Why hello, November!

Is it really November already?? This year is slipping away so quickly. I hope things slow down a little bit though because November and December with their cool weather, holidays, and the abundance of delicious food that goes with said holidays make me really happy. I don't want it to slip through my fingers before I have a chance to thoroughly enjoy it. 

Today I wanted to put up some more fall/Thanksgiving decorations and I made these printables to frame. They aren't particularly festive so I can leave them up all year. Also, I couldn't decide which quote I preferred so I just made them all. :) Which one is your favorite?

(Click image to enlarge and then right click to save and print)

What are you doing to get in the Thanksgiving spirit? I have been nesting something fierce lately, so I plan on decorating my house, drinking lots of apple cider, and baking goodies in the next few days... All while wearing my favorite comfy, warm clothes since it has been pretty chilly here and I am hoping to avoid turning on the heat for as long as possible. In other words, I will be living in sweatpants, fuzzy socks, and my oh-so-cozy Hello sweater for the next 6 months.

I think I'm okay with that.

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." -Albert Camus

I love the mountains. As much as I love to travel, mountains will always be home to me. 

And although I love my mountains all year long, there's something especially beautiful about how fall turns the quivering aspen leaves to gold. It's my favorite. :)

I made it up here just in time... a cold, wet storm blew in last night and these aspen are probably crusted in snow and ice right now and I don't think they will last much longer. I'm glad I got to enjoy it first! With Arizona's unpredictable weather it can be really easy to miss. Trust me, I've done it many times. I was especially glad I made it this year so I could play around with my new-ish camera. I'm becoming more and more familiar with manual mode and almost never switch back to automatic, although I still need lots of practice. Anyone want to volunteer their faces for me to shoot instead of trees? ;) 

(P.S. I'm serious, especially if you live nearby! Free pictures, anyone?)

Anyway, happy October! Can you believe it is already the tenth? Time is going by so quickly! It's going to be November before I know it, and then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, and then February will be just around the corner... and we'll have a baby! But for now I am just going to enjoy this beautiful fall weather and not think about how soon February is going to get here... or how much I need to get done before it does.

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

-Anne Shirley

Fall, cold floors, and Russia

We love sleeping with the windows open whenever we can. Dallin runs warm so he likes the room to be pretty cool, and I like having a good excuse (as if I need one) to snuggle up to my personal heater of a husband. It's a win-win. 

I'm not sure how long the open windows are going to last though, because last night we felt the first real nip of fall in the air. When I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, I almost shrieked when I stepped onto the icy cold ceramic tile. It was cold on my poor bare feet! Dallin took the missionaries rock-hunting early this morning, and as soon as he was gone (personal heater, remember?) I was freezing. And when I left for seminary this morning, I pulled a coat out of the closet for the first time this season. 

I absolutely love this time of year. I've been in the autumn mood for a long time now and I'm so happy that it is officially here. All hail to the season of apple cider candles, scarves, tights, sweaters, changing leaves, Thanksgiving, pumpkin goodness, and hot cocoa!

Fall also makes me itch for Russia, which is where I was two years ago during this season. In other words, I'm going to use this as an excuse to post a bunch of pictures from then, even though I'm probably the only one that cares. Hey, it's my blog, right? Imma do what I want! ;)

One of my favorite pictures from the whole semester, even if it didn't turn out perfectly.

On the path I took to the school every day. I loved this walk and seeing it change from green leaves when I arrived to snow when I left.

I like to take stalker pictures. Muahaha.