The Fall

The story has sounded so redundant and lame every time I've told it that I hesitate to blog about it and wouldn't except that- it's true- and no matter what, I find that the truth has a way of seeping into your life and affecting everything- no matter how much you might try to resist it.

So here's the story of my fall- and why I haven't written- shoot, why I've barely even thought much for the past eight weeks.

It starts with school, and I won't go into the nitty gritty details- but I've had too much work to do. My teacher friends will get the gist of this- the rest of you can just scroll down and look at the pictures. I've got five classes this year, with four preps - all of them are lab courses and one of them is AP Biology. In addition to all of that academic stuff, I agreed to be the student council faculty adviser and with that responsibility came the planning of the main Texas fall event- homecoming.

To raise money for our homecoming dance, the student council (and myself) sell shaved ice at football games. This is a sticky, and time-consuming endeavor, and the very first week of shaved ice responsibility- I managed to tear some tendons or something in my left foot. (yes, I was walking the dogs in heels on my lunch break) This was the end of August, I believe. Andy was out of town the week it happened, and I was on crutches for a few days and hobbled for a few weeks afterwards. I think that hurting my foot was the advent of the craziest first quarter ever.

Here's a picture of my nasty, swollen foot. I sent it to Lacy when I was crying on the sofa, feeling very sorry for myself.

Planning Homecoming is like a full time job. There was money to raise, mums to be ordered, a DJ and a venue to call, games to plan, and, to top it all off, this was the first year that our school acquiesced to the student body's desire for a homecoming court. So we voted, and we had a king, queen, prince and princess. It was all very fun, and very overwhelming and very, very tiring. But I did enjoy some fun moments- like when I put the queen's tiara on my head on Homecoming Friday and sent this pic to my mom and Lacy.

Andy & I did have a fun time at the dance, and I'm trying to track down a couple of the Homecoming Dance photos to share. The theme was "Phantom of the Opera" so we both had masks to wear to chaperone the dance. We even went out to IHOP after the dance to celebrate the end of homecoming, though I almost fell asleep in my strawberry pancakes.

The weekend after Homecoming was my 30th birthday, and, even though I wasn't quite caught up with all of my grades for the end of the quarter, Andy & I caught a flight on October 19 headed to NYC! My parents and Grant met us there, and we celebrated the weekend together. It was oh so sweet to get to see them on my birthday and to spend time together playing tourist in New York! I have some photos- but not many. My camera died when I went to the DR, and my phone serves as camera these days. Since my phone battery died on Saturday afternoon, there aren't too many good pics. I'm going to ask Santa for a new camera this Christmas... or next Christmas... or sometime when Santa can afford it. Anyway, here's what I've got...

The Big (Lego) Apple

Inside St. Patrick's

Took this shot in Times Square Saturday AM, but we went to see WICKED on Saturday night.

On the double-decker bus on Saturday morning

Flatiron Building as seen from the bus tour. This was one of Andy's favorites.

Black & White Cookie- one of my favorites! :) 

New building at the WTC

St. Paul's Chapel. Love that you can see my mom and dad in the reflection here. :)

This picture is inside the vestibule at St. Paul's. I thought it was really powerful.

Subway ride down to 34th St. Blurry but one of my favorite shots from the whole trip!

Sunday morning was perfect weather for visiting the top of the Empire State Building. Andy smiling by the ARMY placard.

My 30 year old self on top of the world. Sort of. Lady Liberty is keeping me company in the background.

Andy & I are looking north toward the park. This is my only proof that Grant was there- he took this picture. Grant doesn't like his picture taken.

Me & my Momma! My one regret from this trip was not getting a pic with me and my dad- what was I thinking? We need more family photos in general this Christmas, ya'll. 

 

Beautiful tree in Central Park. Andy & I got to just stroll around on Saturday afternoon. It was magical.

So after the amazing weekend, I spent the next four days grading non-stop, and then crashed. This weekend has been the most restful and refreshing weekend in a long time. Andy & I have gotten to spend a lot of time together, and tonight we'll complete one of our traditions- pumpkin carving! Maybe I'll even take some pictures, and maybe, just maybe, I'll get to post them before two more months goes by. No promises. Life is busy, beautiful, exhausting and good.