Day 31: costumes for Halloween

i wanted to dress up as Sadness from Inside Out.

that didn't happen.

i was not exactly forced, and i did have a good time, but it was something that was uncomfortable. and weird. and honestly i hate high heels. (although they are adorable.....)

WHO'S FREAKIN' IDEA WAS IT TO CREATE LIPSTICK.
because they just made it to the top of my hit-list.

we had a grand time. i mean: let's dress up and go to the Pride and Prejudice theater production (that was AMAZING i might add).

i love non-conventional Halloweens. 

note: photos are courtesy of Taylor....she's in the polka dots. :)

DAY 30: October Favorites

how to you say THIS IS MY FAVORITE.

(lol. it's called fangirling.)

October is OCTOBER. how can it not be a favorite?



it involves leggings and hot coffee instead of the iced we get in summertime. it means more blankets on your bed and awaking groggily to find that the sun is not up yet at 8:30.

October means its okay to spend an afternoon inside reading a book. because in the summertime that's apparently not okay. it also means new kittens because we need more mouse murderers.

it means that hunting season is here so Dad is gone for 10 days and every weekend until Thanksgiving. but when he comes back he smells faintly of woodsmoke and gunpowder and leather and if we're lucky, the iron-tinted odor of blood. (which is gross, but not actually that gross when you're used to it.)

it means that its okay to make pumpkin spiced EVERYTHING. it means its okay to turn on the heater. it means its okay to say 'ITS SO COLD' and your co-workers don't laugh at you.

it means comfort, and family, and giddiness because the leaves on the sidewalk crunch.

it means when you find that friend that absolutely LOVES red leaves that have landed on the round and she's SO HAPPY to have some to throw up into the air and you get a photo like this:

it means taking seven million pictures in the morning when the sun is just coming through the leaves on the trees and you're on the front porch taking them in your pajamas and bare feet and your toes almost freeze off.

its October. how can it not be a favorite? its the last hurrah before winter. its the last sprint, the last adrenaline rush, the last leaf as it falls from the tree.

DAY 27: DIY Halloween Decorations...wut.

i am the worst decorator in the history of holiday decorating. or ANY decorating for that matter. my room has been unfinished for basically FOREVER, and my apartment's only excuse for its sadly empty walls and sparsly furnished sitting area is that i'm a college-aged person with little spending money and all of that goes towards food, clothes, and then into a jar (because EUROPE HERE I COME) so basically there goes anything that makes you think warm and fuzzy and its description contains the words "couch" "furniture", or "apartment".

seriously. i don't even have measuring cups for my kitchen.

so WHY on this lovely green earth would i decorate for halloween?

(ahem: the answer is, i wouldn't.)

BUT its this stupid tag that i signed up for. so dang it i have to at least say my opinion.

Halloween Decorations. (oh shoot, and their DIY to boot.....)

1. Halloween is not halloween without a carved pumpkin.

2. candles. enough said.

3. bonfires. also enough said. 

and honestly, after that? who cares! get a movie and make 4 different types of popcorn and sack out on the couch for the evening. happy halloween!

note: all of these pictures came from Pinterest. enjoy!

DAY 25: this week i did absolutely nothing exciting

i worked. i played a little piano. i started reading a new book that i actually bought. (i never buy books. i WANT to buy books. but my budget is cruel and unrelenting and focused towards more expensive goals...like travelling.) and i started making some more journals. (more on that later.)

i baked some pumpkin and looked up a midwifery school. i pondered whether to post my forceful and probably-not-politically-correct post on feminism. i watched an entire season of The Big Bang Theory which is my guilty pleasure show. and i laugh way too hard at it.

i made sure that every time i walked down the sidewalk i kicked the leaves and enjoyed their crunching. i gaped at the frost-glazed trees and the fog bank that is usually much larger this time of year, but had just missed our house. i was disappointed at this.

i looked up Albanian food. it looks lovely. lots of flaky doughs and meat and cabbagey fillings and BAKLAVA. (i have to figure out how to do this gluten free) so that stuff is on the list.

i made sorbet (strawberry and mango) which was really good. oh, and meatloaf.

but this week, other than these things, has been rather quiet. that quietness that comes, not before the storm, but three weeks later when nothing has happened for a while, and you start to think that nothing will ever happen again. its that quiet when you've been walking for a long time and haven't really gotten anywhere. anywhere remarkable, that is. its that quiet right in the middle of everything that makes you tired enough to just lay down and take a nap. its the kind of quiet that comes from everyone watching you to see if you will go through the door. the problem is...do you even see it? its right in front of you. you've gotten somewhere, but you don't see it. you just need to overcome that one last obstacle. go through the door.

Day 20 & 22 - Halloween tags and Pinterest roundups

Because i am SUCH a rebel: i'm combining these posts. So, its all from Pinterest. but i'm answering the tag questions. (i know. waaaaat?)

feel free to do this yourself! :)

1- What year did you first go trick-or-treating?

my family and i have only ever gone to church harvest parties and things like that. so, no, i've never actually gone trick-or-treating.

2- Favorite kind of candy?

3- What are you going to be this year?

sadness from Inside Out! (LOVE that movie...)

4 - Favorite costume you've had?

my sister and i did this for like, 3 years straight. cowboys and indians. OH and there was that one time where the entire family dressed up like hicks from the backwoods. there were some reactions to that. 

5 - Favorite spooky creature?

black cats. (the worst they can do is scratch you.) (plus these little buggers are ADORABLE.)

6 - How hyped do you get for Halloween?

7 - Halloween Pinteresty thing that you've always wanted to try?

we made caramel apples ONCE while i was a child. i REALLY REALLY REALLY want to give it another go.  

8- Favorite part of Halloween?

we don't actually GO to the movies. we just sack out in my mom's bedroom and watch like, 3 movies in a row and chow on junk food. 

9 - Orange or black?
both.

NOW: i'm not going to specifically tag anyone, but feel free to steal this. :) Happy Halloween! 

Day 14 and 15: memories buried in pages

i don't have a particular favorite fall memory.

they've all sort of mashed together into a magical feeling of loveliness that oozes from me every time the word "autumn" is mentioned.

i can visit that feeling anytime, because its bottled up inside. its the same feeling i get when i think about the smell of books, the sight of towering mountains, or the sound of ocean waves in my ears. its labeled home and nostalgia. i can visit anytime i need a quiet place to collect my thoughts back to who i actually am.

the year upon year upon year of going to the mansion, rolling around in the leaves and grass until our noses were pink and our hair filled with twigs and dead leafage. the collection of school books, being excited by the bleachy odor of new notebook paper, woody pencil shavings, the wax-ish aroma of colored pencils, armed and prepared for the battlefield of the coloring books. the morning crumpling of newspapers for the fire, lit by the match that my mother could always strike on the first try, the flame seducing the paper to burn, burn, soon followed by the crackling of pine wood. and behind it all as a backdrop is the warm settled feeling of applesauce in my stomach.

each of these is layered in the pages of books i have read. memories lovingly wrapped in the fictional newspapers of places that i have only been in my mind. memories more precious than great-grandmother's china, cupped and cradled by the minutes of meetings that only took place on paper. 

books were my ground, my dirt for growing. woven through my childhood memories was the privilege of a library. a narnian war took place three weeks before christmas one year. laura ingalls and her father were crossing the prairie when easter rolled around, and the boxcar children found their grandfather just before halloween. even later, Redwall fought for its inhabitants as i recieved my final grades for the year, and the Wormling found his identity before the summer was out. 

now, Kisses from Katie has wormed its way around my heart, reminding me what i'm actually supposed to do. i'm supposed to be a missionary. i'm supposed to love others and be a light and have constant communion with God and be available and open as a person. it speaks of following Him wholeheartedly, and what that looks like, how we can carry that out in our everyday life. i've finished that book now, but its rather haunting me, asking me to objectively look at the way i live.

i look forward to All the Light We Cannot See. i've heard wonderful things about it. a blind girl learning how to live in Nazi-invaded Poland. a story of struggle and perhaps triumph. (i don't know about triumph because i haven't read the end yet.)

its book season as much as it is autumn season. its nostalgia and home. its my comfort zone.

Day 10: stayin cozy (with gifs. YAY.)

WELL THIS IS GOING TO BE THE EASIEST BLOG POST EVER.

HOW TO STAY COZY IN AUTUMN:

Step 1: buy internet data.

Step 2: never get out of bed.

Step 3: surf Pinterest and Facebook and blogs ALL DAY LONG. 

And that’s it.

The only problem with this is this tiny little thing called finances. In order to have successful finances, you have to have a job. Which requires getting out of bed. (unless I missed something. If you know a way around this little roadblock LET ME KNOW.) because my life is basically me doing things but in my head i'm going:

For the first 7 months of my job i tried to figure out how to dress appropriately. (Qualifications include temperature of clothing, applicability to the season of the year, and is-this-nice-enough-to-wear-there.) AND I FAILED MISERABLY for the first 7 months. It was awesome. At this point though, i'm barely keeping myself warm and cozy, so i don't know how my advice will help. you're probably just here for the amazing gifs. 

So here’s what I do, because I have a job and, unfortunately, no internet connection at my house:

STEP 1: Dress as cozily as possible. (Guys, I don’t know how you do this. I am not a guy thus I don’t know a) how you dress and b) if you ever get cold because you didn’t dress warm enough. I’m assuming you don’t have issues with this because you were all built with those blasted internal furnaces that God forgot to put into girls. *pointed look at God*.)

So girls, listen up:  

Leggings, flannel-lined pants (#heaven), and warm skirts with leggings are your best bet. Then, layer your tops: tank-top under a t-shirt or long-sleeve under a sweater and/or  a scarf. Then, warm socks and boots, or just regular shoes if you’re feeling brave enough to conquer that terrible condition known as ice toes. Next: DON’T FORGET THE COAT. Get something warm. As much as I hate long coats, they really are lovely in the midst of a short yet frozen walk downtown. (I believe my words were “MY LEGS ARE ICE LEGS.” …or something along those lines…)

STEP 2: DRINK WARM LIQUIDS. Yes, you will have to pee. But tea is lovely, as are toilets. Can’t have one without the other.

Also coffee is great, although you will suffer the consequences of addiction and HYPERNESS. NOT GOOD. Sometimes even hot water with a little stevia extract is nice, or lemon and honey tea. OR whatever other lovely liquid you’ve conjured up. (I love new ideas so let me in on your secrets.)

These are what I do, all autumn, and all winter. My sister thinks I’m crazy because I don’t do Step 3 like, EVER.  But let’s be honest: The cold never bothered me anyway. 

(Except for days when I didn’t get enough sleep. Then it bothers me more than an itch I can’t reach.) (And I can reach most of my itches.)(So that says a lot.)

STEP 3: TURN UP THE DANG HEATER. Sometimes that’s all you can do to keep the cold monsters at bay. My sister’s room usually feels like a sauna in the chilly early morning hours because someone decided to put wall heaters in our rooms. Lexy uses hers like the rapture might happen and goodness we want to get our use out of these before then, now don’t we?

(this is how lexy looks at the heater whenever i turn it off.)

But really. The best course of action is to stay in bed under a pile of blankets and hope no one notices you. (Maybe you’ll be able to avoid the job police.) (Let me know the success rate on this. I’m considering doing it myself.) 

(seriously sometimes i nope so hard i turn into this octopus.)

STAY WARM, PEOPLE. 

And offer tips. I love it when people give me new ideas of how to not freeze. 

Days 9 and 13: my favorite part of fall and a menagerie of photos to boot...

Autumn. I love it. I don’t love it the way some people love summer or winter or spring, loving it because it gives me nicer weather or skiing or vacations. I love it because it makes me giddy. I love it when the leaves skitter down the sidewalk like scared cats and the trees chuckle their response, tossing down more deceased foliage for amusement. I love the slight breezes and the way the cold crisp mornings smell clean. I hate the way summer comes back in the afternoons, too hot for the leggings and sweaters that I so desperately adore. I crumple up happily at the odor of musty leaves and sigh deeply when the bitter, tantalized odor of coffee wafts into my nose…the same nose that I bury deeply between scarves and aviators.

I love the way autumn sinks into winter, the black hole of seasons. Foliage turns from green to must to yellow to red to brown and then disappears altogether under white snow. The warm summer days get nippy in the mornings, then that cold begins to stretch long fingers deeper under the skin of the day, until I can wear my jacket when I walk to my car after work, and then eventually I need a coat because let’s be honest, forty-five degrees is just too cold for only a sweater.

I love the ache that comes with the anticipation. The waiting for that day when you finally realize its only forty-four days until Thanksgiving (which is, according to the Sami Calendar, National FOOD Day) and only sixty days until my birthday and only seventy three days until Christmas (which is Second National FOOD Day).  This gets me thinking about Christmas shopping, and I’ll let you in on a little secret: the best Christmas shopping is done in autumn. Creative juices aren’t so frozen then, prices are just a little lower, and everything is a bit more open as far as gift options go. Yes, the anticipation for these days and then after that, spring.

I love autumn because it is the calm before the storm, the beauty before destruction. It is the gray hairs among the black, the silver strands. It is the sunset before the night. The happy ending before the next adventure. It is the fuel before the long journey. The midnight snack because heaven knows that we wouldn’t make it to the morning without that fridge-light-flooded search for something to put us back to sleep. It is the reward because we’ve made it this far through the year.

I love autumn because it is the beginning of the trail that leads to my self. It is alluring, calling to me: fall into me. Fall into autumn’s embrace, which will be enveloped by winter, which will be buried in cold and then from this death spring will arise and there will be new life. I love autumn because I relate to it. It says get rid of the unneeded, for a new journey begins. Dwell not too long in one mindset, but seek newness and freshness always, learning from the past and pressing forward into the future to try out newly acquired knowledge. Be new, be rewarded, be you.

This is why I love this season. It falls into autumn into December into me.