Yum

I love summer for fresh fruit, and autumn for earthy vegetables...

Lunch:

Acorn squash with maple syrup and pecans. Yep, it was blogworthy.

Also blogworthy: A successful thesis proposal meeting yesterday! My awesome committee liked my lit review, theory on anger in forgiveness, and proposed study (analyzing a brief survey of therapists regarding, what else, anger in forgiveness). So, if I run the stats we discussed, and write up the results and significance, my thesis will pass and I'll be able to... GRADUATE!!! Hooray! I have until the first week of Nov to finish writing, so til then, I'll have a messy house, ad hoc dinners, and a skimpy blog. Sorry.

Pit Stop

Felix, running in from playing outside with friends:

"Mommy! The poopy's trying to come out in my underwear! But I said, 'No poopy! You can't come out in my underwear!'"

A minute later, flushing the potty:

"Bye bye poopy! Thank you for not coming out in my underwear!"

Old picture... Haven't done a potty photo shoot for a while

And I swore I'd never be one of those moms who blogged about potty time...

"Exploring his Environment" or "Wreaking Destruction"

The broom and vacuum have been my constant companion this past week, thanks to Ezra's uninhibited curiosity about the pantry. A sampling of his adventures:

• Almonds, cashews, raisins, dried apricots. Felix got a knife and opened up bags of the nuts and fruit from Trader Joe's with Ezra and spread them all over the floor throughout the downstairs. I'm talking a sea of almonds, seriously.

• Oats. He loves dry oats, and if I leave the lazy susan cupboard open for 5 seconds when I'm baking, he's after them like a horse. (I know, whose child is this right?) He's gotten into them too many times to count, at least a dozen, sometimes when I'm out of the room, spilling oats all over the kitchen, dining room, and stairs.
• Sugar. Twice now, stuffing handfuls into his mouth, and spilling all over the floor and into the drawers.
• Butter. That was a few weeks ago, but yeah, eating it like a candybar.
• Rice Crispies. Three times yesterday. All over the floor.
• Rice. Raw. Brown. Dry. By the handful.
  
• Salt. From the canister. I don't get it either.
  
• Water. He pushes over a chair and climbs up to the kitchen sink, or onto the toilet and fills up cups and toys with water, drinking some and pouring the rest on the floor.
• Milk. Just once so far, into the dishwasher (while standing on the door). So at least cleanup was pretty easy.
  
• Diaper wipes. Daily. "How fast can I pull 250 wipes out of a box?"
  
• Oil. He tried to drink from the mega jug of canola oil, but that was at the apartment, so no permanent damage done here at least... (And I guess I cleaned it well enough to save the carpet; no fee when we moved out).

I know, you're thinking, where's his mom? And why hasn't she childproofed those cupboards? And what happens to someone who eats butter and drinks oil?

Well, can't a gal put away a load of laundry? And, I have! (I guess I need to do it better though...) And, baby soft skin and awesome thighs--give it a try.

Oh well, at least my floor has been getting swept and washed more. And I still love the little cutie as much as ever...

How could I not?

Literary Indulgence

I turned in a draft of my thesis proposal. (HOORAY!)

To make a December graduation (and therefore not have to petition loosing coursework credit), I need defend both my prospectus and thesis this Fall semester. Which means having the whole thing basically written by the end of this month. I've been working my tail off, and have now turned my second draft in to my adviser.

I haven't really loved the experience of writing a thesis (no, seriously? I'm four years older than when I started the thing, if that's an indication of my enthusiasm), and I don't know that I've ever had to really edit a paper before. (My usual method is to scrawl out a solid outline, hack out a pretty decent first draft, and then if I have time, read it over once to make sure it makes sense before printing it off and accepting my 94%A. Hey, an A is an A--and you think people really read what you turn in anyhow?)

But this behemoth of a paper is different, and I actually have been culling through the paper and changing things. Rewording sentences, moving ideas around, and even (cringe) deleting whole paragraphs. (That part is tough--so I have a document where I put the extracted paragraphs, called Thesis Stuff I Can't Just Delete. I'll delete the whole document later, but now the pain is too fresh.)

So anyhow, now that I have a bit of a break--before my adviser returns my draft--I've been checking something of my bucket list:


I'm really enjoying it so far. It's laced with so much silly emotion, unrequited affection, triviality, and... estrogen? It's a nice escape during naptime and in the evening. But between the descriptions of arrogant gentlemen, pretty-eyed sisters, impertinent behavior, and confusing family/social ties, the story line was becoming a bit muddled.

Then I came across this gem:

Illuminating.

Wikipedia, how did I ever used to get through a day without you?

New Home

We just bought our first home! After a week of unpacking we are finally getting settled in our new place in Plymouth, Minnesota. More to come soon...

MUAH!

THANK YOU, BRIAN!!!

WOW!!!!!!!


Roses are amazing. They're even gorgeous as they're dying...


Happy Valentine's Day!

First Day of Work

Knock their socks off, honey!

This is the PLACE!

Hey all! We're in Minnesota. We love it, cold and all. We're thrilled for Brian to start work on the 25th, and we're looking forward to building our family and creating memories here.

We took a fun trip to the Walker Art Center with Brian's sister Christy, and had to snap a few photos by the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry.

Uncle Kurt and Leanne!

Back in December, before we left Ohio, we had the chance to visit with my older brother, Kurt, and his girlfriend of almost 6 years now, Leanne. It was great to get together with them, I love them both a lot. They are working hard on their PC Repair business, KBA4 PC Repair (my brother is Kurt B. Arnold IV... isn't that COOL?), and some other ventures as well.

I really hope we can see them again soon!

Some Hiking Pics

Minimum Height Requirement Not Met

But maybe someday, Felix...

Christmas in Iowa!

We LOVE family!