Our friends who can sympathize with a mixed-hemisphere relationship–Mike is Australian and Kelly is Pennsylvanian. They were excited to find out that they would both be “ex-pats” at one point or another, which sounds pretty glamorous!

And since I have a picture of it…here is the eggplant Parmesan we had for dinner. I think I made enough since we ate it for at least 3 more meals…

Since Sally has now made a full 9 posts, I thought it was time I made an appearance. Unfortunately Sally has already used our most recent photos, which are about all that’s actually interesting in a bl*g anyway, so I’ll just have to snap some pictures of things around the house.

This pumpkin is probably the most appropriate, given that it’s Halloween. Also features an apple and a bottle of Tylenol. In case any of my friends don’t know, I’m currently in the U.S. still, but we’re both moving to New Zealand in January. This means it’s my last chance to do any traditional American/Fall activities, carving a pumpkin being one of them (although actually Sally gets the credit for the work of art below).

As well as carving pumpkins, Americans also enjoy getting lost in corn mazes. This is pretty much what it sounds like – a maze through a cornfield. Unfortunately I forgot my camera that day, so here is a random picture from the web to give you the idea.

Our experience was particularly challenging because the maze was cut in a certain pattern, and we had to try and draw that pattern as we walked through it, and then compare our result with the aerial photograph. She gave us a clue that it was a random combination of numbers and letters, and I did pretty well identifying a J, G, 1, T and L. What she didn’t mention was that there was also a celtic cross, something like this one, and not surprisingly it was unlike and letter or number I could think of. 

And that’s about all I have to say for today. By the way, if you noticed my reference to “bl*g” at the start, it’s because this site isn’t actually a blog. Sally describes blogs as “boring drivel that nobody reads” and wants no association with them. I did notice the insidious appearance of the word somewhere down in the page footer, but no doubt the michigander will quickly eradicate it now that I’ve brought it to her attention. So I’ll write more on this “site” another day.

After a stormy hour plus a few non-stormy hours of driving, we arrived at the VandeBunte’s home in D.C. They were nice enough to put us up in their living room, and Jordy fed us French toast with homemade bread and bagels! We spent Saturday trying out some of the many beers at the Oktoberfest. I think that we were in Virginia.

We had a yummy dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and I forgot the name. Did it translate to “the buddies” or something? Anyway, it was super fun, and we got a deluxe tour of some monuments at night, including the White House, the Jefferson memorial, and the Capitol building.

I don’t have a picture of it, but we almost, kind-of saw VP Joe Biden! We were stopped near his house so the motorcade could go through his driveway, and he must have been in one of the two black limos passing through. It was fun to see all of the different embassies and residences. On Sunday, we had a nice hike around the Roosevelt memorial island. I think he got the best deal–a whole island for his memorial! Here is a picture of our lovely hosts doing their best impression of a family photo:)

To quote Aunt JoEllen, “We ate our way through Ann Arbor.” Obviously, that included Weber’s grill, Zingermann’s (both the deli and the newer Roadhouse restaurant), Pizza House, and Stucchi’s. We played a different board game each night, and took a dip in the moderately-warm tub in the hotel.

We went for a walk in Gallup Park, which was cool, but nice with the sun. Of all the time I spent in Ann Arbor, this past weekend was my first visit to that park!

After walking around the State Street shops and having a delicious lunch at Cosi, we stopped by the new addition to the UM Museum of Art. Most of the museum was closed on Monday, but luckily the museum store was open, where we spent a lot of time!

I had to include this picture from Uncle Eric–who knew corn got this tall??

Charles’ parents came to Pittsburgh for his PhD defense. In between thesis-related activities, we took a trip to Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright house South of Pittsburgh, visited the botanic gardens, and ate some crepes, and played some nertz. We flew to Chicago where we met his sister, and spent the night there (…and most of the next day waiting for bags…) Luckily, Charles and I got to spend some of that time with friends Becky and Mike, who took us to a great breakfast place near Millenium Park, “Yolk.”

We headed for Whitehall when our bags finally arrived and had beautiful weather the whole time!

Frank and Wayne on the sailboat.

Charles even braved the chilly Lake Michigan water.

The group had dinner at Michillinda and enjoyed a game of shuffleboard before the meal.

Mom and Uncle Eric; she’s resting after an exciting sailboat ride and he’s relaxing after taking all those beautiful pictures–Thank you!

I woke up early enough to see the sunrise on our last morning in Whitehall (this pic was taken by Uncle Eric earlier in the week).

Although the weather didn’t look great for last Saturday, we decided to keep with our plan to go hiking with friends Amanda and Nate about an hour North of Pittsburgh. We were able to take shelter at the old mill during the worst part of the downpour and even got a tour!

Hiking at McConnell's Mill

World Time Map & Clock – Check Current Local Time Around the World

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Here’s a look at the outside of my new workplace! (I really don’t know where I’ll be working, but I think its somewhere in this building or nearby!)

I’ll be working at a general genetics clinic in Wellington, NZ, as a Genetic Associate (Genetic Counselor) as of Feb. 1.

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Here’s the poster Sally made me to advertise my PhD defense.