it's halloween!
spooky story time
i was driving to work the other day and truly vibing out to the most beautiful day. windows down, crisp fall air is whipping my hair around, i’m munching the saltiest french fries and i’m taking in the vibrant fall scenes and the lake. abraham hicks is blasting through my speakers, proselytizing anyone walking near my car. decide to be happy! reach for the better feeling thought! the better it gets, the better it gets!
by the time i get to the freeway it has occurred to me that i want a shake up moment in my life. it’s been more than a year since i quit my volleyball director position but i spent the summer consulting pretty heavily and i spent the last 6 months feeling like i was straddling having the job and not.
lo and behold, as soon as i arrive at school i got a text from the IT guy i texted asking for help recovering my volleyball email password because i can’t get my account to work. “your account was deleted”. umm… my email that has been the main email i used for the last 5 years?! gone?! with no notice?! (like…. literally that was the email this substack was started on. she was my first subscriber to this publication. she was my line of defense to recover my posts if my account ever got deleted)
“i still use that for consulting can i uhh maybe have that back?”
he asked the owners and they said no. 🤷🏼♀️
i mean what can i do but pick up the (very annoying to pick up) pieces of losing an email account with no notice?
it’s jarring to have years worth of work that was all tied into that account just gone in the blink of an eye. so many thoughts and writings and files that i had sent to myself just… POOF.
it’s annoying to have to figure out how to update my login info on accounts with no access to the email registered to said accounts anymore.
but you know… ask and it is given, amiright? i asked the universe for a shake up and in less than an hour my life was shook the fuck up. i feel like people might read this and think it’s silly but the loss of all of that work was painful and simultaneously set me free. i told my (former?!) employers that without access to so much of what i worked on for the last few years that it is not worth my time to consult moving forward.
i love that place and it will forever hold a place in my heart. AND. it’s time to move on. without this loss i think i would have spent another year doing and not doing my old job in 2026. onward and upward babes.
and with that, i have to go figure out how to update the email on my slack account for school 😩
🎄🎀 liv & collin’s first family christmas! - listen i used to hate seeing any christmas products out in stores before halloween but i’ve now become a part of the problem. i cannot make it out of target without buying at least one item of christmas decor. i’m sure collin and i will admittedly go overboard, but it’s our first time hosting, would i have it any other way? also for the first time ever, i am putting up my christmas tree before thanksgiving! in the past i’ve always bought a real tree so i usually wait until december but last year collin inherited a fake tree so there’s no reason to wait! i am PUMPED!!!!! also, PSA, if you want to do some aged boozy eggnog either for a party or a gift, now is the time to make it! i’ve used alton brown’s recipe in past years: aged eggnog recipe
this was the yield with doubled recipe a few years ago:
🦃 shh - i’ve been working on something i’m keeping close to my chest and just for me right now. it’s been a great new undertaking and i’m feeling happy, healthy, and excited. i promise i’ll let you in what i’m up to after thanksgiving. (or i guess if you really can’t wait to find out just text me.)
🍎 minneapple debate tournament - i won’t bore you with the details of my job/all the hours i’ve put into this event for the past few weeks. but as this newsletter is hitting your inbox, the three day tournament should be under way! i’m very excited because minneapple being over on monday *officially* signifies the start of speech season. next week i get to connect with all my 2026 season students and start finding material for them for competition this winter! the most wonderful time of the year really is upon me!!!!!!!!
📖 dreamland by sarah dessen - sarah dessen was absolutely my faaaaaavorite author as a teen. this was a reread for me and woof, why was i reading such scary depressing books as a teen? if you aren’t familiar, caitlin is a junior in high school and after her high achieving ivy league bound older sister runs away she struggles to find footing in the new family dynamic without her sister and ends up in a physically abusive relationship. it’s a very well written story and i think sarah dessen does a really good job of demonstrating the gradual and cyclical natures of abuse. i’m sad that i was reading things like this when i was so young.
📺 love is blind season 9 - ughh. what a lame season. no weddings?! i mean thank god, they’d all be divorced by now. i will admit the reunion was a pretty fun watch. clearly it is messy AF after filming wraps up, based on how many cast members dated each other in the past year and a half. jordan and his inability to control his face the entire time (“i have adhd”) was the highlight for me. good for sparkle megan going off and having a whole ass secret baby.
🔪 weapons - this is a scary movie just started streaming on hbo. this was a collin pick as horror is not generally my preferred genre. that being said. i am not really sure i liked this story, but i do like how this story was told. i love julia garner as an actress which is like 90% of the reason i agreed to watch this in the first place. i think she gives an excellent performance. if you like horror movies i would recommend. personally i will be switching to christmas movies starting november 1st.
🎃 the cutest pumpkin - every year collin’s brother and sister in law throw the best little pumpkin carving/painting party. last year my pumpkin got stolen so i boycotted painting. this year i made up for it by painting the CUTEST PUMPKIN OF ALL TIME. take it in. i’m heart broken she won’t be in my life until the end of time. also look how cute collin’s lil fam is ❤️
