Christmas Decorations

When I went to Mike's (in Columbus, OH) for Thanksgiving, I brought Christmas decorations with me. Since we're spending Christmas at his house, I wanted to make sure that we had a pretty tree. So, here we are, decorating.

Here's the tree fully decorated but without any presents underneath. Now there are many! I'll be sure to post more photos of us opening all those presents!

Mike has a window opening between the kitchen and the family room, and we thought it was a good place to display the mustached men. Mike's dad bought the middle one, which is a candy jar. I had the nutcracker one and the one on the horse-rocker. Now that these three are together, I thought names were appropriate: Francois (the nutcracker), Luigi (middle), and Hans-Peter (German rocking horse one).

Hans-Peter looks a little mad. Is it because he's on a rocking horse or because he's the smallest of the mustached men?! :-)

Thanksgiving at Mike's

Thanksgiving this year was at Mike's new house, and we celebrated the first big meal with a nice bottle of champagne (or sparkling wine, I didn't check the label). So, here's everyone raising their glasses for a toast. Mike's mom and dad are on the left, and his brother Steven and Steven's girlfriend, Alison, are on the right.

Now isn't this a nice photo -- men in the kitchen getting the coffee and dessert ready? I thought it was cool, because we women were talking at the table, and the Reale men were in the kitchen.

Survey: Americans Fail Civic Test

I came across this site (see link below) from one of my Facebook friends. I took the test and scored a 94% (I missed two). I thought it was an interesting test; it's too bad that most people fail it. I actually teach some of the concepts in this test in my comparative politics courses, so I hope that some of my students would have learned some recently. Anyway, I just thought I'd post this for those who are interested.

Oh, and you don't have to tell me your score. :-)

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

Park of Roses

Last Saturday, Mike and I took a walk in the Park of Roses. It was a gorgeously sunny, fall day, and I was surprised that the roses were still in bloom.

Now, lookie here who I caught on my flower. :-)

Here's a little splash of fall color for you. Mike spotted this as a potentially great photo, and he was right!

Mike's House

Mike closed on his house this past week, which is so exciting! He won't be moving in until next weekend. It's a large house, built in the 1930s and enlarged in the early 1990s. It's in the Clintonville neighborhood, which is one of the most sought after in Columbus.

The previous owners had some nice landscaping. There are even basil and some tomatoes out front (behind the shrubs).

He'd like to spruce up some of the rooms with more updated colors, so I took a bunch of "before" photos so we can later compare them with the "after" photos. The kitchen will also have to be updated, which is one of his remodeling priorities.

Aunt Claudia & Uncle Bud Visit Grand Rapids!

Early in September, my aunt and uncle came to visit me in Florida and were my first relatives to visit me since I moved into the house. We had a great visit. I'm posting here a couple of photos and am waiting for Aunt Claudia to send me the rest. I'm hoping that this post might serve as a little reminder for her. :-) Her son (my cousin) just got married recently, so she's been busy with guests and all.

Mike was able to meet them, as he came to Grand Rapids briefly after visiting his parents in Arizona.

Aunt Claudia sent me the teapot for my birthday, not knowing that I already had the butterfly in a similar style.

Jason's Visit from Australia

My friend, Jason, whom I know from graduate school, came to visit me early in September for a weekend. He was in the middle of trips, and Grand Rapids was on the way. Unfortunately, it rained all weekend long, so I wasn't very keen to drag my camera out. We had some nice food at a restaurant called Naya, where fusion food and tapas are a hit. It was a great weekend to visit with Jason. Plus, he got to see my housie and my kitties!