the archery range

We took a short fall break and drove to Colorado last weekend.
I weirdly don't even mind the 7 hour drive anymore. It gives us occasion to catch up on all the things we don't really talk about on a day to day basis.

I finally started my halloween reads tonight, which is a little late seeming that Halloween is next thursday...October is flying by! But better late then never! Sean and I took turns reading aloud some of Poe's works and it was awesome! I haven't had anyone read me a story in a really long time. It was extremely entertaining!

If you'd like:

Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Dracula by Bram Stoker (my all time favorite)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I have found the best pumpkin recipe known to the marie/sean household...
I rarely share recipes or my food, for lack of cooking confidence, but this one has to be known.

I have yet to make adjustments, to make this a little healthier, but who the hell cares.

Behold!

the "Pumpkin Muffie*"
(modified version of Martha Stewarts pumpkin cookies)

ingredients:
-2 3/4 heaping cups all-purpose flour
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 1/4 teaspoons course salt
-1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
-1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
-3/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
-3/4 cup softened unsalted butter
-2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
-2 large eggs
-1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (14 oz)
-3/4 cup evaporated milk
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a separate bowl combine butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer, until light and fluffy. Add eggs. At a low speed, add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until blended well. Add dry ingredients, mix until combined.

Transfer batter into a pastry bag (I just used a make-shift one, which included cutting one corner side of a zip lock bag) Pipe 1 1/2 rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, they expand so space them at least 1 inch apart. Bank cookies for about 12 minutes rotating half way through. Cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks, cool completely before serving.


*my favorite Panera treat, that  I sadly cannot have in the deprived State of Utah. Deprivations also include but are not limited to: Lamaar's, Q-doba, Lucilles, Casa, and Stuft.

I had quite a negative day at work.

It was one of those days where you listened to this song, and sang all the curse words really loud 

(why does saying “90’s b***” feel so good?)

I was feeling pretty bad. Unlike my usual cure for a bad work day, which includes a combination of vent/yelling to my poor sean-eating a huge bowl of pasta-cleaning-watching america’s next top model-crying-yoga then a final snooze to kick it in the balls, I instead coped with visitors from Colorado. 

We ate good food

Talked

Laughed

And i fell asleep with a full stomach and a smile on my face.

that was the best remedy for my soul.

Oh fall!

This is my favorite time of the year. 

Leaves, October, sweaters (made out of the sheep pictured above), hot coffee, the color orange...

I could go on forever!

See below for a list of my fall loves: (a copy cat of lovetangerine from bleubird)

eating /pumpkin bread and local apples
drinking /coffee, apple spice tea, hot apple cider
practicing /meditation
mastering /the pumpkin chocolate chip muffin
learning /to knit
finishing /halloween costumes
reading / Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein and any other seasonally appropriate book
walking /everywhere
wearing /sweaters and wool tights
cooking /pumpkins
working /on fixing my bike
traveling /to the mountains
wanting /to know how many blankets is needed to keep warm with no heater

speaking of lovetangerine, go read this fall inspired guest post I did!

The other night I was sitting in bed.

I looked over at Sean and noticed that his hair was a little receding. He's getting old. At first, for some weird reason, that made me love him even more. We were sitting right there, in love and getting old together. I was so happy.

But then...I suddenly was afraid of dying. I don't know why I'm quite writing this, maybe I just want to get this off of my mind. I let this particular thought stir in my brain time and time again, until I find a tentative answer. Which always ends up being...I guess, it really doesn't matter.

“Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.” 
― Graham Greene