party party

They came, they ate
The whole pot was full of chili, almost up to the brim. I thought for sure we'd have leftovers to freeze, but nope! People brought things to share, we had the chili bar and salad, and everybody had a good time. Stefan and I had worked hard to get the house ready in the days leading up to the event (having people over is good for so many reasons!). We even pulled out the dead remnants of the balcony 'gardens' and got ready for the winter season. This is the back balcony this morning (cold, wet, and dreary here already):
Hooray for evergreens! Some part of me wants to put white lights and mini colored glass balls on the trees, ha ha. Maybe in December. The strawberry plants are still holding their own in the blue hanging buckets, but since they never bore any fruit this year I'm feeling a little heartless about letting them stick around too much longer. They're green and leafy, so they'll stay for now.

We were thankful for the fellowship and good times on Saturday. Somebody gave us a little card game, which Stefan actually got really into (he's normally anti-game), called Blink!. Some other gifts include: a little German cookbook full of regional specialties, a gift certificate for dinner out with friends, and a book that, while my German skills may not be good enough to catch the humor, promises to be entertaining nonetheless: "Dear Germany". This book is about an American woman who moves to Germany with her German husband and all the (mis) adventures that occur. It's in German, so it'll be fun practice!