taylor and fun fall life.

welp.

taylor was all i dreamed it would be.

check it out:

 spent a lot of late nights at this place...

 reason number 1 billion i love taylor: they love kashi. i love kashi. match made in heaven.

 alumni license plate covers. doi.

 a ride on a golf cart. beyond thrilled.

 a pickup filled with pop. only at taylor.

 walking campus.

 reade.

 olson.

 so many memories. my old room.

 loving life. waiting for ice cream at ivanhoes.

 yeshhh.

 duh.

 delish. and WAY too hyper.

 playing games. drinking drinks. loving life.

 happy birthday linds! enjoy your yummy/ugly brownies, over the hill balloons, and whoopie cushion!

and then, matt and i celebrated fall last night...

 perfect evening? i think so.

we love life.

reaching new levels of goodness.

hello fall.

here are your cupcakes:

apple cupcakes. from martha stewart.

cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

(notes about both below...)

 the mixing process.

 into the tins--they rise a lot, so don't put too much!

finished product.

incredible.

a few notes:

for the cupcakes: i used fuji apples, left the skin on, and food chopped it to small pieces (rather than grating--way faster and chunkier). 

for the frosting: it's 8 oz cream cheese, 4 tbsp unsalted butter, 3 cups (or so) powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp or so cinnamon. whip the cream cheese and butter and add the vanilla and cinnamon in. then, once that's all mixed and fluffy, add the powdered sugar until it's to the right consistency. oh, and remember that the cream cheese and butter should be room temp. or it's going to be weirdly chunky!

enjoy. this one is a serious winner.

memory mania.

well.
i'm going to taylor homecoming this weekend.
these 4 girls. loving life once again.

thus, i'm nostalgic.
thinking about the great friends i made at taylor.
thinking about the amazing experiences i had at taylor.
thinking about the great classes i took at taylor.
thinking about how i fell in love at taylor.


and then i couldn't stop remembering.
and then i realized.
6 years ago on october 5, 2005, i had my first kiss. and it happened to be with the guy i married a few years later.
how do i know?
well, i wrote letters to my future husband starting in 2004... so october 11, 2005, i wrote this:

i mean really. can you blame me for the nostalgia?
i realize i'm ridiculously cheesy.
and a hopeless romantic.
but come on. i ended up marrying that guy. it has all the makings of an amazing movie.
and it all happened at taylor.

i don't know if that place is ready for me and all my joy. and memories. it's probable i'll cry at some point.

oh, school year.

here is an ode to school taking up my life:

i sure do love to teach

though there are days i'd rather be at the beach.

if only i still had time in my day

to bake and blog and lay.

school is taking up all my time.

therefore, less time for the important things in life: blogging.

however, a lot has gone on.

check out a fun weekend at artprize in grand rapids:

 apple orcharding.

 arting. (almost like farting, but not.)

 mp3 experiencing.

 carmel appleing.

life is beautiful.

in other news:

i haven't baked anything other than the weekly cookies that matt requires. (it's true, he requires baked goods on a weekly basis. i don't hate it. it means i get to mix things and chomp on cookie dough.)

instead...

my extra-time world is consumed with christmas ideas, creations, and bargaining. (don't say it's too early. the earlier, the better the deals. don't test me.)

unfortunately, i can't share such things on here. (because, duh, maybe you're one of the ones getting something from me!

but i can share some fun things i've found:

dip-dyed candles!

fabric clutch

homemade finger paints

candy cane marshmallows

and those aren't even the best ones... because i'm creating all of those!  so just wait... you'll see the goodness in a few months (and let me tell you, these are good enough that even matt is on board. which is saying something.)

so what else have i been up to?

making lists for christmas.

wanting to take our christmas picture (which will be AWESOME. i planned it out).

wanting to decorate. but not being allowed.

wanting to talk nonstop about christmas.

so, you can see where my mind has been...

joy to the world!