So much to update!

So, life's been a bit busy, and thus, we have not updated our blog in quite a few months!

First of all, we have been happily living in our new apartment for almost 4 months now! We have definitely enjoyed getting to know our new community as well as taking advantage of the perks of our new place! My two favorite perks are having a washer/dryer in our apartment, and being able to fit ALL of our kitchen stuff in our kitchen! Yay for not having to store utensils and canned goods in our bedroom anymore! Oh yes, and I can practice my violin now without making our neighbors with new-born babies mad!

Here is a picture of my husband enjoying our new apartment while eating a chicken. Yes, a whole chicken!

The move went well, thanks to the *AMAZING* help of our good friends and family! Having a spinal injury means I can't really lift much without risk of re-injuring my back. One thing Scott and I have decided: Next time we move, we are hiring movers.

Here are a few pics from the eventful moving day:

Here is my mom scrapping off my hand-painted ceramic Turkish hot-plates that I got from the shopping market in Istanbul from our toaster! We had been storing the hot-plates on top of our toaster, without thinking the bottoms would melt. (They're supposed to handle heat, right? Well, it turns out only from the top!) Anyways, we still get a slight chemical smell when we toast something, but at least I have my Turkish hot-plates back!

Here are the boys moving our couch! The old apartment complex was so narrow, we had to ask the neighbors across from us if we could open their door to get the couch out of our apartment...what a sight! I'm recalling the same adventure when we were moving the couch into my apartment! You can see in this photo Mike is devising a plan to get the couch out of our apartment!

Scott and I also celebrated the first anniversary of our wedding ceremony! We took a little vacation up to the Cotton Mansion over 4th of July weekend, which was *GEORGEOUS*. It was nice to eat breakfast on the balcony and watch Lake Supperior as well as spending some time hiking the Gooseberry Falls loop. Very romantic! We're already starting to think about a new adventure for this coming summer...we'd love to backpack through Thailand, or Europe, but financially that most likely won't happen. Scott's never been to Canada before, so perhaps we will have to spend some time around the Thunder Bay area.

By the Aerial Bridge in Duluth! I think we had just missed a ship that wasn't supposed to go under the bridge for another hour or two:

Other big news is I have changed jobs! I definitely was not planning on changing jobs right now, but an opportunity to teach at the program in SLP where I came from opened up. It was definitely a tough decision, and I had to decide if I was willing to give up tenure and the students/families I had built a relationship with over the past two years at Kennedy! But, after interviewing, it was clear in my heart that I wanted to go back to my Alma Matter and teach next to my own teachers and former private students. We have a lot planned this year including a trip to New York in April! It will be a lot of work this year, but I am enjoying every minute of it!

A few days before I was officially hired, Scott and I were at his family reunion! While talking about my potential job prospects, these two rainbows appeared behind us!! Anyways, my mother-in-law suggested making a wish/saying a prayer, and it came true! G-d doesn't mess around with his rainbows! My brother-in-law took a picture for me:

The day that I was officially hired, Scott brought me some roses! I also love this photo because its the epitome of my husband!

I'm also playing violin as a sub with the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra! It feels kind of like GTCYS for adults...lol. But, I am having a lot of fun having the opportunity to play with a professional orchestra! And it gives me a reason to practice new music.

Scott is getting pretty excited for the Union Shakedown CD release party on November 13th! Its going to be a pretty big deal, so if you haven't bought your tickets yet, you'd better get on that! I'll be playing with the band that night, and it sounds like most or all of the musicians on the CD will also be there in person to perform!

Overall, the past few months have been filled with nothing but blessings! Between the new apartment, the new job, and living happily ever after, there's not much more a girl could ask for!