Tuesday

1) Sunday afternoon I made & canned 22 quarts of applesauce. Sadly, that was all the apples we got this year. It was not a great fruit year for us. Jay thinks it was do to his massive pruning last spring. Anyway, I used my victorio for the first time and it.is.awesome. There was very little waste & I did not have to core or peel the apples. Just a wash, cut out the bad spots, and either halve or quarter. Then into the pot to soften. Dump in the hopper and crank & plunge away. Much easier.

2) I wore a dress to church on Sunday. I am at a point wear I just sort of feel yuck all the time. So I thought I'd dress up a little. I got lots of complements which was nice. And highly embarrassing. It made me feel good but it sort of made me feel like a spectacle. The part that I really enjoyed was that Jay really liked it. He often sees the no makeup, hair thrown up, sweatpants version of me. He never complains but I know he prefers me to get dressed & make myself presentable. So I am trying to make more of an effort. Even when I am just staying home.

3) Speaking of dressing up, I have been looking at outfits online the last couple of days. There are some really cute things out there. But the prices are outrageous! Some of them cost more than my car! Literally. So I decided I would really waste some time and try to do my own "get the look".

This is what I came up with:

Outfit online $608.70 without the bag.





My version: $180.30 with the bag.





Of course, I already have a grey peacoat, similar handbag, & jeans. So for me it would be a lot less.

Another try.

Internet outfit: $292.00 minus the belt, bag, & earrings because they were ridiculous in price.





My version: $175.18 without the bag.






One more.

Internet version: $164.00 not including the belt, boots, hat, or mittens




My version: $242.18 including everything.



Still expensive but kinda fun to try & figure out the cheapest way.

4) While I'm still on the subject of looking beautiful I figured that I'd better work on my true beauty just as much or more than my physical self, so I am trying to get back into the habit of daily Bible study again. Anybody know of a good devotional series for wives & moms?

5) Rhett is sleeping better but still waking up once a night. Certainly better than 3 times. And he goes peacefully to sleep on his own 90% of the time now which is really nice.

6) The wood is in for the year. It looks so nice all split and stacked up on the porch and in the shed. Just another one of the perks to this time of year. Fires glowing in the living room stove. There is almost nothing that soothes me like the crackling of a fire late at night or in the wee hours of the morning.

7) Our Thanksgiving plans may be drastically changing at the last minute due to the fact that Jay's brother & his family may not be able to make it. Of course we won't know until the last minute so if they can't make it I will be crashing my family's Thanksgiving dinner.

8) Having a Scentsy party in two weeks. And my house is not even a little bit ready. Nothing like a bunch of company to motivate me to clean exceptionally well. Maybe I should have company once a week...

9) I have been trying to cut out sugar the last week or two. It is harder than I thought. I have cut waaaaay back but haven't been able to cut it completely out. I'll get it eventually. I hope.

10) Fall has suddenly turned cold and wet and we are frantically trying to get all of the outdoor projects wrapped up before it's too late. Seems like we are always scrambling to do everything. Speaking of which, time to get dinner and some more housework done.