Life Lately

Happy Monday! I wish every weekend was three days. I think we'd all be much happier :) It's been a while since I posted and that's for a variety of reasons...

It's officially "IEP season" which means work is a bit crazy and I have been bringing a lot of work home.

I took a trip to New York City with my Grandma and cousin over Spring Break. NYC is always a great time and this trip was no exception!

The weather is finally enjoyable again in Michigan, which means we've been spending as much time as possible outside. Which means we've spent a lot of time flying the drone.

We've enjoyed quality time with our families and friends, which is always cherished.

I hope everyone else is getting to enjoy the warm weather and has a great week ahead! Linking up with Biana here.

October Recap

It feels like October was over in the blink of an eye! I suppose that's what happens when it's go-go-go at work and at home. All in all it was a great month, but I'm looking forward to a "slower paced" November. Ha!

We started the month out in Grand Rapids, visiting for Art Prize 8. I can't wait to go back next year!

We had a celebration fit for a King for Duke's Golden Birthday.

Our friends had a house warming party. We had a blast catching up with friends who came in town for the big event!

Friday Five

Phew what a week! I don't think I've look forward to a Friday this much in a very long time. I am ready for the weekend.

Linking up here

One. First Full Week
The main reason why I'm ready for the weekend is because this week was my first full week of the school year and it has been exhausting. I'm certainly getting a taste of what being a "real" speech-language pathologist feels like. Constantly running around, asking 50 questions a day, going into the wrong classroom, arriving late (... and early), changing the schedule every other day, and the list goes on. That doesn't mean I don't love it though, because I do. I still have to pinch myself that I'm finally here.
Two. New Kings of Leon Music
We've been waiting so long (three years to be exact..) for this! They released their new single, Waste A Moment, last week and the full album comes out October 14th. KOL is one of the few bands that Thomas and I both really enjoy. I am not a huge fan of the trippy theme they have going on though...

Three. Great Weekend... That I Didn't Blog About
I never had time to write the post, but I don't want it to go undocumented so here's a short and sweet recap :) Saturday we went to a fall festival hosted by T's Catholic grade school with his friends from grade school. Over priced beer and mediocre food, but the company couldn't be beat. Half of the group then headed to Ann Arbor to see the final midnight movie of the year at the State Theatre, Mad Max. It was definitely a unique experience. I'm not a huge fan of the movie to begin with, Thomas slept through the entire thing, and the chairs were the most uncomfortable chairs I've ever (voluntarily) watched a movie in. Sunday we headed over to Detroit to see the Tigers play. It was the most perfect day for a baseball game and despite the loss, we had a great time! After the game we decided to stop at Cheli's Chili Bar and look who was hanging out outside... Chris Chelios himself.

Four. Essie Gel Polish
It's been all the rage lately, but for me, it's lived up to it's hype! I'm currently on day 8 and my nails don't look awful. So far I've purchased four colors (Fairy Tailor, Take Me to Thread, Model Clicks, and Caviar Bar) and have a couple more on my shopping list.
Five. Fall Candles
I'm not a "OMG IT'S FALL" type of gal, but I do love some Leaves and Black Cherry Merlot candles from Bath & Body works :)

What's New With You | August

Linking up here

August was a big month for us and since I slacked on Weekend Recaps/posting in general I figured this would be a good place to dump it all :)

We spent the first week of the month in Grand Rapids. Spending as much time as we could with friends and visiting all of our favorite places. It's been almost a month now and we still miss it...

We moved to Ann Arbor on the 6th. We spent the next two weeks unpacking, purging, and setting up the apartment. It was not easy going from a huge house (even if we did have roommates) to a small two bedroom apartment. UGH!

I celebrated my 26th birthday on August 7th! We went out to lunch at Mongolian BBQ with friends and then my family came in town to visit and we had dinner at Zingerman's Roadhouse. My grandparents also brought an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins and it was delicious!

We explored our new city a few times and even enjoyed a bar crawl with our friends' family.

And the biggest event of all; I started my first job as a SLP! It has been exciting, overwhelming, exhausting, and nerve-wracking. I met my middle school and high school students this week and next week I'll meet my preschoolers and elementary students.

Friday Five | Grand Rapids Favorites

Since today is the day we move away from Grand Rapids I thought it was fitting to post my top 5 favorite things about this awesome city!

1 | Blue Bridge
My favorite spot in all of Grand Rapids. I can't really explain why, but it just is!

2 | Breweries

Grand Rapids isn't called Beer City for nothing! I mean they have a Brewsader Passport after all.. Our favorite breweries are Founders, Harmony, Elk, Perrin, and BOB's.

3 | Close Distance to Lake MI
GR is only a ~35 minute drive from Lake Michigan and therefore all of the beaches/adorable beach towns! Our favorites were Kirk Park and Grand Haven.

4 | Food
The food in Grand Rapids is out of this world. We have never lived somewhere with SO MUCH excellent food! I'm not exaggerating when I say we eat out 2-3x/week because it's just too good. Sandwiches at Founders, pizza at Harmony, Soup/Salad/Sandwiches at Electric Cheetah, and the list could go on and on!

5 | Friends
Of course I can't leave out the people who have made Grand Rapids so awesome. When we moved here two years ago we had a couple great friends, but we've made even more and those great ones are still around. You can replace all of the beer and food, but you can't replace the memories with friends :)

Linking up here

What's New With You Link Up | Currently

Linking up with Kristen and Gretchen

I'm going to write today's link up post using the currently format, because that's about as creative as I can get this morning. Currently I'm...

Reading: Liane Moriarty's newest novel, Truly Madly Guilty. I just started it, but I've loved all of her novels so I'm sure it'll be a good one! I also just finished First Comes Love by Emily Giffin and while I enjoyed it I felt like the ending was abrupt. I'm really enjoying having free time to read again!

Watching: Thomas and I have watched all the current episodes of The Night Of on HBO and are eagerly awaiting the release of the rest of them! Have you seen it, if so what are your thoughts?

Eating: Last night we enjoyed another delicious meal at my favorite restaurant, The Melting Pot. One of T's clients graciously gifted us a Groupon as a thank you gift and we wanted to redeem it before moving away. Other than that we are so over eating out all of the damn time and can't wait to get settled into our apartment and to start making home cooked meals again!

Enjoying: Spending these last few days with our Grand Rapids family. While we're both going to miss the city of Grand Rapids, we're really going to miss our friends here and the people we see on a daily basis. 

Missing: Duke! We miss him so much and I can't wait to squeeze him tomorrow!!! Twelve days without our bugs is way too many. My MIL has been sending us photos, which make us smile and pout at the same time.

Annoyed By: The throbbing pain in my lower lip thanks to three coldsores/fever blisters :( Does anyone else suffer from these and have any tips? I have a topical prescription, but it doesn't help unless I apply it as soon as I feel one developing. I'm also annoyed that I spent 45 minutes on the phone with AT&T setting up our TV and Internet for the apartment. 

Wishing: That our move goes smoothly and that we get settled quickly. These past 2 weeks in limbo have been tough! 

Planning: Everything that comes along with a move (finding a place to live, getting everything set up for the move, and figuring out where everything will go). I'm also starting to plan out the school year and get materials ready.

Does anyone have tips on how to make a move go as smoothly as possible? Or great apartment organization tips? I'd love to hear them!

What's New with You Link Up | May Edition

I can't believe that it's already June or that we're half-way through the year!! These past six weeks have been non-stop and it doesn't look like it'll be slowing down anytime soon. I can't say that I mind it though ;)

Linking up with Kristen and Gretchen

What's New with You | March

Perfect timing for a monthly recap post don't you think? I went MIA during March and this linkup allows me to recap the entire month in one post!