The Key to Fall

It's the 2nd day of fall...my favorite season! There are so many great things about fall but I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. First and foremost, football! It wouldn't be my favorite season without football. There's just something about it...whether you are attending a game or watching it on T.V., it has to be present. You need a reason to make chili, cornbread, chips n' dip, pulled pork, and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, right? What better reason than a football game?! Our team is Alabama in this household. I know that Matt only went there for a year but he (and Jeff both) held on tight to their Crimson Tide Pride upon their return. How could you not cheer for them?! As for me, I love the SEC because of THEIR love for the game. It's a way of life down south. Matt likes to tell a story about leaving church in Tuscaloosa one Sunday as he overheard two elderly ladies arguing about yesterday's game! I just think that passion is so amazing. Not to mention, National Champions, Nick Saban, and Mark Ingram. Roll Tide Roll! As for the NFL, Matt is a Broncos fan (blah) and well, Go Bears!

Onto the next best...apple/cinnamon ANYTHING, crunchy colorful leaves and trees, cool weather (such a great feeling to walk around with a scarf and Uggs on), back-to-school supplies, Starbucks' Pumpkin Spiced lattes, the list goes on and on.

Three ways that I've started celebrating the season:



This is Yankee's Autumn Harvest candle. It is my FAVORITE! If you love fall as much as I do, please do yourself a favor and go buy one of these!



If you love Pumpkin Spice lattes but want to save money and time, this is the way to go! It makes your morning delightful :)



We always have a bowl of candy lying around the house. I think I got this from my Mama. Anyways, fall candy...duh.

Quality Time

(Sorry! I wrote this Monday and never published it for some reason so here it is :))

All our visitors are gone :( I just dropped daddy off at the airport this morning and now I feel like our little apartment is so empty and quiet. Matt is at work and everyone is gone! I'm really looking forward to these last two weeks in September and the entire month of October! It's finally fall here in Seattle. The leaves are changing colors, football is on every Sunday, and the temperatures are cool even when it's sunny. I love this time of year! I can't wait to spend quality time with my husband and enjoy this time as newlyweds. We can still be classified as newlyweds, right? ;)

This weekend with my dad and sister was so fun! We went to the Nebraska/Washington game to cheer on the Huskers!! They kicked some butt and of course won the game. Go Big Red! Being at the UW game for the second weekend in a row really made me realize how much I love the passion people have for football. I grew up in a house where there were constantly games being played on TV every Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night during football season but I never paid that much attention. I really love it now! My dad was instilling that passion in me without me even knowing it! Now...how to get Matt to the south to cheer on the Crimson Tide? Tailgates, southern bbq, and season tickets? Roll tide! I wish. Maybe someday, right?

Tonight, we are having a date night at the Steelhead Diner. One of our favorite restaurants here in Seattle. If you ever come to visit and want somewhere to eat, that's your place. The chef is from New Orleans and his food is a combination of southern bbq/west coast seafood mix? And the view is amazing of Puget Sound and Pike Place Market helps too!

Go Bobcats?

Did anyone watch the Cat game last Saturday? What a sad day!! Matt and I went to the UW Husky/USC game so we weren't able to watch the entire game but as the Husky game ended, we ran to ESPN's The Zone (within Husky Stadium) and found the Cat game in some random suite that was absolutely abandened. We are in Washington, people. You'd think people would want to watch the WSU game! This just shows the hate that Husky fans have for the Cougs. We enjoyed the moments when the MSU/WSU score would flash on the Husky jumbotron and everyone would cheer because MSU was ahead! Until....THEY LOST! Sad...sad day.

Anyways, we spent our last weekend with our friends Riley and Bret as they had driven out here from MT to visit! It was so fun! Now, my dad and sister are here this weekend and we are preparing to cheer on the HUSKERS this weekend as they dominate over the Huskies. GO BIG RED!! I am a little scared due to the fact that our seats are in the middle of a Husky section but whatever, we'll wear our red proudly and Nebraska will win anyways ;)

Pictures to come!

Visitors!

It must be that time of year in Seattle where there are a string of just a few guaranteed "nice" weeks. A few weeks where the sun in shining the majority of the time, it's not raining, the temperature is in the low 70's and the leaves are starting to change colors. I've learned to love this time of year in the short amount of time I've actually lived in Seattle...for three reasons. Reason #1) football season! Roll tide. Reason #2)sunshine. Reason #3) VISITORS!

Last year, we had visitors for five weeks/weekends in a row. We absolutely loved seeing our friends and family because it feels like we have many of the people that we love and miss right here in Seattle with us. It gives us the opportunity to enjoy the tourist attractions of Seattle as well as challenging us to find new adventures for those that have already seen the Space Needle and shopped at Pike Place Market :) This past weekend (Labor Day), we hosted our first house guests. The Haagensons!! We love our dear friends Erik and Brianne and treasure our time with them. It is always full of laughter and funny, unforgettable moments that we will never forget. We are all so much alike that it is scary! Anyways, they left just yesterday and in approximately one hour, our second set of guests are arriving...Riley Paris and Bret Hubber! Well, technically, they are Jeff's guests but they are sleeping in the guest room because we are so much cooler than Jeff ;) On Tuesday, my daddy comes...and Jennifer on Thursday! Our good friend Luke got us tickets to the Washington/Nebraska game on Saturday the 18th, so we had to bring the pops out for that!

So, I guess that is all that is going on in the Waller household for now! When we're not hosting and entertaining, we are busy writing thank you notes (sorry people, we are slow!), figuring out the husband/wife thing :), and Matt is playing football for a city league. I'm getting antsy being at home all the time so am attending orientation tomorrow to volunteer for an organization called Treehouse For Kids. This is such an amazing program that offers tutoring, Educational Advocacy, College Planning, and Little Wishes for foster children. I am so excited to be involved!

first birthday as a married woman.

Turning 25 is a little surreal, I must admit. I feel like I can begin the countdown to 30 now! Isn't that weird? When I was 16, I thought I'd be married and have at least 2 children by the time I was 25. Married...check. Children...? Maybe sometime in the future but for now, I am loving being married with just a husband at home to take care of. I have no job and let me tell you, being a wife is still demanding! I love my new role though. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love nesting in our new home, doing laundry, making dinners (and lunches), and waiting for my husband to come home each and every day.

I have given myself two weeks to get settled and run about a bazillion errands but starting Tuesday, substitute teaching and volunteering will begin! My internship to finish my graduate program begins in January and lasts until April, so I can't have a full time job quite yet. This is a little sad because I would LOVE to begin a full time job again this fall but I'll have to settle for being in the schools just here and there for the time being. God has the perfect plan although and I believe this is His way of letting my adjust to married life. It is such a blessing and I'm so grateful for this gift we have been given.

Today is another gloomy day in Seattle but one of my favorite things to do when it is rainy is to trot down to the local coffee shop and journal. It is so refreshing to be able to have some "me" time after the past few months and I'm trying to enjoy the last few days of "summer" before my classes start next week...I am not ready for school to start again but I know I will be once I get into the groove of things. I love what I'm learning about and always get so much from my classes. I am ready for the challenge!

Well, I'm off to enjoy my 25th birthday with my friends and hubby at a yummy sushi restaurant on South Lake Union. How perfect!