Christmas is coming!

Our tree is up! Friday was a great day :) We finally had time to clean the place and then we were able to put up our tree and decorate it and then relax while watching Holiday Inn with some hot chocolate. After which we went out to dinner and then saw Brian Regan as our christmas gift to ourselves and really, it was fantastic. November and December are always such crazy months with the holidays and travel and the end of the semester so it was great to just take a day and unwind. Anyway, our tree is still a small fake one but it's cute and it fits. It is really exciting to use our homemade tree skirt (that Cassie made last year as one of her first sewing projects) and it somehow makes all this cold weather okay once things are decorated. Thankfully, Waverly has not yet destroyed the tree, although we are pretty sure it is coming.

That is pretty much all that is going on up here for us. Brandon is writing papers like a madman as the semester quickly comes to an end and Cassie is working part time and training for her tax season job. It's pretty crazy and we are definitely looking forward to taking a little time off in a couple of weeks when the semester ends.

Where oh where did November go...

As you might have guessed by our lack of posts, not a lot has been going on up here in binghamton. We did make a trip down to Allentown, PA to see a band competition that my brother was in and met my parents at Cabela's along the way. If you have never been there, it is a huge outdoor store with different real stuffed animals all over the place and more hunting gear then you can imagine. We did get some good stuff while we were there, Brandon got some gloves and a hat and some waterproof shoes and a pair of flip-flops on clearance and I got some sneakers, some socks and a pair of snow pants in preparation for what is sure to be an ugly winter where we might as well at least be prepared to play in the snow. Anyway, I'm sure you can tell by the outside and the look on Brandon's face how exciting it really was :-P




The only other thing of note to happen recently is that this past weekend our dear friend Sara and her boy Matt came up for a visit. We all had a great time playing games and being endlessly entertained by the cat. We were so glad they were able to come and had a great time. I unfortunately did not get a picture of them showing up in their matching green shirts, and of course by the time I was ready to take a picture they were refusing to be photogenic, so we'll deal with the pictures that I got. I guess that's what I get for telling them to be cute haha. Sara also sent me some great pictures of waverly, the flying cat :)







As for now, it is pretty cold and has been snowing on and off for days and is actually starting to stick. We are just couting down the months until the wedding (8 from today in fact!) and waiting for the cold winter to pass. I guess that's the update for now!

Ghoulish Cat!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

(and yes, that's a completely natural photo of our demon cat)

Adventures in Baking

This afternoon was my first attempt at baking some jewish apple cake, and let me just say, aside from the slice of my finger that is now missing, it went pretty well. When we went to the orchard last weekend we picked up some apples and really the only way I like apples is in a good apple cake. So I got the recipe from my Grandmother and decided to give it a go. It was an interesting experience, especially since I don't have a tube pan and had to settle for a 9" x 13" rectangle. At any rate, after 2 hours (I thought it should have only been about an hour...) it came out of the oven smelling and looking delicious and I can now verify that it tastes just as good (a sentiment that Brandon seconds). Of course, I had to take some pictures of this momentous occasion and will now share them with you. First we have some pictures taken during what I fondly refer to as 'phase 1' where the first layer is in the pan (of course I forgot to layer the cinnamon and sugar on top of the apples the first time and put it on top of the second layer of batter instead).

Next we have a picture of the cake right before going into the oven.


And finally, the finished product. MMM delicious!

Baby Talia

On Friday, October 24th, my cousin John and his girlfriend Karen welcomed their baby girl Talia into the world. She was probably about a week early and weighed in at a little under 6 lbs and is just beautiful. I am still waiting on more pictures but for now, here is a really good one of my Aunt Bev with John and Talia. We wish Karen a speedy recovery from her c-section and wish all the joy in the world to the new family. We love you Talia and welcome to the family!

An Actual Fall

It appears that we're getting a true Fall this year in Binghamton.

Last year, we were still having 90 degree (maybe an exaggeration) weather in October, then the temperature dropped and it was suddenly winter. The leaves didn't even change until November last year! And after all the warnings we were given about the cold weather setting in in September.

Well, Fall is here. The leaves have been changing for a couple weeks and it really is lovely. Very vibrant oranges. Cassie had planned to go out and take some pictures, but we kept getting delayed. When we finally got out yesterday, the trees were beginning to wilt. You can see what was left of the show below. Things were so downgraded from earlier in the week that we didn't even bother walking all the way to the park like we had originally planned, but we took a few pictures from the Washington St. Bridge.


After that we headed up to an orchard on Pennsylvania Ave. [Waverly was at the vet getting his little boy cat parts . . . snipped . . . so we took the opportunity to wander.] Apparently this thing is a big deal up here. We had visited last year before the apple season began and it had been dead, out of the way, and a little hickish. Well, I won't say it's not hickish, but it sure is popular. They have people directing traffic in the "parking lot"! Granted this seems to be a general practice leading to the observation that the people up here not only don't know how to drive, they don't even know how to park. Anyway, there were hay rides and pick-your-own-apples, but Cassie and I just visited the store and picked up apples and cider. The cider here in New York is sweeter than in New Jersey. It's okay, but I prefer the cider down south.

I'm all done here, but just a note: Waverly's back and in great condition. We'll keep an eye on his incision for the next two weeks to make sure it doesn't get infected, but he doesn't seem particularly bothered. If anything he's more rambunctious then before. Hopefully that will wear off . . . .

Scrabble!

The other night, we were lounging about trying to figure out what to do and we decided to play scrabble. We don't play often but when we do we don't keep score, the goal is just to use up all the letters and this was the first time we succeeded without having to help each other and with all legitimate words. We are so proud of ourselves and our mad word skills :) Naturally to prove it and to save for always, a picture was taken.

Other than that not a lot has been going on. For us October is halloween month and we have a whole list of 'scary' movies to watch, most which are just cheesey and fun but were apparently scary at some point in time. So far we have watched Mystery of the Wax Museum (the original house of wax basically) and Pit and the Pendulum (oh Vincent Price...) with about 10 more to go by the end of the month. So that's that. Oh and in case you were wondering, our kitty is still adorable :)

fauxhawk baby

So Brandon and I have been working with my grandparents for the past few months on a big family history preservation project. My grandmother had a ton of old pictures passed down to her through generations, many even dating back to the 1800's and we wanted to make sure they got scanned in and preserved for future generations. They are in pretty good condition all things considered, but they are definitely yellowing and the black ink is turning silver in a lot of cases. We have most of them done at this point and are currently working on the family history that goes with them since many of them were labeled so we have names but we don't necessarily know where they fit into the family.

This project has left us with a large number of really cool old pictures that we have no idea who they are and probably never will, but we just had to scan them because they are awesome. I would like to share my personal favorite with everyone. It makes me incredibly happy even though we have no idea who it is. We call him (or her) fauxhawk baby and we love him (or her) to death. If that doesn't bring a smile to your face then I don't know what will!

More Waverly

Well things are settling down around here now. We are all getting used to each other and Waverly now allows us to sleep most of the night. He has also started lying down on surfaces that are not human which is good. He always has to know where we are and if one of us gets up he is sure to follow to find out why. He listens pretty well for a cat so hopefully that will keep up. He is just so cute and we are definitely curious to see how big he ends up getting.

For your viewing pleasure we also have a little 10 second video here of our little soccer cat. We got him some of those little ping-pong ball type things with the bell in the center and he loves them and really enjoys batting them around. He has surprisingly good control of the ball and is a very calculated cat. He always takes his time and you can tell he is thinking about things. He also loves his new scratching post but the camera died too quickly for a video of that but it is pretty funny to watch him play. The anticipation of waiting for him to actually pounce on something is incredible. So maybe if we can get the camera to hold a charge for more than 10 seconds we will have more to show later :)

Waverly! (or 'why we are not having kids anytime soon')

Last night Brandon and I did possibly the craziest thing to date in our relationship and adopted a kitty (sad, right? that adopting a cat is the craziest thing....). He was a stray that one of Brandon's friends found in her backyard all cold, dirty and flea-ridden and she needed a home for it because of the two cats she already has. So being the kind hearted souls we are and despite the fact that our rental agreement says we can't, we adopted waverly, a little orange tabby cat :)

Judging by his size we estimated him to be about 3 months old, but the vet today says that although he looks that young, his teeth indicate that he is probably closer to 6 months old. Aside from some ear mites, he is in good health and isn't even under weight or anything despite his small size. His name is a White Christmas reference in case you were wondering. He is the most loving cat we have ever met and hates to be without human contact. This of course is why we did not sleep last night and started to question whether we had a cat or a child. He just would not let us sleep, the only way he was happy was if he was lying on one of our heads (or across Brandon's neck scarf style) and as many times as we put him at the end of the bed he climbed back up. He also decided he wanted to play at 5am and started attacking our feet...it might have been cuter if it wasn't 5am!! Needless to say, we are quite tired. He is actually starting to calm down now I think and for the first time is lying on the couch alone (I think he is just that tired at this point....it's been a stressful 24 hours for him) so hopefully as he gets used to us and the place things will calm down. He loves us though and we love him and he is just so cute. Hopefully we will keep him awake enough that he will sleep wherever we put him tonight. And hopefully our landlord will never know....For now, here are a few more pictures because he is just that cute!

10 Month Countdown

10 months to go until we're married! The place is booked; the photographer is booked; the dress is bought; and the save the dates are away. Now we should find someone to marry us . . . .

We'll be posting news and updates here as the time to the wedding shrinks. But we will also be using this for general updates on our life . . . in case something exciting ever happens. So stop by every once in a while.