Pumpkin Carving 2025

Happy Halloween! 

The time has come around again for my favorite little tradition: pumpkin carving! And it just so happens that this year, we combined our love of reading with our love for spooky season. Can you guess what books inspired our pumpkins this year? Hint: my apparel is a clue. Keep scrolling to see what I mean.

After sitting outside on our front porch for a couple of weeks, our pumpkins were positively frosty when we brought them in last night for our annual fun. We both agreed that digging out nearly frozen pumpkin guts while sitting next to our cozy fire is exceedingly preferable to hot, steamy ones, something we've experienced a time or two in Florida Octobers. 

Can you make out Cody's design? Back at the beginning of March this year, Cody and I began reading the Harry Potter series aloud together. As you know if you've been around a while, I read Harry Potter for the first time back in 2019 and ended up loving them. Cody had read the first four books prior to this year, but had never read Order of the Phoenix, the Half-Blood Prince, or the Deathly Hallows. At the beginning of October, we started the final book in the series, so when we were deciding what to carve on our pumpkins this year, I had the brilliant idea to make them Harry Potter themed. Cody immediately got on board.

The result?

Cody decided to do the Sign of the Deathly Hallows, very apropos. I attempted Harry's messy hair, spectacles, and signature lightning bolt scar. We did both of these freehand—no stencils—and I just love how they turned out. 

We put Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone—my favorite of the film adaptations—on the TV while we carved, lit our glass pumpkin candles from the Dollar Tree, set up next to a cozy fire, and had a marvelous time of it. After our pumpkins were finished and we took them back outside to see how they looked all lit up, we made some hot chocolate and snuggled in to watch Harry discover the wizarding world. A successful night all around, I'd say, and certainly another successful year of our fun tradition. 

From us to you, a very happy Halloween and a jolly start to the holiday season. Can you believe there are only 61 days left in 2025? 

October 30, 2025

Pumpkin Carving 2023

It's spooky season and you know what that means: time to carve up some pumpkins. For the past few weeks up here in beautiful western North Carolina, the leaves have been changing colors and it's been freezing, but over the weekend we had some very warm days which meant that yesterday we put on short sleeved t-shirts and went outside to carve our pumpkins in the welcome sunshine and crunchy leaves. Hallelujah! (Today, unfortunately, it is freezing again.)

<scooping pumpkin guts and carving them up>

This year we decided on bats. Creepy, sinister, Halloween bats. Cody went for a classic bat flying out of a cave kind of look. I went for a scary bat perching on a skull. I think they both turned out great, but I really love how Cody's looks lit up. 

(When you look at my pumpkin, what do you see first: the bat or the skull?)

Happy Halloween!

October 30, 2023

Casual Fridays

Exactly five years ago, Cody and I were smack in the middle of a roadtrip of epic proportions. We flew from Central Florida to Seattle, rented a car, and made our way down through Washington, Oregon, and California to San Jose where we turned in the rental and flew back home to Florida. One of the best trips we've ever taken although how in the world was it five years ago? Today I'm sharing this video Cody put together of our trip. 

What's the best trip you've ever taken?

Pumpkin Carving 2022

Guess what time it is? That's right. Time for our annual pumpkin carving post. And let me tell y'all, this year—and the last few months in particular—have been so busy that it almost didn't happen in time for Halloween. I was in Florida last week for a wedding, and when I got home, I was hoping to carve our pumpkins on Sunday because I was 100% positive that Sunday was, in fact, Halloween. Seriously. I would have bet you good American money that yesterday was November 1st. So I was trying to figure out how to carve like, a turkey or a cornucopia or something Thanksgiving-y into my pumpkin (because we can't throw the whole tradition out just because we're a day late) when my sister-in-law called me and helpfully reminded me that it wasn't November yet. 

So after Cody was done with work yesterday and we'd had a super-yummy dinner, we found our pumpkin carving tools (no small feat in our recently moved into basement) and kept our Halloween pumpkin carving tradition alive. And since I mentioned it: we carved our pumpkins in the basement of our sixth (and hopefully last because I never want to move again) home-sweet-home together. 

I like him.

It's becoming one of my favorite parts of this tradition to look back at all our pumpkins of years past and reminisce about where we were and what was going on in life that year. This year, we had a lot going on. We bought our second home and moved for the second time in a six-month period. We joined our church in North Carolina. I quit my job delivering packages for amazon and started watching a baby boy from church a couple days a week. Cody traveled most of the summer for work and also went on a missions trip to the Republic of Georgia. We {semi}renovated our basement and moved the rest of our stuff into our house (which felt like the third move in the span of a year and a half). It's been wild, but it's been good, and I'm thankful to God for all His good gifts to us and that I'm still carving pumpkins with this guy eleven years later. 

This year, Cody picked up a couple of jumbo pumpkins from Ingles and we kept it simple with some classic jack-o'-lantern faces. I think these are the biggest pumpkins we've ever gotten!

Happy Halloween or November 1st or Thanksgiving Day, for all I know! 

I hope you're enjoying the sweet things wherever you are. 

October 31, 2022

Casual Fridays

Wow. It has been a hot minute since we've caught up around here. I think this is the longest I've gone without blogging since I started this whole thing, and let me tell you: the temptation to just throw in the towel is real because there is a stack of books waiting to be recapped sitting in my little home library and some of them still date back to last summer. We're doing great. I'm sneaking this post in today so that when I look back at the blog archives, it will seem like I only missed one month instead of three which is the actual truth because the two posts I published in May were technically scheduled and ready to go in April. Oy to the vey. Let's ease back in with a chatty Casual Friday, shall we?

First of all: hi. This is what we look like in case you forgot. And if you missed it, we've been North Carolina residents for over a year now. So this photo is basically in our back yard. We are nestled right in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains and sandwiched between a national forest and a state forest. There's a waterfall around every corner.

And speaking of living in NC now: it snows here, y'all. We got nearly two feet of snow in January and we didn't know what to do with ourselves. I'm sure our neighbors thought we were crazy because we were outside playing in it like a couple of kids. We were sledding down all the roads in our neighborhood, laughing and squealing like we were ten years old. All Cody's winter wonderland dreams came true, and you know what? Sitting inside by a cozy fire drinking something hot and reading a good book while there is a blizzard outside is not a bad life. Driving in it was terrifying, but we survived. 

In April, we went down to Myrtle Beach, SC for my littlest sister-from-another-mister's wedding. Funnily enough, this was the first time we've ever taken our dogs to the beach, and I think Cody had the most fun he's ever had on a beach in his life. Meggy was a beautiful bride, and her reception turned into a mini-Class of '06 reunion for me which was fun. I also convinced two of my BFFs to share an Airbnb with me so the whole weekend was basically one big party.

Also in April, my baby had a baby. I can't. I'm very "in my feels" about it, and you better believe I immediately drove down to Georgia to snuggle that little man. 

And speaking of being "in my feels" (as the kids say), my best friend and her babies came to visit a few weeks ago and I took her oldest out for a little date to one of my favorite spots and don't mind me crying into my Dr. Pepper over here while I stroll down memory lane remembering the day she was born. She's totally a teenager now and an amazing artist and writing her own books and somebody please stop time, for the love. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to May... 

...in May, I got to exercise my constitutional right to vote in the 2022 primaries. This was my first opportunity to vote as a resident of North Carolina. I'm so very grateful to live in a country where I'm afforded this opportunity. Even though politics and politicians can make me want to bang my head against a wall sometimes, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. God bless America. 

Also in May, Cody and I celebrated ten years of marriage. I actually got back into my wedding dress and my husband patiently indulged my request for a mini-backyard photo shoot. We watched our wedding video together, looked at photos, and went on our traditional date to Barnes & Noble and the Melting Pot. We also officially checked North Carolina off on our goal to #SeeAll50, but that's a post for another day. May is a crazy month always, and I blame my blogging failure entirely to that fact. Just in our immediate family, we celebrate three anniversaries and four birthdays. My brother and sister came in to celebrate our Mom's 60th birthday, but I have been strictly forbidden from posting the photos I took with them online. Oh wait! We did take a nice family photo at the Olive Garden. So here's that:

May also turned out to be my last month delivering packages for Amazon. I made it almost a full year. It was a good job, but I don't miss it. After a few too many less-than-safe driving experiences and being so entirely exhausted on all my days off, my husband and I decided the cons were starting to outweigh the pros of me having this job, and I gave my bosses my notice. I had great bosses, and delivering packages in the mountains of Western North Carolina certainly whipped my body into shape. I don't know if I would necessarily recommend being a delivery driver, but God provided for us through this job and I'm glad I was able to do it while it lasted. 

The first weekend of June saw us on a roadtrip to my beautiful Florida. Two of our nieces were having their first dance recital and there was no way we were going to miss cheering on those tiny dancers. We, of course, had to spend an afternoon with our boy, my sisters and I went to the beach for a day, and I got together with my book club. It was a jam-packed weekend trying to see as many people as we could and do as many of our favorite things as possible. (You know I came home with a stack of books from The Book Shelter.)

As I already alluded to, my best friend and her kids came for a visit the first week of July. Auntie Hannah had all the fun catching up with these babies. Our 4th of July fireworks got rained out, but that couldn't keep us down. We ate a lot of food, played a lot of games, and had a lot of fun. 

Y'all. I have a bush of the most gorgeous purple hydrangeas in my yard. Let me start this section off by saying I have the blackest of black thumbs. My house is where plants come to die. But these hydrangeas have been blooming on their own like crazy this summer and it has brought me no end of joy. 

And while we're on the subject of nature, deer and bunnies and all kind of fun animals hang out in our yard. We see them on a daily basis. There is also a mama black bear with two small cubs that have been making the rounds in our neighborhood, but I haven't caught them on camera yet. I tell ya: it's a whole new world for me up here in NC. We've gone from lizards and sand hill cranes and gators to woodland creatures, and it's a fun change. 

And one more backyard photo. Because apparently I'm turning into my mother and taking pictures of things like spiderwebs. Here's a handy link to when I recapped Charlotte's Web on the blog. You're welcome. 

Last week we celebrated my Gramma's 89th birthday. And because we are so redneck and Polk County people till the day we die, we stuck a giant match in her cake when we couldn't find any birthday candles. Gramma and I have been alone on the mountain a lot this summer because my parents and Cody have had to travel a lot for work and having her all to myself has been really special. We have a standing Wheel and Jeopardy date each night which basically keeps me going while Cody's away. 

Are you still with me? I know: this has been a lot. But that's what's been going on around here lately. I also have to tell you that Cody read Little Women (one of my all-time favorite books) and watched all three of our movie adaptations with me this summer. He loved the book, and was properly indignant over the liberties taken in the films. His favorite was actually the newest adaptation starring Saoirse Ronan as Jo. 

Anyway, I leave you with this photo of my puppies, because aren't they just the sweetest? Be on the lookout for some actual book recaps coming your way next week, and drop me a line telling me how your year has been going!

Let's Bust a Recap : The Elephant in the Room

(It's actually a little ridiculous how much time I spent trying to balance those elephants on top of each other for this photo.)

But anyways, let's start this post off with a little True or False.

True or False: It's May 2nd and we're still recapping books I read last year.

Answer: True. But after today's post, I think we're down to four books read in 2021 that I'm still planning to recap. So...progress?

This surprise book showed up one day in my mailbox from my best friend, and I sat down to read it pretty much immediately. Given that it was right before Christmas and I was down to the wire with my unread book bingo, this book filled the "a book bought for the cover" slot. Even though I didn't technically buy it (I had not even heard of it), I definitely would have upon sight (which is why my best friend sent it to me), and even if I had absolutely hated it (I loved it!), it would have sat on my shelf for the rest of time just for that perfect cover. Elephants are my favorite animal, and actually the book I was planning to read for the bingo card was another book I had bought with an elephant on the cover (still haven't read that one). 

But enough about me and my love affair with the most majestic creatures God ever created: on to the recap.

The Elephant in the Room is a brand new middle grade book by Holly Goldberg Sloan. It just came out in March of last year. In it, we meet Sila who's mom has been in Turkey for almost a year trying to clear up an immigration issue. Through the course of the novel, Sila and her dad befriend Gio, a widower who recently won the lottery, and because of this friendship, Gio ends up purchasing Veda the elephant from a traveling circus. Sila and her new friend Mateo end up spending their summer at Gio's helping out with Veda. 

This book tackles some heavy topics—loss, friendship, immigration, autism, animal welfare, injustice—but it does so with a hopefulness and joy that were absolutely irresistible. I loved every word. I loved Sila and Mateo's friendship. I loved Gio's generosity. And I absolutely loved Veda. 

Holly Goldberg Sloan actually got her start writing, producing, and directing movies. She was the first woman to direct a live action film for Disney when she wrote and directed The Big Green (one of my favorites) in 1995. Her first novel was published in 2011, and her second novel (Counting By 7s) has won or been nominated for a whole slew of awards. I don't know how she's completely missed my radar for so long, but I'm so glad my friend sent me this book, and I'll definitely be following her from now on. 

100% would recommend The Elephant in the Room. It was so sweet, and it's one I'd definitely read again.

What's your favorite animal and do you have a favorite book featuring that animal?

Pumpkin Carving 2021

Y'all. We've been carving pumpkins together for a decade. Ten years of keeping this fun tradition; a milestone that bears a little reflection. 10 years, 5 different homes, 2 states. Going to pumpkin patches, fall festivals, or just grocery stores to find the perfect pumpkins. Picking out fun patterns each year and adding two cuddly dogs to the mix. In looking back over the last ten years, we've decided our favorite pumpkins were in 2017 (the eek! and Hawaiian monster face) with Cody's second favorite being the globe he carved in 2015 and my second favorite being the "boo" ghost I carved in 2016. 

This was our first year in North Carolina, carving pumpkins in the little green house we've been living in down the street from my parents. (SPOILER: We bought a house! Next year we'll be carving pumpkins in our new home sweet home.) This year we decided to go with a black Halloween cat theme for our pumpkins and they turned out super cute.

Here we are with our blank slates. We got our pumpkins at Sam's Club this year, and they were the perfect size for carving.

Cody made us a roaring fire (because we live in North Carolina now and it's cold, y'all), and we had a mini-marathon of Psych Halloween episodes while we carved (Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast S1E15, Tuesday the 17th S3E15, In Plain Fright S5E11, This Episode Sucks S6E3, for any interested parties).

Cody even carved the top of his pumpkin into a cat head (bottom right).

The glowing finished products. Mine is the cat walking along the fence and Cody's is the black cat under a crescent moon. We were down to the wire this year, carving them at 10:00 on Halloween night but it was the perfect cozy way to spend our first Halloween in the mountains. 

October 31, 2021

Happy Fall, Y'all!