New Things!

I often harbor the notion that my life is boring and uneventful now that I'm out of college, but looking back at the past few months, I'm realizing that I actually do interesting things sometimes.

Or it could just be because October is the most important month, full of the best things.  Whatever the explanation, I've had a really fun fall.

I kicked off autumn by sharing in the wedding day of two of my closest friends, Emily and Chuck.

The day could not have been more beautiful.  Blue skies, 65 degrees, a gorgeous outdoor venue, and my family of friends, all together, celebrating the happiness of two of its valued members.

Aside from the wedding, the obvious highlight of any fall is Halloween.  This year, my boyfriend Max and I were on a mission from God.

No, I did not get my four fried chickens ...or my Coke.  But we did take home the award for Best Couples Costume.  It was quite the honor, because we were up against some heavy competition.  Mike Nelson and Tom Servo of MST3K fame, Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction, and Clark Kent and Lois Lane (with a mid-evening costume change into Superman to save a captive Lois), to name a few.  Ahh theater kids.  You gotta raise your standards to keep up around this crew.

Although he staunchly disagrees with me on whether Halloween is the best holiday (which is dumb, because it is.  Obviously.) Max took a break from marching in his one man Christmas Pride Parade to celebrate my favorite holiday with me.  On the actual day, he surprised me after work with pumpkins, a carving kit, an offer of jammies aaaaand The Nightmare Before... *ahem* ....Christmas.  It was a drizzly, cold, rainy night, but it was pretty perfect from where I was standing.

Apart from Halloween activities, we also had a fun-filled day at the orchard wine tasting, eating our body weight in donuts, and getting lost in the corn maze for roughly 20 years.  I was in good company, though, so I didn't mind at all.

Another highlight of October was our trip to see one of my best friends from college, Arielle, who is in her last semester of grad school.  She was performing in her thesis show, which just happened to be one of my very favorite comedies, Noises Off!  I drove down to Western Illinois with Molly, Max, and our other college friend Darion.  It was so great to spend time with some of my dearest friends that I rarely get the opportunity to see anymore, and it was an added bonus, getting to watch Arielle perform.  She is so talented, and I can't wait to see where she goes now that she's almost done with her schooling.  I look forward to saying, "I knew her when..."

Midway through October, I got to stretch my acting muscles again as well, as we started working on the University Wits' fall show.  It was an original piece by my best friend Molly's husband Kyle, called Shadows at the Sanford.  We stepped back in time to Grand Rapids just before the turn of the last century and told a heartfelt story of love that knows no boundaries.  I was proud of my friend for all of his hard work, both writing and directing... plus, I just really liked my costume.

The cast of Shadows at the Sanford

Looking back on my very eventful fall, I have to admit that I'm both lucky and blessed to not only have such fun and exciting opportunities, but also to have such wonderful people with whom to share them.  Hopefully this winter will turn out to be half as good as autumn has been.