Fall - Homefront Team Blog Hop

The Homefront Team has asked for volunteers to jump in on a team-wide blog hop, and I am so IN!  This blog hop will feature a specified topic chosen by the wise leaders of the Homefront Team, I will blog about it down below, and share my fellow blog hop participants below the post.

The prompt for September 17th is: "What is your favorite Fall-time activity or memory?"

I LOVE Fall.  It has been my favorite season for as long as I can remember, and I'm not so sure why.  Could it be the earthy colors that emerge through the foliage?  Could it be the drop in temperature that warrants hoodies?  Could it be the fresh smell of apples and pumpkins?  I think it may be all of the above and MORE.

Narrowing it down to one favorite Fall activity is seriously a hard thing to do, because I love it all.  However, I don't know what our prompt will be for next month (and I think it may have something to do with the spooky celebration of October), I am forcing myself to focus on one thing.

Apples.

Yes, apples.  Have you ever been to an orchard to pick apples during the fall?  If not, DO IT, you are totally missing out.  I used to be one of those that would just buy a bag of apples and be satisfied (ok I still buy the bags sometimes, just to get the kids to eat them).  But once you bite into a fresh, crisp apple straight off a tree, your apple-loving-life will never be the same.

And depending on the orchard and the area of the country you live in, there are varieties to choose from.  So you may not think you like apples, but if you tried a different variety, you may find that you really do.  I don't like red delicious, but I LOVE Gala's and Pink Lady's.  And Granny Smiths are tasty, but they are best in an apple pie.  But if you still don't like eating an apple, there are always the yummy apple flavored things like hot cider and cider doughnuts - YUM!

So that's my love fest with Apples...and apple orchards in a nut shell.  I could go on for hours, but I won't, I have some packing to finish up for our upcoming move.  More on that in a later post!

Anyway, check out my fellow team member's blog posts about this same topic - I can't wait to see what they all have to say!

R2R Designs - http://r2rdesigns.com/news/
Simply Leilani - http://www.simplyleilani.com/blogs/news
Semi Sweet Charm - http://semisweetcharm.com/

Homefront Team - http://homefrontteam.blogspot.com/

I've been TREAUSURED

Thanks for featuring a Camelot's Treasures doll dress in your treasury PACIFICNWGLASS!

Falling into the Holidays

Falling into the holidays by ETSY TEAMS FELLOWSHIP SOCIETY Praise goes out to all of these Etsy Teams Captains and leaders that Volunteer So many hours of their time https://www.etsy.com/pages/fellowshipsociety

Malachite & Gold Chain 3 Strand Beaded Bracelet, MultiStrand Teal Beaded Bracelet, Gemstone Beaded Bracelet, 3 Strand Gemstone Bracelet BackAtTheOffice $35.00	Needle Felted White Squirrel Albino ClaudiaMarieFelt $50.00	4 oz Soy candle Beach Glass Mason Jar CaribbeanStyleDecor $9.00	Stoneware Mug - 10 oz. - Ceramic Mug - Dark Brown / Handmade wheel thrown pottery LomaPrietaPottery $24.00
Miniature Silver Octopus Earrings Richarme $8.00	Whiskey Tumbler Irish Coffee Cup Set of 2 in Green Stoneware Pottery GoldhawkPotteryEtc $25.00	Leaf Green Infinity Scarf DaydreamingGifts $20.00	Tandem Bike Magnet JodiLynnDoodles $6.00
Kitten Softie Kittie Cat Art Doll Cream Black Brown Grey Pink with Olive Green Accents and Red Collar OOAK MustHaveBeenTheCat $39.00	Necklace cluster of apatite, peridot with large sea blue chalcedony Necklace 1-34 CalicoJunoJewelry $80.00	FOB Wristlet key holder Choose a fabric print FransUniqueTreasures $5.50	I'm Always Here Sign, Unless I'm Gone Sign, Custom Wood Sign, Humor Sign, Cabin Sign, Lodge Decor TheLaughingCabin $8.95
Vintage Edgar Allan Poe old Book Print Page Raven Crow Eiffel Tower Halloween Crow French DreamyPapers $7.50	Claret Slouch Hat, Burgundy Hat, Crochet Beanie, Dark Red Slouch, Wool Crochet Hat, Rhubarb Beanie Hat, CreativeEndeavorsKS $45.00	American Girl Doll Clothes - Candy Cane Dress camelotstreasures $15.99	Yellow Peacock Pendant Necklace | peacock jewelry | yellow and blue SchulmanArts $15.00

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We Will Never Forget

Today marks the 13th anniversary of a tragic day in the US' history, and we still stand strong with pride.

Before 9/11/01, I remember hearing people reminiscence about the assassination of President Kennedy - of course I couldn't join in with those tales, because I wasn't even thought of in 1963, not even a twinkle in my father's eye.  Today, it's stories about where they were during this fateful event.  And I will never forget this day, even though I wasn't directly affected by it.

I was running a little late that morning, frequent bathroom breaks through the night while 5 months pregnant does that to a lady.  I hadn't turned on the news before I left, which isn't unusual, because I think a lot of news is just full of gossip and not always based on proven truth.  On the car ride to work, I had a CD in my stereo, so there wasn't even a broadcast on.  Everything seemed just like every other day.  When I got to work around 9 am, I just started working and nothing seemed out of the ordinary; all of my coworkers and I were gabbing about the every day stuff.  Then the manager came in about 30 minutes later, and he was all flustered talking about this horrible plane crash in New York City.  So we all turned on the tiny TV in the break room, and watched as they replayed endlessly the events of two planes flying into the World Trade Towers.  We were all glued to the newscast, as breaking news arrived that there had been another plane crash into the Pentagon.

I don't remember much of anything else that day, just the replaying of the those events.  Fortunately it was a slow day, so work wasn't horribly impacted, although had it been everyone would have understood.  On the ride from my first job to my second job, I tried to call my then husband, who had just a few days earlier been sent up to northern Virginia for some training exercises near Quantico (he was a US Marine), but all lines were busy.  I tried calling my in-laws, who lived up in that area, and again I received an "all lines are busy" tone - I figured so many people were trying to reach out to their loved ones that the phone lines were flooded.  About the middle of my shift, at the second job, I received a phone call from my husband, telling me that he was fine, and that they were coming home early due to this events.

As the days passed, bases were locked down; what used to take me 15 minutes to drive him to work on Camp Lejeune, ending up taking almost 2 hours.  Every 10th car in line was pulled out, and checked thoroughly.  IDs were checked at the gate (when they used to just wave you on if you had an authorized sticker).  Who knew if there was going to be another attack, and where it might be.  It was a scary time.

Do you want to share your memory of 9/11?  How did it affect you?

Hi....again

Wow, time has really flown this year, and I am having a hard time keeping up!

Here's a summary pick of all the outfits of the month thus far for 2014.

Other things going on - so many custom orders this summer!  Oh and I made some Anna and Elsa dresses, which pretty much sold out within a week of posting them in the shop!

I donated a few outfits to giveaways and charities, which is always fun :)

Oh and I finished some new character beanies for the shop - hoping they fly off the virtual shelves like they did last holiday season!  How cute are these?!  Which one is your favorite?

So that's my summer and really my year in a nutshell, thus far.  I'll try REALLY hard to get back into this blogging business...I seriously need an assistant to help me plan my day better :)

Ciao for now!

Guin