thankful. grateful. happy.

I could have sworn I've talked (written) about this post before but maybe not....

disclaimer:I know I quote and refer to Kelle Hampton a lot. probably WAY more than I should but here's the thing: she inspires me. She's a wonderful writer and expresses things in a way that I never could. Do I always agree with her? nope. But most of the time, especially when it comes to mother-daughter stuff? dang, she's good.

One of my favorite posts of hers is about gratitude and teaching her daughters about being thankful....not just in the month of November but year-round.

Click HERE to read the whole post. 

.........

Did you do it? Seriously, it will take a few minutes and you'll feel all warm and fuzzy. I promise.

..........

Ok,  if you haven't read it yet, your loss. Here's what she says that really resonates with me:

"What does it mean to be thankful though? If it were as easy as asking my child to scribble some words on a thank-you card, I'd stock up on stationery and tuck "grateful child" under my belt of parenting successes. Gratitude is abstract--a more difficult word to define to a child than a simple noun that accompanies a colorful picture on a flash card.

But it's important, perhaps one of the most valuable attributes you can teach your child because it has a symbiotic relationship with another emotion we all hope our children will experience...happiness."

 right? anyway, this post was on my mind and I wanted to document it as I was reflecting on all things November-ish.

.....on to December!

FALL bucket list

Ok, so I really want to start to blog more. Even if it's not life-changing, thought-provoking, super important stuff. All the little things that make up our days - the trips to the park, the first "crawl" (I use this term lightly), little ideas mused upon....it's these little things that are what makes a big life, no? 

So bear with me....some posts may be a bit mundane or silly to you but I can't worry about that (no offense).  

Back to the topic at hand: FALL!!!! oh, welcome you cozy little season you! This Saturday (Sept. 22) marked the official first day of fall. It may still be in the 90's here but there are pumpkins and halloween candy (even Christmas decorations for goodness sake!) out at the stores so I'm callin' it:

FALL IS HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!!! 

I've seen these bucket lists floating around pinterest & thought what a cute idea! 

so here is my Fall Bucket List! (minus the cute colors and fonts....)

Visit the Farmers Market often

Try 5 new Fall recipes

Enjoy favorite old Fall recipes (cranberries, pumpkin bread, peppermint mochas)

Visit a Pumpkin Patch

Go to the Wineries 

Celebrate Oktoberfest (in the form of beer and German food)

Carve a pumpkin

Watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" & "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" with H

Hike with Cody & H

Donate to the Food Bank

Take cute Holiday pictures with H

Watch as much TEXAS football as possible

I may add more as the season gets underway but that's a great start :) So here's to ALL things FALL - sweaters, football, pumpkin, boots, holidays, cranberries, scarves, family, burnt orange & cinnamon :)

catch up

wow, things have been so busy with work, training, the holidays....LIFE that it's been forever since i've updated! here it is, almost 2011! can you believe it?

quick fall/winter recap to catch up:

~Halloween was a blast this year! Jaime & Thomas threw an awesome zombie-themed party. we had fun putting together some crazy costumes!



even jack got into the spirit of the holiday and dressed as a pretty pretty princess...


~Football wasn't that great this year for UT but oh well...can't win 'em all right? and it was still fun to cheer on the horns. TEXAS FIGHT!



~training for Team LIVESTRONG has been going really well. my training runs have been strong and i'm getting excited for the race! i just met my fundraising goal on the 24th which was an awesome early christmas gift! we had a fundraiser event a few weeks ago at a local painting parlor and it was a huge success! i'm so grateful for all my friends and family who came out to support me. it was one of those nights where i was able to look around and appreciate how blessed i am to have such wonderful people in my life.








~to prepare for the upcoming holiday, we celebrated the season by going to "dickens on main" in boerne, where they had everything decorated in lights, christmas carolers, cute little shops and they even dropped "snow" from the tops of the buildings!



~last weekend, the kidwells threw a fab christmas party. as usual we had a great time with our friends :)




this year we have been blessed beyond belief and we're looking forward to an awesome 2011!

today's episode brought to you by the letter F

FRIDAY! FASHION! FALL! FOOTBALL! FUN!

i'm in a very "tgiF"-ish mood today so look out.

lots of exciting things on the horizon. here's what i'm particularly pumped about:

Fashion Week - definitely on my bucket list to attend one day. check it out here. i love everything about it though i couldn't be more removed from all the fabulousness here in good ol' tx. i have a tshirt, jeans and flip flops on right now as i drool over Rosa Cha, Tory Burch & Michael Kors...

i've decided i need more sequin in my life:



i.die.

Fall - love everythig about it - starbucks, boots, sweaters, brisk runs, cozy fires(those 2 days a year a fire is appropriate in TX), holidays, family...

Football - love love love spending every saturday in burnt orange cheering on my LONGHORNS. good stuff.


Fun - looking forward to a great weekend. tonight we have Rhianon's bachelorette party @ el jarro. girl's night out, margaritas, dancing....i'm happy as a clam :)

ole!