Once a year I paint my nails in a dark shade. When the summer nights seems far behind me and my mood swings into a darker slower pace I get out the color Garnet. I am far away from goth and from upscale which are the two sub-groups that can pull of a super dark shade of nail polish.

My nails don’t sport the vampy dressings very long but it is a dramatic run while it lasts.

I have a metromint water bottle on display. I hate it. Peter Loves it with a capital L.

The season of preparation is upon us as temperatures dip to hat wearing depths. Good news the sun is still warm and the trees are changing so slowly and beautifully. I have a photo walk in the plans- no photos yet.

Grammy Kris harvests transplant shoots to nurse over the winter as Ryan draws her glasses.

We have friends in town that we adore. The Donovans! Now a family of four Matt, Kristin, Jaimes and Gracie are in MN to celebrate a family wedding. We are going to steal them for a day. We are going to the apple orchard tomorrow. I already have visions of homemade apple sauce swirling in my head.

Ryan visits with Jaimes up from Texas in the summer of 2005.

Jaimes, 4, and Ryan, 3 11/12. They are already fast friends that love to play yard games, eat S'mores and watch cartoons.

Monday:

Chicken Enchiladas (recipe below)

Tuesday:

Pork roast, cooked carrots and peas, rolls

Wednesday:

Trucker Stew (recipe below) and Apple Crisp with vanilla ice cream (Wednesday is orchard day)

Thursday:

Salmon Cakes and green beans

Friday:

Make your pizza night (pre-done crust), pepperoni, basil, tomato, cheese

Saturday:

Leftover buffet or grilled cheese if leftovers are icky

Sunday:

Blueberry pancakes (Krustez box mix)  and sausages

Chicken Enchiladas

• 1 1/4 lb. ground chicken
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
• 6-8″ tortillas or 10-12 depending on size you can find
• 2 cans/jars mild enchilada sauce (use medium or hot for spicier enchiladas)

Cooking Day: In skillet with small amount of cooking oil over medium heat, cook ground chicken and onion until chicken is cooked through. Drain grease (if any). Transfer to bowl and add sour cream, corn and 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce.

Using a 9×13 baking dish lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, coat bottom with 1/3 cup of mild enchilada sauce. In each tortilla, spoon 2 tbsp of chicken mixture and 1 tbsp of cheese and roll tortilla up, then placing in baking dish seam-side down so they don’t unroll. Once done, pour leftover enchilada sauce over top, making sure it is spread well. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Allow to cool (if not already) then wrap and freeze.

On Baking Day: Remove chicken enchiladas and defrost. Cover with tin foil, then bake for 20-30 minutes (or until fully cooked) in a preheated 350F oven. Remove foil and return to oven until cheese on top is melted.

Trucker Stew

• 1 lb. pork sausage, cooked and drained
• 1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
• 31 oz. can pork and beans
• 16 oz. light kidney beans (can)
• 16 oz. dark kidney beans (can)
• 14 oz. can lima beans, drained
• 14 oz. can waxed beans, drained
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 small package Taco Seasoning
• 1 small package  dry ranch dip seasoning
• 1 tbsp. spicy mustard

Cooking Day: Combine all ingredients and place in a freezer container. Freeze.

Serving Day: Thaw.  Place all ingredients in a slow cooker – cover – simmer on high 2-3 hours.

Posts

One of the perks of being an singleton: Storage Space.

In my family I was able to keep my must-haves year after year under one condition…I had to sort, purge and label toys, books, clothes and memory junk upon H.S. and College graduation and marriage.

My Sticker Book has made all the cuts.

Oh yes, I coveted, traded and obsessed over stickers. My favorite collections were by far the “puffies”. All you who were little in the 80′s are like,

“Yea, remember the fuzzy ones or the holograms? They were totally mint!”

My second favorite collection of stickers was and is the “smellys” – Stratch-n-Sniff. My “smellys” still smell. Ryan has poured over my smelly collection with caution to skip the western boot sticker. He frequents the chocolate cones and root beer mugs.

Mom, they smell like what they are!

He got me thinking about what I look like vs. what I smell like. Well at least my Godly aroma.

Bible, Book of Corinthians, Chapter 2, Verses 15-17

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life

And who is adequate for these things?

For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

Yeah for no rain! Our sale day weather was crisp yet balmy. The extended garage sale season was so delightful. We had a decent turn out of costumers despite it almost being October!

Dawn (Hostess) has a son named Jack. His first costume was a Jack-o-Lantern. Future costume ideas include a Jack-in-the-Box and a Jack (like the little metal toy).

Autumn has fully arrived so I will have to wait until next year for more g-sale shopping or hostessing. I have already placed priced items in storage for a May 2009 sale. I think it is a sickness. Or I guess you could call it a hobby or maybe necessity.

Notice the freshly cut hydrangea bloom on our hostess table. Our trip to the mall for rolling racks was diverted for a quick stop to the frontage road berm in front of Sport's Authority. Snip. Ahh! Nice.

Our little not-babies-anymore girls stopped by for a visit after nap-time. In order of appearance: Nora, Dawn, Jess (me) and Molly.

Dawn's Mom made us aprons for our price tickets and cash. They worked out so well! Thanks Mrs. Dawn's Mom. Dawn selected an apron that matched her lower level couch pillows. She looked marvelous indeed.

My apron was the first toile item I have ever owed. I felt oh so interior designer-ish wearing ottoman fabric!

Baby clothes at our garage sale:

• Stories of who wore what and when to help remember our child’s blurry days of babyhood.
• Taking clothes out of the pricing box because we were not ready to see that one go
• Pink rack, blue rack and sliver of green and yellow because Dawn did not know what she was having…she is one of those.

In the doings of the sale I found opportunities to silently pray for some of our customers. It seems that there always happens to be a hand full of people that appear to be needing love. I tend to let few items like a snow suit or an extra stuffed animal or book get tossed in without charge.

Just throw it in!

So many people have been generous to me via hand-me-downs that of course I can’t resist paying it forward. Let this be an encouragement to you to spread the love with second hand clothes. What have you been hanging on to in the attic for someday when your neighbor could use it today?

I am in the process of co-hosting a garage sale with a girlfriend. She is the garage hostess due to her prime location and her sweet garage interior. I am the co-hostess that brings a lot of junk and a few tables.

I am not going to give a how-to guide for garage sales. I will however tell you about my time and what joys or sorrows I learned along the way.

Making a great garage sale experience successful is beneficial. It just depends on how you define success.  Some are in it for the money, others for the glory. Me, I’m in it for the experience.

Sort, purge, group, price, display, sell, sort, fold, sell some more, de-tag, save some, donate some, box it, give it, done.

Somewhere in-between the “doings” of a sale I hope to find something special. Yes, I usually find something special to buy that the other hostess is selling but I mean something intangible.

Pricing until the wee hours of morning with a friend is bit like nothing else:

• Commiserating over sore butt bones from sitting way too long in a sea of memories (our kids’ clothes)
• Laughing over the silly items in the price box only because we are too giddy to do anything else
• Sharing of personal stories over tea on a much needed sorting break

Check back to hear more from my weekend experience with my garage sale.

P.S. Hostess’ Mom sewed canvas/fabric aprons for us to wear and sell. So cool!

Fall is here and with it came new seasonally inspired art, games and books.

Some mornings we are laid back and let our spirits lead us to do fun stuff.

After writing a letter to Grammy K, Ry works a finger loop loom while Molly reaches for the scissors. Ehem...I can't even pick up the camera for a second without my little one climbing up something.

Other times we have a goal to do a specific project.

A trip to the mail box inspired us to gather a leaf collection in a mason jar. I keep a small bag full of "junk" crayons from restaurants to use for rubbings or shavings.

Occasionally we have a theme. Our recent theme was based on the book Sam and the Firefly.

Written by P.D. Eastman, Copyright 1958, by Beginner Books, Inc.

Sam meets a quirky firefly named Gus. Together they create words and shapes in the night sky using Gus’ light. Gus finds out that with great power comes great responsibility

Our interpretations of the illustrations using black paper and sidewalk chalk.

Firefly tooth brush gets buzzed around during our bedtime routine.

Batman shadow puppet in Mom and Dad's bed.

Flashlight art on the wall. Ryan made a lot of circles.

We read nighttime stories with flashlight. This book was Slinky Malinki by Lynley Dodd.

What a day!

Love,

Jess

This week at Org Junkie Menu Plan Monday is all about Family Favorites. Our favorite busy week food is mac-n-cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches and soups/stews that came from the freezer.

I am prepping for a garage sale so the dinners are going to be simple to maximize my pricing and sorting time!

Monday: Grammy Lu’s House

Tuesday: Ribs on the Grill, corn and rolls

Wednesday: Mac and Cheese, broccoli, ham cubes

Thursday: Grilled Cheese, pineapple slices, tomato soup [Set up night for the sale]

Friday: Trucker Stew

Saturday: White Chicken Chili

Sunday: Tamale Pie

Here is an image summary of how I captured Summer 2008 through my lens.

Here is a tribute mosaic for Summer 2008. The season of learning by doing.

Ryan learned how to: ride a bike (with training wheels); play soccer; scale a climbing wall and the ABCs.

Molly learned how to: run; climb; say kitty and that screaming is funny.

Peter learned that: a year of working out can help hit the softball farther, that letting his wife take over the garage with 1/2 finished projects is not as bad as originally anticipated and making new connections with fellow believers has been worthwhile. (written by me about him)

I learned that: playing in the water is still fun; how-to use an orbital sander and my meal swapper group has been a HUGE blessing for without which I wonder if I would have cooked all summer!

I Love You toast on You Are Special Everyday plate.

As a Mom I find it is second nature for me to encourage, build-up and compliment my kids. Yes, I also find it second nature to growl, snare and fuss at my kids but that is for another blog post.

I credit my parents for raising me with the ability to express verbal praise. They loved me verbally before I was ever born. I heard their voice throughout the years even when I believed very little in myself.

True, I am a part of the self-esteem generation that was given a gold star for every little thing in school and told that losing was okay as long as the game was fun. Compliments for compliments sake are useless. However, promoting confidence is helpful. There is a fine line I guess.

Comforting yet hollow ringing from teachers,

Good Job for your C-. You are really showing an effort! No F!

Obligatory but heart felt praise of caretakers

You can do anything! You are so smart and beautiful!

They leave me with a thirst for more. I can always count on God to tell me the truth.

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Gen 1:31)

Stamp I Love You on your skin because you are precious.