Fills with Joy...like a Pumpkin!

 Another month has flown by and I, for one am glad to be looking upon this beautiful month of October (at least it was beautiful in Colorado...but I have hope yet for my new location of living that is to the north) (granted, not much hope since north tends to mean colder and more icy but there still is a flicker in me 🔥😉). It certainly feels like fall, my favorite season, so therein, October is indeed my favorite month. Fall, or autumn being my favorite season, October leaves me beyond thrilled for one (or however many you may wish). The crispness added to the smell of used-to-be plain air, the bright color in the trees (change is sometimes a good thing...I know, just wait until November once they are truly dead or just sticks hanging in the sky 😖) (don't make me think about it!), and all of the pumpkin themed or flavored  things cooking in my kitchen. Fall fills my cup to the brim with happiness, truly. I do enjoy setting goals and trying new things, and though January is ideal, September and especially October are my jam. For October, my main focus, I find, happens to be food, and I encourage you also to find a beat with your mid-year (though it is closer to the end...) beat with what you set or dream for yourself, whether they happen to be like mine or not, anyway, mine happens to be food...or pumpkins, now that I think about it. 🎃

1) Spend One Day outside soaking up the season-Admittedly, Idaho is greatly different from the place where I grew up of Colorado. On this very day, I have to wear long sleeves to work, paired with a jacket. I am a cashier, so I tend to dwell close to the door and even while I am helping set up Halloween, that is closer to the front door than I would like to admit. Just a fact of life...Autumn is a more chilly season, but that doesn't mean that it is not beautiful. As Laura Jaworski once said, "In the hazy days at summer's end when the air's still warm and the green near spent. When the days grow short and the evenings tall. Then you feel in whisper, Fall." Summer is going to leave, and I am going to miss it, but the days remain magnificently beautiful. Honestly, take a moment, everyone, shut your eyes, as tight as you can, and think of all of your favorite moments in this colder season, crisp, perfect, all bound together. (Personally I enjoy the food, color, and community. Everyone is friends with everyone, or at least they are trying to be so in this perfect season. 🍂) Aren't those thoughts comforting? Don't be a Scrooge with the magical season of fall (I know, wrong holiday... in my defense, I watched a Christmas movie last night.) Let summer slip away silently, as we rejoice (I know, wrong holiday, look at the last parentheses). Every season holds its very own beauty, but I think that autumn is the most extraordinary. The weather delights, humid summertime leaves, and the colors are a fascinating visual feast. Mother Nature is giving us all a beautiful stillness before drifting off to sleep. Honestly, a magical season that I don't think we all appreciate enough. 

2) Visit the pumpkin patch-I know this one too. I know that I might be a little old for these frivolous pumpkin patch dreams, but I am always trying to be a kid at heart. ❤ Plus, the majority of the reason for this goal happens to be the sad fact that my apartment building doesn't let my husband and I hang up that many Halloween decorations if they do something to the building. So, riding by the seat of my pants, setting up (not hanging,  mind you) a pumpkin (or jack-o-lantern, we have a carving kit for the spooky tradition), will be part of our dedication to the holiday. I don't care how grown out of it I am supposed to be, it is still a holiday. Also, on a side note, pumpkin patches are not solely to be used only for picking pumpkins. You may ride a pony...though I may be a bit old for that physically, I still like to see the animal. They are one of my favorites. I haven't had an experience even close to like this one in a while. (And now that I think of it...horses do tend to not like me. I will never forget when sweet old Daisy tried to sit on me in the mountains!) Pumpkin patches also have hay bales that one may walk on. Although, Michael, may you please help me climb up and through that. I don't wish to endanger myself. Gulp. I am slightly afraid of heights, and though I am a big kid, I am one of the smaller ones (I am short 😋). I could take a photo on the little set they have for such at the patch (or right next to it...it has truly been a while). I am a little poser, when it comes down to it, especially when I am with people or in places that make me happy. When we are done, or maybe during the photo montage moment, I could hold a rabbit, since a lot of pumpkin patches have petting zoos. This happens to be a great opportunity to hold and handle small animals. I need to be fearless. Ahh...to be young again. Also, I will need to play in the pit of corn. That sounds weird in my head, but I know that I won't be alone, and that it has been done before. (I know. Bite off the big piece of cake.) Finally, I will need to pick out a pumpkin! Ready when you are, world! (When it is closer to Halloween...🤢)

3) Make and eat pumpkin everything-I do love pumpkins. Don't you? Although admittedly, I have not started growing pumpkins in my garden like my sister, Bree, but I still am able to get the proper ingredients to cook anything. In fact, just recently I made some Honeydukes Haul Cake for my husband and I, and I would say that it was a great success, but I am not here to talk about something that I already did. Rather, something that I will do in the very near future. When I think fall, I think pumpkin, so in increasing my ever growing dish list, I am added some pumpkin-flavored, or pumpkin-inspired dishes to mine. Now, I know that you are probably thinking solely of pumpkin pie or some other dessert (don't pay attention to the photo 😋); truly it has been pigeonholed into the dessert world, but it is my goal to look further into the ways that this awesome ingredient should not be doomed to stay in one category forever. Maybe pumpkins are the way they are because farmers can only sell them for a short period of time in October...but looking into them, pumpkins are loaded with fiber and vitamin c, along with a brim of beta-carotene, making them truly a hearty ingredient that packs a nutritional punch. 👊 The pumpkins that are best for eating are flavorful and dense, and because those are hard to find, they are lumped normally into the sugar and pie categories. Though a girl like me can dream of planting and growing the pumpkins I eat, or use to bake like a true gardener, my husband and I currently lack the space in our own garden, so I will have to get my start with pumpkin puree which isn't a bad thing! I have to start this like I have to start everything, as a simple beginner. Now, for those of you out there that think only of dessert when you think of pumpkin, let me state that they are in the squash family. One can toss them in a salad, simmer them into your very next soup (and who knows? Michael may like this one...though I haven't found a soup that he likes yet) (he has stuff on me too, I hate raisins and pears 😖), or puree them into next breakfast smoothie. Honestly, the possibilities are endless. I love food. 🧡

4) Do an at-home facial once a week-With this particular goal, I am afraid that I have a confession: I love it when I get help from friends to help make myself look beautiful, but there are some parts of me, like my face, where I would honestly keep the treatment to myself. Don't get me wrong, insecurity is not a reason in the least for this dead ringer goal, it was more of a realization that the place where I happen to currently work at sells facial treatments for an extremely low price (not just for the employees who work there, but for everyone) and I quite honestly can't say no to a deal. (Which is a strength and a weakness. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.) Let me highlight the steps to this specific type of frugality of yours truly. First in the process comes the cleanse. Everything good must start with a clean slate. Why do you think they use whiteboards now instead of blackboard? Next, comes the exfoliating. I plan to be physical with mine by using products such as facial scrubs, or the like. Not the chemical. I will also get the chance to soak my face in warm water here. I am sensitive, so not boiling, just warm. Next (perhaps I should say finally, because this is my favorite part) I get to treat my face with a mask. There are gel, clay and cream masks. I think I am going to use gel because those type are good for those with red skin (like me), but I will look into this more before pursuing it fully. (This is just a blog post.) After the big step of masking, one is supposed to moisturize plus massage their face. I have plenty of health-conscious lotions, and I already massage or get my face massaged often. Crazy goals. 💁‍♀️

 

5) Start "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young-I think if Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer ever sent a call to us, it is now, in our current day. Now I am not saying that the world is ending, I am highlighting that Christ is always calling out to us, and we should always be listening. Sadly, we are not. I want to read this book to deepen my relationship with Jesus as I come to understand Him more fully as the One who understands me perfectly and still loves me forever, no matter how flawed I may be. This book includes scripture and personal reflection pinpointing Jesus' message of peace--today and everyday. This book is meant to be a year-long study guide, so it may be just that I wish to get my start in October, but we all have to start somewhere. Spend time with the Savior, in Him, you feel comfort by hope, strengthen your faith (scripture verses!), and feel the reassurance of Christ's unending love for you. It is just a bad day, not a bad life. If anyone can tell us about our definition of a bad day, it is Christ. Do you know what this is a painting of?  Also, in adding along with that rhythm, today at 10am will be the beginning of our General Conference broadcast. I don't know about you, but it is greatly different for me (in the best of ways ❤), with my living in an apartment, getting a new job, and of course getting married to the man of my dreams. This may be a bit of a tangent for you to see, or not see where I am going but maybe there is a reason why I am having the thoughts that I am having so here goes--I shall tell them to you. In order to prepare for this General Conference, I decided to write down some questions that I hope with all my heart may be answered mid this one. Here they are (also, if you feel so inclined, you may answer them, it would be greatly appreciated please and thank you)-

-Is there anything specific that I can do currently in my life to be of more service?

-How can I forgive them (sometimes forgiveness is hard)? 

-How do, or should I lead?

-How can I truly be a leader when I feel sorely all alone? (Hello? Anybody out there? 🙁)

-Who can I share these beautiful and peaceful messages of the gospel with?

-Where do I find peace in a turbulent world? 

Just a few of my own thoughts right there. 🤭 I hope that they at least made some sense...gulp. Again if you have your own thoughts you feel so inclined to share, or perhaps an answer (or answers) to one of my questions, I would love to hear it! Remember, though I am the poster child for being shy and could still use this lesson myself, we are all in the same world, just trying to figure things out, or our place in it. Thank you for understanding, or at least trying to do so with me and my crazy mind. 💓

6) Send cards (Halloween?) to 3 people-Truly, I am just plain old-fashioned, but reckon this. Making and sending greeting cards has superpowers. Stay with me (I am almost done ✔), but it always means more to get a card rather than a text or an email, no matter how heartfelt your words seem to be. In the past...I don't really know how long, so let's say year, I have been a part of a letter-writing group where we each send letters to one another to help pick up one's spirit when they need it (and trust me, this last year, they needed it!). I never looked at something such as this as a chore, I saw it as a chance to make new friends and I did. The written word hold power. In more than one way. Initially, it may help us to combat loneliness, which can be a very heartbreaking quality in today's society. Not everyone knows about their God up in heaven that loves them, that is why they need somebody. They need us. They will always need us, no matter how good of an appearance they tend to keep up. Isn't this a part of the test of life? 

 Those are my aspirations for the scary notion of October...well, hopefully they weren't too scary. 😬