Ramblings of a Thirty-Something

I've been away from blogging for a while. I've missed it, too. It's amazing how therapeutic writing can be--of course, anyone who keeps a journal knows that (and I'm one of those people, too, so I can say so with confidence). Writing of any kind works wonders for the soul. I haven't written in anything beyond my journal in months. Obviously not here, when my dashboard tells me I haven't posted since August 7. Not in any of my WIPs/novelly-ideas/really-long-short-stories. I need to get back in the habit. So we're blogging again! And now forgive me for being a total "white girl," but we're blogging about my favorite season...autumn. I'm going to be a hipster for a moment, because I loved fall before  it was cool. No, but seriously. Fall has always been my favorite season, ever since I was a little kid. My birthday is in October, so there's definitely that. I grew up raking leaves into big piles and jumping in them (but without a wet s

I've been home from Europe for over a month now, and I realized just the other day that I haven't finished posting about it. Whether that makes you happy or not, I suppose that's something you yourself will have to come to terms with. I have one more post about France, and then probably two about Germany, and then who knows how many about London (I love London). However, this post about France does not deal with Paris. Instead, we are heading to the northern part of France to the Normandy region--specifically, to the D-Day landing sites. Coming from a family of history buffs (and being one myself), this stop was a priority both times I have visited Europe. Back in 2011, when I was new to everything, I was only able to make one stop:  the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. So worth it! Such a beautiful and humbling place. If you are ever in Europe, you need to make a point to stop there. This trip, however, Audra and I decided we wanted to be able to see more than just one