Date Nights - October

By October, I had started my job as Youth Development Director at the Liberty Township/Powell YMCA and we were beginning to get settled into our new life in Columbus.

I learned about a pumpkin painting event at Park Street Cantina via our apartment complex newsletter. It sounded like fun so we signed up. We tried pumpkin carving in the past to mixed results so I thought this might be a little more our style. The event was well organized. We arrived and selected our pumpkins and found a cozy spot to start painting. I chose a white pumpkin and Chris stuck with traditional orange. It was fun to just talk and paint for an hour or so. I loved how the pumpkins looked on our porch, too.

Chris found a Columbus scavenger hunt that gave us clues electronically and we could explore on our own to find different places in the downtown area. We went one day after church and discovered a lot of fun spots. It was interesting to learn more about the history of some of the buildings and areas downtown. It probably would have been more exciting if we were competing against other people in the typical race format of scavenger hunts, but it was also nice to not have to rush despite the crazy wind and threat of rain.

Have you ever been on a scavenger hunt in your city?

Andrea :)

Viva Las Vegas!!

Despite the limited vacation time due to our move and me starting a new job the month prior, we still found a way to sneak away for a long weekend to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. Since Chris had never been to Vegas (and I had no interest in returning unless he came along), we went all in. Ha! Neither of us are much on traditional gambling, but they say there is something for everyone...

The timing of our trip ended up being just a few days after the mass shooting from the Mandalay Bay so that had us a little on edge, but it ended up being quite a unique trip altogether. We stayed at the Tropicana and our first order of business after getting checked in was to find some lunch. We stumbled upon a spot called Bruxie - known for chicken and waffles. We were sold.

Our first night, we went to see magician Mat Franco from America's Got Talent. He was just as incredible as he had been on the show. I loved every second of the show. I've always been fascinated with the smooth nature of magicians and enjoyed the humor Franco brought to the stage as well.

We stopped by to watch the Bellagio fountains do their thing after the show. I enjoyed it, but I think Chris would have been fine moving on. He's a good sport though!

The next morning, we kicked off the day with treats from The Dapper Doughnut before making our way over to the Westgate. Betting on sports is much more up our alley than any of the other array of gambling so we had fun placing a few wagers and then enjoying the games. We won a couple bets, but mainly it was fun to watch all the massive screens with every game going at once.

We spent some time in the afternoon investigating and solving a crime in the CSI: The Experience tourist trap. It was a fun way to pass some time out of the hot afternoon sun, but not something we would do again. I think we envisioned it being more like an Escape Room type set up. In reality, it was probably meant for teens or families with middle school age kids. We made the best of it though.

Our main event - One, the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show - took place at Mandalay Bay. It was eerie walking over there from Tropicana. There was a huge memorial of flowers on one of the concrete islands in the street and the Route 91 concert signage was still in place, but police tape cordoned off much of that specific area. It was all incredibly sad.

One was a fantastic show. Chris was singing along to nearly every song. It was very high energy and quite enjoyable. The acrobatics in the cirque du soleil shows are phenomenal.

The next day we just walked around the strip and enjoyed each other's company. I managed to talk Chris into riding The Big Apple roller coaster that sits atop the New York New York Hotel & Casino. It was a rough ride, but we did it. When my family visited Vegas many years ago, my brothers rode the coaster while I stayed inside testing my luck at slot machines so I was glad to finally see what I had missed out on all those years ago. Turns out, not too much!

We were both ready to relax for a bit after all that adrenaline. As we walked by the CBS Television City store, an employee asked if we watched much TV. We answered a few questions and before you know it, we were part of a paid focus group. Men and women were separated, but we watched an episode of a new show and answered some questions before we went into rooms to provide vocal feedback. It was a really interesting experience. In the end, I don't think the TV show lasted long on the market. I wasn't surprised based on the feedback in the women's room.

We took our profit from the focus group and decided to have a little fun back at the Tropicana. Chris opted for slots while I tried my hand at roulette. Fortunately, I had a couple of nice folks at the table with me because there is A LOT more to it than picking a number. They definitely helped make it less embarrassing for me...even though I managed to double my money. Chris won a chunk as well so we decided to call it quits and grabbed some dinner before our flight back to Columbus.

We had a great time celebrating our anniversary in Vegas! Not sure it is a place we would be quick to return to for a week long vacation, but we were easily entertained for a couple of days!

Andrea :)

Photo A Day - October

We had a lot of fun in October. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary with a trip to Las Vegas and spent a weekend with friends in Pittsburgh, too.

We had fun painting pumpkins at an event downtown early in the month. I continued to organize before we had our first visitors at our new place. Jordan, Jen, Chris, and I went to the Ed Sheeran concert while our parents watched Brinley and Landon. We spent the next two days exploring Columbus with highlights being Jeni's and COSI before Chris and I headed off to Las Vegas!

We got back to Columbus in time for our first Broadway across America show - School of Rock. I started a Youth in Government program at a local middle school through work. We volunteered with a Compassion International walk and found the Christopher Columbus statue downtown.

We spent our 4th anniversary at the 94th Aero Squadron restaurant. It is near the airport and truly a neat spot. We enjoyed our steak and reminiscing about the last four years! Continuing to organize around the house, watching movies, and work kept me busy.

We ended the month with some fun in Pittsburgh with a few stops along the way. I had a lot of fun passing out candy to all the kids in the area on Halloween!

Andrea :)

Date Nights - September

September was a fun month for us as we adjusted to our new city. We were both continuing to job search so we had a lot of time to check out different areas around town. We also took two big trips - one back to the Albany area of NY for a wedding and the other for some fun in Lexington.

I selected apple picking as my date night. We ended up at CherryHawk Farm a bit outside of Columbus. It was a scorcher of a day with the sun just beating down, but we had fun using the poles to pick apples from the tip top of the trees. We had a fun day, but will be sure to check the weather for an unseasonably hot days in future years!

Chris picked a local sporting event - Columbus Crew vs New York Red Bulls. We ended up with seats behind one of the goals in a family friendly area of the stadium. It was a fun experience. I like the stadium in Columbus much more than Red Bull Arena in New Jersey. Red Bull Arena just seems less intimate to me. Watching soccer live is always more fun than watching it on TV so I am glad we were able to catch a game - especially when Chris' team was in town.

What are some of your favorite fall activities?

Andrea :)

Scioto 10K...or not

Before we even moved to Columbus, we signed up for the Scioto 10K in late September. Chris and I were so excited about jumping right into this run. After a less than stellar finale in New York with the Harlem 5K, I was certainly looking for some redemption.

It's an understatement to say we were shocked when we received emails the week of the race that it had been cancelled due to the town not approving the road closures. We were so bummed, but they still provided us with the race shirts and medals along with an invitation to the post-race breakfast so we decided to earn those goodies.

We completed our own 10K on the Olentangy Trail. It was pleasant and mostly shady. I didn't particularly keep tabs on my time, but I am proud that we got out there and ran the miles.

Have you ever had a race cancel on you?

Andrea :)

Fall Wedding Fun

Our first trip back to New York after our official move at the end of August proved to be a fun long weekend in Albany for Matt and Alyssa's wedding. We had been looking forward to this big event for some time...and it did not disappoint!

We drove from Columbus and enjoyed seeing so many great friends from Chris' days in Albany. The church was gorgeous and the weather was perfect on the wedding day.

I love all the little details at a wedding. The centerpieces were lovely and the photo booth was actually in a cute little camper style trailer set up in the back of the reception venue. So fun! The donut bar was awesome, too. Nothing beats cider donuts in the fall!

We had a blast! It was great to catch up with some of the Albany crew, and Chris loves nothing more than to bust a move on the dance floor. Definitely a fun first trip back for us.

Andrea :)

Photo A Day - September

We spent most of September getting acquainted with our new city. We did take a trip to Lexington for some fun with my family and a trip to Albany for a wedding. I also started my new job at the YMCA.

We had some quick fixes in the bedroom and stairwell at our new place. I got started on the Fall Film Challenge, enjoyed the geese on a nice fall day, and interviewed at the YMCA. Our first big event in Lexington was a tour of the Ale 8 Factory - lots of fun!

We caught our niece and nephew's soccer match, played games, and visited Old Kentucky Chocolates before heading back to Columbus. We volunteered at a Pints and Periods event through United Way and then started our trek to Albany. We caught the Canelo-GGG fight with some friends while we were there as well.

When we got back to Columbus, I did a little more organizing, we tried some new restaurants, went apple picking, and ran our first race in the city. Well, sort of. We were supposed to run the Scioto River Run 10k, but they cancelled it the day before due to city zoning issues. We still ran the miles to earn our medals on the Olentangy Trail that morning.

I was in the fall spirit - baking apple pie and getting a mum for our front porch. I celebrated Dad's birthday with a tasty treat, and we gave burger week a shot.

Andrea :)