It's Harvest Time!

Fall brings images of harvests and reaping the rewards of hard work that has been done all summer. I love a good harvest, whether it's apples, corn, pumpkins, or even basil. Yes, you heard me correctly. Basil.

... my basil plants when they were just tiny babies ...

A couple of nights ago I found myself ogling the Pioneer Woman's basil garden. She had me laughing over her "basil psychosis" (fear of harvesting the homegrown basil leaves and running low on supply), and I couldn't help but be glad I'm not the only one with that problem. However, this thinking is counterproductive, because if you pinch off some of the top leaves from your plant, your basil will actually grow better. Oops. Live and learn.

... more of my baby basil plants ...

If there's one herb I could eat almost every day, it's basil.

Just yesterday I harvested two packed cups full of the basil that I've been working so hard to grow outside on our balcony. Believe me, I was downright scared I might use it all up and have no basil left for later. Thank goodness I still have a little left.

... my harvested basil, ready to become pesto ...

Fall is most definitely time for harvests, and I'm thankful for my homegrown basil. I predict plenty of fresh pesto in the near future! Hang in there, tomorrow I'll share with you how really easy it is to make homemade pesto. I promise, it's simple.

Belated Birthday Gifts

Last week we celebrated my husband's birthday, but the presents just keep coming. When a delivery man dropped off a package with his name on it yesterday, my husband actually told me how he loves that his birthday has been stretched out for almost a week now. He was like a kid opening gifts on Christmas morning with this one. I think I may have gave one too many hints.

... digging in without hesitation ...

His other gifts consisted mostly of cards and money gifts, but this package was the only other present, besides the ones I gave him, that required unwrapping. There was a little bit of built up anticipation, and he wasn't disappointed by what was found inside.

... I think he had an idea of what it was at this point ...

... a happy birthday boy ...

My husband was thrilled with the delicious New Belgium craft beers he received. Not only are these some of his favorite beers out there, but they're good in my book too. We're both winners with this one. They're like a little slice of Colorado packaged up by someone who loves us and shipped right to our front door. Literally.

Not only was the gift nice, but I had a good laugh at the card my dad sent too.

You've got to love a good sense of humor. Beer and a birthday card with a play on the word ass. Ha! It can't get much sillier, or better, than that. Now we have some work to do, so we'll catch you later. (:

Can You Please Do Me a Favor?

Whatever you do... make these muffins! Seriously.

{ see what I mean? }

I found a picture of these pumpkin cream cheese muffins on Pinterest, and I knew right away that they belonged in my belly. They probably belong in yours too.... unless you're allergic to pumpkin, and then I just feel very badly for you.

Now go do me yourself a favor and visit Annie's Eats blog. (click that link above) Print yourself a copy of the recipe for the tastiest muffins you will ever eat, make said muffins, eat muffins, and then you can thank me later for sharing this link.

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Today you can also find me over on Alisha's blog, Alisha & Brandon.

If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Alisha yet, you must go visit her. You also just might find a link on her blog that will lead you to an embarrassing video of me climbing through a tiny opening in a window. Yes, you heard me correctly. Now go!

The Sunday Currently | 5

{ you can view my currently blog post from last week if you want to catch up a bit }

reading I'm currently in between books, but Jessica at O. Alouette recommended signing up for Goodreads so I'm sure I'll find something good to read soon!

writing a meal plan for this week. What should we eat?!

listening to our noisy apartment dishwasher do its work.

thinking about how I just remembered seeing it snow in my dream last night. Apparently I've got snow on the brain! I remember how magical and exciting that snow seemed in my dream.

smelling a delicious cup of coffee... but what's new?

wishing for cooler weather and smaller electric bills. Ha!

hoping that we can manage a trip to Michigan or Colorado this fall/winter even with my husband's terrible reserve schedules at work.

wearing a green and black striped top with black skinny jeans and some silver jewelry.

loving that we both feel much healthier and better since we started working out more regularly... (aka since we've moved to Florida over a year ago)

wanting the winter birds to make their return to Florida. My binoculars have been collecting dust lately. I miss the adorable little yellow-rumped warbler!

needing to do more writing.

feeling like my legs and bum are on fire after running, lifting weights, and doing lunges yesterday. Ouch!
clicking through some pretty pictures on Pinterest today. (:

What are you doing today?

Friday's Fancies | fall leaf love

If there's anything I know about fall, it's the color of leaves that fall from the trees in northern Michigan. Imagine a color, and you can most likely find it in the palette created by the tree canopy. People visit from all over the country just to see the colors of the trees in Michigan each fall. It's pretty amazing.

I know that fall is beautiful in Colorado too. You'll find the landscape turning more yellow and brown with each passing fall day. Fall in Colorado is different from a Michigan fall, but you'll still see yellows and browns for as far as the eye can see.

a fall drive through Rocky Mountain National Park

Fall is one of the times each year when I feel compelled to wear at least a little bit of color in my wardrobe. It just might have something to do with the leaves changing colors, and the fall color trends don't seem to hurt either. I love the warm, rich colors that can be found everywhere from clothes to nail polish this time of year. Time to bundle up in color!

scarf   |  sweater  |  jeans  |  nail polish  |  bracelet  |  shoes

Do you enjoy the colors of fall leaves?

would you wear any of the colors in my fall leaf inspired outfit...

Now imagine the following and listen to this song:
You're wearing cozy clothes and are sitting next to a blazing fire with a loved one... you've got a warm drink in one hand... and it's snowing outside. It's a great feeling to know you're inside in the warm and couldn't ask for much more....



Happy Friday!

Unconditional Love, a Birthday, & Other Thoughts

{ this post may be a bit scatterbrained. it's sort of a mind dump. sorry }

I feel like my blog isn't always the most honest and thoughtful place in the blogosphere. There are many times I have these thought-provoking inner monologues, and I want so desperately to share them with you all. However, I often immediately forget the exact sentences that just zoomed through my brain, and it leaves me annoyed that I wasn't made with a built-in thought recorder. I could really make use for a rewind button so that I could replay my thoughts with a keyboard at hand. I just a few minutes ago had this really great thought, and I sat down to type it but couldn't remember exactly what it was I had just said to myself.

It's not that I talk to myself, unless you count quietly in your own mind as talking to yourself. I just have a lot of thoughts that often scurry, and sometimes creep, through my head. The creeping thoughts are the ones I have longer to hang onto, and sometimes I'm able to regain my ground enough to remember the scurrying thoughts. Often times though, I'm left sitting in front of my computer wondering what was I trying to say again? I guess maybe I need to do more writing. For some reason my thoughts don't translate to the computer screen as well as they do to paper. Call me old fashioned, but I love spending a little quality time with my thoughts, a pencil, and paper. I must do more of that!

{ my husband and I over five years ago... wow, time flies! }

Oh shoot, I was only thinking about unconditional love to myself wasn't I? Speaking thinking of unconditional love, today is my husband's birthday. I am so blessed to have him in my life, and I can't help but be thankful that everything happens for a reason. Without previous heartache and pain, I wouldn't have been led into my husband's arms. God sure does work in mysterious ways, huh?

Speaking of God working in mysterious ways, I read a blog post today that really had me thinking. Like more than normal thinking. Great, like I need help with that, right? I've got enough thoughts as it is, but I just couldn't help but have thousands more after reading Jenni's post today ... and the article she linked to as well. There's just something so fascinating about life and death. You can't have one without the other.

Anyways....

Happy Birthday to my husband!

Oh, and again, speaking of unconditional love. There are so many great things about unconditional love. We can't be wrong. We can't mess up beyond repair. We don't have to be perfect, and we definitely don't need to bend in order to fit what someone else wants us to be. We can be forgiven, and we are worthy. Unconditional love can be difficult to have/do, but it's necessary for our happiness and so worth the effort. Start with yourself and continue loving others!

We, most importantly, must tap into the greatest source of unconditional love if we want to learn to give it relentlessly. You can't give what you don't have to give in the first place, right?