tis the season

hey! look at me blogging three days in a row...pretty impressive, huh?!

yesterday was beautiful - mid sixties and sunny...would have been nice to have had that instead of mid 30s and windy for our turkey day run, but whatever.

we took the opportunity to get our first missouri christmas tree! last year we were in the middle of uprooting our lives so we missed out on getting a tree, but the year before we had lots of fun at the tree farm.

we went to starr pines christmas tree farm and for a split second thought we could have been in Oregon. but then we looked at the horizon and saw brown. we knew then that we were still in missouri.

seriously! can you believe this weather?! the little tractor takes you out to the trees

all ready with the saw! he is so freakin' cute! i kind of love him. kind of.

ok so. it was a whole new world of christmas tress. no douglas fir or noble firs...kind of insane, right? we persevered, but it was hard. all the trees were either really small or really huge and they all had lots of holes!

this is the winner. he is kind of huge (over 8 feet), but we were getting tired of looking and he is almost perfect.

we had fun taking lots of pictures. it was so nice out! see that vest that i'm wearing...$10 at old navy! no. big. deal.

TIMBER!

i love him.

man woman and tree

all wrapped up and ready....

... to drive off into the sunset! (dang dirty windshield!)

thanksgiving 2009

yesterday was so much fun! i love cooking on days like this - everything is from scratch and i have all day to make it without feeling like i am neglecting other things. Aaron and Sara joined us so there were four of us. It was nice having them over - took the sting of not being with family away.

the spread! it was all so so good. we used all of the same recipes as last year and had just as much success. i think these recipes will be with us for the rest of our thanksgivings...we both love them so much!

all pro turkey carver this year!

sara & aaron. they are so fun - after dinner we played guesstures and laughed pretty hard!

i found the wishbone and asked grant if he wanted to break it with me. he had never heard of this?!?! isn't that crazy? after things were explained it took us three attempts to actually break the bone - it kept slipping out of our hands!

i got the larger half, but i can't tell you what i wished for!

we hope your day was great too!

love, dr & mrs simmons

today i am thankful for

• a husband who loves me unconditionally, knows me inside and out, and thinks i look less beautiful in make-up and heels
• friends who know just what to say and how to say it
• family that love and take care of us from afar
• our home...this little plot of land is so good
• happiness...it is sometimes elusive, but SO worth the hunt
• balance...btw work/school/love/life/craft
• the ability to cook a wonderful meal with friends
• the ability to be active...i sometimes fight it, but it always feels so good. in fact, we already ran a 10K this morning!!

happy thanksgiving!

wedding quilt

{photo courtesy of simple beans}

check out the finished wedding quilt...are you in awe?!

i love my ducks!

in honor of another great weekend to be a duck! so funny, huh??

rocheport ride

we have had AMAZING weather here the past several days... 75ish, clear, and sunny! since our anniversary we have wanted to rent bikes and ride from Columbia to a little town called Rocheport. Its about 15 miles away and there are trails that run the whole route.

if we had taken this ride about two weeks ago it would have been really beautiful with all the fall leaves, but the brown midwest winter is starting to set in. we really enjoyed riding by the river and the weather made up for any lack in color.

it took us about 2 hours each way and we hung out in Rocheport for about 2 hours as well. we were SO happy to enjoy lunch at this kitschy little restaurant called Abigail's the restaurant reminded us of home and the food was amazing. we will for sure be going back.



it was so nice to spend the day doing something fun and active just the two of us. life has been way too busy and stressful lately so this was a much needed day. we REALLY want to buy bikes now...hopefully in the spring!




hope you all had a great weekend too! ta ta for now!