Fall is in the Air

Pumpkin spice lattes are back! And while I haven't had one yet this season, it's comforting to know it's an option and, therefore, fall is on it's way. I'm certainly no where near ready for it to be winter, but a light scarf and boots would be nice. The mornings and evenings here have been getting cooler, making me believe fall is right around the corner. So during Labor Day weekend I was excited to get out and do all things fall!

First things first, I HAD to go apple picking! I found out too late in the season last year that we have apple orchards near us, so this has been on my bucket list since the end of last September. We went to Jenkins Farms Apple Valley Orchard in Penrose, CO. It's super cute (as I imagine all apple orchards are) and the people that worked there were really friendly. They had about ten different varieties of apples growing and it was fun to go up and down the rows figuring out the differences between all the kinds of apples.

We left with almost ten pounds of apples. It was a really fun and something different from the norm.

Of course, I had to get a little shopping in there too. I love these lip oil-balms from Bare Minerals! My mom got me the peach passion and I have been wearing it all summer, so I thought I'd give plumberry pop a try for fall/winter. I also had to stop by Bath and Body Works and get some of their fall scented soaps!

I've already gotten out all of my fall decorations, so the house is officially ready for fall.

We ended our Labor Day weekend with the Labor Day Parade here in town.

 Let pumpkin spice latte season begin!!!

Yay Friday!

Boy have I been looking forward to today! Yay for three day weekends! This week has been a slow/fast one. Where the days seem to take forever, but somehow the week has gone by quickly. Below are some of the highlights of the week!

1. We've had a lot of yummy meals this week!

Recipes
Chili - Just follow the directions on the back of the Chili Seasoning packet
Taco Salad
Cream Chicken Orzo

2. I got a package from my lovely mother-in-law with this awesome coloring book inside. Can't wait to snuggle in bed and watch a movie while coloring!

3. Mike and I started the Couch to 5K program this week. If you haven't heard of it, it's a walking/jogging/running regime that supposed to take you from a couch potato to being able to run a 5K in eight weeks. As motivation, Mike and I signed up for a 5K in October called the bRUNch run and I'm actually pretty excited about it!

4. We have some fun Fall activities planned for this weekend that I'm pretty pumped about! Hopefully, I'll have a post up next week to fill you in on what we did.

Hope you have a great Labor Day weekend!!!

Leather Holster Making Class

During the first week of June Mike and I took a leather holster making class together as one of the NRA Summer Courses. I was a little nervous that I might be in over my head, but the teacher, Bob Calkins, was awesome and I had an absolute blast. It was really cool to take a class with Mike and spend time together while learning a new skill. I was SO sad on Friday when the class ended, I wanted it keep going and going!!

We started by learning about different types of holsters and which guns go well with each type. Then we discussed what makes good leather versus not good leather for holster making. Bob taught us how to trace a pattern onto leather and then cut the pattern out without messing up your nice leather. Then began the assembly stages. Almost all of the work is done by hand. The only electronic tools we used was a Dremel for sanding and drilling.

My favorite part was stamping the leather. Bob had several different basket stamps we could choose from to imprint on the leather as well as two different alphabet stamp sets.

The biggest thing I learned this week was to take my time. If I concentrated on the task at hand and went really slowly, my work turned out a million times better than if I just went through it quickly. I can't say enough good things about my experience taking this class. I loved learning something new, working with my hands, spending time with Mike, and the teacher and his wife were just amazing! The first day of class, Bob told us we should each be able to get two holsters made that week. I thought that was going to be an impossible task, but I ended up making three! Not only did I make more than I expected, but more importantly, I'm really proud of the work I did. I think all of the holsters Mike and I made that week were of a much higher quality than we thought we would be able to produce in a one week class.

 Made by Mike

 Made by me for my dad!

 The back of the above holster.

 Made by me.

 Made by Mike for his bestie.

 Made by Mike.

Made by me.

Again, I just want to say what a relaxing fun class this was. If you get the opportunity to take a class like this one I would definitely recommend it. Feel free to ask if you have any questions! Thanks for stopping by!