for me, the weekend was so great. A few of us stayed at our friend's parents house where we were able to catch up around a campfire with smores, around a vat of buffalo chicken dip, and around a pastry-lover's dream of a breakfast table. It's always so refreshing to be with good friends again. The wedding was a blast, too! Our table was rather obnoxious, but big fun. Oh, I forgot! Cameron was there too, and he was at my table! At the reception, Ben and Amanda made it known that in order for them to kiss your table had to sing a song with the word 'love' in it, as opposed to kissing on command from the clanging glasses. We were rather into it. Here are a few pictures of friends. The big group picture is all Penn State friends! (And yes, I re-wore the dress from Audrey's wedding, but get used to it because we still have two more weddings this fall!)