One of those days...

Today has been one of those days where I have taken more than my fair share of deep breathes, looked to the sky, and said to myself, "why can't we just love and respect each other?". 

So I leave you with my rambling in the form of what became a facebook status for the day; 

as human beings we may not always agree with or understand each other but one thing is absolutely certain and that is that every single one of us is important, worthy, and should be treated with dignity, love, and respect. Period.

For the Love of Fall!

Last weekend my sweet husband and I went on our annual fall date day and picked a haul of apples at a local apple orchard. The weather was wonderful in the mid 50s with overcast skies that make the leaves look even more vibrant and warm. The farmer at the orchard informed us, and we already knew, it had been a rough year for the apple crop in Indiana because of the early spring and then terrible drought and he was selling all of the "Pick Your Own" apples at the price of seconds (half price) but assured us they tasted great. I think had experienced a few disappointed customers at this news but we assured him this would be a wonderful adventure and that we were looking forward to making applesauce, dry some apple rings, and eat the rest. He smiled, we thanked him for his work, and he handed us an apple picker and directed us to the back of the orchard. 

It was absolutely beautiful and so much fun to wander through the trees with the man I love scoping for "good ones", filling our bag, and enjoying the amazing day! . We ended up with about 10 or 11 lbs of apples, 5 beautiful acorn squash, another peck of a different variety of apples, apple cider, and nearly a patch of pumpkins from the farm. Yah! 

We have been enjoying apples all week and tonight I put the first batch of apples into the crockpot for applesauce! I use this recipe I found on a Year of Slow Cooking  and add about a teaspoon of clove because, well, I love clove and it is always wonderful! I always plan to freeze some but we always seem to eat it up before it makes it there :) 

Have I mentioned how much I love this time of year?!!!!! 

A Department Becomes A School...

I earned my Masters in Public Health (MPH) at the Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Public Health in 2009. Throughout my time in graduate school we heard rumblings that someday the Department would become a School of Public Health. Towards the end of my degree the Department was awarded a grant by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation to make that goal a reality. Today the Department became  the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI!!!! I was fortunate to have been able to attend the naming ceremony and spend time celebrating with some of my former professors, dear friends that I made the academic journey with, and other alumni. It was just super cool stuff! 

From my very first class I knew I was meant to be in the field of public health and instantly fell in love with everything about it (except biostatistics of course... although I do more of it now than I care to admit and have great respect for it). Throughout my education and public health career I have been blessed to have learned from, and worked with, the most committed, kind, respectful, and fun people and I have done some really neat stuff! 

My Research Buddy an I in a school room turned clinic in Honduras. 

Rehydrating a sick little one in Honduras. 

Enjoying the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting in Denver a few years ago with a few of my favorite fellow public health peeps. 

Knitting Group

In January, I sent out a little facebook message and email to a few of my friends that live here on the southside of Indianapolis that also happen to knit, and asked if everyone might enjoy a little monthly knitting group. I got a great response and we have been meeting on a monthly basis to knit together and enjoy each others company since February. I absolutely love each of the group members, the knitting, and the togetherness. It's been truly wonderful! So here is a wee bit of a snapshot of our time together. I just had to share!