fresh friday

I'm sorry for not blogging the last two weeks, there has been a ton going on.  Plus, the blog wouldn't let me post pictures for some reason and that is exactly what I have for you.  Christmas pictures!!

Things are finally winding down and I am beyond excited for Christmas!  But as expected, I got really really sick on Monday.  I wasn't sure if it was a flu or sinus infection until Tuesday when I could barely move and my teeth were incredibly painful -> sinus infection.  I am in the stuffy/slight cough phase of it now, so things are slightly more tolerable.

We decorated the house two weekends ago and it looks wonderful!  It really is exactly what I wanted/was envisioning.  Because of the orange wall in the livingroom, I was a little bit perplexed about my colors/theme for my Christmas tree.  I decided on turquoise/brown/cream as well as a bunch of adorable owls.  We've named the tree topper Bernard (and if you can guess why, I am incredibly impressed) and the white owl on the right was already named Hedwig.  If you have suggestions for the others, let me know.  Have a look:

Bernard in the middle, Hedwig on the right.

The little guy on the right is my favorite.

lights on/lights off

I also decorated both fireplace mantles.

The Livingroom.

The Kitchen.
(the camera did not like the lights for some reason.)

We have candles in each window (except the huge ones) and a wreath on the front door.  I just needs some garland for the stair railing and we are in business!

I gave my last final exam yesterday and I have 48 of them to grade this weekend.  But besides that, I am done for the semester!

Next week I will be baking all sorts of Christmas cookies!  Get ready for that post!

Devin had his first concert at his new job this week.  It was fabulous as always!

And finally, here are a couple pictures of the girls.

Janey finally got a pretty awesome winter coat this year.

Deeley has been spending a lot of time lately in boxes that are way too small for her.

So Long!

thankful thursday

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

This year has completely changed my life.  Last Thanksgiving I had just finished mailing out my job applications and was anxiously hoping to hear from schools.  I was also pondering how I was ever going to finish my thesis in a mere 5 months.

Now I am a Dr. that just happens to have my dream job.  I am living in an incredible house with my husband (who also managed to get a terrific job) and my two sweet kitties.  I couldn't be more thankful for what this life has brought me, especially in the last year.

I am in Buffalo to celebrate happiness and health with my family and friends and that is another thing that I am so thankful for.

A special shout out to my sister Olivia, because she is the coolest girl that I know and I am so thankful to have you in my life.

Here's to another year of things to be thankful for.

So Long!

fresh friday

Hello & Happy Friday - 

I have made it a point this morning to take a little bit of time and get some pictures posted for you.  

As promised I have some (really badly taken) closet photos.

BEFORE: just an empty room (well it was full of boxes of clothes)

AFTER: plenty of space to hang things!

AFTER: still a ton of room to move in there!

AFTER: we have a couple cabinets for storage and shelves were
added to the mini closets that were already there.

We are still so in love with the closet!  It has made the mornings so much better, and the cats love it too!

Here are some other highlights from the past week:

Cute coffee place, decent coffee - nearly felt like Pittsburgh.

It was so warm on Sunday we opened windows.

So warm in fact that  I got my peppermint mocha iced.

We went to a BU basketball game which was a ton of fun!!  They are really good.

This text totally made my Wednesday!

These are the sunrises that I get from my office window.  Perfection.

Well that is all from me.  We are heading home Tuesday night for the first time in months, like nearly 5 actually.  It has to be the longest that we have been away.  I am beyond excited to see my family and friends and celebrate the holiday.  Plus once Thanksgiving is over, I can get really excited about Christmas!!!

I highly doubt that there will be a fresh friday next Friday morning as that's right, I have some Black Friday shopping to do!  Wish me luck!

So Long!

fresh friday

Welcome back -

I am so excited that Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away!  I was just thinking that at this time two weeks from now, I will already be hours into Black Friday shopping with Bridget and Liv!  

On another note, my dad did an incredible job on our closet.  It is better than I could have ever imagined.  I have yet to take pictures, so hopefully next week I can do a feature on it.  

That is really all from me this week.  I have 50 exams to grade this weekend, so I am going to go get started with that.

Have an amazing (warm) weekend!

So Long!

fresh friday

Very quick post today, I have lots to do this morning.

It has been a long week, but my dad is here which is awesome!   It is amazing to see him, and not only that, but he is so helpful with things around the house.  We are so grateful for all of the work he is doing.

So, that hurricane happened.  We are very fortunate that things were relatively calm here.  I mean it rained a lot and there was plenty of wind, but no serious damage, very few people even lost power.

Halloween also happened.  It was like 45 and sprinkling around here and that made for zero trick-or-treaters.  Could you imagine in Buffalo if 45 degrees and some rain kept people from trick-or-treating?  They might as well just cancel Halloween altogether.  This is the first year that I did not dress up whatsoever.  Sort of sad.

They released our faculty profiles.  Have a look!

I just have some pictures to share from the week.

All of Liv's friends say that Tony looks like Cake Boss,
so I had to get this pictures and send it to her.

My Frankenstein pumpkin for the Frankenstorm.

Growler of Souther Tier Pumpkin from my dad.
It is sooooo good!

The beautiful sky this morning (does not look like that now).

Have a terrific weekend everyone!

So Long!

fresh friday

Sorry for missing last week.  I taught 5 classes last Friday and writing on the blog just did not happen.

I have had yet another busy week, but the end is in sight!!  I am finishing off the 10th week of the semester today which means I am 2/3 of the way through!  

And what is even more exciting, as Olivia reminded me yesterday, is that Thanksgiving is in less than a month and Christmas is in 2 months!

And then speaking of holidays, yesterday was my husband's 29th birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEV!

We went out for dinner and Devin got an apple pie.  Tomorrow I am going to make him a special birthday dinner and some chocolate chip cookies.

Just another busy week ahead, but MY DAD IS COMING TO VISIT!!  He is going to stay for a few days and help us with some projects around the house.  Bridget, you will be missed, but hopefully you can make it down soon!

Well, have a great weekend!

So Long!

fresh friday

Well hello.

How have you been?

I have never been busier in my life.

I do not understand how it is possible to be this busy.  I could never stop working and still have stuff to do.  However, I am so happy to be a Professor.  As busy as I am, I really love what I am doing.

Rebecca was in Lewisburg last week and we started working on a paper and moving forward with some other research.  I am so happy and lucky that she came.  It gave my scholarship a good kick start and it was just really great to have her here!

My in-laws were also here over the weekend and it was amazing to see them! 

This week I have just been trying to catch up with things.  I gave an exam yesterday, which means that I have 50 exams to grade this weekend, along with 25 labs and 20 quizzes.

Before I forget, I made these pumpkin cookies and they were amazing.  The salted caramel sauce is b.a.n.a.n.a.s.  Make them.  And then you also have about 1.5 cups of salted caramel sauce leftover to put on vanilla ice cream, or bananas.

Here are some pictures from the week:

The moon was out yesterday morning as I walked into school.

At least I have a beautiful view of fall from my office.

Sharon brought me this, fresh out of Brian's oven last Friday.
That was a tgif moment!

Deeley in the cubby.

Missing Olivia like crazy....Thanksgiving!

Have a good weekend.

So Long!

fresh friday

Just a quick post, because I feel bad if I ignore all my internet friends.

I have an extremely busy weekend ahead.  One of my thesis advisors is here and we are going to spend the weekend writing a paper and starting to move forward with some other research.

My in-laws are also coming in tomorrow, so hopefully I will get to spend a little time with them as well.  I am excited for them to see the house!

I hope you all have a nice long weekend that is less busy than mine!

So Long!

"super saturday"

I forgot my computer at home yesterday so I was not able to post a fresh friday.  Here is a super saturday to replace it.

Lots of pictures from the week:

Find Friends is a fun new app.

Pretty good - no Pumpking though.

Devin's beer - We got a create a 6 pack from Weggies.

Our neighborhood is overrun by rabbits.  They are really cute.

The girls do not really think so.

Got the fireplace going this week.

The girls were intrigued.

This seems like a good life.

Baking scones with the fireplace going.

Finally, I had some pictures taken by Jonathan at Vantage Pictures for Bucknell.  They turned out really  nice.  Here are a couple.

I am going to try to enjoy this weekend, because next week might kill me.

So Long!

fresh friday

Happy Friday Everyone!

Somehow the weeks keep flying by.  I am 4.5 weeks into the semester (out of 15) and I cannot believe it.  I am giving my first exam in my upper level course today, so that means another weekend filled with grading.  At least I only have to grade a 52 min. exam for 21 people vs. an 82 min. exam for 49 people like last weekend.

I thought for sure I would be missing Pittsburgh like crazy by now, but I really haven't had the time to think much about it.  I certainly miss the people and also the food and coffee.  We were just talking last night about where we would eat if we took a little trip to Pittsburgh.  We decided for sure on Pamela's (bfast), Primanti's (lunch) and Piper's Pub (dinner), though probably not all in one day.  Plus we would hit every one of our favorite coffee places (twice).  A trip to Pittsburgh has actually been on my mind.  I am hoping to head there for a weekend sometime soon after Baby Girl Sweet is born.  I cannot wait to meet her!

A little bit of Pittsburgh is coming to Lewisburg in about a week and a half.  One of my advisors is coming to Bucknell for a week to do research with me.  I am really, really looking forward to it, but I have so much teaching prep to get done before she arrives, so that I do not need to worry about that on top of doing our research.

Another thing that I knew I would miss about Pittsburgh is the view from our deck.  I've posted many many pictures, especially of the sunset.  I have to say, while the views are different around here, they are pretty spectacular.

Something else that I am really looking forward to is Fall.  Autumn is hands down my favorite season and aside from it being freezing when I come into work in the morning I am embracing everything about it!  I have made us Nutella Oatmeal the past two mornings.  I even have some gords in the dining room.

From last year, you may or may not recall that I went through this HUGE pumpkin obsession that basically revolved around beer and dessert.  I have a very strong feeling that it is going to happen again.  We walked to get ice cream twice this week because I am in love with the special flavor soft serve: Pumpkin.

It is magnificent and I am totally bummed that The Freeze is closing for the season on Sunday.  I would walk there through all of Autumn to get this stuff!

We are heading out to Wegman's tonight and I fully plan on stocking up on some Fall beer.  Southern Tier Pumpking is an absolute must (my favorite beer ever)!  It is awesome in a black and tan with Young's Chocolate Stout, so I may have to get a couple of those as well.  Plus, I really want to try this new Blue Moon Caramel Apple, and the season would not be complete without some Sam Adams Octoberfest (the beer we had at our wedding).  So anyways, we will probably be coming home with a good amount of beer, and hopefully I will also get to the food section for some groceries.

Finally, I wrote several weeks ago about trying to keep the girls off of the kitchen counter while I am cooking.  For the most part they do really well.  That is unless I am cutting up chicken or making tuna for Devin's lunch.  This is where/how they hang out more or less while I am cooking now.

Have an amazing weekend and Happy first day of Fall (tomorrow)!

So Long!

fresh friday

Another week has somehow gone by and I really do not have that much to report.

I was at school for 12 hours on Wednesday.  I gave an exam yesterday.  Now I have 50 exams to grade this weekend.

Tomorrow we are going to a department picnic at R.B. Winter State Park which is supposed to be beautiful, so that should be fun.  I am making brownies!

Tomorrow night we are going to see the Ninety Miles Project at school.  I am looking forward to going to a concert, it has been awhile.

Sunday will hopefully be what it was intended for, a day of rest.

I hope that you all have an amazing weekend, and I am still waiting for your visit to Lewisburg...

Before I forget, this was pretty awesome to come home to yesterday:

So Long!

fresh friday

Happy Friday Everyone!

Not much new to share.  As my dad often says, "no news is good news."  We are just plugging along, trying to make our way through our first semester at new schools.  On one hand, it is hard to believe that it has been 2.5 weeks already, but on the other hand, I feel like it has been forever.  I give my first exam next week...the students couldn't believe it either.

I want to again wish my husband a very Happy Anniversary - you are the love of my life.

Just for fun, how about some pictures of the girls???  They are really starting to settle in at the new house.

She is not supposed to do this and she knows it.

Yes that is extremely high off the ground.

This was very silly.

They are liking the new chair.

Of course, a picture of Deeley sitting like a dude.

Have a fabulous weekend!

So Long!