autumn on the stove top

We have been having some cooler weather lately and all the chill has gotten me so excited for all the holiday awesomeness that is upon us! So I thought I would give you a recipe I use this time of year to fill the house with the sweet smell of autumn!

What you will need:

a stovetop pot
3 1/2 cups of water
1 orange
1 lemon
1 apple
2 cinnamon sticks (you can also add a few sprinkles of ground cinnamon if you want)
2 bay leaves
a pinch of cloves

Cut up all the ingredients place them in the water filled pot and turn the stove to simmer and all that's left to do is enjoy the sweet spicy smell of autumn!

Books books books - monthly link up

I've talked a little about some of the books I've read this year in previous posts but today I am linking up with Kiki over at In It's Time and Anne from in Residence for this month's The Circle link up to chat everything books!! 

I've always been a reader but I stuck to a small genre and didn't really allow myself to try new things... that was until last year (and this year). I mean I didn't go crazy with it, but I added some different genres than I normally read and I added some classic books and I have thoroughly enjoyed expanding my reading experiences!

I actually wrote (and illustrated) a book once. When I was in 9th grade, everyone in my english class went over to the elementary school and had a 1st grader pick us (each 1st grader picked one their own 9th grader) to read to them once or twice a week for a little while (a few months) and over that time, we interviewed them and had to write and illustrate a book, that starred them, for them. I can't remember exactly what mine was about, but I think it involved a basketball player and some animals. I have the book scanned and saved somewhere, so maybe I'll share it here some day? Until then, here are my answers to this month's book questions!

1. What is your favorite book of the year?
Favorite? I hate picking favorites because I always feel bad for all the other things that I didn't pick as my favorite! haha Also I read a lot of books, to which most belonged to a series. The Stephanie Plum series which is currently 21 books long with some 'between the numbers' books and the Divergent trilogy. I loved both of the series, and I read other books, but I'd have to say as a whole the Stephanie Plum series is my favorite - there is action, romance (only a little bit though), and comedy all in one!

2. What are you reading right now?
Currently I am reading Little Women I never read it when I was younger but I really like it! I have tried to identify myself with the girls and see who I am most like. I have decided I am sort of a mix between two; Beth and Jo - quiet and trying to please people like beth, but also artistic and sometimes stubborn like Jo. Have you ever read the book? Who do you most identify with?

3. What book did you just finish?
The last book I finished before Little Women was Peter Pan - I've always been a fan of the movies (well to be honest I am really only familiar with two versions, Hook and Peter Pan, but I have always loved them) and I have always wanted to read it, so I finally did! It was quite different than I expected, but I enjoyed it!

4. What are you reading next?
Right now, I don't currently have a book planned, I have plenty that I need to read still, but I don't know what I will choose. There are a few that are on my want to read list; Mindy Kaling's book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and a classic Wuthering Heights, and The Fault in Our Stars

5. What was your favorite book as a kid?
The books that come to mind are not books that most will probably know... the first book I ever read in its entirety on my own was Norman the Doorman, Norman is a mouse and works as a doorman for a museum of art (a human museum) he lets in other mice and they have to keep hidden from the humans... I won't reveal too much incase you wanted to read it ;). After I read it the first time (with my dad) I begged him to let me read it with him every night! The other book is How a Book is Made y'all, I could not get enough of this book!! I had my mom read it to me EVERY single night, multiple times... She couldn't stand the book, but I LOVED it... I don't know what I loved about it so much, but boy I couldn't get enough of it!

6. What book would you take on a deserted island?
I don't feel like I could answer this accurately as far as books go - there are so many that I haven't read to know what the best choice would be. So my answer is going to be either a "How to Survive" book but probably the Bible, because basically that is a how to survive book in itself...

So how about you? What are your answers to these questions??

midweek links

So toya pes! A long long time ago, I was told (long story short, I was told this by my interpreter - maybe one day I will share this story) that means "Sup dog" in Czech - Well, I just google translated it and apparently "so toya pes" in Czech, means "so toya dog" in Engligh. Somewhere along the way something got mixed up. Anyways, hi.

I have some midweek links for you!

This youtube channel. Seriously can't get enough of these 2CELLOS.

For your coffee loving friends, this is the perfect mug!

I want all the prints from this Etsy shop! Especially this, this one!

This list of untranslatable words is kind of awesome.

How to beat jet lag as you travel this upcoming holiday season.

The (adorable) tragedy of first position.

These new and improved life hacks will have you on a different level than anyone else!

This is basically me anytime I open my mouth.

The difference between men and women.

A little autumn beauty.

Three ways to not hate your husband.

pj chat | vol. 2

Happy Monday y'all! It's been pretty chilly here in the mornings but it heats up pretty good during the day (it's 84° right now.. what!? Weather, don't you know it's October!?)

I'm starting the week off with a PJ chat! Today's chat is brought to you by owl pajama pants, a tye-died t-shirt, and mismatched socks. Feel free to join with me and link your pj chat in the comments!!

THINKING ABOUT: Some upcoming posts for this month! I'm excited for these next few weeks! I have some recipes to share and maybe a couple crafts! :)
EATING: Nothing at the moment, but we did buy some of those cappuccino chips (purely out of curiosity) and I just can't say anything good about them. I mean, I don't like cappuccinos (or really any kind of coffee type drink *aside from pumpkin spice lattes*) so I don't know what I was expecting... but they just aren't good... EW!
LOVING: My autumn nail colors (for this week at least) Essie's Good As Gold and Revlon's Totally Toffee - I love fall colors!
WATCHING: We don't have cable, but we do have netflix and hulu plus and so we have been catching up on some shows that we watch together; Parks and Recreation, How I Met Your Mother, Bones, New Girl, The Mindy Project...
FEELING: Inspired! I recently found something and it has brought back a dream that I've had for as long as I can remember! I will share more later on, but I am excited and kind of nervous at the same time :)
LISTENING TO: Classical Crossover music! I just can't get enough of it lately!
READING: Little Women - I never read it when I was younger and I totally missed out! It's a good book! I can't wait to watch the movie again (I vaguely remember parts of it - so I don't know if I have seen the whole thing or not) when I'm done!
THANKFUL FOR: My mom and our relationship. She called me the other day just to chat about the recent Roloff wedding and how they (my parents) are expecting 2 inches of snow overnight!

What are you up to currently? If you have a post share it in the comments below!! :)

TBT - Chewbacca is that you?

Today I am throwing it back to...
that one time I looked like Chewbacca.

It's hard to believe my hair was ever that long! I have had it short (not much longer than shoulder length) for quite some time now. And even though I am in the process of growing it out (for now), it's hard to remember it being long enough to cover my whole face and then some and make me look like Chewbacca!

Do you have long hair? Have you ever tried a fun Chewbacca selfie?

october goals

Y'all!! Today is October 1 and that means that Christmas is only 84 days away!! I am so excited for Christmas! It's my favorite time of year, and this last week we had some pretty chilly days that almost had me decorating for Christmas already!! September was one for the books! I got so much accomplished this month! I got to document a few beautiful weddings and make some awesome crafts!! I ran a RAD race! Overall it was just awesome!

Last month I had these goals:

September Goals

-Send out birthday gifts/cards - YES!! I got them all out on time! YAHOO!!!
-Run the Color Me Rad 5k (yay and also eek!) - This was awesome! I was nervous at first (I'm not a runner) but it was so much fun and we got totally bombed with so much color it was awesome!
-Second shoot for my friend KayLynne - Beautiful wedding with a gorgeous view of Lake Tahoe!
-Hang those last few frames - I did not do this but!! I have a good reason, we are going to be doing a little bit of rearranging, so I chose to hold off until everything is in it's new place :)
-Shoot Kyndra's wedding - GORGEOUS! So much love surrounding that couple!! I cried multiple times!
-Decorate for fall!! - YES! This was done on September the FIRST!

October Goals
-Edit, edit, edit
-Make a trip to Apple Hill
-Carve pumpkins (or maybe paint, or use a technique from pinterest)
-Start some behind the scenes work for GAP
-GET on my cleaning schedule (that I was supposed to have started in January or something yikes!)
-Stick to our (family) budget more firmly
-Get stinkin' excited for some colder weather (last year our first snow of the season was this month, I'm hoping for the same thing this year!!)

What are your goals for this month!?

september - joy of nothing

*this month's joy of nothing*
-the first sip of my first pumpkin spice latte of the season
-the rain on my wedding from last weekend (my bride was awesome! It didn't even phase her)
-a little bit of me time, to relax and rejuvenate
-being at the gym before 6:30 am
-little snores from a sleeping pup next to me while I work
-having legs so sore from running that you can barely sit down or stand up
-ice cream on a weeknight
-a great big scoop of generosity in the form of an invitation
-a new water bottle (in teal!)
-the sweetest thank you note
-a quiet morning venturing out behind my house to view the cloudy mountains (pictured above)

What joy have you found this month?