Brown Sugar Meat Loaf

Meat loaf is one of "those" dishes. Some people (pretty sure my sister is one of them) hate it...and others find it to be great comfort food. I've never made it until recently, mostly because Mom never had a recipe to give me, and I'm unlikely to venture something without a recipe. I can't just throw something together like some people can.

But this year I've started reading the Organizing Junkie blog (link on left) and every Monday, she does "Menu Planning Monday." She shares her food plans for the week (including links to recipes) and other readers do the same. So from that adventure...I found this recipe. The original recipe came from allrecipes.com but I've tweaked it a bit to suit my purposes.

Absolutely fell in love with it the first time I made it. It's a good warm winter food. It also warms over well, which I loved. I've been eating it with a side of a baked potato...and when I served it to company, I also made macaroni and cheese to go with it.

The Recipe:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Pat brown sugar onto bottom of greased loaf pan. Spread ketchup over the sugar. In a bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients until well mixed and press into pan over sugar and ketchup. Bake for an hour at 350.

As usual, I used the dried chopped onion, and saved myself some time. I don't often bother with what kind of beef I get, but for this, I do try to get a leaner cut so I don't have so much grease to contend with at the end. And my bread crumbs were Italian - which gave it great flavor.
I just press the brown sugar into the pan (make sure you spray it well first!) My loaf pan angles in at the bottom, so the sugar layer is pretty thick.

Don't tell...I didn't actually measure the ketchup. I just sort of drizzled it over the brown sugar until it looked like 1/2 cup. (Tsk tsk. Mrs. Lee would not be proud.)

Dump everything else in the bowl! Doesn't get much easier than that!

I really don't like gooey messes on my hands, so I stick my hands inside plastic baggies to mix it up.

I promise it tastes much better than it looks at this stage. Make sure you mix it well so all the onion doesn't end up in one spot!

I just toss it in on top of the sugar and ketchup - kind of by the lump-ful....

...and then I press it down so it's even around the edges. Stick it in the oven and bake! (Side note - the first time I made this, I put it in the oven before I went to work out and when I got home, it was ready to exit the oven. PERFECT TIMING!!!)

Ta DAAAA!! I didn't take a picture of this step because it's nasty, but I just scoop out the extra grease from the top and put it on a Styrofoam plate. I let it harden up and then throw it away.

Plate...and serve!!!

I hope you can enjoy it on these frigid winter days!!

Anatomy of a Snow Day

Warning: Sometimes I'm just an overgrown child.

Well, all my careful snow prep did not pay off immediately, but Wednesday, I enjoyed a true rarity: a snow day. There are two times in life when I regret my decision to not become a teacher. One is during the summer and the other is on a snow day. My work never closes. I shouldn't say never. Since I showed up in 1996, they've closed once. I think it was four or five years ago - on Valentine's Day, actually. And then...this week. Since it's so rare to get a snow day, I decided to document the occasion. Enjoy.

12:35 a.m. - Received text that campus would be shut down for classes and business. Praise the Lord. (Not kidding. Praise fest IN BED.)

5:30 a.m. - Woke up, turned off the alarm so as not to be bothered by it later. Also wandered into the kitchen to turn off the auto-start on the coffee pot. No need for coffee until MUCH later.

9:30 a.m. - Awakened by phone call from the place I was supposed to be that night to take a cupcake class. No class. Good. Can't get there anyway. Decided I should probably think about getting up. But first...morning chat with Braeya...

...and then Kaegan took his turn.


10:30 a.m. - Finally got up. (It's a process, people. Don't judge me.) Restarted the coffee pot and fixed breakfast. Warm pumpkin bread with butter and a fabulous mug of coffee. Life is good.
11:00 a.m. - Devos!! It seems I've been writing in my prayer journal every day that I wish I could stay home and enjoy extended moments with the Lord. So I figured since He gave me a day off, I should do just that. Instead of reading my Bible and devos in my normal spot, I relocated to the fireplace. (The coffee is on top of the fireplace because a furry little someone would stick her face in it if it happened to be on the floor...but I won't mention names, Braeya!)


12:00 p.m. - Cuddled up on the couch to read...determined to finish one of the books on my reading list!! And no, that's not a Snuggie. It's a regular old blanket.

12:45 p.m. - Decided to be a responsible adult and go outside to start shoveling. After this much work, learned that shoveling snow is one thing. Shoveling a multi-layered cake of ice and snow is - NOT WORTH IT.
1:00 p.m. - Decided, instead, to take pictures. Much less strenuous. Ohh...for the warmer days...

...and the dreams of planting flowers....

1:30 p.m. - Got kind of hungry - so I warmed up some lunch and popped in a movie someone at work had loaned me. Not at ALL a Renee Zellweger fan, but was peer pressured into giving the movie a shot.


3:00 p.m. - Paused the movie long enough to go out and salt the snow. That's a new one for me. But someone on Facebook suggested it as a possibility to chop through the snow and make it shovel-able. (Feel free to use that word.)
3:30 p.m. - Went back outside (after finishing the movie) to check on the salt's progress. Not as helpful as I'd hoped, but I did discover that if I pounded at the snow with my shovel to break it up, I could at least move it. Of course, after about 20 minutes of that, my arms were aching and I couldn't feel my fingers, so I gave up.
4:00 p.m. - Made my own frappe and watched Oprah - because I could.
4:45 p.m. - Lost interest in Oprah's last guest and abandoned the show in favor of more reading. Finished the book!!
5:15 p.m. - Another round of chopping snow so it could be shoveled off the walk. Put out another round of salt over the parts too frozen to even be chopped. Declared this the worst shoveling EVER. Even worse than the year it was way over a foot deep.
6:00 p.m. - Dinner and two episodes of Dharma and Greg (one of my favorite sitcoms of all time). Also gave in and called a plow to do my driveway. Dinner, by the way, concluded with: 7:00 p.m. - Guilt gut won out over the desire to be lazy, and I went back out to finish chopping snow so I could subsequently shovel it. My thoughts on that: 8:00 p.m. - Snuggled in on the couch to watch Airline (love that show!) and check my email. I just want you all to know how much I love you to post the worst ever pictures of myself! LOL!!! See how Braeya likes to watch Airline with me too? (Kaegan spends most of his day in my bed...that's why he's not in these pictures.) 9:00 p.m. - Put in the other movie loaned to me (A Good Year...Russell Crowe...didn't get into it) and did some hunting online for future vacation ideas.
10:30 p.m. - Gave up on the movie and got on the mini-stepper to make up for the snack I ate. :) The workout music of choice? Let Freedom Ring Homecoming. I know. I'm weird.
10:45 p.m. - Snowplow showed up! I can get out now! THANK YOU MR. SNOWPLOW MAN!!
11:15 p.m. - Final activity of my snow day? Scrapbook page to chronicle it.

Preparing for Snowstorms in Bekahland

Toward the end of last week, I started hearing rumblings of bad weather predictions. But I'd heard those rumors so many times this winter...and I had yet to see any of them become reality.
Nevertheless, I did my shopping early (hoping to beat the snow's-coming-in-five-minutes-and-I'm-suddenly-addicted-to-bread-and-milk crowd) and decided I was ready.

That is, until I went to work on Monday and saw the weather reports change to "hazardous outlook" and "winter storm warning." Perhaps I needed to step up my storm prep.

The news station will tell you to stock up on bread, milk, flashlights, candles, battery operated radios, and kerosene. Clearly they've never lived in Bekahland. Here's how I prep for a storm.

1. Stock up on charcoal and lighter fluid...and move the mini grill out of snow's way. My theory? I can grill burgers (main dish), slice up some potatoes to butter and grill (side dish), roast a marshmallow for a s'more (dessert), and heat up a kettle of water to make hot chocolate (snack/heating device). Beats the snot out of PBJ and milk, doesn't it?
2. Move the snow shovel and ice melting device of your choice to the door and park it. Not attractive decor, to be sure, but it's better than bundling up to go out into the snow to retrieve it to move said snow.
3. Who needs water!?! What am I if not a caffeine addict? (I first typed "coffeine" - that might be true!) Not one, but two pitchers of iced tea on reserve...and a whole pot of coffee prepared ahead for iced coffee if needed. I could live without water for a day but take away my caffeine... 4. Empty the laundry bags. It's important to catch up on the laundry before a potential power outage...not so much because of the whole clean underwear thing...as much as a fresh supply of fleece to wear! You won't notice a cold house nearly as much when layered in multiple pairs of fuzzy socks, fleece shirts, flannel jammie pants, and your bathrobe over all of it. Just hope that Stacy and Clinton don't show up at your house!
5. Snacks, baby! Of course the perfect snow day includes a yummy breakfast of pancakes and eggs...but if the power's out, it just seems wrong to resort to cold cereal. And you just never know when you might need a pick-me-up between meals. So it's always safe to have some fresh bread on hand. Say, for instance, pumpkin spice.


6. Did I mention the FLEECE? If the fleece shirt and fleece bathrobe are not enough - get in the fleece SHEETS to keep warm! Add a down comforter (and perhaps a few more fleece blankets on top) and surely that will work! And of course - the responsible adult kicks in and charges the cell phone whenever not in use...
7. And finally...get ready for work a day early. All these preparations, of course, are made with the cautious hope that I'll get a day off work. But there is always a much bigger chance that I would have to report for duty - with or without electricity at home to allow for getting ready. So...I get ready the night before! Straighten my hair and (sorry about the semi-naked face...it's a scary look, I know) with THAT, I am ready to bring on the storm!

SSMT: Verse 3

Yesterday was a new verse day for the Siesta Scripture Memory Team! Since I devoted yesterday to honoring Carol's memory, I waited until today to tell you my new verse!

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

~ Ephesians 1:17 ~

Several years ago, during a time of prayer and study, God prompted my heart that the book of Ephesians was the book I should study regarding my someday marriage. As I've read through it several times, I can see how it makes a wonderful guide for a husband and wife! In fact, when Isaac and I were dating, and he was going through his wilderness, I used to read the entire book aloud every night as a prayer over his life.

Last month, one of my devos in Sparkling Gems from the Greek talked about this particular verse, and as I studied it, God drew me to commit it to memory. And so...it becomes verse number three. And to be honest, I don't think it's coincidental that I'm studying it during the Valentine's Day season.

Here are some things that stuck out to me as I ripped apart the verse and did a word study:

* I keep asking...Sometimes I get tired of praying for things. You ever feel that way? You ask and ask and ask...and wonder if God is even listening? But this verse reminds me - to keep asking.

* may give you... When I read about this verse in the devotional book, the author said this word "give" means to hand something over completely to someone else. To impart. When I think about praying this verse for my husband, this reminds me that the wisdom and direction he will need to find me in the first place...and then to lead me...is going to be given to him by the Lord. Imparted to him. Handed over to him. And likewise, the wisdom I will need to serve beside him will be given to me by the same Father. Changes my perspective a bit. It's not something I have to control!

* wisdom...The author of the devo said that this word means insight not naturally attained. God will give Mr. Missing and me a sort of supernatural insight regarding our life, love, and ministry, if we will open our hearts to receive it!

* revelation... This explanation was my favorite. The author said it means something veiled for a long time and suddenly, instantaneously made clear. He even went so far as to describe it as a person who stands in front of a window with a curtain drawn over it. He said when revelation occurs, it's like the curtain is pulled away and the person can see the view that has been on the other side of the window the entire time.

* so that you may know him better. The entire point of all of this is not personal gain - but to know the Lord better (AND BETTER!). If God is going to take the time to issue wisdom and revelation to me...to draw back curtains and give me an insight I could not have had without His intervention...He's going to desire that I use that to know HIM better, not to become some overly proud smarty pants.

So this verse is actually my prayer - for myself and for the man I will marry. I commit to KEEP PRAYING for God to GIVE us WISDOM and REVELATION even now so that we can work to KNOW HIM BETTER AND BETTER both now and when we come together as life partners.

And all of this makes me think of a song I have come to dearly love in the last few weeks. It's also a prayer I have for the man I'll marry, and I think it fits with this verse very well. The song is by Sanctus Real and is called Lead Me.

My Sweet Carol

Ten years ago today, I received a phone call at work. The caller, my roommate at the time, told me sweet baby Carol had died. Today I want to honor her short, but beautiful life. This is an article I wrote about her a few weeks after her death in 2001.

I wiped my eyes and stared at the floor, embarrassed that I still cried about this; it happened weeks ago and no one else was crying at the drop of a hat. I stopped listening to what the man at the front of the church was saying and started the often-repeated conversation with God yet one more time. Maybe you've had a similar conversation, though your circumstances may be different. The conversation that begins, "God, it's not fair!"

My "not fair" conversation was about Carol. Two of my dearest friends were expecting their first baby and asked me to be in the delivery room when their child was born. I went through nineteen hours of labor and delivery with them before Caroline Elizabeth Anne decided to make her appearance.
I spent time with them every Monday night, holding Carol and playing with her. Sometimes she laughed at me. Sometimes she yelled because I wasn't her mom, and Mom was always her preference.

Then, one day I got a phone call saying Carol was gone. It was her six month birthday. Two days earlier she had been fine, but now she was dead. I was stunned...I hadn't been given time to prepare or say goodbye. And I was angry. Carol's parents had gone through so many trials in the past few years. It wasn't fair that they should have to give up their baby. I know that all things work together for good, and I know that God has a different plan. I even know that His ways are higher than my ways - all the phrases people like to say when someone dies unexpectedly - but I still thought it was unfair!

What seemed even more unfair was that, though Chris and Trudy, Carol's parents, grieved and went through their angry time too, they seemed to accept God's will quickly and had an amazing peace about their baby's death. I didn't. I pretended to whenever I was around them, but I just couldn't grasp the purpose of God's will. I had trusted God when other friends or family members had died, but this time, I just couldn't accept it. And my anger and frustration only grew when I noticed that others seemed to comprehend a part of God's plan that I couldn't comprehend.

One evening, two and a half months after Carol's death, I sat outside and wrote a letter to her. I told her, "Two days after you cried in frustration that I was holding you and I was not your Mom, and then you laughed at all my silly faces to make up for it, you were gone to Heaven.

"You didn't warn us that you were about to leave. You heard Jesus calling you, so you went. And you left me here, wishing you were back. I wouldn't care if you laughed or cried. I'd take either just to get you back here in my arms one more time. Exactly six months...that was your mission from God, and you completed it.

"You taught me the importance of awareness and truth. You always knew what was going on around you. Nothing fooled you. You knew exactly who held you and if it wasn't the person you wanted, you squalled until you ended up with the person of your choice.

"And you taught me to treasure the present. If I had known from the start that I would only have six months with you, I would have taken time to enjoy each part of your life, instead of wishing you into the next phase. I would have paid attention to detail so that I would have more memories to hold onto now that you are gone."

After I wrote the letter, something changed in my heart. I saw that Carol's life had a purpose and a time frame. She completed her purpose in her time frame. That's more than most seasoned adults have accomplished. Through her life and death, many who loved her have learned how to depend on God more completely. They have examined their own hearts and grown closer to the Lord.

1 Peter 1:6-7 says, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

When I look at Chris and Trudy, I see that the trials they have endured, up to and including giving their daughter up to God, have increased their faith. They have a beautiful relationship with the Lord. They have trusted Him through all He has asked of them. They have walked through the fire and come through with a strong, genuine faith.

What a lesson of faith God taught through a tiny six-month-old baby who never spoke a word, yet lived and died as a testimony of God's grace and love.

Your Aunt Bekah still loves and misses you, sweet girl. Can't wait to hold you in Heaven one day.

Caroline Elizabeth Anne Hancock

August 1, 2000 - February 1, 2001

January: Done.

As of today...January's done.

Which of course, raises the question...if you made new year's goals, are you still headed toward them? Or have you completely abandoned all resolution and become the you of...well...last year?

I have to say I'm pleased with this month. I was nervous about how I would do in my first month back in "real life." After months of being hidden away spiritually and emotionally, I wasn't sure I could hang onto that intimacy with God and live life again. And certainly I didn't do everything right. I had my share of head-shaking moments. But today I'd like to celebrate what went right this month.

And if you kept even one of your goals - you should celebrate, too!

* Though I didn't set out to make this a habit, I did get up early every day to spend time with the Lord before I started the day. That is a Bekahland first (in 32 years)! I'm so thankful for those moments. I never thought morning devos would be "my thing" but now I can't imagine NOT starting the day that way!

* I got back into working out five days a week. I'd slacked to three for most of last year, but I'm back to five, and I'm keeping my goal of switching up the kind of exercise I do (walking, running, cardio, strength training...how is it that I even know these words!??!). I hate admitting it...but I do feel better. And I never would have dreamed I'd get through level 2 of that 30 Day Shred without keeping paramedics on standby. While I still am far from being good enough to be IN the dvd (ha!) I am now surviving it. Miracles abound.

* I've been diligent about cooking and planning ahead for meals, rather than living on cups of macaroni and cheese and bags of lettuce - or daily diets of fast food. Found out my passion for cooking did not die in the desert! I tried three new recipes and found two of them to be keepers. Stay tuned for those!

* I invited friends over for meals three times in one month - which is probably more than all of last year combined. And each time I sit across the table from a friend who has come to eat with me, call me crazy, but I'm aware that I'm blessed to have friends who want to come over and eat a meal with me. That honestly moves me.

* Though I was tardy in sending some of them, I returned to card making for the first time in months. I'll admit my creative juices aren't really flowing yet, but I'll give them time.

* Shocking even my own self, I memorized two Bible verses this month as part of the Siesta Scripture Memory Team. And not only did I memorize them, I was disciplined through their words (and that HURT)! I thought this project was going to just be about committing words to memory but God seems to have a much bigger plan in mind.

* I worked on a new writing project - which I'm very excited to watch unfold. I have no idea where it's going right now, but I'm journeying with it to see where it leads. Since I spent most of the end of last year focusing on the sale of the book I wrote before, I hadn't spent much time at the computer writing!

* I began meeting with my new mentor and am looking forward to more time together with her and seeing what God wants me to learn from her life and path. She's fun to laugh with and even in just our first two meetings, I've learned beautiful truths.

* For the first time in about three years, I braved teaching junior high Sunday School and found that I love it and love the girls in my class. They really do have beautiful hearts and spirits eager to learn and grow.

* I finished reading two books and read parts of others, which is a huge step for me...hadn't been able to focus on a book for a while.

So I declare January to be a huge success in re-entry to life. It's a YAY GOD month!

Stone Altar: End of January

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday I had lunch with my parents at their house. I used to stop by for lunch about once a month, but during the months I didn't eat...I didn't go. So I'm trying to be a better daughter by showing up for lunch again. :)

And after my nap, I cuddled up on the couch to watch the Signature Sound Tribute to the Cathedral Quartet. Some friends from church, who know I'm a total Gaither groupie, asked if I'd seen this one, and I hadn't, so they let me borrow it for a few days. My college roommate, Jenny, and I loved the Cathedrals and even went to a couple of their concerts. These songs definitely brought back memories - and yes, a couple of them made me cry.



* Monday evening I got together with my friend Ronda to do some trip planning! We've decided to go on vacation later this year, and we had to figure out what dates worked and begin the dreaming process. I'm so excited about this trip because it will be another first for Bekah. More details on that later.

* Tuesday was the Independence Day celebration with Faith. Since I already posted about it, enough said on that!



* Oh people...let me tell you about Wednesday. I had a grumpy sort of day and that night I just did not feel like working out. So I decided I'd go ahead and cash in my "free day" and take it easy. I kicked back, opened my email, and found a message from my new friend, Jamie. She'd been going through some pictures at WBCL Radio (where she works) and found this one of me from a scrapbook night the station hosted maybe five or so years ago. I won the door prize:
Are you kidding me? Who let me out looking like that? I shut the computer, put on my workout clothes and enjoyed forty minutes of vigorous workout on the mini-stepper. I'm going to print out that picture and hang it on my refrigerator with a sign that says "Are you sure you want to eat?"

* Thursday I had to give a presentation at work so I wore my fancy britches and made sure my hair was decent, and had it not been for the giant zit I've sprouted on my face, it could have been declared a nearly perfect day. The presentation went well...and then I went to lunch in Baldwin, where I saw Brian Holland, who deserves a blog mention. :)

And then...when our secretary zipped across campus for something and left her pizza-toe shoes behind in favor of her snow boots, I figured they were fair game...so I tried them on:
I was dreadfully unable to walk in them...but they were blessed cute!

* After the week that wouldn't end....it did...finally. Friday I spent the whole evening hanging out with my mentor, Lara. We had dinner at Montana Mike's (never been there before, but had their chicken tostada salad and it was so yummy...and simultaneously sinus-cleansing with its chipotle-ranch dressing), went shopping for some new clothes for her (I got the very important role of opinion-sharer), grabbed some coffee at Starbucks, and spent hours continuing to learn more about each other's stories. It is not lost to me that this friendship/time of learning has been God-ordained in every way. I love it.

* Saturday, I hopped in a van with some ladies from my church and we traveled to the mother-ship. (The Gaither Store.) I warned them ahead of time that I can be an embarrassment to myself and others when surrounded by so much David Phelps, but I managed to reign it in yesterday. It was crazy busy at the store because they were hosting the premier of the newest tapings, but we did get a wonderful lunch there - and I topped it off with this: the best frappe in the entire world - is made at Gaither Family Resources.
Y'all, I'm a coffee addict. I've had frappes everywhere. None are ever better than GFR. I'm not kidding.
And, my friend Arlene bought me a present there, too! I love it. For every coffee addict who is also prone to tears:
Pocket tissues! Thanks, Arlene! You made my DAY!
Favorite God Moment of the Whole Week: As I fell asleep one night, I was praying about a situation that has caused me some struggle, and God nudged me awake and urged me to let go of that...in exchange for something HE has waiting for me. It was such a beautiful moment. I loved it.
Books I am Reading This Week: It was another crazy busy week, as you can see, so very little time to read. I stayed consistent in Sparkling Gems from the Greek and started reading The Peanut Butter Man - a book I'm reviewing for the reading course committee I'm on.
Goal Update from Last Sunday: Well...I did pretty well not adding anything to my schedule. I did add that lunch with my parents, and I agreed to help a friend with something yesterday, but she canceled on me, so it evened out. I DID use the word no a few other times. And the food journal was a success. I think it's a form of accountability that works for me! Needs some tweaking but I like it. It stays.
Goals for the Coming Week: Finish one book (don't want to hold up the ones I'm reviewing), get my brake light fixed (if I don't put it on here, I won't do it), print out pictures for my work frames (another thing I won't remember to update if I don't have to report on it!)...and that should keep me busy.

The Stone Altar

I can't believe we're almost to the end of January and I'm just now telling you about this. Shame on me!

This journey began for me back in 2003. I received an email from Janet Paschal (a southern gospel singer...it was a mass email...I don't have that good of a connection with anyone) in which she shared about some people she had met at recent concerts. This paragraph caught my attention, and following the excerpt is a portion of what I wrote about it:

"I met Crystal, who promised herself she wouldn't cry when we talked, but who cried anyway, as she recounted a dark period in her life when the music had sustained her. She kept apologizing, but I knew what she felt. She thought she was emotional because she was talking with me, but I knew it was much more than that. Our conversation was taking her back to a place of remembrance. She had, unknowingly, erected an altar of remembrance, much like those in the Old Testament when the Israelites piled stones in places where God had delivered them out of dire circumstances. Years later, they would bring their children and grandchildren back to these altars, pick up stone after stone, and recount God's deliverances. Last night, Crystal was picking up stones, and it had little, if anything to do with me."
After reading that portion of her e-mail, I did a mental inventory of the stones in my own spiritual altar. As I thought about those moments that were so pivotal that they became another stone in my altar, I found myself thankful that I love to journal. So many of these times have been captured and preserved among the various ramblings in my prayer journal.

There are many stones...some just pebbles...that make up my spiritual altar. But I wanted to share these with you, because these are the rocks...the ones I can see from a distance. I'm hoping that this week maybe you will spend some time picking up stones from your own altar and recounting the blessings God has given you in your life. And I hope that as more stones are added to your pile, you will give them the honor they deserve...that you will document them in some way so that the generations that come behind you will be able to see God's faithfulness on the altar of your journal...your box of index cards...scribbling of notes on random sheets...

...and eight years later, I'm taking my own challenge to heart. One of my goals for this year was to begin to construct an "altar." I committed to journal about a moment or event each day that can be considered a stone in the altar of my 2011. Some are rocks and some are pebbles, but working together, they make an altar I can look back upon and say this is when God worked in my life.

I have just under twenty pages of memories that comprise the month of January. Beautiful moments when God met me...taught me...provided for me...comforted me...disciplined me...revealed to me...and reminded me of my place in His heart.

And because I love the tangible...I also have a jar...with an actual stone in it for each day...something I can watch to be reminded of the work God is doing in my life.

If you're looking for a way to see God at work in your life...give it a try. You might be surprised at the pivotal moments hidden in a month. Even in a day.

Hand Me Downs

** I'm interrupting myself to say...I don't know whether or not you ever read the (In)Courage blog that is in my link list to the left, but if you don't...and you are waiting on something to come to fruition in your life, read today's post. It's simple, beautiful, honest, and thought provoking. Not surprising...a big chunk of it made its way into my journal. Check it out if that's your season of life right now! Okay...back to my regularly scheduled programming. **


I don't know whether or not you're a fan of hand-me-downs, but I have absolutely no aversion to them.

Maybe that's because I did not grow up at the same time my sisters did, so even as the youngest kid, I wasn't forced to wear their leftovers. Maybe that made hand-me-downs fun for me...who knows!?

Last week, the secretary in our office cleaned out her closet and brought me a huge shopping bag full of clothes to try on. I was able to get seven things (some tops, some skirts) for $15 from her! It was like my own little garage sale! (And she buys way, way, way better brands than I'd ever dream of, so even her leftovers are better than my originals!)

And while I definitely appreciated that blessing...it's also a great blessing to get free hand-me-downs. Don't you just love 'em?

This has been a great month for freebies for me!

Mom has a little entry way at her house, and she does a beautiful job of decorating it for every month. She happened to mention to me that she had more snowmen for January than she could fit in that little room. I suggested she build a bigger entry way. (HA!) She said if I could use any of them, I was welcome to "borrow" them and she'd let me know if she needed them back. (We both know she's not going to do that.) So check out some of my new snowmen. Love the way they look!

Thanks, Mom!

And here was my other fun acquisition for January...

On Christmas, I insisted on a family picture. (No one was excited about that, but I didn't care. And I won.) My brother-in-law, Tom, found it rather amusing that I started borrowing recently opened gifts to make a stack of boxes high enough for the camera to rest for my picture. (He has no idea that I do such things on a regular basis at home!) So while I was busy stacking away, he said, "Hey Julie, don't we have a tripod at home that we never use?"

Last week, I came home to find a box on my porch:

It's going to revolutionize my picture taking life. Words cannot express.

Scotcharoos

My mom used to make these when I was growing up. In fact, I don't recall that she ever made regular Rice Krispie treats, but we had these every now and then. So now, of course, I prefer these to the regular ones. These are the lattes of Rice Krispie treats! :)

Because I'm always on the lookout for a good treat to take to church or work carry-ins, I got the recipe from Mom, and it's on the rotation of things to contribute. This would not be one to take on a hot summer day (meltage) but it's good for an indoor party! And because it contains cereal, it makes a great breakfast! (Okay that might be a stretch.)

Random story...I made these just this week for a carry-in at church, but I hid a couple away to take to my parents. Mom called me after I dropped them off to tell me she ate one and a half of them, and was planning to eat the rest...but Dad halted his pie-eating to try out the bite she hadn't eaten. When he was done, he asked her why she doesn't make them anymore. She informed me the ingredients are now on the grocery list. SWEET! I inspired the resurrection of the scotcharoo in my parents' house!

The Recipe:

1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter (divided in half)
6 cups Rice Krispies
1/2 bag chocolate chips
1/2 bag butterscotch chips

Bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil in a large pan. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup of peanut butter. Stir until creamy. Add Rice Krispies and mix well. Pour into greased cookie sheet or 9x13 dish. In a small bowl, melt chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and other 1/2 cup of peanut butter. Stir well and spread over Rice Krispie mixture. After it cools, cut into bars and serve.

You can certainly use store brand cereal and peanut butter. I usually do. Must have not been able to find either on that shopping trip! Because I don't often make recipes calling for butterscotch chips, I use half the bag and then put the other half in a sealed bag and save it for the next time. You can use either milk chocolate or semi-sweet...whichever you like!


Make sure you stir the sugar and corn syrup well as it cooks so you don't end up burning the bottom of the pan. That's a mess to clean up!

It needs to come to a good boil but you don't need to let it boil on and on....and these spatulas work great for stirring it! Mine is from Pampered Chef.

Of course...my favorite peanut butter measuring cup. And I know my high school Home Ec teacher would be mortified, but I do measure the cereal in a liquid cup so I can measure the first four cups at once...and then add two more. Shhhh...don't tell.

Once the sugar and corn syrup have come to a boil, I add the cereal and peanut butter and stir. (Sometimes I add the peanut butter into the mix first and sometimes I forget and throw it in all at once. Either way works.) This is why it's important to have a big pan to start with!

Mix it up really well - but leave some on the spatula for a taste test!

If you need more servings, pat the mixture into a greased cookie sheet. They will be short but you'll have more of them. I usually put mine in a 9x13 - so they're thicker, even though I don't get as many out of it.

I just put the two kinds of chips and the peanut butter in a small mixing bowl and heat them in the microwave. I heat them for about 50 seconds at a time, stirring in between to keep them from burning.

Stir it up so it's nice and smooth!

And....spread over the Rice Krispie mix! Once the chocolate hardens up (I usually let it sit overnight just for good measure) you can cut them into squares and serve them!