I was in the mood for Mexican food yesterday, but wasn't in the mood for cooking a meal that involved a lot of time preparing it either.  Ever had days like that?  Yesterday was one of them.  We just completed an adoption of a pet from the local shelter two days ago.  Everything had been going just wonderful - he is such a sweet dog, and our hearts were full of love for him.  However, he seems to be sick.  The last two nights he has had diarrhea, which has created a huge mess that I've had to clean up.  Lots of shampooing, cleaning, mopping, sweeping... ugh...   This would explain why I was not feeling like spending a lot of time in the kitchen cooking yesterday!   (I have an appointment today with the vet to see if we can get him better).

Needless to say though... chicken fajitas were on my menu plan, but I no longer felt like grilling them outside (which was my original plan).  So, I found another - and perhaps just as good - way to make chicken fajitas from "scratch" and they tasted just as amazing as any fajitas you've had in a Mexican restaurant - soo.... I want to share this with you.

One of the most exciting things about living where we do is the fact that there are untold numbers of places to explore here, and the more we explore, the more we find.  It seems that we never cease to be amazed at the number of possibilities for adventure.  


In fact... even a trip to a local library sometimes serves up some great "moose" adventures!  On our most recent adventure, we began the day by visiting a town with a pretty amazing park (of which I had never visited).  We found a place to park the car, which was by the library, and which is how we found this great "moose" adventure!


Well, it certainly seemed that moose were taking over the town! We found them everywhere we looked - even on top of the buildings!




The park that we were visiting had an exciting playground for kids.  It was early in the day on a Saturday morning, and a bit cool outside, but already there were plenty of kids taking advantage of this delightful playground area.


The day was overcast, and cool, with a brisk wind blowing, but we had gotten out early because the weatherman had promised temps up in the 50s, and sunny skies.  Well... you can never trust those weathermen!


We never did see any sunny skies, although the sun tried to peek through a few times throughout the day.  Even still, looking out over the lake with the foggy overhanging clouds, there was a certain beauty about it still that made the view enjoyable.


Our outing to the park was a two-fold adventure.  Our friends and I wanted to explore this beautiful park, but I had also brought my camera along to take some pictures of the two of them as they were expecting their first child any day now, and we thought it would be a fun way to capture just the two of them together before little Abigail arrives.


The park area wound through a heavily wooded and hilly area with stony rock outcroppings, with a beautiful trail to follow.


Since this is the middle of February, usually there would still be snow everywhere!  However, an early spring has arrived this year, along with more green than one would normally see this time of year!  I can only imagine how beautiful this hillside will look in a month or two covered in lovely spring flowers!



A photo taken with my zoom lens of the downtown area.


Cute picture of my two friends as they walked up the hill together!


There were quaint views of the lake around every bend and turn of the trail.  Even though the clouds were hiding the distant horizon, you can still see the outline of the mountains in the distance.



There were many hills, and outcroppings of rocks where you could stand and see for miles.... well, on a sunny day perhaps!  Today our horizons were close because of the overhanging fog, but still... the sight was lovely to see.





There were so many trails leading off to more adventure, but since it was close to lunch time, and we had been walking for over an hour or more, we decided to circle back and find a nice spot for lunch!


I love being out in God's gymnasium - no better workout than climbing hills, rocks and mountains for an exercise routine second to none!


We find a cozy bakery to have lunch.  The place was packed out, and for good reason - their food was amazing! I started off with a hot cup of tea - a perfect way to refresh my body after an hour or two of intensive hiking!



Each table had one of these lovely roses gracing it...


While we were waiting for our food - I had fun taking a few pictures of the rose, and my hot tea...


The rose had a lovely fragrance to it...


A lovely way to enjoy our lunch!


I was delighted with the choice of my sandwich. It was incredible.  It was a Greek Feta Chicken Panini sandwich, served with a crunchy dill pickle... perfect!


My friends ordered the Reuben sandwich - again a delightful tasty choice, along with a bowl of Chicken Rice Soup, served with garlic bread.

We enjoyed the lovely lunch together, and enjoyed the blessings of wonderful friendship and a fun day exploring.  Adventure is always close by in this beautiful area we live in, and even more blessed when you get to share the adventure with special friends!  :)

Some of you may remember that back in early January our son found a stray dog and brought her home.  If not, you can read about that saga here. Our intention when he brought the dog home was to keep her until we could find her a better home.  Our family fell in love with her though, and she quickly wiggled her way into our hearts.  Unfortunately though, the dynamics that go on in "doggie worlds" didn't go so smoothly.  We soon discovered that she hated cats, which has put our poor Mr. Simba in a very difficult situation.  He began only coming in at night after we had put Missy to bed in our son's room.  The next situation that evolved was that Missy exhibited a lot of very aggressive traits.  She was very possessive of her food, and she and Annie squabbled several times over food.  She also was aggressive acting towards a dog that belonged to friends of ours, even after multiple times of trying to introduce them to each other, and hoping they would get along.  After an aggressive act by Missy over the weekend in which she attacked our friends dog without any provocation, we knew we probably had to find her another home where she wouldn't be exposed to other dogs or cats, and without an alpha dog issue.

Reluctantly this past Friday morning, my son and I took Missy to a local shelter.  My heart felt like it was torn in a gazillion pieces, as I had become so attached to her, but we couldn't take the risk of her hurting another dog, cat, or perhaps even a person.  She had become very protective of us and anyone who came around.  After the event where she attacked our friend's dog with an unprovoked event, we knew that it wasn't a good idea for her to be at our home.  She needed to be in a home where she could be the alpha dog, and not have to deal with people, and dogs coming and going - as we often have friends come to visit who bring their dogs with them.  Missy proved that she couldn't handle other dogs coming to our home, and that she wanted to be alpha dog, which wouldn't work with Annie.



Sadly, it was time to find Missy a better  home, even though I don't think she could have had a more loving home than ours where we loved her so much.  But our home wasn't the best for her, which made me so sad, but in order to do what was best for her, this was what we had to do.


As we traveled to the shelter, an overhanging fog was in the air.  Missy sat in my lap the whole way, and occasionally would turn around and lick me, just to tell me how much she loved me, and I petted and loved on her the whole way there.




I love you Missy!

What a precious sweet girl she is - most of the time!  It was so hard to hold her knowing I was giving her away!

When we got to the animal shelter, Missy was a ball of excitement.  All the different smells she was encountering at one time was almost more than she could stand.  As we walked through the door we were greeted by several workers and volunteers who immediately came over to Missy and began to give her attention.  We said goodbye to her as the workers said they would do some more work to try to reunite her with her owners, or find her a new home.

While we were in the shelter, we decided to take a walk through, which I should have known better than to do!  My heartstrings were tugged as we walked down the halls and stopped and visited with the dogs who begged to be let out of their cages and to visit with us.  At one point a volunteer of the shelter stopped to talk with us, and we told her our story of Missy, and Cosmo, and how Annie needed a friend, but it needed to be a dog with no alpha tendencies, but who liked to play, was house trained, and well behaved.  She directed us to a dog that we had seen earlier, but because of the commotion of other dogs around him that we didn't notice him.

She asked if we would like to take him out for a walk, and told us that out of all the dogs in the pound, he was the one who loved to walk, and was very gentle in nature, and very calm once getting away from the commotion of other dogs.

So, we took Roger for a walk, and my heart was melting as we began to spend some time with him. He was a border collie and blue heeler mix, a very handsome looking dog, and with the sweetest eyes and ears that perked up when looking at you.

After taking him for a walk, we came back into the shelter, and asked for more information on Roger.  Apparently he had been in the shelter since September, which is a very long time.  The volunteer said that most people passed him over because of the dogs around him that were so wild, but they didn't realize Roger was so sweet, which is what had happened to us.  As we began to visit with Roger more, I realized I couldn't leave the shelter without him.  So, even though my heart was broken about Missy, I knew she was in kind and gentle hands there.  My heart was reassured about the kindness of the people who worked and volunteered at the shelter, and my arms coming home weren't going to be empty after all.... Roger crawled up into my lap and cuddled with me on the ride home.



We wondered what Annie would think of all this.  We had left with Missy, and returned with Roger. She sniffed Roger at first, and then appeared to accept the fact that he was here now instead of Missy.  She was curious about him, and he likewise.  Soon, they were doing their "dog parring" thing - turning in circles, prancing around each other, and playing.


Roger was so happy to be in our house, and with freedom to run.  He was like a child let loose on a playground, and his joy was contagious.


He and Annie and our son romped around in the kitchen for a while, and there was a lot of joy in all our hearts!



We discovered that Roger could sit and lay down, and that was all the tricks he seemed to know. Our kids will be working on that with him.  He seems to be a very willing and eager learner.  He will be learning new tricks in no time, as both our kids enjoy working with Annie and teaching her new tricks.


We had a wonderful time playing with Roger and Annie, and he seemed happy as he could possibly be to become a new member of our family!


He has a very gentle, sweet soul, and very playful as well.  He seems to be the perfect playmate for Annie too.



I love this picture of him!  He is looking at me while carefully trying to get to a treat from our son's hand.  So cute!






We took the dogs outside for a playful romp, and Annie was thrilled to have a playmate to run and play with, and who wasn't aggressive, or barking at her.


So happy!


Freedom!  Roger was enjoying his new found freedom.



Even though my heart was so sad to take Missy to the shelter, after taking her there and seeing the kindness and love given to her and all the other animals there at the shelter, I knew they would work with Missy to find her the best home for her or even find her owners.  Consequently, we were able to bring happiness to our sweet Roger by bringing him home to be a member of our family.  I am so very thankful that the day ended as it did.  I had no idea I would be bringing another dog home in my arms, but the Lord knew just what was perfect for both our family and Roger.

But one thing has to change - Roger's name.  We just don't think the name Roger fits him!  So for those of you reading this - if you have any suggestions for a different name for him, we are considering all options.   Any suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks for stopping by today and sharing in our newest doggie adventures :)

This week a friend of mine planned a special tea with her mother and sisters, and invited my daughter and I to join them.  It really was a very special time for all of us.  She went to a lot of work and planning this Valentine's Tea!


When we arrived, the house felt so warm and inviting, with all the special touches and decorating she had done.  The table was set for each of us with our very own china tea cups and plates.  Hot tea was ready for us to sip as we got busy with the activity that she had planned for us to do while we were waiting for everyone to arrive.


At each of our places, we had a lovely "schedule" that she had created for the different activities she had planned for us.



The first activity we did was to draw a name, and then we were to create a card for the person whose name we had drawn.  It was a fun game, because we were then to give the card to the person we had created it for "secretly" so they wouldn't know who had made the card.  However, when I received my card, I knew exactly who it was from - my daughter!  We just had a few minutes to make the cards, and I was quite impressed with the card my daughter created for me.

After we finished with the card making activity, we had lunch.  R had made beautiful heart shaped homemade wheat pizzas for us, and a salad.


I brought a couple of desserts - some chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate peanut butter balls.





R's sisters brought some apple turnovers to share as well.


R used her grandmother's china for us to enjoy our hot tea!


A ladies tea is never complete without a nice salad!


A peek at the beautiful china dessert plates...


The table setting...


Lunch is served! Oh how yummy it all was!  The whole wheat pizza was scrumptious, as was the salad and queso dip.  We all enjoyed the lovely meal together, with lots of laughs and good memories!


After lunch, R had asked her mother and I to share some thoughts about marriage, love and such, being as Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and part of the reason for our special day together.  Both R's mother and I shared many of the same thoughts, and even used the same scriptures as we spoke.  In fact, each of us even had the same basic thought that we shared - although with different illustrations.  We both shared how we had come to realize personally how the relationship between Christ and the church is so similar to the husband/wife relationship, and the many parallels between Christ and the church that can also be made between the husband/wife relationship.

I chose to begin sharing my thoughts with the verse in Amos 3:3 that says "Can two walk together except they be agreed?"  When making the choice of who to live the rest of your life with, it is very important that in order for two to walk together that they be agreed.  The best way to do this is to parallel your relationship with your spouse as to how it relates to Christ and the church, found in Ephesians 5:22-33.  

R's mother also used Ephesians 5 to share her thoughts and experiences with marriage and how a good marriage usually closely resembles the relationship between Christ and the church.  She shared experiences in her marriage, and life that were encouraging to all of us.  She also shared the differences between the hearts of two of David's wives, Abigail and Michal, and how the tender heart of Abigail spared her life, while the sarcastic hardened heart of Michal caused her to become barren for the rest of her life.  We were reminded of the importance of keeping our spirits gentle and humble before the Lord.

The last activity R had us to do was to write a letter to Jesus, and to tell the Lord just how much he meant to us, as we sipped another cup of hot tea.  She played some soft music, and provided pen, paper and an envelope to put the letter in.  It was a very quiet, special time as we quietly wrote to the Lord our thankfulness, love and appreciation to Him.

We ran out of time to get to the massages that she had planned for us and we were all sad about that!  However, R promised she would put it early on the schedule for the next time we get together!

It was such a wonderful time that we spent, with lots of fun, great laughs, stories, and insight.  We were sad to see the time pass so quickly, as work called some of us away.  It was a lovely way to get together with other ladies, and to share that time together with a very sweet spirit of the Lord present with us.  R says she has plans for more of these kind of gatherings in the future, and I for one, certainly can't wait to do this again!  She and her husband are expecting their first child any day now, and so we have tentatively planned for another event in March, depending on the arrival of little Abigail, who we all can't wait to meet!

Thank you R for planning and putting together this very lovely day for us, and we certainly look forward to another one!!!