Ahh, fall. You know it’s coming, or at least hope that it’s coming, when the mornings and nights get cooler, and you need to pull a jumper out of the closet to curl up in for a bit of extra warmth.

This past week has been uncharacteristically cool, which I am absolutely loving. I prefer cooler weather; I’ll take the mountains over the beach for vacation. It has been wonderful to have the windows open and fans spinning this week; I love the smell of an air-fresh home. The best time has been overnight; the slight breeze coming in as it gets cooler and cooler through the night has made for great sleeping weather, and that extra bit of chill in the air when we wake has helped get us up and going for the day.

When the air starts to cool, my mind turns to fall, and then winter (my favourite season!). Hallowe’een is coming, and Squatch and I love the creepiness of the holiday. Apple orchards and pumpkin patches are starting to open, so I can make my homemade apple and pumpkin pies, and we can get some delicious cider and apple cider donuts. Last fall, we took Little Man to a local pumpkin patch that we both went to as kids. Boy was it commercialized now, and the crowds were ridiculous! We want to take Little Man to get a pumpkin again this year, so we are going to look for a smaller patch that is off the beaten track. I’m hoping for one with a corn maze; I love them, even though Squatch doesn’t, he feels like the “children of the corn” are going to come out and get him.

Thanksgiving will be next, and with it comes turkey, cranberry sauce, delicious gravy (keep an eye out for my story about the balsamic gravy closer to Turkey Day), cornbread, and all the other trappings. I will do a few posts leading up to Thanksgiving with my favourite recipes for the day. Thanksgiving is, to me, a day to give thanks for what we have, and for the family we are celebrating the day with. When we started dating, Squatch and I started splitting the holidays, spending Thanksgiving with one family and Christmas with the other, then switching it around the following year. With Little Man now, we are glad we established the rotation early on.

Fall means change – changing colours of leaves, changing temperatures, changing your wardrobe to the winter gear. For us, this year, change means a move. Yes, we just moved away from the Chicago-land area a few months ago, but we have decided that this is not the best place for us. We have long wanted to get out of Illinois, and we are now taking the plunge and going to the other side of the Cheddar Curtain; that’s right, we’re going to Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is a good choice for us at this point in our lives. They have gun laws we agree with, and they allow for medical, religious, and philosophical vaccine exemptions, another highly controversial topic that is important to us. We had been looking for rentals in the Platteville area, so Brian could have a quick commute into Dubuque for his job, but unfortunately nothing has worked out. So, we are heading up north to the Eau Claire/Chippewa Valley area, and will be staying with his parents while he finds a job, I get my new consulting venture underway (so excited for this! I’ll give updates on here as I get things together, but my plan is to start my new gig 1 January), and we look for a place. I am NOT looking forward to spending 5-6 hours in a car alone with Little Man, he despises being in the car, so if you have any tips or tricks to travelling with littles, please, for the love of all that is holy, share with me!!!

Change is a-comin’, folks. What changes do you expect in your life? How are you preparing for them?