Amo.

fall for me is warm apple cider.  i love the crisp air that makes your nose all red.  i love walking around the city in a sweater with a mug of tea and sitting in independence park watching the leaves fall.  i love the crunch of the leaves on the cobblestone streets.  i love that the only thing that isn't a red, orange, or yellow is the blue sky peaking through the trees.  i love going for a drive to pick out a 28 pound pumpkin.  i love baking apple pies, apple cobbler, apple turnovers, and anything else with the TONS of apples we pick.  

i remember the train rides on the Steamtown line when we were younger.  i remember our packed lunches of mini crunch bars, peanut butter crackers, and sandwiches. that one time i went with Rich by myself and i got gum all over my face (don't remember how, but i remember it not being fun).  i remember the "haunted" hayrides, that you waited in line for an hour only to close your eyes for the entire ride.  i remember driving my mother crazy with my birthday parties, complete with costumes, candied apples, and plenty of candy to go around.  these are some of the best memories of my life.  it is truly a blessing to have been able to live in such a beautiful picturesque place, if only for those two or three months a year.  this is the first year in my entire life not being able to experience those joys of autumn in PA and i must tell you, it sucks.  i appreciate all our wonderful state has to offer even more now.  so please - if you all take anything from this entry, take this.  ENJOY what god has put before your eyes.  enjoy every cup of tea, every scent of firewood burning in a chimney nearby.  enjoy the stores being strewn with all things halloween.  enjoy life.  because although i tend to think i appreciated this time of year before, it is nothing like the pain of not having it with me.  i'm sure i'm going to experience wonderful fall like wonders here in rome.  marco and i are going to make a pie this weekend!  ahh...pasta and apple pie.  we're an international house.