Fall

 Today, is the first of October. Fall is probably my favorite season. It is so beautiful. The leaves changing inspire me to see the good in change; a reminder that I think is necessary for me. Another, wonderful thing about this season is that it acts as a reminder to be thankful. Steven and I have been having some conversations lately about how our society makes us mass consumers. We think that we NEED all of this superficial things to fit in, be accepted, or to survive. When really most of those NEEDS should actually be classified as WANTS. 
 This has inspired me to have a month of no frivolous spending. This isn't going to be easy for me. As many of you should know by now I am a shopaholic! But, not this month. This month I am going to avoid the mall, and avoid the sell flyer emails that I receive full of cute items that I think that I NEED. In some countries people don't even have running water- but I think that I should go buy a handful of new sweaters because I WANT them. What a selfish creature this society has created in me.
 I am going to spend the month being thankful for the plethora of things that I have to be thankful for. Health, family, friends, roof over my head, food in my kitchen, water spilling from my faucets with the turn of a handle. The little things in life. 
 One of my favorite coffee mugs read "In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities." And, how true is that? This month I will surround myself with love. Falling in love with the things that I already have. I intend to fall in love with my life all over and over and over again. 31 days of falling in love with my life and all of the things already in it- all over again. 
 Also, for the entire season of fall I am going to try to include some text and an image of something that I am thankful for in that moment... 
Today, right now, I am thankful for electricity. Something that I probably over look 100x over everyday. I give it no second thought. I flip a switch and immediately have light to drown out the darkness. I plug in the toaster and immediately I have a nice toasted bagel. I push a button and immediately have tasty coffee, I open the fridge and immediately a light comes on and I have cold milk to pour into my coffee. Dirty clothes? Oh, just push a button on a machine and boom- they are clean. Amazing. Electricity is AMAZING. We are very spoiled creatures. Let us not forget that life was not always this simple- and that some people have lives that are still not this simple or comfortable. Thank you, Benjamin Franklin; I applaud you on a job well done!
 And, the image of something that I am thankful for...

This is my Pap and my closest cousin, Joey (YEARS ago). Joey is now 23 years old and I'm pretty sure he can now tie his own tie. These men are two of the greatest, ever. I am beyond grateful to have them in my life. Love, Love, LOVE them!