Lazy, Rainy Day

(Here is my sweet nephew Luke with his new baby brother, Jack...ready to come home!)


I had originally intended to journal here a lot more about my scrapbooking than I've been doing. With the theme being "The Simple Things" I've been focusing a lot on the little things in my life that bring me simple joy. I haven't been able to scrapbook as much as I'd like to lately, so I guess that's why I haven't mentioned it in each blog entry. But yes, I DO scrapbook and intend to do it much more in the near future. Noah starts kindergarten in a few weeks and will be gone on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I definitely intend on taking advantage of the "me" time! I'm loving my gig on Wendi Speciale Designs' Design Team, too. :) Scrapbooking is my creative outlet and I can't wait to throw myself back INTO it. I want to try Artist Trading Cards as well! (thanks to Teri Fode!) Just need to find a group to join. Today my order from Snapfish.com will arrive. It contains almost 700 photos from our Disneyworld vacation in May. Don't gasp. I TOOK 1700 photos but only ordered prints of 700. :) I am attending a scrapbooking weekend retreat in September and plan to do nothing but fun, funky Disney layouts. I can't wait!

The video/song that you hear is Diana Krall. Man, her voice is incredible. It's a lazy, rainy day outside so I thought a good bluesy jazz tune would be fitting for today. Love her! She sings the old standards so well, too. I need to download one of her CDs to my Ipod. She'll be coming out with a Christmas CD soon, too! By the way, rainy days are the BEST for cooking and scrapbooking. :)

This weekend is "tax free" weekend on all clothing purchases in Texas. I just happened to schedule our trip to Old Navy for today. Boy, I sure am glad we went this morning. It started to get NUTS in there as we were leaving. I'd rather pay the 8.25% than stand in those lines and fight over a t-shirt. Noah will be wearing uniforms to his school, but he needed some t-shirts and church shirts. His cousin, who is 11.5 months younger than he is, gets a new wardrobe every season when I hand down all of Noah's clothing that he's outgrown. Love that! Oh, and I had to laugh when we went to Target afterwards and Noah was genuinely disappointed that they didn't have his size in the "Vote For Pedro" t-shirts. We'll keep looking for one, though! :)

Thanks so much for leaving comments and for the emails! I love hearing from people who read my blog and just knowing that people are reading it. The Lord sometimes gives me a lot to say :)

It's my brother-in-law's birthday so we'll stop by his house later for cake and ice cream and to give him his present. Since he and my sister have a new baby boy and I can't top that gift, he's getting the new NCAA 2006 Football X-Box game. That will have to do!

Today I'll share a recipe that I'll be making this weekend. One of David's favorites :)

Three-Cheese Chicken Enchiladas with Green Sauce

8 corn tortillas
1 - 10 oz. can green enchilada sauce (Hatch is our favorite)
4 oz. cream cheese
3/4 c. sour cream
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
vegetable oil
2 c. shredded chicken breast
2 c. shredded Jack cheese
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 small onion, chopped

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a skillet, heat a small amount of vegetable oil. Saute' the onions and garlic until soft. Add the chicken breast (raw, whole pieces) to the pan and saute' until chicken is WELL browned. Remove chicken from the pan and shred using two forks on a cutting board. Set aside in a large bowl along with the onion/garlic mixture.
3. Add a small amount of oil back to the skillet and heat to medium/high. (just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan) Lightly fry each corn tortilla until soft, about 30 seconds each side. Lay on a paper towel to drain and stack.
4. In a large bowl, stir together cream cheese and sour cream until smooth and there are no more cream cheese lumps. Stir in salt and pepper. Stir in chicken, onions, garlic, cheddar cheese and 1 cup of the Jack cheese.
5. Pour enchilada sauce into a shallow pie pan. Dip tortillas in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Place a very large heaping spoonful of the chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla; roll. Place tortillas, seam side down, in a lightly greased 13x9 baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce that was left in the pie pan over the top of the enchiladas.
6. Bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle remaining Jack cheese over enchiladas and bake for 5 minutes longer. Garnish with sour cream, guacamole, or salsa. Makes 8 enchiladas.
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God is SO awesome. Instead of asking him for gifts and favors, I love existing just for Him. I am not the master and am not in control. He is...and I'm so glad :)
- Jennifer

"I know success or failure in my life...does not depend on my own skill or even on external circumstances, it depends only on my faithfulness. God will give me the gifts necessary to do whatever He calls me to do, and He will not be hindered in His work by circumstances." - Lester Sumrall