We have done a little exploring...

So we took a few afternoons and went exploring...

Friday we went to a bookstore in St. Louis which was lets say interesting. It was a two story house absolutely stock full of books from floor to ceiling. It was built in the 1920's - complete with a basement that was about 6'0 tall with books crammed everywhere - we also found a book stamped with the seal of Matthew's church in Cornelius that was relatively new! The staircase leading upstairs had a width about 3ft and a depth of about 4 inches... The upstairs was so crowded with books that I had to leave because I was hyperventiliating - I didn't think I was claustrophobic but apparently I was wrong!

Today we went to Cherokee St. ( http://www.cherokeeantiquerow.net/ ) and had a look at a few shops - many were filled with very beautiful pieces and we had a great afternoon.

One shop particularly was of interest called Purple Cow Antiques... I hope you enjoy the few pictures that follow - all the pictures from this afternoon on up on my facebook site.

The description below Mary reads "For lightening protection consult us"

Many Thanks and I love you all!

Beginning of Winter

Well Winter is settling in here in St. Louis, the temperature dropped to 70.0 degrees today, down from 75 yesterday and we are pulling out the parkas and snow boots to "dress for the weather" (thank you mother for that age old tiding ringing in my head). Well it is not quite feeling like winter but we decided to get into the winter spirit - or start at least. We put up a few small Christmas decorations and have been listening to Christmas music and are waiting for the weather to cooperate with Matthew's wishes.

But today we went down to Soulard Market in downtown St. Louis and stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies... We got..
1. 7 ears of corn
2. 2 cantelope
3. 1 pineapple
4. a big bag of shrooms
5. 5 lbs. of potatoes
6. a bag of half molded grapes
7. 2 cucumbers
8. 3 green peppers
9. a bag of big carrots
10. 1 head of romaine lettuce
11. 1 head of broccoli
12. 1 lb. of bacon
13. 1 lb. of ground beef
14. 1 lb. of stew meat
15. 1 lb. of provolone cheese
16. 4 onions

All for $30! Now that sounds good to me!

Today I also spent an hour and a half working at the St. Louis food bank with some St. Mark's people which was a lot of fun and I think my hands are a little bit sore!

Tomorrow Matthew and I have our second American Kantorei concert which is exciting. Tonight we are having dinner with some friends and thats about it for today!

The First of Autumn

Fall in St. Louis is a strange thing...

Blue skies, no clouds, 70 degrees - this is what I would most associate with August - not the first week of November! Where is the rain? It should be getting a little colder now shouldn't it? Well the first of November brought a friends wedding, brothers' birthday, beautiful weather and my first week of work as a CED (Christian Education Director) I really have nothing to complain about.

Matthew and I recently bought the third season of Bones the TV series and watched the entire season last weekend - whew! maybe that wasn't such a good idea - but we have never really been good at pacing ourselves.

I attended my first Sunday at St. Mark's ELCA (where I am the new CED) last Sunday and it was wonderful. The people at the church were warm and friendly and we attended a choir concert that night which was quite nice. It looks like I will be fitting in quite nicely there. :)

http://www.stmarkselca.com/

Last weekend we also bought plane tickets back home. What we found out was that in the future it would be much better to buy a little farther in advance. The scene was a nightmare as fares were going up literally by the minute and trying to make things cheaper by switching airports and flights just ending up making things more complicated. However Matthew will fly back to our beautiful home in the PNW on Monday December 21st and I will fly in on Thursday December 24th - we will be heading back to St. Louis on New Years Eve - actually our flight takes off at 12:35 that night - who knows maybe they will give us free dessert on the airplane - we can always hope.

Matthew's finals week is next week and then he gets a two week vacation - although there are always a number of tasks that need to get done along with some hours need to be put in for an 'institutional module'. So we will see if Matthew is capable of actually taking a break - my guess is no.

That's it for tonight I think - God's blessings and prayers over you.

Love Halle