A Look Back at October: Writing and Crafting, Aplenty

If September surprised me with all the falling leaves I noticed for the first time, imagine my disbelief when I found myself pulling my winter coat out of the back of the closet and wearing it day after day. So was my welcome to October.

In spite of the unseasonable chill that came with this latest month, October brought with it plenty of good news and good memories.

For starters, I saw quite a few of my articles for HOW magazine published (in the September issue, now on newsstands), as well as another one about a green design company posted on their website. I also had two guest posts featured on some blogs:

At Money Saving Mom, I wrote about some realistic ways we’ve managed to cut back on how much we spend on eating out. (Consider it a practical follow-up to the post I made about when we had cut our eating out budget down to a whopping zero.)

And at Hannah Explains It All, I wrote about all the different ways creativity expresses itself in my life—from recipes to crafts—and some tips I’ve learned over the years for embracing this call to experimentation.

Speaking of getting creative, I found myself quite inspired, crafting up some artwork in the bathroom and also undertaking a renovation for a mirror I picked up at a thrift store as well as a handful of wardrobe crafts that I can’t wait to share with you. And they go beyond just the Isn’t this pretty? fashion crafts to ones that help you make ill-fitting clothes simply fit better and fixing some of the quirks about clothes that I hate most.

It was enough inspiration that I’m planning to make a new series out of it—ways to revamp the wardrobe you already have. Expect to see that around here at the beginning of the year while I cull up more ideas to round it out. (Email me if you’re interested in contributing to this new series!)

Although I didn’t end up creating an abstract painting like I’d set out to do at the end of September in last month’s update, but I think I did even better.

October, it was nice knowing ya.

What about you? What was October like in your life, at your home? Let me know or share a link or two in the comments!

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September: Slowing Down and Crafting Goals

Each month, I like to take a moment and share an update about what happened that month and some of the things I'm looking forward to in the month to come. View more of my previous monthly updates here.

This month, I started noticing the first of the falling leaves. One day, it seems they were just bursting forth in tiny, green buds and now, as the wind whips through, dozens of yellow leaves cascade to the ground. When did that begin to happen?!

I ended up finding myself with more leisure time this month than usual—a surprise that I really tried to relish and not rush through. With all my writing projects finished at the beginning of the month, I ended up spending the rest of it relaxing, catching up on my reading and discovering a new favorite PBS series, Lark Rise to Candleford, which I managed to watch more than a dozen episodes of before I started pacing myself!

It also was my husband’s birthday, which we celebrated in a pretty low-key fashion with some tasty (and decently healthy) carrot-cake cookies and dinner out with family. I think he actually forgot it was his birthday; he was up early to go work out and when he came home and I wished him happy birthday, it almost seemed to startle him. (If that’s not a sign we’re growing up, I don’t know what is. A decade ago, there’s no way I would have forgotten it’s my birthday. Now? It’s just another day.)

One thing I’d like to tackle in October, before it turns too cold, is to try and paint some pictures to go on the wall in my living room that is currently completely blank. I’d like something abstract and filled with brush strokes that pull in the myriad colors I’ve used in this room: teal, olive green, mustard yellow, gray. It’s been on my to-do list since we moved in here, but I think I’m finally starting to work up the courage to actually try it.

(Another one on my crafting dream list list? Dye a pair of my favorite but washed-out jeans a darker denim blue. I’ve seen it done on a couple of other blogs but haven’t gotten up the nerve to try it myself. Anyone have any experience with that?)

Now, let’s see if having all this typed up here for the world to see will result in more follow-through on my part!

What's on your wishlist for next month?

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What I've Been Up to Lately...

It’s unbelievable to think that another month has flown by. But, I guess that’s the way it is, and now we’re coming down the stretch toward autumn. I know it won’t be too long before I’m wishing for the hot heat of summer again!

August was a fairly uneventful month, all in all. My husband and I made it a point to take a couple of hikes to nearby parks and soak in the scenery. We climbed one hulk of a hill that overlooks the city:


We also joined a new community group at our church, where we’re (so far) the youngest couple in attendance. But I actually love that, because I find that it gives you so many opportunities to soak up lots of wisdom from men and women who are decades into their faith and family lives. It’s also such an encouragement to be surrounded by folks twenty, thirty years older than you who still treat you like an adult and actually enjoy your company. That kind of friendship is such a blessing!

This month was a nice month for my freelance writing. Most of the articles won’t be coming available on newsstands for another couple of months, but I did write one online exclusive for the magazine I used to work for, which you can read here. It’s about a graphic designer who specializes in packaging for the food-and-beverage industry. I love all the neat people I get to meet and things I get to learn through my writing!

As for September, I’m looking forward to the hot weather tapering off. The scorching sun from this past month withered most of my little garden to smithereens before I wised up and moved them to a shadier spot. But the damage had been done and all the fruit-in-process died off. I ended up digging up the remnants and planting new seeds, in hopes that this next round will fare better. Always a learning process!

I’ve also been hacking away at attempting more DIY projects (including making my own root beer and bodywash!), which I look forward to sharing in future tutorials on here soon. Also, you can expect to see some more posts in the Secrets of a Newlywed series, from myself as well as some great bloggers I have lined up. If you haven’t submitted a post and would like to, get in touch with me and I can give you some details.

I hope August has treated each of you kindly. What are you looking forward to in September?

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What I'm Looking Forward to in August & Highlights from July

Another month has passed. Don’t you wonder where all those days went? I certainly, do. So here’s a little bit of a look at some of the highlights that made up the month of July for me:

• My husband and I celebrated our two-year anniversary on July 10th. In some ways, it feels like it’s barely been that long at all, and in other moments it feels like it’s been so much longer than that. Either way, it’s thrilling to know that we’re slowly building our marriage, stone by stone, lesson by lesson. That’s why, alongside this milestone, I kicked off the new series Secrets of a Newlywed. We celebrated our two-year anniversary quietly with, what felt to us, like a swanky brunch out, since we don’t eat out nearly as much as we used to!
  
  
• I also used this month to get my freelance endeavor off the ground a little more, by launching a new website, which you can see here. (I also added a little button that links there in the sidebar.) I built the site myself over the course of a few days and have also pitched a few writing ideas around to new publications, although no bites from those ones just yet.
  
  
• There were a bunch of blog posts that I wrote this month, from sharing my favorite gadgets in the kitchen to an update about how my garden has been growing. I think my favorite of all this month’s posts, though, was one from the Secrets of a Newlywed series, Let Your Husband Lead. I really want that series to be transparent about the struggles we face in marriage. This post, especially, took a lot of vulnerability to write about areas where I have had to make the conscious decision to let my husband lead, because, more than anything else, it was admitting my weakness as far as wanting to have control. I hope that in doing so, it provided inspiration to some of you reading!

And here we are, with August already at our side. Here’s some of what I’m looking forward to with this next month:

• Experiment more with photography, thanks to a new camera I got that allows me to manually adjust more of my settings. I’ve been reading through this 31 Days to a Better Photograph series and learning quite a bit! I would also like to tackle the 30 Day Photography Challenge I came across on Pinterest at some point.
  
  
• Continue to forge ahead with my freelance writing. Right now, I’m reading through a couple of books about freelance writing (I’ll share more about them later) and I’m taking the whole process step by step, trying to tackle one thing at a time. I would love to be able to pitch an article to a new-to-me publication this month and have it get picked up for publication. We’ll see!
  
  
• I’d also like to commit myself more to journaling during my Bible-reading time. This is a practice I pick up and put down frequently, and I think it really impacts my retention and ability to dig in to Scripture when I take the time to journal and note-take as I go. I’m also looking forward to praying more intentionally for other people through the Women Praying Boldly initiative that I just started. I have been asking over the past couple of months that the Lord would give me more of a burden for intercessory prayer, and I think that this is part of developing that passion. If you want to sign up, there’s still time!

So there you have it. The calendar flips from July to August, and we find ourselves with a blank slate, a new string of days just waiting to be written. Goodbye, July. Hello, August!

Do you have any favorite highlights from July? What are you looking forward to during the month of August?

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