How To Hike in Brown County

After being cooped up in the house all last weekend, I couldn't spend another full day in the house. So on Saturday Al and I headed down to Brown County for some time out of the house! The leaves are so beautiful this time of year that I would go just to see them. But, I knew I couldn't get Alex to drive an hour fifteen to see changing leaves. Therefore, I threw in the idea of hiking.

Once there, we swerved and curved and peaked and valleyed until we reached the Brown County State Park. We drove through a good portion of the park until we reached the nature center. I was lured there with the promise of turtles, birds, and other wildlife. I expected the wildlife to be live, but most of it was stuffed. Besides a little area to watch birds and a snake, everything else was a decade or two old and not alive. We were there for 5 minutes before heading for the trail.

The trail started off downhill and wound around and around. We reached a huge staircase that we would eventually have to climb back up, but I was determined to get to the lake at the bottom. We continued to the bottom, where a serene lake waited. We stopped for a break before making the lap around the lake.

through the trees

the lake

whoa belly!

We lapped the lake and rested a bit before heading uphill. I knew that we'd eventually have to trek those stairs, so we paced ourselves. Uphill and pregnant is not fun...trust me! Here are the stairs from the bottom (left) and midway up (right):

Boy was it rough! However, not much longer and we were finished. Both of us were tired from the hike and ready to get home. We took a different home, which happened to take us right by the Edinburgh outlet mall. After a short bit of time at the Adidas (Alex) and Motherhood Maternity (Amber) stores, we hopped back on the interstate. With a short stop at a Whiteland apple orchard (I would not recommend), we were home by 6. All in all we had a nice day together and got some exercise in! If you do have a chance, get to Brown County before the leaves are all gone!

Happy Hiking!
--Am

How To Carve a Pumpkin

In order to carve a pumpkin, you must first find the perfect one! For me, this is very hard to do. I love the round ones that are symmetrical. I blame it on the accountant in me. Anyway, we went to our local pumpkin patch and selected three pumpkins, of which only one was large enough for carving. So, I had last Monday off and decided to tackle the carving.

I usually don't have any creativity when it comes to making faces, so I went to the internet. I searched for pumpkin carving patterns and up popped BHG.com. After taking a short quiz, it directed me to some stencils I might like. Find them here. The one I chose is located under Seasonal Fall Pumpkin Stencils. I wanted one that wasn't too hard, but wasn't super corny either, so I went for a scarecrow. After the stencil was printed and newspaper was laid, it was time to get to cutting, scooping, carving, and roasting.

 

the tools

Alex was kind enough to cut off the top for me. I saved all the carving tools from a kit I purchased a couple years ago. This kit included a fancy scooper to get all the insides out. I kind of actually like how the insides feel, which is really gross and weird. But, I still like how it feels between my fingers. I scraped the inside clean and put the guts in a bowl to collect the seeds. Once gut-free, I taped the stencil to the outside and got carving. For the parts to be hollowed out, I outlined what I was going to cut by using the poker. For the shaded parts, I used the roller. These were a great outline for when the stencil was taken off. 

 the stenciled pumpkin

 geez hallie! clean that mess up.

Once off, I used the smaller carver to cut through the areas to be hollowed out. I used the large carver to finish the spots that I couldn't get all the way off with the smaller carver. For the shaded areas, I used the smaller carver to give me a start. Then I took the scraper (kind of looks like a hook), and started to shade away. It was important not to dig too deep so not to take off the whole piece. Overall, it only took me an 1 1/2 hours from start to finish. And I'm so happy with how it turned out!!

oooooooh...scary

dang, I'm good :)

Happy Carving!

--Am

Oh and of course you have to roast the seeds...YUM!

How To Have Disturbing Dreams

Lately, I've been remembering my dreams more than I normally would. When you're pregnant, you often wake up during the middle of the night to use the restroom, find a comfortable position, or hit the dog for stepping on (and scratching) your already tender boob. And they say that when you wake up from a dream, you're more likely to remember said dream. As all my dreams usually are, the ones of late have been influenced by tv, friends, work, and recent conversations. However, these are more vivid and scarier than I can remember.

Here's an example: SyFy is currently running it's 31 Days of Halloween where lots and lots of scary or supposedly scary films are shown. One of my favorites is Wrong Turn. So, when I saw there was a Wrong Turn 2 and 3, I instantly set the DVR for them to record. As I expected, both were absolutely terrible, but for some reason, I love that junk! Bad acting, gore, awful story lines, it's all awesome! The only downside was I found myself running through the woods, half naked, being chased by deformed creature-people in the middle of the night. It was not so much fun waking up to this and a missing Alex at 2:20 in the morning. I was happy that I still had 3 1/2 hours to sleep, but would have been even happier if I could have fallen asleep right away and not have dreamed about these incestuous creature-people. Vampires would have been better. I mean, at least we know they aren't real, right?! 

Another example: one of my close friends and going through a rough patch and I haven't spoken to her in quite a bit. I have no idea what she's going through, so my mind has started to create stories as to what's going on. I have had FOUR separate dreams about her. Knowing this friend, the stories are so extreme and things that she would never, ever, ever, ever do! I mean, an affair, murder, tax evasion (must have been a work-induced thought) and an unwanted pregnancy.

So, what's the moral of the story? Don't make this the most exciting part of my day or consume my every thought. I mean, I refuse to cut out those movies or stop worrying about my friends, but I need to focus my non-work thoughts elsewhere. Any suggestions on where that should be?

Happy Dreaming!

--Am

How To Start a New Job

Most of you know that I started a new job about three weeks ago. One of my good friends is moving to Florida and therefore, leaving her position open. She had asked me back in June if I was interested and at first, I said no, thinking how happy I was at my then current job. Then I thought a little bit about it and realized that the best part about my current job was the people. The rest was just stress, stress, stress. So, I went back to her and said, "you know what? I am interested. Tell me all about it!" And over the course of two months, I turned in my resume, was called in for two separate interviews, and was offered the job of Accounting Manager for Park Tudor School. And no, I'm not going to be teaching any classes or taking over the former AM's job of Volleyball Coach. That would just be bad news for everyone!

I was ecstatic! Everything about the job seemed perfect with the exception of a longer drive. But, hey, it is mostly interstate and not at all bad. I broke the news to Heartland and gave a little over two weeks notice. My first day at PT was Monday, Sept. 12th. I was so excited and nervous at the same time--just like the first day of school. :) Everyone I met was awesome and I was settling in great at my first day. The only problem was that I had to tell the CFO of my pregnancy. Yep, I didn't say anything during the interview process as I didn't want that to sway the decision in any way. I knew I'd be perfect for it, pregnant or not. So, on my first day, I broke it to her that I was 14 weeks along. It went a little something like this (speaking very quickly)..."So, I'm not really sure how to say this, but this isn't how I wanted to start, but I'm 14 weeks pregnant." Whew! She was very understanding and understood that it was going to happening sooner or later, just a little sooner than expected. All in all, it was a good conversation. And it just so works out that part of my leave is expected to be over spring break, which is two weeks. 

I've been there three weeks now and things are going very well! Not only are the people extremely fantastic, but I have almost two months learning the ropes from the person who has done the job the past couple years. It also helps that we are super good friends. Thanks so much Sarah! Without her help, easing into the job would not have been as smooth as it has been. Also, without her, I wouldn't have a had this opportunity in the first place. I owe it all to Sarah and can't say thank you enough!!  I'm just going to be sad when she leaves :(

To all of you looking for jobs, I hope you're as lucky as I have been and have something fantastic fall in your lap!

Happy Job Hunting!
--Am