Lists: Fall Break Fun!!

If you just heard a faint squeal slice through the air from the direction of Kentucky, don't be alarmed! It was just me celebrating the start of my week-long fall break from nursing classes! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE what I am learning and count it a tremendous blessing to be in the middle of second semester with only two more semesters to go before acing the NCLEX and being dubbed a full-fledged RN. But nursing school is like taking a drink from a fire hose...sooo much information in a tiny amount of time to have to digest and apply. It can be a tad bit overwhelming at times.

So, since I'm a list person and I have yet to officially lace my little blog with lists galore I figured the first list should be one of leisure and joy!

So what is on tap for my week of freedom you ask!?

• A furniture painting project (which I'm already half-way finished with!)  Check!
• Sleep! Glorious, wonderful, Tylenol PM induced sleep!
• Photography (both a family portrait session for my sweet cousin and her family and then whatever my eye fancies, both are fun and relaxing!)
• Some time well spent behind the wheel of my car
• Time with family!!!
• Sushi and time spent with someone special : )
• A deep cleaning of the humble abode
• A sewing project!!! I found the fabric below and LOVE it! It will hopefully be fashioned into a fall dress for a precious little two-yr-old.

• My cousin's wedding! I'm so excited for her!
• Some journaling, Bible reading, other reading and time spent in deep thought.
• And a few other things that may just be fodder for future posts : )

So, now that the list is complete, it's time to get started!!

Easy Fall Decorations

 Woah. I'm actually getting a post on here that I "hoped" I would post in a timely manner! That's progress kids! As promised in the last post, this one is about my fall decorations. They are out, they are complete and they make me smile!


Normally in years past, for the two big flower pots on my front porch, I would just put some mums in them, put some pumpkins around them and call it good. This year, I wanted something different. I found these pumpkins on sale at Hobby Lobby and I liked that they came in various sizes. My immediate thought was to stack them on top of each other to create a Fall time topiary to greet my visitors. Since they were made of styrofoam, I bought a dowel rod at Lowe's and used a hammer and chop stick to make pilot holes through the middle of the pumpkins. Then I just pushed the dowel rod through the pumpkins in the appropriate order, and viola! Stacked pumpkins.

I found the floral grassy stuff in the floral section and decided to just plant the pumpkin topiary in the middle of it.

And to finish it off, I bought some of the colorful beaded picks to stick into the pumpkins for some added pizzazz. Simple, fun and pretty! I hope that the sun doesn't fade the pumpkins too much so I can reuse them next year! But I'm thinking that if they do fade, I can just get creative with some spray paint to spruce them up!

I didn't leave out the mums this year, I just moved them lower into my flower beds and added some to some other pots from the backyard that I painted to match the ones on the front porch.

But seriously, now that my fall decorations are out, my mind has already turned to the Christmas decorations and call me crazy, but this year the front door will be painted to coordinate more appropriately with Christmas! Mandarin Orange is great for Spring, Summer and Fall, but it really just clashes with red!

And there you have it, nothing fancy, just simple yet festive. Fall!

And Daisy Lou is stopping by to make a visit with this special little outtake. My dog hates my camera. When I say hate, I mean when it gets close to her, she physically turns her back to me. I told her to stay and this was the look I got! I love my dog. Because just like me, she is a mess!

-------------------- Sneak Peek -----------------------

 I started a new project today! This is the hint and I will post when it is finished!

Fall: I Welcome You With Open Arms!

The image below makes my sweat glands quiver...

Popsicle anyone?? After suffering through the horribly oppressive summer heat that feels the need to bring a side-dish of humidity, I can't adequately convey in written word my enthusiasm for the fact that Fall weather has officially arrived in the Ohio Valley. Haul out the pumpkins, get the mums in the ground, open up the windows, build up the bonfire and crank-up the tractor for the hay rides because Fall is upon us! Yay!

Summer, I turn up my nose to you and your ridiculous heat. My sweat glands are personally thankful that your time on center stage is through. It's been real, but take a hike until 2011!


Okay, okay, enough with the drama, but seriously, it was one of the hottest summer's in recent history. But now that cooler temperatures are here, I have hit the outdoors to ready the flowerbeds for fall (which translates as pull the weeds that have taken over in my neglect due to medical microbiology over the summer and second semester nursing two weeks later.) Seriously at one point there was a weed by my front door that was nearly taller than me. And I'm 6-feet tall...it wasn't a skimpy weed!

So normally, I just skip decorating for fall because I'm too excited and ready to just decorate for Christmas, but I am taking a different approach this year. As I get older, time does indeed seem to be racing by even faster. I've thought a lot about this lately. My dad told me once, "Don't wish your life away." It was in the context of me whining about not being able to go out with friends or do the things my older brothers could do. I am quite certain it followed me saying something like, "I wish I was older so I could do that." I'm sure we've all been there. But my dad's wisdom was more than I understood at the time. I get it now. I don't want to wake up when I'm 50, 60, 70 or even Lord willing 80 years old and think to myself, "Why didn't I live more in the moment instead of always pining for the tomorrows?" Sure, it is wise to set goals and make plans (as long as one's heart stays open to God's plan even if it alters our own.) But I want every day to count. This summer was a stretch for me. I love to be outside, but I dread to be hot. And it was melt your face off hot, but I made the best of it. I think the most fun this summer was "Camp Amby." Every now and then I have the privilege of entertaining the various kiddos of my friends and family. And in addition to games indoors, I added to my kid-entertaining-arsenal a slip-n-slide, a sprinkler and some water guns. It was hot, but we stayed cool and had a watery blast in the meantime!

And so with summer behind us, fall upon us and winter ahead (insert childish squeal here!) I am planning to continue to make the most of each day. I'm working on new fall decorations and will post pics soon (I hope) of my creations. Until then, I'm posting some inspirational and "cooler" photos from the days past of my favorite seasons.

The picture below was a little gem I rediscovered when going through my photos from Alaska. I took so many pictures while I was there, I honestly forgot taking some of them! This one was on a tour of a native village set up for tourists taking the riverboat cruise on the Chena river. It has the feel of "ready for winter." Which speaks of my mood three seasons out of the year! Ha!


And I don't have high hopes for a good snowy winter like we had this past winter, but I'll keep my snowy pictures close by to remember the days of hiking in the snow with a frozen nose and joyful heart. : )

A Change In The Air

Fall changes are coming to a front door near you!

This weather, and added stress are making me antsy to do something crafty. For me, there are few things I find truly relaxing where my overstimulated, always thinking brain can slow down and focus on just one thing. One of those things is crafting something or making a change.

So, now that the weather is turning (much to the shagrin of those who just can't get enough of summer) my thoughts have turned towards mums and fall colors! So, I figured I would post a picture of the summer wreath I made (nothing more than shoving four colors of different types of flowers in a grapevine wreath) along with the setup of geraniums and the ferns. Mainly so I can look back for next summer as a reference point for setting it all up again!

So here you go, my bright colors that I have enjoyed this summer.

And when I decide what kind of crafty thing I do, I'll be sure to post it to maybe pass along any ideas.