Fall into the Holidays

This year Fall arrived on September 22nd. When I think of fall – I think of crisp air, earlier sunsets, new colors, and… The Holidays!

And what do Holidays bring? A few of my favorite things – gatherings, crafting, friends, family, and food.

October: Halloween

Weekend One: We invited Nick’s parents and Rachel over for food, drinks, and pumpkin carving! This wasn’t the easiest project, especially due to the fact we remembered to purchase the pumpkins and forgot to buy all of the carving tools so we fell back on using kitchen knives (i.e. butcher and steak). Alex chose Darth Vader – obviously he is the patient one of the bunch. Nick carved Frankenstein and Rachel helped me carve the basic smiley face.

Zero LOVED pumpkin carving

Weekend Two: Our friends Derek and Elizabeth Brackin invited us to The Haunted Hotel in Gaslamp for a good scare. Mind you, I get scared in the movie scene when the cat jumps out of no where during a quite evening walk. I also hate chainsaws. I thinks it’s ABSURD that someone would chase you with a chainsaw for fun. I’m aware haunted houses have insurance and usually don’t hire murderers, but what if that thing projects out of your hands when you trip over your own feet because of the crazy flashing lights? That means I get my hand chopped off. Anyway, I got the courage to go (of course, I’m slightly exaggerating. I’m not that much of a wuss) and it was a lot of fun.

Halloween: We didn’t prep costumes this year, so on my way to work I stopped at CVS, purchased cat ears and used my eye liner to draw a few whiskers.

Even though we weren’t prepared with costumes, we did have candy for Trick or Treaters and of course we had roughly 3 visitors. We had to eat all the candy ourselves – I guess trick or treating gets easier as you get older.

November: Thanksgiving

Weekend One: Nick’s cousins, Duane and Kellen, flew into town from San Francisco. I loved getting to witness the boys catching up. It made for good conversation and a great time.

With that being said. I’d like to take a moment to say how thankful I am to soon be apart of this family. Each and every person truly cares about family, about teaching each other, and about being there for one another.

(Later) This month we lost a wonderful woman, Pat Woodward, who I’ve only known since being with Nick, but I’ve witnessed the huge impact she’s had on everyone’s lives. I lack words in situations like this, but I just wanted to give thanks. I’m glad I was given the chance to know her and to be there with the family when it was time to say goodbye. I’ll forever remember how she complimented my eyelashes every time I saw her and brought a smile to everyone’s face. – Nick and his grandma.

Weekend Two: Nick and I drove up to my some-what home town, Lancaster, for the 1st Field of Drafts event at Jet Hawks stadium. I was pleasantly surprised by the turn out. It was a beautiful day to enjoy craft beer and family time.

Thanksgiving: 2013 – The first thanksgiving with The Smith’s and The Shumate’s! My parents and brother drove down to San Diego to spend Thanksgiving at Chona and John’s. Nick and my brother patiently waited while I whipped up my first Butternut Squash Bacon Souffle (it turned out quite well!). My parents brought two paleo deserts, a brussel sprout dish, and my moms fabulous sausage stuffing. Justin (my brother) and I grew up in California with the rest of our family on the East Coast so every Thanksgiving has been the 4 of us. This was the first time Justin participated in a Thanksgiving with 13 people (Nick’s immediate family, along with an Aunt, Uncle, and cousins) and he enjoyed it. The day and the dinner was a success 🙂

I’m so happy my parents could be there – so very thankful for them.

And how did we end the month of November? Decorating for December of course!

 

Happy Holidays my friends.