Happy Halloween!

Even though we missed the Halloween party that we were planning to go to because of sickness, we still decided to finish our costumes and have a Halloween photo shoot. Crystal is a vampire slayer in the style of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I am crochet beard Rasputin.









As a bonus: Rasputin Vampire Slayer


jwotd: harouin = Halloween

Shiba Pic of the Week #4

When looking through our old pictures we found some shots of Daku as a puppy Unfortunately we didn't take too many of them but we have a handful that show how different he used to be.

This must be right after we got him. He is so small and dopey!


Playing with Olive.


His excited to see you face.


He is so stubby looking here.


On guard.


Funny side note, while I am writing this Daku is freaking out over a chipmunk he can see in the back patio area. He has been doing this for about a week now. He will see it run past for one second and will then be pacing back and forth for three or four hours after that whether or not it ever comes back. Oh Daku!

jwotd: inu = dog

Corn Maze

We actually got to go to a proper corn maze! It was not all that hard but was still pretty fun. I'd still like to try a more labyrinthine maze one day but this one will do for now.

Here is an aerial shot of the maze. The theme was Frankie Stein.


Inside the maze were seven pumpkin signs to find and we found all of them!














It was a really gorgeous and warm day, perfect for something like this.


jwotd: meikyuu = maze

Blast from the Past: Mountain Hiking

Did you know that me and some friends hiked up a mountain? Several years back I went up in the mountains near Denver for a friend's wedding. After being at Pat & Kim's house yesterday and seeing their pictures of the trip it made me want to dig out the couple of the ones I had.

Me at 12,060 ft above sea level


Saving Pat from wild cats


Me and the guys looking good for the wedding


Riding the beast


We have a bunch of other pictures that never got uploaded to Flickr on Crystal's old computer that I'm going to doing some retroactive posts about.

jwotd: take = mountain

Baking!

This weekend I was able to finally use some of the anniversary apples we picked to make a pie. I've never made a pie before and I think it turned out really good. The fresh apples really tasted great!



In addition, I made some scones too. They really are just slightly sweet wedge shaped biscuits. Despite being nothing special they did taste great with the cranberry apple butter we bought from Trader Joes. I forgot to take any pictures of them straight from the oven but here is one of them in action being enjoyed by lovely Crystal.



jwotd: appurupai = apple pie

Visit from the Parents

Last Monday my parents came up for their annual visit. It's always nice to see them and show them a little of what we are up to. It was a bit sad since I don't believe they are going to make the 36 hour drive to the northwest and my mother would never fly so it is probably the last time they'll get to see where we are living. I forgot to take pictures until they were about to leave so all I got were some lovely pictures of the La Quinta Inn in Macedonia.





jwotd: fubo = parents

Facial Hair Fun

About a month ago I thought I would not shave for a couple months and see what kind of beard I could grow. The experiment was cut short when I saw pictures of myself from our anniversary day and knew that no amount of extra time would net anything resembling a proper beard. I didn't want the month of hard work that I spent not shaving to go to waste so I tried out a few different looks before I went clean-shaven.

The Mouth Bush


The No-Chin Mustache and Soul Patch


The Backstreet Boy in a Bear Outfit


jwotd: hige = beard

One Year Anniversary!

Yesterday was our one year anniversary! Yay for us! We decided to just have a nice fun day without spending too much. The rainy weather as of late took a break just for us and the day was beautiful and comfy. I think it turned out to be a really lovely day overall.

We started things off with a big morning breakfast.


The we went to Patterson Fruit Farm to pick some apples.






Apple picking was really neat, I don't think I've ever did anything like that before. After the apple picking we went to try the corn "maze" that was at the other part of the farm. I've never been to a corn maze and I really wanted to check one out before we leave but this one was a big disappointment. When we went in through the path opening I had my mind all ready to beat the tricks and turns of the maze but was incredibly saddened to find what was billed as a maze should have instead been called a corn path. No splitting paths, no dead ends, nothing but a thin muddy path through a field of corn.

Despite the minor letdown we still had a good time the rest of the day. For dinner we went to the Sushi Rock in Beachwood. It was sort of a special place for us because the downtown location of Sushi Rock is where we went on our first date. We haven't been there in a long time but it was a nice, yummy place for our anniversary.

jwotd: kekkonkinembi = wedding anniversary

Punderson Lake

A couple Saturdays back Crystal and I decided to explore Punderson Lake. We were considering it as a one year anniversary retreat (October 1st - Tomorrow!) but due to our recently decided upon plans for next Spring we wanted to scale back on the expenses. So instead we went out one fine afternoon to check it out anyways and as always I had to take some pictures.

I'll start with my favorite. I think it really shows off how neat the new camera has turned out to be. This is a picture of a fairly far away bird in moving quickly in mid-flight. Even in it's original size the image is still rather sharp.


Curving Path


Crack in the Canopy


Popping Purple Pansies


Quiet Tunnel


jwotd: utsuru = to move

Sleepy Daku

Daku is always super sleepy. I was able to catch him during this huge yawn. I think we should probably be cleaning his teeth a little more often.



jwotd: akubi = yawn

Cleveland Museum of Natural History

As I mentioned last time, we went to the Natural History Museum last Sunday. Outside of the super crowded free days University Circle has some times, I don't think I've ever been here before. Having time to really check it out I enjoyed it a lot. I was surprised to find they have a permanent exhibit of 8 different types of Ohio animals outside the museum. There was tons of neat stuff to take pictures of like...

Beetles


Deer


Exhibits on how tall Crystal is


Pretty Gems


Dinosaur Sculptures


jwotd: shizenshi = natural history

My Favorite Picture

This is definitely my favorite picture I've taken so far. I took it at the Natural History Museum. The way his face is illuminated but the background is so dark makes it look really cool to me.



jwotd: zou = elephant

Millinery

A couple months ago I gave making a felt bowler hat a try. I made some bad choices and it didn't turn out well enough to use but I still think it's pretty cool that I was able to make something hat-like. Here are a couple pictures of my hat before I had to trash it.





jwotd: yamatakaboushi = bowler hat

Ponyo!

I was looking for something to do yesterday so I decided to mold a little figure. We saw the new movie Ponyo for my birthday and I really liked it so I gave her a go. I think she turned out pretty fun!



jpotd: Gake no Ue no Ponyo = Ponyo of the Top of the Cliff

Shiba Pic of the Week #3

I felt bad for Daku laying around looking bored all day so I decided to show him how to use my laptop. I think he likes it!



jwotd: rapputoppu = laptop