7 Quick Takes {20}

1. I have a new neice! This is my brother-in-laws little girl and she was born on Tuesday. Her name is Journey Rose and as you can see is super adorable. I can't wait to meet her in real life!

Isn't she a doll?!

2. This weekend I have another photo session. The leaves are gorgeous around here right now and I'm so glad people are wanting to do photos with all the fall colors. If you're in the area and needing photos done let me know:) 

3. I'm considering reopening my Etsy shop with different printables but I think I need to do quite a bit of work before it's ready. I'm also not sure if I have the time to get it ready. Priorities I guess. Does anyone that reads this thing have an Etsy shop? Do you like it? Do you have any suggestions for me to make mine successful?

4. Even though this week has been really busy at both work and home, I kinda like it. I feel like I am way more productive on everything in general. Maybe I should add some more to my list. 

5. So, I'm pretty sure I'm going to meet my blog friend in real life this weekend and I'm pretty excited about it. While texting the other day we both wondered how exactly is meeting a blog friend supposed to work...

Like omg.
I have no idea why I said like so many times because I definitely don't talk like that. 

6. Apparently I'm getting old because my Facebook feed is no longer filled with scantily clad college girls (scantily clad?? I really am old) and instead was filled with hundreds (literally) of  photos of small children and babies. Looks like a ninja turtle and super hero were among the favorite outfits for the year. Being the old person that I am I spent my evening at the gym, followed, by two 50 cent Sonic corndogs (good thing I worked out) and then my couch catching up on DVR. And, thank goodness Erin posted a photo of her Halloween outfit to remind me that I still needed to catch up on my next Netflix episode of Breaking Bad. 

7. When do the black friday ads come out?!! I've been stalking all the websites that post the ads early but I haven't found many yet and I'm getting impatient! Black Friday is this month and I can't wait. It's seriously one of my favorite days of the year. 

Sidenote: Is it weird that I got engaged on Black Friday 3 years ago? I remember sitting at lunch with my mom and her BFF Karen (hi Karen!) and we discussed when Seth and might get engaged....I secretly wondered if it might be that night but didn't really know. Surprise! 

Okay, that's all for today but it got me thinking that maybe I'll post the next part of our story soon. 

Happy Fall Friday!

Linking up over at Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes {18}

1. Chilly morning in the land of oz. Winter better slow it's roll because I need some more fall before the Wicked Witch of the North decides it's time to freeze. Cold+Julie=unhappy eskimo. Ironic since my blog name includes the word freezing? Maybe.

Since it was cold last night as well, I decided to make some soup. I must say it turned out pretty fan-freaking-tastic. Not sure what kind of soup I would call it except maybe a cheesy potato (plus some extra veggies so I wouldn't feel so guilty about eating such an unhealthy soup). Maybe soup making is my real calling in life. Thoughts to ponder. 

That's a big bowl of healthy right there!

2. You know how sometimes when you're texting two people at the same time and you accidentally call your blog friend "lovey" and let her know that you're going to shower... instead of your husband. Yeah, I don't know what that's like either. 

Better than when I called another RA sexy...

3. It's Maple Leaf Festival weekend! Yippee skippy. I'm pretty pumped to get some good food and peruse the hand-crocheted kitchen towels that this fine festival has to offer. Since when did everyone with a Pinterest account think their crafts are sellable? No, I wouldn't like to buy your mason jar modge podged like a pumpkin. I can modge podge one myself, thank you very much (after making homemade modge podge). 

via

4. My parents are FINALLY moving into their house on Sunday. Praise you Jesus! It's taken a long time to build and many a problems along the way, but it's just about there. One more coat of sealer on the floors and they can start moving stuff in. Their marriage survived so I'll chalk that up to a win. 

Loving their tile backsplash!

5. Apparently Gunnar fell of the wagon and felt the need to eat some mail again. Obviously, the neighbors books delivered to their porch seemed like a good idea. Just when we thought he had outgrown it. 

6. Seth got home yesterday so we will get to celebrate our anniversary this weekend. Yay! Probably means dinner at one of our usual places. We are SO exciting! Two years down and zero anniversary days actually spent together. Maybe next year. I wonder if it's still safe to eat our cake topper that's buried in the freezer....

7. I'm on week 3 of only drinking two pops a week. Yes sir-ee. I'm doing pretty freakin darn amazing if I do say so myself. Now if only I can cut back on all the other unhealthy stuff I eat. Refer to numero uno. 

Happy weekend friends. 

Linking up with Jen.

Weekend Recap

Busy weekend once again. Does anyone ever have a non-busy weekend? Tell me your secret please.

Friday morning I managed to remember to start the crockpot (miracle), so by the time we got home from work we had a delicious roast waiting for us. OMG yum. Having Seth home in the evenings now is awesome. Even if it means he falls asleep in the recliner at 9:00 while watching Dateline. He did manage to wake up long enough to crawl in bed. The lives of the rich and the famous right here peoples.

Saturday morning was your usual fair of laundry and picking up around the house while Seth worked on a few things outside. I managed to make some dried cinnamon apple chips though (which you will find a recipe for soon). 

Hello fall in a jar. 

We like to have date nights at least once a week but we've been trying to be on a budget (see this purchase) so we haven't gone out as much lately. Since we've been being good we went ahead and splurged (ha) on dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings before meeting up with Seth's brother, Kyle, to go see Captain Phillips. I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for something to see. I still want to google and see how accurate it is to the real events that happened to Captain Phillips. Crazy stuff though. 

Around our house, Sunday morning involves Church and then stopping by my parents house to see how the process is going. It's almost done praise the lord. We even managed to help by hanging a kitchen light fixture and not getting electrocuted. Winning. By the time we got home it was already almost one and I helped Seth paint the last section of the floor in his shop. After getting high on paint fumes we watched Gunnar try to catch a bird on the pond for approximately 30 minutes before Seth shot it so Gunnar could retrieve. Poor puppy wasn't quitting 'til he got the bird so good thing that doggy can paddle!

Somehow we managed no naps all weekend which I find to be a bit of a shame, but I'm glad we got some stuff accomplished. Including dinner of taco salad with homemade pico de gallo salsa (recipe also coming to the blog soon). 

Get in my belly. 

Seth's out of town this week (again) and our two year anniversary is on Tuesday so I'm a little bummed about that but I guess we will just have to celebrate this weekend. 

Happy Monday!

Linking up with Sami. 

Weekend Happenings

I was terrible at taking photos this weekend so you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

Linking up over at  Sami's Shenanigans. 

Friday - Huge thunderstorms with lots of lightening but I'm so thankful it wasn't snowstorms. It did rain out the homecoming game though, so dinner date for some bbq with the hubs and an episode of Dateline filled in nicely. Be jealous. 

Unrelated photo but I promise the storms looked even cooler than this!

Saturday - Fall really arrived. It was freezing (aka 50 degrees) outside and I found my first fall leaf before heading over to OctoberEudorafest. Chowed down on an Indian taco while hanging out with my brother at the fest. Made it home in time to snuggle up for a nap with the husband. Productivity people, I've got it figured out if you need advice. 

Hey Fall, so nice to see you!

Sunday - I experienced Nascar for the first time at the Kansas Speedway. Not a bad experience but I still prefer baseball. Maybe because I can have a conversation without saying "what" fifty bajillion times. Or maybe it's the baseball pants. Who knows.   

Sadly, no mullets were seen. 

It may be Monday, but it's payday so I'm not hating it. 

7 Quick Takes {17} - Fall decor, Nascar, and other ramblings

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary. Check it out. 

1. How do my weekends end up so jam packed? Somehow I'm supposed to fit in my high schools homecoming game, an oil change, the Octoberfest type event in my hometown, go with Seth to help out at my parents house, maybe visit a blog friend in real life at First Fridays and then Sunday we have tickets to a Nascar race. Which brings me to my next point...

2. What does one wear to a Nascar race? I've never been and let's just say I don't want to stand out, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to look like everyone else. Especially if it's anything like how my brain has imagined it to be (read mullets and beer belly's). Seth insists this is something I need to do at least once in my life and since we got free tickets how can I say no? Wish me luck?!

3. There has been some amazingness floating around the interwebz this week and I love it. Try this or this. If you're not having a better day after those two videos you might need to visit a doctor cause you probably need meds. 

4. Finally got some spaghetti sauce canned this week before the tomatoes rotted all over my counters. Yay me. Maybe I'll get around to posting some deets next week. 

5. On my quest to be healthier I have been continuing with my pop only once a week rule. I've actually decided to make it two though, (I know, I have no self control) but here me out. I have one pop every Sunday. It's the sugar loaded caffeine fix I look forward to all week but sometimes you just need a second one. Ya know? For example, you're at the movies and you really need a big gulp to go with that popcorn or you're having a slice of pizza which goes great with Pepsi. So, I've decided I get the one extra that I can have anytime I want throughout the week. Then I still get to look forward to my one on Sunday and don't fall off the wagon if I "cheat" and have that one extra. Make sense? It might be pathetic how much I have thought this through, but so far it's working so don't knock it til ya try it! 

6. I've been putting up some fall decor this week. Isn't it cute?

7. Slowly but surely I've been chipping away at my to-do list this week which makes me happy happy happy. I think I deserve a vacation. To bad I don't get paid to accomplish my to-do list because then I could for sure afford one. I guess I will just have to settle for a weekend. 

Happy Fall Friday Ya'll! (P.S. free fall printable here)

Free Fall Printable

To make up for my bad attitude yesterday I decided to give you guys a little present.

A Free Fall Printable!

You're welcome.

The printable is sized at 5x7 and all you have to do is print it out and put it in a frame.

To download your free printable go here. Then come back and let me know how you used it. I'd love to see photos:)

Enjoy!

Everybody's Doing It!

(please excuse bloggers formatting issues, apparently it's mad at me)

Should I jump on the bandwagon? Obviously.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy another rendition of fall favorites according to a blogger. 

Are you ready? Okay, here we go.

The Festivals 

I'm a sucker for all those fall festivals with their yummy foods, homemade crafts and burlap out the wahzoo. Everybody's out and about soaking in the gorgeous weather before winter rears it's ugly head and we are pelted in the face by snow and ice and regretting our decision to live in Kansas. The best one close to me is the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City. 

Hell-o Maple trees! via

The Louisburg Cider Mill 

If you live anywhere near Louisburg, Kansas I highly suggest a trip to this little place. It's about an hour from my house and I'm always begging my husband to go. If you want the full fall experience, this place has got it. They've got a Pumpkin Patch, a country store with homemade goods (mostly food related), hot cider, cold cider and hot apple cider cinnamon sugar donuts that will make you want to eat a dozen. Somebody bring me one now! 
(p.s. this isn't a sponsored post I just really love them)

via

Scarves 

Can I just say that I liked scarfs back before they were cool? Cause I did. I bet I have 20 or so, in every color of the rainbow, hanging in my closet right now just begging to be warn. And I'm happy to oblige!

I really want this one! via

The Smell in the Air

Walking outside on a fall morning (not too early obviously) and breathing in the fresh air is pretty much amazing. As is the smell of all the deliciously scented pumpkin and caramel and cinnamon spiced candles. Ugh, I need a new candle stat!

Love this one in the mason jar! via

The Anticipation 

With fall comes the realization that the best Holidays are right around the corner. I'm looking at you Thanksgiving and Christmas. (I won't shove a Christmas photo on you just yet. You're welcome.)

And would I be a real blogger if I didn't at least mention the words "Pumpkin Spice Latte" in a post about fall? Well, now I've mentioned it but I've still never had one and I don't even care. Plus they seem to be getting a lot of hate this year so it must not be the cool thing anymore. 

I guess that's all for now so pull out that ugly sweater vest and enjoy the season.

Happy Fall Y'all!

7 Quick Takes {13}

1. My husband saved a life yesterday. I thought it deserved its own post so you get two today. Yay!

2. Leaving work early for a wedding today. Yay again!!

3. We leave for vacation next Friday. Yay Yay Yay!

4. Okay, done with the yay's now...I think. Is it normal that I eat more than my husband? I picked up some BBQ for dinner last night and downed my sandwich and all the fries before Seth had finished his sandwich and half his fries. Then he never even ate the second half of the fries. I was mighty tempted to finish them for him (which would have been way too easy) but instead I fed them to Gunnar since I have to wear a swimsuit in a week. Will power at it's finest. 

5. It's back to school week near my neck of the woods. Basically that means my facebook feed is slammed with photo after photo of my "friends" kids on their first day back to school. Since I'm sad I don't get to go back to school and I have yet to produce offspring...here's a nice little throwback for you of my back to school days. Be jealous of that school uniform! Did I ever mention I spent my elementary years at a school in my grandma's basement?? Story for another day. 

Pippi Longstocking would be proud of those braids. Mmhmm.

6. This morning when I went outside to leave for work it felt almost like fall. What the bejeezus? I feel like it hasn't even been summer yet. Especially after that nightmare of a snowstorm winter we had. Good think I will be soaking up some sun in a tropical paradise soon. Then I can come home to fall and apple cider donuts and pumpkin spice candles. Oh yum. Maybe fall isn't too bad....

7. Never really knew what Vine was...still don't really know what Vine is. You should probably watch this video though that is a compilation of the best Vine videos of 2013 so far. It's 11 minutes but I swear it doesn't seem that long at all. Happy Friday. ENJOY!

Linking up at Conversion Diary.