happy halloween!

it's here! so very excited about this holiday this year

because we're living in a place that has fall again:

the leaves have fallen everywhere, the air is cold,

and the smell of the heater working is in our cozy little home.

over the weekend we got to work

and made tombstones for the front yard,

a scary witch silhouette for the window,

and spooky ghosts that are guarding our door.

while watching ghost busters {gets funnier every time!},

we made a batch of apple-cider doughnuts,

and had hot cocoa with homemade marshmallows...

there has been lots and lots of sugar in this house

{sort of looking forward to tomorrow when the sugar will go away until the next holiday}.

tonight we'll be passing out candy for the first time in our seven years of marriage...

i've wanted to do this every year, but it just hasn't worked out for one reason or another.

i'm trying to get my hands on a copy of this movie so we can watch

it between doorbell rings and knocks demanding tricks or treats.

we'll also be having some squash soup and trying to finish up

those apple cider doughnuts...probably while reading something poe-ish or brothers grimm-ish.

as soon as i find my camera i will

post photos of our graveyard.

{photos from my phone of our weekend with friends in spring city}

a walk in the english countryside

i re-discovered these photos that ceej took while we were

in derbyshire this last summer with my family.

after spending all day exploring manors & castles

we went for a little walk through the pastures to find

an ancient stone circle...what a lovely time we had there.

my sweet mom fell in love with derbyshire

as we spent a few days there in a cozy

little bed & breakfast on top of a hill that

overlooked the entire valley.

today is my mom's birthday...so i'm wishing her

lots of sweet memories of our time in derbyshire.

{to see more photos of our trip in england click here}

ode to homemade marshmallows

i finally got around to taking a second go at making my own marshmallows.

my first attempt failed due to a small, insignificant oversight...typical.

so once i figured out that i left a key ingredient out {water!} i was back in business.

i used this easy recipe from smitten kitchen...it really wasn't that hard, just a little time-consuming,

but oh so worth it. most of the time consumption happens while the marshmallows are chilling for a few hours.

contrary to her directions, i scraped the bowl...i couldn't resist! 

but luckily there was no mess at all...the scraping happened pretty easy.

once the marshmallows were chilled in the pan

i carefully removed the entire thing from the pan

because they were incredibly sticky and it was easier

to cut them into square on a cutting board.

my glands have been dreaming of all the possibilities of homemade marshmallows...

though my imagination wasn't too original:

i thought of hot cocoa & smores!

lucky for me we have some delicious norwegian chocolate on hand thanks to this lovely lady,

and i bought the best graham crackers you've ever devoured from this bakery in town.

wishing we could pass out homemade marshmallows for halloween

instead of that store-bought pretend sugar...you know what i'm talking about?

anyway, these marshmallows were easy enough and oh so tasty enough

that i've decided it's strictly homemade 'mallows from here on out in our house.

i am in love with here. in love with now. in love with this world.

last weekend ceej, marte, and i headed up to the cabin

to relax, to walk in the woods, to fill our bellies,

and to find some peace in a sometimes crazy world.

i think we found what we were looking for.

the mountains' autumn leaves have fallen for the most part,

the last golden leaves softening their grip on aspens & cottonwoods.

watching the wind blow clouds of fluttering leaves

is quite a magical experience...one of my favorite scenes of autumn.

day to day it is easy to get lost in the isolation of a to-do list--

so i am grateful for time outside with friends

where i feel my place in this world,

and that i am indeed part of a "family of things."

there are ugly things in this world, but there are infinitely more

beautiful things...at least that's the way i choose to see it today

as i continue my personal journey of finding beauty in a broken world...

i couldn't endure this journey without loved ones & the beauty of the outdoors.

hoping you feel your place in the world today. we need you in our family of things.

everywhere at once would be perfect

am feeling nostalgic today...

yosemite

the sea

oxford

though i am so in love with my mountains and this fall weather

my heart can't help but think of all the other places i love today...

and it makes me wish deeply that i could put all of my

favorite places into one convenient location.

last fall ceej and i took a trip to yosemite national park.

we stayed in the perfect little tent-cabins in curry village,

woke early to see the misty frost in the fields,

and walked around to view half-dome, yosemite falls, and more.

it was the coziest trip to the mountains ever.

i've been getting an itch to visit the ocean...

the cold, foggy, stormy sea. that sounds so soothing right now.

and i miss oxford.

i miss studying in the bodleian library,

having discussions with my classmates & my incredible professor,

i miss buildings that are centuries old.

but i want these mountains in the fall too.

how to be everywhere at once?