Mandatory “It’s Spooky Season” Post

I will be the first in my house to take out all of the Halloween and Fall decorations because I simply love this season! The cooler weather, the different colored leaves, and the perfect excuse to wear a long black hooded cape for no particular reason all make me so happy!

This October, I am most looking forward to bonfires in my backyard, as well as baking all the Halloween-themed cookies I can! I’ve signed myself and my fiancé up for a local ghost tour next weekend. It’s a fact that people rarely explore the area they live in, so I thought I would start getting to know mine.

I’ve also joined a local book club that happens to be spooky-themed. I figured it would be good for me to get out of the house sometimes, and books and fellow book-lovers seemed like a valid reason. The book this month is Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. We shall see how I enjoy it.

I’ve decided to take a break from fostering this month because I am dog-sitting for both friends and family, so I won’t have much extra time to dedicate to taking care of other dogs. I will spend a portion of my free time in October cleaning up my yard and organizing the inside of our house because it’s getting a little chaotic. I will also try to spend a little more time doing outdoor activities since the weather will be more agreeable.

Next post, maybe there will be photos of some fun cookies to share!

An Overdue Update

I will try to make this as short and sweet as possible. I will use the help of photos to tell the story:

The month of May was a whirlwind of a month because not only did we move out of our apartment before the lease was up, we bought a house, I graduated college, and I bought a car from a friend.

Charlotte was thebomb.com!

BBA from GSU

2011 Toyota Rav4

Fast forward to September 14, 2021 and the following has occurred: We got a new roof, my fiancé is a US citizen (finally!!), and we’re fostering the most adorable dogs.

A huge expense, but definitely needed.

August 18, 2021

Buddy Franklin- Golden Retriever Mix

Leyla- Purebred Golden Retriever

Between today and May, we’ve

• watched our friends get married and then move to California
• gone camping in Acworth, GA
• attended a Fernbank After Dark event in Atlanta
• attempted to vacation in Florida, but then got caught in Hurricane Irma
• babysat our neighbor’s children (2 young boys)
• built some benches
• lit some fires
• cooked and baked a lot of new foods
• supported delicious local Filipino vendors (https://kamayanatl.com/)

Fernbank After Dark events are awesome! 21+!

Camping at Lake Altoona

Bench Phase One

Bench is done with a fire!

We love Filipino food!!

Vegan banana cream pie- yum!

Those are all the updates I have for you all for right now. Here is to a fun-filled last half of 2021!

-Megan 😀

AmeriCorps: Do I Stay in Touch With my Team?

It has been over 1 year since my AmeriCorps journey has come to an end (May 2019). I would say that I do a decent job of keeping in touch with 5 of my 8 team members and I talk to 1 fellow team leader on a quarterly basis.

I keep in touch through the app Marco Polo, I write letters, and then there is the occasional FaceTime or Instagram video chat.

I honestly didn’t know whether or not I would develop good enough relationship during my time in the program, but I am glad I did because a lot of high school friends and I grew apart or we don’t see each other as often, so I am grateful for new friends. I also only made one friend in my almost 6 years of college (LOL), so I will take all the extra friends I can get.

This post is a short one, but I wanted to encourage everyone to reach out to those you care about and to keep in touch with people who care about you, too. Write letters, send emails, follow them on social media, and maybe meet up every few months/years. Take a road trip, go camping, or meet up at a restaurant if you are in their areas.

It’s Halloween Time, ya’ll!

Yesterday I made Halloween cookies inspired by this recipe! They turned out really cute! It was my first time making royal icing and I would say that I prefer the taste of buttercream; however, decorating the cookies was easier with royal.

I didn’t realize how hilarious putting eyes on pumpkins would be, but I love it! I ran out of black gel food coloring, so I used brown and blue and I think it came out just fine. I put purple sprinkles on top of that to give them a little more sparkle! I have to be careful about when I choose to eat some of these, because they will stain your teeth! Luckily, with most stores requiring masks, no one actually sees my mouth!

I am actually quite proud of my Frankenstein cookie. He is one of a kind and I don’t think that I will be making any more of him. I am not the best free-hander when it comes to cookie shapes, so next time I will make sure to have a Frankenstein shaped cookie cutter.

So, my owl friend was created because I am participating in a bake-off at work and one of the categories was “Spooky in the woods/Forest creatures”, so I thought an owl would be a good options. Unfortunately for me, owls are a little more difficult to make and I am not too proud of what happened with the icing colors. All in all, for my first time making an owl, I guess it wasn’t too bad.

I’m Back!!

I have decided to return to this blog after a little hiatus. Allow me to update everyone:

• I am one semester away from graduating! Woohoo!
• I still work at the book curation company; however, I have since been promoted to Assistant Business Manager.
• My hair is now over 2 feet in length.
• I have been working remote since March.
• All of my classes have been online.
• I am engaged!!
• I have not traveled this year, for obvious reasons, but I will be going camping this weekend!
• My apartment is Halloween-ready!
• I have been cutting my fiancé’s hair since March and I am a total professional now (not)
• I bought a new laptop because my old one bit the dust (Dell Inspiron 15 5000)
• I am beginning to sell things on Poshmark to make some extra cash.

Those are all the big updates that I have for you all. I will make another post detailing how I am getting ready for Halloween- spoiler: it involves cookies!!