Today I lit the BIG candle

Anybody who's ever attended a PartyLite party knows what I'm talking about. They sell great big 3-wick candles which must be burned for a minimum of six hours at a time in order to burn down evenly. So you don't just light the big candle any ole time - you have to wait until you find yourself with at least a six-hour window of time at home. And we all know how often that happens... I am absolutely giddy to report that, today, I lit the BIG candle.
This is the first full day I've spent in my home since...umm...well, I'm not actually certain about when I last experienced this leisure, but I'm sure not getting off the couch to go consult the calendar for an answer. Suffice it to say: it has been a LONG time! That means I have all sorts of random blog-worthy nuggets to share. Read on! But don't expect a lot of continuity - I'm playing catch-up here.

Remember my trip to St. Paul earlier this month? SoundGuy definitely beat me to the punch posting some pics but I feel compelled to go back and fill in some gaps. As you know, SoundGuy has a part-time job as the Music Director at a small Lutheran church. One of his most-endearing classmates, Joshua, is employed as their organist. Here's the music staff of Cross Lutheran hard at work:
Apparently these two Seminarians are minoring in Facilities Maintenance.

SounGuy must like me a lot because he took me to the Mall of America. Holy Retail Mecca, Batman! I got a little distracted when we stumbled on to the scrapbook store (muttering something along the lines of "go on without me!") but was especially enamored with the Lake Wobegon Store.
Which is where I found further proof that our blog is aptly named:

Fall in St. Paul, while completely misleading (since you should really be picturing everything in a sub-zero blizzard-esque stage of permanent winter), is beautiful and we spent lots of time taking it all in.
So good to be in the same zip code with that handsome man.

Last weekend found me spending time with Frankel - making a baby book for Addison's impending arrival and carving "pumpkins":
A box from my dad arrived on Thursday:
In typical go-big-or-go-home fashion, Pop chose to mail at least five pounds of candy. Yowza! Good thing I spend my days surrounded by starving college students (and have a girlfriend who is a dentist...).

Finally, after a long week, I found my way to Karen's house for dinner on Friday night. She introduced me to her new favorite wine.
It speaks for itself.

And here I am. Feet up, relaxing, and watching the big candle burn.