Fall Day!

Last weekend, I spent a delightful fall day with my mom and pops! We drove up to Weston but first made a "quick" side-trip to J.Jill where my mom got some super cute new clothes, including this adorable jacket. I'm putting a picture of the back up...because I love it!

We got to Weston's Red Barn Farm where we proceeded to take lots of pumpkin pictures and were amazed by the mass amounts of people there! After the farm, we headed across the street to Vaughn's Apple Orchard where we enjoyed apple cider slushes. I also had an apple fritter (i.e. donut). Delicious!

Umm...also, my mom is pretty much amazing. We both love fall so much and have started a variety of traditions to celebrate it (Cider Days in Topeka, mom's homemade pumpkin bread) but this year, when I was in Topeka, Mom surprised me with a Happy Fall gift! She gave me 3 fall colored tea towels, the fall issue of a tea magazine, and a Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin air freshner for my car. What the awesome?!

Also, mad props to Kim for finishing the KC 1/2 Marathon....she even did it faster than she had planned! Way to go Sis!!

Why I Don't Cook

Here's a little story about why I don't cook. I really like to...and I know I'll get better with time. But, in the mean time, I'm usually a crazy mess in the kitchen. The other night, I decided to make a recipe for mac & cheese I had found in Cooking Light. Yummy!There were some normal Michelle mistakes along the way. Let's just say a tend to make a mess when I cook....like dropping an oven mitt and whisk at the same time, letting melted cheese splatter on the floor. Somehow I also got cheese on the window frame above our kitchen sink. After I put the mac into a baking pan, I realized I forgot to spray it with Pam. So....then, I decided that maybe I could shift the mac around the pan and then spray it....? Oh wait, Michelle, be smart. Get out a new baking pan! Geesh. I'm a domestic genius.


Well THEN, I put twice as many bread crumbs on top as I was supposed to, so I tried to get rid of some of them....



But while I was making a mess, I decided that my dinner was actually starting to smell really good! Mac & cheese, fall was in the air, in fact, I could even smell a campfire in my imagination. Well, that imaginary smell of a crisp fall campfire....was my wood turner burning. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I don't cook.

I need a vacation.

I am done studying for my programming final. I can't take it anymore! Scott helped me study because he's fabulous. I mean....somehow, I have 100% in the class, but I haven't learned a thing! Eh, let's just hope I never have to teach a programming class to high school students. My teacher told us on Monday that he's going to make the whole test open book. Apparently grades are due on Friday, and he'd like our tests to be really easy to grade...so he's making it open book. This man's laziness means (hopefully) I'll get a good grade!

As I take my programming test, if I feel like I'm going to start crying, I'll just think of this video and how much I like it.

Shhh....don't tell Todd.

So....I'm a fool. I'm embarrassed to share this story...but this is reality. If you want to be my friend, you have to accept me.

Last weekend after my Chicago train disappointment, Scott and I decided to fill our weekend with fun things. We went to the Toy & Miniature Museum, saw 2 movies, ate out almost every meal, and even went on a bike ride (dun dun DUUUUN). I warned Scott, the last time I rode my bike was 3 years ago in my parents' front yard. I fell off. Most people are supposedly ingrained to remember how to ride a bike. I am not.

We bought a new helmet (a really cute turquoise one at Target), cleaned my bike, and aired up the tires. We put a bike rack on my car and took the bikes down to Leawood City Park. My Honda was super excited to have this bike rack on it; she felt so rugged. I was doing so well! We rode for about 2 miles and I had a little nervousness goin' on. I was squeezing my handles really hard and trying to stay balanced. It was especially difficult when we were passing somebody, but usually I'd get so anxious I'd just drive off the path and stop until they were gone.

I'm sure at this point in the story, you're already slightly embarrassed for me. Thank you.

On our way back to the car, we hit our first down hill. I was flyin'! (or, atleast I felt like I was). I have to put this really short and simple. I ran into another biker. I ran head on....into another woman on her bike. Am I 4 years old?! I was super embarrased and after we walked away, I started crying (again...the 4 year old in me). Scott was so sweet and was trying to make me feel better when I'm sure he was just thinking "Why didn't you put the break on?" or "Why didn't you just...um...steer the other direction?" I was walking and crying when we came upon a large bridal party taking pictures along the path. I had hoped that, if they did happen to see I was crying, maybe they'd be thinking something like "Oh wow, she probably just tore something," or "It's so brave of her to walk with a broken ankle." I doubt they were all thinking, "That 24 year old woman just ran into another biker because she just decided not to stop."

Ohh, don't tell Todd (my father-in-law) this story. I'm pretty sure I would be disowned from the Dicus family. I just had to get this story off my chest, but I'm still pretty embarrassed. No more biking for me for awhile. I'll stick with Jazzercise.

This makes me happy!

Floods are not my friend.

Sad day. I had plans to go visit Corinne in Chicago this weekend, but my train is canceled! We got a message on our answering machine last night around 8pm that it was canceled because of floods and there were no alternative options. I looked up flights and the cheapest is SW at $300 putting me in at 9:45pm. No thank you! Then I thought, maybe I could drive....but if the train can't get through a flood, my Honda probably can't either. I called Corinne and she said that her friend's parents drove up from Lawrence and it took them 12 hours as opposed to 9 hours because of the floods. BAH! I'll be staying here this weekend. Scott and I might take a fun day trip somewhere or we might paint our room or something lame like that. :o)

Testing...testing....1 2 3....

Kim has inspired me to create a blog. Really, it was her ability to share a delightful HyVee commercial via her blog that truly pushed me to create one. Thanks Sister.