Autumn Fun {Bookstagram Challenge and *Free* Wallpapers}

Hello, friends! Let's talk autumn fun today. What do you think of when it comes to autumn?

I like to think we'll get cooler temperatures, but that's often hit and miss here in north Texas. This year, we've actually experienced some cooler temps in the last couple of weeks.

The changing of the leaves from bright green to various shades of red, orange, yellow, and brown always makes me smile. My family has about a dozen trees on our property, nearly all of them different types from one another, so we get quite a wide variety of autumn colors. In hotter months, those colors can change in a single day, and the leaves can fall off pretty quickly too, if we get strong enough winds or some wild autumn thunderstorms.

Autumn also makes me think of family. Hanging out with my family makes my heart soar, and I've recently enjoyed a new walking routine with my parents. Most evenings during the last couple of months, we've walked at least one block (and worked up to four) after we all get off work. It's been great to be able to share our days with one another while getting a bit of exercise and letting the cares of the day roll off our shoulders.

Faith is a year-round thing for me, as it's an integral part of who I am, but there's something about autumn that makes it mean so much more. I don't know if it's because I'm starting to get contemplative about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ (celebrated in late December here) or if it's because snuggling up with a throw blanket, my Bible, and a hot cup of cocoa is one of my favorite evening pastimes in the autumn and winter when the temperatures are chilly. There may even be other reasons I haven't thought of yet, but autumn means a new chance to examine my heart and make sure I'm on the path God has created specifically for me.

Of course autumn makes me think of books. What season doesn't? That whole blanket/cocoa thing works well with novels or nonfiction books as well as the Holy Word. My throw blankets and mugs get great workouts during these hopefully-cooler months of the year. What books are on your reading list this autumn? I've got a few review books coming up, but there are some other stories from my ever-growing TBR stashes that I'm really excited to get to. These are just a few of the books I'm eager to read this autumn.

Part of the fun this autumn is that I'm hosting my first bookstagram challenge over on Instagram. Anyone with a non-giveaway IG account is welcome to join in, starting tomorrow, October 1. All the rules are in the caption of this post. There is a giveaway with this challenge, and one winner will get to choose one paperback book from the ones shown in the second graphic below this paragraph. What are some stories you've enjoyed that feature family, faith, books, or autumn?

I have more fun for you right here, courtesy of a new friend I met on Instagram this summer. Christina is a sweetheart who has been married about a year and is busy homemaking and living an adventurous life with her husband. What's really drawn me to her in friendship is that she speaks very truthfully in love about heartache, loss, faith, and encouragement when she posts to her IG account. I have already lost count of how many times her pictures and captions have made me smile, cry, and think deeper. You may find her Instagram account here and all her social media links are in this location.

The reason I bring up my friend Christina is that she has graciously shared some fun autumn phone wallpapers with us. She shared them first on her IG account, but she has generously granted me permission to share them with you here on Writing to Inspire. So sweet! Snag one, snag all. Consider these beautiful pictures your trick-or-treat prize this year.

Just in case I haven't properly figured out how to make these images downloadable, check out Christina's "wallpaper" highlight reel on Instagram (her IG page is linked above). Just pop over there, find the one(s) you want, press and hold your thumb on the screen, and then simultaneously press "home" and "power" on your smart phone to screenshot the clean wallpaper(s). {Note: Those are the instructions for how it works on an iPhone. I don't know how other phones work on something like this.} I'm using an instructional how-to I found online to (hopefully) teach myself how to make these wallpapers downloadable, but this is a new skill for me (and self-taught at that!), so I might not have it down right the first time. Don't worry. I'm sure I'll be trying again soon.

Hint: I'm becoming more comfortable with Canva's editing tools, so I might just have some wallpaper plans of my own in the near future. Stay tuned!

Note: The click-to-download thing I tried did not work. If anyone has tips or a website with clear instructions, please let me know in the comments.