Smoky Mountain Saturday

Last year when we moved back to Knoxville, we promised each other that we would go hiking in the Smokies once a month... Driving through counts as hiking, right? We need to just make the time.

When I make Miles eat weird foods.

I'm glad Miles loves me enough that he will eat anything I make...

including two ingredient brownies

(brownie mix + pumpkin),

zucchini noodes, ...

and 

baked spaghetti squash lasagna.

He loves the brownies and zucchini noodles, but I wish I could have taken a picture of his poor nose 

turning up at the spaghetti squash.

priceless!!

Good ol' Rocky Top

Last weekend we braved the heat to watch our second UT game in person. As an outsider, UT games are always an interesting spectacle. There's just so much orange! The chants are different, the band is different... but it really is fun. UT's stadium is huge and is so compact, the sound stays inside. We always leave with a slight hearing loss! The only complaint from the game was that it was hot. It was over 100 degrees in the stadium and without that Indiana breeze I'm used to at games, I was just miserable! We're hoping the next one will be much cooler!

Boiler Up!

Labor day weekend: The end of summer and the start of cooler weather, pumpkin everything, and college football. Now, Miles and I aren't super huge football fans. We will not sit down and watch ESPN for the latest insights on what teams will win which games, but we do love our alma maters.

We headed north for the start of this year's football season to visit my little brother and cheer on my Boilermakers. We started with dinner at Skyline Chili in KY. If you've never had Skyline, you're missing out! Best dinner ever. Oh, I love that stuff.

 On Saturday, we woke up super early to make it to the band's practice. Storm is so goofy, but I know he secretly loves having visitors for the game. The early morning practice takes me back to my years in the dorm. I lived right across the street from the practice field and if the tornado practice sirens weren't waking me up, the Purdue Band was!

Of course, in true Indiana fashion, the 80% chance for storms turned out to be morning sprinkles, a little wind, and sunshine. I was really afraid we would be rained out, but the weather was beautiful.

The game was good. I'm glad we won! It's been a tough few seasons for Purdue, and we are all hopeful for more wins this year. :) After the game, we headed to Bruno's for pizza! My mom wanted a nice non-selfie picture of me and Miles, so these are what she got:

I feel like the two pictures above basically sum up our marriage. Miles is a goof off. Oh, and doesn't Miles look good in Old Gold and Black? ;) 

We're home now and recovering from the busy weekend. It was a quick trip, but I'm glad we decided to go. It was nice to see my brother at the start of his senior year and it was great to reminisce about all of the things that happened during my four years at Purdue. Now, to cheer on the Vols (ha- jk, kinda)... 

Chop Chop

Last year was intense. I was working (in the actual building) almost 12 hours a day. I was skipping lunches, working through my plan, and forgetting bathroom breaks. I would spend my evenings checking email and stressing about my to do list for the next day. If I had a free evening, I would argue whether I should just lay and rest or work out because I needed it. There's other things that I shouldn't post about (but you can always ask- it's pretty juicy), that made last school year just seem like the year that wouldn't end.

But that was last year.

This year, I am actually eating lunch. I'm leaving early and getting work outs in. I'm happy. I've got a schedule that allows for me to do library things during the day instead of waiting until Friday night. I'm not tutoring, working the magnet committee, or adding anything huge to my plate.

When things change in my life, I feel the need to chop off the old and start fresh, so last Friday I went and got another 3 inches chopped off. That's in addition to the 3 inches I cut off in June. I lost my long ponytail and sock bun hair, but now I feel lighter and that's all that matters.

Graduate School Year 2

Or Year 6. This could be Year 6 depending how you look at it.

Miles starts classes on Wednesday, but things are already back in full swing for the both of us. He had a great trip to Argentina.  He saw lots of rocks and ate lots of beef. Maybe I can get him to write a post? I started work again a few weeks ago, but between inservice and my summer project, it seems like I've been working much longer.

It's unnecessary to say that we're busy, but we're busy. This past weekend we took the two days to ourselves, to get resettled after Miles' long trip, but the upcoming months are filling with fun activities, trips, and hopefully camping! I love our adventures.

Hopefully it won't be another three weeks before I update. I've been promising Miles that I would be better at keeping up with my blog, so fingers crossed I actually do so.

Destination: Beach (again!)

Went to St. Augustine with a friend and it was marvelous. Beautiful weather, great food, and lots of talking. I've been home for a few days and I'm already wishing to go back.