'Tis the Season

...for Honeycrisp apples, newsletters and pumpkin-flavored anything!

When people ask me what my favorite season is I often hesitate, respond "Summer, I guess," and then go on to second-guess myself. In the back of my mind I can list all of the reasons why I love summer and why I love fall, but the reality is that every single year, as soon as Fall starts, I remember why fall is actually my favorite season. It just takes a few red and orange leaves beginning to dot the trees, or the crunchy ones scattered all over the sidewalk. Or maybe it takes a delicious half-price white chocolate pumpkin mocha from Caribou Coffee with Josie. Or even perhaps just being able to snuggle in at night under my extra blankets and think, "How blessed am I to be warm and cozy." I love fall. The football debates begin (and I must admit, it's very strange to live in what seems to be Viking territory, don't worry, my allegiances hold strong to GB), scarves, hats and mittens start making their way out of storage and the out-of-towners start getting a little more nervous about what winter will have in store.

I love fall.

I also love fall, particularly October, because it's the first month of the school-year that we missionaries send out our quarterly newsletters! Yesterday I set up shop in the student union to see what kind of work I could get done, and the Lord certainly multiplied my time! By the end of just a couple hours I had nearly all of my envelopes addressed, stamped, return-addressed and the newsletters themselves tri-folded (with a little help from some wonderful students). Cari also found a great new place in Fargo that prints color copies for nearly a third of where we're used to going... I will miss seeing LeeAnn all the time, but shoot, when you can get the same quality for nearly a third of the price, I'll gladly take it. Thank you ShortPrinter! Strange name, interesting way of doing business, but hey, they have a bowl of free candy (the good stuff too, like funsize Milky Way and Snickers!), quick service and are very friendly. If you're wondering, yes I would recommend them if you have a big printing project and no I'm not getting paid and/or any sort of stipend for mentioning them in public. Although maybe I should see if we could work that out...

Anyway, I just thought I'd take a break from stuffing my newsletters and let you all know how much I love fall!

Oh, I do have a slightly embarrassing story for you: Yesterday our landlord came to town and told me that he was going to be in working on our heat and "bleeding out the furnaces." I had no idea what that meant (clearly), I figured it had something to do with cleaning and/or fixing them, but didn't think much about it. That is, until I got home in the afternoon and noticed our apartment was just a total hot box! Cari and I were sweating just sitting at the kitchen table and the outside temperature was certainly not to blame. We figured the heat would just go down after the furnaces were done "bleeding out," so we didn't think much more about it. Then when I got home from Mass at 10 pm and it was still as hot as an oven I started to wonder, but figured it would cool down overnight. I literally slept in shorts and a tank top with no blankets all night--which I wouldn't even do on the hottest nights of summer--there's always at least a sheet to keep my poorly-circulated toes warm! I woke up this morning feeling like I had five blankets on me (brace yourselves...) sweating an awful lot (gross, I know) and noticing that it certainly didn't get any cooler in our apartment. "Well isn't that the darnedest thing," I thought to myself, followed by, "okay, seriously we need to do something. This is ridiculous." So I sent my landlord a text message, trying to play it cool because it was early and didn't want to wake him, and it went like this:
  "Hey Leo sorry to pester you so early, but just wondering if there's a way to turn the heat down? It's really warm."
  He responded, "Sorry I forgot to turn the thermostat back to 72."
  Thinking the thermostat was hidden somewhere downstairs or somewhere else, I responded, "Where is that?" thinking he'd give me a long list of instructions.
  "On the wall in the living room" was his only response. Immediately I looked next to the TV, and lo and behold, there was the thermostat, set at 90 degrees Fahrenheit. All night long.
  My humiliated response was brief, yet informative, "Got it, thanks."

And that is the story about Kelsey not knowing how to set the thermostat. Just working on fostering that vocation to motherhood....and growing in humility.