Five on Friday Fall Return

I was pleased as peas to see my favorite weekly linkup was returning- especially because it coincided with my returning to the blog world! 

Via April, Christina, Darci, Natasha

Yay! Let's see if I remember how this goes... 1. Happy Fall, Y'all! I try not to complain about warm weather, because I know as soon as it hits the upper forties, I'm going to be whining (and freezing!) my hiney off... However, we're officially 10 days in to Autumn, and I'm ready for some sweater weather! I'm not asking for snow or blustering winds or anything- just that crisp and cool fall weather that makes me feel like sipping some cider! Thankfully, even if the weather is a bit warm, we can still pull out the pumpkins and pour out some candy corn, because it's October! 

Love this delicate yet fun calligraphy print- and the Anne of Green Gables quotation, of course!

2. Target

How "basic" do I sound right now? Fall, Target... Don't worry, Pumpkin Spice Lattes won't be next, I promise. ;) I'm just coming down from a major Target-trip-high! Y'all, I meandered the store for over an hour, and I scored some great finds- some of them from the dollar section! How cute are these little page flags?! 

I'm just a tad bit excited to use these in my gorgeous Whitney English starting in January... (And yes, planners can be gorgeous!) 

3. SheReadsTruth

Since school has started, I've decided to devote the first thirty minutes of my day to some one-on-one God and Chelsea time. I know thirty minutes isn't very much to some, but when it means I need to wake up at 5 AM on student teaching days and 6 AM on class days, it seems like a lot! In the past, I would "commit" to a devotional and then put it off because I didn't want to wake up early. Pushing myself to suck it up and just get up earlier has been crucial. I start my day off on the right foot every day, and I feel "blegh" now if I don't set aside that time... It's the most amazing thing. Honestly, I cannot remember a time I felt more connected with God, and while putting in more quiet time helps, the devotionals I read are also key. 

I know lots of people like Jesus Calling, but the language isn't really my thing. The intentions of the content are good though, and I like using it as a "warm up" to get me focused on worship. My favorite devotional right now is from SheReadsTruth- a women's devotional blog, with free, daily posts. I really like the community aspect of it, with lots of women reflecting on the day's material.  I could ramble about this for an entire post, because the benefits from this have been tremendous. I encourage all of you to check out SheReadsTruth!

4. One Week Without the Wonder Dog

A week ago, my parents made the tough decision to put our family dog to sleep after a tumor was affecting the quality of her life. We adopted Bess 11 years ago from a rescue mission. When the mission found her, she was on the side of the road, pregnant. My parents decided we were not going to get a puppy, because they were much more work to train. I was devastated to learn we were going to take home the fat mom dog instead of one of her precious puppies, and equally upset that the rescuers named said fat dog Bess! Over the years, Bess took on many nicknames, such as Bessie, Bessie Lou, Lou Lou, and my dad's favorite: The Wonder Dog.

I took this picture, one of my all-time favorite of Bess, this summer.   

 Looking back, we laugh at the fact that my parents thought Bessie would be easier to train, because that dog was a piece of work! However, no amount of potty stains could compare to the amount of love and joy she brought to our family- especially to my dad. 

When I was in middle school, Bess wasn't a fan of me (probably because middle-school-Chelsea was a bit of a diva), and the feeling was mutual.  However, as I got older, I appreciated her company more, and over the past few years, I definitely got more attached to her. It's hard to think about going back home, and not seeing her curled up in her bed, or hearing her howl at the door to come inside, but it makes me happy to know she's not in pain here. I'm so thankful our family got to experience the love and companionship of such a wonderful dog!

5. Time to Tailgate

Thankfully, even though it's been a bit of a glum week, there's lots to look forward to! I'm pretty excited for tomorrow's game against NC State, since some super fun members of the Wolfpack are visiting for the weekend! Mitch and Alyse started interning with Duke Power the same summer John did, and the three were close friends. However, John definitely wasn't as close as Mitch and Alyse... Four years later, the two are now a couple! John and I love double-dating with them, and we're looking forward to showing them why Death Valley is the place to be on Game Day! 

I hope even if you've been struggling this week, you find things to look forward to and be thankful for, too! For starters, let's all be thankful for Friday! Enjoy the weekend, friends!