Cheer

Sharon's bridesmaid bouquet from a friend's recent wedding 

brought cheer to our table for two weeks.

Autumn

I had fun decorating for the season this year.

Thanks to Naomi for the lovely decorative corn.

Garden Goodbye

I spent the end of my morning soaking in some last bits of lovely Autumn weather while putting my "garden" to bed for the winter.

I picked one final little bouquet before pulling out the overgrown zinnia stalks. Remarkably, all the dozens of miniature zinnias I harvested over the past four months grew from four tiny seeds that volunteered this spring from last year's planting!

beautilicous

I took this photo of luscious Mikayla Miranda dahlias last month for Libby to buy some of the same bulbs if she ever has the opportunity.

the gals

Our little groupie playing tourists in New York on our recent adventure to Lake Cayuga and Lake Seneca in the Finger Lakes region.

hiking buddies

Coworks Kim and Vicky and I spent most of our time in New York hiking trails and stopping to wonder at the incredible waterfalls we encountered along the way (there were 8 separate water falls on one of our 1.5 mile hikes!). As you can imagine, all those waterfalls meant we trekked several hundred feet in elevation at least a handful of times. I've determined I prefer rugged trails for hiking up (rather than stairs) and trails with stairs for coming down (much easier on the knees). 

friends who hike together eat ice cream together ;)

blueberry scones...

...because sometimes that's a good idea.

rooted

Let your roots grow down into Him,

and let your lives be built on Him.

Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught,

and you will overflow with thankfulness.

~Colossians 2:7 (NLT)

Dippity Do Dahs

Vicky and I happened to be adventuring in downtown Corning, New York recently... where we discovered Dippity Do Dahs homemade ice cream. Post discovery of said establishment, we performed initial quality control testing and can now highly recommend all ice-cream lovers near Corning should experience Dippity Do Dahs for themselves.

Talk about a complete experience:

Excellent service

Deliciously creamy ice cream (on the softer side, for those who prefer a less firm scoop)

Beautiful interior decorating and ambiance of the shop

My Dippty Do Dahs experience was so delightful, I was inspired to walk to the tip jar and leave a contribution mid-ice cream consumption! 

It was that.good.

my flavor picks of the day: pistachio and mocha chip

There's nothing quite like the gift of enjoying quality ice cream with a terrific friend who shares my love for adventures, especially those involving delightful combinations of frozen sugary cream :).