Andrea Cooley Creative Services

Another perk of having a house is having a front door. I couldn’t wait to move out of the condo and have a front door people could easily knock on and come into our house.

Technically we had a front door at the condo, but it opened to a hallway. Some people hung wreaths, but I didn’t see the point. So a few weeks ago when I was at Hobby Lobby and I saw the fall wreaths, I had to get one (and they were 50% off). I made myself wait ’til September to hang it, and I love it! I’m not going to be the lady with wreaths for every season, but there is something about a nice wreath to welcome guests into your home.

I’m afraid the glass door will squish it a little, but it will be fine.

Also, I love our old wood front door with its leaded glass window. It creaks and stink with the humid weather, but that’s just part of its charm.

We have done a good job of filling our house with the furniture we already had (along with some IKEA purchases). But there was a void in our office/kitchen area that was begging to be filled. I told Adam I wanted to get something at Goodwill or a garage sale or on Craigslist. I don’t think he believed me.

A few weeks ago I spent a Saturday morning with my good friend Heidi, who shares my love of crafting, paper stores and bargains (and happens to drive a truck). We were out all morning and hadn’t bought anything significant. As we were heading back to our house, I remembered a sign for a garage sale I’d seen on Kingman Blvd (one of my favorite streets in Des Moines). Of course she was more than willing to stop.

We pull up to the house and the first thing we both see is the chair. The first words out of my mouth when I got out of the truck were “Is the chair sold?” It wasn’t. The sticker said $10 and I was sold. I love the exaggerated wings that seem to hug you when you sit down. And the wood trim. And the longer we have it, the more the green upholstery is growing on me. Maybe someday I’ll tackle re-covering it, but for how it’s great.

Adam was skeptical when we carried it in, but now even he likes it. Definitely the best $10 I’ve spent in a long time!

It’s starting to feel like fall, the air is cool without a hint of humidity, begging you to open your windows and let it drift into the corners of your house that have been pent up all summer long. I’m sure there will still be another 90-degree day, but for now I’m enjoying this change of seasons.

I was also thinking how it’s a year of firsts in our house. We’ve already been here for 7 months, and experienced shoveling snow, mowing the lawn, getting water in the basement (though not as much as others in Beaverdale), planting a garden, and so many other little discoveries. Fall is the only season we haven’t had yet. We don’t know how many leaves the grand old oak out front will drop and how many will cling to the branches ’til winter. Or when we’ll light our first fire. And I just realized the other day when neighbor kids knocked on our door selling coupon books that we’ll have trick-or-treaters for the first time!

I decided to that since the temperatures are finally cooler it would be OK to have the oven on for 2 hours to make my first-ever batch of granola. The recipe is from Orangette, a beautifully written blog. I recommend pretty much anything posted here and also have read her book. If the granola tastes anything like its made the house smell, it will be delicious. I’m already looking forward to mixing it with a large dollop of Stoneyfield vanilla yogurt for breakfast.

I have big plans of making bread and muffins and stew now that the weather is cooler. I’ll keep you posted! What’s your favorite fall recipe? I’m a big fan of butternut squash soup.

I read this in a Daily Walk email from Relevant this morning and wrote it on a sticky note, that I promptly left on my desk at home and forgot about until I came home after work. I think it’s worth sharing.

“Prayer is any raising of the heart to God.” Luis of Granada

The short devotional went on to say: prayer is the silent awareness of God.

So many times I complicate prayer in my head, trying to get the words just right, whatever that means, when really all God asks is that we spend time talking with him.

I have lived in Iowa for 27 years (my whole life) and every summer RAGBRAI rolls across the state–literally. This bike ride has become an event of epic proportions. We’re talking 20,000 bikers who willingly hop on bikes and make their way across the state the last week of July, dipping their back tire in the Missouri River and their front tire in the Mississippi River.

I did not ride my bike all week, but I got my first taste of RAGBRAI on the hottest day of the week, riding 62 miles between Algona and Clear Lake, with these lovely ladies. They were more seasoned riders, this being their 3rd or 4th time biking a day, so they knew all the best places to get breakfast burritos, smoothies, ice cream, and cookies–everyone knows, half the fun of the trek is the food! I will say, I never got a piece of pie, so I have to do it again next year!

Now, I knew there would be a lot of people, but I had absolutely no concept of how many bikes 20,000 is. This line of bike below, doesn’t come close to what a town of 2,000 people looks like when 10 times that amount of people on bikes descend on it. When you came to a town you had to get off your bike and walk. I kept thinking, that as the day went on, the people would thin out. It never happened. If you wanted to pull over and stop you had to make your way to the side of the road. And when you wanted to get back on the road you had wait for an opening (and yell “Biker on!”)

We started the day around 6:45. So the sun was up, but it wasn’t too hot yet. That was my favorite part of the day. Starting off in the middle of nowhere and all you can see in front of and behind you are bikers and all you can see on either side of you is corn. Iowa really is beautiful when you take the time to look. I wish I had taken more pictures of the countryside. Another thing to do next year.

I loved talking to people on the road. Everyone is friendly and ready to ride and talk for a few miles (what else do they have to do before they get to the next town, right?). I met a woman from Stanford, CT, who was from Northwest Iowa and comes back every couple years to ride. She brought her boyfriend with her this year. There were also tons of kids riding. And families. And young people. And old people. You’d fit right in, even if you haven’t ridden a bike in years. I had ridden a total of 30 miles all summer and was fine. We were lucky with a flat route this year. Honestly, I only used 4 gears all day. There were really no hills to speak of, which was fine with me.

Here we are, at the end of the day, when we realized the heat index was over 100 and couldn’t wait to take a shower. These girls were awesome. I had a blast with them. We stopped at a slip and slide along the way, took breaks for cookies and gatorade and made it the whole way!

Things I learned:
Padded biker shorts are a MUST
Keep your eye out for rumble strips (the bumps before stop signs)  and announce them to others around you (after riding over one, I decided I didn’t need to do that again)
Libraries usually have indoor restrooms that are open to the public

Now we just have to wait ’til January when the announce next year’s route.