Ijam's Nature Center and all things Pumpkin/Fall!!

🍂🍂🍂🍂FALLLLLLLLL!!!!🍂🍂🍂🍂

The greatest time of year is finally here! October 1st always starts the three by far best months of the year. The other 9 months are just what you have to endure to get to October, November, and December and once you get there, partyyy! So of course to kick off pumpkin season and everything Fall, I had to go straight to Starbucks on the Pumpkin Spice Latte opening day this year, August 28th. First thing after work, I ran to the closest Starbucks and ordered one for me and one for Cody! I don't even like coffee but I will down one of these beauties. Best. Drink. Ever. 

PSLFL (pumpkin spice latte for life) Opening day August 28th!!! (my hair is up from work).

Just look at it!!! 😍😍 (I wish they put more whipped cream on it like they used to 5-6 years ago, #wishfulthinking).

And of course the next day I had to get the salted caramel hot chocolate!!! AMAZING!!!

..........

Now jump forward a little bit to the beginning of September...

Cody and I started this early Fall morning re-grouping and eating at our local Saturday morning football season spot, First Watch. We eat here every Saturday to talk about the previous night's game and the UT game to come. It is our favorite date day place! This day in particular I ordered the pumpkin spice pancakes since they finally came out (September 1st) and so I could have them before my second round of Whole 30 began (on the 2nd). I look forward to these all year. By far the best pancakes in the world.

We spent the rest of the morning mowing our lot grass, meeting with banks, and running lots and lots of errands including grocery shopping. 

(pic from last post but we did mow the grass still).

We ended the day with Raborn pizza movie night watching UT football eating this mega Pizza Hut stuffed crust bites pizza and later watching Harry Potter!

I crocheted this fall scarf to wear with some of my yellow/green/gray Fall clothes. I LOVE crocheting and have just now picked it back up from when Gigi taught me when I was 9! I am now part of the lunch and learn crocheting club at work now every other Wednesday! I love our little group!

My scarf is done! What do you think?! I can't wait to wear it!!!

The next weekend Soddy Daisy played Knox Catholic at Knox Catholic. Cody and I decided to make a weekend of it and he stayed in Knoxville with me (at Nana's house) and didn't ride the bus back with the team. 

We decided to meet the rest of the Knoxville family there to watch the game. Gigi, Mom, and Morgan had never seen him coach or Soddy play!

Long story short, we had a blast and we WON! We beat Knox Catholic for the first time ever! We were ecstatic!!! Best game of Soddy's ever!

Towards the end of September, 9/22, we finally went to Nana's works Ijams nature center event. We have gone to these for as long as I can remember, since I was at least 7! We love this event, listening to great music, eating great food, and hiking at our favorite fall/spring/summer location! We try to hike here at least two times a year.

Original Dyar women!

I LOVED the precious decorations!!

It was also perfect weather to wear my new Fall shirt!

Of course, we couldn't visit ijams without the usual swamp picture and bridge pictures below! Just gorgeous scenery. 

Do we look alike? I see the resemblance in this picture.

Nana!!!!!!!

Ignore the gigantic belt I'm wearing. It created an unflattering bulge in a lot of my pictures #notpregnant #seriously

My dream day would consist of sitting here on this bench looking out onto the water feeling the Fall air through my hair. And possibly writing in my journal. 

Sweet serenity. 

Since the first official day of Fall is September 23rd, (and October is my favorite month anyways), I waited to put my decorations out this year on the exact first day of Fall. They will be out through the day of Thanksgiving! Have a look below the Fall intro....:)

My how i'd love to lay on the floor of this forest. You can almost hear the peaceful sound of the leaves falling through the screen. 

These classic sugar cookies can't be forgotten each Fall. Absolutely decadent. 

Is this picture spooky or cool?

Where can I find these exact boots? #Christmaswishlist

Take me wherever this is!

Is it really Fall (or any time of the year in that matter) if you don't have one of these cloud-like cookies?!?

And of course, during the first weekend of Fall I ran to Target to grab all of the pumpkin spice goodies I could get my hands on. I may not be able to have them this second (#whole30) but once October 26th hits, they. are. mine. :)

Now, on to my apartment decor! So excited to share! Cody on the other hand, he is a good husband to tolerate the "clutter" ;).

My personal favorite. I love sipping my tea, watching my favorite Youtube channels and reading my book. 

Our cute little coffee table!

Close up of the end table. This candle is my personal favorite, it smells like pumpkin waffles heaven. 

Here are some of the goodies from my Target shopping trip! The pumpkin spice Lindor truffles are to die for! The smores marshmallow looks incredible! (Cody already ate his smores marshmallow and said it was definitely worth buying). 

I found this collection interesting, there are some candy corn mixed trail mix, pumpkin spice granola which I can't wait to stir into my pumpkin spice yogurt! Also I am dying to try the candy corn m&m's! Has anyone tried this flavor yet? Also check out the marshmallow "cookie" and salted caramel marshmallow, all credited to Target. 

Ok, here me out.... Have you ever made a cup of hot chocolate and dropped your favorite flavor of Lindor truffle into the bottom and topped it with psl or candy corn flavored marshmallows? The truffle melts and creates this chocolate molten "lava" like hot chocolate, rich with whichever flavor you chose. AHHmazing on a cold night around the fire! 

And the last stop on our Fall journey is Bath and Body works. I used one last Christmas' gift cards (I've been saving it) to buy all of the Fall scents my heart desires. This way I can bring a little bit of Fall into the rest of the year also. I wish you could smell this through your phone/computer. The pumpkin peanut brittle candle is by far my favorite scent! 

I painted this decorative pumpkin at a church event over two years ago. I love how it turned out!

Sasha says, Happy Fall Y'all!

(if you think it's bad I post so many pictures of Sasha, just wait until we actually get our own dog one day! :))

Thanks for sticking around and stay tuned for the next blogs about our corn maze adventures, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas decorations!!! Tis the season!

With love,

Kayla Raborn

10/1/18

Football Time in Tennessee and House Planning!!

Hello Everyone! We've had quite the football kickoff this season for Soddy Daisy and Tennessee! Soddy Daisy is 3-4 and UT has won 2/3 games!! Yahoo! Soddy Daisy has such an amazing team this year with so much potential. I can't wait for the rest of the season! I love seeing Cody in his element every Friday night. I am a proud proud coaches wife!

On another hand, we finally got back the coaches pictures from the early summer! I LOVE this year's picture!

I normally go to the games with Cody's parents but two weeks ago they weren't feeling well and I was able to take my friend and coworker, Meryl with me! We had a blast! Meryl loves football and it was so much fun analyzing the game together! Go Trojans!!!

...........HOUSE PLAN UPDATE!!!.....

The next day, Saturday, Cody and I met with our architect to draw the preliminary plans and to meet with our bank to receive the mortgage loan! Oh my goodness y'all, exciting things are happening! After months and months (we had time) of going through house plans, we finally realized with our lot size and house dimension requirements, we had to accept a masters bedroom upstairs. When we accepted that we found the perfect plan IMMEDIATELY. We were so happy to find the perfect plan for our little family and to be able to grow our little family one day and fill those rooms! I will tell you more about the house plans later when they are more finalized:). 

Also some more INCREDIBLY exciting news about the house is as of yesterday, 9/15, Miles finished building my brother and sister-in-law's house! They live one street away from us. Do you know what that means?!?! It is officially our turnnnnn!!!! I can not begin to tell you my level of pure raw ecstatic excitement! After 9 months of patiently and happily waiting, it is our turn. Cody and I had a little dance party! I am predicting we will move in around July/August 2019 if all goes well with weather and such. The joy I have in my heart is indescribable. 

As of right this second, we are still enjoying making our lot look beautiful, mowing our grass every weekend until it is time to break ground!

So later that day, Cody and I made our way to Knoxville for a short trip to celebrate Nana's birthday and go to Jeremy Pruitt's first home UT game and first win! 

We first got to Gigi and Granddad's house to pick up mom and Sasha was waiting for us in her favorite spot.

And of course Sasha couldn't go a Football Saturday without repping her team;).

My cute Sashie. Makes me really look forward to when we get our own dog one day! Cody and I want to raise something while we are waiting for the right time for us to have kids lol.

We then arrived at Nana's house to eat at Nana's choosing of Cheddars (which happens to also be Cody and I's favorite restaurant;)) to eat her birthday lunch together!

So what do you think? Do Morgan and I look similar in the picture above? As we age I find we look more and more similar. 

Cheddars!!!!

Cheddars also has many options for whole 30 eaters. I always get the salmon and steamed broccoli and plain sweet potato! Yes, for the month of September and most of October, I am completing my second round whole 30 (with a longer re-introduction phase)! I wanted to re-fix my food habits and a healthier routine prepping for the holidays to come and to drop some weight. I want to get ahead of the game this year and be fully prepared for my cholesterol reading this February. This also helps my mentality to get in check especially when all of the pumpkin things start coming out in September and I usually eat everything pumpkin in sight (usually cookies/cakes unfortunately). So this year I am working to change my mentality so here's to my second whole 30! I am actually super pumped! Day 15 as of today! I've got this!

One thing I didn't add to my Whole 30 post is this awesome Whole 30 calendar I found from Melissa's Whole30.com to help which stage mentally you are on! Check it out!

So promptly after lunch we ran to UT to watch the pregame and be back at my Alma Mater! 

The feeling of being back on my college campus is incredible. It seems like literally yesterday I was there walking to my classes. But boy am I glad i'm not in college any more😩.

Me and my incredible mama! I love spending as much time as possible with her! I love this picture of us!

The crew of Dyar women!

 💗💗💗💗💗

VOL!!!

Tennessee played nothing but amazing against West Virginia and we were honored to see Jeremy Pruitt's first home game in person and our first win with him! Our future is looking hopeful and bright. 

It often blows my mind that some UT fans have never been to a UT game in person. Seriously, if you have never stepped foot in Neyland Stadium you really need to. The $35-80 is SO worth it at least once! Cody and I try to go to at least one game a season and one basketball game a season. We love sports and I love how especially UT football has always been a big role in my childhood. There is nothing like being inside Neyland stadium and feeling the energy of the fans cheer for the Vols, the team we will never give up on.

We then walked around campus and Cody and I headed out back home. What an action packed day!!

Over and out!

Until next time Neyland!

Love,

Kayla

9/16/18

P.S.- Stay tuned for more house updates! Its just getting fired up! We should break ground by October 1st!

P.S.S.-Also stay tuned for my next usual blog post for this time of year, all things Fall!:):)🍂🍂