OCTOBER (blogtober: day 8)

Day 8: Favorite things to do in October

they say it
like october is a place.

like you can smell its breeze and run through its grass, dry and dead though it may be.
welcome to october: population 2,015
the diner on the corner serves pumpkin pie, halloween candy, and apple cider.

October: Home of the largest Pumpkin Patch

orangish, browning leaves blanket the ground year-round
getting soggy with each damp night that sometimes turn into foggy mornings
that turn into sunshiny days that make you squint against the bright orange leaves

and the windowpanes are almost, almost frosted but not quite.

when october is a place you inhale its air and you become another person:
one who walks down the sidewalk slower than normal
stepping on crunchy leaves and burying your nose in your scarf.

and you think:

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. -L.M.Montgomery

and you think that maybe october isn't a place - a physical place
as much as it is a mindset.
slow down. take those long last breaths before the icy pain of winter.
appreciate the dying beauty of the world around you.
october isn't a place but a time.
not even a season.
its just a paused moment between hot and cold
life and death
a bench to sit and watch leaves fall.

autumn, from autumnus - cold, to cool off, or enriched, enlarged, ample.
the cold grows, from autumn.
the winter springs from autumns death,
the spring from winter's demise.

the favorite thing to do in the little town of october
is watch life go round and round.

i'll give you a run-down of my actual favorite things to do in october. basically, play in leaves and take pretty pictures and dress in boots and scarves and flannel and have bonfires and smell the air and drink hot hazelnut breves. and write poetry. :D

hoping, across the street (blogtober: day 7)

I'M IN DENIAL.
i hate clothing, basically. 
day 7 of blogtober is OOTD (outfit of the day) 
PROBLEM. but i'm a rebel. (problem solved.)
instead of looking at what i'm wearing, we're gonna talk about how people look at outsides appearances, instead of the inside worth. 
and whaddya know. it's a poem, too... BONUS!





i work downtown.

sometimes i have to walk down the street to run errands.

sometimes i run across the street.

a car stops.

i sprint so that i don't get in the way.

my braid flies over my shoulder

and there's a grin

where the wind whips my face

for just one second.

one second,

and i hope.

i hope that the people in the car don't see

a woman hurrying

across the street.

a well dressed lady

with a straight back

and perfect smile

and good communication skills

and "PLEASANT" stamped all over her

like a billboard ad.

i desperately hope that they don't see that.

i hope they see two braids instead of one.

bare feet instead of heeled boots.

comfy jeans and a dirty tanktop,

rather than the skirt-and-blouse look

that i loathe.

not makeup, but

the tan,

freckled

face of someone

who never grew up.

who never meant to grow up.

i hope they see not just another woman hurrying

across the street.

i hope, i desperately wish

that they see

me.

just me.

the little girl in woman's clothing.

    

DAY SIX - it is good

DAY SIX: Top 6 Favorite Bloggers and Why...

(oh this is good. i love this.)
(i get to talk about my favorite people.)
(hang on while i just *flail* *dies* *comes back to life because of happiness*)

sorry. OKAY WE'RE ON NOW.

Favorite bloggers? YAY.
Normally i don't like people unless i like them. (don't ask. it doesn't make sense to me either.)
(you're all awesome. i love you.)

But bloggers? Bloggers are SO COOL.

And on the 6th day God made bloggers. and he said "It is good. - Sami's version of the first chapter of the Bible. :D

Pinterest

1. Jana at Jana's Faith - this girl and her words are THE BEST. (not to mention she's an amazing friend.) and her photography is beautiful. and basically just YES.

2. Kate at the goodness revolt -  this girl is SO POWERFUL with her words. thought-provoking and makes me happy-cry regularly. plus her photography, and her poetry, and her view on Jesus is AWESOME.

3. Cait at Paper Fury  - makes me laugh. every time. plus, she talks about books, SO OF COURSE ITS AMAZING. (and she is the future world ruler so DUH. we love her.)

4. Sara at Glittering Ambiguity - because HELLO its arts and crafts and letters from the basement right now and I LOVE IT.

5. Kryn at Garden of Happiness - makes me laugh. and she's amazing at photography and just being herself which totally rocks.

6. Abbie at Abbiee - this girl and her poetry, and the stories about her adventures, and not to mention every once in a while she gives a tutorial post (like this one) that makes my life a whole lot easier - basically like, WOW.

so, go check out these blogs NOW. because the blogs are awesome, and the people behind them are awesome too. :)

And TALK TO ME PEOPLE (i love comments!) who's your favorite blogger? I love getting new reading material so share links! (i love links, too.)

BLOGTOBER - T-minus 5, 4, 3...

I always say "oh, yeah...i'm gonna blog more."
WHATEV.
BECAUSE I ALREADY MISSED THE FIRST FIVE DAYS OF BLOGTOBER.
WHICH MEANS I FAIL AT BLOG.

but like i said - WHATEV.

i'll do it anyway.

DAY ONE: October Goals.

() take pictures of the leaves (i've already started and i don't intend to stop)
() finish my TBR list
() write more in my book, because its all stuck in my head and it needs to get out onto paper BEFORE IT DRIVES ME NUTSO.
() make pie dough and bread with my older sister
() hang out with my younger sister and maybe make music. but basically hang out.
() get more christmas shopping done. (yes. i have already started.)

DAY TWO: Fall Essentials.

~ red, orange, and yellow leaves. (more on that later. we had a lovely time.)
~ scarves and leggings
~ train trips across the country to visit freinds. (i didn't know this was an essential either. BUT IT IS.)
~ apple cider. and apple pie. and basically anything APPLE.
~ BOOKS. DUH and aviators.

DAY THREE: October To-Be-Read.
(*whispers* oh my gosh who created this tag...they are the best. i need them.)

LET ME SHOW YOU MY LIFE:

() these. because i've only actually read 3, 6, 7, and 8. so i have a lot left.
() and the rest of the Ranger's Apprentice series (11 & 12) because HELLO FLANAGAN WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US YOU WEREN'T DONE.
() Lion Heart by A.C. Gaughen
() Where the Moon Isn't by Nathan Filer
() Still Writing by Dani Shapiro (this has been half-read for over a year now. i need to put this book out of its misery.)
() Spark by Evan Angler (this series kind of went downhill for me, but i still want to see how it ends.)
() Fairest by Marissa Meyer (CANNOT. WAIT. FOR WINTER. which is the next book in the series.) (seriously, the suspense is killing me.)
() The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

DAY FOUR: This Week I...

AM GOING ON A TRAIN TRIP. YAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!
It's gonna be a quick trip, but HEY it's something new and we get to see friends that we haven't seen in over a year so NO DUH ITS GONNA BE AMAZING. I will take 7.68 gazillion pictures for you. plus, like, TRAINS PEOPLE. I'm going to feel like one of the Pevensie children and probably talk in an British accent and wish i was dressed up like someone off Downton Abbey. BECAUSE - TRAINS.

DAY 5: 5 Tips I Would Give to a New Blogger

1. KEEP WRITING. Because if you don't write, then its kind of hard to have a blog. You don't always have to post it. But write it down. It makes the creative juices happy.
2. Read. Read books. Read other blogs. Read the classifieds in the newspaper if that's all you have on hand. READ. because reading means life, and new ideas, and FUEL for the fire.
3. Don't push yourself too hard. Only post the stuff you actually like, when it feels right.
4. Create your voice on the page. We all have ways that we talk in real life; find what you sound like when your thoughts are in paper and ink. (or, pixels and light if we're talking about computer screens.)
5. What needs to be said? Say it. What needs to be photographed and documented? Post it. What needs to be seen? Show it. We are the up-close-and-personal connection from life to internet. We provide the stories that are everyday. Not to mention the nifty little DIY pages and how-to's. You don't HAVE to have a strict blog for a certain genre. I mean, if you're obsessed about something, then go for it. but then there's me, and i have several obsessions and one of them is poetry and another is photography and then there's reading and lovely british television that sucks me in and doesn't let me go. SO WHAT THE HECK LETS WRITE ABOUT WHATEVER WE WANT. Be you. Its your blog...you can do what you want with it!

YOU SHOULD TOTALLY DO THIS CHALLENGE. HERE. DO IT.
and tell me about your first five days of October. Isn't fall lovely?

I took the pic. My sister posed. Isn't she lovely? :)

10 quotes from the awesome people i hang out with (10 things)

   

quotes are MY MOST FAVORITEST THINGS EVER.

i've been noticing that the people that i hang around with are really REALLY profound, or just the stuff that comes out of that hole in their face really hits home with me... so i thought i'd quote them.

1. Mom - "That's the part of the equation that we can't control." (We were talking about people in our lives and how their actions affect us, and our actions affect them. I got a picture in my head of a ship sailing through a storm. It has been said that you are the main character of your own story, and the supporting character of someone else's. As ships, we sail through other people's storms. We can either change course and get out of it, or sail straight on through. We can't control the storm itself. We can't control other people. That's the part of the equation that we can't control.)

2. Dani (my older sister) - "Sometimes we have to hang around in the dirt to realize that we don't want to be dirty." (Talking about people again. Sometimes they have to see the bad stuff to realize that they don't want to be in it.)

3. Chris (my brother-in-law) - "Their moral compass is kinda squishy. You know that cornstarch stuff? Where you add cornstarch and water together? And if you hit it really hard, it doesn't give, but if you let it sit in your hands it just turns to goop. That's what their moral compass is like. If you hit it really hard under pressure, its super strong, but the more you hang out with them, the softer it gets." (Again, talking about people - sometimes they put on masks which present the view that they are solid in their morals, in their faith, ethics, whatever...and if not tested except for the occasional smack, they seem solid. But the longer you hang out with them, the goopier they and their morals become.)

(fun fact: Both Dani and Chris, after saying these things, looked at each other and said: "wow! that was really profound!".....gotta love 'em.)

4. Jana (friend, blogger, awesome person) - "Europe is nice. They have trains." (I told her that I was going to run away. She asked if she could come with me.)

5. Eliza Marie (new baby niece!) - "*gurgle* *babble* *wheeze* *sigh*." (All while looking at me with a wide-eyed and bemused expression on her face. I have no idea what this means, but I thought it was profound.)

6. Joelle Rose (2 year old niece...ADORABLE) - "Five fives....LIAR!" (We were playing Pirate's dice.....i think she'll be able to beat us all by the time she's six, but i'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.)

7. Me - "I thought it would help to travel the world." (is it terrible to quote myself? i could give myself a pen name....or say it was one of my friends...)

8. Sara (friend, blogger) - "Even if we fail, we will have learned so much." (We actually didn't have a conversation about this...i found it on her blog.)

9. Courtney (friend, musician) - "But yellow Starbursts are my favorite!" (In response to: a Facebook post that said "Never let anyone treat you like a yellow Starburst. You are a pink Starburst." This was the same girl that told me that "normal was just a setting on your washing machine". Seriously, this girl is brilliant.)

10. Kelaiah (friend, musician, blogger) - "To love is to risk." (ok, so Leo Buscaglia actually said this, but Kelaiah shared it with me. Which makes it awesome.)

11. (BONUS ROUND) Dad - "In 50 words or less, tell me who peed in your Cheerios this morning." (i died. laughing. this is my dad, all the time. so awesome.)

So.....What's your favorite quote? Who said it? Or have you ever said something yourself that you really liked?
I LOVE COMMENTS so talk to me! :D