September Journal

Megan Shumway
Oct 2, 2021
3 min read

Howdy, howdy! One day I had the epiphany that "Howdy" is slang for "How do you do?" Did you know that already?

I'm really glad that you made time to come read this month's journal. It means the world to me that you take interest in my thoughts.

September is a magical time of year, the air gets crisp, leaves turn gold, stories are often shared. Mysteries and monsters seem to be lurking in every shadow. Suddenly, a deep forest is much more than trees. I remember, from a very young age, sharing ghost stories at sleep overs with my cousins. We would all be in tears from fright, but I loved the adrenaline! I look forward to #spookyseason every year.

To kick off autumn I bake a pumpkin pie on the first of September. I use Libby's pumpkin pie recipe and Pillsbury pie crust. It's actually not even that good, but it's that first bite of pumpkin of the year that makes it so enjoyable.

The first week of September is when I pull out all of my fall decorations. When Todd and I were first married we lived on very, very little. Like, I got mad that he bought a $2 box of Club Crackers without talking about it first. Getting in the fall spirit was still important to us so, we went to the Dollar Tree and picked out a handful of plastic flowers and a paper pumpkin banner. We still laugh about that. My favorite bits from this year are a light up ceramic house from Hobby Lobby and this 1970's pitcher from an antique store in Wisconsin.

During the summer I decided to start making Halloween coloring pages. Once I completed that set I was inspired to keep making more, which led to making a fall collection...and a Thanksgiving collection...and a Christmas collection! They have been so fun to make and color! I started doing "Color-Alongs" on my Instagram stories, which ended up being wildly popular.

The rules to a Color-Along are simple. I share two colors options and ask "Should the flowers be...Pink or Yellow" then, everyone votes. We do that for the whole drawing until the whole page is colored! It feels special because often times the colors that are chosen are not the colors I would have picked myself.

Last week we completed the Fall Coloring Page set together. In October we will begin the Halloween Coloring Page set! If you want a set of coloring pages for yourself or your kids or for a party you can find both sets HERE.

The only word that can describe the Oregon coast accurately is 'supernatural'. No wonder legends of phantoms and mythical creatures originate here. Something about the low hanging moss, rolling fog, dense forest, and jagged cliffs make you think "Maybe magic really does exist here."

When we got back from spending three months in Wisconsin the first place we chose to visit was the coast. We actually got to see a whale on this trip! I wasn't able to get a picture since it was hanging out below the water, coming up every couple minutes to blow air. This is the second whale we have spotted from the shore since moving to Oregon 2 1/2 years ago. (And neither of them have been in Depoe Bay).

Our favorite city is Newport. We usually end our trip with a scoop of ice cream and a bowl of clam chowder to-go. We sit on the beach and eat before driving home!

About 30 minutes away from us is a Dahlia farm. They have 40 acres of flowers for you to enjoy! On a morning that Todd had off of school we took a mini trip out to visit. Since we got there early the crowds were small which allowed us to take a few pictures without interruption. We made sure to pick up a bouquet of fresh cut Dahlias to take home at the end!