It's Fall, Y'all

 Just a little bit of fall around the kitchen.....I forgot to take pics of the front porch, but I still LOVE to decorate for the seasons and switch things around a bit.   I found this cute box recently for an amazing price so it just jumped in my buggy, tee hee.  It has a chalkboard paint finish on the front, so I bought some colored chalk to write a little fall welcome...........

 The two pumpkins on the left, I found at Dollar Tree, along w/the flowers.  I already had the leaf candle holders, but the colored Mason jars were new this yr.

 I also threw in several faux gourds and straw around the base of the jars to fill in the empty spaces....

I don't really decorate for Halloween, but more of a harvest theme each fall.........

 I had to put extra flowers in this big ol' basket this yr. as it seems to lose some every time I store it.  I made this arrangement a few yrs. ago and the flowers were in there sideways when I retrieved it from my seasonal decor.  I need to find a little stand for it to sit on.

I still have way more fall items all packed away in a very untidy 'barn' out back that I need to go through and purge/re-organize in the near future, but I put out what my hubby could get his hands on for the time being........

 I made all the stuffed owls, a few new ones from last yr.....

 The stitchery pillows were a gift from a dear blogger friend across the ocean........

 I just love old barns and I found this one recently when we went for a long drive...........I thought it was really picturesque, w/the stream flowing nearby........

 And now onto two book reviews that I'm a bit behind on b/c my computer was down for awhile and just recently got it to work again.

I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

$10 Great Dates was written by two sets of married couples and was written w/married couples in mind. So many of us who have been married a really long time tend to think that we can't afford to date our spouse anymore/or simply just don't take the time to date our spouses, but this book proved that there are a number of 'dates' $10 and under, that we can achieve w/our own mates, w/out breaking the bank.

The main reason I wanted to read this book was to give me even more ideas for dates w/my hubby of almost 28 yrs, b/c we tend to do the same types of dates on a regular basis and I wanted some new, fresh ideas for the both of us.  The authors certainly need to be applauded for doing just that.  With the ideas that you get from both sets of couples it was really fun thinking 'outside the box' for several of the dates.  I never would have even thought of some of their creative ideas, however, some were a bit more simplistic in nature, but they all were referred to as not just dates, but 'GREAT' dates, which I thought was rather unique/charming, and is geared to make you draw closer to each other as a couple, with God at the head of your marriage.

  Each chapter was only a few pages long, making it a quick read, plus you got great tips on 'before your date', 'on your date', 'talking points' and 'great date takeaway'.  I loved these features, it really got my creative juices flowing.

I'm sure I'll pass this 'great' book on to my own son/future daughter-in-love when they get married next summer.

  Another Bethany House Publishers book is 'Playing By Heart' by Anne Mateer.

First of all, as I've mentioned before, I am NOT a fan of books written in first person.  In this book, BOTH the main female and male characters were written in first person.  I found myself having to constantly remember who "I" was, throughout the book.  It was a beautifully written book otherwise, but I think first person usually takes away, instead of adds to the story line, in my opinion.

This book was set during World War I and the main characters are both strong Christians, which I appreciated.  Lula Bowman felt she had finally reached her goal of a teaching position and had won a scholarship to continue on w/her college education.  When she received sad news from her sister, Lula felt very strongly her only option was to leave her job and dreams behind and go back home to help her sister out.  But she still needs to make a living, so when the only teaching job available is offered to her back home, she takes it, even tho' she feels that a music teacher/basketball coach are not real professions.  The author does a wonderful job of intertwining the history of basketball into the story line and makes it very interesting at the same time.

Since Lula knows very little about basketball, she turns to the boys' coach, Chet Vaughn, to help her understand/learn it.  She is determined not to fall for him or any other young man, but to return to her college scholarship/teaching position later on.  As the story progresses, she and Chet find that sometimes God has a very different plan for your life than what you previously imagined.

If you don't mind books written in first person, and you like good, historical Christian fiction, then this is the book for you!

     Happy Fall, Y'all!!!  Thanks for visiting!!