Sep, Oct, & Nov Highlights

The last three months have been a whirlwind of activity. I have been so busy that I am not going to try to list everything that happened (and I doubt you'd want to read that tome) so these are just some highlights from each month. Hopefully not enough to bore you, and I am just doing the best movie from the month.

SEPTEMBER 

I decided to get my covid vaccine for some personal reasons, so at the beginning of September, I got my second shot. I spent a few days curled up on the couch, watching old movies and recovering after that but it was 100% worth it. 

As we prepped for Sarah and Scott's wedding there was a last-minute rush of getting family time in. We watched us siblings' favorite movie together, had a girls night watching Sight and Sounds Queen Ester, and had dinner at our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant. 

We had a lovely rehearsal dinner with both family's, plus the pastor's family. We walked through the ceremony, got our ques down, and then ate a meal together. The day of the wedding was honestly not as hectic as I thought it would be. The wedding was at two, and my mom and Sarah went to finish prepping the venue early in the morning. I went a little later, grabbing Macdonalds on my way with my brother. We helped prep, then while Sarah went over to a hotel to get ready, the bridesmaids stayed behind and did our hair. We all crammed in a microscopic hotel room to get ready but somehow managed it in time. I'm not going to lie and say everything about it was perfect. There were some ugly tears shed that day, but in light of the result, they were worth it. We managed to be ready on time, and I was the first one to walk up. I cried such happy tears seeing Sarah walk up the aisle and marry her best friend. When it came time to exchange rings, the best man realized he had forgotten the ring, so Scott had to run to the side room and get it. XD The reception was gratefully short, and we then sent them off on a two-week honeymoon. The rest of us stayed, cleaned up, then shared a meal at Whataburger with friends. It was a very long day, but also delightful.

At the rehearsal. <3

We had planned to go on a short overnight stay at the beach after the wedding, but a hurricane hit the coast the day before we planned to leave, so we had to call it off, instead going to see my sister Rose off to her first Missions trip in Panama. It was good to see her before she left for two months. 

My oldest sister Nicole and her family (husband and two daughters), moved in right next to us, and their house arrived at the end of September. It's a fixer-upper, but it's darling. We started work on prepping it then.

I got the chance to watch Big Hero 6 and was surprised how much I loved it. I'm not big into superheroes, but the family-like dynamic of them, and the heart-wrenching plot got me.

All of these were re-reads except 60 days of happiness and I LOVED that. Resistance was my favorite re-read. 

OCTOBER 

My sister and family moved down! While this is a huge adjustment (We've never lived so close!) I have been so blessed to have family so close. My nieces are fairly close in age to me, so it's been awesome to get to hang out with them more. We introduced them to our favorite laser tag arena already. 

The co-op where my sister and I work at had a nature walk. Since I live in the country, this wasn't particularly amazing in of itself, but it was so much fun to see the kids encountering things they don't normally. We helped corral the five and under class and it was a delightful handful. We had to keep several kids from jumping in the creek, and several more were acutely disappointed we didn't see a snake. I love kids. =) <3 

Stiring paint for Rose's room.

In true fall tradition, we went to a pumpkin patch. Actually, I went twice, once with my family, and once with my friend Hannah. I got a couple little tiny pumpkins and tried my hand at painting one of them, which was really fun. I hadn't done that in about seven years, so it was reliving some happy memories. I also made paper pumpkins, which was really fun! 

We went to the beach for the day and it was one of the most relaxing days I've had in a long time. We just set up chairs, read, and flew kits. We had a picnic next to the beach and caught sight of a dolphin! The day ended when I was on my phone to much and nearly puked on the side of the road, but every good day has its downsides. ;P 

My family all pitched in and we filled two Operation Christmas Child boxes and that was a blast! I hadn't been a part of that for the last year, so it was awesome getting back into it and choosing gifts for the kids. 

Keep Holding On was my favorite new read (it was very Hallmark-esk) and Behold was my favorite re-read. 

NOVEMBER 

I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, and it started off as one of the easiest times I'd ever done it, it was only a matter of finding time, then the words flowed like magic. Then came mid-month and I wasn't able to write for six days. Then so many things got in my way I wasn't able to ever really catch up and ended up writing ten thousand words in the last three days of NaNo, but I made it with an hour and a half to spare and I really like some of the stories I wrote (I wrote one novella, and a few short stories) 

I cough a cold that was being passed around our church, thankfully it wasn't serious, it just stuck with me for a while. Since I couldn't go to work or anything, I spent a good amount of time writing, a lot watching mystery movies with my dad, and some reading. 

The highlight of my whole month was getting to go meet my best friend, Kate in person for her wedding. my flight into AZ was delayed five times and my bag was delayed also, and I nearly cried with relief after twenty-two hours of being awake when I was finally able to sleep. The next day I got to meet Kate in person!! The day of the wedding was super fun, the only kind of stressed thing being I decided I really needed to steam my dress thirty minutes before the photos started (Being in a suitcase was not kind to it), but with the help of some of the other bridesmaids, we did it! It was awesome getting to carry Joshua's ring and the vows, and just to stand with Kate on that day. It was beautiful, and the reception was fun. I fumbled through my speech, ate an amazing amount of Pocky and crackers, and helped decorate their car for the sendoff. I was sad to go home so soon the next day, but my flight home was uneventful. The day I got home we had our first family meal with all of us home since the wedding. 

Kate and I at her wedding. <3 

My friend Hannah and I got to meet up and do a writing session in person, which was fantastic! I haven't gotten the chance to write with other writers much, so I enjoyed the opportunity. 

Our family had a very low-key Thanksgiving, just a nice meal, and some family time sitting around talking. Later that week we decorated for Christmas. <3 

Per our family tradition, the day after Thanksgiving we walked around Fredericksburg, an adorable town with lots of unique little shops. We found some of my cousin Liza's artwork, which was epic, and did a lot of window shopping.  

I got to watch the new Signed, Sealed Delivered movie The Vows We Made and while it was;t my favorite SSD movie, I did love it! I'm always happy for more of these characters. <3

Brought to Book and Snuffed out were my only new reads of the month, and they were awesome! Wren was my favorite re-read. 

I hope y'all enjoyed this massive amount of highlights! I have missed being here more often. Please, tell me some highlights from the last few months for you!