Day 1

Well its official, I'm a working woman.

I'll do my best to keep this short and sweet because work talk is usually pretty boring! 

Well before I tell you about work, I'm excited to tell you about my new hair color. 

BAM!

It's so dark! And I absolutely love it. I miss having a low maintenance hair color like this.

Well, 

The people I work with are already awesome, I know it's going to be fun! And I'm so glad I get my own little cubicle, I love working semi-alone!

Also, my heart breaks for the people that are calling in.

My official job title is an "Intake Advisor" for CRC Health Group. I'll be taking inquiries for drug and alcohol addicts as well as parents of troubled teens with mental health issues and directing them to the best program for their needs.

Most of the calls I was on today were for heroin and opiate addicts...which is crazy stuff I never thought I'd deal with.  Most of them were young, some younger than me, some still in high school. It was eye opening and so hard not to cry for each and every one of these people. 

BUT,

I was sweetly reminded by an amazing guest preacher at church today that God places and sends us to certain places for very specific reasons.  We were sent to Gilroy for a reason, and I was given this job for a reason.

I'm choosing to be excited about what God is doing instead of being discouraged by our sometimes lonely new home, and my job that may present some emotional challenges. 

My training schedule means a ridiculous commute, so I may not be around as much for the next few weeks! Hope you guys had a great weekend!

Oh, Love That Will Not Let Me Go: In Memory

Today we are going home for a very special event.

We are spreading the ashes of my beloved grandparents Bill & Holly. 

On their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1997

My Grandpa Bill died in 2007, and Grandma Holly in 2011, but sometimes the wounds still feel fresh. 

My Grandpa and I were very, very close -- I was his "Jayma" and he was my best friend growing up.

My Grandma was a sassy firecracker, who responded to her name with "yowza!" and when asked what she wanted prayer for on her 90th birthday..she asked for prayer for the Giants.

It's been years since the family has been together to complete their wishes and spread their ashes over a bed of roses, so tomorrow we will all be together to do so.

 I know it will finally close a page in life that has seem empty and still open over the past few years since Grandpa passed. 

The best part?

I know I will see them again.

I know they are rejoicing with their Lord as I write these words.

I know there is no more pain for either of them, and I know their legacy lives on in all of the people's lives that they touched. This past year I got an email from someone who worked in their assisted living home telling me how much she loved my Grandparents, it was such a special message.

This past year I found out about my Grandpa's family in New York, I even found out his nephew was named after him. 

I wish I could give them both a big hug, I wish they could have seen me walk down the aisle, I wish..I wish..I wish..

But knowing that something is true is always better than wishing and dreaming. So, with a heavy heart I think about and miss my grandparents every day, but with a glad one I see them shadowed in the light of Jesus.

 5 years ago God gave me a miracle, and let me speak at Grandpa's funeral and tomorrow I will share this beautiful hymn for the both of them. 

O Love that wilt not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in thee;

I give thee back the life I owe,

That in thine ocean depths its flow

May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,

I yield my flickering torch to thee;

My heart restores its borrowed ray,

That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day

May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to thee;

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain,

That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,

I dare not ask to fly from thee;

I lay in dust life’s glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be.

In loving memory

Wilbur L Skaates 3.15.1921 --7.2.2007

Dora A Skaates 10.29.1920 -- 5.18.2011

Wordless Wednesday: Tarantula

I don't need to say much, the pictures speak for themselves.

All I have to say is: We went hiking during tarantula mating season, and I thought I was going to die. And then we saw one, and I almost peed my pants. My sweet husband let us turn around after that, because Lord knows I'd have a full-blown panic attack after more than one large black tarantula.

NEVER again.

NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER.

A Reason to Celebrate

Last night the Giants beat the Cardinals and are headed to the World Series. 99% of the people I know are celebrating the victory, and even though I'm not a baseball fan, I must admit it's fun to see the unity that a single sport brings to such a diverse community. 

But I'm celebrating for a different reason today. 

I got the job!

I am so overjoyed. So thankful. So overwhelmed. So blessed.

Two weeks ago, Seth and I committed to doing better with finances, something I have been forever terrible at, and the next day I get called for an interview. God does really big things when you seek guidance and commit selflessly to His will. I was clearly being called out of super-spending lifestyle and needed a major wakeup call, aka no job, for me to really see reality. 

While I understand the value of hard work and dedication, I also missed the boat on learning to handle my money. So while I've watched my parents work tirelessly to provide, it never clicked for me that one day that storehouse would run out and I'd be left with no income and no savings. Reality is tough, but this new job will more than provide and for that I am so thankful.

I am learning this money management thing one day at a time, I'm committing to doing better because I have more than myself now to provide for, and that is something that will never change. I know this new job means a lot of change is about to take place. I will work every weeknight until 9pm, which isn't an easy pill to swallow but I keep reminding myself that Seth and I have all our lives to be home at dinner time with each other! 

I'm so excited for this new journey that is about to unfold! I can't wait to share more details and stories as they come!

Have a great Tuesday, and find a reason to celebrate today!

xo

So-Cal Roadtrip!

This past weekend was such a happy one, and such an unplanned one! Last week we had no intentions of going to Disneyland, but we couldn't resist the invitation from our family to go to Disneyland and stay with Kristina in San Diego.

I say family because Seth and Alex are like brothers, they grew up together and have been real BFF's forever. Kristina is Alex's sister, and thus Seth's sister and now technically my sister in law? That would be weird if I called her sister because then Seth would be like my brother...

ok moving on.

Seth got out of class early on Friday so we began our journey down the interstate with a little drive through Subway.  We got into L.A around 4:30...hit traffic until we got to Fullerton at 8:30..which means we went about 50 miles in 4 hours. It was horrendous, but I guess you can't expect much less in L.A.  We stopped for dinner with our good friend Sean in Fullerton, we had the best fish and chips on the continent at The Old Ship restaurant in Fullerton, I highly recommend it if your from the area!

Alex's flight didn't get into San Diego until 10:30, so we took our time heading down the coast to Kristina's house and got there right when we needed to leave to get Alex! We picked him up and headed for a couple drinks in PB (Pacific Beach), if you're from the area you never call it Pacific Beach just "PB"!

We went back to Kristinas, met her roommates ADORABLE pet bunny that just roams the house all day Benny, and tried to get some sleep before getting up early for a full day at Disneyland!

We got to the park at 8:15..it was rainy but not too bad. Our first stop was cars land! We were all set with our bride and groom ears, too! The new Cars Land is amazing, they did such a great job. We decided to go single rider on the main ride because the line was already 75 minutes long at 8:30! It is totally worth the wait. Also, it is totally worth milking the fact that you are newlyweds at Disneyland, we got a bunch of free stuff!

Also, we went to Town Hall to get our "Just Married" pins, and to get a handicap pass for Seth. He hurt his foot a few weeks ago and has trouble walking and standing on it for a long time, the pass is also an amazing way to get to the front of the line! It was actually really good for Seth to have the pass because there were benches in some of the lines so he (and the rest of us) could sit down during the super long waits! We always try and go in the "off" season, but I don't think that exists anymore at Disneyland...it was super busy.

We explored the new Mad Hatter part of California adventure and were excited for the dance party that was going to take place later. We also, had some fun waiting in the long lines...

don't they look super excited?

The highlight of my day was getting to see a host of one of my favorite morning shows.  I tried to take a picture and be sneaky about it, but it wasn't really happening. Here you see Alex, and the guy behind him (his profile) is on my favorite morning show "Right This Minute".  I first noticed him and thought he was from CSI or Criminal Minds..but when I saw his daughter wearing a shirt that had the show's logo I figured it out!



This was in line for Toy Story's Midway Mania, it always always always has a long line so we crossed back and forth with Nick Calderone from Right This Minute for over an hour! Then I got my butt kicked in the gaming ride.  It was still a blast.



By the end of the day are feet were hurting, backs were tired, but we were still wanting to get our money's worth out of our ticket. We went to the dance party at the Mad Hatter, and though it was appropriate to switch hats, people got a major kick out of that!



I slept most of the hour and half ride back to San Diego that night, we had such a long day but it was so worth it! Sunday morning I woke up hurting more than I imagined, having spent over 13 hours in the park I guess I wasn't really surprised either.

Alex and I walked to get coffee along the beach. Kristina lives in this amazing little place called Mission Beach, it is one road of beach houses and beachfront shops and restaurants! It is the epitome of California living, I hope we get to visit her again. 

We headed back north and stopped in Fullerton again to see our same friends! This time with Sean's wife Carolyn who was working on Friday night. We went to this AMAZING place called Pieology, it is like Chipotle but for pizza.  Basically, they need to franchise that ish and bring it to northern California. It was so dang yummy.

Finally, we visited with their pet pig Rodeo.  Well, it's not really theirs, but the family that they live in the back house of owns him and he is the funniest little pet I have ever seen. His huge belly dangles barely 1 inch over the ground as he walks. Definitely the most interesting pet I have ever encountered. 




It was a long drive home, but Seth and I always manage to entertain ourselves nonetheless. Our drive included driving gangster style, jamming out to rock and rap oldies, reading from our new favorite devotional courtesy of Cindy, and in the end, debating about the theological correctness of my current favorite worship song.  Road trips are the best with this guy, I look forward to so many more in this life.

How was your weekend?!

More Rambling, but With a Point: Internet, Work Wardrobe, Fellowship, and the Weekend.

Country life is great, until you want to use the internet.

We moved in to our little place knowing that the internet wouldn't be great, and that we would have to supplement with a "jet pack", but since we used up all of our data for this month and the new cycle doesn't start until tomorrow, the regular internet has been slower than molasses all week. Not to mention we have the highest data package which is $80 a month. And that is supposed to be a supplement to the internet we already have! #firstworldproblems

Normally that wouldn't bother me, but I'm dying to upload the wedding pictures to Costco's website to get them printed.  Do you guys know how cheap it is to print pictures at Costco? I don't know why I ever went anywhere else!

So you can imagine my dismay when I've tried 3 times now to start the upload process and it informs me that it will take 697 minutes.

I'm now sitting at Starbucks, which is a very rare occurrence, weird since I used to practically live here. I'm trying to use their internet to upload photos since ours seems to be stuck in the stone age. The upload process now reads only 87 minutes, a major improvement from home.  I splurged on a breve pumpkin spice latte, and pumpkin bread.  I feel like I might fall over from all the carbs. Also, they are playing the new Mumford album which makes me really happy.

I'm slightly high maintenance about my drinks.

We had dinner with a new friend from church last night, and right now BM is out playing "gennis" (golf+tennis) with him and some other church guys. Can I just take a second and reflect on how awesome that is? It is just the kind of fellowship we were looking for...even if we have to drive 30 minutes to find it.

As I'm typing this post I check insta and look what our new friend posted! Nothing like seeing your cute hubs show up on your insta feed. 

I've also been trying to prepare myself to dress for the professional world, since it is pretty likely I will be getting this new job. To be honest, I don't know quite what I'm getting myself into with professional clothing. Every single job I've ever had let me wear jeans, or had a uniform, so the freedom in the whole realm of "work attire" is more daunting to me than exciting.  Today, I stepped out and bought a pair of khakis, which for my ghetto sized booty, is quite a big step! It is so hard to find trouser type pants that work for me, especially when they rarely come in "tall" or "long" and advertise cellulite WAY more than they should.  I settled for a cropped style with these khakis, they don't look great, but they were 14.99 and wearing black pants to work every day will get boring really fast.  Is it ok to wear a dress to work? How long does it have to be? Pencil skirts are a no-go for this said ghetto booty of mine, and most other kinds of skirts don't work either so dresses and pants it is. It may be worth it to have a series on work attire, since I truly have no idea what I'm doing. I've heard it's worth it to check out what other people in the office are wearing before you invest in a work wardrobe that's "too fancy".

Also, I have issues with wearing heels and pants. If the hem doesn't fall at the exact perfect place on the shoe it bothers me, a lot.  Tell me I'm not alone, I think it's because every pair of pants I own varies in length, but I always hesitate to wear heels. Which explains why I only have 3 pairs. Not counting these bad boys which were only meant to wear for my bachelorette party and hurt like all hell.

I had my 3rd interview today for this job, and the 4th and final one is tomorrow with the VP of the division.  All 3 have gone flawlessly so far, so I'm hoping for the best tomorrow.  After my interview this morning I got a call for a place I applied as an event planner that wants to interview me! It blows me away that I got this much response in a matter of days when I went more than a month without a peep from any of the multiple places I applied for!  I'm constantly reminded that God is so good, and so is His timing. In the past few weeks with the tough job search, financial strain, and clinging to Christ as we search for a church, He has made Himself more real to us.

Well, I'm ready for tomorrow to be here.  I'm so ready to go on a fun roadtrip with my BM (bearded man), which actually might not be an appropriate nickname anymore since he finally shaved for the first time since the day of our wedding!  I'm so excited to abuse our newlywed status and wear our hats and "just married" pins. Go ahead and laugh if you must, but I've been dreaming of wearing them for so long!

Congratulations for making it through all of that rambling! I'll make sure to start re-capping wedding events and of course our weekend in Disneyland next week!
Have a great weekend!

Oh. P.S

Also, look forward next week to hearing about our hiking adventure with the tarantulas. 

Seth was brave enough to get kind of close to take a picture. gross.

Tuesday Rambles

Hi friends!

I can't seem to wipe the smile off of my face today, don't you love days like that?

There are so many happy things going on on this week! 

Friday morning I had a pre-screening call for a company that I applied to work for. Yesterday I had an amazing interview, and this week I have two more interviews with people that are higher up in the company.  I can't seem to get it out of my head that this is a real life job, no more retail!  I'm crossing my fingers that the next two interviews go really well, it honestly would be the most fantastic position for me!  God's timing is so good.

Right after I got done with my interview I checked my email and saw that our wedding photos had arrived! Seth and I poured over the photos all night, and I still love just scanning through all of them and picking out favorites - and reliving the sweet moments. Costco is going to love me after I'm finished ordering all of these prints. 

Going to a new church has been interesting. There are things we don't like, but a lot of things we do, and most of the stuff we don't like is just personal preference! It's definitely not easy trying to fit into a new place though, we stick out as the newbies.  But, we are having dinner with a new friend from the church this week and will hopefully be attending a community group next week. With this new job though, I probably will not be able to attend a community group because of the way the hours work. I'm hoping that with time I would have more daytime hours instead of working 12-9. Either way, we are doing our best to make Garden City our home church and to set down roots there. We are excited for what God has in store for us in this church that is doing BIG things in His name. 

I'm soaking up what might be my last days of being lazy around the house, which explains why I'm not getting anything done. Theres hardly any food in the fridge, lots of laundry to be done, and lots of hair to be vacuumed off the floor. That has honestly been the worst part about living in a place with all hard wood floors, the amount of hair is ridiculous and it just collects! 

Ok, the rambling must stop. I just found what I'm going to make for our dinner guest tonight.

Source: sugarlaws.com via Jamie on Pinterest

I'm determined to be productive today. 

Have a great day!

Liebster Blog Award!

My new friend Stefani over at Miss Jo & Co nominated me for the Liebster blog award! 

I've never heard of it before, but it's a pretty cool way for my readers to get to know me and to get my name out there! 

Here's how it works. 

The Liebster award is given by bloggers to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

What is a Liebster?

 The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.

Here are the rules for receiving this award:
1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves. 
2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you’ve nominated to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them.
5. No tag backs!

Here are my 11 things: (I'll try my best to do new things)

1. I love to collect. My biggest collections are my antique tin collection and my Winnie the Pooh memorabilia collection. I try not to collect too many other things, but I'm a bit of a hoarder so it's super hard not to. 

2. I like my showers extremely hot, every time I come out of the shower I'm beet red!

3. I'm way over observant. You'd think it would help, but it usually ends up causing a lot of things to annoy and bother me that other people don't even see!

4. I dream of living in an old victorian, or a colonial, or a brick house. I swoon whenever I see them.

5. I'm very reactive when I watch movies...I scream, yell, cry, jump, and bite all of my finger nails off during most intense movies. 

6. I don't like an overly clean house. A home needs to be lived in and love and decorated, blank walls and perfect decor makes me feel uncomfortable.

7. I don't like most sports, and I'm so glad I married a man who is the same way. I can't imagine life married to a man who liked baseball or football, no offense to anyone that does but it would probably make me insane. But I make an exception for Hockey, Sharks Hockey in particular.

8. I love ancestry and family history. A little over a year ago I found out some amazing things about my family that no one ever knew about and it has inspired me to study genealogy and find out more! I have a very unique maiden name which makes finding my (exact) family very easy but finding out more information very hard. 

9. I love the smell of wet cement. I get giddy when I get to park in an underground garage because the smell is oh-so-amazing to me!

10. The only daring thing I wanted to do before I die was go skydiving, and I did! I haven't thought of any thing else to do since then because it topped every experience I could possibly have. 

11. I did a lot of traveling as a teenager, and I know I am so lucky! I got blessed with some really awesome opportunities and I would love to travel more as an adult. My dream places would be: Denmark, Finland, and Austria!

--------------------------

And these are the questions to answer...

1. What three qualities does your dream house just have to have?

Age (pre 1920's would be perfection)

Front Porch 

A big front window

2. What's your favorite season and why?
Fall

I love the obvious change of season with all of the colors! I lived in Seattle for 2 years and the fall season was absolutely dreamy.

3. If you could learn any language, what would it be (and why)?

I would love to learn French, I think it is a beautiful language!

4. And if you could see anyone (alive or dead) in concert, who would it be (and…why)?

hmmm...tough one.

The Civil Wars (again)

I do believe they are the best duo I've ever seen live.

5. What 3 books would you need to have on a desert island?

The Bible (duh)

The 5 People You Meet in Heaven (one of my favorite books of all time)

Anything by C.S Lewis (he is a genius)

6. Sum yourself up in…one word. Go.

Passionate.

7. What is your favorite lesson you learned from your parents?

Success comes to those who work hard and don't take handouts and shortcuts.

My parents are truly self-made, they are both two of the most hard-working people I know. 

8. If you had your own personal all-capable robot, what's the first task you would program it to do?

Clean house.

I despise cleaning! Laundry, dishes, and dusting would top it's list of chores. 

9. In celebration of "The Walking Dead" tonight…what's your plan of action for the zombie apocalypse? :-) 

ummm...

Run?
By a gun. Yes, and have Seth show me how to use it well. 

10. If you could keep any animal for a pet, what would it be?

I'm just gonna be old-fashioned and say a dog.

Dogs are seriously the most loving animals and I couldn't imagine a better pet!

11. If you could only wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Straight blue jeans, white v-neck tshirt, a cardigan and flats. 

That is my go-to outfit for any day of the week!

-------------------------------------------------------

Tagging:

Carrie @ Carrie in Chaos

Ellen @ Just a Work in Progress

Cindy @ Diary of a Crazy White Woman

Emily @ Formerly known as EMJ

Kacie @ Two Downings a Day

Jennifer @ JT and the Sea

Angel @ Living with Moxie

Denise @ Victory Road

Michelle @ Little This, Little That & A Whole Lot of What's Next

Hannah @ Humbly His

Make sure you stop by these awesome blogs and say HELLO!

OK! Now new friends, you answer these questions!

1. What is your favorite sweet treat?

2. If you had to live in another country for a year, where would you live and why?

3. If you could live in any era, which one would you choose and why?

4. What is your favorite thing about yourself?

5. If you could have dinner with a famous person (dead or alive) who would it be and why?

6. If you had to paint your nails one color (not clear) for the rest of your life, what color would you choose?

7. What is your biggest fear?

8. What is your biggest dream?

9. Who is your favorite actor/actress?

10. What is your favorite way to travel? (Car, plane, boat, bike, etc.)

11. My ideal vacation is....

Well that was fun. It took me a while though, lots of thinking, typing, backspacing, and more thinking!

Thanks Stefani for nominating me, and I hope the rest of you girls have fun reading responses and making new friends!

xo

Disney...we're coming for you!

Ever since we started dating, Seth and I have been going to Disneyland for New Years with a big group of our friends.

Year 1: we were babies!!

Every year its a slightly different dynamic, but each year has been a total blast.

We get up at the butt crack of dawn, aka 2:30 and drive the 7 hour drive to Anaheim and are at the park ALL day. 

But this year, since Seth and I decided to take our honeymoon a couple months after we got married, we won't be able to go to Disney and there has been a mouse eared shape hole in my heart since we decided.

Year 2: still babies!

Not that I'm not excited to go to NYC for New Years and then go on a cruise to the Bahama's...I mean...who could honestly complain about that?! But our friends are already counting down the days and are talking about their plans for this years trip and I get a little sad hearing about it.

Our two good friends Alex and Kristina eat, sleep, and breathe Disney, and they happened to be like brother and sister to Seth which means they are now mine too! Yesterday, we were invited to go down to So-Cal, stay with Kristina for the night in San Diego and go to Disneyland!!

Year 3: looking more like we do now!

Oh man, we do not have the finances right now to go. But we vowed to not eat out for 2 months and to save every penny so we can go.  Also, we are obviously hoping I get that job tomorrow because that will help a lot!

Anywho, Friday afternoon we are planning on hittin' the road, I'll be packing (hopefully) most of our food so we don't have to eat park food or eat out all of the time. And, I heard AAA has discounted tickets and parking passes? Anything we can do to save a buck! That being said, do you guys have any suggestions on saving money at Disneyland? 

We're crossing our fingers that this is just the break we need to relax, have tons of fun, and spend time with our friends!

And let's be real, I really just want to wear our newlywed Mickey and Minnie ears all day. :)

Weekend Etsy Sale!

Happy Friday, friends!

It's been an interesting week around these parts. Lots of job applications, resumes, rain, driving,...not a lot of creating, sadly.

You see, I've been waiting on a package of supplies that I ordered a while ago, but it's coming from another country and taking MUCH longer than expected. 

I've decided to put off my grand re-opening sale and giveaway until I get those items prepped and ready...

but for now, enjoy this coupon code for 15% off of your order all weekend!

COUPON CODE: HAPPYFALL

Also,

I'm working on getting clearance to take credit cards directly through Etsy but they are having issues with the name change on the account, which is making everything a lot harder these days!

Enjoy your weekend, and happy shopping!

xo

Crock-tober: Crockpot Pumpkin Chili

Yes, you read that correctly.

PUMPKIN chili.

Today I'm really really really excited to eat pumpkin chili,  and I've never even heard of it until this morning.  Which means I don't really have good pictures of yummy looking chili, but I promise to update later.

All I know is that there is a whole can of pumpkin and a good amount of pumpkin pie spice.

You see, I'm very very new to this whole crock pot thing. I've never seen my mother use one, ever. So the only things I've made in it were these AMAZING ribs, courtesy of Mel's blog post last Crock-tober.  I also made beef stew last weekend, it was very yummy too. All that being said, I think I'll stick with this whole crockpot trend!

Here is the pumpkin:

And here is a crap load of beans and tomatoes.

Also, it doesn't have that much meat. I just decided to buy a lot more than the recipe called for so we could eat it later :)

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Pound Ground Beef

1/2 Teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 Teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 large onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15 ounce) can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (4 ounce) can tomato sauce with garlic and onions ** I couldn't find this 

2 (14.5 ounce) cans petite diced tomatoes 

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

2 Teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

2 Teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

PHEW. That is a lot of cans.

Directions:

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat; cook and stir the beef in the skillet until crumbly and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in the red pepper flakes, garlic, and onion; continue cooking until the beef has browned and the onion has softened and turned translucent. Add the green and red bell pepper and cook 5 minutes more.

2. While the beef is cooking, combine the kidney beans, black beans, Great Northern beans, tomato sauce, tomato sauce with garlic and onions, petite diced tomatoes, fire roasted diced tomatoes, and pumpkin puree in a large slow cooker. Season with pumpkin pie spice, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Stir in the ground beef mixture.

3. Cook on Low until the chili is hot, 1 to 2 hours.

-------------------------------------------------

I will be updating later today after we try it.

I can't wait!

I wish it cooked longer so I could get started on it right now...

----------------------

UPDATE:

GO MAKE THIS CHILI NOW!!!

Ok, this recipe really lived up to the AllRecipe.com Reviews, it was super super super good.

Seth was eating it out of the crockpot late last night and proclaimed

"This chili is awesome!"

When Seth uses the word "awesome" you know it's good.

On our wedding day, when I got to the end of the aisle and saw him for the first time, he told me... "you look awesome!"

That to me, was better than him telling me I looked beautiful..and if you know Seth, you know exactly what I'm talking about!

I would chop the onion a little less finely next time, just because I like a chunkier onion. 

And you could always add more spice, without the red pepper flakes it had close to no spice -- just how I like it!

Thanks Mel, for posting such a fun link up! I'm already enjoying reading other peoples favorite crock pot recipes :)