Five on Friday - October 31, 2025

Happy Halloween! Isn’t it great when Halloween lands on a weekend? It takes all the pressure off trying to get those sugar-filled kiddos to bed and up early the next morning for school. Now, let’s jump into my five for this week ~

1.  Time Change Weekend

Don't forget - this is time change weekend!  On Sunday morning at 2:00 am, time will wind back one hour.  So we all have an extra hour this weekend!  What are you going to do with your extra hour?

2.  Pioneer Woman Cooks - The Essential Recipes

Ree Drummond’s newest cookbook hit the shelves on Tuesday, and thanks to pre-ordering, my copy is already sitting on the counter waiting to be devoured—like a good novel! I love reading cookbooks cover to cover, and I can’t wait to spend some time this weekend flipping through its 400 pages filled with 120 of her greatest hits. Eric’s already wondering which recipes I’ll try first! This one would also make a fantastic Christmas gift for any Pioneer Woman fan.

Available HERE

3.  MXY Arbor House Gel

I shared this product on the blog over a year ago, and it’s time for me to place another order because it’s just that good. I’m still amazed at how effective a single application is when it comes to removing mildew buildup around our shower — it works like magic! It’s so much quicker and easier than the hassle of recaulking, and the results are spotless. With the holidays right around the corner, now’s the perfect time to give your showers and tubs a little refresh, and this product makes the job effortless.

Available HERE

4.  Thanksgiving Earrings

As soon as the clock strikes midnight, Halloween will officially be behind us, and it’s time to start shifting our focus toward Thanksgiving! What better way to kick off the season than with some festive accessories? Check out these absolutely adorable earrings — they’re the perfect mix of charm and sparkle, adding just the right amount of bling to any Thanksgiving outfit. The best part? They’re super affordable, so you can grab a pair (or two!) without breaking the bank. Treat yourself and get ready to impress everyone at the table this holiday season — these earrings are sure to be a conversation starter!

Available HERE

5.  My Halloween costume...

Stay safe if you’re heading out tonight! The leaves around here are finally starting to show their beautiful fall colors, and I’m hoping to sneak in a hike in the woods this weekend before the foliage fades. If I’m feeling extra motivated, I might tackle taking down the Halloween decorations and start putting up some Thanksgiving touches. Wishing you a wonderful weekend — see you next week!

Day 3 in Yosemite: Memories for a Lifetime

Hello!  Thanks for stopping by Thinking Out Loud Thursday.  This is a time when I talk about something on my mind and invite you to link up and do the same.  Today I'm wrapping up my recaps of our trip to Yosemite!  If you missed the other recaps, you can find them here ~

Memories from Sequoia National Park 

Where to Stay When Visiting Sequoia National Park

A Day Among Giants: King’s Canyon Adventure

Day 1 in Yosemite:  Awe at Every Turn

Day 2 in Yosemite:  A Breathtaking Adventure

Our final day at Yosemite started with a bit of excitement.  We were getting ready to leave our rental and noticed the water line to the washer had burst.  There was water everywhere!  Thank goodness it happened right before we left instead of right after, because the whole place would have been flooded!  We swept water out the front door until the caretaker arrived and took over.  

We entered from the north again and were met with no traffic at all.  Since we got a little bit later start because of the water, we feared we would be confronted with the long line of traffic we had read about.  Luckily, that wasn't the case!  

Our plan for the day was simple—relax and explore a few of the well-known spots we hadn’t yet seen. Our stop at Bridalveil Meadows turned out to be absolutely stunning! The water levels weren’t as high as they would be in spring, but there was still plenty flowing to make the view picture-perfect.

We even had time to be a little goofy!

Our next stop was the Yosemite Valley Chapel, a charming 145-year-old landmark that still hosts worship services, weddings, and community gatherings for Yosemite’s residents. It’s nestled among majestic cliffs and peaceful meadows, with a stunning view of Yosemite Falls in the distance.

We wandered through the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center and watched the informative film playing in the theater. Nearby, we explored the Ansel Adams Gallery and the Indian Village of Ahwahnee. It was wonderful to slow down and truly take in the beauty and history of the area.

Later in the afternoon, we set out for Glacier Point. At first, we weren’t sure if the drive would be worth it, but I’m so glad we went! The view of Half Dome from there was absolutely breathtaking!

From this incredible vantage point, you can see not only the majestic Half Dome but also Yosemite Falls, Vernal Falls, and Nevada Falls—all in one sweeping view. The scenery was absolutely mesmerizing, and everywhere we turned seemed like the perfect backdrop for a photo. We couldn’t resist stopping several times to capture the moment and soak in the awe-inspiring beauty surrounding us.

As we made our way out of the park, we were treated to the most breathtaking sunset imaginable. The sky was painted in brilliant shades of orange, pink, and gold, casting a warm glow over the mountains and trees. We couldn’t help but pull over, step out of the car, and simply stand there in awe. It was one of those moments where time seemed to slow down—peaceful, quiet, and absolutely beautiful.

The next morning, we packed up and made our way to the airport, hearts full and cameras loaded with memories. As our trip came to an end, we couldn’t help but reflect on all the laughter, adventures, and breathtaking sights we had shared. It was the kind of experience that stays with you—a time spent with great friends, surrounded by incredible beauty, and filled with moments we’ll treasure for years to come.

Now it's your turn.  What are you thinking out loud about today?  Link up and share!

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Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop - October 29, 2025

 Welcome to the Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop!  We are so glad that you stopped by.

Here you will find inspiration from dozens of bloggers, including recipes, home DIY, gardening, decor, family fun, traveling, fitness, and so much more.

A friendly reminder to our guests that, as a courtesy to the hosts, we ask that you follow every host on at least one social media channel.

If you are a blogger, then be sure to link up below. You may be our next feature! 

Before we get this party started, let’s meet the hosts and check out this week’s featured favorites.

MEET THE HOSTS

1. Bev – ECLECTIC RED BARN | FB | IG | PINTEREST
2. Penny – PENNY’S PASSION | FB | IG | PINTEREST
3. Sinea – DUCKS ‘N A ROW | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X
4. Tammy – MY LIFE ABUNDANT | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X | YOUTUBE
5. Denise – THIS IS MY EVERYBODY | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X | YOUTUBE
6. Angie – SALT PRAIRIE | IG | PINTEREST 

HIGHLIGHTS LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

RoTel Dip Halloween Recipe

Cupcake Liner Turkey Craft for Kids

Recent Reads - October 2025

Creamy Garlic Dressing

LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

Please follow all hosts on AT LEAST 1 of their social channels.

Add as many family-friendly posts as you would like to. NO Etsy shops, adult sites, or blog parties please.  Visit others. Caring is sharing. Like, comment, and pin posts.

Party entries appear in REVERSE. This way your entries will be seen no matter when you arrive. Please TWEET our party and invite others to join.

Let’s Party! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Five on Friday - October 24, 2025

Hello!  Thanks for popping by Five on Friday!  I love sharing five fun things with you every Friday.  Let's get to it ~
 

1.  Nobody Wants This - Season 2

Season 2 is finally here! All ten new episodes are just sitting out there on Netflix, practically begging to be binged—and yes, I fully intend to answer that call this weekend. I’ll admit, when I watched Season 1, I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. But it completely won me over! The show follows a rabbi and a podcaster who meet, fall in love, and (of course) hit every possible romantic and emotional speed bump along the way. Kristen Bell and Adam Brody are absolute perfection together—you’ll fall for their characters faster than they fall for each other (and that’s saying something).  Now excuse me while I clear my schedule, grab some snacks, and dive into Season 2 like it’s my full-time job.

2.  The Widow by John Grisham

The newest John Grisham book is officially out!  The Widow hit the stands on Tuesday and it immediately went on my TBR list.  Here's the summary ~

Simon Latch is a lawyer in rural Virginia, making just enough to pay his bills while his marriage slowly falls apart. Then into his office walks Eleanor Barnett, an elderly widow in need of a new will. Apparently, her husband left her a small fortune, and no one knows about it.

Once he hooks the richest client of his career, Simon works quietly to keep her wealth under the radar. But soon her story begins to crack. When she is hospitalized after a car accident, Simon realizes that nothing is as it seems, and he finds himself on trial for a crime he swears he didn’t commit: murder.

Simon knows he’s innocent. But he also knows the circumstantial evidence is against him, and he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. To save himself, he must find the real killer….

Available HERE

3.  Lego Harry Potter Advent Calendar

Okay, I know it might feel a little early to be talking about Christmas… but hear me out!  The LEGO Harry Potter Advent Calendar is already hitting the shelves, and if you’ve had your eye on it before, you know how quickly it sells out every year.  If your kids (or let’s be honest, you!) are Harry Potter fans, this one’s a must-have. Each day leading up to Christmas reveals a new mini build—24 days of magical surprises, tiny details, and festive fun straight from the wizarding world.  So don’t wait until December to go hunting for it—grab it now before it disappears faster than a Golden Snitch! 

Available HERE

4.  Egg & Cheese Brioche Breakfast Cups

I added something to my Target shopping list this week - Egg & Cheese Brioche Breakfast Cups.  The description describes them as golden brioche bites filled with cage-free eggs and cheese.  You can pop them in the air fryer and breakfast will be ready in a flash.  Yum!

 

5.  Sigh...

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! We’re kicking things off tonight with friends and a few games—always a good time! I’m also planning to tackle the big summer-to-winter closet swap since cooler temps have finally arrived. Then on Sunday, we’re off to a soccer game! Lots of fun ahead. See you back here next week!

A Spooky Skull Mantle for Halloween

Hello!  Welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday.  This is a time when I share something on my mind and invite you to link up and do the same.  Today I'm sharing our spooky skull mantle!

There’s something timelessly striking about a skull-themed Halloween mantle—dark, dramatic, and just a touch mysterious. This year, I leaned into the moody side of the season, blending classic black-and-cream tones with pumpkins and black crows to create a look that feels both haunting and refined.

I picked up a new mantle scarf from HomeGoods recently. I’ll admit, it wasn’t my first choice—there was another one I absolutely loved, but I hesitated, and when I went back, it was gone! So this one ended up being my second pick.

The mantle scarf’s design included a scattering of crows, which immediately sparked an idea. I decided to lean into that dark, mysterious element and carry it through the rest of the display by incorporating skulls. The combination of crows and skulls adds an eerie sophistication to the space—just enough to hint at Halloween without feeling too heavy-handed.

Once the mantle was set, I couldn’t resist adding a few extra touches to the left and right sides of the fireplace. A couple of Halloween accents here, a pop of texture there—it really helped pull everything together. Now the whole setup feels festive from every angle, not just the center!

Overall, I’d say our skull-themed mantle turned out to be a real winner! It strikes that perfect balance of spooky and stylish, and I love how all the little details came together—from the crows in the scarf to the touches of black and white throughout. It feels festive without being over-the-top, and it makes me smile every time I walk by.

Now it's your turn.  Link up and share what you are thinking about today!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop - October 22, 2025

 

Welcome to the Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop!  We are so glad that you stopped by.

Here you will find inspiration from dozens of bloggers, including recipes, home DIY, gardening, decor, family fun, traveling, fitness, and so much more.

A friendly reminder to our guests that, as a courtesy to the hosts, we ask that you follow every host on at least one social media channel.

If you are a blogger, then be sure to link up below. You may be our next feature! 

Before we get this party started, let’s meet the hosts and check out this week’s featured favorites.

MEET THE HOSTS

1. Bev – ECLECTIC RED BARN | FB | IG | PINTEREST
2. Penny – PENNY’S PASSION | FB | IG | PINTEREST
3. Sinea – DUCKS ‘N A ROW | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X
4. Tammy – MY LIFE ABUNDANT | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X | YOUTUBE
5. Denise – THIS IS MY EVERYBODY | FB | IG | PINTEREST | X | YOUTUBE
6. Angie – SALT PRAIRIE | IG | PINTEREST 

HIGHLIGHTS LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

Free Printable Halloween Scavenger Hunt

Cranberry Apple Slab Pie

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

Halloween Cookie Bark

LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

Please follow all hosts on AT LEAST 1 of their social channels.

Add as many family-friendly posts as you would like to. NO Etsy shops, adult sites, or blog parties please.  Visit others. Caring is sharing. Like, comment, and pin posts.

Party entries appear in REVERSE. This way your entries will be seen no matter when you arrive. Please TWEET our party and invite others to join.

Let’s Party! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Five on Friday - October 17, 2025

Who's ready for Friday!  So glad you popped in to start your weekend off with Five on Friday.  Here we go!

1.  2025 Hallmark Holiday Movies

The countdown to Christmas has officially begun, and I couldn’t be more excited!  This weekend marks the kickoff of Hallmark’s Christmas movie lineup, and you can bet I’ll be cozied up with a blanket, a mug of something warm, and the TV tuned in. Are the movies a little predictable and full of holiday cheese? Absolutely. Do I mind? Not one bit! There’s just something comforting about those small-town love stories, twinkling lights, and happy endings. Who else will be watching along with me?

2.  Measure with Your Heart Cookbook

This coming Tuesday (October 21), Hannah Taylor's new cookbook Measure with Your Heart will be out!  Read this description and you'll see why it's going straight on my wish list.  Here's the summary ~

Hannah Taylor is a culinary creator from Georgia known for her Southern charm, down-to-earth personality, and carefree “measure with your heart” cooking content. When Hannah began sharing her experimental cooking projects and snippets of her small-town life online, her platform exploded with support for her big-hearted spirit and off-the-cuff style, and her debut cookbook embraces this playful side of cooking.

Measure with Your Heart is filled with Hannah’s twists on classic Southern cooking, with an emphasis on making everything from scratch so you know exactly what’s in it. Try your hand at Hannah’s homemade versions of kitchen staples like Vanilla Extract or Beef Bone Broth. Bring some warmth to your dinner table with mains like Finger Lickin’ Fried Chicken, Butternut Squash Casserole, and Ham Hock Lima Bean Stew. Serve up Aunt Teisha’s Cowboy Caviar or Mini Pizza Pops at your next gathering alongside a Strawberry Sip N’ Spritz.

Featuring 120 gorgeous photographs and 100 mouthwatering recipes, Measure with Your Heart has ideas for sweet and savory breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, as well as drinks, appetizers, and, for parents reading, even snacks for your kids (and pups!)—so get in the kitchen and try things out. If you totally mess up, even better! For Hannah, home cooking is not about being perfect—it’s about having fun and nourishing the ones you love.

Available HERE

3.  Cheater Eye Glasses

When I read, I definitely need a little help seeing the page—so thank goodness for my trusty cheaters! I have pairs scattered all over the house, tucked in drawers, on nightstands, and in nearly every travel bag I own. This week, I grabbed another 3-pack, and I’m obsessed with the frames—they’re so cute and lightweight! Right now, Amazon has them on sale for just $7.59 for all three pairs. Yep, you read that right—$7.59! At that price, it’s totally worth stocking up and keeping extras everywhere you might need them.

Available HERE

4.  Magnolia Table Food Line

This weekend, I’m hoping to make a Target run to check out the brand-new Magnolia Table food line from Joanna Gaines. I’ve been seeing them all over social media, and they look absolutely delicious! Have you tried any yet? There are six items in the collection, and they’re all classic comfort foods with that signature Magnolia touch — Chocolate Chip Cookies, Classic Sugar Cookies, Slio Cookies, Classic Cinnamon Rolls, After School Banana Bread, and Jo’s Buttermilk Biscuits. Everything sounds perfect for cozy fall weekends or an easy brunch at home. I can’t wait to see them in person and maybe bring a few home to taste-test!

5.  Let's play a game...

Our weekend plans ended up getting canceled thanks to the rain headed our way on Saturday, which means our schedule suddenly opened right up. Once I got over the disappointment of not having our weekend guests, I realized it might actually be the perfect weekend to stay home, relax, and do absolutely nothing. Sometimes that’s exactly what we need! See you back here next week!

It’s Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus: My Spooktacular Tiered Tray

Hey there!  Welcome to Think Out Loud Thursday.  This is a time when I share something I'm thinking about and invite you to link up and do the same.  Today I'm sharing our Hocus Pocus themed tiered tray!

A few years back, I stumbled upon the cutest pair of white pumpkins at HomeGoods, and I just couldn’t leave them behind. They were perfectly themed after Hocus Pocus—complete with fun little details that captured the magic of the movie. I didn’t know it at the time, but those pumpkins would end up becoming some of my favorite pieces to bring out every Halloween season.

Our tiered tray is overflowing with festive touches this season, starting with a mix of pumpkins in different sizes, textures, and shades of orange and white. It’s the perfect blend of cozy fall charm and a hint of Halloween magic. To finish it off, I placed a sleek black cat on the very top—a little nod to Binx from Hocus Pocus—watching over the whole display and giving it just the right touch of spooky personality.

I added in a few extra finishing touches—some small accent pieces here and there—and just like that, the window display came together beautifully! It’s always fun to see how those last little details can pull everything together and make the whole space feel complete. What started as a simple idea turned into a charming, festive scene that makes me smile every time I walk by.

Now it's your turn.  What are you thinking out loud about today?  Link up and share!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter