Fun Post: (Late!) October Favorites :)

Hey everyone! 
I hope you are having a fabulous week so far! :) This October favorites post is very long overdue, but I figured better late than never. (Or better late than combined with November's favorites post. ;P) I've been:

Filling my calendar with...
A LOT of things. At least it feels like it. ;) At the very end of September I went to a ladies' retreat about 6 hours from here with some ladies from my church. That was really fun and special, though too short. ;) Then in early October, we had a group from Alaska come to help out with door knocking and distribution. That was just such a blessing in so many ways. Getting to know people that I had either never met, or met only once, having the girls stay in my room/basement apartment crash pad was awesome, and all around it was great!! I loved every minute.

Travelling to...
Wyoming and my home church in Oak Harbor, after the previously mentioned events. My dad, Mercy and I headed out for Wyoming the day after the brethren from Alaska left. It was such a good trip. Every day of the trip was fun and special in a completely different way, which was really memorable. I had an amazing time there. Then right after we returned home, we went over to Oak Harbor for the annual missions conference! What was really cool during this conference, aside from the preaching, was that I got to spend some time with almost all of my good friends over there, just hanging out, cooking together, catching up, etc. That is so rare that I have the time or opportunity to do that!!! I am really thankful for all of my sweet, encouraging friends.

Looking forward to...
The holidays! Don't judge, I play Christmas music all year round, but right around October 1 or so is when I crank it up again. ;P Haha! There are just so many amazing artists and songs based on the miraculous birth of Christ, how can I limit it to one single month out of the year?! Also, Thanksgiving is such an incredibly overlooked holiday in my opinion. You have Helloween (intentional mis-spelling there) decor coming out in early August, and then emails about Black Friday deals coming in around St. Patrick's day of the PREVIOUS YEAR... ok maybe it's not quite that bad, but almost. In the mix, Thanksgiving gets completely glossed over, which I think is so sad. :'( Anyway, we are travelling to see family during Thanksgiving, which is going to be so much fun. :)

Admiring...
God's incredible creation in the fall colors. Here in central Washington, we have such a variety of trees that we get an unbelievable display of the entire color spectrum, almost!! I love looking out the front window, and seeing the crisp, brilliant colors, shapes, and sizes, and my mountain looming over everything, sometimes with clouds sitting on top of it...God is amazing!

Listening to...
This arrangement of Mary, Did You Know. Seriously, I'm going to give you the link again, you need to click to a new tab, or open the YouTube app, and watch the video. I just gave you the link three different times, now you have no excuse. Go watch it. Several times. Or just an innumerable amount of times, like I have. Heh heh. ;) And try not to launch into orbit from the awesomeness of it before you come back and read the rest of this super deep post. :P

Wishing for...
Tickets to some kind of Christmas concert. :) This time of year makes me miss my orchestra so bad. Last year I played in the Christmas concert, with about 350 or so people in attendance. That doesn't sound like a whole lot, but that was the first time I had ever performed on a bigger stage than at church. I will never forget that experience. Anyway, being at a live concert is so different than listening to a recording of something. 

Working on...
Writing out sheet music to a few of my original songs. A huge thank you to Abby, for sitting me down, (almost by force;) and walking me through the ins and outs of MuseScore, then texting to motivate me to get myself in gear and do it!! I honestly might never have taken the trouble (and it definitely takes time and work to write music), without her encouraging me to do it. I've got two songs completed so far. If you are interested in them, you can email me for the music. 

Playing...
The Settlers of Catan board game with the family. This is one of those games that does take time and practice to learn, and will seem complicated at the beginning, but once you learn it, you'll never forget the rules really, and it is SO much fun!! I love games in general, but this is one of my favorites. 

Well, what are your Thanksgiving plans this year? I pray that all of you have a blessed holiday season. :) 
Mykaela