Fall is my mom's favorite part of year...

Mine just so happens to be Christmas, and winter in general, but fall is pretty close in line next for me.

And I love Halloween, I have ever since I can remember. My costumes were always made by my wonderful momma...She made me a Snow

White costume that I wish I had kept to this day...it was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!

And it happens that my mom loves to decorate throughout the seasons, and she has a god-given knack for it, let me tell you....

The above picture is a "scene" on top of her piano of her now complete "Village" De Halloween...

And seeing as how today is Halloween, I thought I would share this lovely menagerie with all of you...and you will get to see her decor changes through the seasons.

This is the right hand corner, and I

think it's the House of Wax...

And a nice addition with the house

is the candelabra, with purple and black candles and a lovely pumpkin...just enough flash! I love it!

Here we have a close up picture of the House of Wax...When it is lit up, and when it is not....OOOOHHH......Spooky....

And here we have our witch's gathering...stirring their brew...cackling over an "open cauldron"~

Most likely about whose house they are playing cards at this week, their husbands' dirty socks, and their children's antics and dirty clothes!

On the cauldron to the right, if you look close, it says dirty clothes....it just cracks me up that even witches have to clean their laundry!

This is our "Haunted House and Ferris Wheel"...

Can you imagine...

A haunted Ferris Wheel?

You get to sit in the skulls.....well it looks a lot cuter than it sounds....

This is a little...Blimp, if you will...that carries ghouls, goblins and little scary things...I don't have this one in the dark when its lit, but it's really very cute!

So this is one way that my momma enjoys decorating her home for Halloween...She's been collecting these new little parts of her town for the last year or two, and now she has a whole town!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

I am going out tonight with my little "Bumble Bee"...Lord willing he will let me get his costume on him for at least an hour...I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!! There will hopefully be pictures of that very soon to come!!!

~~All my love for now~~

Entering A Great Escape...

Who's ready for a vacation...raise your hand???

Where would you like to go, if you absolutely had your choice, with no worry about money, or where you would stay or for how long?

As I settle in for the long haul that will be the rest of this semester (which isn't overly long, I'm done Dec. 14th) I am dreaming of my vacation, and where I so desperately want to be, even now as I type this...Santa Cruz...one of the most beautiful places on earth, anywhere. Also where I have done a great deal of my growing up in my heart, as well as in my head...If I could live there I would; even in a one/two room studio, that cost me 2000/mo

nth...cuz that is what alot of the going rates up there are!! It's nuts! My family that live up there, made it easy for me to stay and visit, and I have so many memories, of getting up at 6 or 7 a.m.~going down to Ideal (small restaurant as you get on the wharf) and having breakfast especially my coffee on the beach deck out back. I could be the only one sitting out there in February or March, or there could already br a 45 min. wait in June or July, but I don't care...nothing beats it...it's so calming, and refreshing, and I love snugging in to my sweatshirt sipping my coffee, listening to the otters bark at each other early in the morning and smelling the ocean, and feeling the spray hit my face as I drink my coffee...

The pictures I am sharing this post were all taken by Patrick Smith...And I just wanted to share a little taste of things I have grown up around, and have come to love, places that are a part of who I am...they ingrained within me...So tonight, this is my vacation...this is where I'll be, so I hope you enjoy!

~This is Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz, Ca. at sunset. It's a state park where you can also camp (or at least you used to) and the park is literally ON THE WATER. It's a large beach, but to get down to it is a good, steep hike, so be prepared...The two rocks, used to be joined together, thus it's name, natural bridges. But a really nasty storm broke it apart in the early 1970's. My grandma has some old pics of this exact spot, from the 40's and 50's of it in tact, I should go hunt them down....they show it's beautiful!

~This is a picture of the same place, but different light, and more birds on top. I cannot tell you how many times I have swam in this ocean, at this very beach...and let me just say...it's pretty cold!!! My reasoning though...after the tingling and numbness go away, you can't feel...ANYTHING!!!! So it's all good!! I love it...

Isn't it marvelous? Of course, it really is one of those places that pictures just can never do it justice, you just have to see it for yourself...*sigh...*

~Now this, is up in Humboldt county, where one of my precious friends went to school. This kind of picture just puts me in awe, and it definitely makes me want to jump in the water!!!

I have personally never been here, but it's on my to-do list...for sure.

~Another up in Humboldt...the colors of the sky, and the waters...I believe this was just after or just before a big storm that had gone through...but rain doesn't bother me, even at the ocean...I love standing in the rain...it just feels so good! I am trying to get out to one of my vacation spots very soon...hopefully before Christmas lol....