My Favorite Things and Gifts

Thanksgiving week is here!  I am super excited for Thanksgiving this year.  We will be in Michigan celebrating Danny and Jessica's wedding. It's going to a weekend packed with family fun.

We will get home and it will be time for Max and Kassie's wedding.

And then Christmas! Our family is having a huge month of celebrations.

Since Christmas is going to sneak up on me after the weddings I have done a bit of decorating and I have done some planning.  This will be the year that Hubby and I shop, wrap and finish in one day.  It's actually fun and it has happened before.  There is no dilly dallying.

It's time for my favorite things post today.  It's random this year but it includes some good ideas.

1. CALDREA dryer sheets

I love these dryer sheets.  Besides using them in the dryer, I put them in the trailer.  In between towels, sheets and blankets. I roll them up in sleeping bags.  I put them in our drawers for sachets. I put them in our empty luggage.

My family has a grab bag game at our Christmas party and they are the hot item.  Fights for dryer sheets?  Yes, ma'am!

2. Trader Joe's 

TJ's has so many good things for parties.  I always stock up in December with some appetizers from the freezer section and a lot of cheese and crackers.

 This turkey looks delicious and I plan to try it. TJ's has a lot of easy dinners and in December I am all about easy dinners.

For gift giving I love their lavender salt scrub.  It's like going to the spa but you're actually at home.  It's a good stocking stuffer.

3. Eddie Bauer men's lined work pants

Karen and I found these one Christmas and gave them to Braden and Sam.  We weren't sure if they would use them but they looked warm for working outdoors.  The guys loved them and we have bought them more since then.

4. Eddie Bauer blanket scarf

I just bought this for myself.  I like a blanket when flying.  Something small to roll up in my carry on and to cozy up with on a long flight.  I asked the clerk, "Is this a blanket or a scarf?" She told me it's a blanketscarf.  Well, okay then!

5. Leopard print anything

I love a bit of leopard print.  I do obey the fashion rule of one leopard print per outfit rule religiously.

And you should too.

I bought these leopard print jeans at the Gap for this holiday season.  

6. Spanx leggings

There are many styles and I have black plain jane Spanx leggings.  They are not Spanxgirdletight, just cozy, thick enough, and stay up.  Everything I want in leggings and super comfy.  They are part of my flight uniform for winter. I found mine at nordstrom rack.

7. Cribbage

Hubby and I enjoy playing cribbage.  There are so many choices for cribbage boards.  Etsy has some gorgeous boards.  I recently played with four players.  It's a fun game that packs up easy on vacation.

8. Carmex

I cannot sleep without Carmex on my lips.  Stocking stuffer!   Sometimes people don't even realize how much they need it in their life.

9. Old Navy pajamas

So many choices, so inexpensive! They have flannel, fleece, and thermal for babies, children, and adults.  Get matching pj's for the whole family for Christmas Eve and everyone with be cozy and comfy.  They have plus sizes, maternity and tall for men. That should cover just about everyone.

10. Drizzle 

Drizzle is located in Bellingham and Lynden.  Their oils and vinegars make great gifts.

They are set up for shipping and have the packaging to get your gift via mail safely.

Our favorite combination is the Wild Mushroom and Sage Oil with the Cranberry Pear Vinegar. 

This makes a nice gift as it keeps for a bit and everyone gets a lot of food gifts over the holidays.  Then in January when the diets start, they will have something delicious to use on salads.

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving! Mine will be happy because I don't have to cook this year.  There is something wonderful about one of your kids making dinner for you!  I thought I'd really miss the prep, turns out, I don't!

*Just a reminder, no one sponsors my blog, I don't get paid for my opinions or writing.

Showers of Love

 This last month has been so much fun, so many blessings and so much pretty.  I can hardly stand it.

Kassie has been on the bridal shower circuit and I've been along for the ride.

Her first shower was given by my besties.  Oh my, those girls fussed and it was a lot of pretty.

 The food was amazing too.

 The shower included my friends and Kassie's Mom's friends. 

 Kassie's Mom, Idalia and I are pictured with the beautiful bride to be.

 Kassie loves Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. Deb got her the latest cookbook and I got her Ree's apron.  Kassie got the same red hair as Ree, at birth.

 My friends are gorgeous and fun and it was obvious that they fussed and had fun making it all happen.

The second shower was with Kassie's family and here she is with her Grandmas. Her Grandma Plata always tells she how handsome Max is and that he could be a model. Oh please, don't tell him that! 

It's hard enough living with that guy!

The shower was Miss to Mrs. and was so pretty with a lot of greens and sparkle.  The food was delicious too.  Mary, I still need the recipe for those roll ups!

 Kassie has little cousins and a niece so she had a lot of help unwrapping her gifts.  They fluttered around her like little helpers all evening.  One little cousin and I had met before in the classroom.  She shyly came up to me and asked, "Are you Mrs. R?" Yes, I am and you are the little girl that I had told Max about.  One day after school I called Max and told him I had a little girl in my class and she reminded me of Kassie and how I imagined her daughter some day.

 Ella is a her niece and flower girl and she will be happy to tell anyone about her job at Auntie Kiki's wedding.

 We played some fun games too.

This week Kassie, Idalia and I went to Seattle to meet the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  We had dinner at UVill and it was so pretty there.

 Yes, Ree.  This is your mini me! 

 There were people commenting in line that Kassie looks like the Pioneer Woman and then when we told then that she was getting married and moving to the farm, they swooned.

Kassie was star struck and almost cried as we got closer to meeting Ree.

It was a fun evening and then we got back to the car and realized we we were so excited that we walked away without paying for parking.  Ticket!

The next evening my sisters hosted a family shower for Kassie.  They did a Pioneer Woman themed shower.  It was so pretty and the food was PW'S recipes.

The Grandmas had a nice visit.

 Ree and Kassie have identical dogs too.  I got her the cookie jar that looks like Bo and Lucy.  And I gave Bo the treat jar from PW's line of home goods.

 My sissies rocked the Pioneer Woman theme.  Ree was even there giving a cooking demo (on TV, but still).

It has been so fun celebrating Max's bride to be with friends and family and showers of blessings.

Thank you to all of the hostesses!

Here and Now

Some times you need a laugh and your sissy knows it.

I have been substitute teaching the last few weeks.  Today and tomorrow there is no school, and boy howdy is that a good thing.  My house, yard, garage, closet, cupboards, laundry room are all a mess.  Which tends to make me a hot mess.

Next week is parent teacher conferences so the students have half days and all teachers are there to meet with the parents.  Since this is my first Fall of subbing, I just realized I probably won't work next week.  An unscheduled vacation for me!  I plan to decorate for Christmas, shop for Christmas and wrap for Christmas.  Lofty goals.

I've had good things going on and just no time to post them.  I am going to do a bridal shower post soon, because I have been attending some beautiful showers.  

In the middle of our joy we have had some hard things.  Things that aren't mine to share.

I know that some good always comes out of the hard stuff.  And I see it already.

God is good.  All the time.

I am getting out the luggage for our trip to Michigan.  We are getting so excited to see Danny and Jess.  It is going to be a fun family time.

Happy Veteran's Day!  The students in our school district are being taught to appreciate the military and their sacrifices.  That makes me happy. The Veteran's Day assembly at BV Elementary was respectful and well done.

I am going to get back to regular scheduled posting.  Soon.

Because this was a tad random.

Lady in the Stone House is Celebrating

This week, ten years ago, I started blogging.  It all began with a pumpkin carving post and photo of my guys with Braden.  Blogging was a hot fad ten years ago and I jumped on that bandwagon.  Jerrie encouraged me and I started posting.

Some fun facts:

I have written 1,502 posts.  That is a lot of drivel!

There have been 3,879 comments.

Visitors from all over the world.  I originally had a different data tracker. So this isn't accurate.  If I combine the data there has been probably a million visits.  It's hard to believe that many people want a peek at posts of my everyday life.

United States	622819
Canada	14437
Russia	2935
France	785
Germany	631
United Kingdom	611
Australia	577
Ireland	497
Netherlands	320
Japan	266

Almond Joy Bread is my most popular post and still gets visitors every day. It has had 8,754 visitors.

Spinners for our Grad is my second most popular post with 1,563 visitors.

There have been many changes in ten years. The guys have grown up into men.  Good men. They continue to amaze me, humble me, and make me laugh.  Hubby and I are very blessed and grateful for God's love and protection over the last ten years.  Our guys have been all over the world.

There have been times when I am posting on a regular basis and times when life gets busy and difficult and then the posts slow down.  I have tried to keep it real and yet protect our privacy.

The guys have been good sports having their lives aired on the blog.

Hubby says it's a bit like walking around in your boxers. Everyone sees too much.

Max was spotted in the mall years ago by a reader, she exclaimed, "LOOK! It's Lucky Charms boy!"   Trust me, he wasn't impressed with the celebrity siting.

I made new friends.  Michelle and I finally met in passing last year.  We've been blog friends for years.  I got to visit Eloise in Texas. She was as delightful in real life as on her blog.  I've followed  Pioneer Woman since her beginning and it's been exciting to watch her blog grow into a show on Food Network, her published cookbooks and her Mercantile in Oklahoma. I am going to see her in a few weeks. She doesn't know that we are friends. Hee hee...

It is good to look back and see God's faithfulness in our lives.  The guys are out of the nest, Hubby and I have more fun than ever.  Ten years ago we were in the parenting trenches and now we are enjoying our vintage trailers and friends. I'm still cooking but not the volume of ten years ago.  We still live in the Stone House and have room for guests.

I considered calling it good after ten years of posting but in some ways it keeps my life more disciplined.  It keeps me writing, it keeps me trying new recipes, it makes me finish projects and I take more photos.

Thank you dear readers for coming along on this journey.  Good stuff, for sure!

Sweet Potato Rounds with Goat Cheese

Hubby and I hosted a birthday dinner party for a friend this fall.  I love an excuse to use my Grandma's wheat dishes and to try new recipes.  We served some fall favorites such as pork loin and stuffing and made some  new fall favorites.

To start the evening we enjoyed a beer tasting. I made new recipes for the appetizers. I made Maple Bacon Crack, it's popular on Pinterest.  And I made Sweet Potato Rounds with Goat Cheese.  It was the star of the show!

Sweet Potato Rounds with Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 sweet potatoes large- I used three red sweet potatoes.
• 5 oz goat cheese
• 1/3 c candied walnuts or pecans- I didn't candy the pecans and I used chopped pecans
• 1/3 c cranberries dried
• 2 tbsp balsamic reduction *I used Nonna Pia's but Safeway Select has a good one too.
• 1 tsp sea salt + more to taste
• 1/2 tsp paprika sweet- I used regular paprika and I shook it a lot into the bag.
• 2 tbsp olive oil + more as needed
• 1 tbsp blood orange olive oil- Drizzle in Lynden carries this olive oil.  They ship.
• 3 tbsp wild honey- I used regular honey.
• Zest from 1 lemon
• 15 leaves basil small, for garnish-Can be skipped.

   Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.

1. In a small bowl combine the olive oil, sea salt and paprika. *I used a gallon zip bag.
2. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into 1 inch thick rounds.*I cut them less than one inch and the second time I made them I cut them to 1/2". I did this ahead of time and stored them in the fridge with the oil, salt and paprika in the bag.  When camping I roasted them before and then put them on my griddle in the trailer to reheat.
3. Take each sweet potato round and coat it in the olive oil mixture all over. Place them on a large baking tray without touching each other. *I put them on parchment paper for easy clean up.
4. Bake the sweet potato rounds for 8 to 10 minutes on each side until golden. *I baked them until they were done and caramelized.
5. Transfer to a serving tray and top with the goat cheese, candied pecans, and cranberries. Spoon a little bit of wild honey on top of each potato round and sprinkle with the lemon zest. *I used Safeway brand goat cheese. I used pecans because walnuts are not my favorite.  I used pieces of pecans but you could use whole and mine were not candied. I tapped the goat cheese, cranberries and pecans down a bit. Just to keep things together. I used the honey in a little bear. I'm not Martha so I didn't have time to run out and harvest some wild honey.
6. Just before serving finish with a light drizzle of orange infused olive oil, the balsamic glaze and garnish with the fresh basil leaves. *I forgot the basil leaves and no one noticed. When I took this recipe camping I didn't even pack my basil plant. One more thing might have tipped me over.
7. FYI- Since I used three potatoes I used more of the other ingredients and I cut them about a half inch so I ended up with more appetizers. I drizzled the honey, the balsamic glaze and the blood orange olive oil without measuring. I zest the lemon over the potatoes right before serving. 

 I took this appetizer to my last camping trip.  It was easy to roast the potatoes and take them along ready to be topped.

Happy Fall Y'all!

2017 Hippies in the '60's

Last week I went on my last camping trip for 2017.  My first stop was to stay at Max's house in George, WA. I didn't even unhitch as I was only staying one night.

I made dinner and it was good to visit with him.

My next destination was at Mar Don Resort at the Potholes. I was attending rally with a '60's hippie theme with friends. Connie was our hostess and did a lot of planning.

I had picked a bouquet before leaving Max's place.  The leaves and the grasses were a pretty fall combination.

I made lunch and enjoyed the view.  I love that point in my trips when I am set up, relaxed and excited to enjoy the gathering.

My tribe showed up and set up camp too.  Jean had learned to play cribbage the weekend before and suggested we play.  We played with teams and ended up playing a lot over the weekend.

Once we started playing, we couldn't stop, and had some close games.

On Friday we went to Michaels on the Lake for lunch.  In the evening there was a potluck and a DJ for dancing. It was a silly, fun evening.

It was too windy to go on the water with the pontoon boats so we went to the Fancy Farmgirl Vintage Market in Moses Lake. Jean and I bought the Chalk Couture paint and stencils. Our next stop was Good Will to find something to paint and Shelly found four bulletin boards in a package. Perfect.

We had lunch at Ten Pin Brewing. And then back to camp to do a little crafting. 

It was good to be encouraged by other women, to enjoy a beautiful spot and to enjoy Annie.

It was a beautiful drive home, I took some back roads.  I stopped for coffee and breakfast at the Red Horse Diner in Ellensburg. 

I got home and actually got Annie backed in and unhitched before Hubby got home from work.

Our driveway is small and has a lot of trailers on it so I was feeling pretty proud of myself.

My hippie sunglasses were from Target and not from the costume department.  They are comfortable and actually great for driving when the sunshine is coming and going.  Hubby isn't impressed with my sunglasses, just my parking.  heehee