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My Life In Photos

September has been pretty fantastic considering it was the beginning of Fall and it hasn't disappointed yet. The leaves are changing colour, the temperatures have dropped, and I'm getting to snuggle in layers and blankets.




I picked up a hot dog costume at Target for the kitties. They actually have a great selection there for pets. Normally costumes are for dogs and cats get shafted, but all their small and medium costumes are advertised for cats and dogs. The cats weren't too happy about the costumes. They kept freezing when I put on the hot dog. Seymore eventually figured out how to kick it off considering it was more of a backpack on him. Logan eventually took off upstairs and then refused to move.





Some new toys for the shelf after going through Adam's old toy box. 


Baking muffins with Halloween liners. 


I'm excited there's another month of Autumn left, though, I have a feeling Winter will be here sooner than we expect. The trees in our neighbourhood are losing leaves like crazy. They'll be bare soon!

I hope you had a great month... one day until October!
xo Jen 

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Harvest Apple Cupcakes


I had company up last weekend so I decided to make some cupcakes for dessert. I decided on a recipe I found in my Betty Crocker cupcake book, 'Harvest Apple' cupcakes. You can either make them from scratch or use a box cake mix as the base.

I decided on using a box cake mix. It was super easy! I followed the directions on the box but added in 2 teaspoons of cinnamon to the batter. Then I chopped up Paula Red apples - about 3 cups worth - and added it to the batter. Then baked like normal.

After they cooled, I added some cream cheese frosting and sweet caramel sprinkles that I picked up from the Pampered Chef.


They are tasty!! They have also disappeared very quickly in our house. And to be honest, I didn't 'finely chop' the apples as suggested, but chunked them. This made the cupcakes fun to eat since larger pieces of apple would just pop up in the cupcake.

But of course, the one cupcake I cut open for my picture didn't have as many apple chunks...


I highly recommend making these cupcakes. I know they'll be on my to-make list if I need an easy dessert for something.


xo Jen
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Baking Inspiration

As usual, the Autumn season brings out all things pumpkin... Pumpkin Spice Lattes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin donuts... I always pick up a couple cans of pumpkin puree for baking during this time. And there's quite a few recipes that have caught my eye that I might try. As well as some recipes calling for candy corn! Yum!

Candy Corn Cookies

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Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

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Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

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Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies


What do you like to bake in Autumn?
xo Jen
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To Do List: Autumn Edition

We've been experiencing Autumn weather most of this month and it's lovely. I've been wearing lots of layers and lighting my pumpkin-scented candles. On some outings this past weekend, I noticed some really bright red trees that have changed colour already. These trees have lit a fire under me to get working on my Autumn to-do list. I want to take full advantage of my favourite season.

Now I didn't actually put together this list and graphic, but it's EXACTLY what I want to do this season. Add in make a Halloween costume, bake lots of pumpkin treats, and snuggle cats, and that's my list!

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September has been busy with guests coming to visit and my work schedule hasn't been lining up the greatest with Adam's, so I haven't been able to make it to any Fall festivals or gone on a hike yet. But you better believe those things will be happening soon!

xo Jen
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What I'm Loving Now

Thanks to my local public library, I have so many audio books at my fingertips!! I look forward to listening to my audio books all the time now. Because the faster I go through the current one I'm listening to, the sooner I can start the next. It's like I'm insatiable for books. Young Adult books to be specific. I find myself writing down books titles when I'm out shopping so I can look them up in the library catalogue.

Clearly, finally using my library card and the online catalogue was the best thing to happen recently.

Eleanor & Park

So I finally read Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. I've heard nothing but good things about this book since it came out. I've had lots of friends recommend it to me. Well, it was just as good, if not better, than I had expected. 

The characters were described so perfectly. They seemed so real and the feelings they had really hit home with me. I felt for them. The X-Men references in the book put a smile on my face and I really found myself emotionally invested in the story. My only complaint is how the book ended. I will not spoil it because I think everyone needs to read it. But, the ending didn't satisfy me. To be honest, it kind of felt rushed.

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I'm a huge fan of Rainbow Rowell's writing. Her pop culture references are great and I adore how she writes the men or boys in her books. You actually like them. They're usually stand-up guys. Yes, they make mistakes and they're not perfect, but I find myself rooting for them in every book I've read of hers.

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Landline

 Landline is Rowell's newest book and I flew through the audio book in two days. Again, I loved the writing and the flow of the story. The characters were great - flawed, real, personable. I didn't completely connect with the story as much as I did with her previous books, but I still enjoyed it.

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After discussing it with a friend, I think I've really enjoyed all of Rowell's audio books because they're narrated by the same person, Rebecca Lowman. There's just something about her voice and how she does the male voices. I've listened to enough audio books to know that some narrators can have voices that distract me slightly or at least take a bit to get used to. But not Lowman. 

I just started the next Mortal Instruments audio book in the series, City Of Fallen Angels. I'm hoping to get in a lot of listening time next week. 

What are you reading now? Any book recommendations?
xo Jen



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Fall TV Watching

The new Fall TV season has started and I have to say, it's a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of shows airing this season that I watch and am excited to watch. But they're not new. New Girl, The Mindy Project, The Walking Dead, Elementary, Grimm, etc. have been around for at least a couple of seasons now. And I am excited to start their new seasons.

I just love seeing the brand new shows. Giving them all a try and deciding which ones I want to stick with, but there's not much that interests me this year.

The new shows I'm looking forward to the most are Gotham, Scorpion, and iZombie.

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Gotham for obvious reasons... it's set in the world of Batman and seeing Ben McKenzie play Detective Gordon interests me greatly. I've had a soft spot for him ever since he was Ryan on The OC. 

As for Scorpion, the plot interests me. Probably the most of all the new TV shows. 

And with iZombie, I've read a couple issues of iZombie in the past and I recently picked up the first two volumes of the comic so I'm very curious to see this show. Plus Rob Thomas is directing, writing, and producing the show. And I'm hoping for amazing things since he was the one behind Veronica Mars.  

Sure, I'm going to give Constantine, Selfie, and Marry Me a go. But they're just not making me excited for TV this Fall.

What shows are you looking forward to?
xo Jen
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Autumn Wish List

The temperatures have dropped drastically here. Sweaters, leggings, socks, and boots have become a daily staple. But I'm kind of loving it too. Sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket and drinking hot coffee and tea all day is very ok with me.

I've been eyeing up all the amazing sweaters on ModCloth lately and I'm completely in love with all the plaid this season.
Autumn Wish List

1     2     3     4     5     6

It's my favourite time of the year... boots, dresses, and big sweaters!
xo Jen
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House Sneak Peek

We moved into our house almost a month and a half ago and even though it feels like we've done a lot, the to-do list is never ending. But from what I hear, that's what owning a house is like. 

There are rooms to be painted, and carpets to be replaced. Those things are waiting however because we have more pressing things to work on first... gardens to turn over so they're ready for Spring, the basement organized and unpacked, and putting up shelves in the bedroom so I can stop stubbing my toes on the last few boxes in there. 

Inspired by Katie, I plan on doing some DIY before and after posts with some of the rooms. But I'm just not at that point yet. So for now you'll have to settle for some sneak peeks. 

The kitchen is my favourite room in the house. I adore the colours and how much counter space I now have. 



The neighbourhood is filled with big, mature trees. It's incredibly pretty and peaceful. Going for walks in the evening has become one of my favourite things.


I made myself a coffee and tea nook in the kitchen... just ignore the tea obsession. 




We've come up with an alternate movie/TV boxset storage system which means we have extra DVD stands. I've turned one into a recipe book/candle/picture frame stand for the dining area. I think I also have a recipe book problem.


I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!
xo Jen
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Summertime Adventures

I was sitting down with Adam tonight talking about upcoming plans, both social and for the house, and it hit me hard that Summer's over. It's supposed to go down to 3 degrees Celsius on Friday... how crazy is that?!

One of my favourite places in Sudbury is Bell Park. Every time we have company up we go there for a walk. It's a beautiful area and I've posted tons of photos from our walks along the boardwalk there. 

These are some of my favourites from this past Summer. 








These pictures are when we went to see the Big Nickel with Adam's parents. The sky was gorgeous and you could see rain coming down in the distance. 



It's bittersweet that Summer is over. I really love Autumn and everything that comes with it but Summer went by a little too quick. I'm going to have my camera ready during all walks over the next few weeks to catch the leaves changing colour because last year the trees were pretty much bare by Thanksgiving weekend in October. 

xo Jen

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My Life In Photos

Looking back at photos I took this Summer, I realize that even though it was a short Summer, we had lots of fun. We made the most of the nice weather and headed to the lake often and went on some little adventures.

We had a decent amount of thunderstorms this Summer which I'm a huge fan of. They always came in quick and it was beautiful seeing it roll in. 


We finally went to Old Rock and we both got iced lattes - Adam had caramel crunch and I had a s'mores one. Surprised?


I had an oreo doughnut for breakfast on the day of our move. It was sickly sweet but also pretty awesome.


We lived on fruit this Summer. It was nice picking up some Niagara fruit up here. 


A date night. Drinking root beer from a giant A&W mug is ideal.


TMNT Pizza Power is actually a fun game. 


Most of my evenings in August - Sex and the City and crafting. 


Watching The Geekies while hanging out with all the IGGPPC staff was super fun!


I found kitty socks at Target!


New cell phone case!! *Insert big smile*


I'm going to make sure Autumn is just as fantastic as the Summer. Lots of adventures!
xo Jen
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