Happy Friday, y’all! It’s almost October! We’ve had a cool front (I can’t really call it a cold front when it only lowered into the high 70s- low 80s…) blow in this week and it has FINALLY felt like fall!! We’ve got our front porch pumpkin and fall wreath put out so we are ready for fall!

Steven has been working this week in the GI clinic (and will be for the next few weeks), so he’s been doing a more normal 7:30-5, so we’ve gotten a lot of time together this week, which has been wonderful!

I’m so excited about our five things this week! Check them out below…

1. Bath and Body Works Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin

When it comes to ushering in fall, pumpkin pretty much leads the parade these days. I have to say (at the risk of being shunned by the masses) that I don’t really care to eat or drink anything pumpkin flavored. It just doesn’t have a flavor I care for, and don’t even get me started on the texture. I don’t remember pumpkin being this big of a deal when I was younger, so whoever jumped in with marketing and made pumpkin a thing, kudos to you, my friend.

With that being said, I do like the smell and look of pumpkins. I enjoy pumpkin candles, and decorate with pumpkins through to Thanksgiving. Which brings me to one of my favorite things, the Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin scent at Bath and Body Works.

THIS SMELLS SO WONDERFUL! This is the second year that my mother-in-law has gotten me the lotion and body wash and pulling it out just makes everything feel so fall-ish and nice. B&BW has a plethora of pumpkin related scents, including Pumpkin Apple Cider, Pumpkin Cupcake, and Salted Caramel Pumpkin, which makes me so thankful my MIL bought this for me, otherwise I would have had the most difficult time deciding on a scent and would have ended up walking out with ALL of them. All Signature Body Care (which includes lotions, body wash, shower gel, and body spray) are now Buy 3, Get 3 Free (be still my heart!), so go get your pumpkin fix today!

2. Jumburrito

This one has been a favorite ours for years, but we only get to enjoy it while we are in Midland. This is fast(ish) Mexican food (I say fast-ish because there is a drive-thru at all locations, but they also have nice dining rooms to sit down and eat as well) that offers a full range of DELICIOUS breakfast burritos (tacos? I’ve heard the difference between what you  call it is regional) as well as the best smothered burritos and tacos.

We went Saturday night before going to the UTPB game, and it did not disappoint. If you are ever in Midland, do yourself a favor and get yourself some great Mexican food!

[Featured left to right: delicious chips and queso, a large smothered burrito, crispy tacos, and a regular smothered burrito]

[We recommend the locations by the mall, and on Big Spring St, but they are all good!]

3. QALO Silicone Wedding Rings

My husband and I have real (nice) wedding rings (I feel like I should preface with this).

This is Steven’s nice wedding ring. To be honest, he never wears it. He has always been concerned that he would take it off in a glove, or it would get lost or messed up at work, so before we got married, I researched silicone rings for him to have for occasions that would make wearing his nice ring risky. I went with Qalo because they have the best reputation, and they have SO MANY colors and styles to choose from. Qalo (Quality, Athletics, Love, Outdoors) has men’s and women’s styles and are made for people who are rough and tough on rings.

I chose the slate gray men’s ring for Steven (we considered the camo, but went with the plain one to start out with). He put it on one day about two weeks after we got married, and has never looked back. He wears it 24 hours a day, in the shower, while he sleeps, the whole nine. The only time he’s traded out in seven months was one night for his brother’s wedding. He says it is comfortable and easy to wear, so he hardly notices he’s wearing it.

This is the best picture I can find of it:

I’ve been wanting one for myself, but unsure of how much I would wear it. But, I’ve decided it’s better to have one than to not, so we ordered one in my signature color of turquoise.

(Please excuse my chubby fingers today!) But, I love it! It’s great for places like the lake and the park, especially because I’m paranoid about losing diamonds out of my set (I’ve had to have stones on my engagement ring tightened already). I’m hard on my rings around the house (I seem to bang into things frequently), so this is great for around the house as well!

For sizing, my diamond set with my engagement ring and wedding band are both size 6, but they are loose (we sized them bigger so they would fit if I soldered them together, but I’ve decided not to for a while), and my Qalo is a 6 and fits great. Steven’s wedding band is a 7.5 (he has thin fingers!) and the smallest they make in the Qalo is an 8, but that seems to fit him well. The silicone fits more snugly than gold so it doesn’t slip around, and he’s never had the threat of it sliding off in a glove or anything (which, at $20, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if it did!).

And for my sisters (and brothers) in healthcare, if you are wearing your diamond ring to work, read this research conducted by Baylor Scott and White Healthcare and consider getting a silicone ring for work. They found in testing across multiple facilities that 20% of diamond (jeweled) rings (mainly engagement rings) carried harmful levels of bacteria, including MRSA and VRE. So scary! I get mine cleaned fairly regularly and don’t work in a hospital setting anymore, but now I’m paranoid about what could be lurking between the stones! So, another benefit of the silicone- much easier to sanitize!

4. Hensel Leather

We have some of the best people in our lives, and they have the most amazing talents that we are able to take advantage of. Case in point, my best friend’s boyfriend (Tanner Hensel) is amazing at leather working. I asked Tanner to make Steven a wallet for his birthday next week, and it turned out awesome!

Tanner was awesome to work with me because I didn’t really have any idea what I wanted, or what would work. He sketched out several designs and then we picked one, and he got it made and sent out to me in record time!

He does amazing work on anything leather, including holsters, horse gear, checkbook covers and more. If you are interested, contact him below:

5. The Magnificent Seven

Once upon a Monday (this past Monday), Steven and I were sitting at McAlister’s enjoying some soup, when Steven said he was really craving some movie theatre popcorn. Thirty minutes later, we were sitting in the Grand Ave Theatre in Belton ready for the 6:40 showing of The Magnificent Seven.

We love a good western, and as far as acting goes, it’s hard to beat Denzel. Chris Pratt is actually really funny in this movie, and he was one of my favorite parts. Overall, I thought it was a really good movie, and we really enjoyed it!

Don’t ask me how it compares to the original because I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it (I know, it’s a classic and all that). Be aware that it is a western, so there is a lot of killing and a lot of death. Nothing is graphic, but there was a point that I said to myself, wow, a lot of people have died so far. There is some language, but not much (what you’d expect for a western), and no really rough language.

 

And that’s it for this week! I’ve got to go take care of our new munchkin! (our Gumpkin 😉 )