Leaf-peeping!

Leaves they are a changin'.

It is unbelievably beautiful up here right now! Today we took a walk and took many foliage pictures, some of which are displayed below. The colors here hardly do the real colors justice, or even the colors of the actual photos justice, but this should give you some idea of our surroundings! We also learned today that "Leaf-peepers" are people to journey to Vermont just for the foliage. We had a few in church today!

As we were driving last night, we saw a tree that was the most pure hue of red I have ever seen. I started liking red inexplicably in eighth grade, and I didn't know why until that moment. I actually exclaimed out loud, "THAT is why I love red." Entire mountains are covered with millions of leaves that shame my once lovely red Kitchen Aid. I fear that after witnessing true red, nothing else will do. I may have to find a new color.

To the color green: you are always my favorite, don't be jealous. 

You make me happy in a way that red never can.

Happy Birthday, Jake!! 

He is a ripe-old twenty-four today! We have been celebrating since the wee small hours of the morning, well, for us, which means about 10:30. We went to the post office to pick up some presents from parents, and then headed across the street to Sticky Buns, our favorite little pastry shop right here in town. We really gorged ourselves too: we got a caramel sticky bun about the size of a human brain, a giant coffee cake muffin, and a large piece of strawberry pear torte, all for a whopping price of five dollars. Then Jake had his normal breakfast of cereal, oatmeal, and yogurt. I just don't know how he fits it all in there. Tonight we are going to Hanover to have dinner and a good time. We are going to get dressed up in silly preppy clothes and strut our stuff. Should be a good time.

Since I have not been blogging very regularly, I 

have a good deal of catching up to do. Vermont is being ridiculously fun for us. A few weekends 

ago we ventured to the Worlds Fair in Tunbridge, which turned out to be only a few miles up the road. It was very animal oriented, and we got separated from some friends we were there with by an hour long cow parade that circled the fairgrounds. They were on the outside and we were on the inside. But the good news is, we saw several members of our ward parading their livestock, which was very fun to see (I have another story about livestock in the ward, which I will save for a later blog...). I loved the crazy looking chickens, they reminded me of the funny-looking birds in Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss. 

Of course we got lots of fair food (we worked out hard that morning so we could eat all we wanted and not feel guilty!). The fries were served in a dog bowl, which I suppose is fitting. They were delicious. We also got a caramel apple, ice cream sundae, and fried dough with lemon curd, powdered sugar, maple butter, cinnamon, and maple syrup on it. Don't worry, we didn't mix all those together, they were separate, but we had to try all the toppings! The maple butter was delicious. That's one thing about Vermont, they know maple products. We also watched some pig racing, which is a favorite pastime for fair-goers, or so we learned (it was extremely popular). We saw giant oxen (by giant I mean as big as a Ford F250). Actually and legitimately huge. 

We also saw a cow that looked like Hannah! Look at that beauty spot! The prettiest cow in town, just like Hannah is the prettiest

 girl in town (NOT A COW). 

Last Saturday was probably one of our best days (this is also the day we discovered Sticky Buns). We had been planning on going to the Vermont Public Radio Listener's Picnic at the University of Vermont's Morgan Horse Farm for about 

a month, mainly to see our favorite local band, Banjo Dan & the Mid-Nite Plowboys. We first heard them on our second day here, listening to VPR, and fell in love with them immediately. What else can you do with a Vermont bluegrass band that plays such classics like "Fire in the Sugarhouse" containing such lyrics as, "it's roilin', and it's boilin', and it's fillin' up with steam. the fog is gettin' heavy and it's like you're in a dream..."? 

If you have seen the movie 

A Mighty Wind, then you can imagine all of the characters of the band, and the rest of the lyrics. They are brilliant. Two of the band members actually look astonishingly like Christopher Guest. The horse farm itself was amazing. Jake's mom and my dad would have loved it! The drive out there was beautiful too. It was about an hour and a half away, only forty miles, but in Vermont roads, that means an hour and a half. We drove through Green Mountain National Forest, which Haleigh and Mike need to see sometime. On our drive we saw a sign for an Interfaith Nature Hike and naturally, we had to stop on the drive back. We hiked the Buddhist Path (we were kind of afraid to do the Pagan Path...) and learned some Buddhist teachings on posted placards. It was beautiful and enlightening.

I have so many more pictures, but they will have to wait. Jake is currently indulging in a Birthday Nap, and I might have to join him.

Let's get this party started right, y'all.

What is going on here? Exactly one week ago I was taking cold showers trying to calm down because it was too darn hot. My how things have changed. Jake and I are realizing that there is at least a forty degree temperature change during the days up here in Vermont. It is very tricky to stay abreast of the current temperature. It has been sixty-one degrees in the kitchen for the last few days, and because the boilers are currently down, there is nothing we can do about it. My nose is permanently icicle-like because it is not much warmer in our room. It was a cool fifty-eight when Jake woke up for work the other day. Luckily by the time I rolled out of bed and into several sweaters and a hat it was up to sixty-two. Our landlady told us in August not to turn the boilers on because it might flood the restauranty basement with boiling lava hot water at any moment, but that was August, and we didn't care. But now it's September, and everything has changed. Last week I was sprawled out on the floor ahhing "Memory" from Cats, this week I'm wrapped up...on the floor...ahhing "Memory" from Cats.

Okay it's not that bad. But I do have to wear a sweater. And a hat. Luckily I have many hats and many sweaters that I need to wear out appropriately before we get to Arizona and the arid Southwest. 

In my Water Resources class, we have shifted from learning about Riparianism, the water law practice of the East, to Prior Appropriation, the water law practice of the West. Many times it class we have made the joke, "why do they even need water law in the West? There's no water there to begin with!" 

It is funny every time. But I suppose it won't be funny when I am forced to drink recycled sewer water and use a composting toilet. Something big is going to go down soon, environmentally, and I want to be a part of it. That's why I need to get this degree and get in on the action! As of now, I'm still hopeful that changes can be made, and that I can save the world. Maybe the profound and soul-devouring desperation won't sink in until finals week. 

Until then, bring it on.

I am ready!

NOW... won't somebody give me a job? 

feel that flow, that salty salty flow!

Today was very warm. Very warm indeed. On Fridays I don't have classes, but while Jake is still in the training phase of his job, he works. So, that means I am left to fend for myself all day in tiny South Royalton without a car, and certainly without air conditioning. For those of you that know me well, you know that I do not do well without air conditioning. It was almost 90 degrees in our room today. When Jake finally came home, I had about lost it. I was lying on the floor in little clothing, talking on the phone with my mom, telling her I needed to take a cold shower. Shortly after that I was in the cold shower, waving my arms wildly above my head ahhing "Memory" from Cats. 

Perhaps this is too much information, but it was so hot.

After the ridiculously long cold shower, I told Jake that I had to get out. And he, being the understanding husband that he is, obliged. We went to Hanover, New Hampshire. An uppity hoity toity little town that is home to a little known school called Dartmouth. 

For those readers that like to see the big picture, I have inserted these maps, so that it can all be taken in together.

We have come to love this little town...I don't know if it is because we like knowing that we are not the Canoe Club kind of people that we are surrounded by, or because we secretly wish we were those Canoe Club kind of people. Either way, it's fun to rub elbows with the big boys every once in a while.

So far in our times in Vermont, we have not been disappointed in our culinary experiences. It seems as if everything out here tastes more, and better. We are developing quite the little food tour for those souls brave enough to venture East of the Mississippi. Last week we went to a place called boloco. It's a swanky little burrito place that made both of our jaws drop and some of the food we were eating actually fall out of our gaping mouths. Tonight was no different. We went to a restaurant called Murphy's on the Green. It boasted "superb food & spirits!" so naturally we could not back down. Also, its soup of the day was artichoke and roasted red pepper. When one encounters such a promising soup, one does not dismiss it without at least a cup and oyster crackers. So we shared a cup of the soup and it was delicious. Jake ordered the meatloaf. Now before I tell you all what I ordered, I want to let you know that some of what Jake has been saying is true: I have blossomed out here. I have been actually trying new things. For so many years of my life, I have travelled to some of the most exotic and expensive restaurants only to order the chicken fingers. Well, Vermont has been the birth of a new me. I even tried raw fish a few weeks ago. I don't even eat aquatic life, but there must be something in the water here, because I can't get enough of this weird weird food (not the seafood...just new food. I still don't like seafood, and I didn't like the fish, but I ate it). At Murphy's, I ordered Pulled Pork Crepes with caramelized onions, watermelon onion salad, and mango sauce. When it came out, the crepes were served directly on top of the watermelon salad, which I wasn't expecting, but I just went with it, and holy cow. I cannot adequately express the festival of flavors that was bouncing in my mouth. It was absolutely delicious. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS.

On another note, I have been suffering from a sinus infection for the last few weeks. Because we are currently uninsured (our coverage doesn't begin until late September) I have had to suffer in silence. I learned about some home remedies today and we stopped at the pharmacy to see our options, and decided to try a neti pot. A neti pot is something that looks very much akin to Aladdin's lamp. 

You fill it with warm water and a saline mix and then stick one end of it comfortably up your nostril. You tilt your head and the full half cup of liquid goes in one nostril, through your face, and out the other side. You must remember to breathe constantly through your mouth, otherwise the salty discharge will go straight down your throat. It was quite an experience. I had stuff coming in one nostril, out my mouth, eyes, and at one point it even felt like my ear. I finally got it to work a little, and although it is not a comfortable procedure, I am hopeful that it will help. Living with sinus infections are no fun, and after ten years, I am ready to try most anything. 

I didn't have quite as much fun as her...

Jake should be about done pre-sleeping now, so I will end with this: if you should ever find yourself in Hanover, wondering what eat, do try the pulled pork crepes. 

They will not disappoint.

It may be small, but it sure is pretty.

It has been several days since our last update, so I feel obliged to enlighten the rest of you as to our goings on. Not to be outdone by my husband, of course.

I am in the throws of school. This one class of mine (which for the sake of anonymity I will call W. Resources...no wait, that's too obvious...I'll call it Water R.) is very tricky. I live in mortal dread that I will be called on and be forced to fess up that I simply do not know. For the first time in my education career, I have read every page of assigned material, and I still feel like I am lagging behind. This feeling is quite new to me, and although it is altogether distressing, I do feel like I am being challenged for the first time since SES, and who knows how long before then. Maybe it just took learning what I was really meant to learn about to awaken this very studious student in me. But still, I don't like feeling stupid.

Jake and I are starting to make some friends, which is due in most part, to the shocking amount of church members in my program. Of the small admitted class of twenty-four, four of us are members of the church, which leads to nice built-in friendships. It certainly is nice to have a few people you know, something I didn't really have as an undergraduate, since my attitude was pretty much, "get it, get out, and take no prisoners". It worked just fine for me then. However, since Jake keeps prattling on about this blossoming new wife he has, I should at least try to live up to it.

In conclusion: school is hard and getting harder, but people are nice and getting nicer.

We are actively missing everyone, so no one need feel left out.

And the picture is my campus: you might be thinking, Oh, what a lovely little part of campus...No, that's pretty much all of it!