Autumn Musings

Whoa ... is anyone else having trouble believing that Thanksgiving is next week?  Where have the past 3 months gone??  I love this time of year, and it is moving much too quickly for my taste.  In fact, I have always been a staunch proponent of holding off on all things Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but time seems to be passing so quickly I have let a few Christmas songs slip into my playlists so as to extend the season as long as possible.

Here in Arizona, the Myler household has been busy with work, school, and enjoying cooler weather (I think I'm going to like AZ winters :).  At the beginning of October, Darren and I both had time off for our fall breaks.  It was a great time to catch up on sleep and visit with family.  I also got to try out some recipes on Pinterest I've wanted to try for a while:

Chocolate chip banana bread in the fall bread pan we got for our wedding.  This recipe only called for bananas, yellow cake mix, eggs, and chocolate chips.  Even I couldn't mess this up.  Recipe here.

Green Monster Smoothie.  This was surprisingly tasty for all of the healthy ingredients.  Recipe here.

This was course #1 for a dinner in which I tried a new napkin folding technique and crock pot Italian chicken and rice recipe.

I've also had fun bringing out the few autumn decorations we have to add a little seasonal flair to our apartment.

Most recently, Darren and I have enjoyed:

• discovering a fun new breakfast place at the little Chandler airport.  It sounds random, I know, but the Hanger Cafe has such a charming, old-time atmosphere.  

•  early Sunday morning breakfasts in bed ...

... and walks in the nearby Discovery Park (it was fun watching this parade of ducks moving from their beds on land to the water).

In short, life has been busy, but good.  We are looking forward to the holiday season, which will bring the end of finals and more time off with family.  Can't wait!