My Month

October was one of the busiest months of my whole life, I think. It was a challenging month, and an extremely happy month, all wrapped up into one. Have you ever looked back on a time period and realized specific things you learned? That's how October was for me.

The month started right off with excitement and a few happy tears. Dad and Lawrence flew back to the States on October 1st. It was really hard for me to believe that it had already been a year since I had moved back to the States. It's weird how in some ways, lengths of time feel doubled ... and in some ways, they feel a lot shorter.

At Newark Baptist Temple with Uncle Frank

We made a trip to the college that Lawrence is going to begin attending in January. Being on the road for a few days made me realize how much I have grown to love being in one place. It truly feels like home!

Then my good friend Katie and her family got to come and stay with me for a whole week! It was so good to catch up, play games, laugh, and get to know her husband and two little ones more.

Izzy thought Dad looked like a 'papa' so she started calling him that! It was so cute.

We were able to go to Young's Jersey Dairy together on Thursday and experience the corn maze (and ice-cream, of course!).

I have to say that I was expecting a lot more from the maze. We jokingly called it a 'corn path' instead, because it wasn't possible to get lost in it. Even though I knew it was only a few acres, I envisioned a 10-square mile maze that you could get lost and stuck in for hours. Although, it's probably better that it wasn't that intense since we had little kids with us!

Kate and I went to a  big church sale on Friday and found all sorts of goodies. Friday evening we went over to the house of some friends and enjoyed our time there. The trampoline was a first time experience for the kiddos!

Saturday they introduced me to Chipotle. I've heard a lot about it, but never been there. It was a yummy experience! (as you can see, Izzy was really taken with the whole thing.)

One day I got home from work to find the bathroom decorated for fall. It made me grin!

As the time for Dad's departure grew nearer, everything seemed to get busier and busier. There was a lot to do the last few days before he left. Lawrence and I bought Christmas presents for everyone and sent back an extra suitcase. It was quite an ordeal. (We even wrapped them all!) Both of his suitcases barely squeezed past the weight limit ... but that's pretty normal with us.

That night, Lawrence and I went on a 4-hour shopping spree. Looking back, I'm not sure what came over us or how we had the fortitude for such a thing. Lawrence needed some work clothes, so it wasn't a completely unnecessary bargain-hunt. We even got our supper for a bargain from Little Caesar's pizza.
 

The weekend after that was jammed packed full of things. We got to spend time with the Carpenters to celebrate Paul's birthday.

Then November started and things started to settle back into a new normal routine. I started my job as secretary for the church/Christian school and it has been going well.

So there's my month-in-review ... a bit belated! I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week!