Autumn Bucket List 2024

Autumn is well under way and, even though I started it long ago, I forgot all about posting my autumn bucket list. I just now discovered it in my draft folder so, even though it's very late, I'm going to go ahead and post it now. 

To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven." 

(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

- Make my autumn bucket list

- Post consistently (at least once per week)

- Celebrate autumn birthdays with the grands and great-grand (Cooper turns one this year!)

- Welcome my first great-granddaughter into the world

- Attend (and work) Prairie Jubilee

- Plant milkweed seeds

- Attend Missouri Town's 48th Annual Arts, Crafts, and Music Festival 

- Complete the following programs through work...

        - Autumn Explorations

        - Owl Prowl

        - Winter Wildflowers

- Complete the following library programs...

        - Going Batty

        - Fox in the Forest

        - A Little House Christmas

- Visit Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument in Texas

- Visit Palo Duro Canyon Texas

- Meet my long-time online friend, Bev, in person

- Visit a pumpkin patch

- Walk through a corn maze

- Visit Branson with my aunt

- Go to Silver Dollar City

- Explore Marvel Cave

- See the site from the top of Inspiration Tower

- Attend the Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Drama

- Collect seed from my zinnias

- Celebrate National Bison Day

- Exercise my right as a citizen of the USA to vote in the 2024 election

- Pick up pecans

- Get an eye exam and new glasses

- Kick off the Christmas season in Kansas CIty

- Celebrate 'Family Christmas' with my children and grands

- Have van serviced and readied for winter

- Have tires rotated and balanced

- Trim trees, mow, and weedeat final time before winter

That's what's on my autumn bucket list. What's on yours?

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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Halloween and Reformation - Reprint From October 31, 2017 and a 2023 Update

Reprint from October 31, 2017...

Here we are! October 31st! The last day of October! Today marks the the final day of Crystal Stine's Write 31 Days writing challenge, and this will be the final post in my 31 Days of the Joys of Autumn series. 

It is also Halloween. 

And it is also Reformation Day. In fact, today marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. It was on October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther nailed the 95 Thesis to the door of the church at Wittenberg, sparking the Reformation and forever changing the course of church history.

I grew up celebrating Halloween. My dad wasn't real keen on it and his mother, my grandmother, Maudie, was totally against it, but, my mother always interceded on my behalf and made sure that I didn't miss out on the fun of dressing up, attending Halloween parties, and going trick-or-treating with my friends. Halloween was one of my favorite holidays.

As a teenager, I would come up with elaborate costumes, attend more sophisticated Halloween parties, and tour haunted houses with friends.

When I was 18, being on the rebound from someone else, I met and married a satanic priest. I didn't know that he was a satanic priest when I married him, but I did find out shortly afterwards, and that's when the dark side of the spirit world became very real and very scary. That marriage didn't last long, but, with a little more caution than before (and being a lot more aware of the dark side of things than I was before), I still continued to choose to participate in and celebrate Halloween.

In fact, as a family, we celebrated Halloween whole-heartedly until 1988. That was the last year that we embraced and celebrated Halloween. By that point the Lord was really dealing with us about it and when, after the biggest and most elaborate Halloween party that we had ever had, when our children said, "Do we HAVE to do this???" That's when my husband and I knew that it was time to stop. We said, "No, we don't have to do this!" And we didn't from that time forward.

After that we went through a series of other things though. The truth is, we didn't know how to deal with October 31st at all. For the first two or three years out we focused on having a backyard autumn festival of sorts for the children with fun activities that didn't revolve around anything even remotely connected to Halloween. 

Later on, when my husband and I became active in our church, we decided to turn the front porch light on and use Halloween as an opportunity for ministry. We handed out gospel tracts, along with the candy that we gave to trick-or-treaters. We enjoyed doing this very much!

Then, we learned about the Protestant Reformation...which was a wonderful thing! Up to that point only the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was allowed to read and study the Holy Scriptures. Then they would interpret and relate it to the people however they chose (or chose not) to. The Protestant Reformation resulted in the Bible being translated into many languages and being put into the hands of the common people to read and study for themselves. What a wonderful, wonderful privilege it is to have the Bible...God's Holy Word...written in our own language...being able to hold it in our own hands...free to read and study it for ourselves. Can you imagine living in a time when that was not allowed? If caught doing so, the penalty was often death.

So...okay...we learned about the Reformation and off went the porch light again. Instead of spreading light on the darkest night of the year, we chose, instead, to turn in to ourselves and study the great reformers...which in and of itself is not a bad thing at all...but there was no balance. We would spend weeks learning about a specific reformer and, then, on October 31st, we would gather together with others to celebrate Reformation Day...which, again...is NOT a bad thing AT ALL! In fact, more Christians should take the time to study and learn about church history (it's soooo important!)...BUT...just because we were learning about the Reformation didn't mean that we had to ignore the opportunity to be a light in the darkness.

So...now...here we are...October 31, 2017. I can, in no way,  embrace or celebrate Halloween. I know way too much about it to do so in good conscience. BUT I can't ignore it, either. It's out there. And I'd be lying if I told you that it no longer had a pull on me, because it does. I have way too much Celtic (and most likely Druid) blood in me for it not to. But it's a great time to continue moving forward in overcoming the flesh and it's a great time to minister to and share with others, which is exactly how we plan to spend our evening.

And, despite the fact that we've gone from ditch-to-ditch (and every where in between) in trying to find the Lord's will in all of this, this time of year continues to be a personal challenge and one of the many joys of autumn for me, individually, and for us, as a family.

********************

2023 Update...

To be honest, for the past several years (since COVID), there have been very few, if any, trick-or-treaters on this side of town. I think most of them go to area trunk-or-treat events or to events taking place in bigger towns. I will have gospel tracts and candy available tonight, but will focus on finishing up our six-week Reformation study with food, fellowship, and a viewing of Luther with Joseph Fiennes. 

How will you and your family be spending the last evening of October 2023?

Until next time...

~Rebecca

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).

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Autumn Bucket List 2023

Summer has, once again, come and gone and...here we are...in the earliest days of autumn 2023! It came on so fast that I hardly realized that it had even arrived. I'm telling you the past few weeks and months have passed in a complete whirlwind! In my heart and mind I'm still stranded somewhere in late June. I don't know that I have ever been as totally oblivious to the change in seasons as I have been this year! 

Oh, well! Enough of my incredulity! Now that I'm aware that my favorite season has arrived, let's talk fall! 🍁🍂🍁 

Autumn on the Tallgrass Prairie

"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, 

and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day 

and night shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22).

Although I probably won't get to all of them, here is a list of things that I hope to do and accomplish over the course of the autumn season...

My Autumn Bucket List 2023

- Write my autumn bucket list 🍁

- Post consistently (at least once per week) ✍

- Celebrate autumn birthdays with the grands 🎂

- Welcome my first great-grandbaby into the world 👶

- Attend Missouri Town 1855's 47th Annual Fall Festival of Arts, Crafts, and Music 

- Visit the Louisburg Cider Mill

- Enjoy a cup of Louisburg cider (it's THE best!) 🥃

- Enjoy a Louisburg apple cider doughnut (always a real treat!) 🍩

- Enjoy a juicy red apple 🍎

- Get lost in a corn maze 🌽

- Observe the autumnal night sky ⭐🌠🌟

- Listen to a cricket sing 🦗

- Swap out summer clothes for winter 🧥

- Take a walk in the woods 🍁

- Make a batch of Mini Baked Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts 🍩

- Enjoy a cup of hot tea ☕

- Help with and work the bison at their annual vet checks 🐃

- Enjoy an autumnal full moon (Harvest Moon - September 29th, Hunter's Moon - October 28th, and Beaver Moon - November 27th) 🌕

- Host a wiener roast 🌭

- Enjoy a fall getaway 🚗

- Visit a pumpkin patch 🧡

- Watch falling leaves 🍁🍂🍁

- Observe a flock of migrating birds 

- Enjoy a bonfire 🔥

- Attend the following conferances and classes through work...

    - 2023 AMI (Association of Missouri Interpreters) Conference at Macon, Missouri

    - Living History Academy at the Nathan and Olive Boone Homestead State Historic Site/teach cornhusk doll-making

- Complete the following programs at work...

    - Looking At Leaves (September) 🍁

    - Spider Web Wonders (October) 🕸

    - Terrific Turkeys (November) 🦃

- Follow through with a commitment to be a  guest speaker at a local 4-H chapter meeting 

- Light a fall-scented candle 🔥

- Listen to the honking of geese as they fly high overhead 

- Enjoy hot soup and fresh baked bread on a cool day 🥣

- Go on a hayride 

- Enjoy a rainy fall day ☔

- Have the propane tank filled

- Make a batch of Pumpkin Streusel Muffins 🧁

- Listen to a pack of coyotes sing across the prairie 🐺

- Celebrate National Bison Day @ work

- Bake a pumpkin pie 

- Lead an impromptu frost flower hike to observe frost flowers in the field 🥾

- Make a pumpkin roll 

- Set the clocks back when daylight savings time ends 🕑

- Walk (or dance the equivalent of) 90+ miles 👟

- Complete a six-week study on the Reformation 

- Celebrate Reformation Day

- Weatherize my home before cold weather arrives ❆

- Clean the heating stove

- Clean up the yard (cut trees, trim bushes, etc.) 🏡

- Get my car serviced before winter (oil change, new wiper blades, etc.) 🚗

- Do a winter food and supply stock-up 🥫

- Celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends 🦃

That's what's my autumn bucket list! What's on yours?

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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All Things Autumn Tag

Earlier in the month my friend, Jean, over at Chit Chat with Jean mentioned me in a fun autumn tag. She thought I might enjoy joining in, and she was right! I would and I am finally getting around to doing so! 

1.  What is your favorite thing about fall?

To be honest, I don't know that I can limit my answer to just one thing. I love pretty much EVERYTHING about fall...the sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes! I guess if I had to narrow it down to just one thing, I would have to say NATURE...because that pretty much encompasses it all in one way or another anyway...right? 😉

 

2.  Do you get fall colors where you live?

Yes! And I love viewing them! 🍁🍂🍁

3.  Favorite fall scent?  (wax melts, candles, anything)

Pumpkin spice and WoodWick brand Fireside candles,  Bath and Body Works Sweater Weather body spray and lotion, and Mrs. Meyers brand fall-scented dish soaps, liquid hand soaps, all-purpose cleaners, and air freshners.

4.  Favorite fall food or drink?

 A Pumpkin Struessel Muffin served with a piping hot cup of tea.

5.  Football . . . yay or nay?

For the most part nay but once in a while it's a yay for the Kansas City Chiefs. 🏈

6.  Do you rake, jump in, or burn piles of leaves?

As a child I enjoyed raking leaves up into a great big pile and jumping in them. Now, I just enjoy them in their natural state strewn about the yard and crunching through them as I walk.

7.  Haunted house or corn maze?

I don't do haunted houses (did as a teenager, but never liked them), but I sure do enjoy getting lost in a good corn maze! 🌽

8.  Have you ever gone on a hayride?

Yes, practically every year!

9.  Cider or hot chocolate?

Both. Cider when it's still warm outside; hot chocolate when it's cooler...and the cider has to be Louisburg brand or forget it! Most of the time, though, for me, it's just hot tea...every day...year round.

10. Carve a pumpkin or eat pumpkin pie?

Have done both, but much prefer eating pumpkin pie over carving a pumpkin. When I do carve a pumpkin though it's generally not the norm.

11. Do you dress up for Halloween?

Used to, but haven't celebrated Halloween for over 30 years now. Our family prefers to use Halloween as a ministry opportunity when given the chance.

12. Candy corn . . . yay or nay?

Yay, but only purchase one container per year, if that.

13. Favorite Halloween season movie?

I don't do Halloween movies anymore (never did like them), but I do enjoy watching TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and always save it for late October. LUTHER, too, with Joseph Fiennes (for Reformation Day - also celebrated October 31st).

14. Scariest movie?

I don't do scary movies at all anymore, but the movie that freaked me out the most as a child (silly as it is) was CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. In fact, it scarred me for life! To this day I cannot handle looking down into dark murky water. 😱

15. Halloween or Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving for sure! 🦃

16. Do you watch the Macy's parade?

No.

17. Apple pie or pumpkin pie?

Both. Apple pie anytime; pumpkin pie in the fall...especially around Thanksgiving.

18. White or dark meat?

I prefer white, but don't mind thigh meat, either. 

19. Jellied or real cranberry sauce?

Either one. Grew up with jellied, but the real deal is good, too. 

20. Will you host or travel for Thanksgiving?

Travel. Wheather far away, or close by, I usually spend Thanksgiving with family and friends elsewhere. 

I enjoyed answering these questions and would like to invite you to join in the fun, too! If you choose to do so, please, share your answers below or leave a link so that I can read and enjoy your answers, as you have read mine!

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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This or That - Autumn Favorites

Anyone who knows me knows that autumn is my favorite time of year. In fact, I'm the girl that would be very happy living in a world of perpetual autumn...but, alas, there's no such thing. To take further advantage of the season, though, I saw one of these fun 'this or that' posts on someone else's blog and thought I'd share one here.

In these cozy months of fall, do you get excited about...

1. Pumpkin or caramel flavored everything?

2. Coffee or hot tea?

3. Sunny days outside or rainy ones inside?

4. Crunchy leaves or mist rising from the water?

5. Movie nights inside or campfire nights outside?

6. Corn mazes or pumpkin patches?

7. Creamy soups or hearty stews in the crockpot?

And finally

8. Living in all things autumn or looking ahead to Christmas?

Please leave your responses in the comment section below and I will do the same. I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts about my favorite time of year!

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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Autumn Bucket List 2022

With summer's end so ended the record high heat that has been plaguing us for days. Yesterday it was 100 degrees; today it's cool and rainy. Suddenly, my favorite season is upon us...AUTUMN...in all her glory has returned! Warm days, chilly evenings, falling leaves, bonfires, and all things pumpkin spice! How nice! 🍁

I've been thinking about some of the things that I would like to do this fall. I know that I won't get to all of them, but at least this list will help me to stay focused on the season and, hopefully, enjoy it to the fullest. Won't you join me as I dream? 🍁🍂🍁

"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, 

and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day 

and night shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22).

My Autumn Bucket List 2022

1. Write my autumn bucket list 🍂

2. Plan my autumn menus (this will be done weekly through my Master List and Menu Plan Monday posts) 

3. Celebrate autumn birthdays with the grandlittles 🎂

4. Work, attend, and celebrate Prairie Jubilee 

5. Attend Missouri Town 1855's 46th Annual Craft Festival

6. Visit a U-pick apple orchard

7. Visit the Louisburg Cider Mill 

8. Enjoy a cup of Louisburg cider (it's THE best!) 🥃

9. Enjoy a Louisburg apple cider doughnut (always a real treat!) 🍩

10. Enjoy a juicy red apple 🍎

11. Get lost in a corn maze 🌽

12. Visit Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium with some of the grands

13. Observe the autumnal nighttime sky ⭐🌠🌟

14. Listen to a cricket sing 🦗

15. Swap out summer clothes for winter 🧥

16. Enjoy a walk in the woods 🍁

17. Make a batch of Mini Baked Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts 🍩

18. Enjoy a cup of pumpkin spice tea ☕

19. Help with the bison @ work their annual vet check-up

20. Enjoy an autumnal full moon (Harvest Moon - September 10th, Hunter's Moon - October 9th, and Beaver Moon - November 8th) 🌕

21. Host or attend a wiener roast 🌭 

22. Enjoy a fall getaway

23. Visit a state park or state historic site that I've never been to before 🏞

24. Visit a pumpkin patch 🧡

25. Log twelve new geocache locations 🧭

26. Watch falling leaves 🍁🍂🍁

27. Light an autumn-scented candle 🔥

28. Listen to the honking of geese as they fly high overhead 

29. Observe and record (sketch, photograph, or note) at least a dozen new or interesting things found in nature 🍄🐾🍁

30. Enjoy hot soup and fresh baked bread on a cool day 🥣

31. Carve a pumpkin 🎃

32. Go on a hayride 

33. Enjoy a rainy fall day ☔

34. Have the propane tank filled

35. Make a batch of Pumpkin Streusel Muffins 🧁

36. Observe a flock of migrating birds 

37. Listen to a pack of coyotes sing across the prairie

38. Celebrate National Bison Day @ work

39. Vote in the November election 💖🤍💙

40. Bake a pumpkin pie 

41. Lead an impromptu frost flower hike to observe frost flowers in the field 🥾

42. Make a pumpkin roll 

43. Set the clocks back when daylight savings time ends 🕑

44. Walk (or dance the equivalent of) 75+ miles 👟

45. Celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends 🦃

46. Weatherize my home before cold weather arrives ❆

47. Clean heating stove

48. Clean up the yard (cut trees, trim bushes, put the garden area to bed, etc.) 🏡

49. Get my car serviced before winter (oil change, new wiper blades, etc.) 🚗

50. Do a winter food and supply stock-up 🥫

That's what's on my autumn bucket list. Do you have an autumn bucket list? If so, share the link to yours in the comments below, so I can enjoy reading yours, too! Have a blessed and lovely autumn!

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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Autumn Bucket List 2021

Summer is officially over and, once again, my favorite season has returned...AUTUMN...in all her glory! Warm days, chilly evenings, falling leaves, bonfires, and all things pumpkin spice! How nice! 🍁

Picture Taken Last Fall of Migrating Geese

I've been thinking about some of the things that I would like to do this fall and, perhaps, accomplish over the course of it. I know that I won't get to all of them, but at least this list will help me to stay focused on the season and, hopefully, enjoy it to the fullest. Won't you join me as I dream? 🍁🍂🍁

"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, 

and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day 

and night shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22).

My Autumn Bucket List 2021

1. Write my autumn bucket list 🍂

2. Plan my autumn menus (this will be done weekly through my Master List and Menu Plan Monday posts) 

3. Seek to find my footing as I continue to walk out this new role of "widow" and adjust to living alone ("find my footing"...I'm not even sure what that means exactly, but I guess I'll find out as I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and taking one day at a time...it's all I can do) 🗓

4. Celebrate autumn birthdays with the grandlittles 🎂

5. Enjoy a juicy red apple 🍎

6. Visit the Louisburg Cider Mill 

7. Enjoy a cup of Louisburg cider (it's THE best!) 🥃

8. Enjoy a Louisburg apple cider doughnut (always a real treat!) 🍩

9. Host or attend a wiener roast 🌭

10. Visit a corn maze 🌽

11. Order in some fall scented dish soaps and liquid hand soaps from Mrs. Meyer's 

12. Make Homemade Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream 🍨

13. Observe the autumnal nighttime sky ⭐🌠🌟

14. Listen to a cricket sing 🦗

15. Clean closet and switch out summer clothes for winter 🧥

16. Enjoy a walk in the woods 🍁

17. Make a batch of Mini Baked Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts 🍩

18. Enjoy a cup of pumpkin spice tea ☕

19. Pick up pecans in my backyard (if the squirrels don't get 'em first!) 

20. Enjoy an autumnal full moon (Harvest Moon - September 20th, Hunter's Moon - October 20th, and Beaver Moon - November 19th) 🌕

21. Go on a "Heart of Little Dixie" tour with youngest daughter and her family 💓

22. Visit the graves of several notorious characters connected with Civil War history in Missouri ⚔

23. Visit a state park or state historic site that I've never been to before 🏞

24. Visit a pumpkin patch 🧡

25. Get back to geocaching - log twelve new locations 🧭

26. Watch falling leaves 🍁🍂🍁

27. Light an autumn-scented candle 🔥

28. Listen to the honking of geese as they fly high overhead 

29. Observe and record (sketch, photograph, or note) at least a dozen new or interesting things found in nature 🍄🐾🍁

30. Visit Fort Osage

31. Carve a pumpkin 🎃

32. Go on a hayride 

33. Enjoy a cool and rainy day ☔

34. Purchase an almanac and learn to read it 🕮

35. Make a batch of Pumpkin Streusel Muffins 🧁

36. Observe a flock of migrating birds 

37. Listen to a pack of coyotes sing across the prairie

38. Go to the lake for a much-needed get-away ⛵

39. Get the old van cleaned out and sold (doesn't run) 🚙

40. Bake a pumpkin pie 

41. Lead an impromptu frost flower hike to observe frost flowers in the field 🥾

42. Make a pumpkin roll 

43. Change batteries in smoke alarm (or put up a new one)

44. Walk (or dance the equivalent of) 75+ miles 👟

45. Celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends 🦃

46. Weatherize my home before cold weather arrives ❆

47. Clean heating stove and make sure that propane tank is full  

48. Clean up the yard (cut trees, trim bushes, put the garden area to bed, etc.) 🏡

49. Put up a new bird feeding station in the back yard 🐦

50. Do a winter food and supply stock-up 🥫

That's what's on my autumn bucket list. What's on yours? 

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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