Ready for Fall

I realize this is Texas and we've had a drought for the past 4 months, but can the weather give just a little so it will start feeling like fall around here? I see the leaves falling, but it being 90 degrees is truly disappointing. I guess there IS a possibility of missing Oregon rain and cold days...

In light of this feeling, I've tried very hard to get into the season that is undoubtedly here (whether or not it's actually, physically changing to that season).

 My homemade wreath! I purchased a straw wreath (kept the plastic on so not to make a mess...these are cheaper than foam ones too) and spent a few hours wrapping brown yarn around and around AND around. It was worth it, gives it a very clean look. I then added some fall embellishments I purchased for real cheap at Hobby Lobby (gotta love their sales) and a wooden letter for our last name...I left the letter the natural wood color. I liked the neutral look with everything else rather than painting it. I purchased a few sheets of felt (super cheap as well) and made my felt flowers. All this for a grand total of $16 :)

I look at the door every time I pull up and love the way it looks. Our front door is kind of in a nook and this wreath stands out so you can see it from the street.

I was in a rather 'nesting' type mood today. I had this HUGE urge to rearrange, organize, and clean...not normal for me on a weekend. I started with rearranging the bookshelf downstairs and mantle above the fireplace. I then moved the room that will be the nursery. We've been given quite a few items and have just piled them in there along with some of my school stuff I don't want in the attic. Going through the school stuff I decided to organize my craft supplies. In the spare bedroom upstairs, I decided to use the shelves that are in the closet for these items. I filled each tub I had left over from teaching, with the various craft supplies I've accrued over the years. There's not a whole lot, but it's better than leaving them in a huge cardboard box that won't fit anywhere in the house. I'm excited to start working on the nursery. I can't wait to get some of the items out of that room to sell and/or give away so that we can make room for baby! We've been given a changing table, bassinet to use in our bedroom until we get into a routine and he's in the crib, we already had a dresser, and we're waiting to purchase the crib (or see if it's gifted to us). It will eventually all start coming together. When I'm done with this long term sub position I'll have more time at home to really get organizing and start planning. How exciting!

To go with the fall theme of the day (with a little baby nesting thrown in there), I had been planning to make these pumpkin cream cheese muffins I found on Pinterest. I was dying for the house to smell like autumn! The recipe I found looked like they were done in mini muffin pans, but I went all out and went for the normal sized muffin pans. There are several steps to this recipe, but it's fairly easy. After mixing the pumpkin batter and the cream cheese filling, I got to creating!

You put about 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin batter on the bottom then about 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center, then cover with more pumpkin batter and top with the cinnamon-sugary struesal mixture. These is how they turned out:

It called for what seemed like a lot of oil, so the paper liners kind of soaked it up, but the hubby has tried them out and he says they're delicious and not oily at all :)

Well, I think that's all for today in the arena of making it feel more like fall. Here's to hoping it continues to cool down!

We'll give this the 'ol college try...

Well, along with Facebook, getting a new email address (minus the maiden name...wait, I had one of those??), and my new love for 'pinning' on Pinterest, I've decided to step foot into the world of blogging. With both Richard and I's family residing all over the United States, my main reason for doing this is to keep them up to date with all the happenings in our life. But, I'm not going to lie, I will probably post a few crafty endeavors here and there :)

We have been married for not even 2 years yet (getting close!) and are expecting our first child in January 2012...rather close to my very own birthday. We planned to wait a little while longer so we would be in a better financial state, but God had another plan. And let me just say that, though the situation isn't ideal, it is perfectly God's. For as long as I can remember I've always wanted to be a stay at home mom. The original plan was to wait until December to even try to have kids so that by the time the baby would be due it'd be close to the end of the school year, I'd take maternity leave, then not return to work. Well, I'm working a long term substitution position right now (3 more weeks, hooray!) then I'll sub a few days a week until around the end of November or early December then be home. I am beyond pleased with this choice for the simple fact that I don't know if I could have done another full year at my current school...things get very overwhelming and each year there seems to be more expectations than the year before. I don't think I would have survived!

Richard is working in Austin for CISCO Network systems. He enjoys it and sees a lot of potential for growth there...we could do without the commute though. Luckily, right now he's on night shift so he's able to work from home a few nights a week. I will sure be happy when he's off that shift, however. We hardly see each other anymore.

Shortly after we got married we purchased our first home. We've done little things to improve it and keep adding to it when the finances allow it. I've enjoyed finding ways (and bargains) to decorate for the holidays and I'm getting very anxious to start getting the nursery set up for the baby! I think Richard has learned that I may like certain things, but I can find a way to do it on a budget ;)

I will update soon...keep up with the Wheelocks from the comfort of your own home :)