Hi everyone! Happy friday! Here in Alaska, it’s definitely fall already and I’m loving it. Fall is my favorite season – who doesn’t love the colorful leaves, chilly temps, and pumpkin spice everything? It’s a short season in Anchorage, so I decided to join the Friday Five Linkup with Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney to talk about the five things on my fall bucket list this year.
1. Carve a pumpkin: Now that I have a house, I’ve got a front door that totally needs a carved pumpkin next to it! I’ll probably hold off on doing this until October, but it’s going to be so much fun!
2. Hike one more mountain: My time left to do this is running out because it’s going to start snowing in the mountains again soon. But I really hope I can hike one more peak before that happens. Maybe Mt. Baldy?
3. Bake a new pumpkin spice dessert: Every year I love learning how to make new pumpkin desserts. My current favorite pumpkin dish is my homemade pumpkin cheesecake, but have you heard about these? I have to try that recipe out!
4. Go for a trail run: I had such a blast running the Lost Lake Run a few weeks ago, and now that the forest is gorgeously yellow I want to spend as much time as possible out there. I’m hoping to get out for a pain-free run on the trails asap!
5. Have a wicked Halloween get-together: I never dress up for Halloween anymore, but now that I have a house and a puppy I’m hoping to invite people over and actually have an excuse to dress up for once! And Ridley has been invited to the Howl-oween party at Petco so he’s definitely going to need a costume. Any suggestions for a tiny teething puppy?
What’s your favorite part about fall? Any amazing pumpkin recipes I need to try this year?
Mom in the Mtns 
My favourite part is Halloween. I will decorate our house (again), cover the outside with cobwebs (if it is not raining) and put a lot of lights in the windows to guide lost souls to me. In my case my late granddad. I also prepare a chair and a plate for him. To know that his spirit might be with me that day makes me smile!
I love these ideas! If it’s not snowy here I might have to steal your cobweb idea. So cool!
I am jealous that fall weather is there for you! I’m down in Georgia and it’s still miserably hot, though the leaves are changing and the pumpkin-flavored-everything is in the stores! This is my first fall in a house as well, so I agree with you on the pumpkin carving! I’m dressing up my dog as a UPS man this year and it’s going to be great. Amazon has a TON of dog Halloween costumes. Last year he went as a piece of bacon and won the contest at his doggy daycare!
Yay congrats on your house and your first pumpkin carving there! And I love your costume idea for your dog. I am hoping my puppy doesn’t try to eat his costume!
I love pumpkin anything. Yum! It’s always fun going to a Halloween party. I hope I get invited to one this yr. Too cute when people dress up their dogs. Make sure you share a pic.
Oh there will be so many pics of him dressed up. I can’t wait!
The Halloween party at Petco sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun. Our dog usually just enjoys barking at all of the trick or treaters that stop by our house, lol.
Haha oh mine will love that too!
Halloween is always fun! I love to start planning for Thanksgiving it’s my favorite holiday
Ooooh yes! I’m already trying out dessert ideas in preparation!
I love Fall. It’s my favorite time of year but we don’t have much of seasonal change in FL so I’m slightly jealous of your weather change. Halloween is definitely a perk along with the fall colors. I also love all the spices and scents (yes the pumpkin and cinnamon) that come along.
I’ve been going nuts with all the pumpkin candles. It’s the best smelling time of the year!
you really want to make me hop on the next flight out to Alaska. I’d loooove to go hiking on those mountains!
Please do! Although that trail was so hard. The pictures make it look easy 🙂
I’m hopeful in the next couple of years to get there for sure!
I’m looking forward to the Ridleys growing! I hope that I’ll be able to take my Ridley for a run by the end of fall!
I’m trying to get Ridley to do as much with me as possible so that he can be comfortable doing things as an adult. My next idea is to get him to kayak with me. It’s so cool when dogs can do that!
I love pumpkin bars (with plenty of cream cheese frosting), thank you very much! Your area looks beautiful!!
Mmmmmm those are so good!
I love fall. The only thing that stinks about fall are wet, slippery leaves! They’re treacherous!! That and the dried ones cover roots and rocks on the trail.
That’s so true. It definitely makes it tricky to trail run!
Halloween and the crisp, clear air makes autumn my favorite season, as well as all the pumpkin-cinnamon-nutmeg spices 🙂
Yes! I love it for all the same reasons!
the weather is my absolute favorite thing about fall. i love it so!
I look forward to it all year long!