Thanks + Giving = Thanksgiving

After class on Wednesday, we hightailed it up to Philly. Though we left at 4:30pm and expected tons of traffic, it only took about 4 hours, which is not bad considering it was the day before Thanksgiving and rush hour.

Stef's sister, Olivia, got to the Kreamer house just before we arrived. We talked around the kitchen table for a while, catching up with Caroline and Catherine, and then we hit the sack, totally tired from the three day week.

We woke up Thanksgiving morning to an hour or two of beauitful snow flurries. Stef and Liv went out to buy some apple cider (Philly almost had an apple cider shortage!) and stopped for coffee on the way back. The coffee place was right next to Jenny and Chris Stanchak's apartment, so we stopped in to drink or coffee and chat a bit. Once we were back at the Kreamer house, it was non-stop kitchen hustling until it was time to eat. Heidi joined from New York, and there were even more curly haired kids in the house.

Jonathan did a great job helping Stefanie make green bean casserole, especially considering green beans are his least favorite vegetable. Olivia did a stellar job making creamy mashed potatoes. See them hard at work below.

Dinner included a big group! Stefanie, Jonathan, Olivia, Catherine, Heidi, Caroline, Tom, 2 grandparents, a great aunt, and Holman and Carolyn joined a bit later. Oh, and 1 dog + 3 cats!

Dessert included Pecan, Pumpkin, and Apple pies, complete with ice cream. After all the food had been eaten, dishes cleaned, and guests seen off, the kiddos played Parcheeze late into the night. Well, Stefanie studied near by while the rest of the gang played.

The next morning consisted of delicious left overs for brunch. Stefanie and Jonathan spent some time studying on Friday, and there was more Parcheeze playing as well. We left Friday evening to get back to DC to do some intense studying. Only 17 days left in the semester and lots to do!

Happy Thanksgiving, blog readers. Let your life be a thanksgiving.

Views from Stefanie's Desk

People say Spring is the best season in DC, but we think late Fall is pretty nice as well. Check out this picture from the late afternoon a week ago. Isn't that red brick color great? This is what Stefanie sees when she looks out the window from her desk.

Despite the beautiful weather, we have not gotten to spend much time outside enjoying it. Good thing we have a great view! A few weeks ago we had a nice chili-cook off with some folks from church in a near by park. It was nippy out, but the chili gave us a great warm feeling.


Stefanie "surprised" Jonathan with some file folders to organize his desk last Friday. Who knew file folders could be such an exciting present? After an hour of desk organizing, Jonathan was beaming at his newly arranged study space and was ready to settle into a work weekend. This picture isn't great, but this is what Stefanie sees when she looks over at her wonderfully productive husband. (notice the coffee cup in hand- it was not planned when taking the picture)


All in all, Stefanie thinks the two views she sees from her desk are pretty nice. And it's a good thing, too, since she seems to spend ALL her time there.

Now it is time to power hard through the next few days, enjoy a little bit of time off for Thanksgiving, and then finish the semester strong. 23 days. But who's counting?

Fall has Fallen

Fall has fallen like a stack of books. Some day in the last 5 weeks summer officially ended and it became cool enough for bath robes in the morning, jackets while walking to school, and house shoes and tea at the end of the day. Going on 5+ months of marriage now and we think it's pretty great.

Halloween came and went and, alas, we did not dress up; though we did exchange ideas about interesting costume options. Here are some throw-back pictures.

Despite a very busy past few weeks, we managed to fit in a few non-study related things. Stefanie has attempted several new cooking recepies with medium to high success rate. This past week has featured a great deal of sweet potatoes in a variety of consistencies. Jonathan found amusement in reading this.

We finally tried out the new tennis court near us. Not exactly pro-court quality, but we both still had fun, and are looking forward to making this a sport we play together forever.

Jonathan has been busy with his course work, which includes lots of projects and partner work, as well as grading papers for his "young scholars." His students should blame the Phillies if they did not do as well in this Economics course as they had thought.

Stefanie is still counting down days until Winter break (5 weeks exactly). For Thanksgiving, we'll be joining the rest of the Kreamer clan in Philly, along with Stefanie's little sister Olivia, for some delicious feasting. Unfortunately, the trip will be cut short as Stefanie has exams that next Monday, and Jonathan as assignments due Tuesday. But, we hope to be back in lovely Philly before Christmas.

Interestingly, both Stefanie and Jonathan have had urges to return to their personal blogs. What to do, what to do? Shall we keep this blog, oh faithful reader(s)? Or shall we keep to our respective blogs of economic prose and introspective musings?