The Nutcracker
Saturday, 13 December 2008
How often do you get asked the question, "What did you do last night?" Ok, so maybe not that many times, but I have an awesome answer for that question if anyone wants to ask. WE WENT TO THE NUTCRACKER. Yeah, that's right. The Nutcracker ballet. In St. Louis. It was fabulous! I have always wanted to go, but we have either never had the funds for such an event OR we haven't gotten tickets in time before it sells out. (Mostly, it's the former.) Well, Matt took the plunge and bought tickets on Tuesday for Friday's opening night performance. We got dressed up and left after school - meaning that I picked up Matt from campus and we left straight from there. The Nutcracker was showing in the Edison Theater at Washington University in St. Louis. The theater was great - and even though our seats were in the back row, it was a small enough theater that we could still see every expression on the dancers faces. It was so incredible! I have taught the music to how many students over the years but have never experienced it first-hand until last night. Matt was a little less familiar with the story, but the program had a story summary so he knew what was going on. The costumes were beautiful, the set was amazing, and the dancing was beyond words. It was such a great time - and I'm so thankful that we got to go! I'll post a few pictures of us dressed up once Matt gets back from Ohio. 
On a side note, during the battle scene where the Mouse King fights the Nutcracker, there were a few little mice out there waddling around in their big mouse costumes. At one point, Matt leaned over to me and said, "I can totally see Gracie doing that someday!" Maybe our niece has a future in ballet? 
Thanksgiving 2008
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you had a great holiday with friends and family!We had such a fun time over the weekend with Matt's parents. It was a long trip for them, but we certainly appreciate it and love having family come to visit. Mark and Jean got to see and experience as much southern Illinois as possible in the time they were here. We went out for walks every day and showed them some of the places that we talk about frequently (Matt's deer hunting site, Giant City State Park, SIU campus and Campus Lake). Thankfully, the weather was just beautiful at 60 degrees on Thanksgiving day! We went out shopping for a bit on Friday - though NOT at 4am - and played a few friendly games of Whist. Let's just say that on day 1, the ladies dominated, and on day 2, the men got their revenge. Our meal was delicious and we just had so much fun visiting and being together. Isn't that what the holidays are all about?
Not that I'll take the time to describe all the photos, but in the first one, I was getting to know Bert (the turkey) pretty well by slathering him with oil. It was my first-ever turkey baking experience and it went very well (thanks to some idiot-proof instructions from my mom)! The next ones are of the lake behind our apartment complex, our Thanksgiving feast and table, my clean-up crew, a walk on the way to Matt's deer hunting spot, and Giant City State Park.
Though it's never any fun to say goodbye to family, it was a lot easier knowing that we'll see Mark and Jean again in just 3 short weeks! :) Christmas will be here before we know it!
Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you had a great holiday with friends and family!We had such a fun time over the weekend with Matt's parents. It was a long trip for them, but we certainly appreciate it and love having family come to visit. Mark and Jean got to see and experience as much southern Illinois as possible in the time they were here. We went out for walks every day and showed them some of the places that we talk about frequently (Matt's deer hunting site, Giant City State Park, SIU campus and Campus Lake). Thankfully, the weather was just beautiful at 60 degrees on Thanksgiving day! We went out shopping for a bit on Friday - though NOT at 4am - and played a few friendly games of Whist. Let's just say that on day 1, the ladies dominated, and on day 2, the men got their revenge. Our meal was delicious and we just had so much fun visiting and being together. Isn't that what the holidays are all about?
Not that I'll take the time to describe all the photos, but in the first one, I was getting to know Bert (the turkey) pretty well by slathering him with oil. It was my first-ever turkey baking experience and it went very well (thanks to some idiot-proof instructions from my mom)! The next ones are of the lake behind our apartment complex, our Thanksgiving feast and table, my clean-up crew, a walk on the way to Matt's deer hunting spot, and Giant City State Park.
Though it's never any fun to say goodbye to family, it was a lot easier knowing that we'll see Mark and Jean again in just 3 short weeks! :) Christmas will be here before we know it!
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