Hot Chocolate and Apple Cider

I pretty much love all seasons (except winter, which drags on way too long, so I only like winter for about a month), but fall has a special place in my heart. It makes me think of walking home from school through piles of crunchy leaves, drinking hot chocolate and apple cider while carving pumpkins, bundling up to watch football games (in my case, intramural football games) and eating delicious soups and stews like chili and corn chowder. I think we'll also be adding boeuf bourguignon to our fall lineup with fresh herbs from my mini herb garden.

Today started of with a downpour around 8 a.m. Luckily I could just watch it from the office. The rest of the day has been kind of cloudy and dark, but I actually liked it. It's fairly cool, but not cold. Probably my favorite weather. I'm ready to get out of the intense heat, I think. :)

I'm already busily working on Christmas presents!!! :) My sister-in-law sent me a calendar for Christmas break and a list of things we might be doing. : ) Getting so excited! Now I just have to come up with some fun things for Jeffrey. *sigh* If only that man weren't so hard to shop for. When we were dating, I did the 12 Days of Christmas for him, which was so over-the-top fun! (Except for having to sneak over to his apartment at 6 a.m. every morning when it was pitch black outside with tons of snow on the ground. That freaked me out a little.) I love giving him surprises (probably more than he likes getting surprises, but oh, well.) So I'm trying to think of something cool and clever. I thought of one thing, but that would be a little too risque to open on Christmas morning with all the nieces and nephews around.

This Halloween, I was going to make our costumes. I don't know if that's going to happen anymore. :( We're getting kind of close and I have deadlines for Christmas stuff that are a little more important. Maybe we'll just be Jeff and Rachel for Halloween.