October Happenings

So it hasn't felt like fall at all here in Houston. We may have a few mornings that are a little less humid and maybe there'll be a cool breeze but most the time it's in the mid-80's. I love fall and the feeling of fall. It starts out with conference which means a family get-together. Then there's Halloween, and then MY BIRTHDAY which leads into the best holidays ever: Thanksgiving and Christmas!!! I haven't seen a single leaf change color here. I was complaining about this to my friend Brianne (who is a Halloween nut!) and she suggested that I decorate our house to make it feel more fall-like...so I did. And she was right...it does feel more like the holidays. Here are the decorations I made:

Our Fall Centerpiece:

Wreath for our Door:

My favorite day to go running is Monday morning a.k.a. garbage day. As I run through the neighborhood behind our complex, I scout out things in people's piles that I may want to acquire. The findings have been especially good since the hurricane because the piles have been a lot larger. I recently found a shelving unit that I put in the walk-in closet in our extra room which now holds all our food storage. I also found some screen mesh that I'm going to put over our herbs that I just planted in little planter boxes cause Lucy likes to eat the little plants just as soon as they pop up. Matt was a little embarrassed at first to discover that his wife has been rummaging through the neighbors garbage like a homeless woman, but I think he's catching the spirit of it. All I have to say for myself is that I am my mother's daughter.

There have been many downed-fences showing up in the piles lately. This is also due to the recent hurricane. As I was cleaning out our closet to make space for the shelving unit, I realized that we had two 4'x1' mirrors. The space above our couch has been crying out for something to be put there, so I decided to snag (or reclaim...if you will) several pieces of fence wood out of someone's garbage pile to make frames for the mirrors. They look very rustic and weathered...I love it. I am planning on carving something super cool into the wood, but I haven't decided what yet, but I cut the pieces for the frames with our circular saw yesterday and here is one of them:

My good friend Brianne (the Halloween nut) recently threw a Halloween themed dress up party for her son's first birthday party. I was a little worried cause Matt and I don't really have any costumes and I didn't have much time to get ready. I sifted through Matt's clothes to see if I could find anything inspiring...and I did...a John Deer shirt. I decided to be a trucker-farmer type. I tucked half my hair up in my hat and powdered the rest with Matt's Gold Bond powder. Did a little face paint and voir la! (or however you spell "Vwala") (Results can be seen below). Pretty much no one recognized me, including our dog. And no, I'm not THAT pregnant yet. That is a pillow...OK?

Prenatal vitamins do WONDERS for your fingernails. I think this is the longest my fingernails have been in all of recorded history. They were still going strong, but I couldn't stand them any longer so I chopped them off. (My cuticles still need some work)