Favorite Fall Things....

Just want to take a minute and do a fun little "FAVORITE FALL THINGS" countdown...

before we dive right on into Christmas... 

We need a little FALL celebrating don't you think ???

Because...

I LOVE FALL!

and... before you know it ... 

it will FALL away!  :)  so sad...

I really wish for it to linger... a little longer this year! 

I so.... so.... so.... enjoy fall! 

My top 10 Favorite Fall things! 

10-Sweaters....

I just love a warm, chunky, comfy sweater! 

 9-SOCKS.... 

I get to wear SOCKS again!!! I LOVE SOCKS!!!! (I don't wear shoes, so my feet LOVE and welcome a new pair of socks... on that first CRISP FALL DAY!!!) 

 

and... SLIPPERS..... 

awh.... don't you just want to slide your feet inside of these babies.... awe... HEAVENLY! 

8-BOOKS!!! 

 I love that FALL allows me "down" time... to pick up and drown myself in some good books! 

7-PUMPKINS!!! 

  I just LOVE pumpkins... of all kinds!!!!  

PUMPKIN anything..... pies... cookies.... rolls.....pancakes.....candles....MMMMM love pumpkin!

6-BAKING....COOKING..... SOUPS!!!! 

Yes - SOUPS!! that is FALL for sure!!! 

5-Wassail.... 

I just LOVE the smell - I could have it going all day long.. every day.... fall is here! 

4-Crisp Air...

love the feel... love the smell.... fall is in the air! 

(Can't you just feel the "CRISPY" air from this picture.... amazing!) 

3-LEAVES!!! 

 I love love LOVE leaves!  They just make me feel warm... cozy....safe....yet happy too! 

2-DECORATING.....

I haven't ALWAYS enjoyed decorating.... In fact, there was a time in my life when I did anything and EVERYTHING I could to avoid pulling out the boxes of decorations... the only problem.... my kids would not LET IT GO!  Because I had done it for so many years and my oldest 3 unfortunately REMEMBERED... They wouldn't stop bugging me... I managed for a few years to put up less and less...  and then one year -I found myself over stressed... financially we were struggling... and my world seemed to be caving around me... I had just had my 5th baby.... my husband was layed off... my oldest that was a senior in high school and was on home and hospital... and I just couldn't find the "UMPH" in me to do it.... I didn't even want to get the boxes out ... it took TOO much energy just thinking about it....I didn't want the mess... it was just going to add to my STRESS! For a couple years I managed to get by with very little to NONE in the holiday decoration department - AND I didn't even put up the Christmas tree until 3 days before Christmas... and it came down the day after Christmas... YEP! I was a BAH-HUM-BUG mom! It was just more than I could take on. But I noticed... when my house was not decorated... it just didn't "FEEL" right.... (Shortly after the holidays, we discovered that I was dealing with postpartum baby blues... who knew it could hit 10 months after giving birth! OH SO GLAD we were able to get it under control!)   

Shortly after discovering my issue, it was General Conference - and I ALWAYS look forward to Conference weekend and being able to receive council and guidance from our church leaders. I remember very well one of the talks that conference - it hit me like a ton of bricks!  I know - just know that Elder L. Tom Perry, was speaking to me ... basically telling me to GET IT TOGETHER! ... but in his NICE way.... he said ...

"In a world of turmoil and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to make our families the center of our lives and the top of our priorities. Families lie at the center of our Heavenly Father’s plan."  We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm, which is increasing in intensity all about us. Even if the smallest openings are left unattended, negative influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes."  

 Well... that did it!  Finally, that following fall season... when I just wasn't sure I had anything left in me.. somehow, this talk filtered to the top of my head and I had the "UMPH" to make our home a heaven on earth! That fall, I transformed our main living area from blah to warm.... comfy, cozy, inviting and I've loved it ever since!... and guess what I did??? I decorated in fall colors, a fall theme.... leaves and branches, twigs and such... they were my inspiration.  We were very poor (still are) but really poor - so I did what I could within our means, but I was determined to make our house a home... a safe, warm, inviting, comfortable place to be.  I wanted my children and their friends to feel safe here.  To feel loved.  To feel inspired.  As I was driving around, I was looking for anything in nature that I could use to decorate our house in... branches became my curtain rods - (I had never had curtains in our home... it's amazing what a window treatment will do!)  I found a great deal on some iron "leaf" knobs that became the curtain rod holders and picture holders on our walls.  I found some sconces at a yard sale, spray painted them and then filled them with weeds from the road side - LOVE THEM!  

Decorating for the seasons has once again returned to a tradition in our household, it’s something that my  children always looked forward to. (well, most of them!)  I have found that even when I didn’t feel like it, once I got started and began changing things around, sprucing up this and that....my crazy ideas will get going wild! It’s such a great feeling to stand back and see the transformation that just a few touches can make. Simple touches....

AND... my most FAVORITE thing about fall..... 

My family!

Oh, don't get me wrong....  I LOVE them all year long... But for me, FALL means.... I usually see them MUCH MORE OFTEN!  Which is always a treat!  I have a large family - and it is continually growing! I love that we are all so different - yet so much alike... I love that we have so many personalities... so many talents.... and still..... so many quirks! Just like fall leaves, we are each a different color, shape, size, and texture,  but that makes us all the more beautiful!

This is one of my favorite quotes (and I don't know where it even came from... but I just love it)

"Plant happy moments and harvest a lifetime of happy memories"....