Thank goodness for a new week.

I can't lie. Thursday, Friday, and then Saturday morning were rough. I swear it doesn't even have much to do with the baby. I wonder if you get some sort of resurgence of hormones every week or so pospartum that just makes you sad and mad and depressed at the same time. I can't even explain our housing situation or our soon-to-be-PCSing situation or any of that because it's so complicated that I can't even form the thoughts to put it into a cohesive explanation and just thinking about it makes me want to crawl under the covers...but I can't because the baby will inevitably start crying as soon as I try that.

That being said, the only only only thing that turned my weekend around was all the Lindsey Graham memes and videos on Twitter. 

This is my favorite video.  This one is a close second. 

And this picture...

Anyway.

Today is the last day to sign up for the #GreatPumpkinSwap!

We will email/message partners starting tomorrow, so please let Becky or me know if you'd like in on it :)

Friday Favorites

1. It's officially coat and boot weather here, which I'm okay with as long as it doesn't snow much.

2. Manifest. This is a new show on NBC. I watched the first two episodes on Hulu. I heard the summary of what it was about on the I Hate Green Beans podcast over the weekend. I really like Josh Dallas, and I thought the first two episodes didn't disappoint. Apparently, they didn't like it on the Appointment Television podcast, but their taste is quite questionable anyway. Give this a try.

2. I got this Northface jacket from Cabela's for $29 because we had some gift cards lying around. They were Scott's, sure, but we've had them for over two years and he never used them and I figured I'd just be spending the money anyway because a new jacket was on my to-do list this fall...

Cabela's also does FREE 2-day FedEx shipping for orders over $50. There's exclusions listed on the website, but we live in Laramie, Wyoming and this jacket showed up in LESS THAN 48 HOURS, so they might be worth checking out if you're in the market for outdoorwear. 

4. Thank you to everyone who sent me comments through email about my (one and only) political post on Tuesday. It's nice to feel not alone in this world of the internet. Also, I turned the comments on the post off not because I was afraid of what people might say, but because I didn't want readers to feel like they HAD to say anything. Agree, disagree, I don't care: it just felt so good, like a weight being lifted, to post my thoughts. 

5. The Great Pumpkin Swap! We have about a dozen swappers signed up so far!

Sign-ups end on Monday...we figured we'd give you a full week... and we'll match up partners early next week! Message me on Instagram if you want in!

The Great Pumpkin Swap!

This year, The Great Pumpkin Swap will be exclusively on Instagram. You can follow me here and you can follow Becky here. We'll do all the heavy lifting, match you up with your partner, and send you the info you need!

Here's the details:

Sign up this week--October 1st through October 8th.
To sign up, send a Direct Message to @kedarhower and @rebeckann2 with your Name, IG handle, and email address.
Include whether or not you’re willing to ship internationally.
This will help us out with matching up partners.

We’ll match you with a partner by Saturday, October 13th and notify you with this info.

Chat with your partner through DM or email, and then shop!
Send your partner $15-$20 worth of fall goodies...candles, candy, accessories, fun decorations, etc.
(Shipping is not included in that $15-$20).

Mail your box as soon as you’d like, but try to have it done before Halloween.

As soon as you get your box, post to Instagram with a picture/caption tagging your partner,
@kedarhower, @rebeckann2, and hashtag #GreatPumpkinSwap.
You can do a story too, but make a picture post permanent so others can find it!

If you have a blog, you can post about it too and link to it in your IG post :)
Anyone is welcome to participate! Comment, message, or email with any questions!

Stuff and Things 9/6

+While so much is actually new around here, my day-to-day is literally just laundry on top of laundry, it seems.

He observes from the bouncer. 

+We paid off my credit card a few weeks ago. I got it, originally, to build myself some credit a few years ago. The interest rate for the first year was 0% so I used it for everything and paid it off quickly. Then I kept using it and didn't realize that the interest rate, after that first year, jumped to 24%. (Rather, I knew it would jump up, but I didn't necessarily pay attention to "when".)
So, we paid it off and planned to close it at some point (I haven't used it in a very long time), but within hours of paying it off, they sent me an email LOL.

+We've had a rough few days of limited sleep. I really think Wells might have some reflux so feeding him is taking longer and I'm doing some experimenting with this. I gave in and ordered a rock-and-play. I don't see how it'll be different than a swing or whatever, but we'll see. He loves the vibration of the bouncer and I think just struggles with the stillness of laying completely flat in the bassinet, so fingers crossed that this lets all of us sleep (at the same time). Don't get me wrong: he sleeps very soundly and for hours at a time. Just not between 10pm and 6am. It's always a gamble then.

+I joined a gym. This wasn't a decision I made quickly or lightly. A few friends have suggested I try Beach Body on Demand but I know myself and I know I wouldn't do at-home cardio workouts. I just wouldn't. So $43 a month to attend classes is in my best interest right now. It's not even about the workout because I've stayed in shape just by walking the dogs and doing Pilates for years now; I need to get out of the house at times when Scott can be at home with the baby.

+#HASHTAGFALL has arrived to Wyoming on some days and some days it's still in the 80s. But I had to wear my headband last night and that was the first time I've worn in it September since...2012.

Also, pants. 

+As we head into #FALL, I was considering The Great Pumpkin Swap. This would be year number 7 for the swap and I'm all for doing it again, but was thinking about modifying it to just be on Instagram. More people could easily join in because you wouldn't need to blog about it. Thoughts?

If you think it'd be a fun idea, let me know! We wouldn't start for another month but I'd love to see if you're interested!

Pumpkin Swap Link-Up!

Today is the day to link-up the goodies you shared with your Pumpkin Swap partner!

Because my partner and I are international, I haven't received my box yet, and she hasn't gotten hers. Fun fact: we were also partners back in 2013.

Regardless, I'll come back and edit this post as soon as I get it!

Please link-up your blog post, link to your Instagram, link to a tweet, etc. You can also share on social media with the hashtag #GreatPumpkinSwap!

Thanks to everyone for joining in, and thanks to Becky for co-hosting with me!

Last day for Pumpkin Swap sign-ups!

Just popping in to remind you that today is the last day to sign up for the Great Pumpkin Swap!

Here is a link to all things pumpkin-swap past if you want to see what it's all about. And who knows how blog search features *really* work...these are in no particular order...Pumpkin Swaps of the last 5 years. 

It's a 3-day weekend for me, but I've got three days worth of driving, unpacking, grading, cleaning, and so on to do. 

Partners for the swap will be emailed out on Monday!

September Recommendations

+Flonase.  I have/had a nasty sinus infection that started with blocked up ears for a week, transitioned to sore throat for one day, landed at sinus congestion for 2-3 days, and then went to drainage and blocked up ears. The ears thing lasted for almost a month total. (To be honest, I still might go to the doctor for this because the constantly changing temperatures is making it better, worse, and then back again.) It was incredibly annoying and I spent a lot of time trying to pop my ears and Mucinex became my drug of choice. My friend suggested Flonase and I tried it (generic brand) along with my regular (generic) Zyrtec that I take each day. I used to take Flonase in college pretty often, back when it was only a prescription.

After two days of Flonase, I felt immediately better. It still lingered longer than I'd like, but I felt capable of doing my job and being productive each day. It definitely lightened up the symptoms. I'll mostly likely continue with it until snow flies. Some people get spring allergies and I get fall ones.

The bottle was $9 and should last 1-2 months.

+The documentary What the Health? on Netflix. Ugh. I'm strongly considering going vegan after this. Or at least mostly vegan. Vegetarian would be really easy for me to do, and if I cut out cheese and eggs the majority of the time, I'd be there. I've been doing way too much regular milk lately and I need to switch back to almond/coconut. I know this and this was the kick in the pants I needed. The hardest part of no dairy milk, I've learned, is that lattes are out and something about almond milk lattes just aren't the same.

What I really liked about this particular documentary was that they didn't vilify carbs or sugar. The focused on the fact that we're eating too much meat and drinking/eating too much dairy. I don't love cheese and really only prefer it to be melted on pizza or pasta or something. I don't intentionally drink dairy milk, but I've been putting it in coffee over the last few months.

I REALLY appreciate that they didn't encourage the paleo style of eating because I've heard that from everyone from my friends to bloggers to Gretchen Rubin; that it's the place to be because that's how we were made. This pointed out that we were actually made to eat plants and that was both refreshing and depressing....Whole30 is the thing and has been the thing for years now.

This does make me feel not so weird for not really liking meat. I will eat it (usually only at restaurants) but it's always a battle because I don't like it very much. If I put this together with my empathy for animals, which is relatively new over the last few years (#dogparentfurever), it all fits: I don't need to eat meat. I just need to seek out the plant-based protein intentionally.

Anyway. Watch What the Health? and then watch Forks Over Knives.

And send me your favorite vegan recipes!


+The Bold Type This is on Freeform but I found it on Hulu. If you liked Younger, you might like this. The first few episodes were really good and then it went downhill a bit, but I would watch a second season. 

A few links:

+This video about how teachers are treated was posted on Facebook as not being too far off from the truth. I agree.

+Usually these lists can be annoying but I was like "Wow. Spot-on." when I read this one: Ways you know you're married to a teacher.
Specifically numbers 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 13.
And this is yet another website of collections (like a Buzzfeed for teachers, almost) that does not understand what Netflix and chill actually means.

+And this piece on getting your dog from a breeder. I don't know how I feel about it. Our dogs came from breeders because they are purebred hunting dogs. Period. End of story. There was no shopping for fur color or male vs. female or anything like that. We didn't even have a specific breed in mind. Scott wanted a hunting dog. We did a search. We cross-checked what was available in the timeframe (i.e. between deployments and PCS moves) with the roundabout version of what we wanted. These were the dogs that were available.

If you remember (because, clearly, why wouldn't you?), we were told we were getting another dog and then that dog had a heart problem so we got puppy Jett instead (well played, breeder).

I would LOVE to get a rescue dog. In fact, that would be my next move in a perfect world. I have more of a heart for animals than I do for people at this point. I won't even let myself look into the possibility because I really just want to hug and help all the dogs these days. I think I wrote about the one time I went to the store to buy dog food just to give to the homeless person and his dog.

Anyway...thought-provoking, right?

+Pumpkin Swap sign-ups started yesterday. I recommend that you sign up and and join in on the swapping fun! You don't have to have a blog to get in on it :)

Linking up:

#GreatPumpkinSwap

Fall officially started on Friday and PraisetheLord, right?

I haven't started decorating for fall yet. Isn't that kind of blasphemous? Usually I've got all the prints on the walls and the pumpkins on the end-tables by Labor Day. It's still been in the 80s and 90s most days so I just don't "feel" it. This weekend, it finally dipped into the 50s/60s, which I realize isn't usual. It's only the end of September. But I'm so much more of a fall and winter person these days. I don't thrive in the summer.

Getting out my fall decorations...which I did at least dig out of the shed on Saturday...means that I can reflect back on falls gone by and I can even see some of the fun gifts I've gotten from past Pumpkin Swaps. It's such a reminder of genuine connection and friendship that's been ALL facilitated through blogging. I even bought my pumpkin Scentsy warmer from a blogger!

If you love fall and if you love connecting through social media, this is for you...

Bloggers, Instagramers, and Twitterers are welcome. If you don't have a blog, that's okay. You can share on other forms of social media!

1. Fill out the form to sign up for the swap! Sign-ups end on Friday, October 6th at 11:59 PM (EST)

2. By Monday, October 9th, you will get an e-mail from me or from Becky with your swap partner.

3. Once you know your partner, please make contact within 48 hours (by Wednesday, October 11th) to get to know a bit more about each other.

4. Spend $15-$20 (excluding shipping) to put together a fun fall-themed package for your partner.

5. Mail your package on or before Tuesday, October 24th.
6. Link up with us on Tuesday, November 7th to share your swap goodies! You can link up your blog post and/or share on Instagram or Twitter. Use #GreatPumpkinSwap and tag @rebeckann2 and @kedarhower!

Let me know if something doesn't work or if you have questions! We're thrilled to set this up again!

September Goals

Whoa.

My last goals post was in April. Or was it March?

I don't remember.
I did have goals for May, but then May ended up being pure survival mode.

Then it was summer and goals don't matter in the summer, obviously.

August was stressful and busy.

But now it's almost fall and the world can right itself again.

via

So here's a few things I want to stay on top of this month...

1. Get my school work/grading done during the week. Scott is away during the week these days so I have no excuse not to get it all done while I sit around and watch TV. Then I can enjoy the weekends.

2. Finish the most recent season of Once Upon a Time. It's on Netflix now and that makes it so much easier to watch for some reason. I attempted it on Hulu in June and that didn't work out. I don't actually know if I'll finish it because seriously...it's boring me.

3. Finalize plans for traveling to Pennsylvania in October. I need a dress/shoes, we need plane tickets, hotel reservations, etc. (etc.)...there's a lot of "etc" happening here. I need to arrange for the dogs' care and for the time I'll miss  from school (which will probably only be two days or so but still...#planningahead). My brother is getting married.

4. Maintain 30 minutes of Pilates a day. I can do it...it's just a matter of taking care of it before I get too tired at night because then I'll just give up and go to bed. I'm doing well so far.

5. Get The Great Pumpkin Swap organized and off the ground. Yes, we ARE pumpkin-swapping again! Sign-ups start on 9/25 so mark your calendar to join in with me and Becky if you're interested!

What goals do you have this month? I need inspiration for October.

The 5th Annual Great Pumpkin Swap Link-Up!

Welcome to the link-up!

This year, my partner was Nicole at Adventures of a Semper Fi Family. I always appreciate getting to talk to another military wife online and I've really enjoyed getting to know Nicole.

She sent me the perfect fall care package.

I could smell the pumpkin spice when I opened the lockbox to get the mail. Always a good thing!

I took a very unPinteresty picture of the mug with some hot chocolate on Friday night. I love heavy mugs that have some style to them...this one is going into my regular rotation!

Thank you, Nicole!

Thank you to everyone who joined us this year! We hope the Pumpkin Swap was a fun experience for you!

S&T 10/13

My favorite pin/quote of late. 

Sometimes I feel like I'm living a double life. Between playing 4th grade teacher and playing army wife, I operate on two very opposite ends of the spectrum.
I say "play" because they are roles; two different hats that I wear. Neither are games. Worthwhile? Yeah. Fun? No.

Sometimes I think God throws plantar fasciitis back at me to tell me to slow down. I rarely relax on the weekends. On Sunday, I was physically forced to sit down with my feet up.

Sometimes I think no one should be President. I almost said POTUS there, but I hate that abbreviation.

Sometimes I really get my money's worth: I bought this jacket and this skirt 5 years ago. Holding strong.

Sometimes I wear my coat all day because it's 50 degrees outside and I appreciated that greatly for the two days it lasted.

All the time, plaid goes with everything.

If you've not heard from your Pumpkin Swap partner yet, please let Becky or me know!
Swap shopping has begun and packages should be mailed out by Tuesday, October 25th and the link-up is Wednesday, November 9th!

Pumpkin Swapping, Year 5

These fall seasons are going by awfully quickly.

I spoke of of my deep-seeded love for all things autumn a few weeks ago (as good bloggers should), and now I'm happy to announce that Becky and I are at it again. We're hosting the 5th Annual Great Pumpkin Swap!

(This is a picture I took myself last year...I have a fear of getting in trouble for using the images of others for a link-up or swap promotion.)

I know blog swaps are a *bit* 2012, but it's FALL. We have to celebrate it, right?

In case you haven't been around, here are the stipulations:

1. Fill out the form to sign up for the swap! Sign-ups end on Friday, October 7th at 11:59 PM (EST)

2. By Monday, October 10th, you will get an e-mail from Becky or me with your swap partner.

3. Once you know your partner, please make contact within 48 hours (by Wednesday, October 12th) to get to know a bit more about each other.

4. Spend $15-$20 (excluding shipping) to put together a fun fall themed package for your partner.

5. Mail your package on or before Tuesday, October 25th.

6. Link up with us on Tuesday, November 8th to share your swap goodies!

Happy shopping, happy swapping, and let us know if you have any questions!

Fill out this Google Form to sign up:

The Great Pumpkin Swap Link-Up!

This year, my partner was Meg at Borrowed Heaven.  I've known Meg for a few years now, so it was fun to finally get to swap with her.  She knows me well!

The cutest measuring spoons ever (from World Market). Fox, raccoon, owl, hedgehog/shrew-like cute creature.

A pumpkin craft.

Placemats, napkins, stationary, and Oreos. You can't go wrong with Oreos.

Thanks Meg, and thanks to everyone else who participated!

THE 4TH ANNUAL GREAT PUMPKIN SWAP

I had to count on my fingers to figure out how long I've been doing this Great Pumpkin Swap.

FOUR YEARS!

I'll spare you the basic blogger talk about fall and boots and scarves and all that. The point is that we generally, as a blogging population, enjoy this season and we, as a population, enjoy getting pretty stuff in the mail.  If YOU are interested in participating, here's this year's timeline.

(As always, if no one wants to join in, Becky and I will send each a package and call it a day :):) This is my annual disclaimer so I won't feel bad if no one shows up to the party.)

The procedure is the same as previous years. We're just pushing it later into the season because, I don't know about your location, it's barely fall here in Colorado.

1. Fill out the form to sign up for the swap! Sign-ups end on Friday, October 9th at 11:59pm.

2. By Monday, October 12th, you will get an e-mail from one of us with your swap partner.

3. Once you know your partner, please make contact within 48 hours (by Wednesday, October 14th) to get to know a bit more about each other.

4. Spend $15-$20 (excluding shipping) to put together a fun package for your partner.

5. Mail your package on or before Tuesday, October 27th.

6. Link up with us on Friday, November 6th to share your swap goodies!

The Great Pumpkin Swap Reveal!

Thank you to everyone who participated this year, and to Becky for co-hosting!

THIS is why we blog, right?  To make connections and get scarves and candy in the mail.

I was paired up with Michael, which was fun because we already read each other's blogs.  She and I also must think alike because we each sent the other an infinity scarf from Target.  That's pretty fantastic, right?  

These are 3 very interested pups when it comes to that dog bone.  The one on the left is Wall-E.  I've been dog-sitting this week and he is just the sweetest Catahoula leopard dog that ever was.  And at two years old, he's been a fabulous influence on certain disobedient animals.  

Thanks Michael!  I, and the furry friends, appreciate it!

I hope everyone who joined in had a great experience…Happy fall (y'all)!

And Happy Friday.  That can't be emphasized enough!

Stuff and Things 10/9

Okay, this week is the tribute edition of Stuff and Things.  Again, thanks Rick.

via google

On a serious note, I think we all need to take a minute (or a weekend) and watch the first 2 seasons of The Walking Dead.  Think about the direction our country is headed, the enterovirus, and the ebola virus.  I admit that I'm not really educated on these subjects because I spend my days obsessing over one of our country's other most debatable topics (Common Core), but I can see a pattern when it forms and I think we need to recognize when real life starts to parallel fiction.  This is probably how things started for Rick and company…

Does this make me sound like a conspiracy theorist?

On a less serious note, a few of my students were discussing The Walking Dead with me.  This generally happens every year and I truly wonder where their parents are.  We also had a fairy-tale-themed story two weeks ago and we ended up discussing Once Upon a Time.  I told them to "Set your DVRs!  Frozen is coming!" and I swear I did not tell them this for The Walking Dead.  I try to ignore them when they bring up stuff they shouldn't be watching.  

In other, first-world daily news…

Jeggings: JCPenney // Dress: Banana Republic // Jacket:  T.J. Maxx // Scarf: Target // Flats: Blowfish

+I like legging season.  Still too warm for real pants everyday.  I hate pants.

+I had an iced Americano from Starbucks last weekend and it was the best. thing. ever.  The perfect blend of absolutely strong espresso and slightly sweet creaminess.  I used a tablespoon or so of cream and two packets of sugar.  I found my new go-to.  It's also about 200 calories less and $3 less than my previous go-to.  This is a major victory.

+How do you do storage on your phone?  I'm being "told" that I don't have enough room for iCloud back-up.  Obviously, I'm illiterate at these kinds of things, so a step-by-step guide would be appreciated.  Preferably with pictures and captions.

+Next week is The Great Pumpkin Swap link-up!  Hopefully everyone has sent and received their swap packages by now.  If there are any problems, please let me or Becky know! See you here and at Rebeckann's Random Thoughts on October 17th (next Friday)!

Stuff and Things 10/2

In honor of The Walking Dead's return next weekend:

As always Rick, thanks for the inspiration.  

Mail your boxes by tomorrow if you're Pumpkin-swapping!

Since we've made some major home purchases at Home Depot in the last few months, I get electronic receipts sent to my email.  Because we lose things.  So now, when Scott goes to Home Depot, I get to see what he bought/where he was before he even gets home.  It's fascinating.

I have no idea how Angi knew I had a fall surprise package ready to mail to her, but when I got this fun and sweet gift from her in the mail on Tuesday, it made my day.

Candy corn!  And pumpkins!

She sent a bag of real candy corn too and it's already gone (obviously).  

No Starbucks September ended well!  I haven't been to Starbucks since some time around the end of August and I've only been to Panera twice.  I'm making it an October goal to hold it to one coffee out per week, Starbucks or not.  I've been drinking a crazy amount of jasmine tea and it keeps me occupied on the way to work, when I'd normally be itching for a drive-thru window latte.