Welcome to Fall

Since we last talked not a whole lot has happened. We have continued to have an incredibly busy year, due primarily to work and school. I was actually in San Jose, California during the end of September for a week. I had to go down there to install a machine I designed at Western Digital, the hard drive manufacturer. I also visited the Seagate building (also a hard drive manufacturer) to meet with them to discuss the project I am currently working on. This project is the reason I can not make it back for the holidays. I will be there installing the machine I am currently designing. It will take me all of december and hopefully I can return by christmas time. So it's a pretty big deal and about 75% of my waking life has been devoted to this project. It's a great experience and I am learning a ton, although it comes with a lot of stress. Atleast I'll be in 75 degree weather! Here is some pictures from a random road I found when I, unsuccessfully, tried to get myself lost.

With the weather beginning to get cold and crappy, we decided to take up an indoor activity. A Puzzle! And not just any ordinary puzzle, we decided to get a 2000 piece puzzle. 2000 pieces doesn't seem like a lot on paper but when we opened the box and dumped them all out, we quickly realized we were in for a long haul. Atleast the first night we got the entire border done.

After a month and a half we are about 1/3 done. I have pretty much most of the work (EDIT: Chrissy just punched me for writing that. She actually did most of it). But I've been working on the blue sky, so that's way harder ;)

We have also been going for rides in CHRISSY'S NEW CAR!!!! 2004 Hyundai Elantra with 35,000 mile on it. It is such a wonderful car that is perfect for her. Plus she got a heck of a deal on it because we got it at our friend's family dealership. It's nice to be riding in the passenger seat after driving everywhere for a year and a half.

As a yearly tradition since we began attending UW La Crosse in 2002, we have been celebrating the fantastic German holiday known as Oktober Fest. This is a celebration that dates back to 1810 when King Ludwig the first married Princess Therese of Hildburghausen. They threw a 17 day celebration to acclaim their love to one another and to the city of Munich, Germany. Today we celebrating it with lederhosen, bratwurst and beer. A lot of beer. And good beer too. If anyone has ever celebrated, they know it is a joyous event.

We went to a small city 2 1/2 hours away called Levinsworth. Apparently it was an old mining town that had nothing to do with Germany. They were about to go bankrupt so they re-made the entire town into a German town. This includes festive, traditional looking buildings, fairgrounds and even Ye Old Wells Fargo (complete with vintage sign). The town is actually in the middle of the Cascade mountains with provide an almost surreal surrounding and atmosphere. The view, even from our hotel room, was absolutely stunning. The clouds roll gracefully over the beautiful mountain tops that are covered in the colorful and vibrant reds, oranges and yellows of falling leaves and fall trees. It makes me feel so spoiled that we have so many beautiful areas so close to us.

Apparently the "thing" to do when you're in Levinsworth for Oktober fest is to where a crazy hat. I saw so many random hats that had absolutely nothing to do with anything but were cool none the less.

This is the woman I choose to marry...

We also spotted some Storm Troopers. With the quality of the outfit, they had to be real. I mean you can't have an Oktoberfest without Storm Troopers, right?

The second we saw this picture board we knew we had to take a picture. It's kinda creepy how real it looks.

We even saw some Mountain Goats just hanging out! I really wanted to ride one, but that might not have ended so good. They were extremely docile though...

A couple weeks ago we went to our 2nd annual (atleast here in Washington) apple picking adventure. This year was much much drier and warmer than last year. This also meant that there was more people there, meaning the apples were highly picked through. We were still able to come out of there with 10lb's of apples and 3 pumpkins (2 for carvin' and one for eatin'). We brought the family with us and even got to celebrate our family member Shayli's first apple picking trip. It is a great tradition and one we plan on continuing for years to come.

Other than that I've been playing with my birthday present from Winky. It's a suction cup for my camera that I can attach to my car. So I've been experimenting with different angles and shots. Here's some test footage if you're curious.

On a side note, when Chrissy doesn't have time to make me a wonderfully delicious, home cooked meal, she leave meat out and give me three options: Beef Strogranoff, Cheeseburger helper or cheesey burger rice. It's either that or Chicken fingers. How wonderful!

PS. Just so you know I CAN cook too. I made Chrissy my world famous Champagne Chicken. It consists of floured chicken, browned in a olive oil, simmered in champagne and mushrooms, served over a bed of brown rice and steamed vegetables, covered with a whipping cream sauce. Simply Delicioso.

Wow, I just realized I need to update this blog more often so my posts don;t take 2 hours to write. love you guys!