HAPPY HALLOWEEN

In honor of it being Halloween today, please enjoy the new preview of Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince!




Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween! Pictures to come later this weekend from the costume party we will be attending tonight.

What's there to blog about?

Every night this week Josh has been asking me if I am going to post something new on our blog. And every night I repsond with, I just don't feel like blogging. I don't really have anything to blog about. But when I opened up our blog and saw my last post was from last Friday, I figured I probably should post about something tonight.

So I made myself a cup of hot tea, wrapped myself in my favorite yellow blanket (one of my favorite gifts from Josh's mother), and sat down with my laptop on my lap and here I am. . . . . .

There really isn't a whole lot exciting going on in our lives this week. Which to be honest, I LOVE weeks like this. I sometimes find I make myself too busy and I don't get to enjoy my evenings with Josh. I have made two new recipes this week, winter minestrone soup and tacos made with ground byson. Byson you say? Yes, byson. The minetrone is a wonderfully hearty veggie soup perfect for this time of year. Yummy zuchini and acorn squash are just a few of the veggies in this dish. Josh enjoyed it also and I'm sure I'll make it again but I may try to put my own twist on it. As for the tacos, Camille has been telling me about cooking with byson ever since I met her. Apparently, it is very lean. After I browned the byson, I added frozen spinach, salsa, and cheese (we had this dish at one of our small group gatherings and I Loved it!).  And Josh has requested tacos again next week. I sometimes forget how much I enjoy Mexican food.

Erie had it's first snow yesterday. Nothing major and nothing stuck. There was a bit more snow today and I heard south of us got a couple inches of snow. Right now, I am excited for snow I just hope I feel this way in a couple of months.

Josh and I are invited to a Halloween party this Friday. We finally nailed down what we will be dressing up as (I think), but I still need to go out and gather a few things for the costume. It's pretty rainy/slushy out tonight and I didn't feel like going out. Definitely a night to stay home and cozy up with a good book (Harry Potter 4). Which is what I am going to do right now. But let me just leave you with these pictures of Halloween past....

 

Sophomore year of college - 80s dancer

 
 

Senior year of college - I was a fairy and Josh Albert Einstein. 

Happy Birthdays!!!

Josh and I want to give a few shout outs to our nephew Holden who turned 2 yesterday, and to our niece Audrey who turned 1 today! We were sad we weren't able to celebrate their birthdays with them (Holden lives in Michigan and Audrey lives in North Carolina), but we are sure they had a great time celebrating with their family and friends.

Check out our Ho-man

This is when we first met little Audrey at Thanksgiving last year.

 

These are pictures from her birthday party today with her beautiful mother Aimee. 

  

Can I have more icing on my cake please?

Happy Birthday Holden and Audrey! We prayed the Lord would lay his hand and blessings on your lives. We love you lots and lots and can't wait to see you at Christmas!!

Welcome to the weekend!

Take a look at what I came home to today after work. I'm guessing my husband knew I needed a little pick-me-up if I was arriving home 30 minutes late on a Friday. 

Had to cover up our address for safety. =) I thought the leaf was quite festive. 

Good guess Josh. This work week can be summed up in two words....crazy busy. Aside from dealing with a few crazy customers we had our duct cleaning machine stolen right out of our parking lot. 

We even had to call the police to file a report. I'm sure whoever stole didn't really know what they were stealing. It looks like a utility trailer that you attach to the back end of a truck. We kid at work that we're kind of glad it's gone because our guys hate doing duct cleaning (it is a pretty gross job). But seriously, we are heartbroken over our loss. 

On a happier note.....welcome to the weekend!!!

Early Retirement

If there was any game this season to have worn shin guards, this would have been the one. 

Josh and I had our last soccer game this Monday night. I definitely had mixed emotions about ending our short two month season of soccer. I'm really happy I was able to have this experience with Josh.   I'm always asking Josh to do things with me that I love, so I'm really glad we were able to do something together that he really loves. And I felt that with each game I was getting more confident about touching the ball and having people pass the ball to me. But I will be glad to join our small group again as we weren't able to go to small group since most of our games fell on a Tuesday night.

Unfortunately, we did not win our last game, we actually got creamed. The team we played was from a local hospital here in Erie and I was told this team has been playing together for quite a few years. On top of playing a pretty tough team, we were missing some people on our team. LECOM first year's had their anatomy shelf exam the following day (Tuesday) so a lot of our teammates did not show up. Aside from Nataliya and myself, the other three girls on our team did not show up because of the exam but they were the only girls on our team with real soccer experience. We found another girl to sub for us (since you have to have 3 girls on the field during the whole game) but that left Nataliya, the new girl sub, and myself playing the whole game. There was another game this season that I had to play the whole time so I wasn't too worried about not having a sub, I was more worried with the lack of experience on the field between Nataliya and myself and our opponents.

It was definitely a rough game, though Josh said this was probably the best game I've played all season. I might doubt that a little considering the score at the end of the game and the fact that I played on defense the whole game. Nataliya and I played defense together and you can check out our mad defensive skills in the picture below:

 Don't let Nataliya's small stature make you think she is not going to be any trouble on the field.
She is fierce and she can bring it. Watch out!
 

 True soccer pose style with our foot on the ball. Even in her soccer gear, Nataliya looks totally chic.

A special thank you shout out to Camille and Brooke for coming out to our last came to cheer us on! You two are the best and I hope you know how much I appreciated your support! Thanks you so much!

Asbury Woods

Today I went on a hike with my friend Camille through a few different trails in Asbury Woods. Apparently, Asbury Woods is like 5 minutes from my house. How did I not know this? Weather permitting, this is exactly how I'd like to spend my Saturday mornings. Even though it was a bit chilly out, it felt so refreshing to be outside. And, Asbury Woods was B-E-A-UUUTIFUL! Oh my goodness the trees were amazing. It's funny because I've grown up and lived in the midwest (is Erie considered midwest???) my whole life and have never missed seeing the leaves change during Autumn. Why is it this year my eyes are opened to the beauty of God's creation in the changing of the leaves? Whatever that reason might be, all I've got to say is, Very nice work this year Jesus on the trees. Really, you might have outdone yourself this year. Anyways...Camille and I used to work out a couple times a week together, but as of late we haven't  been so good about that. But no worries. Today we probably walked between 4-5 miles, so we were able to make up for some lost time. 


Like I said, our hike was beautiful....

Camille brought her dog Powers along for the hike. 

Powers checked out quite a few trees along the trail. 

Look at all of the leaves that have fallen!

We were only lost for a little bit towards the end of our hike. But thanks to Camille's excellent sense of direction, she got us back to her car. 

Thanks again Camille for the great hike and opening up my eyes to Asbury woods! What are your thoughts on going next weekend????

North East, PA

Last Saturday, Josh and I ventured up to North East, PA for the first time. It was only about a 30 minute drive and let me tell you, the drive was amazing! We took the scenic route up Alt. Rt. 5 and drove right along Lake Erie the entire time. The colors from the trees seemed to really pop last weekend. Aside from being on the warm side, it was the most beautiful fall day. I'm not sure I would have been able to say this a year and a half ago when we first moved up here to Erie, but during our ride up to North East, Josh and I were thanking the Lord for placing us in Erie during his time in med-school. We do live in a beautiful part of the county, I just hope I'll be saying this in a month when the snow begins. 

Anyways...Josh and I found a cute little coffee shop to have lunch. We both were very pleased with our lunches, and as long as my man is fed and happy, I'm happy. And after lunch we meandered in and out of the local shops. Josh did spend some time at an antique store talking with owner about his extensive collection of old coins. Josh said he could have spent an entire afternoon talking with the man. We were happy to give him a bit of business.

 

 

  

This is in the basement of the antique store, lots of old action figures. 

Don't worry Marcky, Josh found you a little something special, but he said he will only give it to you as long as you promise not to take it out of the packaging to play with it.  

Before we headed home, we stopped at a local vineyard for a little wine tasting. Not too bad for my first winery. We purchased a bottle of their sangria and headed on home.

  

  

 

See the lake? 

Highlights from the weekend are definitely the beautiful drive up north and the lots of quality time I was able to have with my husband. 

My plea to whoever makes the schedule for the exams at LECOM: Can you please continue to have exams on Fridays so us wives/husbands can continue to have the weekends with our husbands/wives? They work so hard during the week, we work so hard during the week, can't you at least give us our weekends?!

Birthday Party

First, let me start off this blog by thanking my wonderful husband for making my birthday so incredibly special!!! Josh, I know you had a really tough week of preparing for an exam, so I hope you know how much I appreciate your time and thoughtfulness you put into making my birthday special.

Here are a few pictures from the party last Friday night. To view a few more pics please visit Camille's blog here.

 

Josh got me a cookie cake for the party. I don't think many know this about me but I absolutely love cookie cakes! Even though we sent some cake home with a few friends, we are still enjoying the cookie cake. 

 

Brooke, me, Camille, and Sharon. Both Brooke and Camille's husbands are in med-school and I know Sharon through small group at church. Thank you all for coming and Brooke it was great to meet your mother. I hope she didn't mind coming to the party for a bit.

In honor of my mother, Josh got me a birthday sign. For every birthday my mother ALWAYS displayed a happy birthday sign in our house. She was upset she forgot to bring it with her last weekend but so proud of Josh for getting one for the party.

 

I forgot to mention, Josh got all of us party hats and a special pink cheetah hat for me along with a birthday sash.  Med-school wives...

Elizabeth, Christie (her husband is a resident in Erie, Nataliya, Sarah, & Camille. These women are wonderful. We have been meeting weekly for a Bible study and to just talk about what is going on in each other's lives while we journey together on the road of med-school. They are a great group of girls and a huge blessing from the Lord.

These are the balloons Josh picked out for me to add to his party decorations. They are actually still going strong in our living room (along with the birthday sign). I wish you all could know the amazing man I am married to. He makes everything so much fun! Even though he thoroughly embarrassed me during our game of Catch Phrase. Let's just say you had to be there. Yikes!

Update from last weekend...

I am a bit behind on my blogging but no worries. With my busy week, I completely forgot to post pictures from last weekend when my parents were in town. Now that Josh and I live far away from our families, we really try to cherish the time we are able to spend with them. And last weekend we were blessed with a lot of quality time with them.

On Saturday afternoon we went to Wegman's for lunch. Josh was a little hesitant at first to have lunch at our local grocery store, but since it was my birthday, he didn't try to talk my out of it. I told him to trust me and let me just say he was pleasantly surprised. Wegman's Cafe had quite a large selection of food for us to choose from. My mother and I enjoyed food from their wokery (Asian food), Josh of course had pizza (which was muy delicioso), and leave it to my father to put together the most well balanced healthy meal.

After our lunch we grabbed some coffee and tea from Wegman's coffee bar, and then my parents treated Josh and I to some groceries. Thank you Mommy and Papa!

After our Wegman's trip, Josh and my father enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of watching college football while my mother and I went to Mason Farms for pumpkins and mums. When we arrived at Mason Farms, we discovered they were having their harvest fest called Pumpkin Town! Pumpkin town is definitely geared towards little kids, but we really enjoyed ourselves. After picking out our pumpkins and mums we checked out their little fest and it was so cute. They had a little area to feed goats and sheep, you could get your face painted, a mini corn maze, and a Harry Potter scare house. My mom really wanted me to go through the Harry Potter scare house but as we were walking past it, we over heard a little boy say he was really scared. I told my mom I'll wait and go through it with Josh. Here are a few pictures from Mason Farms.

 

  

  

This is Harry Potter...his head is pumpkin that someone airbrushed a face on. They had a lot of other pumpkin characters around Mason Farms...Dora the Explorer, Blues Clues, Veggie Tales, Shrek, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

We just couldn't resist.

  

My beautiful mother. 

Our bounty....

We split these peppers. Super yummy!!! 

Concord grapes, a fall favorite. Okay, did anyone ever call these snot grapes when you were growing up? Because I did. I know it sounds totally disgusting but the texture is kind of like snot. But they are so so so good! They weren't around for too long.  

After our trip to Mason Farms we headed out for dinner at a new restaurant in Fairview called Peppinos. This restaurant was a huge hit with my family! The food was amazing, very authentic and very very fresh. It's definitely a restaurant to go to when the parents are in town since it is a bit pricey. Josh ordererd linguine with clams and here is a pic of his clam shells. 

We waited to have dessert at home since Gammie sent me a fresh pineapple upside down cake (one of my favorite cakes) with my parents.

 

 Of course I had to sneak a little bit from the corner right when my parents arrived. It was so so so good. My lonely candle on top of the cake sings "happy birthday" to you when you twist it. An embarrassing Belcastro tradition, but my mother insists. And secretly, I am happy she does. 

A great great weekend with my family. I'll try to post pictures of my birthday party and weekend with Josh as soon as I can. Thanks for reading!

I plum forgot...

Am I aleady getting forgettful in my old age? All I can say is I just forgot. I made banana bread yesterday after work around 6pm. When the timer went off they still needed a couple more minutes. I honestly feel like I set the timer again so I wouldn't forget to take them out before I left for my girls' group. But around 9:30pm, Brooke said something that made me think of food and I remembered then. I called Josh to turn the oven off and take them out. I can't even begin to tell you how upset and STUPID I felt. Then I felt even more upset that I was crying about it. No big deal, so I burned some bread, it's not the end of the world. But I still feel pretty dumb. Praise the Lord my townhouse didn't catch on fire.

I called my mother to vent and I always feel better when I talk to my mommy. She reminded me of the time when she turned the oven off on a Thanksgiving when we had over 20 people at our house for dinner. We had to call around Dayton to find a turkey to feed 20 people. She assured me that everyone has a duh moment when cooking, except for Gammie (her mother). She doesn't think Gammie has ever had a duh moment while cooking.

Oh, and my two pans are still soaking in my sink. What can I say? I just plum forgot.