When Autumn Leaves Start to Fall

Ahh, fall is in full swing and I am in looove. Fall is my favorite season. Hands down. No contest. After the sticky, sweaty, oven-like summer, the autumnal winds and frost are a welcome reprieve.

I love fall for all the typical, white girls, cliche reasons: crunchy leaves, brisk mornings, layers, cute boots, hot chocolate, chapped lips, pumpkin spiced baked goods, you don't have to shave your legs ever, the temperatures -- after a couple days of the jacket on-or-off shuffle -- are ideal. I get to put away my bulky, R2D2-sized window AC unit and re-establish my beautiful book shelf's proper place in my living room. As far as seasons go, this one smells the best. The candle scents for autumn are bomb.

And let's all take a minute to remember that THIS is where I get to live:

For me though, this time of year is great for more sentimental reasons. Fall is when I met my husband, we have LDS general conference in the fall (see my post about that here) and it is when I start getting excited for Christmas. In fact, I think I love the preparation for Christmas more than the actual day of celebration . I'm that person who has all her Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving because I cannot wait to do it!

Fall has the best activities too. Communities really come together around this time for football season or trunk or treats. I personally do not fall on the sports side of the spectrum, but nonetheless I do have fond memories of spending chilly Friday nights at the high school stadium with my friends. Then there are corn mazes, pumpkin patches, hay rides, jumping in leaves, farmer's markets, apple-picking, mountain drives to see the fall colors, festivals, Homecoming, bonfires, etc... Check Pinterest for a cornucopia of to-do lists to make you feel like you're not celebrating fall as enthusiastically as everyone else. My personal fave: Hiking. It's way better in the fall because you don't get sunburned and sweaty. and that beauty! Sorry Summer, you just can't compete with that color palette.

And y'all, fall harvest is no joke. I love the warm veggies in season right now. Pumpkin, butternut squash, acorn squash, yams, kale. Did I say pumpkin? I am always on that bandwagon. As far as baked goods at least. Pancakes, cookies, breads, brownies... It gives such a good, fudgy texture to everything you put it in. YUM. If you have never had pumpkin puree in a baked something, you are missing out and regardless of if you have a "Fall Bucket List" or not, write this down. I have already made three batches of pumpkin spice flavored cookies (two batches of this and one batch of this).

But ironically, my least favorite holiday all year is Halloween. I know, I know. Heresy! "We're gonna make you sit down and watch Hocus Pocus on repeat until you say you like it!" But hear me out. I don't like scary movies, I think getting a costume ready can be exhausting and if I'm not on a stage, I often feel uncomfortable in one. And honestly, I think I grew up thinking it was a satanic holiday that a good Christian girl like myself wasn't supposed to like. But that's neither here nor there because this year I am determined to get more into Halloween. Like, it's sort of dumb, but I've made myself a "Halloween Prep Checklist" of things I want to do to actually enjoy it rather than tolerate it like I usually do.

-Watch Halloweentown (check, wowza childhood!)

-Watch Hocus Pocus (check)

-Watch Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin (check)

-Watch Sleepy Hollow (check)
-Create a pretty basic, fun costume I'm stoked about, but is low-key enough I won't feel uncomfortable about it.
-Read H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man (check)

-Read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (in progress, and you're gonna want to click that link)

-Read Dracula by Bram Stoker (jk, just got a book from the library I've had on hold for ages. So.... good intentions, though, right?)

-Listen to spooky short stories by H.P. Lovecraft (in progress, this man had a dark pit of a mind)
-Carve a pumpkin, despite my obvious lack of artistic talent in that area. I even have the epitome of Pumpkin Perfection!

this lil chunk was sitting all by its lonesome in the patch,
waiting for a loving owner.

Another great thing about fall? You don't have to do anything at all to still think it's wonderful. And since everyone else is taking the chilly weather as an opportunity to hermit up in their homes to binge watch Stranger Things again, no one will even notice if you don't make it to the corn maze. You do you, man.

All this aside, I also love fall for the physical reminder that life does come in seasons. God has given us a sweet, gentle cradle of transition time to go from the hot summer nights to the frost cold of winter. God intended for things to ebb and flow, to grow and to die away. For me, fall is a time of the old dying away and an opportunity of a fresh start. With the crisp smell that accompanies each blissful fall day comes also the feeling of starting over. It's more powerful than a New Year's Resolution. Like when you were a kid and you always entered your first day of school, excited for a fresh start. Fall is an opportunity I want each of us to take, with deep breaths and open arms.

And if any of you have any suggestions for how to get more excited about Halloween (short of anything that will give me nightmares), shoot them my way!

Fall is where it's at, friends. Enjoy.