Friday 9/14 Fill In The Blanks

Well hello Friday. I am linking up with lovely mama Lauren at The Little Things We Do 

1.  Right now the weather where I live is   Going back and forth between fall and late summer weather. The mornings are cool, but it was super hot yesterday. I am so ready for it to be full blown fall. We are going to the cider mill and picking apples this weekend. 

2.  The best piece of advice I've been given is  to live life as an adventure. You can't be worried about what is going to happen and play it too safe. I have plunged into so many wonderful experiences that have made me who I am today. Some of them were scary and definitely pushed me. However, I always kept this in mind and forged ahead. 

3.  My most favorite person in all the world is my husband of course. Oh, and David Tennant. 

4. If I were to have a "mission statement" for my life, it would be "You can never be over dressed or over educated" - Oscar Wilde. Also, Dum Spiro Spero which means " As I breath I hope". 

5. My most favorite item in my closet is my caramel leather jacket I purchased in Italy a few years ago. 

6. The best cure for a bad day is tea and a Harry Potter marathon. 

7.  Today is a gift. I have so few days left before Lane is gone that I want to treasure every single one. 

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend full of wonderful fall activities. 

Random Thoughts

I may be a minority here, but there are plenty of times when I go out without my wedding rings on. I can't wear my rings to the gym without doing serious damage to them. Dead lifting with that super rough bar would scratch my rings to high heaven. I get really nervous about leaving them in the car, so I leave them at home. Post gym I sometimes run to the grocery store or to get coffee. 

I don't feel weird about not wearing my rings. I don't feel more or less married without them on either. There is this constant thread on blogs and especially Instagram about never leaving the house without your wedding rings on. (This is particularly present in military spouse Instagram accounts.) I don't really care if people judge me for not wearing them, but I was wondering if I am alone in this. 

Don't get me wrong, I adore my wedding and engagement ring. I just don't feel naked or weird if I am not wearing them. 

Now that those random thoughts are out in the world, here are some gorgeous pictures of the always lovely Duchess Kate from her recent trip. These are all from the awesome website What Kate Wore 

First Wednesday of Fall

This week fall has officially arrived to the North Country. It is cold in the morning, and sunny but brisk in the evening. I know that I will be singing a different tune, but I am loving the colder weather right now. I felt like there was just perpetual summer last year. I am ready for apple picking, corn mazes and watching the leaves change. I had fall in mind for a few of the things I am loving this week. I am linking up with Jamie at This Kind of Love for What I Am Loving Wednesday

1. My Fall Wreath! I made this in about thirty minutes yesterday afternoon. I went to Michaels for a new glue gun (Asha destroyed mine) and saw that loads of things were on sale. I made this entire wreath for under $5.00. The base was $2.99. I bought a bag of fake leaves for $.99 and a few sticks of fake berries at $.79. Michaels keeps giving me coupons and I am powerless to resist. 

2. My job moved to a different building, but I know have my own desk. I have shared with some of the other advisers, but now I actually have my own space. It is a wonderful feeling. I can't wait to start teaching in a few weeks and get even more integrated with JCC.

via

3. My Sunday morning routine with my wonderful husband. We watch Saturday night's Doctor Who and drink tea. Despite our deeply ingrained American identity, we both have secret British sides that we like to embrace.

4. I made paleo shortbread using a variation on this recipe. Oh my goodness it was delicious. It was so easy to make and cooks in 15 minutes. We have started eating unsalted butter again and this was the perfect recipe to bring butter back into our lives. 

5. I have been on a DIY spree this week (more details to come) and love the sense of accomplishment with a finished project. Here is some of my Pinterest inspiration from this week. 

My Kitchen Board on Pinterest

I will make a Food= Love print for my house. I have a few extra frames kicking around and this seems like a quick and easy project.

My DIY Board on Pinterest

I really want to make a sunburst mirror. I have all sorts of ideas, I just need to find the perfect mirror. I am planning a Hobby Lobby trip while Lane is in California. I know they have the cheap mirrors that are actually meant to sit under a candle. If I can't find something at the thrift store or Salvation Army I will try there. 

Happy Fall and Happy Wednesday! 

Eight Years

Photo From Amber of Live It Out Photography

Eight years ago today Lane and I said "I Love You" for the first time. 16 year old Molly had no idea how that high school relationship would turn out, but even then I hoped we would be together forever. Sometimes I can't believe it has been eight years. Other times I feel like it has gone by in a flash. How did we get from being two teenagers to the grownups we are today? 

I am deliriously happy with my marriage. I think that the years of long distance have made us so strong. We can really appreciate the time we have together. Even years ago, I called our long distance relationship "practicing for deployment." In a few months I will put that to the test. I know that we will make it through just fine, but I am definitely nervous. 

I wish I could go back and tell my teenage self how everything works out. I wouldn't do one thing differently. My year of being an Army wife has only made me more sure that finishing my education was the best thing I could have done. I am really happy with my life here, and my marriage is a huge part of that. 

Friday Blanks

Happy Friday to my lovely readers. This week has been a blur of work, FRG stuff and the destruction Asha decided to inflict on our house this week. I am linking up with Lauren at The Little Things We Do for Fill in the Blank Friday 

1.  My favorite grade in school was  I loved 8th grade and my senior year of high school. I think everyone loves their senior year of high school but I just had great classes and amazing friends.

2.  My favorite teacher was  Mr. Burgess who I had for three different french classes in high school. He encouraged me so much and influenced me to study abroad in France. 

3.  The highest level of education I have completed is a Masters Degree in American Government. I also have my B.A in Political Science. I am glad that I finished my education before all this Army stuff started. My student loan payments are a little painful, but I am grateful that I was able to complete my degree so quickly.

4. School lunches for me were usually from the hot line at school. In high school we had a giant dining hall with loads of options. One of the benefits of boarding school is that the food is typically better than normal high school. We always had the option of cereal or bagels if the food was terrible.

5. The amount of money you'd have to pay me to go back to high school would be I loved high school and as long as the same people were there, I would happily go back. I really like my life now, but I could go for a few months of classes, homework and the smaller worries of high school. Lane and I were high school sweet hearts so I don't have to worry about missing my husband. 

6. A few things that will always remind me of going back to school are:  pencils, notebooks, falling leaves and seeing the yellow buses start to pull into my neighborhood. 

7.  The first day of school was always my favorite! I love the first day of school. There is such promise in the start of a new school year. Blank notebooks are such a wonderful thing =). 

I have to apologize for my delay in responding to comments. I am going to tackle them this evening. I LOVE getting comments and hearing from my wonderful readers. 

Coffee

I have my first spouses coffee next week hosted by the Colonel's wife. I have read the protocol for these before, but I have a feeling this will be slightly more casual than some of the coffees I have read about. For instance, I strongly doubt the other women will be wearing gloves. 

I still plan to dress up and bring a hostess gift. This is what I am planning on wearing. I purchased this gorgeous lace dress from Ann Taylor for my bridal shower last summer. I know it is a little summery, but I am going to wear a sweater and belt it. 

In terms of the hostess gift; I haven't quite figured out what I want to bring yet. Pinterest has, of course, given me loads of ideas. I would bring a plant, but it is about to get really cold here. All the plants are going to die. 

Couldn't Find Actual Source- This is the Pinterest Page

I really like the idea of something like this. A little coffee/ hot chocolate gift set. I might just get a mug, a small tin of tea and a small jar of honey. 

via

I love those little rock sugar sticks for tea. There is a wonderful tea shop in Sackets Harbor and I hope they have some. 

If anyone has any suggestions for hostess gifts I would love to hear them. 

Hello September

I am so excited for September. It has always been my favorite month of the year. It signals the start of school and the coming of fall. Of course, up here in NY fall actually shows up in September. We were at Fort Benning last September and it was still broiling hot. 

This month we will celebrate our first wedding anniversary. Lane will be gone for the actual day (thanks Army), but we will celebrate a few days early. I want to take a 1-year picture and start a tradition to take one every year. 

Our Labor Day weekend was enormously lazy. We spent yesterday watching Doctor Who and Big Bang Theory (Yay nerds). We don't have BBC, but we bought the season pass to Doctor Who Season 7 on Itunes. The first episode was awesome. It was beautifully written and had so many classic Doctor Who themes. 

I also found some old bar stools outside the coffee shop in Sackets Harbor. I am shameless and asked if they were throwing them away. The wonderful owner said I could take them. They need a TON of work, but I love the style and height of them. With some wood glue, nails, and sanding they will be awesome. I am going to spray paint them a glossy red to go at our kitchen counter. 

I hope that everyone had a lovely weekend and just as excited for fall as I am.