October Favorites

My friend April gave me a brilliant idea about 5 minutes ago - with her own October Favorites post.  I think it's such a cool idea that I decided that I must copy her - RIGHT NOW.  So, here goes!

 1. Fall-ish weather!  Ok, after 100+ temps all summer, anything less is worth a mention on the list.  Duh.  I can have a glass of wine outside without melting now - so here's to this one!  Cheers for cooler weather!  :-)

2. Spending our first October in FloMo!  I loved Coppell, don't get me wrong, but I love our house in FloMo.  I love what we're making here - it's ours and we're slowly putting it together and making it a place that we both love to be.  Each month this year has meant a new project of some sort around the house and another new ahhhh! moment of making this place ours.

3. Halloween!  And Halloween candy.  I know HH and I are total health nuts, but there's something about this time of year that I can't help sneaking candy here and there.  Like now, sitting here blogging means I NEED this little roll of SweetTarts.  We had NO clue what to expect for the trick-or-treat situation here.  I asked some un-PC questions and got some pretty tepid answers for what to expect.  So, I bought a bag o' candy at CostCo and hoped for the best.  I was all jazzed up even though we didn't decorate (and no, I hadn't been into the sugar at this point) and had the doglies corralled and things ready by 5:30... and... nothing.  I was getting antsy and antsier, and we finally got a flurry of Darth Vaders and Cleopatras at 7!  We had masses for an hour or so, and then the teenagers struck.  I decided it was time to shut off the light when a group of 5ish yelled 'TRICK-OR-TREAT' and tossed candy into MY bucket when I answered the door.  I made they play the 'what are you' game before I gave them their own candy back, plus a bit of mine, and then the ones still on the curb started shouting 'PONY UP'.  Awesome.  Is it still cool to trick-or-treat in high school?

4. October Baseball.  Not just October baseball - that happens every year.  But our hometown team playing October baseball!  We're all sad the Rangers didn't win the big show, but they threw out HUGE effort and we're so proud of them!  October baseball is a total throwback to my childhood, when the Dodgers were really good and we'd watch and cheer them on into this month.  So having the Rangers in it 'til the end rocked.

5. Comparing this October to last!  I know we shouldn't live in the past, but last year was madness in the month of October, so it put this one into striking perspective.  HH took his PE exam on 10.29.10, so this year was much more relaxed for him.  Last year, I think I had something like 34 exams in the month - and I still say that one was one of the hardest tris to date.  Plus - we were house hunting.  Seriously, this was like number 54 - found at the very end of October!  Just looking back one year made us both feel like we could totally breathe this year!  We were so blessed to have so many good challenges last year, but it made this year so much sweeter by stress-less comparison!

6.  Finding a new (gym) home!  We're loving training a few times a week with the awesome family at Crossfit Bolt in Coppell.  HH has a new training partner who's actually solid and string enough to hang with him (and beat him on some stuff!), unlike before.  I've got a ton of people that I love going to work out with - they challenge me and have been so incredibly warm and welcoming to both of us.  It's nice to have that gym family dynamic again, even if it isn't each day! 

7. Pumpkin everything!  Ok, this is totally an item copied almost straight from April - I HEART pumpkin!  All things pumpkin... Pumpkin spice lattes (I don't even like coffee.  For real.), pumpkin bread, pumpkin cider (thanks, Kelli!), pumpkin butter... you get the picture, I'm sure!  I love it!  And I'm sure that this one will last into November - and maybe make that list!  It'll get edged out with peppermint come December I'd bet, but I've got to save it until then and live up pumpkin season!

8. My wonderful family.  I feel like they'll always be on my favorites list... they're wonderful and I'm so blessed to have each and every one of them!  October was a great month for family stuff, and we spent some great time together.  It's nice to be able to blow off an afternoon to hang out with the people and animals that you love.

So, there's my Favorite Things for last month!  What are yours?!