Hatch green chile season!

Do you remember this post?

My second post ever!

Fun to look back on that.

Well once again it is Hatch green chile season.

Adrian, wonderful husband that he is, did the work of putting up our 30 pounds of green chiles for this year. Then he made homemade green chile cheese bread that was to die for!

Check it out!

um, YUM!!!

What's your favorite thing you've eaten this week?

Kelly

no one can fathom

Psalm 145:3-4 (New International Version)

³ Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.

⁴ One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.

photo taken in New Mexico by Adrian, summer '07

in my classroom

Guess what we used in my classroom yesterday and my kids absolutely loved?

Frogs!

It was a lot of fun!

Have you ever played with these things?

I bought three of these at a street fair in NYC when I went with my mom for my 27th birthday and the biggest one I got at Pier One on clearance last February.

Kelly

happy birthday, Mandy!

Today is my sweet sister-in-law, Mandy's birthday!!

We had a surprise birthday party for her back in February on her HALF birthday! Sneaky, huh?

A whole ton of her friends were there plus her parents,

grandparents, cousin and Adrian and I came into town.

It was so much fun getting to surprise her!

We themed the party around coffee.

Such fun!

My mom and I waiting for the guest of honor to arrive.

Surprise!

The cakes!

My mom's specialty coconut sour cream cakes.

The family blowing out the birthday candles.

love you, Mandy and Jer and Caleb!

Have a very happy birthday, Mandy!!!

Kelly

wedding Wednesday - recap time

It's getting to be my favorite time of year.

Autumn!

I've loved autumn for a very long time and this year I have the

added sweetness of the memories surrounding my wedding to the most

wonderful man I could imagine to associate with this season.

I thought I would bring back "wedding Wednesdays" for a time and reminisce about our wedding a bit and share photos that I never put on the blog.

First, of course, we got engaged!

What a wonderful, wonderful surprise! That led to months of fun (and stressful at times, to be honest) wedding planning . . .

finally some getting ready . . .

and then welcoming everyone to our special day of committing our lives to one another.

more to come next Wednesday!

Kelly

bicycles

Isn't this fence SO cool?

My mom and I saw this a couple of years ago in

Salado, TX and I just ran across the photo again.

How fun is it that they put these bicycles up on their fence and bring joy to other people? Pretty great I tell you!

Have you ever been to Salado?

Ever seen anyone decorate with bicycles in a crazy way or put something fun on their fence?

Happy Wednesday.

Hope you're having a good one!

Kelly

don't you think daisies are the friendliest flower?

photo by Adrian

flower by God

school

Today was my first day of school.

Not the "real" first day of school with students and such. Just teachers learning how to teach kids to think, cleaning rooms, setting them up, finding things in your classroom that weren't there when you left for summer vacation that somehow magically appear. (Does this happen to any of you or does it only happen at my school?) This year it was a cart with tons of bingo games, a seat cushion, an easel and felt board, a small, plastic, toy ladder, a green ball and probably a few other things I'm forgetting.

The picture above is a student's representation of me and our class done in years past.

Kind of fun, huh?

If you would like to, I would be grateful for your prayers for me as I begin this new school year.

My scripture for the year is Philippians 2:13 - 16

" . . . for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life . . . ."

What about you? Is there anything I can pray about for you?

I hope all of you other teachers had a good first day today or whenever yours is!

Kelly

real

I promise you this picture is 100% real, straight out of the camera.

I can't quite believe it because the colors and the view look so amazing.

Yep, I was there (there being the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico) yesterday and today I need to head for bed for tomorrow I start school.

photo by my wonderful husband

recent thrifty shopping

photo taken in Pittsburgh, PA 6/09

I'm linking up to Rhoda's Thrifty Treasures Party today.

Well, who would have known that it would turn out like this, but I've acually been garage sale shopping in Dallas and the surrounding area, Pittsburgh, PA, Colorado Springs, CO and Alaska this summer! Wild!

When we got to Alaska on Friday night the 24th, Betty told us that she likes to get out and go to garage sales on Saturday mornings. Great! We looked through the daily little Sitka paper and circled and starred in red the ones we thought looked interesting.

We stopped at several and then went for coffee. We also did some beach combing and saw our first bald eagle of the trip. Then the guys went home and Betty and I went to the Salvation Army and the White Elephant. Isn't that a CUTE name for a thrift store? A sweet lady named Alice (I think) rung us up and gave us great prices!

Along our walk home we discovered that there was a big fundraiser going on at the Sitka fire dept. so we stopped in for a little shopping and they let me wear a hat for the photo. Betty got an incredibly cool bowling ball and bag for only $3!!

This weekend I went to a garage sale and an estate sale Saturday morning. I slept in and didn't go until after 10:00 and still scored some great items.

One was this little table.

Guess how much she said she wanted when I asked?

$2

At a different estate sale on Thursday I picked up a whole pile of plate hangars!!!

I like to hang plates on the wall but I don't like to spend my good money on the hardware to hold it on the wall. So I've bought all the ones I have from estate sales and thrift shops. I got these guys for 50 cents a piece. hooray!

On Saturday I got this cute little plant stand which holds some of my other treasures.

Why do I love the pressure gauge? I don't quite know except it's black and white (cream), round, has #s, my kind of thing. It will probably get hung on the wall somewhere. :)

I got the cookie cutter and yellow thingie in Sitka for 25 cents for the pair. I am going to put a ribbon on the back of the cookie cutter for a Christmas ornament. I like to get one from the different places we visit. Does anyone know about the B thingie? I think it is a butter pat maker. That is what I have decided. :)

I also got the mini statue of liberty at a different garage sale in Sitka for 25 cents. She will show up in many different displays I'm sure.

So there you have it, some of my recent thrifty treasures.

Thanks for stopping by! Kelly

Saturday morning at the beach

What better way to spend a Saturday morning than beach-combing with friends.

peaceful

My sweet friend, Jacquie, commented that my pictures of Alaska all looked so peaceful.

I was so glad she said that because I hadn't consciously thought that yet but it does sum up our vacation really well. There was excitement, joy and hilarity as well and also some minor disappointment (for instance, when our ferry ride from Juneau to Sitka got cancelled on us) but the pervading sense was peacefulness.

I am so thankful to our Father, God, for providing us with peace,

a time to get away and connect with others and with Him and for taking care

of all of our needs even when things like ferry cancellations happened.

So, I leave you with some photos that portray peacefulness.

Top photo: tiny pinecone and new growth on the mosquito cove trail at Starrigavan

beautiful, little waterfall mosquito cove, Starrigavan, Sitka, Alaska

lake from our hike on our first Saturday

(maybe you can help me with the name, Betty?)

edited to add: Betty told me that this is no lake but the Pacific Ocean itself!

How cool is that? Wow!

same lake, strike that, ocean! The water was SO very clear.

beautiful sunlight on the mosquito cove trail

stately trees at Starrigavan

starfish

Look at his prickly little legs.

Isn't God AMAZING???

He made this stuff for us to look at.

Wow!

Kelly

photo taken on Sandy Beach in Sitka, Alaska 7/25/09

when you picture Alaska do you think "starfish"? I didn't either but there he was.

There was a lot I learned about Alaska that I didn't know.

majestic

I did not have ANY idea how amazing Alaska would be.

Thank You, God, for creating such wonder. Amen.

we've been . . .

in Alaska.

On an amazing, amazing trip that I am still processing as my body

returns to hot, citified, Dallas, TX.

For us, Alaska was filled with

good, oh so very good friends

splendid hiking

fresh, wild berries

and tons of wildlife

among many, many other things!

More to come . . . Kelly