Hungry

I'm currently nearing the end of another basal assessment (requiring hours of fasting) and so I'm having trouble getting any work done. My stomach is too much of a distraction.

So why not update? It's been awhile and I've got pictures to share! We've been busy lately but managing to have a lot of fun along the way.

A week ago Saturday, we went to one of the final Phillies' games of the regular season and did a bit of tailgating beforehand with Parker, Ashley, Parker's sister Caroline and her husband Scott.

Nick prepping the grill:

Caroline and Ashley playing ladders. This was the first time I ever played and I couldn't believe how fun it was:
Caroline and Scott:
The Phillies ended up losing the game that night to the Mets, but we still had a good time with friends and eating Chickie's and Pete's at the ballpark.

Nick and I have also been getting to know some new friends better lately. We've started spending time with a new couple in choir, and we actually had our new(ish) neighbors, a couple right around our age, over to dinner on Saturday night. I was on campus all day for a symposium and Nick spent the day brewing with Greg, one of our new neighbors. Nick had prepared an amazing dinner for the four of us. Greg came back over with his wife, Alyssa, shortly after I got home. We ate, laughed, and got to know each other over an uproarious game of Loaded Questions.

We've hit a really good point with friends in Philadelphia. Nick and I were discussing this over the weekend, how glad we are to have what feels like old friends in the area and to be gaining some new ones as well.

Sunday was a perfect fall day: partly cloudy, breezy, and right around 60 degrees. We headed out to Longwood Gardens, one of our favorite places in the area:

They had this incredible display of squashes and gourds:

We explored a new part of the gardens, the Meadow:



And stopped by the Italian garden:

The above picture was my attempt to capture this incredible moment, and it failed a bit. The wind picked up and these tiny yellow leaves blew off of the trees on the far side of the garden. They glittered in the sunlight. It was so beautiful.

And now it's a bit dreary and overcast today, which made getting out of bed extraordinarily difficult this morning. As soon as this assessment is over (forty minutes!!), I'm hoping to regain some focus and get some work done. Wish me luck!