Ah, November

November doesn’t get as much love as October, but I do love it. We just had the time change so the evenings will be dark, even as we head to the shortest day of the year. It’s been nice to be home today so I can see how the sun is moving and creating shadows. The time to get cozy and hibernate has come, even as I do try and enjoy the last bit of evening light. Leaves are falling all around. Even my trees are getting a lot more brown/yellow.  Winter is coming, as they say. While I’m not quite ready for the snow, I wouldn’t mind some good rain storms. What a glorious time of year. 

I made soup and homemade rolls for dinner today. My house smells fantastic. I can’t wait to dig in. 

Goodbye October

It's that time of year when even the trees at my house are turning and leaves are falling all over. It's gotten much colder as well. I haven't gotten my coat out yet, but definitely hoodie season. 

Last weekend I had a sleepover for 5 of my nieces and nephews. I believe they had fun. I did keep my cool most of the time. I was very cool during the 2 water spills so I do get some credit. We went bowling first and then I made them a sweet/salty Halloween treat, which one of them promptly turned into art.

Tonight, I will be carving my pumpkin with the twins. I've been wearing all my Halloween-ish shirts to work. I didn't realize I had so many. I have enough for the whole week.  I'm truly starting to feel the urge to hibernate and cozy up for the winter. I love this time of year so much. 

Nice Day for a Walk

I took a very early lunch break this morning and went for a walk. I had to wait for the sun to come out, but it was wonderful. 

The sun was warm and the leaves were making noise. But the flowers are still out as well because it hasn't hit super cold in the morning... just kind of cold. ha ha  There are 2 more weeks until Daylight Savings and I'm trying to take advantage of the light after work as well. 

I listened to a podcast on the history of Halloween and learned about soul cakes, which were handed out to children and poor people going door to door, and which seems to be the origin of trick or treating. So of course, I googled to see if I could find a recipe. 

They turned out pretty good. The recipe called for British mixed spice, which seems to be like the US pumpkin pie spice, but I used my King Arthur Flour yuletide cheer spice instead. And then I didn't have dried currants so I used my dried tart cherries from the farmer's market. It's no chocolate chip cookie, but tasty in their own way. I froze most of them to take to family dinner. 

Again, just trying to take a little time each day to appreciate the season. 

Lovely October

Can't believe we are at the halfway done with October mark. I feel like I'm doing a good job of noticing each day and having a moment to just enjoy it. I have an unplanned weekend coming up and I'm hoping to get out and do a few things and just enjoy being out and about. To that end, I've been getting laundry and other house things done so that I have the chores out of the way. 

It was a lovely drive to work today. Rainy and cloudy and dark. 

So far this month I've read a werewolf romance, a zombie war story, and a gothic book. I feel very good about my reading choices for Halloween month. Coming up, I've got a historical mystery and maybe a little more paranormal romance and some light horror. 

Fall Vibes

I’ve been wanting to get to Midway for a while, mostly to check out the indie bookstore, Folklore, that has been open for a few years now. So this weekend my sister and the twins and I headed up there. We actually spent the night in Heber, just thinking that it would be easier to be a little closer to explore. I think in the spring I would head up there again just for the day and be happy with that, although we did have fun. We left town Friday around 10:30 and got to Heber by lunch time so went to eat at the Dairy Keen. I told myself I’m going back one day to get a chocolate shake. It looked so good. I did have gelato later that afternoon, but still. 

Then we went to the fall festival that Heber Valley Cheese put on. Basically, they put kids games in their fields and the kids had a lot of fun. I was happy being outside. The forecast had rain, and it had rained before we got there, but it was actually a tiny bit too warm for my long sleeve shirt. Then we wandered around a little shopping area of Midway, including the bookstore. Oddly enough, I did not buy myself a book at all. I did buy the kids each a Taylor Swift sticker book, but that was it. LOL not sure what got into me?

The next day, we went to some thrift shops and then took a little walk by the river. I had wanted to go back to the little covered bridge we saw. It truly fell like fall and was so nice. 

We’ve had some rain again and I’m baking bread today for family dinner. I’ve been putting on old (pre 1970) horror movies and have puzzles and books and embroidery to do. This week I have a bit of a laid back week with nothing planned after work. I’m trying to reset my attitude about work and deal with the things I get paid to deal with. But after work, I’m going to make the most of the rest of October. 

Conference Weekend

This weekend has been just what I needed: a break from the stress and worries I’ve been carrying. I decided that I actually needed to listen to conference a lot more than I did 6 months ago. I missed whole sessions of that one. 

Saturday I got up and did some cleaning, but made sure to be near where I could hear the tv. So some cleaning and laundry in the morning. My sister had a weird health issue pop up on Friday and so on Saturday after the 1st session of conference I went and picked up some prescriptions for her because she can’t drive yet. Then I took her twins with me to Hobby Lobby. I have made enough wreaths that I needed another wreath hanger. I got 2 just to be prepared. LOL Then we went to lunch and I had the kids out for the 2 hours between the sessions. I can’t do a lot for Amy and the kids like my mom did because I work full time, but I can periodically give her some alone time and space. It rained all day Saturday and I actually had fun getting out in the rain. 

By the time I got back home, conference had started so I did miss a lot of the first talk. But then I listened and started baking. Yesterday was pumpkin chocolate chip bread. After it cooled, I cut into it and it’s delicious. The recipe made 2 loaves so one is wrapped up in the freezer. By the evening session I was just finishing laundry and did the dishes and a puzzle. 

Last night it got cold! I don’t know what the temperature was but I was under my heavy blue jeans quilt for part of the night. I wasn’t really thinking I’d bake more today. Two loaves of pumpkin bread are plenty. But the cold got to me. I made a puffy pancake and homemade hot chocolate for breakfast. During the first session of conference I made up some no knead peasant bread dough to rise. And then….I made up a batch of mom’s chocolate chip cookies. Ha ha I do not need cookies or cookie dough but oh well. It will freeze and I can take it to neighbors or something later. My house has smelled heavenly all weekend. 

I’m really glad I cleaned on Saturday. That leaves Sunday free for rest. The only chore I had is dishes. During conference today I’ve been cross stitching. I do like it. I should get it out more often. I’m stitching pillow cases that mom had bought. I have 2 or 3 different ones. This one is straight cross stitch so nothing fancy and I almost finished it. I’m leaving it out for this week. If I put a movie on one night I can get it all the way done. 

As for what I learned in conference? I think the message I heard is to love everyone and treat them kindly and with respect. To serve where I can and to not forget my Savior and what he has already done for me and for the world. None of the crazy is a surprise to Him and the plan has been in motion since the beginning. I can take comfort in that. Basically, I need to show by my actions that I am a disciple of Christ. 

Bring on the Cozy!

It’s only October 2nd but it’s glorious! I am feeling the cozy fall vibes and am trying so hard to make the most of it. Fall is way too short, IMO. 

I have been adulting this week. It does feel good to get a few things taken care of. I had to get new tires on my car, along with the regular service, so there went my house payment that I didn’t have. Ha! It feels good, even if I spent the money on something else. Plus, that’s money I didn’t take out of savings.

We are celebrating mom and dad’s birthdays by having family dinner at Maddox tonight. They will be paying for us one last time. Bittersweet. I’ve also got a few fun things planned throughout the month. I’ve also started on some Fall/Halloween type of reading: light horror, mysteries, gothic, and urban fantasy. That definitely helps the mood. 

I am feeling a lot better, mentally. This is such a weird time of life. I know it’s all hormonal and related to whatever cycle I’m on, but man, it’s crazy that I was so tired, sad, angry, emotional and then just snapped out of it. 

General conference weekend is coming up. I feel like I should probably try and listen as much as possible for my own peace. There is rain in the forecast, so the plan is that I will be baking and doing projects and sitting under my minky and just have a nice, cozy weekend at home. Can't Wait!