Updates.

Nothing major, so this will largely be a stream of consciousness post to fill the void of my recent blogging hiatus. It had potential to be filled with beautiful photos of charming Ann Arbor and beautiful San Francisco, but a certain husband of mine was traveling sans me and deemed our trendy unisex camera bag too bulky for his travels.

We've had several gatherings with friends over the past few weeks that have left me/us feeling completely at peace about our decision to move far away from the cities, family, and friends which were so familiar and comfortable to us. Cincinnati is finally starting to feel a little like home.

One such gathering involved a classy blind wine tasting test at a friends.

Do you spot the financial and investment firm masquerading as a superb Trader Joe's cheap wine? We gave the host a hard time about that one :) As could be expected, two-buck chuck performed quite well amongst its competitors. Conveniently for our budget, my favorite wine of the night was the Barefoot Cabernet. The evening was documented in tons of candid and group photos, which unfortunately all turned out blurry thanks to an accidental switching of the camera to manual focus (ahem, Walker). We ended up with about 30 photos (now deleted) of which this is the least blurry.

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Last weekend we hosted a party for the AL/LSU game to share the beauty of SEC football with our (for the most part) non-southern friends.

Can you guess who we were cheering for (we tried - neither of us own much purple and gold)? After dinner I got so wrapped up in how much fun we were having I forgot to document any part of it, but it was a blast.

(Walker burger's are one of my favorite meals. Restaurant quality for sure. Gouda and bacon are just a bonus.)
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Not well documented, but certainly a highlight from the past few months, are new friends made through joining a small group at church. We were invited in to an already formed group by a fellow co-worker of mine, and have already been tremendously blessed by those friendships. Each member boasts a unique and refreshing (and hilarious) personality, and Tuesday nights have become a highlight of each week.
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Fall in Ohio is pretty fabulous. I haven't done a great job capturing it, but we are loving this weather. Knowing it will end all too soon and winter will be upon us, we have started preparing.

Like how I threw those Hunter boots in as "preparing for winter"? :) I already love them. They make me want to go splash through muddy puddles, although I'm guessing I will be splashing through muddy slush soon enough. When I tried them on Walker's first response was "I'm guessing those are for function and not fashion?". He will come around.
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In life updates...

I have been spending most of my hours at the hospital on a couple of incredibly busy rotations - I have been stretched physically, mentally, and emotionally, but love (almost) every day of what I do. Nearly every day I count my blessings for the opportunity to train at such an amazing institution.

Recently Walker had the opportunity to travel a few hours north to Ann Arbor for the Michigan v. Purdue game with a couple of my co-workers who are alums. He may not have documented his trip, but I did get a t-shirt out of the deal - sorry (brother-in-law) Eric - we can talk about it over Thanksgiving :) (Follow this link for a photo Walker wants you to see - http://www.michigandaily.com/sports/sportsmonday-column-rocketman - apparently a man flew into the stadium in a jet pack. Who knew?) He also got to spend several days in our favorite US city (San Fran) living it up with former B'ham co-workers. I got several phone photos that evoked strong feelings of jealousy, but am glad at least one of us is getting to travel these days.
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Speaking of travel, Walker recently asked "so where do you want to save to go to next?". Ding ding ding! Considering how infrequently my budget-savvy husband (like how nicely I put that hubby?) initiates spending money, I now consider my 3-year quest to implant the travel bug in him a 100% success.
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And finally, over the past couple of months young Bella has developed a hilarious new habit that has provided Walker and I both with lots of entertainment. The cycle goes something like this: Bella pees --> gets a treat (yes, she gets treat each time she does her business outside - she's not spoiled we promise) --> spends extensive energy "hiding" said treat --> forgets about treat --> pees again --> receives same treat --> "hides" treat... you get the idea. Every now and then she eats it. But mostly she just "hides" it. You would think this would save money on buying her treats, but somehow I manage to keep buying her new ones :) (Make sure you turn the volume up to hear her getting good and worked up at the end.)

Happy Hump Day!