So when Kris and I woke up this morning, the temperature hadn’t broken 70 degrees.  You have to understand.  We have been living in a FURNACE this summer.  So to actually put on a cardigan to sit outside to sip coffee was a milestone in our year.  And, oh my, it was glorious.  We even spread out in the grass in the shade once the sun came up a little more just to revel in the lack of heat.

Thank you God for sweet relief!  I wore a long sleeved dress to church!

Okay.  On to Fall.  Even though I’d love to jump straight to CHRISTMAS!!!, I’m not going to do that because I feel like the Fall needs her own blog post.

One thing that I love to do is cook.  And eat.  And research recipes.  And look at pretty pictures of food and dream about how gloriously delicious said food would taste.  I guess you could say it’s a hobby of mine.  There’s nothing more fabulous than the change of the season and baking with yummy SPICES!!  But even bigger than that, I’d like to introduce the return of… (drumroll please, Dad):

Image from Dietsinreview.com

YAY!  The Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks!  Now, I have yet to purchase one because I want it to be nice and chilly and I want to be wearing jeans and a sweater.  And I’d like to drink it outside.  I’m going to predict that this will happen in October, and I will be sure to let you know when it does.  I promise.

Another of my Fall staples is my hot apple cider.  Kris looks forward to it all year long – as do I – and I usually make it during our first fire pit evening of the season.  It’s a crock pot cider made with whole cinnamon sticks and whole cloves and allspice.  I’ll share the recipe in a few weeks!

Now, if you haven’t recognized my love for the Pioneer Woman’s cooking, … now you know.  Her food is the jam.  I make it like, 3 times a week.  Simple ingredients, a great use of spices, and it’s hearty.  Kris loves it.  We are happy campers.

The PW has some phenomenal recipes, but here are a few that I will be adding to my repertoire this Fall:

Dulce de Leche Coffee – You know we love coffee in this house, and this will be a yummy treat on a chilly evening!
Cinnamon Rolls – Is there anything better on a Saturday morning?
Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting – I feel like I need to start moving away from the sweets…
Spanish Green Beans – OKAY.  Much healthier than the above!
Roasted Carrots – YUM, and easy.

NOW PUT ON YOUR BOOTS LADIES.  It’s time to talk about that front porch.

I have a wreath made of natural twigs that I purchased from Hobby Lobby two years ago that I’ve switched up every year for some Fall goodness.  The first year, I hot-glued small pumpkins to the wreath and adorned it with a black bow for a “Halloween feel.”  Last year, I removed the pumpkins and just left the bow, which I then removed after Halloween.  This year, I’m going to use the same wreath, and find some new ribbon with Fall colors that will transition from Halloween to Thanksgiving.  I’m also going to use purple mums and orange pumpkins on the steps, and Kris likes to string white Christmas lights in a zig-zag pattern over our patio and inside of the Man Shed for some ambiance.

Our steps in October of 2009.

Are you getting excited yet?

How could we close this post without a mention of Fall fashion?  I feel like pictures speak more than words…

Image from Anthropologie.com

I may not be able to breathe, and my belly may look like I have a balloon stuck up my shirt, but my hair has never behaved more perfectly!

WHOO! IT’S GAME DAY! If I was still in college, I would wake my hall up with Tiger Rag blaring. But I’m not in college any more. So we just woke up to the sound of Nimbus.

So, since we’re in the radio biz and all, we thought we’d use our technology to share our voices with you this morning. Not that you’re super interested, but if you are, you can check out our very first 3 minute Meade Feed podcast!

Podcast1

GO TIGERS and Happy Saturday!

I can’t wait for her to get here…

Nimbus Meade could have lost his life due pregnancy rage this evening, but luckily, his father rescued him and he is now in exile in the backyard.

While Kris was mowing and edging the yard tonight, a certain someone with four legs wanted to join him, but was not allowed.  I kid you not, it sounded like this in my house for TWO HOURS:

MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH MEH.

Shut.  It.  Dog.

You get the picture.  I was beyond frazzled.  Not to mention that the pot of grits I was cooking overflowed onto my stovetop and the little grits encrusted themselves to the burner.  Do you think I tackled that?  HA.  No.

Someone should probably take this keyboard away, things are feisty around these parts.

(Disclaimer: Before one of you PETA members tries to get all, “Oh no!  Would she really kill her dog?”

NO, are you kidding? I would never do that.  I love that dog like my own child.  But I am 6 months pregnant.  And his whining was going to drive me insane.)

The September edition of the Pee Dee Blog Carnival is LIVE at Country Fried Rock!

If you are a local blogger, I really encourage you to consider joining in on the fun at the Pee Dee Blog Carnival. There’s a Facebook group and a website for your convenience!

It’s a great way to spread the Flotown (and Pee Dee!) love. Check it out!

Must. Finish.

Because if I don’t, I’M A QUITTER. And I don’t like quitters.
(Heh heh.)

So… Day 28. What’s in my purse?

If I was being creative (not lazy), I would take a pic for you. But I really don’t want to put that much effort into it.

Here’s what we’ve got:

-My work cell phone and charger
-Blackberry
-Sunglasses
-My glasses and glasses case
-Wallet
-Extra strength bottle of Tums
-Infant toothbrush (A gift from my dental hygienist.)
-Maybelline Rum Raisin lipstick
-Bare Escentuals lipstick in Bronze
-Maybelline Shinylicious lipgloss in Sugar Plum
-Covergirl Outlast lip stain
-Jemma Kidd lip gloss in Dress 2 Impress
-Clinique lip gloss in Luscious Lilac
-Target brand neosporin
-Dental floss
-Random change
-Random receipts
-Paper clips
-Bobby pins
-Business cards from my last 3 jobs

And there you have it.

I slept terribly last night – I hope things will be better tonight.  I think it was stress.  Plus the fact that my darling husband rolled over onto my FACE at 3:45AM and wasn’t planning on moving until I jabbed him in the ribs.

I woke up at 6:30AM and made a Crock Pot full of deliciousness for dinner.  I’ll share the recipe if I’m not too hopped up on biscuits later.  Then our housekeeper arrived (thank goodness, I love that woman) and told us about her trip to Washington D.C. this past weekend to participate in the Restoring Honor rally.  It was fascinating to hear her stories – and what I wouldn’t have given to hear her charter bus sing Southern Baptist hymns all the way back from D.C.  (But only for like, 7 minutes, because then that would be enough, ma’am.)

LB called today and let me know that Wal-Mart (are you hyphenated these days, Wal-Mart?  Or are you just Walmart now?) is selling onesies for $2 and footed sleepers for $5, so Kris and I purchased two footed sleepers (one has little cupcakes on it!), one purple striped onesie, and purple leggings for Livingston after work.  We also got her an old-school rubber duckie, except hers is blue.  I was pretty excited.

The nursery is coming along FABULOUSLY and I will share pictures later this month after we get some art on the walls and her bedding is completed by the seamstress.

My uncle and his fiance are getting married in mid-October at a 10:00AM service in the same church where Kris and I were married.  I’m trying to decide what to wear.  What do you wear to a morning wedding in October when you’re pregnant?  I’m kind of thinking about finding a vintage maternity pattern and having my seamstress make a dress – but with what fabric?  And what color is appropriate for the morning?

Did you see the opening to the Emmys last night?  I didn’t watch it on TV, but caught it on YouTube this morning.  Jimmy Fallon is stinkin’ adorable.

We are looking into taking a Babymoon (who ever came up with that term?) to Asheville, NC in the next few months.  I.  Can’t.  Wait.

And Nimbus almost caught a cat tonight.

So I guess I did have a few things to say, after all.

Day 27 – My worst habit. We’re going there.  And I’m not going to say something lame like “Wearing my heart on my sleeve” or “I never take time to pamper myself.”  We’re talking HABITS, people.

Me: Baby, what’s my worst habit?

Kris: Picking at your face in public.

Me: ….(silence)…. seriously?

Kris: You asked.

And that’s that.  Brutal honesty.

SO ANYWAY, I had the afternoon off (GLORY!) and we had date night tonight.  Ruby Tuesday and “BABIES,” the movie.  Super cute documentary on Apple TV.

By the way, the Piggly Wiggly has an amazing deal right now.  For every 12.5 Greenbax books you have, you can get a $25 gift card.  And they have a ton to choose from – Ebay, Gap, all sorts of restaurants, Bass Pro Shop, Home Depot, movies – whatever.  So I got a $50 gift card to Ruby Tuesday’s and a $25 gift card to our local movie theatre.  WHAT THE HECK!  Thank you Pig!!

Speaking of the Pig, I was sitting in the parking lot waiting on Kris to run inside for a minute this afternoon.  It was 4:30pm, and of course, a Friday, and I was just watching people as they walked in and out of the store.  While I was watching, something struck me.

We’re all just trying to make it. Everyone looked so tired and worn down, and I know that not everyone walking in and out of those doors could purchase everything they wanted from the store.  Mostly, they could get what they need – us included!  And I was hit by that thought… “We’re all just trying to make it.”  Who are we trying to fool that we have all of the money in the world?  Most of us are on tight budgets!  Or that our lives are just peachy and everything is dandy? Like this blog, for example.  I try to be as real with y’all as possible… but please never think that I have it all together or that our life doesn’t have messy parts.  Most of the time, I chose to show you the good stuff just because I don’t want to focus on anything bad.  But it’s not always tidy or pretty… it’s life!  Thankfully, Jesus is gracious and loving and forgives us for our sinful, messy, nasty demeanors and He corrects us when we’re wrong.

I know that’s a tangent, but it was really profound at the time.

Peace out Friday.  Looking forward to Saturday

Day 26 – My week, in great detail

Well, you read about my Saturdays yesterday, and during a normal work week, I work from 8:30AM-5:00PM from Monday to Friday, taking call every 6 weeks. Sunday mornings, we have church and then Sunday evenings, we have youth group. So I usually get my grocery shopping done on Sunday afternoons!

Since that isn’t much of a creative blog journal, I thought I’d share a pretty pictures to make up for it!

Image from Flickr