hello, november

well well well, november, you certainly snuck up on me this year, goodness! it feels like my birthday was last week, not nearly a month ago.

I am both happy and sad that fall has been flying by and the cooler air is blowing in (quite literally here in virginia, I might add, it was extraordinarily windy today). I love cold weather clothing, fireplaces, hot chocolate, baking extravaganzas, etc, but alas, with the change in the physical season comes a change in mental season.

for the past few years winters have been both good and bad. and they almost never can out-do the other. while I think december is quite a happy month (for the most part), once that's all over I tend to fall into a deep depression. I really can't explain it, but I know it's not uncommon. do any of you ever struggle with seasonal sadness?

my goal, however, this season, is to try and combat that sadness as well as I can. I truly want to make the most of it. more than ever this year, I feel like I'm learning more and more just how fast time flies. this is my last year in my teens, my last semester (hopefully) living in fredericksburg and going to school here. next year, I'll be knee deep in my major studies and that old phrase "carpe diem" keeps coming to mind.

I don't want to always look back on winters with sadness tainting them. I really want these to be good and wholesome times. especially considering it's during one of the biggest breaks you get in college, for cryin out loud!

yes, I fully intend to make the most of it. and if I get sad sometimes, that's perfectly alright, but I would much prefer not to wallow in it. in the meantime, I'll be making the most of the rest of this beautiful month.

xx, Charity

p.s. I did, in fact, purchase my very own copy of tswift's album a few nights ago, and dear god it's something else. literally cried while listening to wildest dreams and this love in the car. yup.