.brace face, sorta.

Today begins an approximate 18-month journey of my life: BRACES.

Or, to be exact, INVISALIGNS.

Do I look happy? I am.

I've had gaps ever since my adult teeth came in, and now, at 29 years old, I can finally do something about it.

For that, I am so thankful.

However.

I thought I should document everything I'm experiencing on this first day of wearing my Invisaligns, since today...yeah, it's not so fun. I'm hoping that when this process is over, I can look back at this entry and laugh at myself for being such a wuss.

First and foremost, y'all, I expect to lose some weight. I can't eat without taking the clear things off my teeth (which I haven't mastered yet, so that takes time), and then I have to put them right back on my teeth. I have to brush or at least rinse my mouth out before they go back in.

Meal time has become quite the process, and forget about snacking, at least until I master taking these bad boys off.

I'm still trying to decide how I'm ever going to enjoy a meal in public again.

I also seem to be salivating a lot. Not sure if it's the sensation of something on my teeth or what, but I can't swallow often enough. I think I've also been swallowing a lot of air so I foresee some issues of sorts in the future.

So far, I haven't experienced any pain or had to take any aspirin. HOWEVER. I'm about 5 hours into this thing and I'm already feeling like: WHAT IS ON MY TEETH? It would feel so good to take them off for just a few minutes, but the thing with Invisaligns is that you can't. Not if you want proper results, anyway. And I'm paying big $$$ for these so you better believe I'm leaving them right where they're supposed to be.

Also, I now speak with a lisp.

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All complaining aside, getting to go through with this is a dream come true and a big step towards greater confidence in myself.

I'll try not to complain too much more. ;-)

.give thanks: free printable.

So I was browsing Pinterest tonight looking for a pretty Thanksgiving printable for my mantel.

I found one that said Give Thanks on a chalkboard background, but when I uploaded it to Sam's Club online to order an 8x10 print, the file size of the free download was too small to make a quality print.

So...of course, I had to make my own.

Here's what I came up with.

And here is what it looks like framed and on my mantel.

I'm offering this print as a free download for you to use in your home!

It is sized for an 8x10.

Click HERE to download.

{Your version will not have the watermark.}

This is the first time I've ever used box.com to offer downloads, so please let me know if you have any issues.

I am now in the process of redoing my mantel...because good enough is never good enough. ;-)

Happy Season of Thankfulness!

.pumpkin patch.

Last Sunday, hubs and I went to a local pumpkin patch.

We picked a couple of pumpkins and had fun walking around talking about how awesome it will be to do such activities when we have a kid some day.

We scored a couple of greenish/gray pumpkins, a whitish/gray one, and a tiny white one.

We would've walked through the corn maze but we were saving our money for pumpkins.

It was a little warm (much to my dismay), hence the shorts on hubs and short sleeves on myself.

We had been putting our pumpkin patch visit off because the weekends have been so warm, but we finally gave in and went since Halloween is next week. The rule is you have to have all your pumpkins bought before Halloween. Well, at least that's my rule.

I'm a little excited about all the fun activities I'm getting to check off my Fall Bucket List.

So far, I've completed 5 out of 16 tasks.

Fall makes me happy. It's definitely my favorite!

.my fall craft booth.

This weekend marked my second year to participate in my small town's Fall Festival.

I shared a booth with my mom, mother-in-law and friend Brooke.

I sold dolls.

My mom sold crochet head warmers, necklaces and bracelets. She also had American Girl doll clothes.

My mother-in-law sold bibs, afghans and Santa advent calendars.

Brooke sold tutu's.

 {our booth}

It was nice to be under a big tent this year. The first two days were super windy and we would've been chasing our inventory all over the town had we not had the protection of the big tent.

Traffic was mostly light, despite a few spurts of customers. Still, it was more populated than it was last year, so that's good.

A lot of people complimented my dolls, but I only ended up selling two. I had a feeling that's about all I'd do since at a festival this small, people tend to gravitate towards items that cost $20 or less.

I can't say I blame them; I tend to be that shopper too.

I have a vague game plan for next year. Yes, I'm already thinking about next year's booth.

Even though my profit margin was small, I learned a lot. Mostly, I just had fun spending time with awesome ladies.

This year's festival experience left me with great memories, lessons learned, and a newfound agenda.

My passion for creating is stronger than ever and I can't wait to sew just for fun for a while and not because I'm preparing for a booth.

.sunday in the fall.

Today was wonderful. Hubs and I had planned to go to the pumpkin patch today, but it wasn't as cool as we wanted it to be for a Fall outdoor activity, so we opted to hit up a few flea markets then our local Sam's Club for a few giant pumpkins and bucket of mums.

We have a flea market in the downtown area that just moved into this old two-story building complete with cedar beams, winding staircases, and wood ceilings. The charm alone was enough for me to almost hyperventilate but there were cute booths inside to boot!

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After all that thrifting fun, we headed to Sam's Club, where they have jumbo pumpkins for a little under $9 a piece. We got these to put in the front of the house for decoration. When we go to the pumpkin patch, we'll probably get smaller ones to carve.

We also picked out a huge pot of orange/red mums. My favorites.

Here Hubs and I are with the pumpkins we picked out at the club. I've determined that for me, it's all about the stem. I like the ones that are long and quirky-looking.

 It was just another one of those glorious Fall days that I live for. We had so much fun, and now we are just relaxing at home for the rest of the day.

Looking forward to our next Fall adventure!

.DIY project: fall-inspired dishtowel.

Currently, I am preparing for my booth at an upcoming Fall festival. I've been so focused on that particular inventory, I haven't really sewn just for fun in a long time.

Ever since seeing this image on Pinterest, I knew exactly what my next "quickie" sewing project would be.

{click picture to be taken to tutorial}

It was a super quick little project and it gave me my "I Wanna Sew For Fun" fix.

I knew I wanted to use orange chevron print fabric for my Fall-inspired dishtowel. Thankfully, I already had the flour sack cloth. After an unsuccessful hunt around town for the orange chevron fabric I had my heart set on, I turned to Etsy.

I bought 1/2 yard of Riley Blake Orange Medium Print Chevron fabric from Etsy seller The Sew Sweet Shoppe.

I only had to wait a couple of days for my fabric, and today I finally got to work on the towel that has been in the back of my mind for weeks.

{Tonight's dinner was Digorno's Limited Edition Bacon Blitz pizza. Totally good considering it's the frozen stuff.}

This is a picture of dinner fresh out of the oven and the pug waiting anxiously for his daddy to return home from work.

I just love how my new Fall-inspired dishtowel looks in my kitchen!

Gotta love a simple, quick sewing project that adds a nice seasonal touch to your home.

.lincoln apple festival.

I've known this day was coming for a few weeks and I've been so excited, I totally didn't get much sleep last night. What kind of adult gets that worked up for a small town apple festival??? This one! It's Fall, this is my first real activity of the season, and I'm in a complete state of bliss.

First things first on a gorgeous Autumn Sunday: church. Another good service. Today was our third visit at our "movie theater" church, and we are feeling the warm fuzzies, like the "this could very well be our church home" kind.

Awesome.

Right after church, we picked up my parents, filled up with gas at the station, and hit the highway.

It's really not far to Lincoln. It probably took us between 30 and 40 minutes at most to get there, if even that.

When we reached the "Welcome to Lincoln" sign that's in the shape of an apple, we knew it was gonna be a grand time.

These people are serious about their apples. It's legit.

We stopped at this combination apple restaurant/store where the featured items were obviously centered around apples.

We purchased apple cider and homemade apple butter. My parents got a few gallons of apple cider (some to give as gifts) and a couple of bags of Jonathan apples.

Next we drove to the town center where we found a bunch of food vendors and craft booths. We walked around and checked everything out, ate some good food (including free apple slices), and even ran into some friends.

I was impressed by how sweet everyone we met was. I mean, the South is known for its hospitality, so I shouldn't be so surprised. People in small towns just have a sweetness and humbleness about them that make you feel warm and cozy on the inside.

A few snapshots of our fun time:

Haha. I love my Dad's "I'm eating this apple and I'm not gonna stop just because you're taking my picture" face.

After we were satisfied with our applicious time, we got back in the car and headed through some more windy highways and small, forgotten towns until we got to my in-laws' house.

We ate dinner with them and visited for a couple of hours before heading home.

While on our way to their house, we drove by this abandoned church, and an already-awesome day was made even more amazing when we stopped and took pictures of and by the old building.

Y'all, I'm not even kidding. Today was rad. Days like this make me feel like I am living out my favorite season to its fullest.