Goings On

What's going on around our home...

My brother got to come home for a visit this week.  He flies back out on Monday.  Right now, in this transition, he is staying in a motel and he is eating good but it isn't home cooked meals and he requested a few of his favorite meals he hasn't had in awhile.  Grilled chicken, caesar salad, smashed potatoes,  homemade spaghetti and garlic bread and salad, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and greens, coleslaw.

Except for a detour to Red Lobster(last night)  to eat a late lunch, early dinner.  Crabfest is going on and I feel a trip back in the near future.

Needless to say, I have been cooking more than I usually do since the heat wave of 2011. Excuse me for lack of a better word but yuk!

Tonight it will be spaghetti.  I go to the local farmers market and buy fresh produce to go into my sauce, it tastes so much better this way.

We haven't had a family Saturday breakfast since he has been gone. This morning will be having smoked ham & cheese omelets, sliced tomatoes, cantaloupe  and toast.

Thank you God for your blessings of food and fresh produce and family.

I have to document this because it rarely happens.   Last night, we played Phase 10 and it looked like the brother was going to win, except that I ended up winning. Yes and Amen. ; -)  Tonight, UNO. My oldest son and friend G team up against brother in UNO  and it makes for a lot of laughter and fun.

That is the goings on in this family right now.

Two things:

Happy weekend and I should have titled this blog post,  Food, Food, & more Food.

Christmas at the Q

Since we are still in the 100s this has been a lazy weekend.  Saturday was spent cleaning the house and a washing a few loads of laundry and watching Christmas in July on QVC.  I have been watching their Christmas in July show for many years.  I love it. They had many new items and everything was on sale with a lot of items that had free shipping.

Valerie Parr Hill is my favorite person to watch on the Q.  All of her items are beautiful and my favorite thing to buy are her live wreaths.  They are so pretty and they last way after Christmas and smell so good.  This year she had this:


Joseph on the J,  Baby Jesus on the O and Mary praying on the Y.  J.O.Y.  Valerie said that when she was going to Sunday school as a little child they taught her that Joy was, Jesus, Others, You.  Jesus is first in your life, then put others before yourself  and YOU is  putting yourself last. Loved it and I bought it. Great message for the season or every single day.

There is so much more I wanted but I refrained myself. :)

Saturday evening we grilled out chicken kabobs and veggies and enjoyed a dinner at home.  One of the channels was playing ELF last night and I admit it, we watched it while eating dinner. lol

Sunday was church and then home for a nap. We are getting ready to go to dinner at Red Lobster.

I hope your weekend has been enjoyable and cool.

The Four S's

Saturday,  Shopping,  Starbucks and Sun!


Yesterday, we got up early and went to Hardees for breakfast and then we made our way to Target, Marshalls and Ross and did a little shopping.  I can't believe it is already time for school supplies and fall clothes are making their way to the racks.  Summer needs to linger and with 100 degree temps this week, it will be no problem. ;)

We also got ice coffee at Starbucks which made shopping that much more enjoyable.

It was nice to see the sun yesterday. This has been a rainy and hot & humid summer but everything is so green and full.  If it keeps up our area will have a gorgeous Fall.

I love Saturdays, especially when we had nothing planned and went at a leisurely pace all day.

Today is Sunday and we are fixing to head to church.   Sunday school lesson is about the prodigal son. I find this parable amazing and fun.  Amazing in the fact that the father ran to his son and threw his arms around him and welcomed him home and threw a party to celebrate his son's return.  In turn, when we  repent and come back to God,  He is there with open arms welcoming us back. No condemnation but a celebration. All of heaven celebrates or rejoices!!  God is full of mercy and grace and compassion!

Have a blessed Sunday!

In the Ordinary

In the ordinary of any day we can find that the simple things in life are the things to be most thankful for and in the ordinary we can also discover delights and God moments sprinkled all over our day.

For today,  I am thankful for the soaking rain we had this morning, which prompted me to pray for Texas and New Mexico who desperately need the rain.

Also thankful for the spiced apple candle that reminds me of Fall that I found on sale for buy 1 and get one for 50 percent off.  Also thankful for the pumpkin pie candle that reminded me of Fall and Thanksgiving. :)

Thankful for the visit with my parents.  Thankful for the summer breeze and the break in the heat.

Thankful for the family breakfast we had this morning. Eggs, bacon, sausage and biscuits and gravy with a slice of tomato.

Thankful for lunch out and the fresh produce bought to make our dinner tonight.

Thankful for the birds that were playing in the rain this morning.

Weekends. Who wouldn't be thankful for the weekends?  Weekends where nothing special is planned but perhaps to clean the house,  go over the Sunday school lesson, shopping at Target, reading a good book while sitting on my swing.  Going to church on Sunday. Cooking lunch afterwards and taking a Sunday nap. Thankful for the weekend!

Thankful for you.  Hoping you have a wonderful weekend!

Random Things That Make Me Happy

• Cool weather
• Fall (Favorite season)
• Candles(Pumpkin Spice, Apple Cinnamon, Vanilla,)
• the Mountains
• Traveling
• Bible conferences
• Chocolate cake and ice cold milk
• Chili
• Pumpkin Muffins and Pancakes at home or at I-HOP
• Thanksgiving
• Living in the South
• My sons
• Sunrises, Sunsets
• Sunny days
• Rainy days 
• Going to the movies
• Reading a good book
• Starbucks
• New Beginnings
• Spending time with Jesus
• Taking pictures of just about anything
• Daisy (our dog)
• SEC football
• Listening to the birds sing
• Good friends
• Laughter
• When the VOLS win. ;)
• Roasted (burnt) marshmallows
• Shopping at Target
• Going on vacation
• My Momma's fried chicken
• When my son cooks for me.
•  Birthday cake
• Clouds
• Clear blue skies
• Flying
• Christmas
• Snow
• Building snowmen
• Swimming
• New Bible studies
• New journals (cheap notebooks and new pens)
• The Cosby Show
• Christmas movies
• Showers before bedtime
• New Jammies
• Thunderstorm
• My swing
• Destin beach
• a clean house
• peach cobbler
• summer time
• church
• old movies
• flowers
• close friends
• grilling
• picnics in the mountains
• football
• tennis
• sheets dried on a clothesline
• Downy dryer sheets
• a nice breeze
• BBQ
• burnt bacon
• farmers market
• fresh veggies for dinner
• breakfast for dinner
• Cracker Barrel 

Just to name a few :-) 

Creamy Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

I haven't made this dish in a long time and I am making it for dinner tonight.  I thought I would share this recipe with you.  It is so good and  easy to make.  

Recipe:

2 10 ounce cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, un-drained (I used one can but if you like spicy use two cans) I bought Rotel.

2 cups of chopped cooked chicken (I bought Tyson Rotisserie chicken breasts) it was exactly 2 cups.

1 8 ounce pkg. cream cheese, softened

5 green onions , chopped ( I left this out because my son dislikes onions but it was good w/out them.)

1 8 ounce container of sour cream

8 flour tortillas

1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese ( I used Monterey and I used 2 cups)

Stir together 1/4 cup of the diced tomatoes, chicken, cream cheese, and green onions. Stir together remaining diced tomatoes/green chilies, and sour cream, set aside. Microwave tortillas at high for 15 seconds til warm. Arrange chicken mixture evenly down center of tortillas, roll up and place seam side down in a lightly greased 13x9 pan. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Pour the sour cream mixture over the enchiladas, top with cheese. Bake 10 more minutes, let stand 15 minutes and serve.

Things are pretty slow right now around our house.  I think God gives us seasons like that to prepare us for the next season of our lives.  I have no idea what that will look like but for now, we are enjoying the hot and humid summer. :)

I was reading one of my favorite blogs the other day and she was talking about cleaning each room of her home, or de-cluttering each room to prepare for pulling out her fall decorations in September.  While fall is my favorite season, I am not ready to go there just yet.

Speaking of which, summer is flying by way to fast.

I am thinking of making reservations for a chalet in the mountains in October. :-)   Maybe I am ready for fall. ;)

Hope your day is full of blessings today!

H A Z Y Days of Summer

I hope you are having fun this holiday weekend.   Our family has talked about doing this and doing that, going here and going there but we have yet to do anything. ha!

Our Saturday consisted of going out early and buying our groceries for our  July 4th cookout  and then we ate lunch, took a nap and cleaned the house and mowed the yard.  I went to the Farmers Market and bought vegetables(onions, squash, green beans, zucchini , fried green tomatoes)  and cooked them and grilled chicken for last nights dinner.  I also cooked a pan of cornbread.  It was so good. I would have been okay to have the green beans and cornbread and nothing else. :)

We were debating about going on a road trip but decided to save that in a few weeks.  We wanted to go to the mountains but people in our area try to avoid the mountains during the 4th of July weekend.

We ended up staying in and watching Breakfast at  Wimbledon  men's final and ate omelets and toast. Afterwards we were still debating about going out and I went outside and realized it's hot and more humid than anything and we decided to get lunch at Taco Bell and stay indoors for the time being.

Do you ever get the urge to have an adventure or just go driving and see what you can find?  That is me right now. No plans.  I think that will be us this evening.  We are grilling out again tonight. On the menu,  grilled steak salad. Yum!

Tomorrow is July 4th!  So thankful for our nation and our freedom!!  So thankful for God's blessings!

Speaking of God's blessings....  After 3 years of praying and waiting, God has blessed my brother with a new job. It was interesting to watch God's restoration with this new job.  He is working for Nasa and it really is a dream come true for him.  I am still in awe of how God is restoring our family.  I haven't written much about it because I am processing it all and I still think God has some more new things to show us.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend!