It’s October! How do you feel about this month? Do you love it and look forward to the upcoming holidays or do you look back wistfully on summer? I’m a bit of both. There’s so much fun fall-related stuff going on, I’m excited for the coming months, but I also miss the long, warm days of summer.
Here’s what’s current in my life during the tenth month of 2022(!). As always, please share your responses for some of the prompts. I love hearing what everyone is up to and enjoying lately.
Current books I’m reading this tell-all memoir and this novel by one of my favorite authors. Also doing a Bible study on the book of Jonah! Sadie is enjoying this hilariously adorable book about potty training a porcupine.
Current baked good Cookies galore. I have been working on a big cookie order (300 total!) of chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and peanut butter cookies. I also made my pumpkin spice ginger cookies just for fun, another apple pie, and pumpkin corn muffins. Lots of baking going on over here, as always!
Current blessing Seeing pictures of my granola on the shelves at The Iron Bird! God has been so, so good to me as I’ve pursued my Etsy shop and baking. I’m feeling very thankful.
Current obsession Candles. This time of year has me lighting candles on the daily and I just love it. It’s so cozy. Right now, I’m loving the scent “spooky spider cider” by Yankee Candle and also purchased a couple of candles from this Etsy shop that are all fantastic, affordable, and last so long.
Current food Pork. It’s my #1 pregnancy craving. I made a pork loin in the crock pot the other day, but I’m also wanting to make some barbecue pulled pork. I could eat that every. single. day.
Current drink Since the weather is cooling off, I’m back on the hot coffee train. Some mornings I’m all about my Nespresso machine, and other days I’ll treat myself to a vanilla latte at Starbucks.
Current cuteness Jimmy hanging out with Niva and her bestie, Runah! The pups had a sleepover at our house this weekend and we all loved playing with each other.
Current prayer For everyone impacted by Hurricane Ian. If you’re looking to help out, I recommend checking out the work IDES does. They’re awesome.
Current craving A staycation with Jimmy and Sadie. It would be so much fun to take a day or two off of life and just have fun as a family.
Current fun So many things lately! I brought Sadie to another art class and we both enjoyed it. We also took a little trip to a nearby farm to check out the pumpkins and fall flowers. We left with candy corn, apple cider, a caramel apple, and fun memories. The last time I had been to this farm was just after Sadie was born, so it was exciting to bring her along this year!
Current need My brother’s birthday is coming up and I have no idea what to get him! I feel like men, especially brothers and fathers are hard to buy gifts for. If you have any ideas, let me know 😉
Currently looking forward to All the fall fun this month! We’re hoping to go to more festivals, another farm, and a corn maze.
Current laugh Sadie is always “decorating” and rearranging our house. She wants to build forts, design rooms, and move decor around multiple times a day. I think she has a future as an interior designer, lol. I had to laugh the other day because she “decorated” our couch with her stuffed animals. Just another day at the Zottola Zoo!
Current joy Daily life with Sadie and Jimmy. Dinner together each night, playing, laughing, and doing life with them is my favorite.
Current beauty product This marshmallow hand and cuticle scrub and this nail strengthening cream sit at my kitchen sink and I use them every day. It feels like a little spa moment in my day and it makes me very happy! For hair products, I’ve been using this 10-in-1 leave-in spray and just reordered my favorite leave-in conditioner.
Current goal Getting ready for baby boy’s arrival next month! I need to buy some nursing bras and we are knee-deep in getting his room prepared! Jimmy has been chipping away at painting and I can’t wait to share how it looks when everything is ready.
A look back:
October 2017
October 2018
October 2020
October 2021
Living My Full Life 
I am in awe of your energy. Baking 300 cookies sounds like a lot at any time, let alone when you’re a month away from having a baby. You’re amazing! 😊
I enjoy autumn but I know that the short winter days are just around the corner and I don’t especially like it when it’s dark at 4 pm. Thankfully I rarely have to commute these days as I can work from home all the time, my company’s been great about that. Previously, it was tough to have early winter mornings de-icing my car and driving to work on icy roads.
Currently in my life this month: a family trip away to Scotland to visit my brother and his family. And I’m just three months away from the deadline for finishing my master’s thesis so this month I’ll be busy doing the final paperwork and editing my chapters. Almost done!
Thank you so much, Grace! I love baking, so it’s not too tough on me 🙂 Now, if I had to use the brain power to write a master’s thesis? That would be waaaaay harder and more draining! I am in awe of YOU!
I feel the same with it being dark at 4 pm. Not my favorite! So glad you don’t have to commute much and deal with de-icing your car and driving on dangerous roads!
I hope you have so much fun in Scotland visiting your brother and his family!! You must be so excited to be close to finishing your thesis! That is a HUGE accomplishment!
Aww, thank you 🙂 Research is my happy place, although it can definitely be draining and tough at times, so the past two years of writing and researching the thesis seem to have gone surprisingly quickly. I’ve even had thoughts of doing a PhD in the future but we’ll see, that would be a lot of work!
Thank you, Scotland was lovely. So good to spend quality time catching up with family. I miss seeing my brother and wish he lived closer (it’s a 6-hour drive to get there)!
I like the plushie additions for the couch, haha! My eyes were drawn to Pikachu
Hahah, allllll the plushies over here!! Pikachu is one of my faves 😉
You have so much going on!! Those cookies look delicious and I simply cannot imagine making any food item in such large quantities. Great job with your shop!
Gift idea: is he a griller? I got Kevin some grill stuff (mitts, tongs, etc.) and a brand with the first initial of our last name (P) so he could brand steaks or burgers or whatever with a P. I thought it was a good combo of practical but also something kind of fun and different.
Yes! I love it! I feel like keeping busy during the last weeks of pregnancy is so good for me haha. Thank you for the kind words and encouragement on my shop!
I think he does some grilling! Love the personalized idea for the brand and then some nice accessories. That’s such a good idea *and* practical!
I love when you do your “current” posts.
Sadie’s decorating is definitely on point! Whenever she comes to YaYa’s I can certainly expect a newly decorated living room 🙂
I definitely want a snickerdoodle now…
and Jimmy with the crazy husky duo is adorable!