Happy Halloween!

Its Halloween and while we weren't able to dress up or go to any Halloween parties over the weekend AND won't be having any Halloween candy, we did carve the pumpkin we picked last weekend.

As you can tell, we are not the creative people who make beautiful, amazing, jack-o-lantern works of art. My main goal when carving a pumpkin is to get all of the seeds out so I can have a great snack.

Sutter's Ridge Farm

The weather on Sunday was warm and sunny (unlike the rain we have had the past two days), so Aaron and I decided to take advantage of it and get outside. Our favorite fall activity is eating carmel apples, but we are not eating sugar, corn syrup, or dairy, which are all common ingredients in carmel, so we opted for a corn maze at Sutter's Ridge Farm instead.

                            

Aaron looks way too tall for the corn maze in this picture, but there were parts that were taller than me! And it actually turned out to be more than we could handle... we had to use the map to find the last marker and find out way out.

                      

When we finally finished the corn maze, we picked out a pumpkin. Aaron wanted to get a big one. It is still waiting to be carved on our deck. They also had a big play area for kids and it looks like its a nice place to pick different fruit like apples and raspberries. Maybe we'll go back next year and enjoy one of their delicious looking carmel apples!

Graduate Profile

Nothing much to say from Madison. There has been lots of studying and smoothie drinking going on around here, and that is about it!

Since I don't have much to say, I thought I would share my profile on the La Follette school website. It was posted last year but was recently updated to include my summer internship and stuff I am involved in this year. Click on over if you are interested!

La Follette School Student Profiles: MIPA Training Prepares Palmer for International Work

Ruth's Visit

Ruth in front of my school's office building.

Ruth came to visit Madison for the first time this past weekend. We missed Sean, but we were really happy Ruth was able to come. 

We took her to Roman Candle for their vegan pizza and then woke up early to go the Farmer's Market and our gym. It was a cold morning! It reminds me that the outdoor Farmer's Market will soon be coming to an end. We need to stock up on honey, maple syrup, and jelly. Ruth bought some cheese to take home to Sean.

We also went to the top of the capitol building, The Old Fashioned for fried cheese curds, Red Sushi, and El Dorado Grill brunch (plus quite a few bars... but this is a PG rate blog so I won't go there). We even got her to wear a Badger shirt is support of the football game. Her flight wasn't until 5 on Monday, so we walked around campus and State Street, then had lunch at Madison Sourdough and tea at Mother Fools Coffeehouse. Of course we had to pick up a scone from Lazy Jane's for her to take on the plane and a couple extras for Aaron and I.

It was great to show Ruth around where I have been living for almost two years (it is strange not knowing where your twin sister lives!). We tried to show her the best that Madison has to offer, but there are so many other places to go. Hopefully she will be able to come back (with Sean) and visit some of the ones that we missed.

At the Memorial Union Terrace.

Fall Colors

Some pictures from an early evening walk around our neighborhood yesterday. 

Two Weddings

This past weekend we headed to Chicago and Kalamazoo for two different weddings. Unfortunately we both have been sick for a week with bad sore throats and going to two weddings doesn't exactly sound fun when you feel like crap. I'm happy to say we stuck it out and stayed until the end of both weddings and we did have a lot of fun.

The first wedding was for my older cousin, Kyle. I went to the rehearsal dinner on Thursday, which was at Wrigley Field. We snuck onto the field where another event was going on to take some pictures.

My favorite place to get burritos when I lived in Wrigleyville.

Breakfast with Mom and Jack.

Kyle and Katie's wedding was held Friday evening at the Lincoln Park Zoo. We didn't know what to expect (would the ceremony be next to some animals?), but when we got there I knew why they picked it. It was a beautiful venue. I especially liked their music choices for the ceremony which ended in everyone singing "All You Need is Love" together.

My trolley.

Ruth and Sean riding on the trolley to the wedding ceremony.

Cocktail hour.

On Saturday morning we woke up after not enough sleep to have breakfast with two of my friends in Chicago and debated going home to Madison. But instead we headed in the opposite direction toward Kalamazoo. We made it with only a half hour to spare to get ready and headed over to the Kalamazoo Nature Center for one of Aaron's best friend's wedding. 

The ceremony was outdoors and the reception was in a big barn on the property, complete with yard games and a campfire.

Enjoying the home-brewed beer.

Meghan and Aaron.

    

We had a great time at both weddings but needless to say we both had to take a day off today (I only missed one short class but Aaron wasn't happy to call in sick for the first time in almost two years).