It's that time of year again. The wonderful, beautiful season called autumn. I don't know when it became my favorite season. Maybe it was in college when I was sick of training for track in the August heat. It could have been in St. Louis, when I enjoyed my jogs in the cool evenings at Forest Park. I can't say with certainty when it started, but I do know when the weather starts to cool and the leaves start to change my heart starts to pitter-patter.
I enjoy all of the seasons because they each hold something new and unique to those few months, but none of them make me feel nostalgic like fall does. Without fail, at the end of every August my mouth starts craving the flavors of fall, my mood starts itching to put on jeans and boots, and my heart starts yearning to make new memories and relive the old ones. I want to put on my uniform and make a few spectacular catches in the outfield. I want to put on my running tights and tennis shoes and go run some hills with the girls. I want to sit at home on the weekends and drink iced cold coke and eat my dad's chili while my family watches football and I study in my room. I miss eating my mom's applesauce and going out shopping with her on my visits home. I miss the days of driving to my family's orchard and eating apples and drinking cider to my heart's content. My heat smiles thinking of the days of drinking cider with Brooke and watching Everwood before heading to Icthus. I think of the times spent with my pumpkin-loving friend Beth cooking in her kitchen and getting her sage advice about life and relationships. Fall makes me think of KC and driving around to orchards, antiquing in Lexington, baking in my seafoam colored kitchen, drinking coffee with my Burlap ladies, cooking with Rachel in her 100 year old house, and drinking lattes with Jenna while we study together at Panera.
Autumn is a time life slows down and I spend more time with the ones I love. I'm sentimental any season, but fall brings out the real sap in me. I've been pondering about life lately, and my thoughts of the season reminded me how much I love routine and certainty. I used to say I couldn't wait to leave home and I dreamed of traveling and being a missionary, but in reality I'm much more of a homebody than I realized. I don't like surprises and change, so a few days away from home, and I'm ready to come back. I get ideas of what I want my life to look like, but really as long as I have my family and friends that's when I am happy. It doesn't matter if I live in a the city or the suburbs, or if I have a house or an apartment, or if my house is perfectly decorated or pieced together with hand-me-downs, or if my job is fulfilling or dreadful to face. Life is empty without relationships and the memories they leave behind.
I don't know if I've taken advantage of my life and the people around me. Maybe I didn't appreciate what I had and the opportunities I was given to build relationships and love on people. I don't know what brought me to the season of life I am in now, but I know I couldn't face it without my husband, family, friends, and dogs (he-he). I've been savoring my moments with Robert here. I get to come home to homemade meals, end the day laughing at our dogs, and spend the weekend in my pajamas cooking and drinking coffee with Robert and re-charging for the week. It's the first time since we have been married that we have only had each other, and it's been quite nice! These are new memories to think back fondly on next fall, and my heart will want to recreate the feelings of thankfulness I have right now doing the little things with the one I love.
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