10 things I love about Fall

10. Sleeping with the windows open
9. toasting marshmellows & snuggling to keep warm by a fire
8. Dexter, Dexter, Dexter!
7. Mums, winter pansies, & asters
6. Halloween
5. Apple picking {& pie eating}
4. Fall back
3. Boots, sweaters, & jeans
2. Pumpkin patch {& carving}
1. Fall Foilage

What are you looking forward to with the change of seasons?

Goodbye, Summer

I have been reading a lot of posts about the end of summer and how much fun everyone had. I am not one of those people. Summer is usually my favorite season and I look forward to it starting December 26th. But this summer was off. I was restless. It was too hot and I couldn't find my grove. August was especially awful. I'm glad it's over. I'm hoping September will bring better weather, a better mood, and more time with family & friends.

Life has changed since the beginning of the summer. My perspective is different. One of the things that has changed is Markus' job. We started the summer in anticipation of him landing the job, and when it finally came my nerves set in. All of the what ifs and daydreaming about a new life together became a reality. Reality is waaaaaay different from daydreaming. Be careful what you wish for. It's scary and a little lonely thinking about uprooting our family and moving to California. But I'm also really excited and looking forward to a change. Our life has felt a little stagnant the last year and I am open to new possibilities and challenges. I just keep trying to remember that wherever you go, there you are. I think that is the key to making this move successful. I have to remember that if I am not happy with myself then I will not be happy with myself in a new place.

And so I am going to take the change of seasons and the change of our new life as a time to work on myself and figure out what is making me unhappy. I don't like feeling restless and not being able to sit still and relax. I did not read one book this summer. Not one. I didn't have the patience to sit down and relax enough. I didn't work on the house or take pictures. I didn't cook or entertain. I hardly went for walks with the dogs or did yoga. I wanted to go to concerts and I didn't see one. I blamed it on not having anyone to go with but I could have made more of an effort. And I certainly didn't blog because I didn't have anything nice to say. Looking back I'm not really sure what I did. And that makes me sad that I wasted what could be our last summer in Virginia (at least for awhile) doing things I can't even remember. I think when we got the news of Markus' new job I just froze and stopped living. It was like the news was too much to take and so I just didn't do anything.

So I'm getting all of this out in the open so I can make a conscious effort to work on doing things I enjoy and making myself content again. And hopefully the change will do me good. If I'm not back to blogging and taking photos in a few weeks, send chocolate and anti-depressents ;)

Seems like a no brainer

You can get with this:

Or you can get with that:

I think I'll get with this 'cause this is where it's at.

Easier said than done.

I had no idea when we visited San Francisco last August that we would be back so soon. Nor in my wildest dreams did I think we may be moving to the city by the bay so soon. It was fun to walk around the neighborhoods and dream about "what if" but now it may be our reality and that is blowing. my. mind.

I'm going out to SF in a few weeks to scout out the neighborhoods, see what we like, and see where we can afford (If Markus makes 1 more Oakland comment I might punch him in the face). I have a feeling we will like much more than we can afford. But that's okay because I think I will fall in love with the city and spend most of my time exploring.

I'm really looking forward to this trip. There will be no visiting tourist attractions or running around trying to squeeze it all in. I plan on just hanging out and living as if we were residents of the city. I hope that's the way it's going to go, anyway. And I'm also hoping to escape the heat. It will be nice to be outdoors and not feel like you are in a sauna.

Oy!

Have you ever wanted to take the clock and stop everything around you so you can stand still and just think for a minute? Catch your breath and look around to see what needs to be done. That's how I am feeling lately. There are so many things I want to do but not enough time. But I don't even know if that's true. I think there is time to do everything I want to do, I'm just wasting it.

When I was younger I could waste an entire weekend sleeping in until noon, watching tv, ordering take-out, and not showering until it was time to go out for the night. Now I feel lazy and unproductive if I sleep past 8 a.m. on the weekends. If I don't check off everything on my to do list by Saturday afternoon and add some more stuff for Sunday. I feel like if it is nice outside (and by nice I mean below 95 degrees and not raining) I feel like I HAVE to be outside doing something. What I don't exactly know, but I know it's too pretty of a day to be sitting inside watching tv. So lately I have tried to slow things down a bit, not stress if the house isn't clean and the laundry all done. Sit on the sofa and watch a movie, in the middle of the day!

And it feels good, but I still hear the voice in the back of my head telling me the laundry needs to be done, the house needs to be cleaned, and for god's sake woman, the sun is out - go do SOMETHING.

I want to do so many things this summer because before I know it summer will be over. And this week is the last week of summer I will have with M. He leaves for training on Sunday and when he finishes summer will be ending and he will be practically living in another city - on the other side of the country. Oy!

How do you cram the whole month of August into 5 days? I don't want to spend his last 5 days on the couch watching tv or doing chores. And selfishly, I don't even want to share him with other people. I want to stop everything and do all the things we never got around to doing this summer.

Let the FUN begin!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! I just turned in my last assignment for this semester and I'm D O N E! Hallelujah, praise the Lord, pass the plate around one. more. time!

It has been a very challenging 6 weeks. Every weekend has been full of homework. I feel like all I have done is read and write and edit and crop. I'm looking forward to having the summer "off" and returning to my normal activities, like writing on this blog without the fear of my professor returning it with red marks and negative comments.

I hope y'all are already enjoying the summer and have something fun planned! We are working on it...

Finding Inspiration

I needed to be reminded of this today. Sometimes I forgot that I can't control everything that is happening in my life. I just need to go with the flow and see where the road takes me.

I'm Baaaaack

Hello, Internet! Did you miss me? I didn't mean to take such a long break from blogging. It just sort of happened. I signed into my blogger account this morning and realized my last post was my 99th post. Kind of odd I decided to stop there. So this is my 100th post. Pretty neat to think I have strung together enough thoughts to make up 100 posts on the wall. And, I think my first post was sometime last April so it's been {off & on} a year of blogging. Woohoo! I haven't looked back to see what I was blogging about last year. I don't think enough time has passed so I'll save that for a rainy day sometime in the future.

I think part of the reason I haven't blogged in awhile is because I'm constantly writing for school and I've gotten a little burnt out. I don't really enjoy writing. I do, however, enjoy blogging. I don't have to worry about punctuation or perfect grammer on the blog. Everyone who knows me knows I am bad at that and math. So, if you have come here for perfect spelling and interesting math problems, you have come to the wrong blog. Sorry, folks.

I'm also still grieving over the loss of my Grandmother. And I know that has something to do with why I haven't felt the need to blog. I've been working through my grief internally and haven't really felt like sharing much of that with anyone, except my husband. He gets me and has been so helpful in this process.

And lastly, school, work, chores, and life in general, has been kicking my butt a little. I am not superwoman. I cannot be everywhere at once doing everything that is asked of me or expected of me (most of those expectations are my own because I want to be superwoman). I know a lot of women struggle with this balance. I am learning to say no, take time for myself, prioritize, and slow down, a little at a time. When did life get so busy?!?

I hope to catch up in the next few days on the stuff that is worth mentioning. Before I forget the details of our life, I would like to document them on this here blog. So that when I am old and senile I will be able to remember all the little things that make life great.