Sunday Social #7: All About Fall

I am so excited for my favorite season to arrive! I'm tired of this heat already.

1. What is your favorite fall activity?

I love going to all of the pumpkin patches and fall festivals. It's something I look forward to every season. I enjoy the weather, smelling all the bakes goods, and look at all of the goodies.

This was some of the fun last year. 

2. Do you follow a football team? If so, which one and why?

I do not know anything about football. Rudy likes to watch college football and his favorite team is the Oregon Ducks, so I'm sure I'll be next to him, watching a few games. 

3. What is something fun about fall in your area?

There's nothing in my area during the fall season that I can think of. All of the festivals we have gone to have been a few cities away. Hopefully they'll come up with something this year.

4. What are your favorite fall staple outfits?

Scarves are a must for me. I have more than a dozen scarves and my favorite is a purplish/grayish infinity one. I wear boots from time to time with skinny jeans. 

5. What things are you looking forward to most about this coming fall season?

I look forward to the same activities during the fall season. I'm excited to drink Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Lattes/Fraps, going to Fall Festivals, picking out the perfect pumpkins to carve, baking yummy goodies, giving out candy on Halloween, going to family get-togethers, celebrating my birthday, watching the leaves change color, and feeling & smelling the cool, crisp air. 

6. What is your favorite fall holiday? Tradition?

My favorite fall holiday is Halloween. I don't dress up, but every year, I decorate my house and carve two or three pumpkins. I am the one that gives out the treats Halloween night and I love looking at all of the cute little kiddies in their costumes. 

 2011

2012

I'm soo ready for all the Fall fun!

2012 Questionnaire

1. What are you most thankful for? 

I am most thankful for my family, true friends, and loved ones. They all have been so supportive and always want what's best for me. I am blessed to have a roof over my head and the health of me and my loved ones. I am also thankful for my kiddies, who make me strive to be the best educator that I can be. 

2. What were the highlights of 2012 for you? 

* The first half of the year, I had a long term teaching position (that started October 2011) for a fourth grade class. I met some wonderful people and was blessed to have supportive co workers. I have some awesome memories with them and my kiddies, who were so sweet. I can't believe so much time has passed since it ended. I miss it/them and always think of that experience fondly.

*In September, Rudy and I went to San Francisco to visit my dear friends, Lei & Nach. I got to meet their adorable daughter, Mia. We ate a whole lot and I was sad when it was time to go back home. I had so much fun. 

*In July, Rudy and I took our first trip together to Lake Tahoe for Kim & Kevin's wedding. We survived and had so much fun together, traveling and sight seeing. 

3. What are you hoping for in 2013?

The thing that I am hoping for the most is to get placed back permanently in a classroom at a good school with awesome co workers (I was spoiled with my past co workers). I miss it terribly and feel that I'm still growing & learning as an educator. 

I also hope for happiness and good health for my family, friends, and loved ones. I would like to make many wonderful memories with them. 

4. What were some of your favorites of 2012?

*My favorite new TV show of 2012 is Once Upon a Time. I also was hooked on 666 Park Avenue, but heard that one is being canceled. This year, I started watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory and thing it's hilarious. 

*I don't have just one favorite song of 2012, but I definitely have a few that stick out. I liked GOTYE's Somebody That I Used to Know and Fun's We Are Young, but got a little tired of them since all the radio stations were playing them so much. Jason Mraz's I Won't Give Up and  Christina Perri's A Thousand Years are beautiful songs. I loved all of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood's songs in 2012. 

*My favorite movies of 2012 are The Hobbit and The Hunger Games. I also really liked The Five Year Engagement. 

5. Is there anything you would change about 2012? 

Nope. 2012 was a great year for me. I learned a lot and things could have been worse. I am blessed. :)

Cheers to a wonderful 2012....definitely hoping 2013 is, too! 

October 2012

Now that November is coming to an end, I am writing about what an awesome October I had. Yep, I'm pretty behind on my blogging. Better late than never though!

The month started off with a trip to Disneyland for Halloween. I wanted to go as an early birthday outing since I've never been during that time of the year. I absolutely love Halloween, so was super excited. Rudy and I had such an amazing time and got there early enough so that there was no line for It's a Small World. Finally! We had some dee-licious all-you-can-eat BBQ for dinner....holy moly! We ended the night with some fresh beignets. The nice lady behind the counter gave me a large order instead of the small that I ordered since I was celebrating my birthday. So sweet!

 

Forneris Farms is a fall fun outing that I found two years ago. They have a different corn maze every year and I really wanted to go again this year. We headed over there with our comfortable sneakers, bottled water, and light sweaters. Luckily Rudy is great at directions so kept track of where we were going throughout the maze (they have a little map). If we depended on me, we would've gone in circles. They have cute little CORNundrums that you can solve. There are fifteen throughout the whole maze and we found every single one! 

                                       Duck tape.                                               Corn dog.                                            Pumpkin patch.

On another one of the Saturdays, Rudy, my sister and I went to Cal Poly Pomona for a fall festival. It's an agricultural university, so they had a HUGE pumpkin patch. There were so many to choose from, but what usually buys it for us is the pumpkin's stem. We like the thick, curvy ones. We picked two nice pumpkins perfect for carving. They had Spookly the Square Pumpkin stuff there too, which I love! I even got the book, stuffed toy, and DVD. I was so happy to be able to find our perfect pumpkins at the patch!

For Halloween, we usually carve our pumpkins with things like Frankenstein, the Headless Horseman, and a haunted house, but this year I wanted to pick a theme. I looked online for some ideas and decided on a Monsters' Inc. theme with Sulley, Mike Wazowski, and Boo. I was so happy with how they turned out. I traced, my sister took out the seeds and gunk, and Rudy carved. We make a great team! The trick or treaters seemed to like them, too. 

This was probably one of the best Octobers I've ever had. We got to do so much fall-like activities and I had so much fun. I have to take advantage of my favorite season/month while it's here! 

Stress Relieving

With any job, there is stress. During my long term assignment, I definitely had my fair share. So what did I turn to?

Baking.

Yup, baking. I follow some awesome pages through Facebook and email, so baked whatever I thought looked yummy. I found it to be such a stress reliever. I felt stressed, and while whipping up the ingredients, it gave me such a calming feeling. When I felt stressed and I didn't have enough time to bake, I kept thinking about baking. What to bake, when I would have time to do it....no joke.

Luckily I didn't have the urge to eat it all after it was done. I enjoy baking, but didn't care to really eat too much of it. I'd have others try it and eat one or two. 

What did I do with it all? I brought them to work the next day to share with my co workers. Everything I baked, I made sure to bake enough for them, especially with my grade level colleagues (because they were so awesome and I felt a whole lotta gratitude towards them for helping me so much). During the last 2 months of work, I baked every week. Yup, it got pretty intense, but I was glad to find something that helped me and my co workers seemed to enjoy all the goodies they got. I mean, who wouldn't love to get some treats in their box Monday morning? To thank them for everything at the end of the year, I baked my 3 favs. That was a loooong weekend. :)

What I find funny is that I haven't baked all summer. Only twice did I bake, but using good ol' Betty Crocker. I'm starting to find recipes that I'd love to try, so I think I'm gonna start again soon!

Here were some of my favs:

 Banana bread.

 Thumbprint cookies with jam.

These last two are my absolutely favorite. It was really hard not to eat all of these.

 Chess cakes.

 Oatmeal-cranberry cookies with white chocolate chips.

Thank goodness for baking!

Fall/October is here!!

Hooray!! My favorite season and month are here!! I absolutely love fall and October. 

The weather getting cooler, the leaves changing into warm colors, pumpkin flavored everything (I've already had Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte/frap 4 times since it's returned), and just the feel of the season. I can't wait to take out my scarves, mittens, and pea coats. 

And the beginning of fall means that Halloween is almost here! I love Halloween and looking at all the decorated houses and at all of the things at stores. I'm not a big fan of dressing up, but I really enjoy handing out candy to the kiddies. The cutest costumes I saw last year were a girl that was a little chef (with mini utensils) and a little boy dressed up as Mario from Super Mario Brothers. They had stuffed a pillow into his belly. They were probably 5 or 6 so it that made it even more adorable. I can't wait to start going to festivals and when it's time to get my pumpkins. It's going to be a busy month though, with baby showers and birthdays, so hopefully I'll get to experience as much as I can.

I turn the big 2-7 at the end of the month. I really can't believe another birthday is coming up. It feels like not long ago I turned 21. I can't wait for my birthday. What an awesome month it's going to be! 

Have a wonderful October/fall everyone!! 

The Help

I finished reading "The Help" last night and am so glad I read it before watching the movie. It makes me look that much forward to watching it (and the awesome cast). I had lunch with my friend last month and she recommended that I read the book because it's "really good."

It is such a page turner and I love how they have three different points of view. I highly recommend this book if you're looking for something good to read. It's a book that really makes you think, too. 

AWESOME BOOK!

Happy birthday Lucille Ball!

Yesterday was Lucille Ball's 100th birthday. They had an "I Love Lucy" marathon all weekend on the Hallmark channel. "I Love Lucy" is my favorite show. I never get tired of watching it! It's so funny and so crazy at times. My sister bought me the whole collection for my birthday a few years ago and I watch it when nothing else is on TV. Rudy always asks me if the "I Love Lucy" marathon is on. Lol.

I was only 4 years old when she passed away and can't believe that this show was made when my parents were born. My mom and sister love the show too. We all love Lucy. :)

This is one of the funniest parts of the series. I would've LOVED to been part of the audience on any episode. Their laughter makes me wish I was there. 

Happy 100th birthday Lucille Ball! Thank you for bringing so much laughter into my life! 

Harry Potter Mania

I absolutely LOVE Harry Potter! 

I can't believe 10 years have passed and that the last movie is out. I love all the Harry Potter mania. Over the last month, I've been watching the movies every time it was on TV and the specials/behind the scenes. At the beginning of the month, a small art gallery in my town had a Harry Potter gallery opening and I just HAD to go. It was so amazing and I wish I could afford to buy one of the awesome artwork. The line was soo long, but we were lucky to get there early.

Here are some of my favorite artwork:

Amazing, right??

When you enter, you get sorted into groups by picking a pin from the Sorting Hat. I got Gryffindor (yes!)  and Rudy got Ravenclaw. We took turns trying to catch the golden snitch. Rudy actually got it and won a $20 gift card. I got 7 bludgers and got 2 pins. 

This is what we got with Rudy's gift card:

I had so much fun and am so thankful that Rudy took me! He enjoys the movies, but isn't as hardcore as I am. Lol. He's the best! 

I got a new shirt and wand pen to wear/bring to the movie. We didn't get to watch the movie until this past Saturday because there was always something going on and we didn't want to wait in the long lines the first week. 

Yes, I am a big dork.


I really enjoyed the movie! I know it's never gonna be the same as the book, but I wish it was a little longer and that they emphasized a little more on certain things (i.e. deaths of the good guys, Lupin's son, battle between Bellatrix & Molly). I definitely wanna see it again though, but this time in 3D!


I love Harry Potter Mania!!!!! :)

Awesome week!

I've been really bad at keeping up with the blogging, so I wanted write about an AWESOME week I had 4 weeks ago. At the beginning of the week, I had a feeling that it was going to be a great week. I'm not sure what it was, but I just got that feeling.

The week started off with the Dallas Mavericks winning the NBA finals. I was soo happy for them and wanted them to win soo bad. I'm a fan of Dirk Nowitzki and know they're an older team, so YAYY!!

On Tuesday, my friend Kim came down from up north and we went to eat at Boiling Crab. She recently got engaged, so I love hearing about all the wedding planning and excitement. Plus, Boiling Crab is so delicious. It was great catching up and seeing her.

On Wednesday, I went to get an early dinner at a small Mediterranean restaurant in Pasadena with Tara, who was moving to New York for grad school. I've known her since my freshman year of college (9 years now). It was fun hanging out and I'm so proud of her. I know she is going to do great and hope New York's ready for her!

Friday I got all dolled up for our fraternity formal. It was at the beautiful Disneyland hotel in the Sleeping Beauty room. I love seeing all my brothers and sisters dressed up in all their fancies. Plus, Rudy looks pretty spiffy in a suit. Rudy got Alum of the Year and his paddle from his little bro. It was so f-r-e-a-k-i-n cute. I absolutely LOVE all that stuff. I got Sweetheart of the Year, which was shocking, but truly an honor. It was very unexpected. We took lots of pictures and danced/chatted the night away with our second family. 

On Saturday, Rudy and I went over to our friend Tarren's house to celebrate her birthday AND passing the BAR exam. Yes, the BAR. I can only imagine how much she had to study and study, but she did it! All her hard work paid off and I am so proud of her. I've also known her for 9 years. She was my other housemate with Tara! It's always a good time with her and her family. I love them!

And then come back around to Sunday and it was Father's Day. We went to Rose Hills to visit my grandpas and then to brunch with the family. I love my dad and I think it's funny when my mom and sis say we are exactly alike. I always enjoy our family times together. 

And so the week was awesome and that feeling I had at the beginning of the week was correct. I've never had that feeling before where I was like, "It's going to be an awesome week," so it was great. 

Hoping for many more awesome weeks! :)