Spooky Stuff

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I've been so sick of political talk and current events lately, anything about the election makes my whole stomach feel like it's in a knot. Reading about it and listening to it brings me low and I lose all inspiration and motivation. For those who know me, know that conservative talk radio is usually my jam... well, not anymore!  Ironically, the one thing that has been soothing my troubled political heart, and distracting me from my political anguish the past few weeks has been true crime and serial killer stories.

It started with the podcast My Favorite Murder, a blog I follow mentioned it so I decided to give it a listen. I LOVE IT! The women who do the podcast delight me so much, even though they swear like sailors and don't do much research. I feel bad recommending this podcast because of the language, but it has made me so happy... I can't describe why, maybe this article, I am a murderino, will explain it better.

Anyways, the show has lit my true crime loving spirit, and since it's October - I have FULLY embraced it. It's literally all I have been listening to, reading, and watching. It feels good to have such a creepy and festive distraction from everything else going on.

If you need some spooky stuff in your life this last week before Halloween, here are my current recommendations (most of which I watched or read because they were mentioned on My Favorite Murder):

Podcasts
My Favorite Murder
Generation Why (my brother's favorite true crime podcast)
Thinking Sideways (mentioned by My Favorite Murder)

Netflix / Internet TV
the Amanda Knox documentary
The Seventies - episode 4: crimes and cults
OJ: Made in America
Making of a Murderer (in case you have been living under a rock the past year)

Books
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule - about Ted Bundy
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote - if you are into true crime, this is a classic
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker - about the serial killer STILL AT LARGE on Long Island
Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - fiction, but a great thriller
Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean - true story about an 11 year old whose family gets murdered at sea

And if you have a good true crime recommendation, please let me know!

Our Epic Fall Road Trip

I told my husband it was going to be the chillest, most laid back road trip he's ever been on. Begged him to take time off work and to forget about all our house projects for a few days. And then I planned it all. For two months I dreamed and planned, made lists, looked up points of interest, bought tons of Polaroid film, downloaded the book Gone Girl, mapped out the route, printed out the map, taped it in a notebook, and then wrote down all the directions so I wouldn't be reliant on my phone. I was actually wishing for both our phones to die along the journey and for the phone-chargers in the jeep to stop working, because I just totally needed to unplug.

Acorns

Acorns started dropping over a month ago which immediately got the pumpkin spice in my blood churning- with every acorn drop, fall was on its' way!
 

Over Labor Day weekend we set up a bright cheery red hammock at the back part of our yard in the scrub oak, to welcome in the cooler fall weather air and romantic gold-filled evenings. Laying in the hammock I am far away from everything it seems, just staring up into the scrub oak... listening to the squirrels and birds, acorns randomly letting go and plummeting down to the ground. Every time it gave me a thrill... I don't remember so many acorns last summer, or the summer before. 

Pretty soon our backyard was BLANKETED in acorns. I had been collecting good ones in a jar on our back porch (good ones = still have their hats on), but after a while I realized just how crazy the acorns were getting. The lawn was completely covered, I felt I needed to rake them up before I could mow... and in another area of the yard where I have been landscaping, I had raked them up and bagged TWO giant bags worth. Still the acorns are dropping! On the side of our house there is a little hill that became tricky to navigate because all the acorns under foot were like little rollers sending you down the slope!

My neighbor to the north exclaimed to me as I passed her house, out walking Dozer, "Have you noticed how crazy the acorns are this year?" (she has lived here forever, so she would be the person to know if this was a true acorn phenomenon), "I've heard it means that we have a heavy winter coming!" Really? Could that be so?

I came home and clicked over to the Farmer's Almanac and confirmed that buckets of acorns is one of the signs we have a heavy and hard winter ahead of us! I hope it's true... our mountains have been needing a good snow fall here in Utah... and my baby boy is due in February! I can't think of anything better than hibernating all winter with a newborn, watching the snow fall.

So now when acorns drop, or I crunch my way through them in the backyard, they make me smile even more, my harbingers of fall are now my talismans of winter!

Welcome September!

With the arrival of the fall weather, my energy has returned! I feel so happy, excited, adventurous, full of wonder, and full of hope. I am so grateful for this big ole' beautiful world, and for cycles, seasons, renewal, and change.

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I still love this Autumn print

.....and this Autumn print

I'm excited for Trader Joe's pumpkin insanity! And for this recipe again

Time to for baking lovely fall breads

+ + + Fall foliage map for 2016! + + +

September mountain jewelry.

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And if you need a reason to throw a Fall Party this month, here are some good days to celebrate:

Fall Equinox - First Day of Autumn - Sept 22nd

Native American Day - Sept 23rd (held the 4th Friday of September)

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image via pinterest

An Excerpt From Grandma Gatewood's Journal

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(veggies from my backyard this weekend)

 



I love all the parts of October. Where I live the temperatures and the smells outside during this month are absolutely magical. October skies are always a robust robin blue, the sun seems to cast an orange/golden glow over everything, and pumpkins line all the porches. If Octobers were somehow stretched to 60 days, instead of just 31, I don't think anyone here in Utah would complain.

The weather has been so pleasant, I find myself outside doing yardwork until it gets dark... I have SO much I want to do. When I am too lazy to get stuff done, my mind has been drifting to this excerpt from Grandma Gatewood's Walk, which I read last month... the author talks about "the extraordinary manutia of her twilight", how she bought and ran a small trailer court near the Appalacian Mountains... she did all the upkeep herself.

"The upkeep on the place was hard. Tenants left trash and rags and bottles outside, so she'd clean up and trim around the sirts with a butcher knife while they were away. When her gas mower broke down, she cute the grass with a push mower. She quilted and braided rugs and wrote leters and spoke at school assemblies and washed the windows at the Methodist church."

And here is a post from Grandma Gatewood's diary when she was 80 years old:

May 19, 1967

I took a mattock and shovel and worked on the road around the court; dug a ditch to let the water out, and dug the high places into holes. Lifted the grass around where the well was dug and wheeled five loads of dirt and filled in. Then put the sod back and watered it and beat it down with the shovel. Put the block of walk back in place. Spaded and planted two hills of cukes, two pumpkins, four hills of peanuts. Put a fence around to keep the rabbits out. Burned the trash. Got some asparagus down the track and picked lettuce and a few strawberries. Went to the P.O. Fixed the underpinning. And I'm tired.

When I think of what that little old lady could do in one day, at the age of 80, I feel like I can do anything!

Horse Ride, Bench Creek Loop

Work at the office has been nonstop busy the last few months, on top of Mike working full time he also started night classes, Dozer got eye surgery and has had to wear a 30" cone around his giant head for like a month (every time I looked at his swollen eyes I felt so sad for him), and I feel like our home is just one big unfinished remodeling project covered in dog hair (and I'm just too tired after work to do anything about it). I am usually okay with being busy, but lately I have been feeling weighed down with the working girl blues...

A couple Saturdays ago, Mike and I got invited out to go horse back riding with our good cowboy friend, Randy... and it was just what I didn't know I needed!!! If you can bottle up how fall days out in the middle of the mountains make you feel- well, you'd be rich my friend.... and I would be your number one customer. I felt refreshed and grateful. At one point, while the horses were resting, my husband gave me a hug and said, "life is good".... I couldn't agree more!

God must have created fall days, mountains, and husbands to remind us of that.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin O's Treats

 Mary tried some of Trader Joe's Pumpkin O's and then told me to stock up and bring her some... "I only bought two and I am regretting it." So I stopped by Trader Joe's and picked up some on the way home from work the other day... then I got to thinking, and thought of the most brilliant idea!

Pumpkin O's + melted marshmallow + milk chocolate = PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE FALL DELIGHT

They are the fall gourmet version of rice krispie treats. So easy to make, and sooo delicious. From one proper mountain woman to another, if you live by a Trader Joe's... try them out, they are a proper, warm, gooey, campfire-y, pumpkin-y, fun, and fall-time treat to be shared with all.

Peace and pumpkins,

Whitney

Three Fall Foliage Links

1.) Mary and Devon Dewey, my good friends, were recently in Colorado and decided to fly their drone up above the autumn trees that have changed yellow. I think their aerial filming is one of the funnest couples hobbies ever, they get to see the world at such a unique perspective together. (click here to see their film from Colorado)

2.) This fall foliage prediction map for 2015 makes me happy:

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3.) Need a fun craft that will help keep those autumn leaves preserved around your home a little longer? Check out all the autumn leaves DIY links here on the pioneer settler:

PS this fall foilage map and these fall finds.

Sharing Time Pt. 6

I can't let the fall end without sharing one of my favorite fall printables:

FREE download via Whipperberry

My new favorite useful app is called BandsInTown [ apple | andriod ]
I love that it shows you every band that is coming to town, and where they will be playing... I will never miss a concert again!

And here's some other random things I've stumbled upon that are worth sharing with ya'll:

1 if you want a cute shower curtain they can be expensive. when I found this one I was blown away at the price... and ordered it right away. I think it's so pretty for a woodsy bathroom.

 

2 while listening to talk radio I heard an ad for this cider... I checked out their website and loved what I saw, mouth-watering ciders with beautiful packaging. I am a big fan of unique fun drinks to have at parties and social gatherings... I hope to have a reason to celebrate with some of this cider soon.

 

3 most adorable tents ever click here | and here | and here  for some of my favorites. They also have a really fun instagram feed worth following @fieldcandy

 

4 I bought these facial towelettes this week and love the fresh clean feeling I immediatly had after using one. They remove dirt, oil and makeup without having to rinse, I can't wait to use them on my next camping trip!

 

5 fleece throw blankets from Ikea... the squigly line one is $1.99!!?!... I repeat, $1.99!!!.. and measures 51" x 63"... the others are $3.99 and measure a little bit bigger. How they are selling such a large amount of fleece for such a little tiny price! The only bummer is that you can't order them online, you have to purcharse them at their store. I think the red and white ones would make awesome inexpensive Christmas presents... just add some personal embelishments, like jingle bells or something. squiggly lines | white | red

For other sharing times CLICK HERE

Peace and pine trees,

Whitney

Sharing Time Pt. 4

Jones Design Company has a FREE autumn essentials print. And it's adorable.

I love this fleece by Burton:

Gorgeous boots from Target:

Bee boots from Target online:

The color of this Henrika Throw Blanket is fantastic, and only 14.99 from Ikea:

I have to share this little guy... little lego davy crockett!

For me, I'm not sure why, but I associate beautiful chignons and braided buns as part of Fall. I plan to work on my bun skills this season, and my crown braids... because I think they are gorgeous. I love how they look with plaid shirts for hiking treks (see the photo below), or for pulling back your hair while baking, shooting guns, or harvesting tomatoes.
These sites are awesome for hair tutorials:
Yet Another Beauty Site - Hair
A Beautiful Mess - Hair

Every night, post dinner, we have been drinking and loving this...

Honey Vanilla Chamomile, it is tasty tasty and has been really hitting the spot.

Also, a couple weeks ago we were visiting Mike's family in Idaho... where his brother's father-in-law, who is 100% Persian, drank tea with his wife every night and told us that we Americans are weird for using ceramic mugs for our tea... glass, for total transparency, is the only way to go, it allows you to see if the tea has been properly seeped.
I like this mug, even though glass tea cups feel un-patriotic to me:

And there ya go... sharing is caring, Happy Friday!

Previous Sharing Times you may enjoy:

Sharing Time Pt. 1

Sharing Time Pt. 2

Sharing Time Pt. 3

Proper Day Packs for Hiking - Fall 2014

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September to October is THE BEST time of the year for hiking. When the weather cools down and the leaves begin to change, proper mountain women everywhere are grabbing their hiking packs and heading to their local trail heads.

Long hikes, short hikes, or little strolls through the woods... you are going to need a pack to hold all your proper hiking supplies. Below is a round-up of pretty day packs which are proper mountain women approved.

Annex Backpack - Burton:

Tinder Backpack - Burton:

Kanken No. 2 - Fjallraven:

Save the Arctic Fox - Fjallraven:

Angstrom 28 Pack - North Face:

Sinder 18 - Jansport:

Little America Backpack - Herschel:

The Nomad Pack - Poler

The Day Pack - Poler

Burton Deer Print Jacket

One of the reasons I love fall so much is because of all the men chasing around deer and elk while decked out in their camo... it really does a proper mountain woman's heart good to see men excited to be outside camping, shooting, and being wild mountain men. I say if a man isn't home or at work, the best place he can be is up in the mountains. Most hunters I talk to say one of their favorite parts of hunting is just being up in the mountains, finding a good quiet spot, and watching the sun come up and the forest come alive. Sitting still, for hours at a time, with no distractions, surrounded by nature and the breath-taking autumn backdrop. I'm sure, whether they are aware of it or not, God speaks to their souls... and men who speak with God, and wear camo at the same time? now that's just down right dreamy.

And while I am a lover of camo, unless you yourself are hunting, lets save it for the mountain men. Proper mountain woman don't wear camo excessively. One of the reasons why is because there are jackets like this one that exist. Why would you ever wear camo when you could wear this cute jacket with little deer silhouettes on it? This willow flannel pullover by burton is gorgeous, it gives the message that you enjoy the great outdoors without looking too manly, and the happy red should help keep you out of a hunter's scope as well.

Rock Canyon Is Alright

posting some october autumn pictures

from a rainy hike up rock canyon saturday

(these pics are for naomi):

I don't ever hike up Rock Canyon, but I need to - after hiking a ways, you quit running into people and it's beautiful.