Where did October go?

It seems like time is just flying by. I count this as a blessing. Now that I'm teaching Sunday school on Saturday nights (I know, confusing), I'm really starting to enjoy kids, and Tony and I have been talking frequently about how we want to raise our children in the future. I am soaking up this time of being young and without children for now, but I must say that I'm not as afraid as I was a year ago about what is coming next.

I don't really have any rhyme or reason to these photos, I just happened to like them.

Blech. I wonder how many photos I'll post until he'll quit again? Hopefully not very many.

I'd like to keep him around for a really long time.

A really *really* long time.

I'm going to tease you now with food. I'll be posting these recipes in the upcoming weeks, but I thought I would taunt you a bit :).

These are butternut squash filled tortellini with a brown butter sage sauce. Yum num num.

Can you guess what this pie is made out of? Pumpkin? Sweet Potatoes? Yams? You'll just have to wait and see. You won't even believe this recipe! The pie comes out tasting like the perfect combination between pumpkin and pecan pie--perfect for those of us who can't make up our minds during the holiday season.

I love fall!

Fall is by far my favorite season. Living in southern California is a bummer for this simple reason. I miss all of the beautiful colors fall in Ohio produced. I miss the crisp, cool air, and the anticipation of winter. Tony and I have decided that after I'm all done Ph.Ding over here, that we'll most likely try to move back to the Midwest or the south. Only a few more years (decades, eons) until that happens.

I've definitely tried to create the fall feeling recently, by putting out our blown-glass pumpkins, and eating all the apples I can handle (which also happen to be on sale). Recently I made a brown apple Betty with a friend using Granny Smiths.

Don't worry, I'll post the recipe eventually...

There are moments when fall is captured here naturally, even though we aren't in the fall climate I'm used to experiencing. I love how the sunlight catches the grass on the hill outside my balcony on Sunday mornings. As the days get shorter, I am increasingly thankful for the bright light.

Flowers are still in full bloom around here, which is common for October in San Diego. Thankfully, the people who take care of the apartment property are better at watering the plants than I am.

The birds are still populating the feeder outside our balcony. I like to watch them play with one another (i.e. have a mortal combat for birdseed).

My favorite bird that hangs around these parts is still the hummingbird. Even with my telephoto lens, it's still hard to capture them, thus the lomo-effect I added with photo editing software to hide the blurriness.

Enjoy the fall weather!

I've lost a sizable portion of my attention span, and count of the days

Let's face it friends, I am done keeping track of this goal. I'd like to pretend that I take photos everyday, and have ants in my pants about posting photos up every week, but I don't. I really would prefer to start posting whenever I feel like it, and actually try to deliver some quality photos. Well, semi-quality. Quasi-quality? Dang it, they're better than average.

I appreciate all of the feedback. I'm currently planning a few wall layouts, combining some of my favorite (and your favorite) photos with themes like, New Orleans, nature and family :).

I hope you enjoy a few of the photos I've taken in the last two weeks!

This is a (very) dead tree on the horse farm near our apartment complex. It gives me the willies, especially when there is a large crow population sitting on it, ominously staring at me as I run (walk, crawl, dry-heave) back to the apartments after running on the trail.

Here are some lovely flowers, that are only semi-dead :).

I probably hate this picture more than anyone else, so y'all can just keep a lid on it. One of our ceramic flower pots turned into Tony's ash tray one day, after all of the already dead plant life caught on fire, and evidently remained smoldering for a few days on our porch. Tony thought it was cool. I did not.

Did you know that jalapeno peppers turn red when they are at the end of their life? Yeah, me either. Now that this one is good and dried up, we're saving it for seeds for the next year. Maybe next year I won't destroy our garden by neglecting it. At first I was just occasionally forgetting to water them, then blatant laziness settled in for good.

This is a non-red, shriveled jalapeno. Compare and discuss.

And last but not least, garlic. Delicious.

Day 232-238: Whatever.

This week started out interesting. I decided to actually check on my semi-living potted plants, and nearly jumped out of my skin when I was examining my jalapenos. Do you see it?

GAHHH! BIG HONKIN' CATERPILLAR. Don't even try to pupate on my plant, you fat cow.

We tried to knock it off with a stick, and then used a compressed, computer air duster thingy to try to "puff" it off. Basically, we snapped the leaf off, and catapulted the little demon off the side of the balcony with a satisfying puff of air. Hurumph. Don't mess with the only plant that's living, okay?

In all honesty, I've been having a really hard time cooking lately. With a new, evening work out schedule, I find that I have little energy left. So, during the week we eat sandwiches and frozen (healthy) meals. Ideally, I'd like to cook on Sunday for most of the week. Turns out that the only day off I have, I'd actually like to take OFF. This being said, I did cook up some soup and also some roasted garlic hummus today for a yoga group I attend, and it was pretty fun!

We got a new T.V. Please don't judge me. I love it. It was a STEAL of a sale. Seriously, don't judge me, or you'll end up like the caterpillar. That's a funny word...caterpillar. Say it three times fast without laughing. I dare you...you judgey judgers.

Tony's totally hard at work writing two term papers. I really wish I could go back-to-school shopping :(. I miss buying notebooks, pens and folders. I do not miss term papers.

Do you know what a Tofutti Cutie is? It's a delicious, non-dairy ice cream sandwich. I'm not sure about all of the flavors, but at least the vanilla one tastes just like ice cream. Nummers.

Day 204-217: Where have you been?

I've been at home, busy prioritizing my life. Unfortunately, keeping up this site and my cooking site became a chore, and that's not what I wanted this experience to be. I wanted this to be FUN. I think I'm ready to post some more things now, if that's alright with you guys.

So last time I left you with photos from our trip to Missouri. I think the hiatus was due to me resisting returning to normal life. I liked being far away from California and school, and I wasn't really ready to deal with being back to the daily grind.

Tony's back to work finishing up his degree:

Meanwhile, I'm getting into the regular habit of daily devotions and journaling. Yes, those are curtain rods in the background. No, I haven't put up curtains yet. Just allow the bad home-keeper demons take me away in my sleep, because that's what I'll be doing...sleeping instead of wasting my dwindling energy on putting up some freakin' curtains.

I've still been cooking, but mostly just the same-old-same-old. I did make a rockin' eggplant parmesan recently. You should try it out...it's DELICIOUS.

I love shopping at Henry's. They have such good deals on produce, and apparently, they sell heart shaped plums.

After we got back from Missouri, most of our plants looked like this:

Outstanding.

After a little watering,

And a little pruning by Tones,

They began to revive!

We even have jalapenos! I just read a really neat article by Simply Recipes on how to tell the heat of a jalapeno, you should check it out.

No matter what kind of picture I'm taking of Tony, I usually get this face. Just go back through the archives if you don't believe me.

I have another alien pod. I hate them.

So this weekend I went to a special running store in San Diego called Road Runner Sports. Now, those of you who know me well are asking "What the heck are you doing in a running store?Everyone who's ever encountered your amazing athleticism knows that the only thing you could possibly be doing in a running store is walking out of it." Yes, I know. I have a handful of people who have testified that running has changed their life entirely. So, in an effort to increase my energy and exploit the southern California coastal weather, I am going to try to run. Jog. Walk-run. Crawl. Well, I have a plan. I'm basically following a method that works you up to running two miles in about two months. I know, I'm going slow about it, but I would really like to not quit running...again. I tried for a bit in San Antonio with Tony, but I ended up crying after about one mile. Sigh.

Anyway, I got my feet totally examined by the running people. They made me run on a treadmill and analyzed how I run in slow-mo to find the best fitting shoe for me. The current and only pair of athletic shoes I own are about 6 years old and are beginning to fall apart. I guess the elliptical machine doesn't cause a bunch of wear and tear...

So, I bought some new ones, one size bigger than my normal shoes to account for my feet swelling when I run, and with arch supports because, guess what...I have high arches and I never knew!

So, um, pray for me, okay? I'd really like to have more energy during the day and evening, and I'd really like to try and run several miles by the end of the fall. I'll let you know how it's going, and I promise I won't take pictures of my blisters.

And on that note, see you next week!

Day 188-203: I kind of owe you...

Well I definitely owe y'all some pictures after my two week hiatus. One of the weeks I was lazy. The second week I was busy having a relaxing vacation at Tony's parent's house in rural Missouri. Since I left you hanging for so long, here is a TON of photos. Enjoy!

I'll start like I'll end--with puppies. Here's LT, he likes to carry his own leash, and other dogs' leashes too!

He's really precious.

He's a sweet puppy, and he definitely means well.

He really like tissue. And paper towels. And napkins.

One of the days we took a walk through Tony's parent's property to their pond, where Tony's mom fed the fish. She'll probably kill me for this photo, but I really, really like it.

Here's a view of the pond:

Everything was so lush and green in Missouri, such a change from the currently brown San Diego.

Tony tried his luck at catching a crayfish for me to photograph, and didn't have much luck.

Terry, however, caught one pretty quickly. The puppies were splashing around, and definitely not helping the situation.

Mini lobster!

Tony really likes this photo, so I'll post it to humor him :).

Shadow, the older puppy, wanted to wade a bit in the creek.

LT was satisfied by just taking a drink. He wasn't too sure about water yet.

This is Rob, the old timer. He's normally scared of my camera, and rather indifferent to anyone other than my father-in-law. This was a darn lucky shot, but I suppose the leash helped.

There were raspberries ripening in the sun...

And some questionable fungi (I think) on the tree trunks.

We also visited both sets of Tony's grandparents. Here's Grandma and Grandpa Smith with Tony and his Mom. I had to hassle Grandpa to give me a smile, and it looks like he can take the teasing just as well as he can give it out!

We walked around for a while on the Smith property, which consisted of many old farm buildings. Tony said this building used to give him nightmares. I speculated there were dragon sized spiders in there, took a picture and got a move on...

I can never have enough pictures of him. Ever.

This is a view of the fields outside of his Grandpa's back yard. I enjoyed the open space.

Deadly caterpillar!!! Ok, not really. Maybe it is. I didn't want to find out.

This is one of my favorite photos. This is inside one of the barns used for storing hay.

This is Heather's boy. He's so precious...

...and kind of a ham ;)...

Tony made a random friend before we went out with the Ryno grandparents and family. Kids really love him, which I think is sweet.

Mimosas...not just a delicious drink!

Here's another one of LT. Gosh, I miss him!

Notice how this one's a little blurry? Rob realized that the scary lady with the big black thing in front of her face was pointing it at him again! The nerve!

I probably got 3 of the 15 mosquito bites taking this photo, but it was worth it.

Robin's egg...I sure hope the baby bird made it!

There were bird houses everywhere on Tony's parent's property. Too bad they've been having an all out war with greedy squirrels.

GUINEAS! The baby chicks were so cute. They would all run from the scary lady with the camera. Sigh.

We barbecued a few times, but the skewers were my favorite! The pineapple was outstanding!

I had a Radio Flyer once.

Barbed wire.

Electrified barbed wire! Ok, not really, not now at least. It used to be an electrified fence though, back in the day.

Queen Ann's lace decorated almost all of the fields in the country. I thought it was really beautiful!

I liked this vine too. I'm weird.

This, next to the hay picture, is one of my favorites.

Pollenatin'

These old wagon/coach wheels were all over the yard. I thought they deserved to look old-timey.

His parents grow their own corn (not to mention most other vegetables and fruits found in the produce section)! How cool is that!?!

They also have grape vines! Yum.

These were one of favorite flowers when I was growing up.

This, my friends, is Shadow. He, LT and Rob are Schipperkes. Mark my words, I will own one.

He was such a photogenic puppy!

I really miss Missouri, and Tony's family. I also miss being greeted by these guys. Their unconditional love was greatly appreciated.

Congratulations if you made it through all those photos! I have about 250+ more, but these were my favorites!