My CCW Permit

I received my CCW permit!  Woo hoo!

Softball Time!

Last Saturday, we enrolled the three oldest girls in T-Ball and softball for this spring season.  This is our first time to participate in an organized sport so we are excited...and a little nervous! :)  We used some of their Christmas money from their extended family and we bought mitts for all and a bat and ball to practice with.  

Last week, I took them out a few afternoons and taught them the basics.  Catching, throwing and batting. A little chilly playing in January.  LOL!

Practices begin mid-March and games begin the first part of April.

Yay for Team Tastet!

Cabela's...

Last week, we were out by Cabela's and decided to stop in.  Yes, we have all girls...that love Cabela's!  LOL!

Of course you can't stop without eating at their cafe!  Yummy buffalo burger for me. :)  Poor Daddy was traveling for work and was very jealous.  LOL!

However, this week, he was able to actually do a set-up for Mr. Cabela!  He was visiting Reno for a convention.  Wow!  Now, that is neat. :)

Jamba Juice Time!

I recently won a $10 gift card to Jamba Juice for having a great review with one of my clients. :)  Yay!

Recipe: South of the Border Stuffed Shells

As promised, here is one of the new recipes I tried this week...and it seemed to be a hit with all the children.  :)

South of the Border Stuffed Shells

24 jumbo pasta shells, uncooked
1 16 oz. jar picante sauce
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 cup of water
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. chili powder
1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies
1 cup (4 oz.) grated Monterey Jack cheese

Prepare pasta according to package directions.  Drain.

Mix picante sauce, tomato sauce and water in a small bowl.  In a skillet, cook onion and ground beef over medium heat until meat is browned and onion is tender.  Remove from heat and drain.  Add chili powder, chopped green chilies, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 cup picante sauce mixture to meat mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Pour small amount of picante sauce mixture in bottom of 13x9 baking dish.  Fill each cooked shell with 1-2 tbsp. of meat mixture and place in baking dish.  Pour remaining picante sauce mixture over shells and top with remaining cheese.  Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes.  

Serves 6.  Serve with garlic bread and a fresh salad. :)

Philadelphia Style Quesadillas and Focusing

This week, I am having a hard time focusing.  Geez Louise.  I do not know what is wrong with me.  I am feeling overwhelmed and tired.  

However, I have kept up diligently with my laundry each day.  Empty baskets. :)  And I have stayed on track with my Bible reading schedule through YouVersion.  If nothing else, that makes the week a success.  LOL!

I made three delicious meals this week as well.  Well, I thought they were amazing.  It is rather difficult when one child doesn't like cheese...and the first question...you see it coming a million miles away..."Is there cheese in this?".  Good grief.  Then you have a five year old...well, I just don't know.  And the two year old who pees a million times an hour for a Jelly Belly...and then decides to feed Max her dinner.  Yep.  Thankful for my Autumn...she eats like a horse and is thin as a rail.  She is truly my bottomless pit.

So Tuesday's dinner was Philadelphia Style Quesadillas...

Simply saute beef pieces (I purchased a package around a pound that said "Beef for Stir Fry".  Very tender.  I added lime juice and Cajun seasoning into the beef.  Remove from pan when pink is gone.  Do not overcook!

Next, saute green peppers and onions.  Toss in a little lime juice and seasoning.  Add in sliced fresh mushrooms when nearly done.  Toss back in beef and heat through.  

Set aside.  Make quesadillas and use as topping on the cheese inside the quesadilla.  Yum!

Wednesday's dinner was Southwest Stuffed Shells...

Will post that one next week.  A good kid pleaser. :)

Tonight was White Chicken Chili...
OMGoodness.  One of my favorites and perfect for this gloomy day.  Here is the link to the recipe on my blog... http://tastetsinreno.blogspot.com/2010/10/recipe-white-chicken-chili.html .  

So, another success to the week.  Hopefully, tomorrow my brain will return.  Along with my focus.  

Fourteen years ago...

Fourteen years ago, January 23, 1999, my husband and I went on our first date.  Connie's Pizza downtown Chicago.  Still madly in love with this guy!!

Bertie...

What a weekend.  Without sharing the details, my lady client passed away this past Sunday.  I had worked with Bertie - age 96 - since late October.  I will miss Bertie dearly...when you give many of the hours in your week to caring for someone...and suddenly they are gone...your life seems upside down.

I am grateful though that yesterday, I already was assigned a new lady client for Fridays and Saturdays. It is nice to fill the hole that was created.  

I am thankful for the opportunity to care and share God's love with others who need it.

Friday...

I always come to Friday and wonder where the week has gone!  Do you?  LOL!  

My husband was gone Tuesday through Thursday - out of town for work.  I took advantage and worked on my class for work - a course on Alzheimers and dementia.  It was three DVD's, a binder to read and three quizzes.  It took me four hours but it was a great course!  I really learned valuable information and it is always great to accomplish something that needed to be done. :)

I also have picked up an extra shift on Wednesdays.  So now my work schedule is Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday - 8pm-8am.  Maybe that is why the week flies by even faster. :)

Yesterday, we did errands and cleaned the church.  I was able to pick up some fruit and vegetable deals at Marketon...a cantaloupe, 3 lbs of Fuji apples, 6 lbs of oranges, 1/2 serrano peppers and 2 lbs of fresh mushrooms for $6.94. :)  We washed and vacuumed the van...what a sigh of relief with all the grime from the winter and snow.  And more errands.  Why do errands tend to take forever?

Tomorrow, we will be registering the girls for T-ball and softball for this spring.  My husband is going skiing so the girls and I are going to meet up for lunch with a friend.  And beef stew in the crock pot for Saturday dinner.  

Happy Friday!

Christmas Clearance Deals and Steals...

Last week, I tried to hit Wal-Mart's 75% Christmas clearance sales.  I put together these clearance items - including the tree - for a surprise for the girls' bedroom for next year - for a total of $4.24. :)

Wal-Mart also had select snow boots on sale.  Addie was in need of a size larger...and then Autumn can move up to her old boots.  I found a pair for her for $7...and a big blessing...I found a pair for myself for $9!  I really needed a new pair.  The only snow boots I had were a pair my husband got in an employee auction - the zipper was broke and the material was fraying.  PTL!

And yes, I have started shopping for next Christmas.  My daughter thinks I am crazy...but not when you can get gifts for 75% off! :)  I got this coin counter for the hubby - he likes to collect his change (and mine when I am not looking - LOL!).  That was $2.49.  The nail polish sets were only $1.25 each!  One for Addie and one for Autumn.  You just can't beat that with a stick. :)

Tubs to give Christmas goodies next year to neighbors...stocking stuffers - Christmas notebooks, Bible word search puzzle books and body spray.

All $.25 each or less.

I have been thinking about changing the colors for my Christmas tree...well, one of my favorite colors is brown and I found this 50 set of ornaments - brown, red and gold - for less than $5. 

A jewelry box for my oldest for only $4.99. :)

Just Another Day in this Mom's Life

Last Monday, we started potty training.  PTL...the last one. :)  Still using the same potty chair we used for the first three.  Good 'ol Elmo.  LOL!  She did amazingly well for the first week.  But I better not brag too much...too soon.  Ha ha! 

Just another day in my life. 

Kitchen Tip: Keeping Lettuce Fresh Longer

How to make lettuce, spinach and greens last longer in the fridge...

Place a paper towel on the bottom and on top of the lettuce in the bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap.

The paper towels will absorb the moisture and your lettuce will last longer. :)

My Favorite Things...

A favorite on my Saturday mornings...an omelet and reading my new Bible while listening to it on my Kindle Fire. 

Happiness. :)

Winter in the Sierras

We have had a very cold and snowy winter so far here in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and here in Reno.  Here are a few pictures of winter here in the past few weeks...

One morning, everything was covered in the amazing hoarfrost.  Truly beautiful.  These were trees in our yard.

This was a view of the Sierras on my way to church on Sunday morning.  It was still quite dark and stormy and the tops of the mountains were covered in clouds.  

This was a semi that had been knocked over by very strong winds during one of our winter storms.  This is the exit to our house.

This is a mountain range to the north of the valley where we live.

This is Mt. Peavine.

Mt. Peavine from our dining room window.

The closer you get, the more majestic it looks.

Last Monday, I took these from my client's backyard.  I would love to have a backyard view as this!

Yep, AMAZING!!!!

Family Time...

On New Year's Day, we decided to use a gift card that someone gave us to Chili's. :)

Here is Autumn-7, Eric and Addie-9.

Me, Summer-2 and Sierra-5. :)

New Year's Day...Sledding

On New Year's Day, I took the girls sledding.  (Daddy was supposed to go and was called into work. :)

The girls entered a coloring contest at one of our local gas stations.  They each received a free Slurpee.

Do you like the tutus over the snow pants?  We are starting a new Baptist girl tradition. LOL!

Someone thought it was funny to make a snow angel face down. :)

Me and the lil' stinker. :)

Instead of your normal hot cocoa, we brought our free slurpees.  LOL!  And they stayed cold. :)

Autumn tuckered herself out. :)

Grand Opening Freebie!

Here is a fun freebie that I was able to get last Saturday morning!  We had a Dollar General open just down the road from our house.  It was their grand opening and they gave out these goodie bags to the first 200 customers. :)  Lots of good stuff!

Giving Back in 2013

This year, here is a goal you can make.  Choose to do something to give back to your community.  It could be give blood at your local Blood Bank, pack groceries at the local Food Bank, feed the homeless at your local homeless shelter, visit a nursing home, volunteer for a charity...there are many options.

One I personally do is give blood at our blood bank.

It does not take very long.  After three donations, I received a Gold Member card. :)

It doesn't cost me a dime and I am able to continue to give back to our community of Reno.

Shut Up Already!

I have been reading the past several days in the book of Job.  It is ongoing conversations between Job and his three friends.  As I read, I just want to scream at his three friends..."Really?  Would you please just shut up already?"  ;)

Job's friends seemed determined to prove their point that God was perhaps judging Job...that Job needed to confess hidden sin...and so forth.  Geez.  

I did enjoy a point amongst all this mess.  :)  Job says to his friends in Job 23:6..."Will he plead against me with his great power?  No; but he would put strength in me."

Love, love, love!  I crave that the Lord will put strength in me.  There are days that I need an extra dose of God's strength.  Do you need that extra strength today?  Ask God for it!  He will give you that strength today. :)

Modesty is...

Don't shoot me...I worked Friday through Monday nights and couldn't fit in blogging. :)

Here is a beautifully said quote that I wanted to share...

This is so well said and just what I believe.  It was an encouragement to my heart. :)

Thoughts on Suffering...

I have heard or read many people say "Goodbye to all the bad in 2012...I hope this year is better than last year!"

I don't know why they may be saying this.  Perhaps it is because a circumstance brought suffering in their life.  In my Bible reading, I am reading about Job - a man who certainly saw his share of suffering.

Three Views on Suffering:

Satan's View - People believe in God only when they are prospering and not suffering. 

The View of Job's Three Friends - Suffering is God's judgment for sin.  This is not always true and we will never know if God is truly judging them - for only God knows that answer.

God's View - Suffering causes us to trust God for who HE is, not what HE does.

120 Years...

Yesterday, I read the story of Noah.  God gave Noah a "project" to do.  For Noah, this project lasted 120 years.  It is interesting how Noah's project lasted longer than most of our entire lifetimes!

Noah's obedience to God...was simply a long-term commitment to the project God had given him.  Remember those New Year's Resolutions that you just made a few days ago?  Have you stuck with them?  If Noah was able to commit and complete a 120 year project, let that inspire you to stick with your 1 week, 1 month or 1 year goals!

The only comparable long-term project that we have is our very lives.  Let us commit or recommit today to live a lifetime of obedience and gratitude to our Heavenly Father.

Satan's Plan Against Us

Just a thought from Genesis...

Satan's Plan Against Us

1.  Doubt.  Satan will make you question God's Word and His goodness.

I decided that I want to make sure that even if nothing seems to be going right, God is good.  God's goodness does not depend on my circumstances.

2.  Discouragement.  Makes you look at your problems rather than at God.

January 1st is over.  The excitement of the new year is over.  It is already January 4.  Don't be discouraged.  Encourage yourself!

3.  Diversion.  Makes the wrong things seem attractive so that you will want them more than the right things.

Surround yourself with only good things.  Good music, good books, good TV shows.  The more you expose yourself to wrong things, the more chances there will be for you to run to them in times of weakness.

4.  Defeat.  Makes you feel like a failure so you don't even try.

I think this is a biggie for most women.  You have to keep trying...for if you don't, you have already failed.

5.  Delay.  Makes you put off doing something so that it never gets done.

This may seem trivial - but not accomplishing something will lead to the other points...defeat, discouragement, diversion.  Start now!  Make a plan, create a schedule, begin those goals!  Don't wait...don't put it off.  Start today!