I’ve been busy the last week – hosting a bridal party for a good friends wedding, arranging bouquets, and photographing the big event.  Here’s a few pictures of the celebration, taken by yours truly.

A look into our anniversary weekend…

He makes me work hard for my food.

Really…

Really…

Hard.

No, he didn’t make me do it.  I actually voluntarily decided it would be fun to chop wood with a hatchet.  Good times.

We had a civilized weekend as well, complete with indoor plumbing, showers, and wine.  So don’t worry, we didn’t spend the entire time roughing it (even though I would have LOVED that!)

Cute little B&B we enjoyed.

Fun stuff in Dubuque – 4th St. Elevator.

This guy built it so that he could get home for lunch without taking his horse/buggy on the hour long RT trip up the bluff.  And then his neighbors caught on…and it burned to the ground…and he rebuilt it.  And now it’s just this cute little elevator!

Going up…

Not the most stable and secure mode of transportation, let me tell you…

Still on our way…

The cool old turnstile, which was from fair or something…I forget now.

The view…

The little elevator car on it’s way up.  If you look closely, you can see that the left side of the elevator (the side closest to the top of the hill) has no door or window – it’s completely open!  You could just jump right out!

We walked around a bit, and of course DH engaged in one of his favorite pastimes – berry picking!  They were EVERYWHERE!

And then we stumbled upon this lovely terrace – who wouldn’t want this for a nice place to enjoy the view?

Seen around town…

The lock & dam

We also enjoyed a little window browsing while we were there, and a delicious dinner out on the town.

Happy anniversary!

I promised some pictures from our trip last weekend out to the Amana Colonies.  We missed peak fall color, but it was still beautiful.  Click on the pictures for the FULL size view, including the worlds largest walnut rocking chair!

So, I have to apologize for the lack of posts.  This week has been fall break for students, which means there’s no class.  But a fair number of students stuck around to work, hang out with friends and catch up on their homework.  DH has been busy doing research and catching up after being gone in France last week.  And I’ve been catching up on my seasonal sickness.  Woohoo for my fall cold!  I’ve had plugged up ears and a runny nose and sneezing all week.  No fun.

I had great intentions on catching up on some of my own work, and I’ve done an okay job at that, but I still have a LOT to do today.  Tonight, DH and I are taking a much needed mini-vacay to here:

The Amana colonies are a nearby collection of villages (hence the name colonies) that are these little old german settlements.  I’ve heard a little about them, but it will be nice to explore a little bit tonight and tomorrow.  Staying at a B&B is always a fun little get away, and after DH’s trip away, being sick and having a kind of weird week, I think it’s just what we need.  I’l be sure to take lots of pictures for you!