The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!

My company, HTI, decided to throw a Halloween Spooktacular this year. And it was a blast! Every group in the office got to pick a theme and we were able to decorate our area and dress up while all the kiddos trick or treated around the office. We ended up having a carnival, a circus, a pumpkin patch, the cast of Hotel Transylvania, and we were the Wizard of Oz! And since I don't have any kids to treat or treat with, I got to be Dorothy!

Dorothy, Toto & Oz

When you open the door, this is what you saw, the lion, tin man, and scarecrow pointing down the yellow brick road

And you turned the corner and saw this! There is a lot of stuff going on, and it took forever to put together, but it was so much fun!

The yellow brick road led right to Oz's green curtain. 

Somewhere over the rainbow...

Fields of poppies

Apple tree and a silver of our house with the witches shoes sticking out of it. 

Me as Dorothy

The Kristin's as Munchkins

Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, and Tin Man

And the good and bad witches!

The whole gang under the rainbow

And little Rivs as a pirate!

The best part was there was a contest for best decorated area, and our group won! And Nat won for best costume as the Wizard of Oz! The only problem now is how do we top this next year??

Deck Demo!

Will and I knew the fall would probably be the best time to tear down and rebuild the deck. The cooler weather was going to be a lot better for the workers (i.e. Not me), and with as busy a summer as we had, we figured the fall would be better scheduling wise, right?

Sure, we aren't busy at all! But, demo has begun, so we slowly but surely get this deck project under way. 

Below are some before pictures:

Upper section

The whole reason this project started in the first place. Dang tree limb...

Lower section

Whole deck for the last time!

The lower section was apparently pretty easy to get up. A lot of the wood was rotting from sitting straight on the ground, so we won't rebuild it that way. Will did find a stamp on the underside of a board that said 1982, which I thought was super cool!

Measuring out our new deck plans!

By now, there is a system working. Jigsaw, then pry up boards. Repeat until entire deck is disassembled. 

Next section done!

My handyman with his power tools!

Deck boards off! Now, to work out our final plans for the deck, get some wood, and start replacing the joists and framing out the new part of the deck!

GO Tigers!!

Will and I got the awesome opportunity this weekend to head back to the alma mater and watch our first Clemson game as a married couple, and Will's first game as a graduate (and yes, we realize this is sad, and we shouldn't go so long without making a visit.) It was so fun to be back in Tigertown on a gameday and watch our Tigers beat up on Georgia Tech. 

Setting up the tailgate

Go Tigers!

Me and my hunny!

Me, Will and Mindy!

Getting ready to rub the rock

Most exciting 25 seconds in college football!

Sammy waiting for a kickoff

Panorama of this place I love so much...maybe going in a frame

All smiles for a Tiger win!

Porch Decorating

Last year, we moved into our house around the middle of November. So, while in the middle of preparing to move in and thinking about how we wanted to decorate the house, it was fall, and all I wanted to do was decorate for the season. However, by the time we moved in and I could decorate, it was time for the Christmas stuff to come out. Now that I finally have a porch I can decorate for fall, I can't wait! Here are some looks I love!

Mixture of hay bales, pumpkins and mums. Just what I am thinking about. 

Decorating for a narrow porch. 

Tons of mums!

Love a mixture of mums, pumpkins, and other gourds. 

Candy Corn Confessions

I may or may not have a problem....

As I recently texted a friend "my love of candy corn knows no bounds and is not confined by social norms". Once that candy corn hits the shelves, my body knows it. 

And once I start, I do not stop. Until I can no longer find candy corn in the store. Therefore, the longer I can make myself wait, the better. I am currently about one month into candy corn season and still clean. 

A few rules:

Don't buy anything other than Brach's

Make sure it's fresh (yes you can tell)

My usual game plan:

Eat candy corn until stomach hurts

Wait 15-30 min

Begin eating candy corn again 

Let's just pray that I can continue to stay strong and resist the bag I have sitting on my bedside table....

Sideline Sitting

I gotta admit, I am not much for participating in organized team sports. I like running by myself, or with other people, but if you throw a ball and some sports equipment in the mix, I'm not your girl. My hand-eye coordination leaves much to be desired, and I much prefer to be sitting on the sidelines. Luckily, I am an excellent spectator. It's one of my gifts really. Hours spent in a gym growing up watching basketball games perfected this skill.

I've had a lot of opportunities the past few days to show off my sideline sitting skills. First off, Will started in an ultimate Frisbee league with some friends of ours, so while the boys play, me and Steph and Clara get some girl time!

Warming up with the frisbee

Sweet Clara! Look at those blue eyes!

Showing off the swag in her new hoodie

Then, on Friday night, Will and I got the opportunity to go down with his family to watch his younger cousin Elisabeth, who plays soccer for Mississippi State. She is an awesome player, and they were playing against USC, so we had multiple reasons to cheer for the Bulldogs!

Go State!

Elisabeth in action. The game ended in a draw at 0-0 after two overtimes, so you know those girls were tired by then end!

The Elisabeth "Sully" Sullivan personal cheering section. 

Elisabeth with Terri, the birthday girl!!

Getting Crafty!

So, the other day I was feeling crafty. I swung by AC Moore and grabbed some supplies to make us a fall wreath. I knew I wanted to use lots of orange, so I switched directions last minute and got some purple to make it a fall/Clemson wreath. I also wanted it to have our house number on it. I knew how I wanted it to look in my head, and was hoping I could make it happen. 

My supplies, although I didn't use the ribbon. 

There was only one problem with my plan. Our house number is 217, and I couldn't find a 1 to save my life. I looked a few different places, and finally Will suggested I just get an I. I thought that was a stupid idea, until he said he would cut off part of the serif and sand it down to make a one. For the $1 it cost to buy the wrong letter/number, it was totally worth it just to see if he could do it. 

And Will came through! Much better than I thought he could do. I guess I didn't have enough faith :)

After a few coats of orange paint on the numbers...

and some orange and purple flowers inserted in the grapevine wreath... 

We have a finished product! Now to get something to hang it on!