Thanksgiving Memories & Christmas Anticipation

As many, and possibly all, of you know, I was fortunate enough to talk my parents and one sis into coming to Missouri for Thanksgiving! They arrived Wednesday, and after a relaxing night we woke up to a morning full of meal preparations. Despite several clocks in the apartment, mom was running on Michigan time still (i.e. her wrist watch), and threw the turkey in a tad bit early. :) Other than that, everything went according to plan, and all the food- turkey to boot- was delicious! I even ventured to make my Grandma's pumpkin pie recipe, which I'd say was a success since it tasted just like hers! Our friend Kat's mom came to visit her on Thanksgiving as well, so the two of them joined in our gluttony. We needed the next 8 hours to let it digest, so we spent the afternoon and evening lounging and chatting- before dipping into the leftovers again, of course!

Mom, Dad and Britt left on Saturday, following a casual Friday during which we did our little bit of shopping. While I was sad to see them go, Patrick and I made the best of the remainder of our weekend by enjoying some hot cocoa and reading in front of our fireplace. Our week since has been uneventful, but with Christmas just around the corner, it's pretty impossible not to get excited! With our tabletop tree decorated (courtesy of my mom), and a gingerbread house ready for construction (courtesy of Patrick's mom), Patrick and I are already celebrating. But the real fun isn't going to begin until the 20th, when we leave for Michigan! Hmmm, maybe I should say the 21st.... a 10-12 hour car ride isn't really what I'd call the beginning of fun on second thought! :)

Mom and I may not seem like successful chefs by the look of us, but we let the food do the talking!

Brittany in her jammies, keeping an eye on mom and me through the kitchen window.

(Sorry- Patrick and I don't have any pictures of the actual event!)

Our Sunday afternoon owed its leisure to this!


Our cute miniature tree, spreading some Christmas cheer throughout the living room!

First taste of the Ozark Highlands Trail

This past weekend we went with a group friends down to Arkansas to do a short backpacking trip (I know, I know, you've heard this before). We originally wanted to do a 13 mile through hike (one way trip) through the Hurricane Creek Wilderness but we couldn't find the second parking area to put a car so we decided to do an out-and-back hike. Like the previous weekend we did a short hike at night and then camped. The next day we walked 5.5mi along a ridge and down into a small valley. We didn't really want to cross the stream with our backpacks on so we had lunch then decided to take advantage of a small campsite next to the stream just off the trail.

After setting up camp, we crossed the stream and continued on the trail to find a natural bridge. We then climbed up to it along what was at times an unnerving trail along the bluff. Atalie made even me nervous so I can't imagine what Mrs A would say but we ended up just fine. We took a bunch of pictures and then headed back down.

The night was rather chilly and the water in Barley's bowl (Pat and Jackie's dog) was frozen when we got up in the morning. There was frost on our tents and we realized that some warmer sleeping bags or warmer clothing (or both) might be useful for further winter camping/hiking. Aside from chilly toes, the Sunday went fast as we only needed to go 7 miles. After a grueling hike up the valley and a few hours of hiking we made it back to the cars and then back to Springfield in time for our Sunday night group meeting.

We'd like to continue doing segments of the Ozark Highlands Trail to completion and since it is only 165 miles it shouldn't take too long (we hope).

Us in our uber-stylish blaze orange posing just before setting up camp along the stream.

Us sitting on the overhang on the natural bridge. There was something like a 250-300 foot drop under our feet.

Making Thai food for dinner the second night.

Atalie crossing a a tiny creek just before the end of the hike.

Breaking in our new gear

This weekend we went down to Arkansas to go for a short backpacking trip. We've wanted to go to down to Arkansas to check out the autumn colors but have been unable to. Saturday I went on a field trip to a cave with a class and a fellow student, also named Pat, and his girlfriend Jackie suggested that Pat and I just stay in AR and have Atalie and Jackie pick us up on the way further south to Devil's Den State Park just west of Fayetteville. We found a park where we could go for a short hike and camp.

We got there just before sunset and hiked for a couple hours in the dark and got lost a few times. The trail wasn't always easy to follow, especially in the dark, because it wasn't marked very well and by the fact that leaves were covering the trail, making it hard to discern where the trail was. We missed a turn in the dark and had to spread out and look for a marker, which took a half hour. It turns out the trail was blocked by a fallen tree. Go figure. We hiked to the top of the bluff and set up camp.

It was a lot of fun and finally gave us a chance to try out our hiking gear that we got last year.

Us following a chilly night's sleep, getting ready to hike back to the car.


Pat, Jackie and Barley (their new puppy)


Barley guarding the backpacks.


Getting ready to head home.

Anniversary & Halloween

Last Thursday (the 30th) was our 6 year anniversary! We celebrated it after work/school with a delicious dinner at a Mexican restaurant downtown that had great food and atmosphere, and on our way home we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some pumpkins. After turning them into Jack-o-lanterns, we toasted the occasion w/ a glass of wine we picked out special! And although we didn't really plan on exchanging gifts, I was pleasantly surprised with a beautiful bouquet of a dozen roses sent to the office w/ a box of chocolates in tow! :) (This is Atalie, writing under Patrick's user name.)

As for Halloween, we were a little lame this year, as we didn't do anything. :) We bought some candy that we dropped off at our church's event, but we appeared to be a little early for the festivities. We hadn't eaten dinner yet so we left and just watched the Halloween specials on TV after we cooked our food. Even though it wasn't anything over the top, it was nice to just relax. Besides, we celebrated the night before! :)

Scooping out the guts...


...and scraping it clean!


We didn't strive for anything that complex (me especially- haha) but I think they're cute!


Group picture!

This one's for you Mike :)

Conference in Austin and a Dr.?

Last week Wednesday I headed down to Austin to attend the Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium (conference). I went on a field trip all day Thursday then the conference for Friday and Saturday. The group of us met Sally for dinner at Trudy's Thursday night (good food!) and then I went out to dinner with her, Paul, and Kathleen on Friday. It was nice to catch up with her since we don't talk much (despite being directly related).

This was an international conference with lecturers from Spain, Australia, the UK, Japan, Germany, Venezuela, and South Africa. The conference consisted of a LOT of sitting and listening to PhDs stroke their egos. Some of the talks were ok, but most were rather boring (i.e. not something I was terribly interested in). I presented a poster on Friday afternoon as part of Graduate student poster competition. I didn't have a ton of confidence in my poster so I wasn't expecting anything. It turns out I was wrong! The judges couldn't decide on who had the better poster so they awarded another student and myself first place! It comes with a reward too: $200.

I guess winning a poster competition at Binghamton is rather prestigious as I was told by many of the people there that it is resume material. Some even suggested that I should apply to PhD programs. I never thought I would try for a PhD but now that I'm getting this encouragement I'm rethinking. I like doing research and don't really know what I want to do once I graduate in a year so it's possible that this is where I belong. Anyway, Atalie says she's in if I want to do it. If I did want to get a PhD I would probably try to get into U Wisc.-Madison, so I'd at least be sort of closer to home.

"Dr. Patrick Womble" sounds so weird!

Party! Party! Pause- for work.

Oh my goodness! September 9th was our last blog??? Shame on us!

Well, we've got some pictures for you! Patrick and I went to a wedding reception for two of our friends a couple of weeks ago. It was an elegant backyard party, where we all dressed up. Patrick and I looked really sharp! :) It was a lot of fun too- they had delicious Mexican food catered, a little campfire going, interesting music, cheesecake, and a margarita fountain!

Just after dinner, so my lipstick is all worn away, but we still look quite sleek.

The happy couple after the cutting of the cake!

Oh yeah....we look good! :)

Three's company! With our wonderful friend, Kat!

Patrick's birthday was the same weekend, and although he had a nice little dinner party when we were in Michigan, we thought it would be appropriate to have some friends over for German chocolate cake and ice cream, followed by bowling!

On the left is our friend Luke, and Dave is on the right.

Last weekend Patrick had to do some work at school, so I helped him. I'm there grinding soil samples that he later processed in the XRF machine to detect lead and zinc. I feel so smart and helpful! :)

Other than that, it's just been work and exercise and TV- the normal. At least for me. Patrick was gone a few days this week near St. Louis though, doing some research on a river with one of his professors and a few other students. And his traveling isn't done yet. This coming up week he's going to go to a conference in Texas and present a poster, and another week or so later, he's going back to work on the river. He's a busy fellow!

Whirlwind Week

Patrick and I are back from another week spent in Michigan, and I must say, it went way too fast. We were busy pretty much every ounce of the time- we should have made it a 2 week trip!

On top of getting to see friends and family (the week was spent mostly at my own house this time), Patrick and I tried to make wedding-oriented appointments while we were in town. We opened a new joint checking account for saving and spending wedding money, got some brochures from a travel agent, tasted some delicious dishes from our caterer, met with the decorator/florist, and I even bought my wedding dress and veil! I'd say we were fairly productive, wouldn't you?

I didn't plan on buying my dress so early, but it was 10% off the price that day, and it was a sample dress (meaning it was only being tested and might not be continued later) with only a few sizes available out on the floor. In any case, it's one thing down, I can start looking for matching jewelry, and they can always alter it for me later if need be!

Also exciting was that I got to spend more time with my best friend's adorable month-old daughter (Matilyn, if you recall from a previous blog), I was able to hang out with my friend Lucas (visiting from Brazil) for the first time in 6 years, and mine and Patrick's parents had a surprise dinner party for him as an early birthday celebration (September 21!). And of course, seeing my family was great too. (Miss you all already!) :)