there's no place like gnome.

First of all, I had my sermon written by last Wednesday. WEDNESDAY, people. Can you believe it? It made for a wonderfully care-free weekend.

On Friday, I welcomed my BFF Carter and his family for pizza and cake pops and hot chocolate and games with large play balls. The original plan was to go to the pumpkin patch but we needed a backup plan because it was cold and windy and icky outside. The evening turned into a lot of coloring and ball tossing and giggles.

After the kiddos and their parents left for bedtime, Dave stayed a bit longer and we watched Back to the Future. It’s my annual tradition on the day my dad died. It was a movie I grew up watching together with him. Friday marked ten years. Ten years.

Saturday was another day for a backup plan. Dave and I had planned on packing up our bikes and heading to the Root River trail in Lanesboro to go biking, something we talked about doing all summer and never quite got around to getting there. We didn’t get there on Saturday either because of the wind and cold once more. We chose a new destination – a toy store.

First, we stopped in Rochester so Lindsay could buy new tennis shoes and grabbed some lunch. Then we headed to Kellogg, MN, on winding country roads, to the home to Lark Toys. I’d heard about this toy store but had never been; Dave hadn’t either. It was the perfect destination. Great fun and a giant shelf full of rubber duckies. Dave models them here:

Upon returning to Austin, we decided it was time to carve pumpkins. Whether they make it to the actual holiday is debatable; if not, we’ll carve a couple more. I forgot how fun it can be to carve pumpkins.

And wait. There’s more. Yesterday was the church’s annual hayride and bonfire fun. It was a bit chilly but we bundled up and had our fun in the woods. We had a mini pumpkin hunt and painted pumpkins, along with s’mores and hot dogs and apple cider.

So yes. It was a crazy fall weekend. I’m tired.

The first day of October here in southeastern Minnesota is rainy and dreary and makes me want to crawl back into bed while drinking coffee and watching Gilmore Girls (which as of today is streaming on netflix). Alas, no luck doing that on this Wednesday. However, I will dream about fall activities to come. This October, I hope to –

Make soup. Eat soup.
Walk on crunchy leaves.
Bike ride through crunchy leaves.
Bonfires.
Carve pumpkins. Maybe paint one too.
Make an apple pie. Maybe some applesauce too.
Visit the pumpkin patch.
Quilt and cuddle in quilts.
I’m kinda dreaming about this butternut squash lasagna.
Puffy vests! Scarves!
Read a good book. (Any suggestions?)
See Gone Girl in the theater (a good book now in movie form).
Reinstate my tea-and-reading before bed ritual.

It’s going to be a busy month.

(The view on a nature center walk earlier this week.)

… when I talk incessantly about the joys of confirmation. This year will be no exception. These kids are rock stars.

#weekendestatesale #newvintagepyrex #comeoverandIwillmakeyouacasserole

Because that’s what I really need, right? It won’t be started anytime soon and it will have a huge learning curve … but it’s there when I’m ready.

This:

I’m going to reupholster a chair.

I’ve dreamed of this moment for the last couple years. I’d always been on the lookout for a chair in need of a makeover … but even if I found one, I never had any way to haul it. Enter a boyfriend with a trailer.

We were in Rochester yesterday with the trailer, Dave needing to pick up a piece of furniture himself. We stopped at the Goodwill just in case there might be a chair for me … and by golly gee, the chair was there. Calling to me. It said, “Pay $30 for me. Now is your chance. Make me pretty.”

I hope I won’t let you down, chair. Like I mentioned, it’s going to be challenging. New skills, new tools, NEW POLKA DOT FABRIC. At least that’s what I’m thinking right now. Polka dots.

Polka dots are always the answer.

I came back from vacation with one new book and a hankering to get my hands on a second.

First, an adult coloring book. I bought it in Frenchtown, this little town on the Delaware River in New Jersey. James and I explored, popped into a few shops, and I found The Secret Garden. An adult coloring book. Seriously.

It’s beautiful and intricate and therapeutic. It sucks you in and won’t let you go. I spent hours coloring at the airport and on the plane ride home. I didn’t really care who was judging the 30 year old with crayons. They were probably jealous and wanted the same book on their lap.

Second, Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. My friend James has experimented with this method of bread making home and I was intrigued. We talked a lot about it while I stayed with him in PA. I came home, checked out the book from the library and have been cooking fresh loaves of wheat bread from my dough bowl in last week. It really is pretty fun and easy. Will I do it ALL the time? Probably not. But come colder weather and soup, it will be perfection. Here is one loaf resting on my counter. In about an hour, it will be thrown into a steamy oven and emerge in a delicious state.

National sewing machine day, of course.

After our first night of confirmation, I spent some quality time with my baby.

I have two weeks to finish two baby quilts and while it might be a bit of a push, I’m happy it’s ‘forced’ me to get back on the (sewing machine) pedal.

First up? Scrappy binding for quilt #2. Next? Quilt sandwiching and quilting.

I will have to tell you about the close of my vacation sometime soon. I also have tales of coloring with new crayons and building a fort out of couch cushions but that’s for another time too. (Okay, so sometimes Dave and I like to pretend that we are five years old.) For now, this:

There was an art festival in Austin a few weekends ago. We saw glass blowers and kids painting an old school VW bug. There were lots of artists and exhibits to meander. I made one purchase – the print above. It’s by Brian Andreas of StoryPeople which is based in Decorah. (Oh, beloved Decorah.) Today it was framed and hung on the wall.

And, oh my. How it fits my current life. Life it pretty good, but not necessarily in the way I ever really expected. Everything does seem to be falling into place perfectly, as long as my expectations of perfect and place aren’t set in stone. It pretty much goes for anything in life, right? Attitude and expectations and adjusting for life’s twists and turns. Allowing for life’s surprises.

Leave it to StoryPeople to perfectly explain one of life’s great truths once again. (There are many more stories told with awesome illustrations. Look them up!)

James and I went to the Crayola Experience. Little did we know that we would be the only people there not with small children in tow. It wasn’t awkward at all. (She says only lying a tiny bit.)

We participated along with the children – naming our own crayons, watercolor painting, and making art with melted crayons. We watched as crayons Scarlet and Turq, along with a human crayonologist, showed us how crayons are made. Loved it. (PS Crayonologist? How do I sign up for that job?)

Then we went to the gift shop. Where my arms literally became overcome with goosebumps at the WALL OF CRAYONS sorted by color. Both James and I filled a collectors tin with our choice of colors before leaving for lunch and an adventure to Frenchtown.

Tomorrow: Philadelphia and all things independence.

The first part of my Pennsylvania vacation is complete.

I spent the last two nights at a resort in the Poconos just outside of Stroudsburg, PA. It was lovely. The Poconos – where there are miles and miles of road that look like this:

Can you imagine this place in the fall? Wowza.

Dave and I flew into Newark, rented a car, and made it to the resort just in time for the ceremony rehearsal. Dave was a groomsman in his younger brother’s wedding and it was a lot of fun for both of us. Dave got to connect with family; I got to meet said family. We enjoyed rehearsal dinner at an Irish pub in town, danced bunches at the reception, and ate lots of delicious food.

And did I mention the venue for the wedding was this?

Um, yeah. What more must one say?

We left the resort this morning and headed to Bethlehem. Dave used to live here and so he gave me the tour. After going for a walk and eating lunch out, Dave dropped me off with my seminary friend, James, while he headed back to New Jersey to catch his flight home. I’m staying in Bethlehem through Wednesday to explore with James.

So far, I have purchased unique Peep flavors from this, the hometown of the company who makes those disgusting-yet-somehow-good marshmallow birds. I saw the church James serves and he cooked up a delicious supper of buffalo steak burritos. We played a dorky game and now have both settled in for the night.

Tomorrow? Crayola. Maybe I’ll draw you a picture.