Happy Halloween!

This has been the week that got away. I was just sitting here a few minutes ago, thinking of all I still have to do before I go to bed tonight, and I have no idea how I wasted so much time this week!! :(

Anyway, here's just a little sampling of life in Bekahland the past couple of days.

Last night I went to work out at the gym. I was running on the indoor track, and the women's basketball team was practicing in the gym below. You know what that means: skinny girls. So I not only did my two miles - I sucked in my stomach the entire time. Do you know how hard it is to run and suck in at the same time? It's not good.

So after that, I went over to my kiddos' house for pizza. (LOL.)

Hadn't seen this one in almost a month and that is too long. I was so worried he'd forgotten me, but he sure hadn't. We squeezed in a lot of good bonding time.

And then we carved a pumpkin. You have no idea how excited I was about that. I haven't carved a pumpkin since I was a kid and it was so much fun! In reality, I didn't do any of the actual carving. But Savannah and I were skilled at gutting the gunk.

We watched some fun cartoon movies and then I came home to sleep because I had to get up before eleven on a Saturday. I will give you a moment to digest that.

Drove down to Indy to meet up with my parents, my sister, and my brother-in-law to celebrate my sister's birthday. Here I am with the birthday girl!

And here she is with the parentals. Fun breakfast! (Always fun when someone else pays, right?)

After that I headed to a Hobby Lobby to soak up the aura, and then I stopped by the Gaither store to pick up the new Vocal Band CD (which I love, of course). By the time I got back home, I felt like I'd put in a full day's work and normally I'd just be getting ready for the day!

Stumped

When I went to the Extraordinary Women conference at the beginning of the month, my hands-down favorite speaker was Angela Thomas. Marie and I both bought her book "Do You Think I'm Beautiful?" - and the study guide that accompanies. I started reading the book immediately. Tonight I decided to start the study guide. Marie and I plan to work through it together, so I figured it was time to get busy.

I should preface this next part by saying I am NOT posting this in any sort of attempt to fish for compliments. Nor am I posting it for pity or any other such purpose. I'm posting it because it caught me by surprise.

In the journaling part, Angela asks several questions about the elementary school years...and then she points to Psalm 139:13-16...the verses about being fearfully and wonderfully made. I turned the page, thinking the next set of questions would prompt me to relive junior high and high school, but instead, a trick question found its way in.

She says, "List three things you are thankful God knit together in you."

Well first I had to OCD about whether she meant physical characteristics or character-driven traits. Finding no direction, I decided to do a little combo.

The first one was easy. I love my love of story-telling and writing. I love watching people laugh when I tell a story - even if it means I'm completely humiliating myself by divulging the details. I love the emails I get after I send out a round of "Bits" - and I read how people cried or felt deeply in some way after reading what I wrote. I love everything about that and since God chose not to make me a fabulous singer, then being a story-teller is just what I want to be. :)

The second one was embarrassing. So much so that I couldn't bring myself to write it in a Bible study book. (Nor will I be writing it here, so don't go looking.) Maybe I'll just put a * and a note that says "You know what it means."

And there I remain. I have closed the book and am moving on to something else. Because I can't think of a third thing! That surprises me. Makes me a little red in the face too. I mean God worked so hard on me and I know I'm not bad...and yet I can't think of ONE MORE THING I'm glad He did for me during His little knitting project? Ack.

I'm not giving up on the question. I will prevail with a third thing. I will. But in the meantime, I throw the question to you. What are you glad God did when He knit you?

Surprise!!!

I need a haircut. I can't see through my bangs anymore. But until I can schedule a haircut makeover....I just got a blog makeover. :) Thought I'd try something different. So anyway, happy fall!

I returned to work this week after a glorious week away from the desk. Well, part of it was glorious. I tend to take my work a little too seriously. (It's genetic. I stood no chance.) We have specific groups of students we work with and I think I stress as much about what happens to them in my absence as a mother would stress about her kids when she's separated from them for a week.

During the first half of the week, I stayed home to relax and sleep. And as I told you, I ended up cleaning. Part of it was from a case of the stir-crazies. And part of it was to force myself to stop stalking my work e-mail and walk away from worrying about my students!

Things were much easier once I left home and spent time soaking in the sights of Brown County. In fact, I was just about to stop worrying entirely when the alarm clock went off signaling the start of a new work week.

Go figure.

But I had a huge blessing that first day back to work. I was making my way through all the messages and notes and papers...when I had the opportunity to talk to someone who was headed straight for panic mode. That happens a lot in my line of work. I keep my office stocked with Puffs Plus - especially around this season when the money crunch hits big time. But what made Monday's conversation good was that I walked away feeling like I truly helped. I often feel that I've eased some nerves, but I don't usually feel like a big help. And when I am able to really detour someone from the panic trail, it feels so good. A little early Christmas present.

Today, as someone addressed me with a significant lack of tact - and respect, and my blood pressure elevated to pre-stroke levels, I had to remind myself of yesterday. Of the good moments. The helpful moments. Those are the ones that make the rest all worth it.

Brown County: Weekend Getaway

What!? What, you say? Did Bekah leave home twice in one year? Oh how it boggles the mind.

And yet it's true.

Let me back up and tell you how it happened.

Back in July, my good friend Julie asked how I'd feel about a girls' getaway weekend. I was absolutely amazed at her suggestion, because Julie is married and is a pretty new mom, and most of my married and/or mom friends aren't up for getaways. Needless to say, I was pretty stinking thrilled that she even asked...and even more excited that she picked me for a traveling buddy!

We settled upon a destination of Brown County. If you're not from Indiana, you're probably not impressed. :) Brown County is in the south central part of Indiana, and it's well known for its beautiful fall foliage. There are tons of cabins down in that part of the state, so that was our goal. A cute little cabin, no responsibilities, and loads of fun.

And so, Thursday morning, we departed from home and entered drama-land. The (several...sorry) posts below will show you more of our vacation. More pictures, less writing. But these stories are too good, so this post remains: Bits from Bekah's Dramatic Traveling Life.

You can see that everything began well:
We had planned to leave my house about 10, but she ran a bit late, and we had to load the car, and I had to run by work to leave something with a friend and gas hadn't gone down in price overnight like I'd hoped, so we had to stop and fill up anyway...and we got a late start.

PRAISE THE LORD.

When we reached the north side of Indianapolis, traffic was ridiculously slow. Rush hour traffic kind of slow. Helicopters buzzing overhead kind of slow.

We found out why:

I didn't take that from our car...it's a picture of a picture. But just about the time we might have been merging onto 465, a truck hauling propane exploded right at our exit. Above is the explosion where we might have been....

...and this is where we actually were.

A little too close for comfort, but how thankful we were for God's protection! And in case you're not from around here and don't already know this - amazingly, no deaths in that explosion. By the time we got up to our exit, we had to call for directions to a new route. Found that (after getting lost once) and went on our merry way.

We arrived in Brown County a little after lunch time, loaded up on some carbs, and decided to head to the orchard. (We couldn't check in to the cabin until 4, so we were trying to make good use of our time for other activities.)

The orchard was about a 30 minute drive...(more if you get lost, which we did)...but it was so incredibly gorgeous, because the roads we drove took us right through the heart of the trees.

Have you ever seen that commercial where the Dad is swinging his little boy and everything is all serene, and then the boy comes swinging back to Dad and is suddenly a huge man on the swing...knocking the Dad to the ground? That's kind of how this part of the trip was for us.

We were savoring the scenery...taking pictures, gushing about the beauty, when suddenly...

...well, we didn't get a picture of the actual event, but "dump station" is pretty accurate. There was an overlook pullover kind of spot, and as we drove by, we saw a truck parked there with a man standing beside it. Only as we passed, did we realize the man (kind of older) was standing there with his pants down to his ankles, wiping. Yes, wiping. Enough said.

We continued on our trek to the orchard, and we ended up on a 2 lane highway. Not a super-busy one, but a well-traveled road. I was driving along probably just under the speed limit (since we were looking for our road, I didn't want to go too fast), with a tow truck behind me and an SUV behind him. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the SUV was about to pass the tow truck and me. I looked ahead and saw a pickup coming our way.

A few seconds later, I realized the SUV did not have time to pass both the tow truck and me before the pickup arrived, so I gunned it to created enough space for the SUV (who by this time was far enough up to be almost in between us) to get in before the truck arrived. Well, apparently the tow truck was unamused by the SUV's audacity to pass us at all, because he too sped up, and he moved over and tried to run the SUV off the road. I was horrified when I saw the tow truck bump the SUV with his back end...because the pickup truck was almost there and I had no idea what to do.

The SUV managed to stay in control of his vehicle and also managed to drop back. At that moment (still in the rearview mirror), I saw the pickup truck go full speed into the ditch to avoid a head-on collision. Had he not done that, he would have hit the SUV. None of them stopped...everyone just got back on the road and went on, so we kept going too. I was scared to death of the tow truck by that point. If he would try to run an SUV off the road while trying to force a head-on collision, I had no idea what he might do to little old me who hadn't been going quite the limit. Fortunately he turned onto a side road and I could focus forward...

...just in time to enter a school zone. I slammed on the breaks just as a cop whipped into view and pulled a car over as it came toward me.

It was then that Julie and I knew we were a jinx to all drivers around us. :)

We enjoyed a great time at the orchard, followed by this lovely view....

...as we got lost going back to Brown County.

Brown County: Apple Works Orchard

In my research of Brown County,I found this super-de-duper apple orchard about a half hour away. It was called the Apple Works Orchard. We decided to go there the first day, since it had the best weather outlook.

Part of the grounds had a small lake. The leaves were floating down and riding across the water...beautiful!

I do not have the same sentiments about the leaves that floated down into my yard while I was gone.

Oh didn't I tell you about my part time job? :)

Julie's pretty cool! It has that right!

Allow me to explain. I hate the very concept of port-a-potties. In lo these many years of my life, I have refused to use them. After the Greensburg tornado, this was the only option during the cleanup efforts. Well this or the "praise the Lord for a big bladder" method. I just praised the Lord right through my time in port-a-potty-ville. But this day I decided to be a big girl and use the stupid thing.

NEVER AGAIN.

My reward for surviving the port-a-potty: more beautiful scenery.

This was the main hub of the orchard. They had apples (of course), pumpkins, all sorts of baked apple stuff, caramel apples, cider, ice cream, you name it.

There was also a nature trail that surrounded the orchard, so we walked it. Or rather, Julie skipped it. :)

As for me...well, I was just a goofball. :)

Good, good times at the Apple Works!

Brown County: The Cabin

When Julie first asked me about a fun getaway weekend, Brown County was at the top of both our lists. Unfortunately, we did not make this plan until late summer, and October (the week I already had scheduled off work) is peak season in this area of the state. I spent - no joke - an entire WEEK online every night for at least two hours a night, trying to find a cabin in the greater Brown County area. Nothing. I even tried a tri-state area. Nothing. Julie spent about 2 hours online one afternoon during her kiddo's nap, and found an available cabin. Julie ROCKS.

As did the cabin. We stayed at the Robinwood. I am not even kidding - it was the PERFECT place to stay. I have no idea how it never turned up in my searches but I'm so glad it turned up in hers.

I literally loved the cabin. It absolutely felt like home. It was fully furnished and so, so cozy. Look...even a cobblestone looking walkway!!!! (EEEE!!!)

I have decided that down comforters are one of life's greatest inventions. I want one. I priced them at the outlet mall...and the verdict is: not getting one. WOW expensive. But WOW comfortable!

The Robinwood kitchen. Isn't it cute? It's actually bigger than my kitchen at home.

They had a little journal in the cabin for people to sign after they'd stayed there. It was fun to read the stories!



This is another view of the bedroom. (Sorry, my picture posting got a little out of order.) The bedroom also had a fireplace, a comfy chaise kind of chair, and a little writing nook over in the corner. If they'd had internet access, it would have made that nook the perfect place to work on a book!!

The living room. The couch was amazingly comfortable, and it had a coffee table that ran the entire length of the couch. (And it was a super long couch.) The shelves that the TV and other things sat on were apparently custom-made for the cabin. They were so cute. There were all kinds of books and games available for a rainy day. The only bummer was no DVD player for the TV. (They did have satellite, though!) Thankfully I'd taken my laptop, so we were able to watch movies on that.

We opted to not light the fireplace. Neither of us had any clue how that worked and we thought it might be best to not burn down the cabin.

Brown County: View from the Back

Though I'd not generally describe myself as an "outdoorsy" sort of girl, I remained in awe of the gorgeous sights we could view from our window and the back deck!

Mom and Dad would raise an eyebrow if they knew I was taking pictures of and commenting on bird feeders, since I am somewhat ruthless to them about their bird feeder addiction.

This feeder was right outside the living room window on the back deck, and the day it rained, it was a major thoroughfare for the lil birdies.
Speaking of the back deck...here it is! It had a patio table with an umbrella, a grill, and of course - THE HOT TUB.

This path, lined with beautiful red trees/bushes, led away from the back deck.

Julie took this while I was getting ready one day. Love cardinals!!

So serene.....

Brown County: View from the Hot Tub

I wish I had a hot tub. It's one of those "someday" dreams. For now, I enjoy sitting in one whenever I get the chance.

Our cabin's hot tub was on the back deck and was incredibly private. Our view was as follows:


Sunset, you know. :) Love sunset. I've heard there's also a sunrise, but I don't know much about that.

Despite the cloudy day, the sun came out just in time to give us a fantastic show.

When I said the hot tub was incredibly private, I sort of lied. We did have some visitors. The resident miniature ponies...grazed right past the hot tub and disappeared into the trees.

And to make me feel right at home....we also had a visit from a cat. We'd seen this cat earlier, en route to delivering a dead chipmunk to its owners. Praise the Lord she didn't bring us a present! She just sat there by the back door for the longest time.

Brown County: SHOPPING!!!

What vacation is complete without some SHOPPING??

Since the weather site promised Friday would be filled with scattered storms, we decided to use that for our shopping day. We didn't mind running in and out of rain. But amazingly enough, the rain cleared up by noon (and we were SO not up early, so noon was good!) and we enjoyed a really nice day of shopping at the Brown County shops!

Since fall is (obviously) the peak season for this area, all the stores were decorated to the hilt with fall stuff. Here's Julie outside one of the little stores.

And here I am with a random stranger. LOL

We stopped at an overlook area (NOT the one with Mr. Bathroom Break) to take some pictures. I had no idea the ground muddy almost to a quicksand-like degree. Woops. Oh well.

By late afternoon, my lack of coffee that day had begun to give me some serious repercussions, so we stopped at a little coffee shop for me to load up on caffeine. Julie got some hot cider, and we sat out on the porch of the coffee shop to enjoy our drinks and watch the tourists whirl about.

I didn't buy a ton - and I can't tell you what I did get because Christmas is coming!!

Brown County: Yummy Food!!

Julie and I decided to make the vacation more affordable by doing some of our own cooking.

The cabin had a cute little table that looked out over the back deck and some beautiful trees. Sorry about the bright sides....flash issues.

Julie did the cooking the first day. Pork chops with rice and some very yummy sauce.

I did the cooking the second day. I wasn't nearly as fancy. :( I made pizza-lets out of hot dog buns. Oh and garlic cheese bread too.

Julie had a recipe for apple dumplings made with a rather odd ingredient: Mountain Dew. We were scared when we saw the "before."

But the "after" was incredible. All it needed was ice cream and milk. Of course, we had neither.

Staying in a cabin was so nice, because we had a fully furnished kitchen (even a dishwasher!) to use. We were so much more relaxed than we would have been if we'd had to go out every meal. Plus we were able to save cash. We both love to cook, so even this "chore" was fun!

Brown County: Homeward Bound

Julie and I reluctantly bid a fond farewell to our vacation this morning. :(

After leaving Nashville, we stopped at an outlet mall. My sole purchase of the day can be viewed in the photo below. Some of Julie's youth group kids were competing at the semi-state marching band competition, which just happened to be almost on our path home. We planned to go watch them perform, and it was BLESSED windy. Since I had not prepared for wind, I bought a hat.

We ended up on the second to the top row of the stadium. COLD!! WINDY!!!


And yet, fun! I'd never before been to a marching band competition. Adams Central High School, ready to take the field...

I have to say, despite the fact I couldn't feel my back by the end of it, I really enjoyed watching the competition! Fascinating stuff.

Appropriately, "wind" was part of their theme.

We ended up staying for one more band after Adams Central, and then we came home. The drive home was FAR less eventful then our drive down. (Thank, you, Jesus!)

I'm happy to report we're still friends! At least I think we are. Julie?????

Dressing/Stuffing

I was never a big fan of stuffing growing up. It's rare that I didn't like something made by any of the great cooks in our family, but I did not like stuffing on Thanksgiving. Then I made it to college and I learned about Stovetop. I decided stuffing wasn't so bad. I hadn't known there were multiple versions of stuffing - some dry and some very..well...soggy. Apparently in our family, soggy stuffing was the creation of choice. And I didn't know that I preferred the dry version until I found out about the Stovetop thing.

And then I found out about this recipe. The guy I dated in college has an older sister and for the time that he and I were together - and even several years after - she and I were very close. We were both single and enjoyed doing crafts and shopping and watching chick flicks, so we spent a lot of time together. One year on Thanksgiving, she was alone, so she told me she wanted to make her favorite stuffing. A huge batch of it. And that was going to be Thanksgiving dinner. So after I finished spending time with my family, I headed over to her apartment for movies and stuffing. And ever since, this has been the only kind I'll eat.

Recipe:

1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup finely minced onion
4 cups coarse or fine bread crumbs or cubes
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon thyme
poultry seasoning to taste.

Melt butter in large skillet. Add onion and cook until yellow, stirring occasionally. Stir in bread crumbs. Keep stirring to keep bread from burning. Transfer into a large bowl. Mix in remaining ingredients. Bake for 20-30 minutes before serving.


I forgot to put the thyme and poultry seasoning in the picture. WOOPS! So... ** not pictured: thyme and poultry seasoning. **

I don't even bother cutting the bread. I just rip it and put it in this four cup measuring cup. I do pack it down pretty tightly. The more carbs, the merrier!

I bought a whole thing of celery for this one stalk. Sigh.

I know, I know...shocking that the girl who cheats and uses minced onion for everything would actually cut up an onion for this recipe! But this one is all manual labor for me. Ordinarily I'd use my food chopper but it was in the dishwasher from making broccoli salad.

I use real butter. Paula Deen would be proud.

I cook the onion until it's pretty tender.

When I add the bread cubes, I try to spread them evenly and stir them quickly so they get equal amounts of butter on them.

After a few moments, they look a little more like this. (Note - I used wheat bread because that's what I buy these days, but it works fine with white bread too.)

I put mine in a 2 quart baking dish, but something smaller would have worked fine. This just had a serving basked I could use. Add the celery, thyme, sage, salt, pepper and sprinkle of poultry seasoning.

After baking...looks pretty much the same. And it is SO YUMMY.