I feel like I should begin this post with an apology for the lack of posts recently, but that would be like apologizing for my life, and despite being incredibly busy, it's been good lately. So instead of jumping head first back into regular posting, I thought it would be a good idea to get you caught up on what's been happening outside of the blog.

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, then you'll already know that after a nearly twenty year break, I have re-entered the world of show pigs with my daughter. She expressed an interest in trying it out, so my dad made it happen. We've had Oink (mostly white) and Moo (mostly black) for a little over a month now, and it has been an adventure. They are Hampshire pigs, both barrows (male), and full of personality.

Shortly after getting Oink and Moo, we went on Fall Break. The first part of the week we took a quick trip to Port St. Joe. It was lovely as always.

We ended the week with a trip to the Georgia National Fair. This trip served a dual purpose. It allowed Alexis to see her first-ever hog show and us to get an idea of what's changed in the show world, plus we got to have fun at the actual fair. We ate lots of fair food and rode most of the rides. Alexis even tried some rides she's previously been afraid of.

We can't forget Halloween and trick-or-treating. We actually celebrated a couple of weekends early because of a school trip. This was our second year attending this event at our local state park, and it was just as fun.

This past week, Alexis traveled to Jekyll Island for her annual gifted class trip. Unfortunately, I was unable to go due to a pre-planned event at my own school (that I planned). Fortunately, my dad was able to take off work and go, for which I'm grateful. This year, the kids dissected sharks and got to go seining.

In other life news, I'm almost finished with part one of my gifted certification course. I've got one assignment left for this section, which is what I'll be working on this week. There are two more sections to go, unfortunately. This has been a tedious undertaking, and I cannot wait for it to be finished.

At school we finished up our first grammar unit with a fun food-themed project, practiced descriptive writing by making haunted houses, and dipped our toes into the world of research with a monster Halloween project. Up next, a research paper. Wish me luck teaching MLA format.

I got a sinus infection, which is a big reason why I haven't felt up to posting recently. It's also part of the reason why I haven't been reading much new lately, which led to me getting off-schedule with my book club. I'm about two months behind at the moment, but I think I can probably get caught up and back on track this month.

I do have some posts in the works, including a two-for-one reading roundup, an overdue outfit post, a product review, and at least one holiday gift guide.

And I think that's got you all caught up! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a wonderful first week of November.

Wow. The last two weeks have been absolutely wild. Still, I can't believe I haven't posted since September 22nd! A lot has happened between then and now, so sit back and relax as I share some early fall outfits and life updates.

Let's just jump right on in, shall we?

Finally Friday! Except it was the Friday before Fall Break, and none of those children wanted to work. We did have work to do though. Namely, a vocabulary quiz and finishing up final drafts of essays. All-in-all, it should have been an easy day for them. Of course, I haven't looked at their quizzes yet.

Anyway, as the last day before Fall Break, I wanted to be professional but also comfortable. My Stevie pants are always the ticket for achieving that dynamic. They wear like leggings but are structured like pants. I got this tank top in the summer not realizing just how long it was going to be. It's not described as a tunic, but on me that's exactly what it is. It was the perfect length to wearing with these pants.

And now we're on Fall Break! Plans include a quick trip to the beach and to the state fair so Alexis can see a hog show in person. Otherwise, I'll be doing homework. I'm neck deep in another research assignment and need to get started on the final project for this section of the course. There are three more. Pray for me. At this juncture, I'd rather go back and redo TAPP.

Well, it's happened for the first time this school year. Two weeks have gone by with no new posts from me, and what a two weeks it has been.

The first postless week was due to complications from the new course I'm taking - have I told y'all about it? I truly can't remember. Anyway, I'm getting gifted certified, which is an addition to my teaching certificate so requires a full-out course. That course started September 9, but for who knows what reasons, I was unable to access to online classroom to see the first three assignments, which were due this past Monday. When I did finally get access to the classroom, my focus was on those assignments that I now had less than three days to complete and turn in, and y'all should remember from last year that I like to get things done as far in advance as possible!

Last week was just not a good week. The moon was full, the students were wild, and some other things I can't talk about happened that made this blog the very last thing on my mind. Plus, I had to write a paper for my second gifted assignment. This assignment gave me a little too much freedom and my former-gifted-student self ended up down a rabbit hole of research because I was allowed to pick the one that interested me most. Two hours later I had six pages of notes for a one-page paper. Rookie mistake.

Now let's get to the reason for this post - the fashion! This is the first time in a long time that I have been on board with a majority of the current trends. I think it's because so many of these are throwbacks to the fashion I loved as a teenager/young adult.

If this outfit looks familiar, it's because I've worn a version of it before, except that go 'round the overalls were shorts. Truth be told, I just wanted to be comfortable on the last day of what was a pretty rough week, and I didn't feel like wearing blue jeans.

These overalls are a teacher's dream. They're easy to move in and go with almost anything. I've worn these with boots, sandals, and now sneakers. I've dressed them up with a frilly blouse and kept things casual with a graphic t-shirt. I also own them in yellow.

Raise your hand if you're ready for fall fashion. *hand shoots into the air immediately*

I have always loved fall fashion. Unfortunately, fall fashion is not something I get to fully indulge in often because of where I live. Our temperature is warm (or hot) seventy-five percent of the year. Spring and summer are our time to shine. Fall and winter, not so much.

What you won't see on my blog in this transitional and early fall season are bulky sweaters, lots of layers, or super thick textures. Fashion is fun, but it's not worth giving myself a heat stroke over.

What you will see is more fall prints and patterns to give the appearance of texture without adding too much warmth and warmer, darker hues to acknowledge the seasonal shift.

That said, because our temperatures tend to hover in the 80s for much of the year, I don't have to replace my cold-weather clothes very often. I just don't wear them enough, so when I do update that part of my closet, I try to buy classic pieces that won't go out of style.

Old Navy has a lot of great early fall fashion pieces right now, and I definitely took advantage of their Labor Day sale last weekend. (This post is not an ad, nor was it sponsored. All items were purchased by me and opinions are my own.

I am really appreciative of this shift back to all my favorite styles from the late 90s and early 2000s. I'm also loving that warm brown and deep red are having a moment. As much as I love olive green, I'm ready for some more variety.

Here are the five things I ordered last weekend to usher in my favorite season. I unintentionally picked items that all work together to create at least four unique outfits. All these pieces will also work with other items I already own, including all that olive green I mentioned earlier.

August felt like a blur of a month if I'm being honest. I did spend a good chunk of it reading, and I have five books to share with you in this roundup, two of which are continuations of series I've been reading this year. The other three are stand-alones. I did manage to cross three more books off my summer reading list. That leaves only four books from that list unread. Let's dive in!

Beneath a Shattered Sky (The Fifth Nicnevin book 4)

Author: Marie Mistry

I have enjoyed reading this series, and I felt like I waited forever for this book to be released. However, I felt like overall this book didn't accomplish very much. It resolved the cliffhanger at the end of book three, but I really felt like all the characters spent this book fighting amongst themselves. They did gain an ally, but it was almost too easy compared to the first books. And, of course, this one ended in another cliffhanger, although not quite as edge-of-your-seat as book three.

Author: Lynda Rutledge

This book was so good. It was part of my summer reading list and will most likely make my end-of-the-year best books list. It's set in a small Texas town in the summer of 1964, so at the height of the Civil Rights Movement but before Martin Luther King, Jr., gives his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Corky is a 13-year-old tomboy whose father owns the town's only drugstore. When her father arranges a new housekeeper to help out her mother, Corky befriends her teenage daughter, America. Meanwhile, Corky's brother, Mack, is home from college for the summer with lots of new ideas about the world and how it should be. When Corky and Mack discover how fast America can run, they convince her to join the Baptist girls' softball team for the summer. This move obviously sparks controversy and leads to many events that will forever change the town.

Author: Janice Hallett

This book was on my summer reading list. It is a collection of correspondence being used to try to clear a woman of her murder conviction despite her confession that she is the killer. There is communication between lawyers  that are working on the appeal interspersed throughout this evidence to help guide you through what's happening. As such, I really felt like I was part of the book, solving the case.

There's a lot going on in this story, but it all revolves around a local theater group's fundraising efforts to help fund cancer treatment for the director's granddaughter. All the while, the group is still preparing for their next production. Then on the night before the opening performance, one of the actors is murdered, and there are a lot of suspects.

Author: Julia Drosten & Deborah Langton

This was my book club pick for August, and it was a tough read. This historical fiction book is set during time in which Great Britain is conquering the island of Ceylon, which is now known as Sri Lanka. I knew going into this that the British weren't the kindest of invaders, but this author does not shy away from the brutality they inflicted on the natives. In fact, I feel like this author probably should have included a trigger warning because some of these scenes are incredibly uncomfortable.

In the early 1800s, the ruling family of Ceylon employed a royal elephant keeper. The title was passed from father to son, keeping the important role in the same family for generations. However, the current elephant keeper has only daughters, so he and his wife decide to raise their youngest as a male. In fact, Phedra has no idea she isn't a boy until she is 12 years old. That same year, the British conquer their country, and Phedra's family flees to the jungle, but her father and the other males do not simply accept their new rulers. They continue to fight, becoming the leaders of a doomed rebellion. Soon only Phedra, her mother, and her oldest sister are left and they must do whatever it takes to survive.

A Smidge of Voodoo (Cocktails in Hell series)

Author: S.E. Babin

I enjoyed this installment, even though it felt like not much happened to advance the main conflict. It did advance, but it felt like this book was more about Violet's character development. There was a break-up, a reunion, and a mission to save her best friend. We also meet a new villain, the infamous voodoo queen, Marie LaVeau. The archangel Michael is still a jerk and still on his mission of world domination. This book ends on a cliffhanger, and although it hints at the next book being a conclusion, there is no official word that that's the case from the author. I don't even have a release date or title.