The colors are coming...

I have this tiny little decoration that is my favorite:

My favorite Auntie Karen got it for me a few years ago for my birthday, when she took me shopping for my birthday at one of my favorite stores: The Country Rose.

I think it was shortly after I'd moved into my own apartment, and, having the Brown family blood in me, she knew I wanted something special to decorate my home for autumn.

Every year around this time, I ask Robert to lug in the totes full of autumn decorations from the shed, and I carefully add the accents around our home.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I'm very much an "a-place-for-everything-and-everything-in-it's-place" kind of person. So, in the apartment, I kept trying to decorate each year putting everything in the same place it was before. However, there were a couple problems with that:

• When I was first on my own, a lot of my furniture was hand-me-down or very old (or both!) So, as I saved more and spent frugally, I gradually upgraded the furniture I had. That meant the surfaces to decorate changed frequently, which left me frustrated. 
• I had two different roommates before I got married in the one apartment I lived in on my own, so again - home furnishings changed a bit!

So, one day I finally told my aunt I was so frustrated, because my fall decorating just wasn't coming together. My aunt said, "Well, you don't have to put everything in exactly the same place that you did last year, silly." It's funny, because that was so freeing!

Every year since then, instead of becoming frustrated, I get excited. I think about where I can place each of my beloved decorations to bless my home and my husband, and I'm always thinking about how I can show others who come into my home how much I honor the blessings I've been given in taking care of them, and being intentional about placing each of them in a special location.

Happy autumn!