fall has finally arrived to the bay.

just look at those magnificent colors!  the weather forecast is in the 50's and the sky has a nice cloud sheen -- it's about time!  all this magic, wet, cold, and cloudy weather helps me accept the fact that it is actually NOVEMBER! it's the end of november.  i still haven't accepted that, but i'll get there. 

andrew and i have been talking about our plans for the holidays.  it's hard to make decisions, especially since it's my first time away from north dakota, first time depending on another person's schedule along with mine, and first time with a husband (ha!).  so, because andrew's quarter ends at the year's end and he needs to have the year restart before his vacation time gets reset, we cannot be home -- nd -- for the holidays.  our compromise: thanksgiving in pheonix, christmas in sacramento, new years is still in negotiations -- nd is on the table for early january.  perhaps new years, perhaps two weeks in, and perhaps i'll just leave the hubby in california to make the journey!  that would be mean, i know.

a fun part of not being home for the holidays?  sending presents and cards in the mail!  I. LOVE. SENDING. STUFF.  nothing makes me happier than having people open up their mailboxes (or getting a piece of paper from the student union) and seeing an unexpected package!  so, all presents & christmas cards will be mailed, which actually makes sense.  i think a part of being married (or at lease the first few years) is forming your own traditions and being joint at the hip for all functions, whether you want to or not!  one tradition i would like to start: sending out a holiday card to all of our friends and families.  i used to love looking at all the christmas cards (especially the ones with pictures) on the kitchen door starting right after thanksgiving up until the last christmas decoration got stored away in january.  i know my mom put together a christmas card (including a carefully critiqued letter) each christmas and sent it to a list that she would edit throughout the year.  i want that!  so, for the past couple weeks i've been browsing through shutterfly & looking through all of the photos from the wedding -- who wouldn't put out a picture holiday card when they have all these professional photos!

shutterfly is what i used to order our thank you postcards (incase you were wondering), so i know they meet my standards for producing exactly what i want.  newsflash: i'm picky. so, i dove into their holiday card templates and here are my top pics:

cutesy yet fun.

multiple photos -- lovely.

by far my favorite! hello sparkling lettering.

so simple and nice.



i like the prospect of multiple pictures on this one -- again, we have so many great wedding photos that this might be the one!



as you can see, there's so many options!  of course, andrew will only weight in by saying "that's too girly," but who listens to him anyways?  either way, one of these bad boys is going to end up in your mailbox, so hang tight!

one more plug: great personalized calendars!  and one more time i'm going to state that we have all these great wedding photos & you can include so many!  here's the link if your curious on how fabulous these little gems really are: http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars.

*I’m receiving 50 free cards from Shutterfly for this post, and if you’re a blogger, you can too! Follow this link and check it out! Click here!

flower brigade

a couple weekends ago, andrew, ashley, and i met up at the stanford mall for lunch in between my shifts.  i arrived early, so i got a chance to admire the flower gardens throughout the open-air mall.  they were fantastic!  so, in true fashion, i whipped out the camera and started being that creepy, anti-social person that people keep one eye on and pull their children closer to their sides when they walk past.  it was not one of my finest public moments, but a lot of people walking past asked me to see what shots i was getting, and were understanding of what my main goal was!

of course, there are probably parks in the immediate area that have flowers more accessable -- but i was completely amazed that these were still around at the end of october with hardly any signs that it was fall!  enjoy!

my fave.





i do believe i tempted fate messing with the bees!  i have a ton of pictures with the flower + bee combo, but i was such a chicken that sometimes my camera focused on the wrong thing!  oops.





my fave, again.



this could be bathroom wall material -- ha!

hello water droplets.



how are they still so fresh?  those grounds people at stanford have magic fingers!

y = soul sucker

can i admit something?  i think the y has stolen my soul. that's right.  i officially spend all my waking hours there, shower everyday (sometimes twice!) there, have the majority of my social life there -- it's not horrible, i mean i'm getting paid to do this, but come on!  perhaps i am not used to having a full-time job again, but it seems so ridiculous.

two other pros of being a resident of the y:

    1. it gets me to work out.  so maybe i only dream of sitting in the hot tub after my workouts, but whatever works, right?

    2. the beautiful trees growing in the parking lot.  i know!  it's stupid to admire a parking lot accessories, but they are just so stinkin' colorful!  as i mentioned in my previous post, it seems like the colors of fall have lasted so much longer here! here are some photos i shot before one of my shifts began last week -- yes, i looked like a crazy out in the parking lot.  even the guys at the front desk questioned if i got some good shots.  i dared them to have the courage to do it, too!



i'm only used to these fall colors being here for a week, and then falling off and blowing away.  it's hysterical to see them next to palm trees for so long!  they look like they were imported!







again, completely out of place.



so bright!





i must say, this tree looked great next to janice - the new "tea grean" cr-v.

 



these were my fave leaves!  i wanted to pluck them off and use them for decorating.  they actually remind me of a barret i used to have in a bright red curly assortment. 

 





i do believe that this one was behind janice.  it almost enhanced the glowing of her!



in other news:

• ashley and andrew made a trip to the beach in sf and played with a bunch of dead jellyfish -- poking them and such -- which actually lead to them being filmed by the local news.  we just watched the segment with no luck, but they said it was definitely a sight to see!
• i just took a 20 hour training (of course, not continuous) on water fitness instruction.  the real reason i took it: the pay raise.  but it does open doors to somemore opportunities and it forces me to work with a new population (not just kiddos).  it will be an adventure, that's for sure.
• we watched the "julia marathon" on the lifetime channel last night, which included the film "sleeping with the enemy."  andrew has now clutched on to the quote "i'm sorry we quarreled."  it's hilarious when he says it to me after a minor disagreement, but it's not the only thing we pulled from the film.  others included a deep fear of mustached men & don't beat your wife, because she will take swimming lessons and leave you.
• ashley is the best roommate ever!  as we speak, there is a chili chicken soup almost ready to put into a breadbowl that she has created throughout the day.  among other things, she is incredible & i am so glad we're getting to spend this time with her!
• there are creepy crawlers living under the floor board of our entry way & i am not fast enough with the vacuum.  they are big & like nothing i have ever seen before.  one crawled out from underneath our dryer last month (a bigger one) and i'm pretty sure these are it's relatives, perhaps even offspring.  UGH!
• andrew has made a couple sales (still at the leasing company, so not quite official), but we are so proud!