things i learned in october

This is my first time participating in things I learned in October or any other month for that matter.  Sharing things you've learned at the end of the month is an exercise emily freeman began and opened up to the world.  I'm sure she had plenty of reasons within her own mind for this need but for me it's for one simple reason, to just remember.

 Writing things down is pretty much my favorite.  Partly because I love memories, sharing them, showing them, and storing them away but to be honest it's mainly because I forget things.  Often.  If it's not written down somewhere I might forget it happened.  Seriously.  I'd love to have a mind palace like my beloved Sherlock and only need a quiet room to recollect all the significant and insignificant details of life but alas that is not the case.  My journals, to do lists, notebooks, keep app are my mind palace and written in them are the things I need to remember and the things I want to remember.

While hiking with Zach's parents and the boys over fall break I learned to do something I've always wanted to learn.  In honor of that one new skill I vowed to join the group of October learners.  Here we go...

1)  I learned how to whistle with a piece of grass!  I read about this in books, young boys letting out piercing whistles in the midst of a field but I've never been able to or maybe never tried.  Either way, Zach taught me on our hike and I did it on the first try and then just to make sure it wasn't beginners luck I tried it again, and again and again.  I'm officially a grass whistler.

2)  Crepe Myrtles can have GORGEOUS fall color.  We are experiencing our first fall on Wesley St. and there are 6 or 7 crepe myrtles like the side of our yard.  The oranges and reds in their leaves stopped me in my tracks one day.  SO pretty!

3)  Ichabod Crane was not a great guy.  The only experience I have with Sleepy Hollow is the disney cartoon narrated by Bing Crosby so I am not expert on the story.  I always thought I remembered Ichabod being this nice guy who got picked on because he was a little different and happened to fall in love with a girl that a local fella was also into.  Rewatching the movie with the boys last weekend, I noticed that Ichabod pretty much just used women for food and fell for Katrina because her daddy was loaded.

4)  Seasoned words.  I loved the explanation She Reads Truth had for seasoned words.  Instead of the "I cooked them really well so they taste good" kind of words that I had always tried to give, it's about your words making others thirsty for the same thing.  They explained like this..."Salt causes thirst.  GOd's Word doesn't need our PR efforts.  Its mere mention causes sin to salivate for grace.  Our job is not to concoct our own savory presentation of the gospel; every ingredient was chosen to feed our own innate hunger.  Instead, our task is to speak words from our personal thirst, pointing to the source of Living Water."  Don't you just love that!!

5)  Physical comedy makes Logan belly laugh more than anything else I've ever seen.  On the flip side,  Micah is an excellent physical comedian.

6)  There's a new Mitford book!!  I found out the exact same way I found out about the last one,  Lifeway Catalog.  Oh how I love this series and wish I could live next door to Father Tim and Cynthia.

7)  Dr. Pepper mini cans are the perfect size for a DP addict who is trying to reform her ways.  They are just big enough to give me the flavor I long for but not so big that I feel like fat slob when I'm finished.  It would be much better if I could buy them individually though.  As of right now the pack I bought are hidden on the top shelf of the pantry but I know they are up.  Will power is not my greatest strength!