These are a few of my favorite things...

Fall is my favorite time of the year. Both my babies (babies that are 3 and nearly 5, incidentally) were born in fall. Indiana has the perfect fall weather. Cool days with even cooler nights...along with beautiful fall colors. Here are just a few of my favorite things about fall.

1. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. Confession: I had two of these today. Don't judge...mine were of the non-fat, no whip variety AND I had a coupon. So there.

2. Mums. Nothing says fall quite like bright gold, orange, and red mums lining the front porch. Our neighbors used to sell mums every fall. I loved being able to walk through the mum garden choosing them. But the evil empire Wal-Mart put them out of business. I refuse to buy crappy mums from the Wal-Mart though. Luckily they are readily available at a couple local greenhouses. Fall isn't complete without a few mums.


3. Dancing with the Stars. *sigh* My favorite fall show. For those of you who didn't know, this is Maks. My boyfriend.
Did I mention Maks? Oh, I did? Alright then. Moving on. Just give me a minute.
4. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Fall. Around here, the fall sky is about as blue as it can be. The yellow and orange leaves against the blue sky make for gorgeous photos. Actually, one of my dad's fall photos was chosen to be displayed at a new Cancer Center at the IU Medical Center. Here he is posing with his photo. His picture is much more vivid than it seems here. But, isn't he cute?

5. Speaking of leaves, we have some beautiful fall colors. Peak foliage season is mid-October depending on the amount of rainfall we receive. We are no Vermont, but you could do a lot worse than Indiana foliage.
6. Pumpkins. I love pumpkins. A perfect fall decoration is a bale of straw with a couple of mums and pumpkins on the front porch. I have a bowl full of mini pumpkins on the kitchen table (well, I did until Cole decided it was time to "harvest" them.) The kids and I are planning a trip to the pumpkin patch for bug pumpkins this weekend! And while we are on the topic of pumpkins, I would like everyone to repeat after me...Pump-kins. Please, people. Say pumpkins. I throw up a little in my mouth when I hear punkin. It's almost as bad as "pacific." As in, "Could you be more pacific about the punkins?" *shudder*

7. Harvest time. Even though I love being surrounded by corn fields all summer...harvest time is big in our house. It doesn't mean much to me except it makes the two men in my life uber happy. You can't imagine the thrill they get simply by driving a combine through a field of corn or beans and harvesting it. Plus it gets them out of the house and leaves Claire and me to paint our toenails in peace.
8. Cool evenings. I am a hot natured person. I am hot all.the.time. So when fall rolls around and many people turn the furnace on, I finally get a chance to throw on a sweatshirt and be cozy. It makes a girl want to sit in the stands at a high school football game. Well, maybe not...but it does make me want to put on a sweatshirt and drink wine on the porch.

9. Coldstone's Pumpkin Pie in the Sky. I don't think I need to say much more. Except that if you have not had this...you must go. Right now.

10. And last but not least...Fall Break. With all of the BS that fills my day as a public school teacher (not the kids, mind you...the kids are the best part of my day) there is a little light...a little ray of hope...a little something called Fall Break. Without Fall Break, there would be a little something called Nervous Breakdown. Fall Break in our school district consists of two glorious days off from school in mid-October. Not only is it two entire days off from school, but it coincides with the perfect Indiana fall weather. Sweatshirts, jeans, tennis shoes, outdoor shopping. Ahhh. I can't wait.