September and October are a beautiful time of year, but the time change in November always sets the clocks AND me back. I don't like the short days and the early nights make me so tired. Whenever the clocks change, I start the countdown until December 21st and the Winter Solstice. Once that hits, I feel a tiny bit better knowing that the days are only going to get longer and that the sun will be up for just a couple of minutes each day. With that positive vibe, let's catch up.
I left off last time with Andy's dad and Kathy getting to our house for the first time. They came to town a couple of years ago when we were in the apartment, but it was a quick trip and we spent a day in Gettysburg and a day in Philadelphia so we didn't really get to show them around our neighborhood. That being said, we didn't really have much of a neighborhood and we were still figuring out our way around. During this trip we had more time and had an actual home. We got to bring them to New York for a day and Andy got to show them the work that his company is doing. They got to see West Chester and meet some of our friends. It's nice that they now have an idea of what our life is like out here.
In November Andy and I had a couple of weekend trips. We went to DC with some friends to watch a Wild game and I went to Cape May, NJ for a conference. I love that we are able to go to such cool places and it's only a couple hour drive. There is so much to see so close to us!
Now it's December. We have lived in PA for a little over 2 years and this is the first time it has really felt like winter to us. We've had a few big snow storms that melt quickly and a couple of chilly days, but the cold is setting in here for a while now. The air hurts my skin, which is when you know it's cold. It's times like this that I realize how lucky we are to have good cars that warm up, a house with heat and a fireplace, and a dog who likes to cuddle. We don't have any snow on the ground, but I'm sure it is on its way. I don't love winter, but I do love winter break!
We traveled a lot our first 2 years here. We went to MN at least a half-dozen times, then traveled to Wisconsin, Vegas, California, Denver, and road tripped down the East Coast to Florida. After all of that, I really just wanted to be home for the holidays. We decided in the fall that we weren't scheduling any trips and anyone who wanted to was invited to join us in PA. Luckily for us, Aunt Patty and Roger agreed to come out for Thanksgiving. It was our first Thanksgiving in this home and it could not have been better. We had incredible food, made cookies, got our first real Christmas tree, and decorated the house with so much holly from our holly tree off the deck. We got to see the Christmas Display at Longwood Gardens and visit The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. We watched Christmas movies and played Fibbage (super fun game online). Roger helped me make some Christmas cookies that are a bit tricky and Patty made us homemade turkey soup with the leftovers from Thanksgiving Dinner. Everything about that week was perfect and I would not have done anything different. We are so lucky that we got to steal Patty and Roger away from the rest of the world.
The weeks in between Thanksgiving and Christmas were busy with lots of online shopping and shipping and keeping track of presents for the family. We spent Christmas Eve with some friends who also stayed in town and it was so fun to relax and laugh and drive home at the end of the night. We video chatted with Andy's family and got to see everyone for a bit. Then, Christmas Morning! The best morning ever! We had Jan's brunch loaf and opened presents and video chatted with the family. 3 states, 3 time zones, 1,700 miles and it felt like we were all together for Christmas. Google Hangouts lets you conference video chat and it's the best thing ever. I love being able to see my parents and watch Brinley play all at the same time. And of course I always love seeing my siblings, but we all know that Brinley is our #1 favorite thing to see. That girl is the best. Anyways, spending a day in our pajamas and being home was everything we wanted and we were so grateful to have it.
Of course I had to get my after Christmas shopping in (Target and TJ Maxx/Homegoods/Marshall's have 50% off holiday stuff...so good!). I love buying all of the things I drooled over during the holidays for a steal of a deal. Then I bring it all home, pack it up into my Christmas boxes, and when I open it all up the next year I usually already forgot what I bought so it's like getting it all over again. So fun! That being said, Christmas stuff is packed up and we are back to normal in our house, except for our real tree. I took the ornaments off but can't bear to see the tree go just yet. Since they don't pick them up until early January, I convinced Andy to let me keep it up with the lights on it. It smells so good and is SO pretty! It might even be prettier without the ornaments on it.
On a bit of a side note, I am really making a point to be more mindful and grateful for all that we have. That being said, it's time to randomly transition into my vacuum addiction. Yup. I didn't think I had one until 2 different visitors pointed it out to me. We will start at the beginning. My first vacuum was from an actual vacuum store, because for whatever reason I thought that those must be more legit. It wasn't. I needed it for my first apartment and it was crappy. It had the bag, which I hate, and I don't even think it really worked all that well. It got us through our next apartment and moved to the house with us. We had hardwood floors and someone told me to get a Dyson, but I just wasn't ready for that kind of commitment or price tag. When it was time to upgrade, I went cheap again; even cheaper than the first time. It was fine for what I needed. The entire house was hardwood floors or concrete and we had a couple of large area rugs so we didn't need anything fancy.
As I continued to grow up and mature, someone told me that they bought a Dyson and would never go back and had never regretted it. It was Black Friday and the deals were amazing and I ended up with a Compact Animal Dyson. I still wasn't ready for the big one since we had so little to vacuum. My life was forever changed. The first time I used it I filled the canister multiple times with the area rugs I regularly vacuumed! Ew! I was in love. We moved to our apartment in PA, still loving the vacuum and how easy it was to do the stairs, etc. Then came the house. With lots and lots of carpet. The first issue I ran into was the wooden stairs and the dog hair that piled up along the baseboards. That's when I discovered the handheld Dyson and fell in love, again. It was so easy to grab and clean up the little messes without having to haul out the big machine.
Then, I came home from work one day and it was that dreaded feeling you get when you walk in your house and realize that it smells like dog. There is nothing worse than your house smelling like your animal. I told Andy we had a problem and he got on it right away. Andy getting on it means that he was going to find the easiest way to clean our house. Easy to Andy means a robot. That robot is a Roomba that we had by the end of the day and we named him Tyler. Tyler vacuums our living room every single night and he's incredible. Dog smell: gone.
All was fine in my cleaning routine until someone mentioned how much they loved their cordless Dyson. A full power vacuum without a cord that you are constantly flipping around, having to find a new spot to plug in and pulling a little too hard so you unplug it and have to re-bend it back to it's original position? Sold. I found one on Groupon (YES!!!) and could hardly wait. It has extensions so it can be a handheld and full length, and it does a majority of the house on one charge. Perfect! It also lays almost completely flat so it can get under the bed and the nightstands and tables. No more lugging a vacuum up and down the stairs for me! So yes, I do have 3 vacuums and they are all fantastic and I don't regret purchasing a single one of them. I would purchase them all over again and appreciate them every single day.
So, while my vacuum addiction is a bit odd, it's one example of how I am trying to focus on appreciating the little things in life. Having cleaning supplies that help me feel proud of the house that we live in is something that I am very grateful for.
We have loved our time at home during the holidays and are both looking forward to the rest of the days we have off. Then it's back to work. My next adventure will be heading to Denver in a couple of weeks to celebrate Brinley's 2nd birthday. Two years old?!? I'm so excited to hug that girl and play with her and run with her all over her house. It's always fun to have things to look forward to!
Until next time!
I left off last time with Andy's dad and Kathy getting to our house for the first time. They came to town a couple of years ago when we were in the apartment, but it was a quick trip and we spent a day in Gettysburg and a day in Philadelphia so we didn't really get to show them around our neighborhood. That being said, we didn't really have much of a neighborhood and we were still figuring out our way around. During this trip we had more time and had an actual home. We got to bring them to New York for a day and Andy got to show them the work that his company is doing. They got to see West Chester and meet some of our friends. It's nice that they now have an idea of what our life is like out here.
In November Andy and I had a couple of weekend trips. We went to DC with some friends to watch a Wild game and I went to Cape May, NJ for a conference. I love that we are able to go to such cool places and it's only a couple hour drive. There is so much to see so close to us!
Now it's December. We have lived in PA for a little over 2 years and this is the first time it has really felt like winter to us. We've had a few big snow storms that melt quickly and a couple of chilly days, but the cold is setting in here for a while now. The air hurts my skin, which is when you know it's cold. It's times like this that I realize how lucky we are to have good cars that warm up, a house with heat and a fireplace, and a dog who likes to cuddle. We don't have any snow on the ground, but I'm sure it is on its way. I don't love winter, but I do love winter break!
We traveled a lot our first 2 years here. We went to MN at least a half-dozen times, then traveled to Wisconsin, Vegas, California, Denver, and road tripped down the East Coast to Florida. After all of that, I really just wanted to be home for the holidays. We decided in the fall that we weren't scheduling any trips and anyone who wanted to was invited to join us in PA. Luckily for us, Aunt Patty and Roger agreed to come out for Thanksgiving. It was our first Thanksgiving in this home and it could not have been better. We had incredible food, made cookies, got our first real Christmas tree, and decorated the house with so much holly from our holly tree off the deck. We got to see the Christmas Display at Longwood Gardens and visit The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. We watched Christmas movies and played Fibbage (super fun game online). Roger helped me make some Christmas cookies that are a bit tricky and Patty made us homemade turkey soup with the leftovers from Thanksgiving Dinner. Everything about that week was perfect and I would not have done anything different. We are so lucky that we got to steal Patty and Roger away from the rest of the world.
The weeks in between Thanksgiving and Christmas were busy with lots of online shopping and shipping and keeping track of presents for the family. We spent Christmas Eve with some friends who also stayed in town and it was so fun to relax and laugh and drive home at the end of the night. We video chatted with Andy's family and got to see everyone for a bit. Then, Christmas Morning! The best morning ever! We had Jan's brunch loaf and opened presents and video chatted with the family. 3 states, 3 time zones, 1,700 miles and it felt like we were all together for Christmas. Google Hangouts lets you conference video chat and it's the best thing ever. I love being able to see my parents and watch Brinley play all at the same time. And of course I always love seeing my siblings, but we all know that Brinley is our #1 favorite thing to see. That girl is the best. Anyways, spending a day in our pajamas and being home was everything we wanted and we were so grateful to have it.
Of course I had to get my after Christmas shopping in (Target and TJ Maxx/Homegoods/Marshall's have 50% off holiday stuff...so good!). I love buying all of the things I drooled over during the holidays for a steal of a deal. Then I bring it all home, pack it up into my Christmas boxes, and when I open it all up the next year I usually already forgot what I bought so it's like getting it all over again. So fun! That being said, Christmas stuff is packed up and we are back to normal in our house, except for our real tree. I took the ornaments off but can't bear to see the tree go just yet. Since they don't pick them up until early January, I convinced Andy to let me keep it up with the lights on it. It smells so good and is SO pretty! It might even be prettier without the ornaments on it.
On a bit of a side note, I am really making a point to be more mindful and grateful for all that we have. That being said, it's time to randomly transition into my vacuum addiction. Yup. I didn't think I had one until 2 different visitors pointed it out to me. We will start at the beginning. My first vacuum was from an actual vacuum store, because for whatever reason I thought that those must be more legit. It wasn't. I needed it for my first apartment and it was crappy. It had the bag, which I hate, and I don't even think it really worked all that well. It got us through our next apartment and moved to the house with us. We had hardwood floors and someone told me to get a Dyson, but I just wasn't ready for that kind of commitment or price tag. When it was time to upgrade, I went cheap again; even cheaper than the first time. It was fine for what I needed. The entire house was hardwood floors or concrete and we had a couple of large area rugs so we didn't need anything fancy.
As I continued to grow up and mature, someone told me that they bought a Dyson and would never go back and had never regretted it. It was Black Friday and the deals were amazing and I ended up with a Compact Animal Dyson. I still wasn't ready for the big one since we had so little to vacuum. My life was forever changed. The first time I used it I filled the canister multiple times with the area rugs I regularly vacuumed! Ew! I was in love. We moved to our apartment in PA, still loving the vacuum and how easy it was to do the stairs, etc. Then came the house. With lots and lots of carpet. The first issue I ran into was the wooden stairs and the dog hair that piled up along the baseboards. That's when I discovered the handheld Dyson and fell in love, again. It was so easy to grab and clean up the little messes without having to haul out the big machine.
Then, I came home from work one day and it was that dreaded feeling you get when you walk in your house and realize that it smells like dog. There is nothing worse than your house smelling like your animal. I told Andy we had a problem and he got on it right away. Andy getting on it means that he was going to find the easiest way to clean our house. Easy to Andy means a robot. That robot is a Roomba that we had by the end of the day and we named him Tyler. Tyler vacuums our living room every single night and he's incredible. Dog smell: gone.
All was fine in my cleaning routine until someone mentioned how much they loved their cordless Dyson. A full power vacuum without a cord that you are constantly flipping around, having to find a new spot to plug in and pulling a little too hard so you unplug it and have to re-bend it back to it's original position? Sold. I found one on Groupon (YES!!!) and could hardly wait. It has extensions so it can be a handheld and full length, and it does a majority of the house on one charge. Perfect! It also lays almost completely flat so it can get under the bed and the nightstands and tables. No more lugging a vacuum up and down the stairs for me! So yes, I do have 3 vacuums and they are all fantastic and I don't regret purchasing a single one of them. I would purchase them all over again and appreciate them every single day.
So, while my vacuum addiction is a bit odd, it's one example of how I am trying to focus on appreciating the little things in life. Having cleaning supplies that help me feel proud of the house that we live in is something that I am very grateful for.
We have loved our time at home during the holidays and are both looking forward to the rest of the days we have off. Then it's back to work. My next adventure will be heading to Denver in a couple of weeks to celebrate Brinley's 2nd birthday. Two years old?!? I'm so excited to hug that girl and play with her and run with her all over her house. It's always fun to have things to look forward to!
Until next time!
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