What I've Been Up To

Listening to... our new, quieter refrigerator! And as a bonus... it keeps the food cold!

Thankful for... my husband who always loves me. Even though he knows all the icky stuff way deep inside me, he loves me. I am one lucky girl.

Enjoying... my shorter hair. And the cool fall weather.

In the kitchen... tomatoes waiting to be made into soup, I received a new recipe from a friend I think I will try tonight. I should make some fresh bread too.

Sewing... a quilted cover for my sewing machine. I'm using scraps from a wall-hanging quilt I made from Mary Engelbreit fabrics. The fabric makes me happy.

Reading... "The Piano Shop on The Left Bank." Kind of interesting, kind of not.

Striving for... a merry heart, a gentle tone.

In the yard/garden... Impatiens that have been beautiful, but will probably succomb to a freeze in the not too distant future. Purple mums that are about done too. Another season ending, another season beginning.

Praying for... a job for my newly married son and a few others I know are either in need of a job or just a different job.

In the CD player today... Charlie Hall's Falling Into Daybreak. Love Come For Me, Center, Marvelous Light, Your Glory Endures Forever, Micah 6:8... basically love the CD.

Watching... the leaves turning colors. Looking forward to seeing them in Wisconsin.

Just Finished Reading... the book of Job. Man. I wish I understood the reason for about 35 of those chapters.

Studying... Matthew in our Small Group. I'm looking forward to some great discussions ahead.

Over-indulging on... homemade salsa! Soooo yummy. And yes, there are chips eaten along with the salsa.

Trying out... a discipleship/mentor relationship with a young mom. Really new territory for me!

Gearing up for... winter in the Great White North again.

Looking forward to... a 10 day vacation with my wonderful husband! We haven't done something with just the two of us for this long in 18 years!

How about you??

This Made Me Laugh

Another funny from a Facebook friend. (Here's the other funny I "borrowed.") (I wonder if he knows I "borrow" his stuff...? Should I tell him??) Quote from said friend:

"Some people have a special gift of creativity. My apologies to any vegetarians who can't laugh at themselves."

H1N1 Invades the "100 Acre Wood" Causing Paranoria

(A Facebook friend posted this and I just had to post it here...)

Wednesday Random Dozen....

I thought I would jump into these fun questions from Linda@2nd Cup of Coffee again. It's kinda fun!

1. Please share one middle school memory. It can be good, bad, ugly, funny. Pictures or words, I don't care, just share.
I really wish I had some pictures of me from those years. (We called it Junior High back in those days.) I remember my mom encouraging me to sign up for choir. I am glad she did because I don't know that I would have found out how much I like to sing if I hadn't started singing in choir then. I didn't think I could sing because my older sister always told me I couldn't. (But then that same sister wanted me to sing at her wedding...hmmm...) Now I sing on our church's worship team and just love doing that.

2. What's your favorite Beatles song?
"Hey Jude" of course! :) My son even has it as the ring-tone for when I call him.

3. If I asked you to describe your most comfortable outfit, what would it be?
Do pajamas count as an outfit?

4. Would you rather host a party or be a guest?
I really enjoy both. Hosting a party is fun and I usually don't stress out over it, or if I do, the stress is short-lived. We recently hosted an Open House for the newlyweds, Caleb and Amanda. I had a minor panic attack shortly before it started, but my dear husband calmed me down and it turned out to be a great party!

5. Do you think we will move completely from traditional books to digital ones, and if we do, are you OK with that?
No, I don't think traditional printed books will ever go away. I haven't tried to read a digital one yet, but it doesn't seem appealing to me. One thought....you never run out of battery power when reading a traditional book.

6. Do you learn best by reading, listening or experiencing?
Experiencing mostly. When I sewed garments I would tend to just look at the pictures on the directions before I resorted to read the actual words. Sometimes it got me into trouble.

7. If you are (or when you were) single, what is the kiss of death for you concerning the opposite sex? (That is, what is one trait or behavior or habit or anything at all that immediately turns you off from considering that person a potential match for you?)
Someone who talked about themselves all the time and/or acted like they knew the answers to everything. Thankfully I haven't been single for a VERY long time.

8. Snacks. Salty or sweet?
SALTY. But I can't pass up a good Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie.

9. Look around you in a four foot radius. What object is around you that you didn't realize was there or forgot was there? How long has it been there? Ummm...I'm sitting in the family room and I don't see anything that isn't supposed to be there. Does that mean I am a little OCD? Or maybe it speaks to the fact that there are no children living here anymore. Yeah, we'll go with that one. :)

10. What is your favorite Tom Cruise movie?
I can't think of a favorite off the top of my head. I don't think I've seen too many of his films. "Top Gun" comes to mind and that was a long, long time ago.

11. You buy a bottle of shampoo and discover that you don't like what it does to your hair at all. What do you do with that full bottle?
I would probably keep using it, alternating it with a shampoo I liked, until my husband told me that was stupid and that I should just throw away the stuff I didn't like.

12. Your favorite Fall comfort food? (Last week it was beverage.)
Chili and cornbread. And I have been thinking about making Lasagna and last night I made yummy Baked Spaghetti. Oh, then there are the homemade soups... lots of yummy food I'm looking forward to cooking!

Recipes Requested

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about our Labor Day weekend and showed some pictures of the spaghetti sauce and salsa we made. I had a request for the recipes and am just now getting around to getting them written out. (Sorry Jackie! I hope you haven't been waiting with bags of tomatoes to use!)

First the spaghetti sauce:
This recipe is from a book called The Tightwad Gazette II. It was published in 1995. I kind of forgot about those books and should really get them out and find some "new" ways of saving money.

Anyway... on with the recipe.

6 onions
3 green peppers
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
18 tomatoes, skinned
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons each: oregano, sweet basil, and thyme (I used fresh)
6 bay leaves
3 12-ounce cans tomato paste

(Having typed that all out, you must realize that I rarely follow a recipe to the letter. I don't recall all the exact amounts. Kind of adjust to your taste.)

Grind (as you would with a meat grinder -- I used a small food processor) onion and peppers, and simmer in oil. (I thought it was weird to grind them, but it really makes for a smoother sauce in the end.)
In a large pot place tomatoes, garlic, salt, sugar, and onion-pepper mixture. (I just sauteed the peppers and onions in the same large pot before adding the rest of the stuff.) Bring to a good roiling boil.
(I had cut up the tomatoes the night before and put them in a colander to drain to try to avoid a very watery sauce. I also let it boil quite a while, maybe an hour? on a low temp to evaporate more water.)
At this point I was a bit skeptical, it sort of looked like the salsa Pete had made the day before. But then I added the tomato paste one can at a time, stirring it in before adding the next and it started looking more like spaghetti sauce. I think I added some crushed red pepper flakes too. It gives it a nice little kick, if you like that. I also added the herbs at the end. Keeps the fresh flavor.

Then I just put it in containers and froze.

The salsa recipe is from some college friends.

Home Brew Salsa
3 - 16 ounce cans stewed tomatoes (we used fresh tomatoes)
1-2 small cans green chilis (we used 2 whole jalapenos, chopped)
4 ounces enchilada sauce
6 green onion whites, chopped (we used white onions from the garden)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lime, squeezed
chopped cilantro

Simmer 15 minutes to blend flavors. (We also drained the tomatoes so it wasn't too watery. You can used green chilis and jalapenos. We were using what we got from the garden.) This we also froze. Well, what we didn't snarf down right away...

Let me know if you have any questions!

Happy Birthday, Zach!

Today is the birthday of a pretty special guy. REALLY special to my daughter, Megan. And because of that, special to the rest of us. Zach and Megan have been dating a little more than a year. Zach has been in our lives a bit longer than that. He and Peter have been meeting and studying the Bible and talking engineering stuff. I admire Zach's strong faith in God. He has definitely challenged me in my Christian walk. I think Paul knew what he was talking about when he told Timothy Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

That's Zach: he sets an example in speech, life, love, faith and purity. Thanks for sharing that with this family, Zach.

I just had to post this great picture of Zach. It's taken by the photographer for Caleb and Amanda's wedding. It makes me laugh.

Megan and Zach. Aren't they cute?

Happy Birthday Zachy!

My Daughter-In-Law

I goofed.

Two months ago today was my brand-new-daughter-in-law's birthday. I totally forgot to wish her a Happy Birthday on this ol' blog. Oops!

My hubby and I are so thankful for Amanda. Caleb chose well. She is just the sweetest person ever. And pretty darn smart, too! She has just started medical school and it's fun to ask her what she learned and to get the summary of the day. Impressive. She loves God and she loves Caleb. What more could we ask for? I told her at their rehearsal dinner that we had prayed for her since Caleb was tiny. We spent twenty-plus years praying for his future wife. It has been exciting to meet her and see how God has answered those prayers.

I took this picture on Caleb & Amanda's wedding day. Isn't she beautiful? I remember telling her she might as well keep smiling all day because she was going to get her picture taken a lot. Her reply was, "I don't think I can stop smiling!" It was such a happy day!

So, two months late --- Happy Birthday, Amanda!