November in Virginia = awesome.

Yesterday Rob and I went for an autumnal saunter at the C&O Canal NHP, on the Maryland side of the Potomac. It was in the mid-60s, sunny and golden! There was quite a line to get into the park as DC-ites squeezed the most out of the glorious weather. I didn't take any pictures of the throngs since we opted for wooded paths -- I still can't figure out why more people don't venture into the woods and stay on the towpath instead. The trails are well-marked for the most part, there are no bears, and the spongy dirt is much kinder on the knees. Come on in, everyone!

Then we came home and started putting together our 9-foot Christmas tree. We have tall ceilings that come with living on the 4th floor, so we figured why not take advantage of them? For those of you who think it indecent to deck a tree before the carving of the sacrificial turkey (or lentil loaf, in our case), we don't have nearly enough lights to have it decorated too much before Thanksgiving. And it gets dark so darn early here since we're so far east in the time zone, so it's soothing to have the lights on when we get home from work.

Good job Rob!

It's almost time!

The Michigoose Blog has been on hiatus while we moved to our new apartment and got ready for the wedding. Now it's almost here! We have our license and family is going to start converging today. Then we are heading north to Mackinac Island for a few days of relaxation before driving back to Virginia.

We are enjoying the cooler weather and the people who are Midwestern-nice wherever we go! Forgot about the hungry Michigan mosquitos though.

Better pics of the best apartment!

This is the view from our fourth floor balcony. The lighted dome is the food court at the mall next door. This is a newer area. It feels like we're closer to being in the country, but we can walk to the mall.

But on to the important part...

The view from the loft looking down at the living/dining area, and the floor view of the living room and spare room:

The patio and the windows in the kitchen and master bedroom overlook the pool, about which I have mixed feelings. It's okay when no one is in it but since it's been very hot for our first two days here, it's been packed with screaming kids. And yes, the noise does carry up to the fourth floor. But it does look nice at night and in the morning.

First look at new apartment!

We are moving today to our new apartment in Sterling. This is the living room window! More to come. We're sooo excited!