Halloween...

Not sure why, but this year we just didn't do as much Halloweeny stuff as I'd like.  Now - we're in the middle of friggin inflation so that I'm sure played a big part, but alas not as much fun events were had.

BUT - there were a few and here they are!

1st Halloween in our condo so I decorated to the nine!

I took videos mainly but sadly they won't friggin upload!

Saw lots of rad decor throughout the season.

This neighbor is rad

Love Chris's photo ops!

Our place at night!

Mom always has a good table set up

Idea for next year?

WTF is this?!?!

We made it to Knotts Haunt!  That was our one outing and it was a blast!  Thank you Taylor!

Mandy of course looking all cute

Me...not so much

I did quite a bit of Fall/Halloween baking and of course drank out of my Halloween Wine Glasses all month!

Snacks for the kid

Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles

Halloween Crack Candy

On Halloween Chapman always has a Pumpkin Pageant and Chapman Pet Parade.  Poe won 2nd place!!

How cute are we?!

This was my fave

These guys were legit!

I cant

He's a SMORE!!!!

That tongue

They won and well deserved

Maria is in there somewhere

Poe got 2nd place!!!

He just wanted to play with all the dogs

1st place and our tie for 2nd place

Always funny trying to get this group photo

Love my office mates

Hell to the Yes

Sporting my adorable backpack from Jay!

Then Halloween night, since our complex doesn't seem to have any trick or treaters, we went over to Shane/D's to hand out candy and have a lovely evening!

Vorhees Fam

Halloween Mimosas

Mom looking darling

I think we scared off the trick or treaters

Accidental killer theme

Selfie with Mike

Mama loves her boy

Best pic of the night

We of course had to stop by and say hi to Taylor!

So although a more mild year - as always - I always love this time of year!

Apple Picking...

Back in 2018 I went Apple Picking for the 1st time.  It was such a fun little adventure I thought it would be a good one for my little adventure group to do!  So I threw the idea out there to ditch work one weekday and head out!  Last time I went was on the weekend and it was super crowded.  I thought a weekday would be better - which it was - but the downside is just a few things are open, including just 1 farm.  It ended up being the one we went to last year.  So although I was disappointed not to visit a new farm - avoiding the crowds was well worth it.

Mom, Renee, Noel joined Pat, Poe and I.  I had read some places were dog friendly so our furry boy got to join us.  We headed out around 9am and got there about 10:30.

We hit up Los Rios Farm to pick, then planned to go to Snow Line Orchard for lunch.  Well - when moms car and my car ended up at the 2 spots that make up Los Rios - we realized there's a farm and a little fun gift/eating area which paid off because we ended up going back there for lunch when we found out Snow Line no longer has food.

We finally all got together and headed out to pick!  The farm has Granny Smith apples and Rome Apples.  It was warmer than expected but we picked away! 

Selfie in the Sun

How cute is my mom

Pats attempt at trying to get Poe for a picture in the apple turned a bit weird..LOL

Granny Smith

Noel picking

Mom picking

Renee picking

I love them

Pretty picture

So pretty out there

Rome Apples

Family portrait

I had to...

After our hot picking excursion we hit up Snow Line.  Bummed there was no food, but the delicious apple donuts were had, as well as hard apple cider and a wine tasting!

Hell yes I'm tasting wine

Snow Line also has the pretty spot for a photo session.

That also has bees....

Then back to Los Rios for lunch!

Loved the smiley faces on the buns! LOL!

Renee captured a very handsome shot of Mr. Poe

I got quite the haul this year!

With my haul I made 4 things - Apple Pie (My 1st time!), Apple Cider, Applesauce and an Apple Cinnamon Bread.  The apple pie isn't super pretty but delicious.  The Cider was in the crockpot and was a lot of work and a lot of ingredients for barely any cider, so that was a bummer, applesauce in the crockpot I've made before and the bread was delicious!

Finally made a successful pie!

A lovely adventure indeed!

Artists Way Week 12 - THE FINALE!

I can't believe it.
Here I am - my very last week of the Artists Way.  It actually doesn't feel like 12 weeks!

 

This last week didn't seem to have a whole lot to do.  All the tasks were writing tasks and basically things like - "do your affirmations again, check out your negative blurts from week 1, what's your goals and fears going forth" etc. etc.  I did find that a bit disappointing.  I do prefer more interesting weekly tasks rather than just writing things down.  But I don't hate it.  I suppose that makes sense for the last week.

Regarding the pages - I actually did do them quite a few nights.  I'm finding that it brings me back to the days I used to write in a diary.  I enjoy it.  And it's a great way to wind down before bed. 

So my Artists Date started with a bit of synchronicity!  I was struggling trying to figure out what I wanted to do with myself this week.  Even Googling "Solo Dates" trying to find ideas.  I stopped thinking about it for a bit and was scrolling through my phone when I came across a post from a group I started following a while ago called "You know you're from Orange when..."  Someone posted a picture of a park I'd never heard of.  I was like "What?!?!?!".  We found so many little parks during COVID.  We'd venture out just to get outside, take the kid and the bike, and search for random parks that we'd never found.  I of course would geocache.  I swore we found them all around here - but low and behold - here's another one!  So I thought - There's my Artists Date!

A sunbathing turtle!

Duck Party

Ahhhh so this is a thing!

Tiny park but lots of pretty trees!

No geocaches here...but makes me think maybe I'll hide one here!

I do love my trees

Poe loves my Artists Dates

So what have I learned after 12 weeks of the Artists Way?  I would say the big takeaways are these:

  - Right now a guide is what I need to keep me motivated and almost force me to find the time to be creative.  I believe this will change after a long period of time and I'll fall into some creative habits.  Currently it seems a guide is needed and I thoroughly enjoy it!

 

 - I need more "me" time.  Yes my social calendar is usually full.  Yes I'm in a wonderful relationship and can enjoy doing absolutely nothing with my husband.  But I need to make sure I take time for just me, by myself, with no one else (except maybe the dog or cat).  This may require Artists Dates being a regular weekly thing.

 

 - I thrive when I'm doing something like this.  I found myself lighter.  Looking forward to certain tasks.  Always looking forward to chatting with Justin.  I had so much fun finding new things to do.

 - I'm at a place in my life where I'm much more open to things like this, so I want to continue to find things that are similar to the Artists Way.  Looking forward to rolling right into the 2nd book to this series that I'll start next week!

 - I want to keep my little adventure group alive.  Sometimes it saddens me when I can't seem to get anyone to participate, but there's almost always at least one person (Usually Noel!) and that makes it worth it.  I get to see these people I care about and I also get to do things I probably wouldn't normally just go and do.

 - I've actually learned how important exercise is to me.  I'm not sure if the Artists Way necessarily brought that out but it helped get me back into a routine mindset and the morning pages did get me up and used to getting up early again - I've just now replaced them with work outs.

 

 - I need to blog more.  If that means getting myself out to more adventures so I have something to blog about then so be it.  But I've absolutely loved sharing my journey via blogs and sometimes was the thing I looked forward to most!  I do truly love story telling and blogging seems the best way for me to do it!

 

 - I really hope to find more instances of synchronicity!  It's such a delight!

So in conclusion to this latest journey - I'm so happy I did it.  I feel like I committed to it more this time than I have in the 3 times before.  I loved doing it with my dear friend Justin.  I'm actually a little sad it's coming to an end.  So very grateful for all the opportunities I have now and can really find ways to truly find the joy and nourish my inner artist!

Artists Way Week 11...

This week was Recovering a sense of Autonomy.  Not gonna like - forgot what that meant and had to look it up - the right or condition of self government.  Ok so I'm guessing regulate myself yes?

How sad is it that this is the week I fell off the pages more than ever.  LOL!  Guess I'm not self governing that very well.  But let's be honest - the pages and me have a sordid relationship.  No regrets though - what it has helped me realize is working out in the morning and sticking to that routine is much more important and better for my well being.  I do plan to journal more - but when I feel like it.  I do like writing sometimes before bed, especially if Pat is reading, and I do find that some mornings when I have nothing to do for a while I can sit and have my coffee and write.  That is what the pages will be for me.

So this week was basically just a lot of writing tasks.  I think I found this week the least fun, only because the tasks felt more"Homeworky" to me than other weeks.

I did do most of them.  (Not all...some I just can't bring myself to do - like write a letter to myself and mail it?  No.)

But one was take 7 pages to write 10 wishes in each of these categories:  Health, Possessions, Leisure, Relationships, Creativity, Career and Spirituality.  I filled in every page - except Career - that one I said RETIRE.  Literally the only thing I want from my Career right now.  Spirituality I struggled with too because I really just want to continue to have faith in the Universe.

For my Artists Date this week I went on a bike ride!  I used to love riding my beach cruiser.  When I used to live near the beach I'd ride down there all the time.  Sadly I've had to part with my favorite beach cruiser (The Pink Panther I used to call her) but I do have access to another bike.  Pat's kiddo no longer uses it so it's basically now my bike.  So I thought - I'm taking it out for my Artists Date.  We live near the Santa Ana River Trail so I decided to take a ride down to Hart Park.  It's about an hour total so that'd be perfect.

Lessons Learned - I probably should have Pat show me how to ride a bike with speeds and gears and what not.  I forgot the breaks are not on the pedals so that was a fun almost crash.  This type of bike is also skinnier and lighter than my big ol cruiser - also almost crashed a few times.  I also saw other people riding bikes like this and had helmets...do I need a helmet?  But aside from those lessons and almost crashing a total of about 5 times - it was just lovely!  I forget how much I love riding my bike and also how far you can get riding a bike via walking.  It also was a really good work out (Probably also because when I went up hills I had no idea how to adjust the gears so I huffed it.)  There is going to be many more bike rides worked back into my life for sure!  I've missed this.

She's so wee

Didn't crash!

Poe's fave spot aka The Dog Park

Hart Park -I used to play softball here!

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment

So Week 11 done!  Only one more week of this journey and then I'll start right into the next one!

I should paint this bike to be more me....