October was a whirlwind around these parts! I had decided to celebrate my 3oth birthday with abandon, and I certainly managed to! But now, now I am exhausted. I am very much looking forward to a November full of empty weekends, and a low-key Thanksgiving in Indiana with lots of food and even more naps.

So let’s recap this month the way it went down. Fast and furious!

Piecaken- Sometimes, if I really like you, I bake a pie into a cake. It is a lot easier than it sounds. People give you crazy props. And it is totally delicious. My friend Megan requested one for her birthday and I put a cherry pie into a chocolate cake. Then we were talking about it at work and my department-head’s eyes lit up with the possibility of an apple pie inside a carrot cake. He is the greatest boss ever, and his birthday is a day after mine, so we had a pie-caken for our department meeting.

Bangs- On the way home from Megan’s birthday with the cherry-chocolate piecaken I had the uncontrollable urge to radically change my hair. (It just happens to me sometimes, I can’t explain it.) Twenty-four hours later I hit the Google and came up with this cut your own bangs tutorial. I got them a little short initially, but two-weeks totally solved that problem.

Scarf Week(s)- If you follow me on Facebook (or twitter or instagram) you know I declared the first week of October Scarf Week and wore one the whole work week. Two weeks later one of my students asked if we could have scarf week again. I wasn’t about to tell her no!

Girls Weekend- For the first time EVER my sisters and my mom had a girls weekend. We met half way between Detroit and Atlanta in Corbin Kentucky. We had a “cozy cabin” which was a totally affordable and had electricity, a microwave and a refrigerator. Between the electric griddle my mom brought and the fire pit out front, meals were delicious. We went hiking at Cumberland Falls, went out to eat at the state-park lodge, sang songs by the campfire, and broke into a national park because the government was shut down but we wanted to see the natural arch! It was perfect. We are for sure trying to come up with a way to make this an annual thing.

New Car- On the way home from the perfect birthday weekend, someone hit and totalled my car. Everyone is fine but it was sort of pain, being stranded in the middle of Tennessee. I told God right there I did NOT have time to deal with car shopping. When I got back to work and told my friend I was needing a car, he suggested I buy his father-in-law’s 1996 Camry. So I did. If you have any mix tapes sitting around I will take them, because my car has a tape deck in it!

Visitors- When I got back from Cumberland Falls my in-laws were in town. It is always really great to see them and they love spoiling the girls. I do no cooking when my mother-in-law is in town, and I am grateful for that.

They day they left my friend Alison from Story Sessions came in for a whirl-wind weekend. We went to the pumpkin patch, we hung out by the fire, we went out on the town with our friend Jennifer, and laughed, and cried, and laughed. I cannot wait to see her again.

Then a close family friend sent a “I am in Atlanta for twelve more hours can I see you” text on the 27th. The answer was yes, and Betsy got to marvel at the fact that Priscilla is a walking talking person who has lots of her own opinions.

My Phone- I finally entered the technology age with my new smart phone. I have the galaxy 3   and really like it, though I am sure I am only doing about a third of what it is capable of. My students are slowly remedying that. I remember sneaking into my parent’s bedroom and hoping the dial-up did not wake them. I cannot believe I now carry the internet in my pocket. (The new phone is the reason for all the pictures in this post!)

Story 201/Editing- I have been taking the 201 class in Story Sessions. It has been amazing and I am really sorry it is over. I would not have been able to finish this round of edits without these ladies. When I got desperate, they would even monitor my Facebook usage and yell at me when I should have been editing and skype-date with me and just sit there so I wouldn’t have to do it alone. Elora is leading a Story Arc class in November, and if you want to do 101, let me know. I will send you the early bird link because I think it is going to fill up really, really fast!

So now I have an edited manuscript, which is terrifying because now what do I do with it?

My Birthday- The night before we had a party and were able to raise quite a bit of money for my friend Erin’s push to get girls educated in Nepal. She is now fully funded. She runs this weekend, be praying for her. Then on Saturday we woke up and had donuts, Christian bought me a t-shirt. That evening there was The Tattoo. The healing is freaking me out a little. It was so perfect that second it was done, I want it to look just exactly like that.

Halloween- The girls were a cupcake and an ice cream cone so Christian and I went as a baker and the ice cream man. The best dads rock pink stripes for the good of the family costume!

As always I am linking up with Leigh Kramer’s What I am Into post. You should do one and join me!