Back to Charleston

While Greg has been away I've been keeping very busy! On Saturday I returned to good ol' Charleston, Illinois for the Historical Administration program symposium. I realized that I hadn't been to Charleston in over a year, and it was fun to be back on campus (especially since I didn't have homework or anything to worry about this time). There were four of us there from the class of 2007-2008: Sarah, Catherine, me, and Dan. It was great to see them, and we were able to swap stories about the funny places we work. We decided that the real world isn't all it was cracked up to be when we were in school, but we agreed that we all enjoy not having homework any more. It was also great to see our professors and to walk around campus and see a few changes that have taken place since we were there. The best part of the trip, however, was visiting my favorite Charleston family: the Stowells! It was great to see them. The kids are getting so big, and they were as cute and funny as ever.

On my way home, I stopped at one of my favorite Illinois eating establishments (I hope I can write about this one as my next freelance assignment): Krekel's Dairy Maid in Decatur. Decatur is not my favorite place--it smells like burning corn flakes and cat food (from all of the soy plants), and the whole city is kind of like the ghetto, but Krekel's is the one bright spot. They have delicious hamburgers and ice cream. I especially like it because it reminds me of the Malt Shop in Natchez. So I had fun adventures on Saturday, then I went to church, relaxed, and hung out with David and Teal yesterday. And today I got a lot of work done, including cleaning our bedroom. Since the bedroom is now clean, I was finally able to take pictures!

Here are the before and after shots of the entrance to the master bedroom at the top of the stairs. The linen closet had no door when we moved in, and the master bedroom was a really dark shade of red. I liked the color, but it made the bedroom feel too small. So here's how it looked before and how it looks now:

And here is what the master bedroom looks like inside. Greg and I bought some delightful new bedding a couple of weeks ago. The color is kind of washed out in these pictures, but the bedding is a really pretty mixture of green and gold.

I love our bedroom! The windows make it so nice and light, and we have a really good view outside. So that's the latest from the condo.