{day THREE} the FALL weather

Summertime was HOT in Utah this year.  I don't remember a summer quite as hot.  We had more than our fair share of 100+ degree days, and it was miserable.  We had very little rain and it seemed like there was no end to the dreaded heat.

As soon as September rolled around it was the best feeling.  The weather immediately changed for the better.  No more paying for A/C, sweating 24/7, and tossing and turning at night because it was just too dang hot to sleep.

Isabelle and I have enjoyed many walks since Fall arrived.  It's so lovely walking around our neighborhood when there is a crisp chill in the air.  Isabelle adores playing in the leaves with her friends and we've adorned our front porch with some great pumpkins.

Source

Fall also means the beginning of so many fun things like birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, pumpkin shakes and cinnamon candles.

Seriously, what isn't great about Fall?!

{day TWO} good NEIGHBORS

All things considered, I'm not the most social person in the world.  I'm perfectly content doing things by myself and don't fret when I find myself without something to do every single weekend.

When we moved into our house, we met a few of our neighbors that had kids around the same age as Isabelle.  We all go to the same church, our kids play together on a regular basis and we help each other when it comes to baby-sitting or borrowing a cup of sugar.

I didn't anticipate getting along with my neighbors like I do, but it's really nice having a good relationship with them.  I consider them my friends and love living by them and seeing them on a daily basis.  Too often I keep to myself, but when I find myself being a bit more social I learn that it really is a lot of fun.

{day ONE} my PREGNANCIES

I am currently 26 along in my second pregnancy.  Everything about my first pregnancy was a breeze.   In fact, I was really concerned that things went a little too well and that if I ever got pregnant again I was due for the exact opposite.

While this pregnancy has been a tad more difficult in terms of feeling sick during the first trimester, overall things have been going really well.  I'm able to go about my days pretty much the same as before.  I have yet to wear any maternity clothes and have only gained 2 lbs.

I have a wonderful doctor who has such a great office and staff.  Everyone is so friendly and professional when I go in for my appointments.  I genuinely love my monthly visits, and not just because I get to hear my baby's heartbeat but also because everyone is so great to work with.

As the arrival of my second daughter draws closer, I constantly think how grateful I am for the smooth process thus far.  I know things could be a lot worse and uncomfortable.

my NOVEMBER goal

Life has been fairly rough for me in the motherhood department.  My daughter has been "on one" for the last several weeks and it's so hard not to take her extreme tantrums, hitting, screaming and overall disagreeableness as a sign that I am a terrible mom.

But instead of complaining, I'm going to attempt to heal from the continuous trials that seem to encompass my entire day by writing a post every day during the month of November about the things I am grateful for.

I realize it's November 8th, so obviously I have some catching up to do.  And because I'm a bit OCD I'm going to do a different post for each of my catch up days and possibly even back date them.  :)

More to come!

MUSIC mondays: WHOLE WIDE WORLD

Today I'm featuring the artist 

MINDY GLEDHILL

and her song

WHOLE WIDE WORLD

I adore this song because it's lyrics are so inspirational and things I hope my daughter thinks about.

"I wanna hold the whole wide world

Right here in my open hands

Maybe I'm just a little girl

A little girl with great big plans."

I hope you find this song as fun and upbeat as I do.

Happy Monday, Everyone!  I hope you have a great week.

almost UNEMPLOYED

When I began working again, I knew it'd only be for a short period of time.  I had very specific goals with my paychecks (goals that both Dustin and I agreed to), and planned from the beginning to quit once those goals were met.

Of course, things changed a bit once I found out I was pregnant.  

And today I find myself only obligated to go to work two more times.  I'm very happy to be winding down my employment for the time being, but I'm sad to leave the people I have come to know. Thanks to Facebook, I know we'll still keep in touch, and I can obviously visit them at work whenever I want.  But, it will still be sad not to see them on a regular basis, even if I am a good decade older than most of them and I'm in a completely different stage in life than most of them.

Despite all that, here are a few things I've learned about myself and others while having this job:

1.  Because of my degree, I know I could have moved up the ladder.  Even though working full-time was not on my agenda, it's nice knowing that I had that option.  I'll always be grateful for my education.

2.  I can get along with pretty much any type of person.  It helps if that person knows how to carry on a conversation, but it's not required for me to still tolerate their company.

3.  I tend to give unsolicited advice.  I need to work on that.

4.  Few feelings compare to that of coming home after a hard day at work.  Thanks, Dustin, for always being there to listen to me vent.

5.  Good, reliable co-workers are hard to come by.

6.  Retail is a very under appreciated career.  After all, without retail employees, there would be no Black Friday.

7.  Even though I was not hired to be a maid, I certainly felt like one.  There are garbage cans in the store for a reason.

8.  It's sad when people are shocked when they receive good customer service.  It shouldn't be that big of a surprise when people not only do their job, but do it well.

9.  Whether she takes my advice or not, Isabelle will learn the importance of hard work and keeping her word.

10.  I'm definitely going to miss my paychecks!

What sort of things have you learned about yourself and other people by working?

Thoughts?

INSTAGRAM wednesday: DANCE CLASS

Dance class was a huge success.

I think I'm more excited for her to go to class again today than she is.