09.16

It's hard to believe we are 3/4 of the way through 2016 now!

September was a busy month filled with a lot of wonderful things.

I celebrated the birthdays of two friends (M.E. and R.B.) with teppanyaki and karaoke! We had a fun night full of lots of laughs!

 I'm so thankful for my beautiful friend M.E. and for our 9 years of friendship!

The whole group at karaoke

We went on a cruise! If you missed that post, you can click here to read all about it.

We celebrated our niece's 5th birthday! It's so hard to believe that she's already 5! It really does seem like yesterday that she was born so little.

Some other highlights from the month:

I went to a couple of wine nights with friends. I always enjoy the conversations that happen on these nights. There's something about unwinding with a glass of wine and a plate full of yummy food that just makes for the perfect evening.

I got my onboarding call for LuLaRoe! I am officially a LuLaRoe Fashion Consultant and I couldn't be happier!

As mentioned a few posts back, Josh passed the first of two tests for the certifications he needs for work! He was so nervous about taking it, but he did great! My parents took us out to dinner a few days ago to celebrate.

My body had some crazy reactions after the cruise. As I mentioned in that post, I had some vertigo/sea leg issues for a week after we got back. It was hard to stand for long periods of time because I felt like I was going to fall over! I also had some shifts in my body that have been painful, but it's a result of other shifts happening that have been good. It's hard to describe the whole process of myofascial release, but often when one area loosens up in my body, another area tightens up in response to it. So it's a lot of back and forth for me. Thankfully, many of the areas that have loosened up have stayed that way, so I'm still experiencing a lot of progress in the midst of all of this.

And that was September! On to October and cooler weather!

Fall

It's finally starting to feel like fall where I live.

And every time the weather changes and a new season arrives, I start to feel nostalgic.

I'm not really sure what it is about the weather change that makes me feel this way, but suddenly I'm flooded with memories of things that the weather reminds me of.

Today, it's crisp air, fall leaves, going to CO for the first time 6 years ago to see our friends, going to the corn maze with friends, decorating our first apartment for Halloween, craft nights with friends, and many other memories.

But it's not just the fall that makes me feel this way. Spring brings it's own flood of memories, as do winter and summer.

There is something about fall, though, that makes me long for change and new adventures. I want to pull on a pair of boots and wrap a scarf around my neck and head out to do something fun. I want to cuddle up on the couch in a blanket with a cup of hot tea or hot chocolate in hand. I want to watch Gilmore Girls and Harry Potter over and over again. I want to read new books and meet new people.

There's just something about seasons changing that stirs my heart in ways it hasn't been stirred in a few months.

Cruisin'

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went on a cruise with a couple of our friends!

It was a lot of fun! I had never been on a cruise before so I was a little nervous about it, but I ended up having a great time (though I did deal with some vertigo/"sea leg" issues for about a week after we got off the ship)!

First night on the boat!

 On our way to our first port: Catalina Island!

 Elegant evening on the ship

 Viva la Mexico

 We found the nicest winery in Mexico. The whole experience was awesome!

One of our towel animals

Some of the things not pictured:

We participated in two different trivia contests on the ship: Harry Potter and 90s music! Both were a lot of fun.
We also played Bingo and came very close to winning on more than one game!

It was a much needed time away for us and it was very relaxing (and was perfectly timed, as Josh passed one of the certifications he needed for work two days before we left!). I'm so glad we went!