Life with Zak and Rachel.: A Rainy October Starts

It has been raining a lot lately, which is fine, because that means snuggling, soups and hot drinks. And I'm a fan of that. It's nice that it is finally starting to feel like fall. We are hoping to go pick apples at an orchard about 30 minutes away the next chance we get. I grew up going apple picking up in Sonoma (an hour north of my town, just west of Napa, in wine country) every fall. I have such good memories from those trips, eating apples and cheese in the park downtown and visiting all the orchards with my family. I haven't been able to go back since I've been in college and married, so I'm really hoping Zak and I are able to go pick apples ourselves soon! I can almost taste the apple crisp now...

Zak has been doing well with school, his grades are all good. Although it has been a bit of a stressful week or so for him, trying to get everything done for school, and the regional manager was visiting work last week, so that added to everything. But he's getting it done and I am doing my best to not be nagging, but gently reminding him of everything that needs to get done.

Work has been going alright for me. A few weekends ago it was U of I's Dad's Weekend, so those nights were absolute mayhem. Last weekend it was U of I's Homecoming (we lost), which was busy, but not so busy I about had a panic attack. This weekend it's WSU's Homecoming and then it will be not so crazy for a week or so. I'm finally getting into the swing of things, and it's fun working with just about everyone there.

Next month, my brother Kenny and Zak's sister Delaney will be coming up to visit for Thanksgiving! We are all super excited to see them, even for a brief amount of time. They'll stay with us and we will go visit the grandparents in WA for Thanksgiving. I don't know what my work schedule will be, but I'm sure Zak will have to be at work early for Black Friday (the joys of retail, right?). Nevertheless, we are glad we'll be able to see our siblings for a few days.

We recently found out that we are going to be very lucky and spend Christmas and my birthday in California with my family! My mom mentioned it in an e-mail and once we cleared the dates with our bosses, my parents got the tickets as a gift for us! I am beyond thrilled, because I had thought that going back home for Christmas was basically impossible, because we can't afford it and we already used up vacation time for Zak when we went home in the summer. But my parents really wanted us to be able to spend a Christmas as an intact family, now that Kenny is home and not on a phone in Sweden, because it probably won't happen too much after this year. But let's not think about that. I am so happy that I can't help myself from listening to Christmas music (I usually restrain myself to wait until the day after Thanksgiving, but not this year). And don't get me wrong, Zak is happy too. It'll be nice to be out of the snow and be a little bit pampered by everyone. And I'm very excited to have a family birthday! So we are looking forward to that. I might even make some kind of countdown because I am still so giddy.

Other news, hmm. Oh, Zak bought me a beautiful 'harvest' bouquet after an awful weekend at work. He is such a good husband to me. :) Zak has been loving his weights that he got with some birthday money. I've been doing some weight exercises as well on my days off, and it's nice to see some progress for both of us.
Oh, I know! Our friend Bryan bought a baby pig for his boyfriend, Chad (Zak's co-worker) as a surprise early birthday gift! We went over to their place for dinner the other night and got to see the cute pig. He's 8 weeks old and very warm, and likes to snuggle and sleep on laps. He's so cute, and I think the name 'Hampton' is going to stick for him. We would love to get a piggy if we had the money or were allowed to, but it's nice to be able to go over to our friends' place and see their cute pets. Here are some pictures!