roasted acorn squash = yummy

when fall rolls in, i tend to try to be in the kitchen more, trying new things. cool crisp fall days make you want ''comfort food''.. this includes yummy, hearty, soups, creamy hot pasta, and all the goodness of homemade apple ANYTHING.. after all, this is fall, and we know fall = apples..

when summer is coming to it's end, the grocery stores start putting out their fall squash, pumpkins, etc.  I want to first say, I LOVE FRIED SQUASH!!!! and i love to grow my own.. but i am interested in butternut, and acorn squash also... I recently started wondering what it would be like to bake or ''roast'' some.. so, I did.. It was very good.. 

 I took an ACORN squash.. Cut it in half, and got all the seeds out..

 I placed it in a glass pyrex dish, with just a little water..

 I drizzeled it with honey and sprinkled a little salt on it..

I baked (roasted) it in the oven, on 350 degrees for about 25 minutes..

after it comes out.. add a little butter, and i did add a small amount of brown sugar.. IT was YUMMY.. and if you wonder if it tasted like sweet potato... maybe a little.. but it was not near as sweet.. I liked this new alternative to squash..... OH, and NO, this is NOT off pinterest...just something I wanted to do.... lol

PRAYER can change ANYTHING!!

Psalms 63:1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.

 

I am so glad that He hears me when I pray.It can be for the smallest of things.It can be for strength to make it through the day. It can be for energy to walk up 2 flights of stairs. It can be for traveling mercy to and from. It can be bearing a friend's heavy burden, who is going through a heavy trial in their life right now, unsure of what to do next.

 

We face situations every day of our lives, some very much unexpected.Our trials can come and go, but quickly they can send us on our knees, or in our ''special prayer place,'' crying to the Lord for help. He takes time to hear every word... It is during this time, He can use our trial or problem we are facing to draw us closer to Him, to draw our attention to an area in our life He wants complete control over. He wants us to surrender it to Him. Denying ourself is a biggie..We have to realize we are NOTHING WITHOUT HIM.

 

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober,be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

 

The devil wants to destroy us, and can even use ''people'' to do it. They can lie, cheat and destroy your character. They can use something to try to use for ''their advantage.'' We have to give it to God.

 

We have to be bold enough to hold on that He is in control, and be brave enough to trust Him to bring us through it. Through our trials, we know that in the end, He will see us through to the end.

 I truly believe that when I pray, He knows why, what ,when and how the outcome is going to be..

 

God knows ALL about it, and what WE are going through.

Learn to ALWAYS trust HIM, for HE knows just WHAT to do.

 

I am praying for a certain situation today. I am praying for guidence, and praying and trusting that when one door closes, another one opens...open wide, and something on the other side is beautiful, and waiting for us... and WE can glorify the Lord, knowing HE answers prayer. It can change ANYTHING!!

 

10 GREAT YEARS!!

I can hardly believe it.. Last week, we celebrated 10 years of marriage!! It does not seem we have been married for 10 years!!! We have had ten great years.. we have definately had many struggles and battles to face together, but God has been faithful to us every step of the way!!

We  went to Cancun for our ANNIVERSARY trip.. It was great and we had a blast.. we enjoyed lots of great food, took in some great shows, and even enjoyed a wonderful ''couple's day'' at the spa...a wonderful treat to ourselves!!! I hope to have all the pics downloaded soon, so I will post some maybe tomorrow!!

It's hard to come back to reality... but it did not seem very bad.. glad to be back in good ole USA!! It still is the greatest country to be in!!

happy birthday sis!!

 we celebrated my sister's birthday, and the ''start of fall'' with a family campout last weekend. we had a great meal of yummy burgers, dawgs, baked beans, and all the trimmings, along with homemade carrot cake for her birthday cake. we had such  fun around the campfire roasting marshmellows, and talking and laughing.. just being together..
on saturday, those who did not stay over came back for a delicious breakfast. we had a blast riding the paddleboats, and exploring around the campground!! it was what my sis wanted to do for her birthday..so, that's what she got!!

 she even got candles...lighting the way to her JUG!!

 TWO LOVEBIRDS RIDING THE PADDLEBOATS!!

 YUMMO BREAKFAST!!

 LOVE THIS CUTE LITTLE BROWN EYED BLESSING!!

SLIDING AND PLAYING AT THE PLAYGROUND!!

HER YUMMY BIRTHDAY CAKE!!

Fall IS in the air

beautiful view of the lake

 The warm summer days are SLOWLY dissapearing. We like to make the most of them until they are gone. Fall will be here on Saturday.I do love summer. I love spending the day lounging by the pool. I love the water. I love fresh veggies from the garden. It's sad to see it all go until next year, I dearly LOVE the new season FASTLY approaching.

Thursday, I spent the morning cleaning and clearing the flowers that I had in the planters. They are almost all gone. I plan on planting pretty mums and maybe some pansies next week. I took the ''summer decor'' down. This included butterflies, and flip flops, etc... I will put out fall leaves, pumpkins, and one of my favorites, sunflowers..  I just look at these plants, and become instantly happy... I have also some new decor pieces this year also... I will share them later.. I got my first ''fall feel'' a few weeks ago, and got the ''want to'' to bake some apple bread..yummmm.. look forward to doing this again maybe next week.  Saturday, I think is the first day of fall!!!

I spent the day  friday, with a group of ladies from my church. My mother asked me to go with her and some friends to Chimmney Rock for the day. I had just went there 2 weeks ago with my hubby. He was working, and so I did not want to spend all day alone, so after some thought,, I agreed to go with them. I am glad I did.We had a great, fun time looking in all the shops,had a great cup of coffee, a delicious cone of ice cream.. It was a fun time. We stopped in at this cute little fruit stand. It had fresh tomatoes, and all kinds of jams/jellies. Mrs. Doris bought Charles some green tomatoes.. She said he loves them!! We stopped for a late lunch b4 returning home.It is a great thing to be with the older ladies. You really can learn so much!! They are such great Christian women to follow.

Titus 2 :3-5 The aged women likewise,that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home,good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

When I returned home, hubby asked me to come eat supper with he and the guys. We talked about what we would do on Saturday. We had a fun day planned together. We went to a state park, and had a grill-out picnic by the lake, and then went out fishing for the day. We did not catch anything, but had fun trying. They were having a horse show also there this weekend. We got to see some pretty horses.Wow!! I love these fun, special times together. We left the lake and went by our favorite mexican place for supper!! We had a fabulous day!!

 horses on the banks

 yum.. hotdogs

 

Love your special times together, It could change INSTANTLY!!

Lending A Hand

My MOTHER called me last friday and asked me if I wanted to  go to a nearby store with her. I really did not feel like going. I was really having one of those sleepy days. After dozing off again, the phone rang. It was hubby, asking me to meet him and the guys for mexican lunch.... hmmmm... I said yes..after all, I was about to starve, and I very seldom turn down mexican food!!!
 I called my mama to find out if she still was going shopping, she said yes.. She said she would meet me there after our lunch. We shopped around there for about an hour. We left and went our separate ways. I decided to go back by our local library. I try to go at least once a week.It is wonderful ME time, and I love to sit and read cooking magazines, do my devotions and writing for this blog, or just get some quiet time. I can chill with my Starbucks, and a comfy chair. It was NO accident for me going there .. God had a plan.

There is a man I see there almost every time I go. He is usually LOUD, amd rather stumbly.. He does not get around good.. I found out today, he is 96, and STILL drives!!!!! YIKES!!! He is really loud to be in a library, but today, I noticed he was not as loud.He kept getting up and down out of his chair, and getting different magazines. I was sitting in a chair next  to him, looking at the newspaper. He got up and was returning a magazine to it's shelf, and FELL,he passed out, and hit his head and arm on the shelf. He finally came to, after I was shouting at him. He was bleeding from his arm, and was wollering on the floor. He had wet his pants.. I felt extremly bad for the poor man.He was barely responsive. I quickly ran for help, at the front of the library.The library manager and myself got him stable. We called 911, it seemed forever before they arrived. In the meantime, the librarian provided me with medical supplies and I cleaned his arm ,and stopped the bleeding.I dressed it also.
The man was checked out by the paramedics, and he refused to go to the hospital. I really disagreed. I felt like he should have went to checked out at the hospital. I felt really bad for the poor man. The librarian told me that the man had NO immediate family. I thought about him all night, wondering how he was. After he declined to go to the hospital, he said he just wanted to go home.. YIKES, x 2!!! How was he going to drive himself home??? After trying to tell him NOT to drive home, he  insisted on leaving. I felt helpless, but could NOT make him stay... I did stay and watch and make sure he got to his car ok.. I watched the news that night for recent wrecks, I did not hear of any... Praise the Lord!!!. I was glad to be able to use my skills to help him, and lend him a hand. I really feel I was at the right place at the right time. Where the man fell,  he was in the back of the library. Had I NOT been back there next to him, IF he had fallen, he probably would not have been seen for awhile. God knew all this was going to happen.
I am glad He puts us where we are needed, and where HE wants us.I was glad to help the poor man, but  was even more relieved he was NOT seriously injured!!! Praise the Lord!!

The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. Nahum 1:7

Adventure Fun?? YES!!

Having FUN can be an adventure!!!!!! I like having No plans!!!!Sometimes, we rarely have days where we don't know what we want to do for the day. I kind of like those days...NO plans..just kind of a lazy day.. We kind of had one of those days Saturday.... After many ??? of ''What do you want to do today??'', I told hubby I really did not care.. just did not want to stay home on a beautiful day.... We chose to ride toward  Chimney Rock... AND lake lure for the day...
We had such a fun time just walking through the town area, and exploring all the fun quaint shops... We had done this before, but it is always fun to do it again.. We had a fun lunch right on the little river, with a great view of the rock!! We went on a little trail walk, and then went to a cute little antique shop.. this was a little Heaven on Earth for me..... I loved looking at all the things, and they had all kinds of stuff I liked.. I even bought a few things I had been looking for, and some wonderful smelling candles....Mmmmmmm!!!!

We came by the Lake Lure and walked the trails there and even witnessed a beautiful wedding ceremony about to happen... It was fun to be nosy behind the bushes!!!!

 We were being nosy looking at this pretty wedding about to begin!!

 pretty view of the Lake

 LOVE  these

 YUMMY CHEESEBURGER

PRETTY VIEW OF THE ROCK!!

We had a fun filled day..and that was what I liked about it... NOT really knowing what we were going to get into..just as long as I was with my sweetie!!!