Fan-FREAKING-tastic!

It's October and that means all kinds of ghoulish goodies are on the brain. Here are just a few of my favorite Halloween-y looks:

Cart Before The Horse Etsy Shop


Past Pottery Barn Halloween Decor


Some random pic of someone's vintage Halloween decor


Awesome sugar skull gift boxes from Don't Eat The Paste


Fun costumes (Where's Waldo and Wanda?)that bring back memories from 1997

Thankful Thursday: Dreaming good things

1. Sleep. Much needed sleep.

2. Knowing my kids are safe... for today.

3. Puppy eyes that look at you and trust you so deeply.

4. Misty rain that lands on your eyelashes and when you close your eyes the drops gently splash your cheeks.

5. Making a choice to rid toxic relationships from my life.

6. The anticaption of a relaxing, don't-have-to-be-anywhere-except-soccer-so-we-can-do-what-we-want weekend.

7. Planning the week's dinner menu on Sunday and being able to meet today with pan in hand.

8. Hot chai on a cold day.

9. Devouring page after page of a well-written, suspenseful book. Do yourself a favor and read Sarah's Key.

10. A working heater to warm up the house.

Wordless Wednesday: ZOE

“Lentils are friendly—the Miss Congeniality of the bean world.”

I'm a big fan of soups. My kids are notsomuch. Well, I should say my youngest isn't. For dinner we had Lentil Soup courtesy of The Sneaky Chef. My daughter ate up her bowl. I can't divulge the recipe per copywright laws I'm sure, but here's a link to the "sneaky" part you add to the soup: White Puree which is made up of cauliflower and zucchini.
I had heard about The Sneaky Chef a few years ago, but didn't think anything of her until recently. Boy, was I missing out!! I've made a few of her recipes and have been truly pleased. The family liked them as well. I'm a new fan! I do divulge the "sneaky" ingredients once everyone is almost done eating. I just can't seem to keep them a secret for very long.

Halloween!! Only 28 more days to go!

As much as I love Thanksgiving I seem to always associate Fall with Halloween. It's one of my favorite holidays and not just because of the candy. And as I slowly decorate the house I smile because each little knick knack has a story. October means you can be even more silly than usual. You also get to play around with your "dark" side. As the earth around you falls into a slumber your youthful spirit awakens. October lets you "shake out your sillies". It lets you prepare for more indoor activities that come with the cold. The countdown begins...

Did you know?

Did you know tomorrow is World Vegetarian Day? I didn't. But, know I do! It's always fun to learn something new. Here are a few more veggie-type related links:

Eat A Rainbow Everyday
Annoying Orange
A Veggie Venture

Planting seeds of gratefulness

1. Oil pastel color crayons. I love the way color so effortlessly glides onto your paper.
2. Wind blowing through the trees because it sounds like ocean waves crashing into shore.
3. Good books that make you laugh and smile and think and mention Shakespeare about a hundreds times. Wednesday Wars does it all.
4. Surprises of the cake-y kind. Yum! Thanks, Mom!
5. Faraway friends thinking of me.
6. Chickens who get fatter and bigger every day. They are so cute.
7. Questions at dinnertime being our most favorite part of dinner. Thanks to How Does She for introducing me to this idea. My kids love it! But, now I have to come up with my own questions as we are down to the last 5 from the ones the site has posted. Doh.
8. My son using my behind as his punching bag. It's not as bad as it sounds and it reminds me how small he still is and treasuring that he hasn't gotten too "big" yet.
9. Being able to go to my daughter to help me solve game puzzles. She's that smart and I only hope she gets smarter.
10. Mindy Gledhill's voice in this song:

Wordless Wednesday: The Fall

Do you know what goes good with rain?

It's our 3rd straight day of rain here in the Pacific Northwest and nothing goes better with rain than a hot bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. It's comfort food. You don't need a recipe for grilled cheese, but may I recommend Tillamook Cheese. I am brand loyal on certain foods and I just haven't found anything better than Tillamook. It's the go-to cheese for your sandwich. And when you don't have time for homemade soup, you just have to go with Pacific Foods Organic Creamy Tomato Soup. It's super yummy. Oh, and it doesn't necessarily have to be raining to be in the mood for this combo, but it sure helps!

med·i·ta·tion n. A devotional exercise of or leading to contemplation

Luke and his friend enjoying a quiet, contemplative moment at the lake. Ommmmm.
It has been a long road of meditation for me. I'm still learning and finding new ways to meditate and make it more of a habit. Recently, I participated in The Chopra Center's 21 Day Meditation Challenge-Summer. It was an awesome experience and I urge anyone who enjoys meditation or wants to commit to a practice to give these types of challenges a try. If you allow them to, they will have you tap into a part of yourself that you don't get to hang out with very ofen. It's that soft voice inside of you that you sometimes gets ignored because the world around it is too loud.

I have to admit that I have a hard time meditating on my own. I am one of those that need a guided meditation to keep me going and focused. I told you I was still learning.

So, in my search for more guided meditations I found another free meditation site named OnlineMeditation.org. On this site you have a chance to take 12 meditation classes. You begin by learning the basics of Sahaja Meditation. I really like the way the classes are broken up into 4 sections with one section being a guided meditation. I intend to open myself up to a new teaching and give myself some time with that soft voice inside.