must be a sign

wherever you go, there you are. i think my life is trying to give me some sort of sign and i'm not doing a great job of figuring it out. i saw this lady from across the park and i knew she was headed in my direction. i made the kids give her a hug and pose for a photo. i'm obsessive and i haven't for one second stopped trying to figure this out. free hugs. what's the message? help.

in other news, my perfume samples arrived last week. love. i'm glad i bought the samples because i'm not really a november girl even though i thought i would be since it's my favorite month. nope. i'm more of a gathering apples girl. oh my, i love this scent. LOVE. it's so clean and happy and healthy. i'm going to try one or two more scents before i make my final decision but i'm really partial to the apples.

did i mention that i received the pioneer woman cookbook as a gift? i just love this woman and her story. i have always secretly wished i lived on a great big farm/ranch. seriously. i'm not your typical outdoorsy type and i'm not an animal freak but i love the whole concept of having lots of land, lots of space to roam, lots of quiet,  lots of time, lots of fresh food and lots of hard work. it's never going to happen, though. for one, i have to live thisclose to a police department, fire station and hospital. if there's an emergency, i want help immediately. for two, it's because i'm a big chicken. i am scared of the dark, scared of my shadow, scared of any unfamiliar noise and scared of being alone. if i somehow do end up living on a farm/ranch in the middle of nowhere, believe me, you're comin' with. anyway, pioneer woman kind of fills a void for me. but back to her cookbook. i'm going to say some of the food doesn't interest me but one thing that did? the enchiladas. simple. perfect. enchiladas! i made them and they are delicious! my brother, who wanted to order pizza instead, took a bite and ended up going back for seconds. he said he doesn't even like red enchilada sauce. my husband, who wrinkles his nose at most foods i make, took a bite and ended up having a plate. he even had some lovely, leftover, smoked ribs and delicious, homemade coleslaw as an option but he was very happy with the enchiladas. my son, who freaked out at the "green things" and who pretended to gag with each bite, managed to finish his plate and declared, "mmm, these are really good, mom. you make the best dinners." wow. pioneer woman is a bigger hit than rachel ray. i love how there's a picture for every step...i'm very visual. i have to tell you that my first step looked nothing like it did in the picture but i didn't let that deter me. i also have to tell you that i used pre-shredded cheese (because i hate to shred) and she's kind of right about it not melting pretty. i also used a pampered chef pan which i did not pre-heat so the cooking time actually took closer to an hour versus the 20 minutes it would normally take. they still turned out pretty darn great.