questions about halloween

Thought to follow is probably not politically correct, but I have no where to express it. So I express it here:

How do you even celebrate Halloween? What is it that you are even celebrating? I legitimately do not understand this for the vast majority of humankind. What is it you think you are doing and why?

End scene.

Petoskey in the Fall

Last night Kelsey, Karol & I drove up to Petoskey and stayed overnight so I could go to my neurologist appointment this morning. After I got finished at the appointment, we headed downtown for a bit of shopping. One of my favourite stores in the downtown area is a kitchen supply called Cutler's. We started there, went to Symon's General Store & then went to American Spoon for lunch. I had always wanted to try it, but last time we were there it wasn't open for the season. They use locally sourced farm produce to create a menu. It was delicious!

 We took our time driving home leisurely through Charlevoix and Traverse City. Saw some beautiful sights along the way. It was almost like we had a pre-weekend, weekend!

shadows & light

Well, all in all, today felt very successful. I was able to teach Sunday School and stayed through all of church. I was so exhausted, and barely heard the message, but I made it. And when I got home (in an effort not to fall asleep) I made myself spaghetti for lunch, watched a movie, talked to Grandma, played some games, made bread, and did pretty much anything else to keep my eyes open. It was a battle, but I won. Here's a couple of photos from the beautiful afternoon. Hoping for a great day tomorrow, too!

kung fu par-tay

Just wanted to show off a couple of photos from our Kung Fu Panda movie night last night. The kids seemed to really enjoy the candy bar and were pretty much glued to the movie. I think they felt special and had fun being at my house.

Today was a pretty good day. It took me a little bit to get going. I can definitely feel the past couple of days in my muscles, but I got everything put away and our house all cleaned up. I also did a very grown up thing and applied for a credit card. So yeah. Basically a productive Saturday. Tomorrow will come early (praying I sleep!) so I better hit it now.

photos photos photos

Prepare for a photo heavy post! I always love spending time at Dad and Mom's house; it is refreshing, and I so appreciate my family. Realized I haven't posted the photos from my time spent up north so here we go!

 Boardwalk at Wolf Creek Trail with Courtney

 Court did my makeup :)

 Precious sister :)

 If this isn't autumn glory, I don't know what is!

 Grandma and I had a good afternoon looking through All Recipes & Food Network magazines for recipes to include in my new recipe binder. She thought I should try to make Bacon Brownies ha.

 Ready for Melissa's baby shower!

Saying goodbye at the end of my time is always really hard. It takes me hours, and I am never ready. I think that is a beautiful thing about home. I can never get enough of it. I would never want to lose that feeling. I am thankful for a home full of people I love so much that I always want more time there. Going home always reignites a determination within my core to be my best self... constantly pursuing more full relationships and peace/joy-filled interactions and attitudes.
I love where I come from, and I love where I am, and I love where I am going.

House tour

Not sure if you have seen this yet, so I thought I would pop it in here. :)

Also. This is my face recently. In case you have forgotten? Oh, I am a strange one.

when oblivion calls

Blogtrack: Oblivion by Bastille
I'm sitting in a cozy clean house with only one load of laundry left to do tomorrow before I declare my decluttering officially finished for this round! Feeling quite accomplished tonight. My favourite fall candle (Autumn Hayride) is lit, but I actually earlier carried incense through the house like Grandma used to do. I found some that had such a strong scent memory for me that I had to try it out. Such a pleasant scent that is lingering. So I'm sitting by candle light and by white Christmas lights listening to some quiet music and the dishwasher running. It was quite brisk today, but Kelsey tells me that it is supposed to be warm next week again. Oh, Michigan.
This weekend I have the house to myself as Kelsey is at a coaching clinic. I'm not quite sure what I will do with my time. I'm hoping to update the bulletin boards in the kids area at church tomorrow, but I pretty much don't have anything else planned. Maybe I'll make some rolls or a coffee cake or something. One thing I'm going to do tomorrow is not watch any "screens." No TV, Youtube, etc. I will listen to music and use my computer, but not to watch videos. Just want to take a bit of a tech break. I need to figure out what we are doing for a dinner that we are hosting in a couple of weeks so maybe I'll plan that. Who knows? But right now, I'm off to bed.

soul care