Thankful Me...

Today is the first day of November. I would like to start this new month by expressing my gratitude for a worthy husband and son-in-law who gave me a Priesthood blessing. Details aren't necessary, but I was in pain, and Heavenly Father heard and answered my prayer. I love my family, and I love our Father in Heaven.

Wanna Play? Pt.2

This is a follow up to my 'Wanna play?' post.
There is a house at the end of my block that has been vacant for a couple of months. A few weeks ago I noticed that the 'For Sale' sign read 'SOLD' across the top. I haven't seen anyone moving in yet, but last night I saw some flood lights in the front room of the house, like maybe they were painting. So I frosted a plate of cookies and enlisted my favorite playmate Ron, to go over there with me. Ok, so I'm a little shy nervous chicken to go alone...there's safety in numbers. We knocked on the door and a woman answered, with a "who are you and what do you want?" look. We introduced ourselves and told her where we live. She then felt comfortable enough to tell us that she didn't live there, it was her parents who would be moving into the house soon. She also let us know she was wary of answering the door at night, when she was alone. We let her know we were happy to have her parents in our neighborhood, and we'd watch out for them. Then we gave her the plate of cookies and said goodnight...Okay, so we didn't ask her to "come out and play". But we did knock on her door, and she was a stranger. And I learned an important lesson... it's much easier to approach strangers if you have a plate of cookies in your hand!

Beautiful Heartbreak - Hilary Weeks - Every Step

Wanna play?

Remember when you were a kid and you could just randomly knock on someones door and ask if they wanted to come out and play? What if we as adults, did that? What if we just randomly saw someone we didn't know drive down the street and pull into their garage, and we followed them...knocked on their door and introduced ourselves. I'm curious what that person would think...or do. I lived in Utah all of my adult life, and I think it's pretty safe to say that 99% of the time the "stranger" you'd pick there to do this social experiment on would either be in your congregation, be related to you, or at the very least know someone that you know. I had a bit of a culture shock when I moved to the Pacific Northwest just over nine months ago. Our ward boundaries are measured in sq. miles not sq. blocks. A "concentration" of LDS people consist of 10 families in a subdivision.  It's strange to go to the grocery store and see aisles and aisles of wine and other alcoholic beverages. Kids play soccer and Little League games on Sunday. If one doesn't have a gardener, it's not uncommon to see that person mowing their lawn on Sunday. (apparently gardeners keep the Sabbath day holy) Yep, we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto! That being said, I absolutely love living here! The scenery is magnificent...the flowers, the trees...beautiful! The temperature in the summer is perfect. It doesn't snow a ton in the winter (it's kinda fake snow...it melts pretty fast) and I never have to shovel rain. The people here are wonderful...friendly, loving, and inclusive. So getting back to the beginning of this long and windy road of a post, I think I'm going to make a new friend today...or maybe scare the bajeebers outta somebody. I'm going to knock on someone's door and ask if they wanna come out and play!

I may have said this a time or two or twenty before, but Fall is my favorite season! It makes me want to wear heavy woolen socks and nest....not WEAR a nest (noun), NEST (verb)...Here are a few reasons why...

                                                                                    

Harvesting the final pickings from the garden.

Creamy soups in the crockpot...Yumm-O!

                 
                                   

Candles. Every room in my house has 'em. Just doesn't seem like fall till ya burn some candles!

        

                                                                          

(Ugh!) Halloween decor.

I limit mine to a very small space in the entry.

bah humbug!

(Halloween is not my favorite holiday)

And BAKING! Although the colors look a little washed out in this picture, these cookies are the easiest and yummiest take on a sugar cookie you'll ever wrap your lips around! A little cream cheese frosting, some sprinkles...True taste-bud heaven! Only 3 ingredients: oil, eggs, and ....

A cake mix! I found the recipe (and more) on duncanhines.com

So quick and easy! 1/3 cup oil, 2 eggs, cake mix.

Combine, roll into balls, bake @ 350 for 10 minutes. Done!

from this...

...to this...

...to this, in less than 15 minutes.

Seriously, the fastest neighbor treat ever!

Did I mention that I love Fall?



Inspiration Comes for Many Reasons

My husband called driving home from his meeting at the church tonight. Seeing who it was on my caller ID, I was preparing to give him my "hello" with a reason to come home. Somehow, in that instant between picking up the phone and saying hello, I thought twice about what I was about to say, and before I said anything I hear on the other end "hihoneyyouronspeakerphonewiththemissionaries!" Eeesh!! He was bringing them over to do a little grocery shopping from our pantry, because it was transfer day and they didn't have time to go to the store. Very sweet boys. I'm so grateful for little inspirations that we get...and for a husband that can spill out nine words in a split second!

Visitor from Virginia

We had a special visitor last weekend. My eldest brother, Gordon, came from Virginia to meet the man who everyone has told him makes me so happy, and to spend a couple of days with us. Gordon (Gordy to me) has a very kind, gentle spirit. He is a good man and we had some good conversation about the Gospel. Ron had the opportunity to answer some of his questions about the Church and I gave him a Book of Mormon while he was here. I love my brother.

Breakfast at the Pinecone Cafe