Autumn is finally here! After a hot summer, it is time to enjoy some less intense temperatures, some tasty fall treats, and some celebrating!
Spring and Autumn come and go all too quickly every year; so, while you have the chance, enjoy as much of these seasons as you can. Here are a handful of ways to make your Fall very special!
- Find ten special ways to use apples! Apple pie, apple cake, caramel apples, apple crumble, apple sauce, apple cobbler, apple cider, and the list goes on and on! Apples are extremely versatile and the base of many terrific desserts! Go to an orchard, pick dozens of apples, and then come home and try your hand at creating some fall-tastic creations with your sweetie!!!
- Go festival hopping! Learn about the Fall festivals happening in your area and go to several of them! Enjoy some treats, some fruit, some corn mazes, and get some early Christmas shopping done!
- Make a Christmas gift bet with your sweetie or friends. What can you buy with $10? Not much? Are you sure? Throw on your jacket, go to the few remaining yard sales of the year, visit farmer’s markets, and peruse consignment stores. Make a bet with someone to see who can get the most bang for his or her $10. The “loser” pays the winner back the $10? Buys the winner a pumpkin spice latte? Has the other over for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner? Have fun Christmas shopping and enjoy comparing the treasures you find!
- Create an outdoor book club! Club members can meet under an apple tree, in a park, or sitting around a fire pit in your backyard. Fall is some of my favorite weather. It is cool but not unbearably cold. Leaves fall and dance through the streets. There is the hope of much celebrating to come. Keep expanding your mind and spending quality time with your sweetie while connecting with others in the fresh, fall air!
- Have a bake sale! Get in the kitchen with your sweetie and friends and bake up some culinary treasures! Set up a table in town (with permission, of course) and sell off tasty baked goods to raise money for a ministry that is close to your heart. If you set up your table at a multifamily yard sale, you are likely to draw much interest from tired, hungry shoppers! If you would rather, you can use your baked goods table as its own ministry. Offer free rice krispies treats, cupcakes, or goodie bags with a gospel tract attached. Have people available to talk to anyone who has questions about receiving Christ as Savior, Bible questions, or personal questions.
- Pack a picnic, go to a local park, lie out under the clouds, and enjoy the fall weather together. Bring books, your iPad, some friends, a soccer ball, or whatever you fancy! Spend the entire day enjoying crisp apples, flag football, and some much needed rest and relaxation. ~smile~
- Create your First Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest. Have friends and family enter their best pumpkin carvings for a chance to win something. Maybe charge a few dollars to enter and then the winner gets the pot (or a nice prize purchased with the money)? Add a little sport to your pumpkin carving hobby!
- Take your sweetheart horseback riding! What better time to enjoy an afternoon trail ride than in the cool, crisp autumn air? If you are a pro, enjoy a run through an open field. If not, a mild trot may still be quite invigorating!
- Take up jogging or running. If you are concerned about your joints, power walking is great too! It will give you an excuse to get outside and enjoy the cool weather while preparing your waistline for all the yummy treats to come during the holidays! If you really want to commit, you can sign up for a 5k, 10k, half marathon, or full marathon together. Train, train, train! (Please do not run a harsh race without preparing your body for it! ~smile~) If you are interested in bringing a little fun to your run, consider a mud run or a color run!
- Create leaf art! Not an artist? You do not have to be! Gather some leaves and paste them into a beautiful collage. No specific artistic talent is necessary, which is superb news for me! Adults need to sit down with crunchy leaves, glue sticks, and sheets of construction paper every now and then. While you are at it, take a magnifying glass and study the design of the leaves. Our Creator is the greatest artist in history! Feel free to expand your art with pinecones and acorns!
We hope you and your sweetie emerge from this fall season closer and more fulfilled than ever! Make your own fall bucket list and try to mark each activity off before it gets too cold or too busy!
How will you make the most of this beautiful season with your special someone?