M-m-m Fall Y'all!

Now that I have my Sylvester pumpkin in place, it was time to get some fall goodies this weekend.

Several years ago – maybe 10? – our Wild Women's Weekend was down in Amish country, rural Cashton. And we all were introduced to and fell in love with Cashew Crunch!

Thank goodness for Amish vendors at the farmers market and the Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest. I could stock up for our getaway next week! I mean there's so many reasons I am the favorite sister, but this one helps!

Knowing I had to resist the crunch temptation, I made sure I got another fall flavor I could dive into. This carrot cake had to be the best Monday lunch ever!

There's 3 layers and I still have 2 more to go! I'm no quitter. I'll power through!

And then there's my pumpkin-flavored fry pies. Oh mercy. I bought 2 of them and am waiting for a reason to "deserve" them. Maybe getting through a Monday is enough! I'm good with that fall vibe.

Hope you're enjoying the taste of fall, y'all!

My TGITW

If there is such a thing, I will declare it's a Thank God It's The Weekend!

I took yesterday off and got to shop with "free money" – gift certificates at Rustic Redefined Boutique. I never realized how hard it was to shop for something when you don't NEED anything. But I managed to find two nice sweater tops and matching necklaces. Win, win!

Today's shopping fun was the Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest. And you can see why they have GIANT in the name!

I did manage to find a few things that might work for "Christmas gifts" but other than than it was selfish Pumpkin Fry Pies from the Amish.... and their Cashew Crunch for my upcoming sister weekend!

As for the rest of the weekend, since neither hubby or I have a team in the MLB playoffs, I am rootin against the Yankees, and we are supporting the Brewers!

Falling For It

I visited my neighborhood Pumpkin Shed after church... and this will be the extent of my fall decorations!

Oh, plus a plate of delicious pumpkin bars! Hubby has been golfing all afternoon so I'm just going to pretend I baked them up all by myself!

I had a few "fall vibe" options but I was not going to fight the mass of humanity at Warrens. So I stuck close to home, went to the pumpkin patch and finished wrapping up my raffle baskets.

Then, because the Packers played the other night, my Vikings were on TV finally.

Kinda ugly, but we got the win! When you only get to see your team on TV a few times a season, there's no way to really defend them – or figure out what they're doing wrong. Not that our fan opinions mean anything!

Still... it was nice to secure a 3-0 start to the season.

Hope you find peace and solace in the beautiful fall colors. And decide that serenity is worth fighting for!

If You Build It...

I don't know about you, but I think our neighborhood is getting together to build an ark! It's been coming down steady all day with no sign of stopping until Sunday! We already have an inch and counting in the rain gauge. 

It stinks because there are so many OUTDOOR fall activities to do this weekend.

Our neighborhood Pumpkin Shed opened today. It's not even half a block away so we take pride and ownership!

They've got pumpkins of all colors and sizes – and beautiful mums.

They've got gourds of all shapes and sizes as well.

Including these "things" that look like they belong on episode of Dr. Pimple Popper! You can un-see that now, can you?!

If squash is your thing, they have the usual varieties.

Including this new variety call Mac n Cheese. I mean if squash soup tasted like Mac n Cheese, I might actually like it. Just never been my thing.

They also have decorations, craft items, and Gene's world-famous salsa – made with all ingredients grown on the farm. There are also few cooky and spooky displays like this chicken who never had the guts (get it?) to cross the road.

And this poor fella has been waiting FOREVER for someone to give him a push on the swing!

And this little guy is waiting to trick or treat! Always something fun to see and do. Hopefully when the weather clears, you can show those hardworking farm ladies some love! (Deer Road and 70th Street in Grand Rapids.)

Of course, when the rain does stop Sunday, I'll be having my INDOOR fun. Yup BINGO returns to Assumption! Doors open at noon. Play starts at 1 p.m. And Robyn yells her first "BINGO!" at 1:13 p.m. Ha.

Try to have a nice weekend, everyone!

Right Brainers Unite

I don't even know if it's scientific proof or just an old myth that left-brained people are pretty logical and fact-focused – and right-brained folks like me are imaginative and artsy. But I can see a trend among us folks in my Marketing Department. 

Sure I bring the trifle... but look at today's options between our writing and creative (design and video) teams.

First Melissa (aka "Pinterest") brings in these delightful treats she made this weekend. All inspired by Pinterest, she said, but it must have taken forever! Love it! And oh my, the pumpkin spice cookie sandwiches with cream cheese frosting (second from left) were a-maze-ing!

Then we had Andrew's pumpkin seeds...

There were 3 different flavors and we could vote on which flavor we liked. AFTER voting, we could look at the cheat sheet of the ingredients. No surprise I chose spicy No. 3 which actually had Sriracha as an ingredient.

How fun!

Of course, I was thinking I might have an entire week off from creating a trifle, but my 27th annual sister weekend is coming up this Sunday-Tuesday (hey we'll call it a "weekend"), so I'll see if I need to do one on demand or not.

For now, my right brain is focused on our work team Halloween costumes for Thursday. 

Just so many brain cells on this side of the brain!!

One More Sleep

Who's so excited for her scrapbooking weekend that she had her car packed LAST night? Apparently, THIS girl!

I was missing a few key items that had to wait until tonight/tomorrow morning... like my clothes for the weekend. Even though I'll wear the same thing probably all 4 days. And the food and snacks – which half are in the fridge right now.

Including my Pumpkin Spice Spice Baby Trifle I whipped together after work! 

Now I just have to throw my clothes together and hopefully I'll be all set to hit the road at 8 a.m. Must make the most of 4 days! Ha. 

I don't know if I'll have time or connectivity to blog at all. I'll be working to finish up my 2017 "family memories" album and get a good start at 2018. My high school BFF Julie will be joining me again (yay). Sometimes we get more distracted chit-chatting than scrapping. But you know what? I wouldn't change that for anything. 

So no judging on my productivity (or lack of it). I really need these 4 days out of the office!

Plus, reliving memories is so fun and healing. Today my dad would have been 98 years old. Logically, I know he wouldn't have made it this far. But that doesn't make me miss him any less. I scrapbook to preserve moments in time that I want to cherish from this day forward. 

I mean if you can find a hobby that's both fun and therapeutic, you gotta grasp it and hang on!

Getting Pumped Up Around Here

Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day so I finally got little pumped up and pumpkin-ed up with holiday spirit.

Yup, headed back over to our neighbor's Pumpkin Shed. When I purchased the painted witch one up top – the one I call my self-portrait pumpkin – I had idea for some even smaller pumpkins...

Ta-da! Halloween decorating is done! Of course when these giant alphabet stickers do fall off, I may have to give painting a try. At least bring out Mr. Sharpee.

Yesterday was also a beautiful day to watch OTHER PEOPLE run! The Wisconsin Rapids high school hosted a cross country meet and our Royal Runners were taking part. Our girls team finished in the smaller school division! Finish strong. It's playoffs time1

Speaking of playoffs... to congrats to any friends who are Brewers fans! Onto the next round!

Today was even cooler than yesterday. Hubby and both stayed home from church. Him with his cough and me with cough – but mainly getting pumped up... with colonoscopy prep stuff. Trying the pill form instead of the yucky drink. But so far I have not kept any of them down. Not good. I start round two in an hour. Hopefully that goes better. Hate for them to turn me away in the morning. I've sacrificed so much already!

Alright I gotta keep this short so I can stay much closer to another room in the house! 

Hope you had a good fall weekend. Let's have crap-free week, shall we? (Yes, I had to go there.)

Pumpkin Spice Spice Baby!

 

Much to the relief of thousands of fans, Trifle Tuesday is back! Hey, I can't control the work team birthday calendar!

But throw in the month of October with some Pumpkin Spice Spice Baby – and you've got a winner!

And this one is sort of fraud since hubby and I have been coughing and dealing with stuffed noses. So no oven was turned on at Blue Jay Drive to create this. Instead here is the latest made-up trifle recipe...

The cake layer was something called Pumpkin Cake Bites, which makes total sense. My pudding layers were one layer of pumpkin spice pudding and the other layer of Cinnabon pudding snack packs.

Yes! This brings out every fall flavor, in my opinion! And yes, all 6 little packs went into one layer.

As for the crunchy layer (which I always require) I took my momma's rolling pin to a gallon-sized Ziploc bag of a combined cookie packet of Pumpkin White Chocolate, Gingerbread Cream Cheese, and Brown Butter Cinnamon Bun cookies. This time, courtesy of Wal-Mart.

Even though I do have some Pumpkin Spice Eggnog in the fridge, I just wasn't willing to sacrifice it for this trifle. But... now you know another option to add to this trifle mix. 

Happy October. And good luck!

Ejecting the Ewww

Yes, I went into my time machine to grab an image to accompany this blog. But dang, I miss our kiddo at this age! Anyway, it's October and what follows is my column for our October church newsletter.

God’s Harvest Work

Some of us sun-lovers are not so thrilled about the dropping temperatures and the arrival of fall. But we all appreciate the perks of October – beautiful autumn leaves and (naturally) Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

Of course, as the season of pumpkins arrives, many of us will find ourselves carving jack-o’-lanterns. With only adult children now, I still can recall. It begins with choosing a pumpkin, taking it home, and then doing the messy work—cutting it open and scooping out the inside. The slippery, slimy guts that many of us convince the next generation is so fun to touch and remove. Eww.

But of course, we know that only once the pumpkin has been cleaned out can it be shaped into something new and shining with light.

In many ways, that’s what God does with us. We come to Him carrying all kinds of “icky inside junk”—sin, guilt, shame, fears, and worries that weigh us down. Left alone, we might try to hide it or carry it, but it keeps us from becoming what God intends us to be.

Through Christ, God gently but firmly opens us up and removes all that “Eww.” He forgives our sins. He takes away the heaviness of guilt. He cleans out the things that darken our hearts. Then, like a carver shaping a pumpkin, He gives us new purpose and identity.

And He doesn’t stop there—He places His own light inside of us. Just as a candle (or battery-operated tea light these days) shining through a carved pumpkin glows for others to see, God’s Spirit within us shines out into the world. 

As Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

So, the next time you see a carved pumpkin glowing on a doorstep, remember: Some parent made a financial and time investment here. And, more importantly, God has done that same work in you. He has chosen you, cleaned you, and filled you with His light. 

May we shine brightly, pointing others to the One who makes all things new.

Hello, September

I'll admit there are very few things I like about the transition from August to September. But I do love that Pumpkin Spice Lattes everywhere and Pumpkin Pie Blizzards at DQ are back in the picture. It's also nice to turn the page on the family calendar.

When I sensed a bit of a theme – purple vs green & gold – I took action. First I took care of all my dead or close to dead hanging basket flowers. P.S. There may be a shallow grave out in the woods to the east!

Then I found ourselves some purple and yellow Vikings mums for the front deck. Success.

Most of the rest of the day was pretty laid back – as Labor Day should be. Jim got together with a few high school buddies. And I found a few minutes with Mr. Deck Chair.

But mostly I was packing for my work trip to San Francisco this week. Gotta leave my house by 6:30 a.m. tomorrow and I'll be back sometime Saturday night. I hope I can share some highlights in between, but don't count on it. It will be the typing each letter on my phone type of blogging. But I'll try.

Hope you had a non-laborious Labor Day, too. Let's carry this relaxation vibe into the entire week!

Stay-Cation Day 3 : Chillin'

When you leave the house and go directly into the garage, you don't always have a sense of what the REAL weather feels like. 

This was me running errands this morning. Without a winter coat. Or jacket of any kind. People probably thought I was nuts. Or maybe that I was tough. 

In reality, I was dumb.

I survived though. Do you know who else survived?

Apparently this brood. Not that most people hunt for their Thanksgiving meal, but these guys (or gals, don't ask me) have lived another day. And have stopped traffic another day. Not sure how long their luck will hold up.

So even though I was physically chilling with the temperatures, I was also mostly relaxing today. I had one major thing to do....

Bake my pies. And even though the crust got a little too dark for my liking, I think they'll be fine tomorrow. I will eat them if no one else will!

I also managed to get one Hallmark movie in (so far) and went to my Hair Artist for my 6-week check-up. Happy Thanksgiving to me!

Side note: This stay-cation week is going way too fast!! Hope you all can relax tomorrow and enjoy the blessings in your life.

Don't Judge a Trifle By its Layers

By the grace of ReddiWip in a spray can, I was able to salvage my dessert that just last night was one layer short of a trifle.

As I mentioned yesterday, with the distraction of our sweet grand-pup Rey, I put my last 2 layers in the wrong order. But as predicted, it didn't matter. I've never made this the same way twice anyway – whether it's the ingredients or the order of layers – so this was today's Pumpkin Spice Trifle. 

The bottom was cubed up frosted pumpkin bars. So good on their own! Next layer is the game changer.

Instead of pumpkin or vanilla pudding, add Cinnabon Pudding. The creamy cinnamon brings out the spice! Also yummy on its own. I topped that with a thin layer of whipped cream then added the crunchy layer...

Put a row in a Ziploc bag and go to work with your rolling pin! I nicely crushed crunchy layer.

I meant to repeat those layers but forgot the crunch layer BEFORE that final whipped cream layer, so I added that at the end. Wasn't a complete fan of that, so this morning – thanks to a back-up can of ReddiWhip, I added another thin layer on top with some Halloween sprinkles.

Whew. I could leave the house with my Trifle Queen dignity intact!

And yes, we all know it's only pretty until the first scoop anyway, but still. Ha. And it was tasty! The birthday girl liked it. And definitely no one complained. And it went fast, as usual. I brought home the bowl with a small serving left in case hubby wants it. 

If not, I'll take it. Or just lick the bowl. It was that good. 

Give it a try. Keep in mind that some of these layers are seasonal. If you want to use those P.S. Oreo's, you'll have to get them soon. Also, the only place I've found the Cinnabon Pudding is in the snack pack area at Walmart, but it might be in other stores, too.

Or if you want ME to make it... Plan the party and save me a seat! 🎃

Pumpkin Spice Girls on a Spicy Saturday

First Saturday of October means everyone in Wisconsin is embracing pumpkins and fall. There were at least 4 festivals within short driving distance of our houses, by my friend and next-door neighbor Cindy and I hit 2 of them. 

The Nekoosa Giant Pumpkin Fest – which runs tomorrow too – has gotten bigger and bigger each year. This picture is one of the hundred or so vendors. Pretty set-up.

While the top photo is Cindy and I with a large inflated pumpkin, the real pumpkins are really taller than humans – when sitting anyway.

They're so heavy, they can't be perfectly round. They have to be picked up by a forklift to the weighing station.

We just happened to be there when this one weighed in at over a thousand pounds!!

Very proud owner!

Besides craft vendors, food trucks, and competitions, they had some interesting attractions – like this guy who carves these giant pumpkins.

Inspiring but I know I couldn't do it. 

Pretty cool to see him at work!

And it just happens my team at work is going to dress up for Halloween as the Peanuts gang. Someone has dibbs on Snoopy, but I had to buy this hat! When I press the end of those long black cords, his ears go up! Pretty cool.

Also had to stop at our neighbor's Pumpkin Shed business. It was dress-up day for the workers so we got to see some neighbors in their finest!

My golf partner – Sir Zigs and Zags-a-Lot!

And so many pumpkins! Check it out on Deer Road close to the the intersection with 70th Street. 

After I got home, the pumpkins turned me into Cinderella so I got some windows and screens washed since I'd done my dusting and vacuuming before shopping. Then this evening I went to the wedding reception for a friend's daughter marrying a nice young man from my church. 

It just happened a "friend" put a ball and chain on Sam's ankle. I think they both were Ok with it. And I had a great time dancing, too. I consider that a great Saturday.

My spicy sneak peek tells me Sunday will be just as good!