It's Fall, Y'all

Well, it's officially fall... gaining rapidly on winter.  Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love the beautiful colors of the autumn leaves, the crisp, cool air, the sunny blue skies, breezy days, the comfort food, pumpkins and mums, bonfires, hayrides... the list goes on and on.  Fall makes me want to just drive around and gaze at all the beautiful colors and watch as the landscape changes into an array of oranges, yellows and reds.

Early-on this fall, we decided to go on a quick trip to the mountains to see all the beautiful autumn colors.  Of course, it rained the entire weekend, but it was still pretty.

I love all the barn quilts up there... makes me want to build a barn just so I can hang a barn quilt on it.

We had a great time, despite all the rain (and our icky motel, but that's a whole other story....)

We even had some amazing pizza at a little hole-in-the-wall wood-fired pizza place located in a tiny town near Roan Mountain.  This place was just behind the owners' house, in a little barn of its own.

Mmm... so good.  

Autumn wouldn't be complete without mentioning Halloween.  I have been super slack this year about holiday decorating... I usually go all-out with crows, bats, pumpkins, gourds, etc.  This year, however, I managed to put out a few pumpkins and a jack-o-lantern on Halloween day at about 6:00 p.m. just in case we had a few trick-or-treaters.  We didn't.  Not a single one... boo.  Daniel even got out the leaf blower and blew all the leaves out of the driveway and off the porches.  They were all back in about 30 minutes...

We even dressed up this year for Trunk or Treat at my church.  I went as Rosie the Riveter and Daniel went as Willie from Duck Dynasty.  His joke was that all he had to do get into character was tie a bandana around his head.  Mission accomplished.  

That's Daniel on the left in his "costume" just in case you were confused... along with another Willie lookalike.   "OOooo...I got double vision!"  *singing*  

Along with the changing seasons comes a change in weather and it has been pretty chilly at our house so far.  We've been avoiding turning on the heat so we can put off paying those crushing gas bills for a few more weeks.  We have been using our gas logs, which heat up the house nicely with a lot less gas. 

Back story on the gas logs:  I was convinced we were never going to get to use our gas logs because ever since we remodeled the fireplace they haven't worked.  womp womp... Daniel fiddled with them numerous times until we finally decided it was a bust and we were gonna have to buy  new ones.  Finally, he took them apart and found out that while they sat on our back porch during the reno, a dirt dauber had built a nest inside them which was keeping the flow of gas from doing its thing.  He got rid of the nest, and voila, they work like a charm.  The first night we turned them on I was insanely excited... picture me like Tom Hanks in that Castaway movie: "I...have made... FIRE!" (even though it was all Daniel... I didn't help at all, and basically we just turn a knob and the fire comes on...) 

Bonus: it's super cozy and I get crazy excited each and every time we turn them on.  For example, that first night we turned them on, I made Daniel wait and go to the store with me so I could stock up on hot chocolate.  I then had to put on my coziest pj's, cook up some cocoa and sit cuddled up with the hubs and a couple kitty cats while catching up on episodes of 'The Walking Dead'. I'm telling you, fire + cocoa + pj's + hubs + kitties + zombies = a super exciting night in my world.  Plus, a cold house is a great excuse for cuddling up with your sweetie.  *wink wink*

The kitties are fans of the fire too.  :o)

It took a little longer for the leaves to catch up in our neck of the woods, and then, one day... BAM! Color everywhere!

The tree below is in my parents' neighbor's yard.  It's got to be the prettiest maple tree EVER.  Like the prettiest maple tree in the history of maple trees.  I want to clone it and plant one in my yard.

As with all good things, they must come to an end.  It seems to me that fall goes by much too quickly.  All too soon those pretty leaves will fall and it'll be winter.  

On that note, I'll leave you with a quote:

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."  -F. Scott Fitzgerald