brief thanks

one of the most wonderful things about living in wisconsin has been experiencing all four seasons throughout the year. one of the most visible, dramatic signs of the seasonal changes happens to the trees. the leaves blooming, blossoming, deepening in color and then falling to make way for new life next season...it's the perfect simile to the journey i'm on currently, with all its ups and downs, only to make way for yet another transition with a high possibility of requiring yet another cross-country move. here are pictures of my favorite tree in the neighborhood. it's probably the size of a small house.

mid-october: the tree is ready for a new 'do

mere three weeks later: bald tree. i didn't even get to capture it during its full autumn glory.
i was amazed when i first saw this last year. those are all bags of dead leaves from that one tree. the lawns in my neighborhood were lined up with these bags just a few weeks ago. only in places with four seasons...

aside from taking pictures of trees on lazy afternoons, my life has revolved around a conference and time has gone by too fast. yesterday was thanksgiving, and the bf and i ended up spending a quiet evening together. i never spent thanksgiving with just one person, but it ended up being fairly restorative and not at all lonely. one thing that didn't change at all was, however, the amount of food we had. one thing's for sure when you're with calvin- you'll never go hungry, and the food will be decent at worst, amazing at best. oh, the benefits of dating a taiwanese male:

mashed red potatoes with skin garnished with scallions, green bean casserole, yummy gravy and corn with bacon (surprisingly delicious)

i have many reasons to be thankful, but i'll stop here for now. :)