on the sly...

Last week when I was returning to my office, I spotted a big, red fox -- right next to the road! Now, I understand I am a city girl, but this was *so* cool. I only had my blackberry, so the pictures aren't spectacular. See if you can spot Mr. (or Miz) Fox:

The relief of rebirth

The sun has been out and the temperature has been decent for two days in a row. You might not think that is much, but I have to share just *how* important this is to me. For the fourth or fifth winter in a row, I became devastatingly hopeless, sick and tired. This wreaked havoc on my relationships, my job and my feeling of self-worth. Ladies and gentlemen, this was the worst case of seasonal affective disorder (aka SAD - a delightfully ironic acronym) in my own personal history. After being what a beloved physician calls "lower than a toad's belly" (I swear, only in Indiana...) I am taking better care of myself, I am getting treated and I feel amazingly better. Not only that, I have a proactive plan for heading this off next year. There was a song that really hit the nail on the head and helped me get through this winter: "November was White, December was Grey" by Say Hi to Your Mom. That, and Ryan's incredible understanding and patience and a surprise package of mix tapes from my friend Gavin.

A lot has changed in the past few months. I got rid of the food dehydrator. It was made of plastic and I am not partial to heating plastic with my food. If a stainless steel dehydrator ever becomes affordable, I am all in. My jam is still good. The beans are still good. Oh -- and I moved to the COUNTRY! Check out this (almost) most rural location: Erie, IN.

Ryan and I got engaged on July 25th. Before it happened, I commented that the date was Christmas in July. Little did I know he would ask the big question that afternoon!

Here is the gorgeous ring Ryan got from my mother. It was her mother's and I used to wear it in undergrad until it broke and I lost the main stone.

Along with moving to the country, Ryan and I have been spending more time in a town nearby, Wabash. Some of our new haunts are: Modoc's and Market Street Grill.

I am so, so glad to be feeling better. And with living in the country, I will have plenty of bECOming Hoosier stories. One that I wish I had photographed while it was happening was the story of our xmas tree, Murray. Yes, he has a name. Ryan took me to a tree farm so we could cut our own tree. We picked it out, had the saw ready and were about to take it down when suddenly I could not do it! I could not kill the tree. Ryan, whom I have already described as patient and understanding, indulged me in procuring a living tree, complete with 300 lb root bulb. It took all the effort of Ryan, my brother, Ryan's good friend (great friend!) Jason and (kind of) me to just get the tree into the car, out of the car and into our home. Murray never got decorated and is still in our living room. He is growing and it will be hard to plant him outside, but I know that's what's best for him. He smells great, though, and I will miss him. Here's a picture of him, although it hardly does him justice.

I will be trying to write more as the spring arrives. Thanks for reading!