Can you believe that there is only one week left in October sweet friend?
Before we know it, we will be gathering around the table, passing plates of stuffing and potatoes and putting up Christmas trees!
Or, if you’re like me…you might already have one or five trees up already! Ha!
More on that Christmas tree topic coming farther down in this post! 🙂
For me, I have realized that I tend to notice the slipping of time more acutely around this time of year.
Maybe it’s because the fresh start feelings of a new school year beginning, is not too far back in the rearview and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is not too far ahead, in the future…
This time of year, with it’s skipping & ticking clock, coupled with the gradual change of seasons tends to usher in an invitation…for me to reflect and reset…before an even more busy season bursts through the door.
Yes, an invitation to take on a posture of mini reflection is on the table, for you and for me.
Even if it’s just for a few minutes, first thing in the morning –
To sit with myself and determine the answers to the simple yet important question that is:
What is saving my life right now?
Or, put more plainly –
What is helping me to be me- right now?
I have pondered and shared this exact question before on the blog, after being inspired by my favorite podcaster, Emily P. Freeman, as she has passed this question along every quarter on her “Next Right Thing” podcast.
I have gravitated to also share these posts somewhat seasonally, as shared Here and HERE in the past, the tiny things that were saving my life – in Spring.
And now?
Now, that we are in full swing Fall, soon to be holiday mode –
I find myself looking to this question again for Autumnal, pre-holiday direction – towards calm.
I believe, the practice of holding this question up, gleans helpful insights as to what is informing our days, what is steadying to us in the midst of the constant stream of demands and distractions in our everyday life.
And so…these small things are usually tucked inside the wrinkles of regular daily life.
They are usually the tiniest of details that help to catch the moments of light, despite what may feel like an overcast landscape at times.
Noticing and naming these small (and sometimes silly) things that are saving my life, help to encourage my heart, when life is overwhelming or when the pressures of stress press in.
Because?
If my heart is willing to make thoughtful space for a purposeful pause and mini mind break…
I have found is that my soul usually has gentle responses that whisper to those things that are tripping me up…
and softens everything.
If I focus on the small things that are helping and saving my life right now…they tend to point me ahead, toward the light of what’s next…
and life feels manageable again.
Today on the blog, I am sharing the things and fall essentials that are saving my everyday normal life, right now.
From simple pleasures to the smallest decor changes at home, to the daily decisions that are rounding out life right now…and because this is real life…anything and everything counts.
You will also will see in today’s post, that I am adding on to my original post, from this time last year!
My hope is that by sharing these small but mighty things that are helping me to be me right now, they may inspire or help you – to be you, right now.
Follow me friend!
Fall Essentials – What Is Saving My Life in Fall 2025
Family time
Family time continues to be a core value for my life and the healthy orbit of my inner world.
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, then you already know, that our family took our annual camping trip with friends last weekend.
Last weekend’s trip marked a decade of Fall camping trips for our family!
In fact, our very first family camping trip, we decided to leave Livvy home with Grandma, because I wasn’t sure I was ready to tackle a tent and a toddler! 🙂
(I’ll be sharing more details and how to take a family camping trip next week, so meet me back here for more camping tips if you are thinking about taking your own family camping weekend trip.)
I get it.
Life is super busy.
And, from what I’ve experienced, quality family time doesn’t just happen by default.
I’ve learned that in order to choose your presence, you must also choose your absence.
For our busy family, and perhaps yours also, family time requires planning and intention.
And?
Sometimes, making the decision to prioritize family time over game time…etc can be an unpopular decision in the culture we live in today.
Just last weekend, in order for our family to spend the weekend camping with our friends, it required Livvy to miss a club soccer game and Eve and Maci to miss their club lacrosse practices.
And you know what?
Missing the thing….
Whether it be a sports game or practice like our family, or something different, but also important to your family…
Choosing to miss the thing(s)..so that the important things are tended to and nurtured?
Choosing to take plan a hard stop, away from all the different directions, to simply sit around a campfire together and just be…
Well, that is currently saving my life, in Fall.
I have found that these camping weekends always come at the perfect time.
When everything is feeling a little bedazzled, in all the extra ways and things just need to be quieted…stripped down to what matters most.
These people.
These friends.
These memories.
This decade old camping tradition and memories are saving my life in Fall.
My heart will forever be grateful for kiddos who aren’t so little anymore, but still want to go camping in the woods with Mom & Dad.
I’m putting christmas sheets on our beds now
Yes, I know it is still technically October.
But, I like to get a head start on making the house holiday cozy.
Last week on the blog, we talked all about how to create a cozy home, HERE in this post.
And part of what creates a cozy vibe for me?
Is not scrambling and stressing, trying to decorate the entire house for the holiday season, in one day.
I prefer to enjoy the process and so, I practice the art of what I lovingly refer to as….sloooowwww decorating. 🙂
Last year, I purchased these red plaid holiday sheet sets from Target for our bed and the girls beds. These plaid holiday sheets are available again this year in a variety of pretty holiday patterns and designs HERE.
So, once the air started to feel a tiny bit chilly around here this past week….
I jumped on the excuse to strip all of the beds and make up “holiday beds” while the girls were at school!
I might have also added a tiny Christmas tree in each of the girls bedrooms. 🙂
Hi.
It’s me.
I’m the problem.
And now?
Now, this pretty little plaid and evergreen view is saving my life right now, every single time I walk down the hall and pass Evie’s bedroom.
It’s the littlest things that sometimes help the heart to smile on what is an ordinary walk down the hall.
Starting to slowly prep the house for the holiday season, by adding tiny touches of warm decor like cozy Winter sheets, is already making my brain breathe a little easier, in Fall.
Thrifting for vintage holiday decor
I’m not sure what it is…
But, popping into the thrift stores during the Fall season brings a sense of nostalgia to my heart, that is comforting.
It’s probably because, for years, I used to bring the girls to our local Goodwill in October to scour for hidden gems to round out the details to our family Halloween costume themes.
A favorite Halloween costume being the time when we dressed up as the Golden Girls.
Maci made the BEST Blanche!!!
I feel like we saved the best for last with this costume theme.
It’s hard to believe this Golden Girls costume reveal was already 3 years ago! While, I do miss dressing up with our girls, I also am grateful for the years and years we dressed up together as a family…
Looking for family theme Halloween costume ideas?
You can see MORE of some our past family Halloween costumes HERE in this post:
“Clear Eyes, Full Heart…Can’t Lose – Resting In Your True Identity”
But yes, to know me, is to know that I love to take a quick 5 minute stroll through the aisles of local thrift stores, to simply see what treasures may have popped on the shelves, and how I might re-purpose them.
You might remember this thrift store table lamp makeover or this thrifted vase turned Pottery Barn dupe from this “Fall Decor & Thrifted Vase” post.
And now?
This past week, my eye happened to land on this oversized clear glass vase with vintage Christmas ornaments piled inside for $10.
The vase is not what caught my eye, it was the bright Christmas balls inside. I don’t really have a need or interest for the glass vase but I had already been planning to decorate a vintage inspired Christmas tree this year.
And so?
Starting to hang these $10 thrifted Christmas ornaments on my flocked Christmas tree, in my home office is saving my life right now.
Stay tuned for how the rest of the thrifted Christmas ornaments turn out!
I love how a thrift store surprise can inspire you to do something different with your decorating vision!
If you’re in the mood for Christmas decorating inspiration, you can see my King of Christmas Flocked Christmas tree and how I decorated it last year, HERE in this post.
Stop delaying a decision: our new member of the family
We have been talking about getting another puppy for a little over a year.
And by we, I mean…Evie, Maci and Livvy have been begging for another dog.
And honestly?
Something turned on inside me last month, when I realized this –
It’s never going to be a good time to get another dog.
And after Evie made her verbal committment to playing lacrosse in college earlier this month?
I heard the clock inside my heart tick LOUDER than ever before.
Like a thud.
That this season of life is rapidly evaporating…and the time is now.
Enter Winnie.
This little fluff ball has made an immediate impact on our hearts and we needed her.
We had started to take life so seriously…all the time.
And while I keep telling our friends and neighbors, that stop us on the street to pet our new fluff ball…
That – Winnie has helped to bring out the puppy in Willa, our older mini labradoodle who is 6, and who had started acting like a tired, grumpy granny…
What I think I am really saying is…
Winnie has helped to bring out the inner puppy in all of us, all over again.
This new puppy, while yes, she is a lot of work…
She is also doing the work of helping our little family of 5 humans + 2 furballs, live a little –
Lighter.
Sillier.
Funner. (not a word I know. 🙂
Gentler.
Yes, Winnie is saving my life in Fall, and keeping me company under my desk chair, while I work…
While I’m not suggesting that adding a puppy to your life will solve all the things…I am saying –
If there is something you have been putting off or waiting for a perfect time for…
Maybe it’s time to take the air out of the pressure of waiting for the perfect time.
The time will pass anyway – may as well just do the thing or move on from thinking about doing the thing.
Living in “not ready yet” tension can be life draining…just considering it all the time.
But making the decision already?
Well that’s been freeing…and fun!
Getting outside & Moving my body
If you’ve been around here for a little while, then you know how much I value the practice of jogging or taking walks outside.
I call it a “practice” because it’s not a perfect routine.
I do not take what I lovingly refer to as my “mental health jog” every day.
Sometimes, I am only able to squeeze my morning jog through the cemetery, yes you read that right, I jog through a nearby cemetery…only once a week.
I have an entire post about how this practice of jogging through the cemetery, came to be how it has changed me and become a critical part of my rhythm, HERE in this post from last Spring:
“Where Are You Finding Yourself Lately?”
This practice though, of jogging through the quiet surround, has and is saving my life right now…
Jogging the cemetery has become my way going back to the well, so to speak, when the water inside me has run dry.
When my heart is thirsty for –
Life.
Creativity.
Tenderness.
A wish to be unseen for a break of time…
I go to the well…
My body moves
I take notice of my surrounding…
And then?
I carry on.
I hope this little list of what is saving my life in Fall, is helpful to you friend.
Perhaps, inspiring to notice and name the small or sometimes big things, or ordinary things, that help us to not fall of our edge, and to keep going…with a heart soaked full, at the well.
Living on a prayer,
Heather
Shop this post:
What Is Saving My Life – In Fall 2024
Consenting to a season of Re-Orientation
Recently, I was driving Maci and her friends home from soccer practice and the sunset was putting on a show that I simply could not ignore.
If you have been around here for a bit, then you already know that I love to pull my car over when the sunset suggests we give her a few seconds of our attention.
This was one of those nights.
I parked the car and snapped this quick picture on my phone.
So pretty right?
Hard to believe that this is the same spot, taken from just a few steps back…
A little different huh?
This quick little sunset stop on the way home from practice, reminded my heart, that with the change of the season…we also are offered the opportunity to invite a shift in mindset that can result in a season of reorientation.…if we are receptive to it.
In other words…
Am I going to focus on – The problem…or The Promise?
Sure, I could have stayed standing at my driver’s side door to snap the sunset picture, with the heavy equipment machinery mangling my view.
Or?
I could choose to move and reorient myself.
Turns out…moving my feet and shifting my eyes was worth it…
So that I could have a better…and more clear perspective.
Seeking more quiet, and quitting over-functioning.
I don’t know about you…
But my factory default setting is programmed to – Over Functioning mode.
Thankfully for me, the ripple effect of consenting to a season of reorientation this Fall, has meant being less willing to tolerate casual noise and revived a fresh grit to quit over functioning.
For starters, I am reorienting myself and my heart’s view by inviting less noise and instead engaging in more quiet. And, I am welcoming a shift in my default programming to – regular functioning versus over functioning. 🙂
For me, seeking more quiet in my everyday looks like –
Less posting.
Taking a step back from showing up on social media, creating and sharing at a quick pace. I still share…just slower and less rushed.
Not listening to the radio or a podcast or an audio book while driving…just simply being alone.
Because, taking a break from the chatter and simply being alone – is actually O.K.
Taking more walks in the mornings and evenings as much as possible.
Consenting to stillness throughout the day, without the pressure to be productive.
Engaging gratitude for what I have in this right now moment.
Turns out all of this quiet seeking is tilling the soil of my soul and strengthening it to do the hard work that is-
Quitting over functioning.
In a nut shell this simply means – aiming to relax into the moment in front me of me and relinquishing control.
Remaining surrendered and self controlled, and when I notice a gap in how I think something should be playing out?
Instead of suggesting to Shawn, or our 3 girls that they should be doing ____. (fill in the blank)
I simply let it be.
Unlike our favorite Fall crockpot recipe –
Surrender is not a one and done event.
It’s not a set it and forget it situation.
We don’t set our hearts to surrender and walk away for it to cook on high.
No, surrender is a constant state of mind.
Turning over what’s cooking in our minds and surrendering the ingredients of what is stirring in our hearts.
Choosing to leave the spin and seek the quiet.
Surrendering control and committing to quitting over functioning…well it’s all saving my life right now.
The quieter I get, the louder God’s voice becomes, helping me to know and see the pathway forward this Fall.
Affordable Fall Fashion From Amazon: Fall Essentials You’ll Love!
Loving my new cardigans from Amazon!!
Amazon Cardigan in Color Light Camel
Amazon Knit Coatigan – Color Pink (I also have it in Khaki and love it!)
New favorite Slouchy Sweater Coatigan in Color Apricot
Being a Noticer of Nature
Much like watching the sunrise over the ocean makes me more keenly aware of God’s presence and just how BIG my God is…
The morning moon hanging over our house, when I take Willa out every morning has a similar effect on me.
It’s certainly not nearly as “aesthetic” as my beach sunrise pictures are…
And yet…this big morning moon hanging above our roof among the millions of stars…
Has a way of embracing my heart in the morning and reminding me that –
No matter how small…
He takes care of it all.
Buying a TV and mobile stand to enjoy OUTSIDE!!!
SMART Fire Television with Alexa // Mobile Rolling TV Stand
Fun is not to be under-rated in this life we live.
And this TV is adding an extra layer of fun and enjoyment to our patio evenings!
I picked this TV and this mobile tv rolling cart up on Amazon during Big Deal Days on Prime and we are all loving the chance to watch out favorite TV shows and football games outside this Fall!
While outdoor TV’s can be super expensive, this TV and mobile stand are making it possible to watch television in so many different areas of our home, where we don’t have a TV.
LOVE IT!
Ok friends!
That’s a true and honest confession of the real things that are saving my life this Fall and generally just helping me to make the most ouf of this beautiful season we are gifted with.
I pray that you found a nugget here that might help you to embrace the season we are in and find the light…no matter the landscape.
Living on a prayer,
Heather
I partner with affiliate platforms where commission may be earned based on qualifying purchases, and I would love it if you decided to use the links above when ordering online! XO
