Hi lovely ladies,I hope your Autumn is brilliant with all the leaves changing colors before our eyes. Now that i'm back in Northern California, Fall actually feels like Fall, and leaves actually change color. We live right next to a massive park that runs all through our city, with huge oak trees and a creek that winds it's way through town, and i'm always astounded at how much natural beauty there is…especially when the reds and yellows and oranges start bursting forth!
A few things i'm loving…
2) Chunky sweaters. This one I have worn about 3x a week, and I can't get enough. I love how cozy sweaters are…like wearing a blanket throughout your day. It's finally getting chilly enough to wear these on the daily…and it is happening over here:)
3) Walks in the crisp air. Last Sunday (before it rained) Kev and I took a walk through the park. Of course, I had on the chunky sweater from above which made me feel cozy as we tromped through the gorgeous Fall colors and held hands, and dreamed about our baby. As a total side note, i've been dying to talk about names our whole marriage, and Kev's always wanted to wait until we get pregnant to do so. Because he asks so little of me in matters like this, I conceded. And now that we are having a baby, all I want to do is chat names haha. On one adventure in the park, we played a game where we went through the entire alphabet and both had to throw out a name for each letter. It was fun!4) Paleo Chicken Pot Pie- speaking of Pinterest wins, I made this chicken pot pie last night, and it was delicious. Kevin loved it, which is saying a lot as he isn't gluten and dairy free like me. I now tend to only try recipes if people in the comments have written that they made it and it was good. This recipe had like 83 comments with a 99% LOVE rate of people who tried it. So I figured it had to be somewhat delicious, right? And let me tell you, it didn't disappoint. If you have allergies, or just want to be more healthy, then this is such a good recipe! And partially because I honestly had almost all the ingredients on hand and didn't have to pick anything up for it! I used EarthBalance dairy free butter in place of the palm shortening (because I have no idea what that is, haha), and it turned out great! I also added celery and peas and took out the broccoli!
5) Red clothes- I don't know, but the holidays make me want to wear all shades of red! But finding sweet and tasteful red clothing can sometimes be an art. Especially now that i'm pregnant, the last thing I want to do is look like a watermelon!! This shirt above was a perfect blend of sweetness and holiday spirit! I anticipate it being a December staple:) (there's another pic down below where you can see the shirt in more detail!)6) Tea-Less Chai Latte- Ok, so i'm kind of on a food kick right now, so sorry if i'm overwhelming you with recipes, but this one had to be included!! I don't typically drink caffeine, and now that i'm pregnant I definitely stay away from caffeine, but I LOVE a good chai latte. And a traditional Chai Latte has a base of black tea, and black tea has caffeine. So, I've been on the hunt for a delicious recipe to make myself that tastes on par with a well done tea latte, but doesn't have the caffeine. And this is the one, with a base of cocoa powder, spices, and almond milk! I had a few friends over a last week and whipped this up real quick, and everyone agreed it was so delish (I times the recipe by 5, which was easy to do!)! I dare you to try it! So easy!! (I chose to use raw cocao powder instead of cacao because cacao has caffeine, and I didn't have any on hand!)
7) The Life Giving Home, by Sally and Sarah Clarkson- Sally Clarkson has become one of my favorite authors, and i'm currently savoring her book The Life Giving Home that she wrote with her daughter Sarah. They take turns talking all about family traditions and creating a place of belonging and becoming. It's beautiful, teeming with great ideas, and so warm and welcoming. Every few nights I make some tea, light a candle, and curl up into my chair to enjoy it!
8) A Heavenly Welcome Podcast- So, one of my dear friends Kierra created a Kingdom Childbirth Class that she sells at her website called A Heavenly Welcome. I'm gearing up to take the class, as i've heard such amazing things…but in the meantime, while I cook, I listen to the free podcasts of women who share their story of breaking free from fear and experiencing God in their birth. I have been so encouraged that everyone's birth story is SO different, and there is no one blue print! The one where Nicole shares about her infertility struggle brought me to tears…so so amazing!!
Lastly, i'd love to share a few prayer requests with you. The last few days have been challenging (among other things). But long story short, I was diagnosed with having some pretty severe poison oak. I woke up this morning with my eyes swollen shut, and my entire body covered in the most itchy rash. The doctors wanted to prescribe me some pretty intense steroids, and I'm a very natural person, so this seemed scary to me. However, we have company coming to stay with us for 3 weeks starting Saturday, so i'm wanting to recover fast…with eyes that open and open sores closing up…ya feels me? I'm a pretty sad sight to see right now. So I started the round of steroids today, and while I prayed about the decision to take them, it's scary thinking how they may affect our sweet baby. I'm needing extra trust in the Lord right now, that He will hold our little one in His loving hand, and protect her from any toxins or harm that could occur.
On top of poison oak, the guys are still not done harvesting (My dad, brother, husband, and uncles and cousins all have a family rice farm). Typically they are done the 3rd week of October, but we are getting so much rain (that is not typical) that we keep getting pushed back! They are about 100 acres short of being done (which is nothing) but the rain just keeps coming and coming. This means that Kevin may not be done by the time our company arrives, which is a bummer.
There are other things too that I have not mentioned, but all that to say, I feel a little overwhelmed by it all. I'd love your prayers in this time!! You guys are so wonderful!! xoxo Thank you!!
You may remember that in January, Kevin and I were hired by an incredible company to fly to India and document their work in Calcutta. It was a crazy, fun, and meaningful trip to share some time with the staff and employees at 
