Happy Halloween!

It used to be that I had Halloween costumes planned by early October. Somehow as the children have gotten older I have gotten out of that mindset, I think assuming that if we talked about it early on it would be sufficient to execute on the day of. . . what was I thinking?

Our ward's Trunk or Treat was last night. In the morning, MyGirl declared she was going to be a black cat like she was when Cowgirl was with her two years ago. However, in all our decluttering, apparently the ears and tail were part of the "donations," so around 2pm she decided to be a Nestle Crunch bar. We had to be out of the house at 6 and I didn't have Little Buddy's outfit completely done yet either, though I had found the hat which he couldn't. So, its not great, but that's what an unwillingness to go to the store, and buy something you already donated costs when you're short on time. In the end, though, she won an award, so she was happy - "Most Crunchiest."



Originally wanting to be a spy wearing all back and a ski mask to cover his head, he changed into an FBI agent, when we realized we already had a hat, a T-shirt and a lanyard with "FBI" written on them. The Cricut came in handy to create the letters for the back of his sweat jacket, and yes, I realized the F was a little crooked, but since he proceeded to lie down on the sofa following his photo shoot, and they became all wrinkly and ripped, I made another set, and they looked fine. Another friend was also an agent, only wearing shorts, and did I feel sorry for him. It was so cold last night, I had a quilt over my lap to hand out the candy, which saved me.

Finally, since Cowgirl keeps asking me to show her the new kitchen countertops, here we are-
Faux Granite for about 15% of the price of real granite.

Easy Recipes

Of course it would be nice if I had pictures, but I don't.

Instead, I have Super Easy recipes that taste really good, so I thought I'd share.

Easy Cheesy Enchiladas

1 can Costco chicken breast
1 can chopped green chilies (4 oz.)
1/2 small yellow onion, diced - keep it raw
Monterrey Jack Cheese - about 1 1/2 cups, grated
(I used sliced from the Costco multi-cheese pack and just grated it, holding it all together)
1 pkg. flour tortillas (I used 8 out of the 10 pack)
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1 tsp. chili powder

Pour 1/3 can of tomato sauce in the bottom of a glass 9 x 13 pan.
Shake a little of your chili powder over it.
Mix the chicken, chilies, onion, and cheese.
Spoon into the center of the tortillas and roll them up and place into the glass pan.
Pour the remainder of the chili powder into the can of tomato sauce. Stir with a spoon then pour the rest of that tomato sauce over the rolled tortillas. Cover with foil and place in your refrigerator for 3 hours.
(I had a doctor's appt. and wanted them ready to bake when I got home, but I think I'm going to do this before church on Sunday too.)
Take out, remove the foil and bake at 350 for 25 -30 minutes. (Peek inside and see if the cheese is bubbing, then its done.)

This took about five minutes to put together and MyMike LOVED these - It's a keeper!
Sad news for me, though, I'm trying to be dairy free this month, so I had leftover chili and listened to the raves. Then I had to try one bite, and it was really good so if you're up with cheese, try this:-)

Italian Flat Bread

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, Rebecca, at Thanksgiving last year. I've adapted it a bit and highly recommend it!

In a bowl combine
1 cup white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
one packet quick-rise yeast
1 c. very warm water
1 T. olive oil

Knead 1-2 minutes. Let rise in bowl for 20 minutes. Pat into a circular shape on a lightly greased round pizza stone.
Season with salt, garlic powder, oregano and thyme all over. Drizzle olive oil lightly over everything. Sprinkle half with grated parmesan cheese. Bake at 450 for 15 min. When it comes out, use your pizza cutter to slice into triangle wedges and serve. My children love this! Me too!
(Rebecca's version had Italian dressing brushed across the dough before adding the seasonings and cheese across the whole thing. It was really good, but its good without it too. Try it either way.)

And, my new favorite breakfast:

Autumn Spice Granola -
Adapted form Myra's blog - Happy Housewife Loving Life
I'm making my second batch tomorrow.

3 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup ground flax
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 T. cinnamon plus 1/2 teaspoon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/8 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup raisins

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix liquid ingredients and pour over the dry. Stir until well coated. Pour it into 1 10 x 15 sheet pan lined with a silpat. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Take out and stir it all around the bake it for another 10-15 minutes until evenly browned. (Keep your eye on it the last few minutes.) Cool and store in an airtight container and Enjoy!
This tastes like Fall in every spoonful!

Bon Appetit!

Stuff

The Lord is good to me. He's given me another opportunity to push the pause button in my life and rest. In my stillness, the Lord has been talking to me about STUFF. As I look around my house (and especially down in my basement,) I've realized I don't need as much as I have. I am proving the tithing blessings, that "there shall not be room enough to receive it." (Malachi 3:10)



As General Conference comes around once more and I think back to the messages over the years, "Reduce and Simplify" is one that I cannot forget. I am grateful that regularly the Lord nudges me in the right direction, and I am eagerly looking forward to tomorrow's messages. I am so easily distracted by the "stuff" of my world. Part of the stress I was feeling in August was due to stuff. I NEED to heed more carefully the words of living prophets!



All week long in my scripture study I have been returning to "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, ... but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven... for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also... ye cannot serve God and mammon." (3 Nephi 13:19-24) As I read this, it is a commandment coming directly from the Savior. To see the hypocrisy within myself is painful, admittedly. At the same time, "the truth shall make you free."



Then I read this account of a family who is choosing to serve a mission in Haiti for their church. As the mother talked about what she was learning from her "stuff," it resonated loudly within me. I am grateful I found it. Time for me to make more changes within!

http://allthingshendrick.blogspot.com/2010/08/when-heaven-speaks-through-little-girl.html



And then in the same chapter of 3 Nephi or Matthew 6, I read,
"Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin...Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith.... Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself." Amen.

Guess Who?

BigBuddy is now a college student. It was a great opportunity for all of us to spend the day at BYU-Idaho. It is a beautiful campus and we really felt that this was the best place for our son to be at this time. He calls me everyday to tell me something or to ask how to do something so I'm finding the adjustment quite easy. He's growing up, he's learning great things, he's figuring out what everyone has to when they branch out on their own, he's reading a LOT and staying up too late . Oh, the memories of college days - good ones they were for me!

Mr. Bison who suddenly appeared when a truck took a right turn on the main road in front of us in Yellowstone National Park. He surprised us being just on the other side where the truck was. He was literally as big as our car. Later in the week I had buffalo with mushrooms and onions for dinner at Maddox - leaner than regular beef, but quite tasty.
Old Faithful, of course . . . wouldn't be a trip here without the requisite visit!
What a surprise to actually see Sheri Dew at the store she's CEO of in downtown Salt Lake.
And, who is that talking to Renee?
(Taking a picture of him when he's listening and not looking directly at me!) Yes, it was President Monson, who happened to visit Deseret Book at the same time we did. Touring the display to promote his new autobiography, we shook his hand, got to speak with him and heard him comment on the DVD of his life. We ended up spending more than hour with him, just feet away from him most of the time - WHAT AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!!
Why are my girls so happy? He turned back to them, after shaking their hands, and moving to the family next to us, and said, "You girls will get married in the temple someday." Not as a question, but as a statement of fact. Guess who's mother had tears streaming down her face as the group that had gathered suddenly broke into "We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet." Really, this was the highlight of the trip!!!
Grandparents who loved and hosted us and made us wish we lived a lot closer.
We played Rook, Farkle, Rummikub and Uno, made homemade Reese's and zucchini bread, watched some tennis, shopped, ate out, rode the train, visited the aviary, went to the water park, played miniature golf, were part of the audience of Music and the Spoken Word, where we met Elder Richard G. Scott also, went to a cook out, and heard my dad bear his testimony in church. . . all memories to treasure.
Cowgirl loving spending time with her family. We loved our time with her too. We got to see her apartment she's decorated so darling and spent almost nine days with her. She is generous and loving and surpassed her mother at Scrabble. She makes us laugh and think and be on time. It always makes me sad when we have to say good-bye again. I want her to live next door and pop on over every day!
Guess who's having a hard time now that we're back?
It's hard to be far away. We're grateful for the opportunities we get to be together with our family out West, though it never lasts long enough. MyMike spent his spare time checking for local jobs on my dad's computer. Maybe someday we can live close by them again. For now, we're back East, smaller in number than we used to be, but already keeping the phone lines burning. Thank goodness for cell phones!

The End is Near

BigBuddy leaves this week for college.

Today I was released from my calling - didn't take many pictures is my only regret. I love those sisters dearly and love never ends, so I'll be okay. However, there are still issues that I am quite concerned about, and so I will serve them, just not with the same authority, but with the same heart.

Until, and if I move, but I'm not going there yet!

Almost time to see my Cowgirl and my mom and dad. Miss them so much!

Meanwhile, lot of changes have been going on, anticipating an end sometime ????

The stickers are off MyGirl's walls.



Tomorrow my living room sofa will soon be out of my dining room, where its currently tipped on its side. And, by the end of the day the dining room table should no longer be the depository for the kitchen counters and the rest of the house.


Only one room left to paint before the carpet gets laid.



Summer is officially over - school starts tomorrow, and my baby won't be going to elementary school anymore! And his brother won't even be living in this state. And his best friend won't stop by to chat with me too.



My living room is now the music room. The rug goes in front of the front door, but we moved it into the music room when we were carrying open buckets of paint up the stairs.

The stress has been over since three days after I wrote the last post, lest anyone worried about me. Making a good choice always beats getting worn out by not consciously making a choice. I just needed to remind myself of my options.

The best part of today was when BigBuddy came home tonight and started talking to me and didn't stop for over an hour. Then, he paused and said, I guess I really like to talk. . . this from the former 4-1/2 month old who had to be taken out of church not for crying but for babbling and talking pretty much every week until he was six years old. He's always had plenty to say and as he's become a teenager, listening to him has become one of the great joys of my life.
How grateful I am for his words, and how much I will miss them! He promises he'll call me at least once a week. I hope I can make it that long. I will miss nights like this, sharing his hopes and dreams, what he's learned and how he's figuring out growing up, girls and buddies, and faith and testimony! Wish I could just bottle it all up.

Stress is a Choice

Note to self -
You already know this.

Choose not to be stressed.
Choose to take time to be calm when you can see stress on the horizon.
Choose to go pick up the scriptures and say a prayer instead of let a thousand ideas/worries flood your mind and keep you from sleeping.
Choose to say to yourself - Oh Well, when its beyond your control, and then throw that thought over your shoulder.
Choose to not make any excuses for yourself about why you can't handle . . . and then just deal with a small piece at a time, trusting the Lord doesn't ask you to run faster than you have strength, and He means it.
Choose to do something good for someone else to keep a decent perspective - It's Not All About You And Your Life!
Choose to have a plan and follow it, and when circumstances {others} derail your plan, choose to not be unhappy inside and embrace the new opportunities, and know that tomorrow is a new day to start again.
Choose to remember that you pass on character traits to your children so if you don't want them to be stressed, you shouldn't be that way either.
Choose to practice good health habits which will keep your energy up and able to accomplish what is needed without needing a "sugar high" or a "chocolate fix."

Got it???
Now DO IT!

P.S.
Reread this regularly as needed!

Opposition

What a week!?!

Was sick, got better.
Missed church last Sunday, went to the church six times in the past four days.
Three social events in the evenings, stressful shopping trips in the mornings.
Hot flashes, looking for blankets to warm me up.
Been exasperating to some, been tested in patience with others.
Ached for another's pain, rejoiced in another's bliss.
Researched a new city, Mike turned down a job offer.
Said the right thing, said the wrong thing.
Slept the day away, crammed as much into a 24 hour time period as possible.
Bought a lot of things, returned a lot of things.
Cleaned the house immaculately, apologized for the sorry state of my house.
Made appointments, missed an appointment.
Felt incredibly sore, relaxed by the pool (one evening).
Listened a lot, chatted a lot.
Prayed earnestly, worried needlessly.
Served a "make this again" dinner it is SOOO GOOD, threw a recipe away.
Created meaningfully, discarded carelessly.
Was a patient, was a nurse.
Cried randomly, laughed effortlessly.
Tore off wallpaper, and wondered what I was thinking in the first place when I put it up!

It's just been one of those weeks. It took me all weekend to even put these few thoughts down.
Opposition in all things.

Some opposites I love - day and night, black and white, salt and pepper, male and female
Others I resist - life and death, ease and trials, sickness and health

Tonight I'm just grateful to be able to look back and say, I made it through it all. I often wonder, what will my children remember about This week or this day? Is it just part of the blending in of one's life? And if so, then how are we growing? Where is the progress? Did my actions or my words make a difference? If its just a regular week then it will have been filled with all kinds of highs and lows, and opposition, and my inevitable mess-ups, but they won't really remember much about them next month or next year or in a decade. And, how merciful is that!

On the other hand, don't I want them to remember and savor and treasure each and every day? Of course, and yet I can already look at this summer and summarize with only two weeks left, we had a little fun, Mike was bored until he was really busy, and throughout all this Amy got worse and passed. The boys did a lot together when Steven wasn't working, and Renee babysat and played games and I continued my Relief Society work and we all worked together to majorly declutter and fix up the house with more work to go. Nothing exciting or great, just our real life.

But what will make this year's summer stand out as one I will always remember with great joy is that each one of my children has grown closer to the Lord this summer. What more could I ask for? Nothing. And so, if this is the price - opposition and challenges and heartache and even some teenage attitude and neck pain, then let it be so. Far be it from me to alter the plan of God to bring us back to Him, opposition and all.