Covered Bridge. And Fried Oreos. And Ashlee.

Sooooo excited!  This weekend I am going to The Covered Bridge Festival with this girl!

Photo circa Covered Bridge yard sale 2011.

For those of you who are not educated in things that are Covered Bridge {in Indiana}...

Basically it is a huuuuge flea market where you find things such as 

this:

 and this:

 or real treasures like this:

Oh, don't worry.  I took that baby home.  It hung in our bathroom for months.  It started out as a joke between me and the hubby, but never got taken down.

In all seriousness, there are some real treasures to be found.  And fried oreos to be found.  Mostly I can't wait to spend time with my friend Ashlee!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Hello!

Just a quick "Hello."  Taking a few moments to take care of myself tonight.  Blogging and an Octoberfest.  Aaaah... perfect after work activity.

Happy Thursday!

Me, Myself, and I

Okay, I think this is a blogging record for me... I have posted the last three days in a row!  Aaaaand this is actually my second post today which is a total accident...  I had prepared this post for tomorrow forgetting that Me, Myself, and I is on Tuesday.  But anyway...

Woohooo!  It's time for the Me, Myself, and I linky party!  This is seriously my favorite link up.  I love to think about and answer these questions... I love going through and reading other blogger's responses because it is so much fun!

So here it goes...

What is your favorite season? Explain.

We are right, smack dab, in the middle of it!  I LOOOOVE Fall!  I love the colors, the decorations, and the traditions that some along with the season.  I love snuggling up with a warm blanket, lighting a pumpkin scented candle, and drinking a hot mug of cider.  Plus the pretty leaves don't hurt.  Perfection.

Talk about a moment that changed your life?

I could think of a million answers for this question.  There are a million and one different moments that have led me to be who I am today.  I think that the most life altering moment in my life thus far was losing a parent.  It is something that most people go through at some point, but for me it happened at a young age (23).  Its easy to take family {and life in general} for granted, and I think that this really provided me with a reality check and was when I truly became an adult.  You have to appreciate each and every moment.  I've really learned that life is fragile and much too short not to value the simple things.  And you can never say "I love you" too much.

If you could be any Crayola crayon color, what would you be & why?

Tough one.  My favorite color is gray, but I'm not sure that describes my personality.  People say I smile a lot so maybe yellow?  That seems like a happy color.

Source: Soda Head

Describe yourself as a superhero: Superpower? Name? Sidekick?

Haha!  So funny.  Ummm...

If you had all the money in the world and could only shop at 3 stores, where would you shop?

I wish this were true.  Wouldn't it be nice if someone offered you a shopping spree at your three favorite stores??  But I guess this is a little more tricky... only three for the rest of your life?  Like you have to get toilet paper and toothpaste at these stores too?  Maybe I'm thinking about this too much...

Just to cover my bases I am going to say Target.  Can't go wrong with Target right?  They have a little bit of everything.  

                                                                   So... 1. Target
                                                                           2. TJ Maxx
                                                                           3. J. Crew

Source: MBfashionweek

Seriously, does anyone else love J. Crew?  I love that all the clothes are classy and conservative, yet stylish.  I would love to have unlimited money to spend at this store.  Swoon.     

You all {or Y'all as they say here in the South!} should link up with Breanna over at My Beautiful Crazy Life.  So fun!

Adventures of a Social Worker: Part I

Caleb continuously asks me why I don't write more about my job as a social worker.  Mostly its because the world of blogging is my main escape from the stress of my job.  I love that I can come here and write about Pinterest and decorations and food without the reality that everyday at 8:00 AM I go to work and try to solve the world's problems.  Okay, okay... maybe it isn't that bad, but it is pretty stressful when you have people relying on you to help them get food or their medications or for help keeping their electric on.

All that being said, my job is part of who I am.  Its what stresses me out, how I spend the majority of my waking hours, and most days its my passion.  Sooooo I have decided that its time to talk about it.

Today I am going to start off pretty light.  I'm going to introduce you to my cubicle.  

Yes, my cubicle.  Notice that most of these pictures have a greenish yellow quality.  That would be because there are no windows, and in fact, no natural light where my cubicle is located.  I am just the lowly social worker.  No office.  No window.  Just my cubicle to call home.

I did sass it up with a picture of me and the hubby.  Believe me, I have thought many a times about how I could use various Pinterest projects to make this space real cute, but I haven't gotten the nerve.  Yet.

My only other piece of decor is this printout from my boss.  I recently had quite the run-in with a buggy situation so she thought this was funny.  Funny, but true.  Oh so true.

My day starts and ends in my cubicle.  My main source of life-support is coffee.  Before becoming a social worker I didn't drink caffeine.  That was back when I was young and stupid.  Caffeine is my friend, my lifeline, how I survive.  Okay... I'm being dramatic again...

But seriously, I have gotten quite creative at making custom office coffee blends.  This one consists of 1/2 packet of Swiss Miss mixed with a full cup of coffee.  Should I Pinterest that recipe?

This next picture I am quite proud of.  At this newest social work job I have my own tape dispenser.  Pish posh you might be saying.  In the land of social work resources are scarce.  I feel quite important that I have a tape dispenser AND a stapler {all my own} at this job.

So there you have it.  My cubicle.  Exciting right?

Spooky!

So I've been looking at Pinterest for months in excitement.  I came up with a million and one ways that I wanted to decorate the outside of our house for Halloween.  I had grand dreams of skeletons, spider webs, pumpkins that looked like they were eating a man's leg... you know.

So I went outside one Thursday evening with all my supplies and realized that it was harder than I thought.  Most of my ideas required a ladder.  I don't go on ladders.  Ever.  I did put out some spider web {which I will probably regret when I have to pull it out of the bushes}, a strand of orange lantern lights, and I planted some mums.

Yes, there is one random skeleton lounging in the bush.

 Please ignore the fact that I have a forest of weeds growing between my bushes... oh, and also apparently poison ivy as now I have a rip roaring case all down my legs.  Needless to say, I've given up on Halloween perfection and am quite happy with the result even though it isn't Martha Stewart picture perfect.

After all, this is just a practice run on outdoor decor.  The real deal comes at Christmastime right?

Do you do any decorating outside for Fall/Halloween?  

Linking up with:

Taking Care.

Yesterday Caleb was out of town.  I love spending time with my husband, but I also value the occasional opportunity to spend time alone.  I'm sure all you moms out there are vigorously shaking your heads in agreement.  Even though we don't yet have any little ones it is easy for me to see the value in having time without interruption to organize my thoughts.

I love jumping in the car, rolling down the windows, and blasting a good song.  Those are some of my most treasured Perfect moments.  

So today I hopped in my car, played some Billy Joel, and drove to a new bakery that I had never visited.  I ordered a coffee and a sandwich and chose a window right in the sun.  Then I caught up on some letter writing {in case you have forgotten... letter writing involves real paper, a real pen, an envelope, and that medieval think called a stamp :)}.

I don't think we take enough time out of the week to take care of ourselves.  Whether its working full time, worrying about getting blog posts written, being a social worker {like me!}, or finding enough time to devote to our families, I think its important to realize that if we get stressed out everyone can tell.  Its like that example they give on the airplane... you have to put on your own oxygen mask first before you help your neighbor.  If you pass out then you can't help them.  If we aren't recharging our own batteries how will we be there for our client's/families/etc.   

This trip was so relaxing and so productive.  It left me feeling recharged and ready to take on the world {well, at least ready to go home and get some housework done}!  I have so many friends that are embarrassed to go places on their own.  Sitting in a restaurant or a movie theatre by myself is a real treat!  It makes me feel like taking care of myself is important.  And it is.

What do you do to take care of yourself?

Fall Decor... Check!

I shared some of my fall decor over at The Chronicles of Chaos a bit ago, but I wanted to share some of my favorites for those of you who missed it!

I am loving pumpkins right now (who isn't!).  Its amazing how adding something little into your existing decor can really set the stage for the season.

After putting out these pumpkins I decided that I like the color orange so much with the grey, turquoise, and navy color sceme in my living room that I want to incorporate this color into my decor on a more permanent basis.

I'm thiiiiiiiissssssss close to revealing my redecorating living room and hope to put the finishing touches in the room this weekend.

I can't wait to care a pumpkin with my love sometimes soon!  Do you carve a pumpkin for Halloween?  I always say I'm going to do something really creative... maybe this is the year?

Also, I'm taking part in a Fall swap and have been partnered with the fabulous Victoria over at One Crafty Momma!  Today she shared a fab recipe for pumpkin butter she found on Pinterest that I can't wait to try.  Go check out her blog... she is so crafty!