After much self-deliberation, I have determined that this time of year—mid-August to late October—is my favorite time of the year. Here’s a list of reasons you didn’t ask for but will receive anyway.

Sports: It’s the final month of regular-season baseball, and football starts back up again. Also, post-season baseball gets pretty exciting. I try my best to catch the last month of the baseball season since Josh and I usually watch Thursday and Monday night football, along with the 1:00 p.m., 4:20 p.m., and 8:20 p.m. Sunday games.

Crockpot Sundays: This is sort of related to the sports reason, mostly because we do Crockpot Sundays because of football. We started doing this last year: every Sunday, we make a different dinner in the Crockpot during the NFL season. I found some new recipes on Pinterest that I’m looking forward to trying out, like a taco pasta, cheesy beef and noodles, and hamburger potato casserole. There’s just something cozy knowing dinner is already cooking while we watch the afternoon games.

Windows open 24/7: We’ve had the windows open, I think, for the past two weeks, and I absolutely love it. It gets to be about mid-70s during the day and then drops to the 50s overnight, and I love going to bed with the windows open and a little chill in the air and snuggling under the covers just a bit more. Also, having the windows open now makes up for the springtime when my allergies kick in and we can’t open the windows, or else I’ll die of a sneezing fit.

Spending time outside: I’ve been able to read on my balcony every day on my lunch break, and I’ve been able to run after work and on Saturday mornings. This goes back to the spring and sticking with indoor activities, but it’s just nice to sit outside for a while.

Sweatshirts and shorts: For some reason, this is my favorite outfit combo. If I could live in a hoodie and bike shorts year-round, I would.

The Big E: Our local state fair on steroids basically. Josh and I have been going together for the past three years and have plans to go again later in the month. It’s also when I get my first official pumpkin beer of the season—no early, no later. There are always new foods to try, so before we go, we’ll put together a list of foods we want to get plus some old favorites, like Thanksgiving nachos.

Fun fall activities: I’ve been trying hard to not think about creating a list of fun fall activities, so I can enjoy the last bits of summer, but I’m also excited for them. Here’s what we did last year, and although we’ll probably end up doing the same things this year, I know it’s something Josh and I both look forward to. We spread the activities out over the month of October so we have something planned every weekend. I think that Spooky Night is my favorite: making pizzas in the shapes of a ghost and a pumpkin, apple cider margaritas, Pillsbury pumpkin cookies, and a Halloween movie.

Candles: I have an entire cabinet of seasonal candles that I rotate through during the year, but I think my fall candles are my favorites. There’s just something about a pumpkin candle burning on a cozy afternoon. Also, shoutout to my mom for getting me some new ones for the season that I’ll be burning shortly.