Fall Decorations

Fall is my favorite season for decorating. There is just something I love about the bright orange, yellow, and red colors that make me eager to pull out my fall decorations as soon as the temps start to dip. I'm planning to decorate for the next season after Thanksgiving, but I'll be enjoying my fall decorations for the next week before putting them away until next year.

The flowers are a new addition--and probably my favorite piece this year.

Fall decorating is incomplete without the fall issue of Better Homes and Gardens.
Scarecrow #1

Scarecrow #2

Lovely candle holder

Five Year Reunion

At the beginning of November, we headed down to my alma mater for Homecoming and my five-year reunion. It was fun to go back to campus and see how everything (and everyone) has changed. The day was sunny and warm--the perfect weather for a football game! Unfortunately, I didn't buy tickets because I figured it would be freezing cold like every other Homecoming football game I've attended. Instead, we had fun at my college home group leaders' house, catching up with them and a bunch of friends from my college home group.

Hitting the road with Starbucks

The editor in me was very disappointed to find this spelling error. Can you spot it?
Our home group looks much different with spouses and children added to the group.

Happy Chipotle Day!

Halloween for us means more than collecting candy or attending a costume party. For the Gwynnes, October 31 means a cheap dinner from Chipotle! Dave was reminded of the great deal a couple of hours before dinnertime, so we made sure to head on over as soon as church was done that night. The only catch to the free burrito deal is that you have to dress up in aluminum foil (in other words, like a burrito). Below are our interpretations of that requirement.

My aluminum foil headband

Dave's aluminum foil toupee

Pepe Le Pew and Other Scary Animals

For the last few weeks, we have been sharing our neighborhood with a lovely skunk. For awhile, we were catching a whiff of Pepe Le Pew on a nightly basis. Instead of cool, fresh air floating into our home, we were experiencing some not-so-pleasant fragrances when we dared to open our windows.

Now that the sun disappears earlier, when we are still likely to be out for walks, we have mentioned that we need to watch out for Mr. Skunk. Last week, when we returned from our friend's book group a few doors down, we made sure to walk through well-populated, well-lit areas just to make sure we didn't meet the neighborhood's newest resident. Fortunately, we made it back to our place safe, sound, and still smelling sweet.

I barely considered a run-in with the skunk when I suggested we walk to the library this past Monday night. But as soon as I was spooked by a wayward cat, I thought about that other furry creature. Still, we continued on our way. As we crossed a street, we saw something scurry across the road and across our path. The headlights from the traffic gave enough light for us to see that this animal was not another cat--it was Pepe Le Pew himself!

I began freaking out (mind you, he was still a safe distance away). When Dave suggested we cross to the other side of the road, I refused. All I could say was, "Let's just take the car! Let's just take the car!" Dave had never seen me in such a panic, and he started laughing at me! Finally, he gave in, and we walked back to our car so he could drive us the 5 blocks to the library. My heart was still pounding as we walked in.

I never thought a skunk would scare me like that, but the last time I was that spooked by an animal was when I was 4 or 5 years old and our neighbor's little dog got loose and chased me down the street. I guess I'll be adding skunks to the list of animals that put me in panic mode. It will join ladybugs (ladybirds for my Scottish friends) and anything with the ability to sting me.

Which animal are you most afraid of?

Our Saturday

The last few weekends, Dave and I have been intentional about using our days off to relax and to do things we enjoy. Saturdays especially are lived at a slower pace. The alarm clock is turned off, and no agenda for the morning is set. Today, we had an event planned for the afternoon, but the rest of the day was unscheduled. Here's what our Saturday looked like:

A coworker of mine was performing in a community-theater production of Godspell. I am a fan of both musicals and supporting friends who are performing, so Dave and I met up with a group of my coworkers to see today's matinée.

After the musical, Dave and I headed to a nearby Trader Joe's. I'd never visited one until a couple of weeks ago, and I've already found a few favorites. Their Pomegranate Green Iced Tea is now my drink of choice for the summer. Really, it's replaced my previous favorite, Arizona Green Iced Tea. We also picked up some chicken fried rice and Caramel Bites. Yum! I first had Caramel Bites in The Netherlands, so when we discovered them at Trader Joe's, I was super excited. These tiny waffles with caramel sandwiched in between are soooo good!
Finally, we went to Lou Malnati's for some delicious deep-dish pizza. I'd forgotten how much I love that place! We finished up our meal with one of their Chocolate Chip Pizzas. It brought back memories of Wednesday nights after our college group, walking over to the local Lou's and enjoying that delicious dessert. It was fun to introduce Dave to this favorite.
Another fun thing about today was that Dave had his first experience driving in a busier, downtown area. He handled it like a pro, even when I had him navigate the parking garage for a spot.
(This, of course, wasn't the parking garage Dave had to drive through, but such a thing exists in Germany. Could you imagine parking your car in this tower? Yikes!)

AT&T and me

The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, BBC America, C-Span.

This is what I envisioned my TV watching would consist of once we signed up for AT&T U-verse. Sure, I'd still watch those other series that we enjoy, but I would primarily use the television as a means of educating myself via fascinating documentaries and keeping up to date with current political, social and economic trends around the world.

That was the plan.

However, as we all know too well, the "best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men gang aft agley."

In other words, Dog the Bounty Hunter won.

Never Say Never

You may remember how excited I was to get FOX, an additional PBS station, and all the new digital channels when we bought our digital converter box last September. I was still happy with it after the storms last fall knocked out CBS for good. I was happy with it when ABC's signal would get delayed, and we'd have to endure multiple breaks in the action when we watched the evening news. The little black box on our entertainment center allowed me to watch (most of) my shows with a crystal-clear picture, something I certainly didn't have with the good ol' antenna. I didn't need the fancy channels like MTV, HGTV, or TLC. After all, I could watch most shows online (like The Hills) if I was desperate for the cable TV.

You see, I was fully embracing the simple-life approach to TV. Why pay a small fortune for a bunch of reruns or old movies on cable when you can enjoy plenty of good TV for free? And, really, why would I want to spend a lot of time in front of the tube when I could spend it hanging out with Dave or reading a good book?

Then there was the DVR. I heard about plenty of people who loaded up their DVRs with more shows than they could ever watch. I determined I never wanted to become a slave to a DVR. My avoidance of the electronic device was my personal anti-extravagant-technology statement.

But then I was invited to a friend's house to watch a DVR-recorded episode of 24 that we had missed due to a dinner out. It was nice to watch it 2 hours after it had aired and to fast-forward through the commercials. During the latest American Idol season, I had to wait until the next morning to find out who had gotten kicked off because I was at church when the elimination episode aired.

I became proud of the "old-fashioned" TV life I was leading, telling myself that the "sacrifices" I was making made me a better person. I would never get cable or DVR.

What's the saying? Never say never? I'm now laughing at the irony of my situation as Dave and I enjoy the benefits of cable and DVR. You see, when we were reviewing our budget and looking around for better options for the Internet, we heard many good things about the pricing and quality of AT&T U-verse. For only a bit more than what we were paying for just the Internet, we could get Internet and TV. How could we say no?

The first night we had it (Thursday), we stayed up until midnight watching TV. Last night, I was up until 1 a.m. exploring the different channels we now have. We've already recorded Man vs. Wild, The Soup, and Don't Tell the Bride, and we've set the DVR to record the weekly program from North Point Church in Atlanta so we can watch it on Sunday afternoon. I'd say we've already put our new TV options to good use.

Of course, all this TV fun will only be around until we have children. You see, I have always told myself that I will never allow my children to watch TV, and why would I pay for so many channels when we'll never watch it? ;-)