I don't know why I spent so much time wondering what Billy and I could dress up as for Halloween. Clearly, we need to bring back the pirate costumes from 1994! Obviously, my brother and I were rocking the pirate theme before it was cool.

Only 5 days before the little broski's wedding! Our flight down to SC was canceled! But we picked up another one out of Latrobe for $60 less! Booya, DirectAir! We have to go to Latrobe anyway to drop Patton off. The only complication will be flying back into Pitt on Sunday, but I think we have the logistics worked out!

It was a chilly, but relaxing weekend. We had plans to go to a Halloween party, but bailed because of the weather. It was supposed to snow/ice again on Saturday night, but I'm not sure if it actually did. On Sunday we woke up and drove to one of Billy's rigs. It felts like an hour long roller coaster - going up and down hills and so many turns and unpaved roads! It was worth it though because he got the job! Woooo!

Annnd to top it off, the Pirates and the Steelers WON! Looking forward to this 3 day week! One of the perks of working for a Catholic school = tomorrow is All Saints Day = no work!

It won't officially be winter for 2 more months, but Pittsburgh did not get the memo! Wooo!

What a great weekend! And it didn't end until the lsat possible minute! I didn't fly out until 8pm on Sunday. It started out a little rough with a delayed flight out of Charlotte, but I was able to make it home in time for dinner made by Mom. (side-note: it's her 56th bday today!)

Saturday morning I woke up bright & early to head to Greenville for Morgan's Bridal Brunch. I was so happy to be invited and it was nice to see everyone before the wedding craziness began!

The wedding was perfect and I wouldn't expect anything less from Morgan. She's one of the most thoughtful people I know. From the giftbags, to the decor, she's always on point! I haven't seen her in three years, but it felt like no time had passed at all! Except for when we went to 519 after...it definetly did feel like I was an old married lady who was ready for bed around 1am!
On Sunday, I dragged my aching head out of bed and made the drive back to my parents. After a healthy dose of Motrin, I was back in action and went for a long walk on the beach with my mom. I'll see them again in less than 2 weeks! DirectAir called us yesterday and cancelled our flight to SC, but I was able to find another one out of Latrobe. Luckily, we need to go there to drop Patton off anyway! We'll miss the rehearsal, but I'm pretty sure Billy and I will be able to find out way down the aisle!

I can't wait to get to North Carolina! I'll spend tonight with my parents, then head to my beloved Greenville for my dear friend Morgan's wedding! I can't believe this picture was five years ago - before any of us were even engaged! Very much looking forward to being together!!

It's not going to be hard to leave Pittsburgh this weekend, because it's not getting out of the 40's today!! I hope Billy and Patton can survive on perogies and sausage, because that is all that is in the fridge!

Happy birthday to my husband!

You make me laugh all the time!

You are the opposite of me - and you are the reason we have fun!

Even though I tell you that you are annoying almost daily - I'm so glad you're my husband!

I'm looking forward to many more years of birthdays with you - even if you eat your cake before your birthday, when I'm not home.

I think these next couple weeks are going to fly! 18 days until the broski's wedding! This weekend I'm heading to NC for Morgan's wedding - it's a good and bad thing there is no home game that weekend. Good because I could find a hotel room...bad because if I'm making the trip to Greenville, I would at least lke to see the Pirates play! It will be so nice to have a little reunion though. There is enough football in Pittsburgh to go around!

This past weekend was fun. I had to go to work for a bit for freshmen parent weekend...then got contained downtown by those Occupy Pittsburgh bums...but finally made it out to Ligonier with Lisamarie. It was fun to walk around the Ligonier Days festival. In true LM/Jackie fashion, we had dessert for lunch! One of her student's moms asked if we were sisters...and then after seeing some pics, my mom asked if anyone ever asks us if we are sisters. Sadly, no. But we are both Swedish!

I also came home with a jalepeno cookie for him, which he did not like. I told him it was Made In America, which did not help this case. He wants us to only buy American made products for Christmas gifts this year. That will certainly be a challenge! No electronics for him, I guess!

On Sunday after the game, we went for a hike near our house. As seen below, Patton was a crazy dog. He just loves the cool weather and the trails and runs the entire time. He did not want to even sit still for the picture!

Guess who's 32nd birthday is TOMORROW??? He already got his gift....and iPad! Lucky!

Just when I thought I was safe...

I have learned to keep MOST of my shoes in my car. All my work shoes are in my back seat, because I have learned that even if they are in my work bag, Patton will sniff them out, and then go hide and chew on them. I knew that if I don't hear him...he's doing something BAD!

Well, apparently, he now knows how to open doors. Or, that is what Billy says - since he swears he closed the closet door. Mmmm hmmm. So I came home to this today!

I wore these shoes in Melissa's wedding three years ago(this week!) and need to wear them again next month as a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding. FAIL. That will not be happening! I get angry at Patton, but it really doesn't matter. And he only eats my shoes...he doesn't even go near Billy's. It's like he loves me so much he wants to ingest me? I'm so confused. But there is good news with all of this!!..My mom comes to the rescue within the hour I tell her this and finds these Aldo shoes for only $14.99 with free shipping on Amazon!

The bridesmaids gods must be looking out for me today!

I hope you did not miss these cute girls singing...and then again on the Ellen Show. I just died watching this! I'm not sure I would let my 5yr old listen to Niki Minaj, but I'm glad her mom did!

Last weekend it was almost snowing and this weekend it was 80 degrees. Pittsburgh, stop messing with me! It really was a great weekend though. Friday, Billy decided to stay in Morgantown after work and relive his college days with some of his buddies. He made it back by 9:30am on Saturday and slept most of Saturday while I went shopping to try to find a shower curtain to go with our pink tile bathroom. Dear, sweet Billy…never seems to remember how much it is going to hurt the next day when he does that.

We had friends coming to stay with us over the weekend, so I was forced to finally put everything away/hide it under the bed. The guest room finally looks presentable! What we did realize though, was the bathroom door doesn’t shut all the way! With just the 2 of us, we never shut it…so it wasn’t until Saturday that we realized that this was a problem! Especially when Patton likes to nudge the doors open and join you in the commode or shower. We sort of fixed the issue with a latch hook.

So Steve & Tiffany got engaged on Grandview Ave on Saturday evening and went to the game on Sunday. For the game, we went to one of Billy’s college friend’s grandmothers house in Sewickley , where he proceeded to trade them our vegetables for cookies on the way out. We went out to dinner on Sunday and then Billy forced ice cream on everyone because his stomach is a bottomless pit. Of course, I got zero pictures as usual. I need to really start taking some because I never have any to submit to my cousin’s family calendar that she has made every year. Such a disappointment!

Less than 2 weeks until North Carolina – one month until my broski’s wedding and then my FIL comes to visit and then Thanksgiving! Lots to look forward to!

Even though I own a few iPods, I never caught on to the Mac craze. In light of the passing away of Steve Jobs, here is a quote from him and the top 5 reasons I am loving my work today, "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do."


1. Student organizations and emails like this: The brothers of Phi XX XX will be hosting a Sausage Fest on Friday Oct. 7th from 11am to 3pm, on A-walk, outside of Mellon. Come enjoy a hot dog, a hot sausage or to just to "meat" the brothers. Seriously, did no staff proof this? Or did they think it was too funny just like me?

2. Free gym membership.

3. Free tuition.

4. Green space like this in the middle of the concrete jungle of downtown. I enjoyed this view, sunshine and a book yesterday during lunch.

5. Library/Starbucks/Bank/Post Office/Pharmacy all at my place of employment. The only other thing I could ask for is a dry cleaner.

Tenants

Just some excerpts from this weekend's email exchange...

"Though how can you say it is not time to call an exterminator. You are not here."

"Why would I go out of my way to make problems? I am a logical and reasonable person. "

"Why do you insist on giving us so much trouble? And now threats? There is no need for that."

"Remember that you are in another state and we must do all of this by snail mail. That should clear up any misunderstandings you have."

"However, as I said before, we are applying for commercial insurance for our personal property so the issue is mute anyhow."

The only reason the last one is good is because the point is mute. Perhaps he meant moot. Glad that University of Miami education taught him a thing or two! Needless to say, it was a fun weekend trying to figure out what was going on. We won't really know, because we're not down there and our tenant's assessment skills are often lacking. The end result was me calling an exterminator for some ants - but the guy is just so demanding and abrasive in his requests, it usually ends in a battle. 10 more months!

It is just so much harder to get out of bed when it's cold! I was up a 6am almost every day in Florida bc it was so dang hot. I knew I had to walk the dog early or it would be miserable for both of us. Here, I just want to stay under the covers! Especially this weekend, when it's not getting above 50 degrees! I ventured out yesterday to do a little shopping on my own. My 2 pairs of work pants were just not cutting it and I was in desperate need of some more weather appropriate clothes. I came away with 2 pairs of flats, some riding boots, a pair of pants, 3 sweaters, and 2 fleece vests for Billy. I was really unsure about the boots because I have never owned a pair of knee high boots before, but I bought them so I could think about it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep them after trying them on with a few things. Plus, they were only $60 and had my size, so I couldn't just leave them there!

We also tried our luck on restaurant.com and tried a place in South Side (pronounced SouSide in Pittsburgheese) and we had a fun date night. The restarurant.com website allows you to try places you probably would not otherwise for such a deal! We got 2 entrees and 4 beers + tip for only $20! We had big plans of exploring the city this weekend...but the cold and rain is going to mean that it will be postponed for next weekend when it is going to be back in the 70s!