Fall Friends

Well, the stress level as of late has been rather elevated. First it was preparing everything in preparation for the conference (getting schoolwork finished and out of the way, etc.), then it was the actual conference (mentally and physically exhausting), then it was a visit from my good friend Iñaki from Spain (stressful only in that it was back-to-back with the conference), and now a long Saturday at the Paper Place (did you know that it's Christmas already?), followed by maybe some dissertation writing (which I haven't done in over a week and a half). So a bit stressed out. But I did hot yoga last night with my friend Karla, and that felt great (especially since part of my stress has come from the fact that I haven't been able to run in two weeks due to a stressed IT band in my hip). I HATE not being able to run. It really kills me.

Columbus was great, although exhausting, for a few reasons. The biggest one was that I got to see the following wonderful people:
My dad
My brother
Erika, my brother's girlfriend
My best friend, Allison and her little boy Lucas
My dear friend Erica and her little girl Giovanna
Dan Sharp
Emily Pinkerton
The Clan from BGSU (including Mary Natvig and Carol Hess)

It was such a joy to see all of them. I was invigorated by encouraging friendships. And equally invigorating was the crisp, fall weather that yielded photos like this one:




















And, of course, Halloween. This year's was especially great because I wasn't here last year for Halloween and also my good friend Inaki was here. We had lots of fun!