Happy Halloween!!

I really hope some of my patients come dressed up today when they come see me :) Tom and I plan on handing out some candy tonight with some of the neighbors. Here are some Halloween pics of the neighborhood!

The first picture of this tree was taken last Monday (one week ago) and the second was taken on Saturday...the leaves are changing fast!

One of our neighbors put a barfing pumpkin out front :)

Penn State takes Chicago!

We've been looking forward to the Penn State/Northwestern game ever since last year. Mom and Dad were going to drive out with a few other family members/friends and we were going to spend the day tailgating and enjoying that it wasn't 100 degrees outside.


Enter our family and our HORRIBLY designed backs. Dad hurt his back and thought it would get better, but unfortunately it kept getting worse. It was so bad in fact, that they couldn't make it out :( He's doing better but still in a lot of pain....I hate that I can say "I know how you feel" and really mean it! We were looking forward to seeing everyone (and Tom was looking forward to having someone to converse with regarding the mess that is Penn State Football).


So instead Dad overnighted the game tickets and we bought tickets for the 5th Never Annual Zombie Penn State Chicago Tailgate. We went with a few of our friends from Penn State that now live in Chicago and had a blast. The weather was unbelievably perfect...who would have thought you would be hot wearing a T-shirt and jeans in October in Chicago?!




We had pretty good seats at the game too (Thanks Dad!) right in the heart of the Penn State section. Ryan field was small, but it was actually nice because it seemed like everyone had a good seat. We were excited to cheer on the winning Nittany Lions!!

Our Weekend: In pictures

Friday was beautiful and I couldn't think of a better way to kick off the weekend than to take a walk by the lake.

Saturday night we enjoyed the pretty fall colors in our apartment :)

Sunday afternoon we took a drive up to the Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha, WI to pick up some yummy treats for the tailgate this weekend.

Tom was in heaven with all of the mustards!!!

We also stopped at the Apple Holler to pick up some fresh apples!! They're Honey Crisp apples...and I haven't decided yet if we're just going to eat them as-is or if I'm going to try to make something out of them.

Dear One Year Ago Me

I wrote this in a blog post exactly one year ago today

"...I am out of work (temporarily), in a lot of pain (when I'm not laying down), and about to move across the country but have no idea where we're going to live or where I'm going to work, have nothing packed, have not hired movers, and am in too much pain to start packing,..."

It all turned out okay! More than okay! You've been really smart about your back in the past year, and when it begins to hurt, you have learned to take it easy and rest. You've also been better about working out in the past few months, which has been great for your back (and your confidence, considering all of your pants still fit). You have a wonderful job with the perfect amount of autonomy, cute patients, and awesome coworkers. You live in a pretty kick-ass apartment, with pretty much the best group of neighbors you could ask for (I mean, they all watch Always Sunny and drink wine...how could you not all get along?!) And you don't have to worry about moving (for better or for worse) for quite some time! So No Worries One-Year-Ago-Anne!! Everything turned out perfect :)

Wordless Wednesday

I am obsessed with Fall

As you already know (from my many fall-loving posts), I'm quite obsessed with fall. I think I've become more infatuated with the season this year because we haven't had a true fall in over 5 years! I've been going on a lot of walks lately and feel completely mesmerized, like a child, by the beauty of the leaves. Thursday and Friday morning I was able to get up early and go for a run/walk along the lake before work. It was so perfect! The sunshine, the lake, the city, and of course, the pretty leaves!! I'm trying to soak it all in now since Chicago is predicted to have one of the worst winters in the country this year!!

I did quite a bit of baking this weekend too. We had some friends come over for the Penn State game on Saturday and I made Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Slow Cooked Stuffed Apples. Today I made a Pumpkin Roll and Pumpkin Bread. And now I'm sitting on the back deck enjoying a glass of Hallowine. I wish I had my iphone or camera with me when I was by the lake, but I didn't feel like lugging it along. Here are a few pics of fall that I've snapped so far this year.