Fall in the Air

 

Fall is in the air and I really can't wait. I love crisper mornings, the smell of turning leaves and of course pumpkin spice. I drove through the hills of changing leaves outside the city to an obscure Michaels located in a random neighborhood because they were the only ones that had some seagrass pumpkins that kind of looked like the ones Amanda loves that I have. It was her birthday this week so the girls and I trashed her porch with the pumpkins and her favorite candy hot tamales. She is the only person I've ever met that loves to pair them with popcorn and I'll forever think of her when I see boxes of the candy at the store. Crazy to think we're winding down on our birthday drop offs, it's been such a fun tradition to do and as a recipient I can testify that it really makes you feel so special!

I also came home and made Mom's pepper jelly to take to everyone this weekend. The smell of warmed green peppers is so nostalgic and really ushers in Fall. I miss pepper jelly and salsa canning time back home and wish I would have paid closer attention to Mom's canning lessons. I'm going to have to have another tutorial because I really would like to be able to do it more but am not confident in my knowledge, abilities or supplies. So for now we'll just make and share pepper jelly on demand over cream cheese on crackers. Seriously one of the yummiest savory fall treats!

Another fun part of this week was doing Halloween themed gingerbread houses with the Young Women. That was one of their activity ideas they threw out during our planning activity and they didn't want to wait until Christmas and one of the leaders had seen "haunted" gingerbread houses at Target. It was a lot of fun and I can tell that this group of girls are a creative bunch and really like to do crafty things at our weekly activities. It's been a lot of fun so far!

To round out the week Jaden and I went to a new Italian place for date night (in his new suede jacket). The appetizers started out solid but unfortunately the entrees were lackluster. It was a bummer to say the least. It was still fun to go explore another part of the city and spend time with my guy in between work and school that keeps us so busy. 

Peaches 

• Jaden made nachos and brought them into my office and we had a little picnic on a tv tray.

• Seeing the changing leaves and thinking of mom's song "the leaves are changin my birthday's comin... na na na na na."

• Saw Boston Baked Beans when I was at Michael's. They were the favorite companion of a guy on my mission so I had to snap a pic and send them to my companion and remind her of the time we bought him a big box of them as a thank you when he helped us get into our apartment when we had locked ourselves out. I should probably be more concerned that we could so easily break into our apartment with a butterknife and a crowbar but at the time we were just so grateful not to be stranded in the dark. I'll always think of Calvin when I see Boston Baked Beans 

• Have been wanting a brown/tan houndstooth blazer for months and could never find one I liked that wasn't hundreds of dollars. TJMaxx for the win

Pits

• Other than homework not too many pits for the week except for when I opened the fridge and a big tub of salsa came tumbling out all over my feet and the fridge. Love when that happens