The Little Things

For those of you that know me, you know it's the little things that make my world go round. I think that is why fall is my favorite season; trees are changing, new decorations are out, the weather drops just enough to bring in a new wardrobe, and traditions start back up like pumpkin carving and Thanksgiving planning. When fall season kicks off, all these little changes start to occur making this time of year so perfect. Each change is something normally ordinary, and yet gets more unique and extraordinary as years pass.

My normal ordinary way to kick off fall season has always been special, but this year it's even more special because it's my last fall in college (kind of).  Now that I put that into words, this season seems pretty bitter-sweet in a natural-growing-up kind of way, but we are embracing it to the fullest.  I have started this fall season once again alongside my favorite people (with our pumpkin spice lattes of course), and we have gone to things like barn dances,
 football tailgates, breakfast club, Starry Night, we've baked anything and everything with pumpkin puree, and had way too much fun doing it all. This year, we even had a "Bring Your Own Pumpkin Spice Latte" craft night, which in my mind has now become a Fall "Must-Do" tradition whether my friends are aware of it or not.  School seems to be really busy around this time too, but I think that is why these little fall traditions I have with my closest friends are ones I will always hold near and dear to my heart. No matter how busy we are, fall always brings out the best in us, and we find little things to do that make this season so perfect.

Alright, enough with the my tribute.

Other traditions that define my fall season are the start to fantasy football, lazy Sundays start happening more often, long socks and blankets are constantly out, s'mores become a food group, Starbucks becomes an accessory to all of my outfits, romance is everywhere (more on that later), and most importantly, fall fashion is back! Sweaters, boots, vests, flannels, scarves!!! It's just too much, and defines my September through November all too well. As I mentioned, I also love the decor that comes out during this time of year. Last year, I made a wreath to welcome the spirit of fall, and I must admit, I was just as excited to get it back out this season as I was last. Hobby Lobby has the best pieces to make a seasonal wreath like this one, and I encourage all of you to make one for your home!

Unfortunately, this past BYOPSL craft night I didn't get to create anything, but I did get to bake! I made the house smell like fall with Pumpkin White Chocolate Snickerdoodles, and I will most definitely be baking these again before the season is over. For those of you who might make these at home, don't add extra pumpkin and make sure you bake them the full 10-12 minutes or they won't set up. Even though the half baked warm dough was delicious, that is my recommendation. Also, don't add more white chocolate chips to the top unless you want an overwhelming white chocolate taste. I wasn't complaining about that part, but when I make them again, I will for sure tone down on the white chocolate and add more cinnamon and sugar instead. This season I also made  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins which were my all-time favorite! These pumpkin treats really got me in the mood for fall, and I can't wait to make more!

     
















Like I keep saying, it's all about the little things. These are the little things that I include in my fall season to make it so special.  Most of the fun comes from the people I do all these things with, but nonetheless, normal ordinary things I plan to do throughout time.

That is just enough distraction for me for one day. I hope you all can take something away from my little, normal ordinary things and add them to your fall "to-do's".

Thanks for reading,

T. Hall

The love for baking is a magical thing. This recipe is one of my favorites. Today, I am particularly bored, so I decided to bake cookies of course.. especially because I have a few people to thank. What thank you is better than cookies? None.  Today's batches are Nutella Crinkle Cookies and they to die for! Just in case you need photo evidence..

Check out "Playing with Flour" for more delicious treats like these!

This looks too perfect on a rainy day like today.

The Ordinary Summer

So, this summer I was dreading coming home. Absolutely dreading it. Now I am looking through my pictures from the past three months, and I'm thinking about how much I needed my family, my normalcy, to rejuvenate for this upcoming school year. I have wanted to post for a long time, but I didn't know what to write about because a.) I have been working at the optometry office everyday for the past three months, and let's face it, that's only exciting to me; b.) I have been taking a physics class, again only exciting to me; and c.) I was hanging with my friends or my family during any free times I had.

Then I thought about it. That stuff is the normal ordinary stuff I initially wanted to blog about, even if it isn't the most entertaining.

So here it- my summer. My closest friend from high school and I joined a bible study with my church, I climbed up to a building's rooftop for the first time which was probably semi-illegal, watched a civil war reenactment at Connor Prairie,  I did a detox cleanse thing to better my body, I worked both in school and at my internship, I wired my own lamp (which blew up less than 24 hours after I plugged it in at my new apartment), did my typical other crafts to make my room the way I wanted it, and just let myself grow as much as possible in the process.  That's what this time in life is for right? To be twenty-one and confused... or maybe curious about where life is headed is a better description. Yeah. I like curious better than confused to describe where I am at.

Here's what all the sudden made me realize why this summer was so important. I moved into my new apartment with my three other roommates and was thrown all kind of big-girl-world type problems that we had to fix... and to be honest, I really wasn't sure if I was ready for this grown-up life to start happening (or patient enough either). I always pictured myself as an adult and wanted that control over all of my decisions, problem solving, and wanted to learn how to do real life. Now that it's here and happening, I am kind of shocked by it. This past summer allowed me to feel more like a "kid" at least one more time, which I am a lot more grateful for than I was when the summer started. I filled my time by crafting, cooking (trying to anyway), playing games with my siblings, celebrating birthdays, eating lots of ice cream, taking mini vacations to DC (what?!), watching lots of baseball, visiting my grandparents and reliving my childhood… that is what summers are for and that is what I found it to be once again. I got to be the intern. The baby. A student. At school I obviously am a student too, but I have to be much more serious about it. I also have to worry about bills, books, and budgets when I am here. Don't get my wrong, I love being at school. It's that grown-up feeling I have coming back here that I am having trouble dealing with. It's fun for me to look at back on these pictures, even though I should have taken more, and feel more bliss than freedom. They may not be anything fancy or crazy, but they expose the life I made during my three months at home. My Ordinary Summer.

Three Minutes of Fame

So this summer is off to a more ambitious start than I expected. This morning I was unexpectedly on Fox 59 with my dad for an interview. For those of you not familiar, that is just our local news channel here in the burbs (suburbs) of Indy. I must admit, TV is not something I ever pictured myself on, but what the heck, I am trying to document my normal ordinary for the time being right? New adventures, spontaneity, all that jazz. I would definitely call this a new adventure, and if it became part of my normal ordinary, I wouldn't be so mad about it.  It was actually really fun seeing all the behind the scenes stuff. If you want to watch, here it is!

http://fox59.com/2014/05/14/how-do-parents-children-let-go-after-graduation/#axzz31jpKf21a

So I over exaggerated a little… I had more like 30 seconds of fame, but the right side of my hair got a lot of action. It was predominately about my dad's words of wisdom that made the news, but hey! He did a great job and I was happy to sit there and speak my 30 seconds with pride. My dad is a family therapist here in Indy, and he is a darn good one if I do say so myself. My stepmom is also stepping into the business and was also on Fox talking about all this new technology that my dad is bringing to the midwest. It's also pretty cool if you want to check that out below.

http://fox59.com/2014/05/07/cutting-edge-treatment-for-depression-and-anxiety/#axzz31jpKf21a

Okay, but now to the other best part of my day: My first summer walk with mom :) For as long as I can remember, my mom and I have had our best talks and laughs on a walk, and we've also our deepest heart-to-hearts and hash-outs on our walks. Now that I am in college, we walk just about everyday in rain or shine while I am home for the summer just because we always have things to talk about. Today, we decided we don't need sunshine to have fun:

We both were getting a little too stir-crazy in the house with all the rain, so of course we walked to dinner and made an adventure out of it.

Usually my summer doesn't start off with quite so much going on, but I am perfectly okay with this. Happy day two on the blog!

Thanks for reading,

T. Hall

The Normal Ordinary:

Well, here it goes. My first blog post.

Normalcy is something hard to define because it is different for everyone. So, I have decided to document what normal looks like for me. I go through my routine everyday (that is not really so routine), which doesn't seem all that exciting at first. I figure in college we all have somewhat similar lifestyles… right? But let's face it: no day ever looks the same for everyone regardless of what stage of life we're in, and somehow we create a normal, ordinary lifestyle for ourselves out of it all. Day-in-day-out stuff that could easily be forgotten, and yet makes up the glue that holds us together.

What I am trying to say is I want to document my normal ordinary through my blog.

At this point in my life I am not tied to anything:  I am a completely carefree-independent-limitless-spontaneous party of one, so why not blog about all of my adventures? Maybe blogging will help inspire some summer spontaneity. Here, I am going to let loose and talk about all my big dreams, stupid stories, creativity thoughts, emotions, opinions, or whatever happens during my day.  I can't wait to see what it looks like at the end of the year. If I end up having readers follow me or relate to me, that is great! I will be really excited to know someone else gets some enjoyment out of this too. However this blog is really for me to see what my last year of undergrad looks like, to share all these transitions I am about to go through, and really just have fun with my day-to-day shenanigans because normal will never look like this again.

So, to anyone who gives this a second glance, thanks for reading! I am looking forward to getting this show on the road.


T. Hall