FALL in love

Fall is my favorite season, hands down, no doubts about it. I love the colors, the weather, Friday night high school football, pumpkins, campfires, haunted houses, changing leaves and spending time with family and friends. This fall was a little different for me. I didn't stuff my car to gills with all my belongings and make the two and a half hour drive up to Macomb. It was a truly bittersweet moment to watch my baby sister go off to college and know that I wouldn't be there.

However, the month of August did bring some good changes for me. I got a new roommate! Temporary, of course, but for the next month I have the company of my best friend Maggie everyday when I come home. I loved having Kelsey live with me during the summer and am just as tickled to have Mags. We are having a great time together while I show her around to different parts of her new home in Peoria. It is such a blessing to have good friends here with me on this journey.

Margaret and I

I also got bit by the decorating bug after spending some time in Hobby Lobby and admiring **drooling** over all the beautiful things it had to offer. I finally broke down and went on a shopping excursion with my Mommy and picked up a few new items! When I got home and started getting things set up I realized that it needed a bit more work, so I decided to get crafty! I made a few new things like this frame that I had picked up earlier this year from Goodwill for $3 and a mason jar that I had laying around. A little string, some brick red paint and some stray leaves and I had a beautiful new piece. The mason jar was as simple as hot gluing some raffia around it.

Pretty new things: picture frame and mason jar

I also got really brave and decided to put together my own fall flower arrangement. I had found some inspiration at a little primitive store in Sullivan, Illinois that my Mom had taken me to last weekend. However, everything there seemed a bit out of my price range, so I snapped a quick picture for some inspiration.

Inspiration fall flower arrangement

I picked up all the necessary supplies from Hobby Lobby and wanted to get to work right away. But, I realized that I didn't have a cool little primitive box like this black one above. Fortunately, my Mom being the brilliant woman that she is and my Dad being the farmer that he is, suggested that I do a little bit of shopping in one of my Dad's old farm sheds. So I took Mom and Clint with me and we started doing a little bit of digging and found the most PERFECT old box. It took a lot of cleaning to get the spider webs off, and even though Maggie tells me the box still smells like a dirty old barn, it is now prominently displayed in my living room. What do you think, pretty close to the inspiration piece huh?

That little box makes my heart sing...so perfect!

Here are a couple more photos of how my home is shaping up for the fall season. I also included a close up picture of the old book wreath that I FINALLY finished up. For only $2.50 I think that it turned out pretty gooooddddd!

Book Wreath

Grandma and Grandpa :)

OBSESSED with my Country Pumpkin primitive sign

Speaking of FALLing in love, I just can never get enough of Clint. There is no one in the world who makes me laugh or feel the way that he does. He is truly the best part of me. Here are some fun photos of us with the animal that he calls a Yak at this year's State Fair.

Love me some Clinty

Feeding the Yak

True and pure happiness

That's all for now!