Friday, October 07, 2011

Still Alive!

It has been a very long while...

The summer is over and autumn is here already. It's October and I'm not exactly sure how that happened. The easiest way to retrace my steps is to look at the memory card from my camera. In order from oldest to most recent:

I went to a great music festival with my friend Allen. The festival, called Fieldview, is small and low key, but full of great music and activities. Extra bonus, my friend Lewis (car camping in New Zealand and trip last year to see him in Norway) helps to organize the event. It was a really good time. Lots of hanging out, eating, and listening to music.

I spent a week in the US for work. I was able to make it to some historical sites in the Baltimore area that I had never been to before. The picture above is from Fort McHenry, of Star Spangled Banner fame. Since I live in England, I had the honor of placing the British ships and troops. For a while there I thought I was going to win, but the US ended up claiming victory.

I finally finished my heated floor and then decided to paint the bathroom walls. While at the store, I bought paint for the hallway, living room, and kitchen, as well. Months later, I only have one room left, which I hope to finish this weekend. Painting is way more time consuming than one would think.

I went back to the US for two weeks of vacation. I spend some time on my land, preparing it for a camping trip that never happened due to rainy weather.

We went to the cabin for our yearly trip. We figured out the math: we have been going for 15 years. Half of our lives (we had a professional portrait taken to commemorate. I will be sure to post that once available).
We spent a lot of time hanging out and enjoying the cool but dry weather. September is a great time to go to the UP.


I got to catch up with my good friends from the grade school/high school (and still current!) days (and Tomollie, but I lump them in the "old friends" category).


I spent some time with family, as well.


On my last day in Wisconsin, I forced my parents into a manual labor scenario. We cleared trees and branches, cut grasses and weeds, made a trail to the river, and hung out by the water for a bit. I didn't end up buying a canoe like I was originally planning, but some day I will. Seeing as I only go there once per year, and I don't know how often a canoe would get used, it probably doesn't make sense to buy one now.