Midweek Ramblings + Recent Purchases

Using this picture again because it's my favorite :)

Ramblings

• Work, work, work: has taken over my entire life lately, but I suppose that's what happens when you have 19 IEP meetings before Winter Break, 7 referrals to screen, and still need to meet your minimums. I was warned that this time of year gets a little crazy, but man this is CRAZY.
• Tom Brady: is the winningest football quarterback of all time. He has been my favorite athlete since 2004, when I "chose" him since he was number 12 and he had played for Michigan. I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be able to make a quick trip to Boston next year to see a game in Foxborough. It is one of my bucket list items and unfortunately I'm not sure how many seasons I have left!
• Western Michigan Broncos: My Broncos are undefeated and going to the Cotton Bowl! When I was a student at Western the football team was awful. I'm talking 1-11 awful. But the tickets were free and the games were always a blast. They've come a long way and are giving Western the attention it deserves! It was a wonderful university #ROWTHEBOAT
• Winter:  arrived fast and hard here in Michigan. We got 10 inches of snow over the weekend and now the temperature has dropped into the teens. Brrrr.

Purchases

• Tieks: I just couldn't resist the limited edition Champagne color. They're going to be perfect for the holidays and any fancy event (weddings!) in the future.
• PrAna hiking pants: I've started collecting items for our trip to Arizona next month and hiking pants were the most important. Thomas said leggings won't work, so I was determined to find a practical yet fashionable pair.
• Nike Tanjun sneakers: I also picked these up for Arizona and I'm obsessed. They're cheap, fashionable, and so comfy! If you're looking for an everyday sneaker give these a try.
• NARS Velvet Lip Glide: One of my purchases from the VIB sale and the Bound shade is the perfect fall/winter color for me. I'm not a big lip stick/gloss fan, but these are great.

Weekend Recap | Snowed In

This weekend wasn't nearly as exciting as last weekend, but it was nice to have a low-key weekend before the busyness of the holiday picks up again. Add in an unexpected snow day and I guess it wasn't too bad.

Friday | Work was easy going as Fridays are my "catch up" day. I saw a few students that were absent during their therapy times and then headed to my monthly SLP meeting. Due to the holiday, this months' meeting was held at a local BBQ joint in downtown Jackson. We all had lunch together and then did a little gift exchange. Funny enough, I got the gift that my CF-mentor brought! Our "meeting" ended early, which was a nice ending to the week. Once Thomas got home from work we stopped at Red Robins for dinner and then headed to pick up my grandparents for my uncle's birthday party at a Karaoke Bar. My brother and his girlfriend met us there and we all had a great time. 

Saturday | I was up early Saturday morning so that I could get to Verizon as soon as they opened. I finally was able to upgrade my 16gb iPhone 6 to a 164gb iPhone 7. I was so sick of getting the notification everyday that I had no storage space! I better never run out of space again ;) Thomas worked at REI and I didn't really do anything besides grocery shopping and catching up on the DVR. Duke has been such a cuddle bug lately, so we enjoyed some time on the couch together. Once Thomas got home from work we watched Sausage Party... it was completely ridiculous.

Sunday | Was the usual cleaning, laundry, and getting ready for the week ahead day. Add in over TEN inches of snow and we were officially snowed in. Of course Duke loved it so we took him out a few times to run around in the tennis court lol Around 6pm I was notified that school was cancelled for Monday. It was great knowing before going to bed and being able to turn my alarm off! I was definitely very stir crazy by the end the night though. I can only take so much time at home.

Traverse City Ale Trail | Rare Bird Brewery

By the time we reached the next stop on The TC Ale Trail, Rare Bird, it was getting pretty late and my trail companions were quite tipsy. Rare Bird was a very laid back atmosphere, with live music and dimmed lights. An awesome place if you're looking to unwind!

Weekend Recap | It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The most wonderful time of the year is officially here and we had a great weekend to kick it off!

Friday night we headed out with friends to Wixom for their "big" Holiday Festival... It was a little lackluster, but we still had a good time checking out all of the booths. Once we had had enough of the festival, we grabbed dinner at Wixom Station and then ended the night at Drafting Table Brewing Company where we watched my Western Michigan Broncos win the MAC Championship! ROW THE BOAT!

We spent Saturday evening with Thomas' parents and had a great time. This year we decided to gift our parents "activities with us" instead of typical gifts and I think we might make it a tradition. We started the evening with dinner at ROAK Brewing Company, where we had delicious pizza and Thomas enjoyed a beer flight.

Next up was Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo, which was awesome! It was our first time going and we loved it. I could see it becoming a tradition.

Monthly Round Up | November 2016

I can't believe that 2016 is almost over. Where has the year gone?! So much has happened in what seems like the blink of an eye! So before we get to the last month of 2016 lets take a look back at November.

We enjoyed a night out in Downtown Detroit; dinner at Slows BarBQ and seeing The Book of Mormon at The Fisher Theatre.

We attended a University of Michigan football game at the infamous Big House with my brother and his girlfriend.

We voted for the first time together and while we're disappointed with the results we don't take that right for granted.

We celebrated our 10 year dating anniversary with a delicious dinner of crab legs at Weber's, a Ann Arbor staple. 

We celebrated Thanksgiving with both of our families. We have so much to be thankful for this year!

We had a fun cousins night out with family in town from out of state. We have the best time when we're all together.

We also had a great dinner with our great-grandpa in Ann Arbor. These times with him are so special to me.

We had another fun day in Downtown Detroit when we went to see a local high school playoff game at Ford Field and stopped for brunch at Bobcat Bonnie's.

Other big news from November is that Thomas found a job and started full-time, which has been such a relief. It was a great month and I have a feeling that December will be too :)