Maybe it’s cliche, but autumn is my favorite season of the year. The summer breeze turns into a chill. The leaves slowly fade from green to brown, then fall, one by one, leaving the trees bare. Night comes earlier and every day is just a little bit shorter than the one before. In fact, the entire fall season feels like the shortest of the year, so I’ve come up with a list of ways to enjoy this special time before it’s gone and Winter is upon us…

1. Put your phone down and curl up with a book instead. Choose a classic with a spooky feel like Frankenstein, Agatha Christie, or The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 
2. Bake something with “pumpkin” or “apple” in the name and take it to your favorite class to share with friends.
3. Write a Thanksgiving card this year. Write a handwritten note, use cute fall stickers, and write to a family member, friend, pastor, or former teacher, telling them why you’re thankful for them. 
4. Meet up with a friend you haven’t seen in a while, try a new seasonal drink, turn your phones off, and talk about life.
5. Try your hand at something new. Take your notebook outside and write a fall poem or try sketching a beautiful autumnal landscape.
6. Get a group of friends together and go to Shady Brook Farm (13 minutes from campus) for the afternoon. Enjoy a corn maze, pumpkin patch, wagon rides, and apple picking!
7. Use your Bible’s glossary to find all the verses with the word “thankful” or “gratitude” in them. Choose one to memorize.
8. Take a walk or even a jog without headphones. Enjoy the beautiful surroundings and fall sounds instead.
9. Write a list of all the things and people you’re thankful for. You could even cut up old magazines, make a collage, and hang it up to remind you of all your blessings. 
10. Watch a movie or TV show with a fall setting. Invite a few friends to join you, make popcorn, and sip apple cider!
11. Collect leaves and do something creative. Return to childhood and do a leaf rubbing, or try pressing your favorite to use as a bookmark.
12. When you go home for break, rake your yard and enjoy the crisp air and exercise. Jump into the pile before you dispose of them.
13. Take a few friends to a park (or even to the pond on campus) and do a fall photo shoot. Wear your favorite sweaters and boots.
14. Light a fall scented candle and eat candy corn while you study 🙂
15. Go (alone or with a friend) to a coffee shop to do homework somewhere different. Try a seasonal drink from the menu.
16. Take a friend home for the weekend and make caramel apples together. Try rolling the apples in crushed nuts or chocolate chips before the caramel hardens!
17. Pack a picnic and spend the afternoon outside before the weather gets too cold.
18. Do you know how to crochet or knit? Make a hat or scarf for a friend for no reason at all. If you don’t know how, consider taking up a new hobby!
19. Help a little sibling, cousin, niece, or nephew create a homemade Halloween costume.
20. Write a thank you letter to your Heavenly Father.
21. Research yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores, and antique stores with friends. These are great places to find fall sweaters, room decor, or even early Christmas gifts!
22. Wake up early to watch the sunrise or sit outside and watch it set. It’s getting earlier every evening!
23. Take the train somewhere instead of driving. Instead of scrolling, spend the time looking out the window at the beautiful fall scenery and listening to worship music. 
24. Take your favorite little person to a petting zoo or on a hayride.
25. Set up an easel by the pond and try your hand at watercolor painting.
26. Sign up for a cooking or baking class with your roommate. Practice something you could contribute to Thanksgiving dinner 😉
27. Carve a pumpkin, then roast the seeds in the oven with butter or oil.
28. Take a friend out to breakfast. If it’s close enough, walk there together.
29. Learn the words to an old Thanksgiving hymn.
30. Go for a bike ride.
31. Start thinking about Christmas! Make your list of gifts to buy, update your Christmas playlist, start rehearsing your Christmas music, and send homemade Christmas cards…