Updates on Dreams and Goals from October

 

The very last day of October is upon us…can you even believe it?? The final day of the month means it’s time to look back over my dreams and goals and see how they went!

Celebrate our engagementversary. DONE! I really loved how we celebrated this year. It fell on a Saturday, and we had the chance to enjoy some time at home, explore the fall surroundings with Lexi, and then we went out for a  special dinner. Happy 13 years engaged to us!

Take a personal planning day. I did better than that. I took TWO personal planning days. Oh what fun I had with all my sticky notes and Flair pens and calendars and lists and…and…and…I loved it so much that I already put next year’s planning days on the calendars.

Plan for and enjoy family photos. Despite oversleeping TWO HOURS the day of family pictures, we did indeed enjoy them. I loved our theme this year. We did a lifestyle shoot, which is a fancy way to say we used our own home for pictures. It was so much fun. I can’t wait to show you!

Work on our vacation album. I’m about half done with it and quite happy about that. I hope to finish it in November. I would love to have it done before our anniversary trip!

Work on Christmas letter. I wrote it but I don’t know if I love it. I might redo it. But I did at least get a solid start!

                That’s a pretty good track record for October, I think! How did you do on your dreams and goals?

Tribute

 

Tuesday we traveled to Kokomo to honor Ryan’s Grandpa’s life.

                Ryan described the day as “beautifully hard,” and I think that was such a perfect way to say it.

                The visitation and funeral were all held the same day, so our sweet friends on the other side of the lake stepped in to help with Lexi. (We appreciated that so much!)

                The church Grandpa attended all his life closed several years ago, but another congregation purchased the building and has done an amazing job updating it. Because that had been his place of worship for so many years, everything took place there, and it really was perfect.

                Friends and family came through for two hours before the funeral, and it was sweet that some of our friends made the trip (from near and far) to support us.

                Ryan’s Uncle Dave did the service, and we thought he did a fantastic job. He gave a clear presentation of the Gospel and also honored Grandpa’s life story.

                After the service, we made one very long procession to the cemetery, where the graveside service took place – with full military honors.

                Ryan was honored to be a pallbearer – along with all the other grandsons and one of Grandpa’s nephews.

                We enjoyed getting to talk with some of the cousins who live a distance away and rarely get to come home!

                I think Grandpa would have been pleased at each thing shared throughout the day. The songs, the Scripture, the stories, the message of Christ…it’s exactly what he would have wanted. And he would have loved all the fellowship that took place. I think the only thing missing was an Aggravation tournament!

Favorite Recipes from October

 

                This wasn’t my favorite month of cooking, but I have a handful of good things to share with you from the kitchen this month. Ready?

Maple Brown Sugar Cookies with Maple Glaze Frosting I made these (not healthy) cookies for Ryan to take to GriefShare. I wanted a fall cookie that wasn’t pumpkin and didn’t make 4 million cookies. I made the recipe and they tasted great, but they looked SO BORING. I wouldn’t eat them based on their boring presentation. So I found the glaze, made that, and drizzled it over the cookies. MUCH BETTER. And they were gobbled right up!

Sloppy Joes – We had this recipe one night (with some modifications) and we enjoyed it. I pulled some from this recipe and some from my regular recipe and morphed them together. I used ground turkey, because it’s what I had. I used the carrots, bell pepper, and onion that this recipe calls for, but I did not use mushroom because I didn’t have any. I didn’t use the red wine vinegar and used lime juice instead, because that’s what I typically use. I did use the Worcestershire sauce, 1 cup of tomato sauce (instead of 2) and the tomato paste. I also added a Tablespoon of chili powder and a Tablespoon of a healthier brown sugar. This tasted like my usual recipe but sneaked in a little extra veggies!

Baked Oatmeal – I made this recipe earlier this month and ate it for a morning snack for a week. While I don’t like traditional cerealish oatmeal, I do like baked oatmeal, and the blueberries were the win in this one! I made mine in an 8x8 rather than in mason jars.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili – I always love a good chili recipe, and this is just that! I used frozen cubed sweet potatoes for ease of prep, and I subbed regular diced tomatoes rather than fire roasted. This dish was really tasty. Ryan liked it too!

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna – I do like spaghetti squash, but I don’t always have time to bake/scrape seeds. So I subbed in palmini noodles (two pouches) instead of spaghetti squash. It was much faster and Ryan liked it better this way. I also used cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese.

Breakfast Casserole – This uses cauliflower rice rather than hash browns, and I liked it more than you might think! I made this in an 8x8 dish rather than mason jars.

Banana Oatmeal Blender Muffins – These also made a great morning snack for several days. I didn’t add any mix-ins to mine. Just the straight muffins in the blender. (Easy way to prep, by the way!)

Apple Crisp – I made this for small group, and there wasn’t much left in the pan at the end of the night! It’s a healthier version that tastes normal. I love that! I didn’t put in quite as much maple syrup or butter as it called for – literally about half of each. I made a double batch in a 9x13 and used Granny Smith apples!

Stay tuned for next month’s recipes, because I have a fun new plan I’m trying!

Fun Finds from October

 

I am excited to share with you some of the fun things I’ve run across this month. Maybe you can run across some of them too! 😊

                I am trying to beef up my collection of dressy shoes, given that sometimes my job requires a little bit of dressing up. I was excited to find these kitten heel mules on the clearance rack at Walmart this month. Five bucks! (They still had a bunch of them in tan AND dark brown last time I was in our local store.) Are they comfortable? Not really. Are they cute? Totally!

Speaking of fun finds at Walmart, I sprang for a new lunch bag this month. I had one I’d been using for over a decade, and I loved the size of it, but it wasn’t very well insulated, and sometimes I’m out and about for a bit with food and don’t have a way to refrigerate it. I need a bag that will hold the cold. This one is super cute, came with two little food storage containers, and an ice pack. It has worked really well and is so stinkin’ cute, I can’t handle it!

You know that Ryan and I do find the occasional gem in the Aldi Aisle of Shame. This month we found this weird-looking back massager that I can’t find a link for, but if you see one of these in your store, you should get it. It works kind of like those long fork-looking back scratchers: you can work on your own sore neck or back with this. It has come in quite handy for both of us this month on days when we slept wrong or are sore from working out!

Another Aldi find that you should grab if you see? A package of the teriyaki chicken kabobs! I love kabobs but don’t/won’t mess with the annoyance of assembling them. These come already assembled and seasoned, and they grill up quite nicely. We grabbed a couple packages to keep in the freezer for days when we are behind on grocery store runs and need a meal plan. (I don't have a picture or a link, but if you see them, buy them!) 

I love the idea of a honey jar, but I find the whole mess of putting honey in a jar and dispensing it with the little wooden stick…messy. So when one of my friends shared a picture of this honey jar on social media, I immediately put it on my wish list. He said it works perfectly (and with no mess) and you can’t beat the cuteness. (That last part was my own observation, not his.) It dispenses through the bottom with no drippy mess leftover. I love it!

Ryan and I had a date night at Subway one night this month, and we both tried the chicken avocado protein sandwich. I really liked it because they put a decent amount of chicken on the sandwich. (Some Subway sandwiches feel kind of stingy with the protein.) Please note that the avocado is almost like an avocado puree and not guacamole. Ryan didn’t love that part of it, but I thought it was good.

I love chai (not as much as coffee, but still a lot!) and have missed it the last couple of seasons. I used to buy a big canister of the chai latte mix at Sam’s Club, but it’s full of sugar and who knows what else, so I quit buying it. This month I tried this sugar free chai concentrate, which I mixed with almond milk, one cup at a time. It was really good. I still only had maybe one a week, but it was a fun treat.

I read on a blog about YouTube TV art, so I told Ryan about it, and before we hosted small group one night, he looked it up and had it playing on our TVs. Have you heard of it? Go to YouTube, search TV Art, and you can choose all kinds of pictures to display (music-free) on your TV. It makes it look like a big painting on the wall, frame and all. I know some TVs now come with this ability, but I think they cost more than our cheapie TVs, so this is a good alternative for us.

Ryan and I made an apple crisp for small group this past weekend, and that is when I remembered I had a brand new Pampered Chef apple peeler/corer/slicer that I bought BEFORE WE WERE MARRIED. Ryan put it together for me, and it made everything go so much more quickly than we ever imagined. Why did I not put this together years ago?? Also – so glad I did not sell it in a rummage. I don’t see it on their website anymore, but if you ever see one thrifted, I declare it worth it!

50 Before 50 Check-In List

 

I talked about my 50 Before 50 list in Sunday School class recently and received a lot of questions about it! Before I tell you today the progress I’ve made, do you want to hear the sadness about what I didn’t get to do? A few Saturdays ago, one of Ryan’s coworkers offered him FREE train ride tickets for a fun fall train event. She had purchased them and then couldn’t go. I was so bummed that we both had commitments that day and couldn’t use them. So the train ride remains unchecked on my list. But I did have fun working on some other items!

Learn how to play 5 songs on the harp. This is not done, of course. Not yet. But I did work on one! I found sheet music to the hymn I Sing the Mighty Power of God and tried it. It sounded painful, but I managed to squeak it out. I enjoyed working on it and will continue.

Learn to hula hoop. I told you I bought the hoop. I watched some YouTube videos and tried to get it to spin…and I failed. I found a friend who has skills, and she told me a weighted hoop would probably help me be more successful. (I’ve heard those make a great workout, too!) Maybe she can come over and teach me. I don’t think the YouTube route is going to work for me.

Do some sort of coffee adventure. As I shared with you a couple of days ago, I did start this! We have been to one of the six coffee shops on the coffee adventure passport so far!

Find “our” restaurant. I don’t know if I’m ready to declare this done or not, but we did make an attempt. I took Ryan to Do Good restaurant for our engagementversary, and I think it could be a real contender to be “our” restaurant. I’ll keep you posted.

Make my jewelry capsule. It’s not made yet, but I did make the list for it. I used the post I found that explained it as my inspiration and made a wish list. I’ll start officially building soon!

Thrift 50 things on my wish list. Ryan and I went to the Goodwill this month, and I found some neutral fall décor. I had a few tiny gourds/pumpkins in a cloche jar, but I didn’t have enough to fill it. I found a few more pieces to add to that and three blue pumpkins that are perfect for our bedroom!

                I thought that was pretty good for a busy month!

Sunday Snapshots: Memorable Moments from the Week

 

Good morning, and happy Sunday! Our last Sunday before the time change…in case you forgot! As I told you yesterday, my week has been so, so full, and today I wanted to show you a glimpse of it.

                This is Pastor Appreciation Month, and our church so sweetly thanked the staff last Sunday. It was an honor to stand on the platform alongside my friends and co-laborers. A year ago, I was in the season of waiting to find out if I would even be in this role at this church, so I felt extra thankful to be part of this tremendous team!

                I set aside the first two days of this week to do intense, in-depth planning for next year. I had calendars, sticky notes, flair pens, lists…everywhere. I worked for ten hours straight the first two days, and I had the best time.

                One night, on a whim, Ryan decided to clean out his closet and drawers, and I helped. He sorted and got rid of what he didn’t want to keep, and I organized it all according to color. I cannot tell you how much joy this brought my heart!

                After my planning days and then working to catch up on office tasks, I took a little time to sit with Lexi. Sweet girl sat right beside me during all the planning. I figured I owed her a Christmas movie. We had a great time.

                Our annual fall pictures were this week, and guess who overslept TWO HOURS on picture day? We did. I think we pulled it together very nicely before Barb showed up to take our pictures! It was our coldest year ever by far, but we had a great time.

                Know a fun thing to do when it’s cold outside? Go for ice cream and eat outside. 😊 We wanted to stay in on Friday night, but we did make time for a quick ice cream date before it got dark. I love any old time I get with Ryan. Grand or ordinary.

                We hosted our small group yesterday, and we decided to make an apple crisp for dessert. Ryan said in passing, “It would be great if we had one of those apple corer/slicer things!” I said, “WE DO!!!” I bought it when I was single, and it has sat in its original packaging ever since. (We’ve been married almost 13 years, so…) I was able to find it quickly, which is kind of a miracle, five houses later, and Ryan assembled it for me. WOW! I have been missing out!!!! That was one tasty (and speedy-to-assemble) crisp.

Saturday Suggestions: Inspirations for Your Weekend

 Happy Saturday, friends! This week has been so full, and I will tell you all about it tomorrow. Much of it has been filled with planning, so some of the things I found to share with you today were inspired by my planning-filled week and mind! Enjoy!

Thanksgiving is about a month away (EEK!), and if you’re hosting and overwhelmed by the idea of it, here is a great guide for every part of the day. I remember the first Thanksgiving I hosted. It was COMPLETELY intimidating – and I wasn’t even preparing most of the food! It got easier each time I did it, but if it’s leaving you feeling a bit overwhelmed, hopefully this will help. (BONUS: Here is another take on a Thanksgiving guide, written by a different blogger. More ideas for the win!)

If your heart and mind are holding (in a vice-grip, no less) things you were never meant to hold, I offer you these words from Scotty Smith. They were so timely for me, and I wondered if maybe one of you needed to read them too?

I have not tried this breakfast recipe, but it does look good, it’s healthy, and I would imagine it’s pretty filling. I think I’d use my trusty frozen/cubed sweet potatoes, because I hate cutting up whole sweet potatoes. (BONUS: If you prefer your sweet potatoes for dinner, I think this southwestern stuffed sweet potato recipe looks absolutely amazing.)

I am not even ashamed to admit that I’m ready to decorate for Christmas. I won’t just yet, but the ideas are marinating in my head. 😊 I loved these ideas for kitchen décor. (Such a tricky room for us since it’s a smaller one.)

Megan’s post about color sorting books is the best explanation of this I’ve ever read! A few years ago, I started sorting my nonfiction books by color, and I love how it looks in my office. (I do this in my church office, too.) My fiction books remain categorized by author’s last name to keep series books together. Ryan and I also organize our clothes by color. It’s so pretty in our tiny closet!

This mansion in Fort Wayne hit the market this week. It is huge! There aren’t a ton of pictures online, but you can see them here. I sure wouldn’t want to clean this house, but it is so pretty to look at! (BONUS: One of the Fort Wayne news anchors shared her tour of the house, since they don’t let just anybody come to look at it. Pretty cool!)