Jake Ryan, Electric Youth, and Sweet Valley High: A trip through the 80s

 Hi Friends and welcome to day #7 of Blogtober!

I have been taking a trip down memory lane and loving every minute of it! As some of you know I am an 80s baby through and through. It was a time of mismatched socks, scrunchies, feuds between pop princesses, and of course the ultimate boy band, New Kids on the Block. Those were some of the best days. So, today's post is dedicate to some of my favorite 80s memories. 

(1) Putting plastic charms on every possible accessory and knowing that each charm had its own special meaning.

(2) You knew being a rock star with a secret identity was the best job ever!

 Also, the life lessons Jem taught you:

 

1. It’s OK if your man cheats on you, as long as it’s with your secret alter ego.

2. Sometimes it’s way more fun to be the villain (looking at you, Pizzazz).

3. That anything can be solved by pressing down on your earring and saying, “Showtime, Synergy!”

(3) The importance of always nailing the perfect sideways ponytail.

(4) The smell of Electric Youth.

(5) How Jake Ryan is still your perfect man.

(6) Knowing that Over Our Heads was the best fictional store to ever exist.

(7) Watching these movies over and over again.

(8)  You went through, like, one Sweet Valley High book a day.

(9) You needed to a SWATCH watch to match every outfit.

(10) Making something in your Easy-Bake Oven was your favorite way to spend a Friday night.

(11)  The style icon that was Denise Huxtable.

(12)  Wanting to paint your room like Punky Brewster’s

(13)  And totally wanting that badass sofa chair from My Two Dads.

(14)  The horrible smell jelly bracelets left after you wore them all day…

(15)  …but knowing that these smelled way worse:

(16)  Drooling in front of your TV on 21 Jump Street night. 

(17) You looked forward to ABC Afterschool Specials and felt sort of edgy watching them.

(18)  Sitting in your room for hours poring over Teen Beat, SuperTeen, Bop, and Tiger Beat.

(19)  You loved NKOTB and had memorabilia mostly of your favorite one in the group.

(20)  The importance of the Slam book.

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I hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane. What are some of your favorite memories?

Fun Facts About Pumpkins

I was looking up some facts about pumpkins (per my daughter's request) since Halloween is a couple of weeks away. It just wouldn't be Halloween without the pumpkins. Am I right? So here we go! I hope you enjoy and learn something new!

Pumpkin facts:

1.  The word "pumpkin" showed up for the first time in the fairy tale Cinderella.

2.  The original jack-o-laterns were made with turnips and potatoes by the Irish.

3.  Over 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins are produced each year  in the United States.

4.  The world's largest pumpkin was more than five feet in diameter and weighed over 18000 pounds. 

5.  The largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2020 pounds.

6.  Each pumpkin has about 500 seeds. 

7.  Delaware hosts an annual "pumpkin chunkin" championship.

8.  There are about 45 different varieties of pumpkin.

9.  Pumpkins are fruits.

10. Pumpkins are 90% water.

11. Pumpkins are usually orange, but can sometimes be yellow, white, green, or red. 

12. A pumpkins is really a  squash.

13. Pumpkin flowers are edible. 

14. In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.

15. pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and for curing snake bites.

16. Native Americans flattened out strips of pumpkins, dried them, and used them as mats.  

Fun Facts About Fall

It's finally time to pull out the sweaters and watch the leaves morph into various shades of yellow and orange. Fall can be a gorgeous time of year, but do you know the history behind it? Well, my friends, I have compiled a list some fun fall facts to celebrate this time wonderful time of year! Enjoy!

 Fun Facts about Fall:

Fact #1:  Americans typically refer to this time of year as “fall,” while the British use the word “autumn.” Both terms date back to the 16th century but before that it was called “harvest.

Fact #2:  Fall was called “harvest” because of the “harvest moon” that occurs when the full moon is closest to the autumn equinox. Before man-made lighting, this moonlight was essential to a prosperous harvest.

Fact #3:  Weight gain around this time of year may not only be due to comforting fall foods like pumpkin pie and cider, researchers have found that lack of vitamin D reduces fat breakdown and triggers fat storage.

Fact #4:  According to The Weather Channel, pumpkins are the most craved food during the fall. Although, if you’ve left the house anytime recently, this may not come as a surprise to you.  

Fact #5:  The yellow and orange colors you see actually always exist in leaves but they are overpowered by the abundance of green from chlorophyll. The amount of chlorophyll starts to decrease as the sun weakens and the days grow shorter.

Fact #6:  Red and purple leaves are only that color because of the presence of sugars and sap that are trapped within the leaves. These sugars provide plants with the energy they need to survive.

Fact #7:  Many birds will prepare for their winter migration during the fall. The distance they can travel is impressive; the Arctic Tern travels 11,000 miles each way for it’s annual migration. That’s no small feat.

Fact #8:  Evergreen trees such as pines, cedars, and spruces stay green because their leaves (needles) are covered with thick wax and they contain materials that prevent freezing when it gets cold.

Fact #9:  Men and women experience high levels of testosterone during the fall. This makes sense because more babies are conceived during the fall and winter. The cause is unknown but it could be due to lack of sunlight or even go back to ancient mating rituals.

Fact #10:  We can’t forget Halloween! Halloween takes place in the fall and comes from ancient Celtic tradition. They believed that ghosts roamed on Halloween and people would wear disguises in order to hide from these spirits.

October Goals 2021

 Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog!

 October is one of my favorite months.Between Halloween, the cooler weather, and all things pumpkin it's just a fun month. Today's post is all about my goals for October.

Now that all of our routines are established, I am excited about setting some goals and I am really going to push myself this month. There are alot of things that I would like accomplish so hopefully by the end of the month I will feel good about things. Here we go!

Personal Goals

• drink more water
• meditate for 10 minutes
• stretch for a few minutes before getting up
• get better quality sleep by going to bed earlier
• workout consistently
• read 2 books

Family Goals

•  keep adapting to our Fall schedule. Continue to work on morning, afternoon, and evening routines
• celebrate Halloween
• Cross off items from our Fall bucket list

Blog Goals

•  post once per day during the month of October
• make a new list of blog post ideas
• schedule posts until the end of Ocotber
• create an editorial calendar for the rest of the year

I hope your October has started out as a fantastic month! Have you set any goals yet? Any fun Fall plans? Have you started crossing things off of your Fall Bucket list?

Welcome to Blogotober 2021

 Hello and welcome to October where we begin the first of 31 back to back posts in Blogtober! I am excited to be participating again this year.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself.  I have been blogging off and on for a few years now as a hobby, but I am hoping to turn it into a full time job (which I know will take awhile to accomplish. I am married to my college sweetheart and we have known each other since elementary school (that's a story for another day). We have two beautiful girls, our oldest is in the 6th grade and our youngest is in 1st grade and we are homeschooling this year. My husband is a Psychology professor while I am a stay at home mom. We are in the process of launching a new business soon (more details soon).

I love to read (Stephen King and Mary Higgins Clark are my favorites) and I love being in the kitchen creating delicious meals for my family.

I am looking forward to the rest of Blogtotber and to see what other bloggers post this month.

Tomorrow's post will be all about my goals for October!

Are you participating in Blogtober?