The Leaves, They Are a-Changin'

Wow, mid-October already? The last two months have been a whirlwind! We've had visitors, done some traveling ourselves, and kept busy at work/school - especially Hannah, who just finished her first round of exams this last week. She was concerned all our activities would hinder her performance, but she stepped up to the challenge and aced every one!! I'm really proud of how hard she's working. Seems like she's constantly studying and doing homework all week, and this first round of exams validated that hard work.

I was also proud to cheer her on at her Professional Ceremony a few weeks ago. Physical therapists obviously don't wear white coats, but this ceremony is effectively the equivalent of medical students' White Coat Ceremony; instead of a coat, they receive a little backpack containing a variety of instruments used in physical therapy practice, like a goniometer, pulse oximeter, reflex hammer, stethoscope, and blood pressure cuff. The faculty gave some really encouraging speeches, and we all celebrated with pizza afterward. Can't wait to cheer for her at graduation in just a few short years!

Meanwhile, work at Lockheed Martin has been busy but great. My coworkers are very helpful, and my manager vocalizes a desire to help us maintain a good work-life balance, which surprised me given the nature of the industry. But of course I'll take it! I work a 9-80 schedule, which means I fit 80 hours of work into 9 work days and get every other Friday off. Pretty sweet! While my job started slow with standard online training for the first couple weeks, I've recently been given a lot more responsibility, so I'm beginning to feel like more of a contributing team member. It's neat to think I'm handling parts that will literally be in space one day, and the materials and mechanisms we test in this lab are pretty interesting, so I think I'm gonna like it here!

Right before we started work and school, we flew out to AZ for a quick weekend trip and surprised Hannah's dad for his 60th birthday. Heather and Luke came out from Pennsylvania, too! Hannah's mom had planned a scavenger hunt of gifts, and the last clue led him to the front door, which he opened to find the four of us. It was so fun! We had a great time celebrating with the rest of the family that weekend, and were grateful to get to see my family for a bit, too.

One week later, Emily visited us for Labor Day weekend. We had a great time with her going to Taste of Denver, exploring Boulder, making ravioli from scratch, and going to a Dbacks/Rockies game. I proudly sported all my Dbacks gear as they rolled to their 10th straight win! Just wish they'd had the same mojo in the playoffs...

Then, the very next weekend, two of our great friends Morgan and Marsie - bridesmaids in our wedding - spontaneously decided to pay us a visit, too! We took them on a hike, showed them Pearl Street in Boulder, made some more ravioli from scratch (thanks for teaching us, Emily!), and went to the outlet malls in Castle Rock.

But that still wasn't the end of our visitors! Two weeks later, Nathan came out and brought with him some cold, rainy weather (ironic, given that he hails from the Valley of the Sun). We didn't let that stop us, though - we still went on a hike in Boulder, stopped by Pearl Street for some pizza, and went to one of our favorite places, Pierogi Factory, for dinner. We also discovered an amazing ice cream place downtown called Little Man Ice Cream. It's inexpensive, great quality, has fun workers, and unique flavors like apple pie, salted Oreo, and brownie cheesecake. Need I say more??

Amidst all our visitors, we went to a Chris Tomlin & Friends concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater! It was an incredible experience, both because of the gorgeous setting and the moving Christian music. It's so uplifting to see literally thousands of people united in worship, all in one place. Even the location itself, in its beauty and glory, seems to be praising our creator. What a night!

We also had a blast making our annual October pilgrimage to Disneyland with my family! This was the first time we've ever not driven there altogether, so it was a bit weird flying in and then meeting them in the parks. But I won't whine about the way we got there - we were just grateful to be there at all, now that we live much further away. We had some incredible meals (Cafe Orleans, Carthay Circle, and Ghirardelli Square), saw the newly revamped Fantasmics show, tried the Guardians of the Galaxy makeover of Tower of Terror (not the same but still great), and even met up with Hannah's parents for Space Mountain! I miss it all already!

I always love Halloween time in Disneyland! And now it's spread into CA Adventure, too!

Then, just last weekend we travelled out to Lindsborg, Kansas, and met up with my extended family for Svensk Hyllningsfest, a biannual celebration of the area's Swedish heritage. It was a pretty unique and fun experience! We saw a parade, had some homemade pie, explored the town's shops and church, saw a Birger Sandzen art gallery, and just had a good time reuniting with family we don't get to see as often. My grandparents are particularly proud of their Swedish heritage (really, the whole town is!), so it was rewarding to have them share with us places and history so dear to their hearts.

My grandpa's aunt's (I think that's the relationship) Swedish outfit was on display, along with many others, in one of the Lindsborg shops!

One thing we're still getting used to here is the weather. Upon returning from balmy weather in Disneyland, we were greeted with several inches of snow! In early October! But Denver weather is fickle: the rest of the week warmed back up into the 60s and 70s, leaving no trace of snow except on the tips of the distant Rocky peaks. Until the next snow comes, we're soaking in the beauty of fall in a place where the leaves actually change colors before January! Just yesterday morning, Hannah and I went on a gorgeous 5-mile hike out near Golden. Still, we'll welcome the snow when it comes because we're anxious for ski season to arrive!