Thoughts on Fall…

I’ve decided that recently I’ve been rather out-of-sorts for a variety of different reasons. Although here lately I’ve felt as if the world was working against me, I thought it would be wise for me to focus on some of the things that make me ever-so-happy during this time of year!

1. I love the fall… Absolutely EVERYTHING about it is enjoyable to me. I love the crispness of the air, the falling leaves, the smell of wood smoke coming from chimneys, pumpkins sitting on porches, the need to wear coats, gloves, scarves etc. I love fall!

2. Baking is better when you bake with pumpkin! Since Fall is officially ‘pumpkin season’ I feel it is best to bake with pumpkin this time of year, rather than during the spring and summer. (The stuff still tastes just as good during other times of the year, but it almost seems out of place.) Therefore, it makes me soooooo happy when I can stock my pantry with pumpkin and bake pumpkin bread, muffins, cookies, etc. to my heart’s content. Gingerbread’s the same way…. It’s seasonal to me, which means I start baking gingerbread flavored items in September and enjoy them until spring rolls around. Fall and Winter are definitely my FAVORITE baking seasons. On that note… if you have any good fall related recipes that you recommend – send them my way! :)

3. Jeans and sweatshirts! I could live everyday of my life wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, which is the perfect attire for fall! Hooded sweatshirts with a pocket in the front are definitely my favorites! Alas, if only I could wear them to work!

4. Fall Family Time. For those of you who know the Howes family, you know that we love to spend family time together. And although we spend a lot of time together throughout the year the fall brings about some special opportunities. First of all, Mom and Dad’s birthdays are both in October (only 5 days apart), which means we get to celebrate two birthdays this time of year. Also, since Sam and I moved to Lakeview Mom and Dad have started coming to our house for Trick-or-Treat to pass out candy. This year will be great because it will be the first time since we’ve moved that Sam and I will both be there on Trick-or-Treat night, along with the rest of the family! And of course, we must mention Thanksgiving. We’ve had lots of different Thanksgiving Traditions in the past and now are creating some new ones. This is about the only holiday that we ‘rotate’ locations…which means, every 3rd year Sam and I get to host the Thanksgiving meal at our house! Since I love entertaining, I really look forward to our turn to host!

5. Sam and I FINALLY found a used Kayak to buy and I totally LOVE IT! For those of you who have never been kayaking, I would definitely recommend it. Being out on the water is so peaceful and beautiful! The upper body exercise you get from kayaking is awesome as well! We heard that some friends of ours had an Old Town Loon 160T for sale…. So we took it for a quick spin on the lake last weekend (and no – it wasn’t too cold – we did not even get our feet wet!) and fell in love! We stopped by their house that afternoon and paid for it. Ahhhh… I can’t wait till spring so we can take it out on regular trips! (This one is not specific to the season… but it just occurred this past weekend so I think that makes it okay to include:)

This is what our kayak looks like, except ours is red! :)