Celebrate with Me!

Hello, Friends!

My birthday is this month and I want to celebrate it with you! Will you join me in this month long celebration? How many of you celebrate your birthday in September?  Let’s all celebrate.

This is my favorite time of year. I love the autumn months and not just because of my birthday. The weather is starting to get cooler. The leaves are starting to change colors. It’s time to pull out the cozy sweaters and the hoodies, find some great cozy books to read and new crochet projects. Let’s add some mood lighting and blankets around the house. Just make the house extra cozy. I like to spend a little more time in the kitchen baking and just spend time enjoying family and friends.

I grew up in a small farming community. This time of year is harvest season. The gardens are putting out their last fruits and people are in the kitchen preserving what they can for the seasons ahead.  We lived next door to my paternal grandparents when I was growing up and they had a large apple orchard so for us this time of year meant picking apples and making apple juice, apple cider and applesauce. They also had black walnut trees lining their driveway, and my sister and I would walk with Grandpa up and down the driveway picking up walnuts.

Despite all the work that happens in autumn it is a time of slowing down. It is a time of preparation and thanksgiving. A time to look at what the Lord has blessed you with and a time to prepare for the winter ahead.

For me, autumn has also become a time of planning. Every year around my birthday, I become reflective and start looking at my life. I start wondering and dreaming and even become a little restless. While most people set their goals or resolutions around the New Year, I have started setting mine around my around my birthday. (Around New Year, I will choose a word for the year and review my goals and make any changes.) 

I do have to tell you that while lately I have great at the dreaming and planning, the last few years I have really failed in the doing. I have had some major struggles with my mental health as well as my physical and spiritual health, and I am hoping and praying to change a lot of that in the coming year. I want to instill new habits in my life and that is one of the reasons that I am attempting to take a more holistic approach to my life and this blog.

For the next month, I will be sharing my plans for the coming year or two, some of my dreams and goals and ways that you all get involved if you desire, some of my favorite things like books and movies, recipes, etc., and also all things autumn. I also want to answer your questions. I am ready, able and willing to answer any questions.