Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. I prepared a yummy meal for my In-Laws, Dan, Quinn and myself. We had a nice and calm day of food and lounging. It was SO nice and VERY needed. Here are some pictures of our little monkey.

Val's Wedding

Man, where to start. My beautiful.awesome.funny.super.fabulous little cousin got married. She was stunning. She church was perfect, small and intimate. The reception hall was adorable and the food was yummy. The groom was handsome and so proud to be marrying his love. It was the perfect day. I was just so happy to be able to be there and watch them together. Val and Arty are in LOVE. Simple, sweet, happy. It makes me happy to see her that way. I just love her. The proud parents. Christy and Tony. Can you say HAPPY!!
Rachel, Tracy and Rich
Quinn loves ANNIE!! (she calls her "mickey" for some reason though)
Me and Rich (A self-portrait by Rich!!!)
The crazy cousin club! (Bennett, Adam and Joel)

Me and Dan
Cutting the lovely (and super yummy!!) cake!

Update

So I haven't posted in a while. I have been meaning to post my wonderful cousin Val's wedding pictures. She was stunning. The wedding was perfect. But, that will be a long post and I should already be in bed. I am so very excited that this semester is almost over. I feel like this has been the worst semester. I should be done with all of my finals by the 8th of December and then I can relax and focus on Christmas!

Anyway, here is a super adorable picture that I took of Quinn (via cell phone) a while back. It is my favorite picture of her to date. Although, I guess I say that about every picture huh?

Love

I just love this Sprite commercial. My Mom sent it to me and said that she could see it happening to Dan. Me too, completely. I just love my husband. He is such a great Dad.

Tests

I have recently had so many tests in my life. Quinn has been re-evaluated for physical therapy and speech. She is done with physical therapy and speech should be only a few more months!

I have had billions of tests with my classes. I am doing pretty well so far. Just a little burned out at the moment.

The one test that I was most worried about however, was my blood test. I have high blood pressure. It makes me really nervous to know that my heart could be suffering some. I want to live a long and happy life and not have a heart attack or stroke.
My new doctor was hoping to find something in my bloodwork that my old doctor missed. They were looking for a thyroid problem, high cholesterol, diabetes, and even a type of cancer in the kidneys. The last time everything was completely normal. No highs, no lows. (note: this was before my crazy organic and mostly vegan dieting with additional days of exercise)

Guess what?!?! I passed. The doctor couldn't find anything. (again) I am in the normal range for everything that I was tested for. The only thing that wasn't normal was my HDL cholesterol (the good kind!!) I was so super stoked. I had 77 mg/dL and the normal limits are between 40 and 59 mg/dL! My paperwork even had a side note that said " HDL cholesterol values >59 mg/dL are associated with reduced cardiac risk. Yippy!! My doctor said that my healthy eating habits and my exercise program have positively affected my health.

I know that everyone always tells you to eat your fruits and veggies and to exercise... but here is proof that how you treat your body will directly affect your health.

I am now on a new medicine and I feel so much better: more energy and less depressed. (my last med. was not so great)

The "See you later-" Party

I refuse to actually say "goodbye" to my Aunt Reenie and Uncle Jim. They are leaving for two years to go on a mission to Africa. I just love them so much. My Aunt Reenie is one of those people that you just love; adore to death. She is so funny and kind and just simply wonderful. Even though I don't get to see her that frequently, the fact that I won't be able to for TWO WHOLE YEARS is horribly sad to me. I have cried... a lot when trying to tell them how much I love them and how proud of them I am. I think that it is incredible that they are going on a mission.

Anyway, my Grandparents had a "so long" party for them this last weekend. We all gathered, ate wonderful Thanksgiving themed food, talked, laughed and just enjoyed each others' company. Quinn had an especially great time palling around with Piper. They were so cute together while holding hands. Wouldn't you know that I couldn't get a cute picture of it?!?!

The room was lovely. Grandma decorated the tables. She made the centerpieces herself! I got to take one home:) There were also safari stuffed animals on each table. Quinn was completely occupied the entire time.

After dinner, Grandpa gave a speech. He tried to "lighten up the mood" with the glasses! Boy, I love that man and his humor!Then Uncle Jim had a little speech. It was very moving. He told us about how thankful he was to be so blessed. He then went on to say how he wanted to help other people. I think that what they are doing is so noble and exciting!Little Miss Piper- looking adorable!
Quinn and her Grandma VSThen we tried to get a group shot of the 3 little girls.

(not that easy and we even had Uncle Jim trying to hold them in place!)
After dinner, we all went back up to Grandma and Grandpa's place. The kids all got to watch a movie and play with their new stuffed animals! The grown ups got to talk and chase the kids around:) I think that Quinn did really well except when she kept on standing in front of the tv so none of the other kids could see. hehe. She also got to hang out with her Mommy's cousin Brian and his family.

I tried again to get a picture of these two cuties-Here is a shot of two of my favorite guys: (don't they both look handsome??)Play Time!!By the end of the day Quinn was completely tuckered out!

Halloween!

This Halloween Quinn dressed up like a kitty cat. We were planning on wearing the bee outfit that she got from her MomMom and PopPop, but it was a little chilly so on Halloween day we ran out and got her this outfit from Old Navy. It was nice and toasty. Unfortunately since her head is a little extra big, the ears didn't quite go where there were supposed to but, oh well. She loved it anyway. We went trick or treating in a small historic town called Ellicott City. They have all of these shops on Main Street that give out candy from 4 to 6 pm. We went with our friends Keith and Melanie and their two kids, Megan and Jack. Megan was a cowboy and Jack was MingMing from the WonderPets. SOOO CUTE! At the house Quinn insisted on being a princess kitty.

Don't you love the little pink tail?!?!? And boy, look at Megan's cowboy attitude! :)

Look how far out her little leg was! Man, she was power walking uphill for that candy!
Daddy and his kitty. They were so cute. Quinn got tired so Dan carried her like this back to the car. Collecting candy can be hard work!

Beautiful Weather!

We have had some lovely weather recently. It is nice and warm during the day and at night, there is just enough of a chill in the air to believe it is fall. I just love it! Here is a clip of Quinn learning all about shadows. She thinks that her shadow is her little friend that likes to follow her around places. :)