Autumn Update

Somehow the month of October has almost completely come & gone - I mean, November will be here next week! I always manage to be amazed at how time passes; there are days when I feel like this year has lasted for quite a long time but more often than not I am absolutely amazed at how quickly this year has passed. I look at my desk calendar at the office & remember in January when I first set it up, it seemed so thick & offered a look at the months yet to come. Now it is so thin & serves a reminder of how quickly this year has flown by. Like I said, I occasionally feel like the year has passed slowly...but that is very occasionally.

This post is going to be picture heavy - I've come to realize that a lot of my posts are picture heavy, but I like to share pics to go along with what I'm typing, not to mention I know of at least one person that lives far, far away from me & might enjoy the pictures more than others. :) Yes Nickolee, I'm talking about you. Of course, I guess my parents & Lindsey like the pictures too. Enough said on that though.

I am so blessed with such wonderful friends, that is just the truth. I was able to spend my birthday weekend with two of those sweet friends - Lisa & Kristen. I stayed with Lisa & she really just rolled out the welcome mat for me. She cooked some delicious taco soup for supper on Friday night; we just sat around watching TV & chatting, a great way to chill out after a long week.

Birthday morning - a wee bit overcast...

Silly me - I thought I'd enjoy a nice cup of morning coffee on the porch of Lisa' apartment on Saturday, but it was actually pretty breezy out & the wind blowing off the lake was slightly chillier than I was ready for at 7 in the morning, so I just sipped my brew on the couch. I decided that I'd love some birthday breakfast, so we headed out to Cracker Barrel for some good food. I also got to meet a friend of Lisa's who so sweetly bought my birthday breakfast - talk about the kindness of strangers! Shopping is always important when you have birthday money, so I made a few purchases before we had the ever important GiGi's cupcake to celebrate my turning another year older. Lisa & I met up with Kristen at Biaggi's for supper; absolutely delicious as always & sweet Lisa so kindly bought my birthday supper. I'm telling you guys, I couldn't ask for better friends if I tried. Thank you Lisa & Kristen for helping my celebrate 28! Love you guys! :)

Birthday Cupcakes for the road - they were all pretty delicious!

Kristen & I after supper - love this pic!

Birthday goodies! :)

Lisa & I after supper - yay for great friends!

So glad to call you both my friends!

Birthday dinner...and presents!

I was able to have Monday off for my birthday, but since I can't ever just be chill...I ended up doing some decorating for Halloween, cleaning & sprucing up some things & basically not being relaxed. I find that I'm becoming more like my Momma every day; I just can't sit still if I think of something that needs to be taken care of. My Momma is pretty great though, so there are much worse fates than turning into my Mother. ;)

My "creepy" porch...

I love my Autumn Snoopy - such an awesome birthday gift!

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere...

Also, how much do I love Tango? I don't know if you guys have iPhones or even have any clue what Tango is. I know my family does because we use it on a regular basis. It has been one of the best apps I've ever downloaded onto my phone. I just can't ever really get the whole Face Time thing on my phone to work out so well, but Tango always works & works great! My family & I use it routinely; it has allowed Lindsey & I to take "tours" of my parent's new townhouse, for me to show off the way(s) I have rearranged the furniture so that I can get votes of approval (or not) & it also lets my Mom "talk" to her grand dog, who usually just stares at the screen looking very confused. Ha-ha. Lindsey & I also have some pretty epic conversations, as evidenced by the photos below...

Something must be funny....

I mean, confused much?

Autumn also brings crazy weather here in good ol' Mississippi. It can be 65 one day & 90 the next, I know - insane. When the weather can't make up its mind, neither can your body. So...I joined the ranks of the sniffy, sneezy, coughy & achy (hey - 3 more & I'd have named my own 7 dwarfs!) to battle my yearly cold. Blessedly, I think I actually caught this one early & only had one day of feeling a lot like poop. Thank goodness for Halls & chicken noodle soup!

The weapons in my arsenal...

Oh noodle soup - how I love thee.

A wonderful surprise in the midst of my cold? Why that would be a package of goodies straight from the island(s) of Aloha. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my parents?

Aloha! This was the most awesome package ever!!

Last but certainly not least, I got down to carving myself a pumpkin last Saturday. I decided to go outside the box this year & carve something a little different. I painted my pumpkin white to begin with because I wanted to carve my pumpkin to look like Jack Skellington - from "A Nightmare before Christmas". I think I did pretty good on this one, although I've been told by several people that it actually looks really creepy. I wasn't really going for that, but I guess creepy is fine too. I just love the way it turned out. Watson wasn't so sure at first, but now most nights you can find him sitting on the stoop next the grinning gourd, both of them just keeping watch over the yard!

Before it was all lit up....

And after...hehehe. I think it looks pretty good!

Well, I suppose that is all for now. Like I said, cannot believe that October has almost come & gone. I'll try to post again soon - I've got a great Bacon Cheese Chowder recipe to share & I'm going to be participating in our church's Trunk or Treat on Halloween, so that should make for some great pictures & good eats. I'm going to take Watson in his skull & crossbones sweater, so maybe I can get a pirate ship vibe going? We'll see... Can't wait to see what November has in store!