The Smattering is Back

Thought I'd catch you up on life in Bekahland from this past week.

Last Sunday, after I taught Sunday School at my church, I drove back here to South Marion Friends to speak during the morning service. I grew up at South Marion and attended there until the end of my freshman year of college. I'd only been back to visit one time since then, so it was really great to see people I'd not seen in a while. They were very welcoming - and I got through the Simeon speech without crying this time!

Monday (well, okay, it started on Sunday...) I had the baking palooza you saw on the blog earlier this week. I haven't cooked since. It wore me out. :) BUT - everyone at work was very excited to get their treats!

Tuesday I went shopping with my Mom. (I take a vacation day every December to go Christmas shopping with her.) She said I could NOT post the picture...but she did not say I couldn't talk about this (hee hee hee) so I'm going to.

My Mom is not a fan of Victoria's Secret. She is a bit offended by the whole store and normally won't even look that way while she walks by it in the mall. But alas, my niece had a wish list from there for Christmas, so Mom gathered her courage and walked into the store. And oh yes, I took a picture of it. Are you kidding me? She'll probably never be in one again! I wasn't letting the moment pass. (Hee hee hee.)

We also went to (moment of silence...) Hobby Lobby. Oh Hobby Lobby, how I love thee. I finally found stocking holders to complete my living room decor...

Wednesday I went back to work (after being accused of being a slacker...) and was glad to do so...I needed the rest! Pretty sad when going to work is more restful than being on vacation! Wednesday night I taught my last midweek Bible study based on the Advent book. I appreciate all their attention and support!


Thursday night was my night to REST. I was worried for my health a little bit because I'd been so busy that I'd not rested properly and had begun to feel sick. So I went to the gym after work and then treated myself to Subway and hunkered down for a night at home. Unfortunately at the beginning of the adventure, my phone froze and I could not get the back off of it to get the battery out. So I had to DRIVE to the store to have someone else reset my phone. I'm a dork. It's true.


This is another potentially dorky admission, but it is also true. I was chatting online with my brother-in -aw and found out he was watching White Christmas. So I found it on my TV and we "watched" the movie together while we chatted. I often "watch" Sunday night TV with my sister that way. We watch the same show and become a chatting peanut gallery about it. So it was fun to watch a movie with him.


Friday night was the IWU Christmas party. I've gotten better about going to it as the years have gone by. I am honestly not a fan of family-oriented events because it's just another reminder to me that I don't have a family to take to such things, but I've gotten better. I think the recent addition of iced coffee punch has helped. Y'all don't understand how not right I am about that stuff. I had three helpings this year. Three. One of my friends was nice enough to get the third one for me so I wouldn't be re-humiliated in front of the nice ladies serving it. I LOVE ICED COFFEE. (I also got free Starbucks Friday morning...one of the ladies in the office treated all of us to it!)


Yesterday I got my nails done. Tried the French manicure this time. LOVED the way it turned out. I just love my nail lady. She gave me a Christmas present and everything! She takes SUCH good care of me. I am so glad I've allowed myself this treat this year. I know some of you think it's probably a waste of time and money, but it's one of the (few) little things I do just to make time for myself, and I love the way it makes me feel.


One last treat from this week...got my first gingerbread ornament for the kitchen tree! Isn't this CUTE!?!?!?! My friend Kristin found it and got it for me as a Christmas gift. I love it. LOVE IT!!! My pitiful kitchen tree has begun to have its Christmas wishes fulfilled.

Sunday Smattering

** Check out the book blog...some news on there.**

I did it! I worked a whole week. Let me tell you what...

...after a week of vacation, this girl was NOT ready for work again. But I did it! Actually the week started out on a rough note. Sunday night I had one of my "stomach attacks" as I call them. I had them with great frequency after college and even went to the ER a time or two (which is nothing short of a miracle). They were never sure what caused them and as I've gotten older, changed my diet a bit, and learned how to manage stress a little better, I have very few. Maybe two a year. But I got one Sunday night and was up the entire night. But I'm a Freelan. We don't call in sick. ESPECIALLY after a week of vacation. So I showed up for duty!

Monday morning I popped over to (student) chapel to hear Jonathan lead worship. He wanted me to record it with my camera (which I had never done before) and I learned that I do not have the steadiest hand in the world! But anyway...he did a great job. I stole this picture from my video.

Also on Monday, our lovely student worker, Rachel, and I matched. So of course - picture opp! Isn't she darling?

Tuesday evening I had a chance to move all my books onto my new bookshelves! As soon as I get the rest of the office put together, I'll post some pictures. I LOVE these shelves!!

Wednesday evening we had a great Bible study at church, which reminds me...I've been given the opportunity to teach five weeks of Bible study at my church! We are going to do a study/discussion over the first five chapters of His Advent: Still His Greatest Gift. We meet Wednesday evenings from 7-8, and the weeks I'll be teaching are November 10th and 17th, (skip the week of Thanksgiving) and December 1st, 8th, and 15th. I have much prep work to do before I'm ready for this, but I'm so excited for this chance to share!

Thursday evening I got to hang out with my friend and former co-worker, Rachel, and her daughter, Anna. Rachel is about to have baby #2 - due today, actually! I had fun chasing around after Anna, helping give her a bath, and just catching up with Rachel.

Friday evening, my friend Marie and I went sheet shopping. Okay I went sheet shopping. She went with me because she's a good friend who will do something totally random like go looking for sheets on a Friday night. :) I was cold and decided a set of flannel sheets was in order. They're so cute. Plaid. :) And they are WARM. Thank goodness! No more sleeping in a coat!

And yesterday - I worked hard on the office, loaded up my trunk with clothes that no longer fit, did more laundry than I care to admit, and went to a concert! The IWU Chorale sang (in a foreign language...and it wasn't Nessun Dorma, so I didn't know it) with the Marion Philharmonic Orchestra. Rachel Ashley (of the photo above) and I went with Jonathan's mom and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it more when the yappy teenagers behind us moved. :) I feel so cultured now. Because of the music, that is. Not because of the yappy teenagers.

In closing (sounds like a speech, doesn't it?) I have one prayer request and an attempted video clip. The prayer request is that I'm scheduled to speak at APS Employee Chapel Monday morning at 10 a.m. (If you're not from here, APS is the adult education branch of IWU.) I have no idea how many people attend their chapel, but I'm guessing it's more than 10 and anything over 10 people means I get nervous! I am not talking about writing a book, but I am speaking based on one of the chapters in the book. I'm excited about this chance to share, but also nervous. So if you think of it, I'd appreciate any and all prayers!

And here's the attempt at the clip of Jonathan leading worship. Excuse the bad videography. It was my first time. (It's a very short clip.)

Sunday Smattering

It's been another busy week in Bekahland! But even though it was busy...it was a good week!

Last Sunday, we celebrated my Dad's 78th birthday. (His birthday was actually Monday, but we partied a day early.) I had lunch at their house and gave him Fanny Crosby's autobiography. I told him it was a new release. (HA!) Anyway, I think she was his favorite hymn-writer, so hopefully he'll enjoy reading these words of hers as well.

Construction update: I now have TWO bookshelves for the office, but they are not yet officially installed. This is the best construction job ever. He comes to work on it while I'm not home and I don't have to contend with any mess. I just come home and say YAY over the progress.

This week I tried a new treat...and it turned out pretty yummy. I started making these about 11 p.m., so the closer it crept to 1 in the morning, the sloppier my work became. But they're little pumpkin tarts!

This week was ridiculously busy at work. We had to send out notices to students who still owe money for the fall semester so they can start working on that before spring registration begins. Such a mass email always brings about a huge increase in phone calls, emails, and visits, which is good, because it means students are reading their email, but it can exhaust a person by the end of the week! So it was a special and welcomed treat when another office brought us monster cookies as a thank you for our hard work:

Thursday evening I went to a party at my friend Faith's, and at her request, I brought broccoli salad....

Here I am with Faith. So proud of this girl! (More about this later.)

And Saturday I was reminded, once again, why I loathe the tree in my yard.

And just in case you missed it earlier..... BIG NEWS this week! Check it out!

Sunday Smattering

Happy 10/10/10! A friend of mine is due with her second baby in a few weeks and she said it would be fun to go into labor early to have a 10/10/10 baby. Good luck with that, Rach! ;)

If I had to pick a theme for this past week, it would be bravery. I spent most of the week outside my comfort zone, but I'm happy to report I survived it all! Today's smattering comes to you in absolutely NO particular order.

* Last Sunday was a huge step for me. It was the first Sunday since Isaac and I broke up that I was able to stay home the entire day (well, after church, of course) by myself. Now granted, it required a complete meltdown and a three hour nap that started the very moment I got home from church, but I DID IT! I stayed home for a whole Sunday! You can roll your eyes, but I'm declaring it a significant praise.

* Before I forget, I must tell you I found a new favorite drink this week. I had it down at McConn coffee shop at work. Apple pie chai. Oh yes please. I'm a little leery about trying new drinks because I don't want to pay that much money only to find out I don't like something, but my friend Judy got one and let me have a sip. I was back at McConn before the end of the day to purchase my own - large - version. Heavenly.

* This is my second week to be a participant in Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself study on the fruit of the Spirit. I joined up with a ladies Bible study group for a few weeks to do this study with them, and I'm LOVING it. I'd considered doing this Bible study online this fall but ended up opting out of that plan. I was so thankful for the invitation to join the group...God obviously knew I needed these words right now!

* In the world of nail polish...you know how I'm loving this Shellac thing. Well, the company is trying to keep up with the demand for their product, my nail lady tells me, and they've not been able to create new colors for fall. They have, however, created color recipes. Base coat of one color...top coat of another color...and the result? New color! I asked her if anyone had tried any of them yet and she said no one had been brave enough since she didn't have pictures of the end result colors. I said, I'll try!! So here is my color recipe...called purple foil. The base coat is the dark brown Fedora I had a couple of times ago, and the top coat is a bright pink. I think it's a very fetching fall color, don't you?

* I'm going to put this here rather than over on the book blog...but this was a big week in planning ahead for the book as we approach Christmas! First, I'm really excited about a text I got from a good, good friend. She picked up her copy from me last week and today she said, "I read the intro and the first two days today! I'll start over in December, but so far I love it and don't want to put it down! Paragraph 3, page one - wow! So proud of my writer-friend!" I almost cried right there in my bedroom reading it.


This week I also scheduled a book signing at my old church (so excited to go visit them again!), I talked to two bookstores about the possibility of them carrying my book during this season (and didn't throw up either time...huge!!), and I had the opportunity to drop off come copies at the home of some people who went to church with me when I was a kid. I stayed at their house for over an hour talking with them and decided that's one of the best perks of this whole selling-your-own-book gig! I learned so much from them just in that hour! I'm also brainstorming some ideas to host a study or two in conjunction with the book.



* Little bit-o-construction going on in Bekahland:

Dad finally had time to come over and start building my wall-of-bookshelves in my home office. We've been planning this for several months, but he's very busy. This is half the project. He'll be back next week to build the other half and hopefully attach them to the wall so I can paint and fill them. Cannot wait!! My office is in complete disarray until this is done.



* Friday night I had the opportunity to drive up to Decatur to visit my friend Julie Crandall and drop off a few more Bible study books. (She's the one whose ladies Bible study group is serving as a test group for a study I wrote.) Got to snuggle with her little guy, Levi, who is starting to smile and have quite the personality these days! And her daughter, Esther, kept me well entertained! And of course, I always love the chance to talk to Jon and Julie!



And finally...




...just wondered if you happened to know this girl....

Yep! New look for me! It was time for a change. I was beyond nervous about chopping it all off, but Kandee does a great job! I sat in her chair for an hour with the most petrified look on my face, but she kept telling me over and over to trust her and it would be beautiful. :) I just love her! The work crowd loved the end result. I was worried I would look old and/or fat. They said I looked hip and not fat. So hopefully they're a trustworthy bunch.

Anyway, Kandee is not a new stylist, but she is trying really hard right now to build a bigger clientele. So...if you're local, check out her site and go visit her. She just started working at Hair Designs behind Subway south, and her website even has coupons! :)

Sunday Smattering

Welcome to the Sunday smattering...I'm just warning you now...you might want to get some coffee or something. You could be here a while. Busy week. :)


One of the inexplicable side effects of the post-Isaac life is that sometimes I have days where I just can't be at home. I never know when they might hit, but when they do, I can't be home. Last Sunday was such a day. I tried to stay home and watch the Colts but I just couldn't do it.

Fortunately, a friend of mine called and invited me to the park with her and her daughter. I ended up taking over 50 pictures of this little sweet thing! I don't want to post too many since she's not my kid, but these few seemed okay...

Cutie pie kiddo!!

But not a baby anymore! After I was done hanging out with them, I went to another friend's house until midnight. While there...I edited park pictures!

Monday...I got to meet this little sweet thing! This is li'l Hazel Haisley. She belongs to my Monday lunch date, Jenny, and we had to go take her outside on our lunch hour. She is precious.

I wasn't kidding about the "li'l" part.

* Monday night Julie Crandall came to visit and to pick up the Bible study books I wrote about last Sunday. It was her first extended time away from her new baby, so we celebrated with dinner out at IHOP. (By the way - HUGE fan of their new iced coffee with free refills. YES PLEASE!)

* Tuesday night two friends from church trekked my way to have dinner with me at Fazolis. We didn't know it was kids night. We shouted over them. :) Then they came back to see my house and we talked for a while before they went home!

* Thursday night, I came home to find SEVEN boxes of my book on my front porch. That's a startling sight to come home to, for sure! But I was happy to see them, since the last shipment was just about gone. Now I'm all ready for Christmas shoppers. :)

After that, I went to my friend Rachel's house to make a couple of bracelets. (Her jewelry creations are much better than mine...let the record show.) But I'm reading Beth Moore's book "Believing God" with a friend, and in the book, she suggests wearing a blue bracelet throughout the course of the study as a reminder to believe Him. So now we have bracelets!

Last night, I had dinner with my parents at Culver's. (Don't lecture me about the extreme eating out this week!) While there, I had the chance to show them my new scrapbook, which I want to show you, too! You know how I LOVE to scrap, but this summer, scrapping overwhelmed me. I took two vacations in the span of one month...and I needed to do a whole album for each vacation. Plus, I'm struggling to keep up with my regular album (got behind during the desert, when I just didn't care about scrapping). So in a move that shocked most of my friends, I resorted to online scrapping at Picaboo. I tried it only after reading a recommendation on The Mom Creative blog. I knew from reading that Jessica (the blogger) is serious about her pictures, so if she recommended them...they must be good. My first album arrived:

AND I LOVE IT. I'm completely addicted, and I got my friends Kari and Sandee addicted, too! I loved being able to journal tons (love to do that on vacation books) and have some pictures bigger than others....

Even whole page pictures for my absolute favorites. I also love that the albums are stored online, so if something happens to my book, I could get another one...

So, so happy with the way it turned out. It saved literally dozens of hours, and lots of space. At the rate I'm going, by the time I'm 85, I'll have to build a room on my house to hold all the scrapbooks. These books are much slimmer.

And to round out the week....

I do love fall, and one of my favorite things about fall....pumpkins! Yesterday I went to a nearby orchard/pumpkin patch, with the lovely Rachel Ashley.

We found a pumpkin that had a muffin top, so I posed with it. Muffin top twins! Hee hee hee.

Beautiful apple trees....

Stack-o-pumpkins. I bought a couple of these for my house. Time to break out the fall decor!

Picking out my pumpkins.....really wishing now I would have done my hair!

The lovely Miss Rachel - who DID do her hair.

And inside...apples, apples everywhere!

Thanks for reading along! Hope you enjoyed!

A Sunday Splattering

Yes, I spelled that right. The last couple of weeks, I've given you a Sunday "smattering." But I have a lot to say today. So it's a splattering. :)

Last week I told you all about my trip to the Bed & Breakfast in Middlebury. So I'll pick this up where that left off...

After I left the B&B, I headed over to the flea market at Shipshewana to meet up with my friends, the Smith clan. (They're the ones of lake fame that you've read about on here before.)

At the flea market, I hung out with Jonathan (who, contrary to popular opinion, is NOT Isaac. He does know that some of you have asked if he IS Isaac, and he's at least amused by that story)....


...and Jonathan's brother-in-law, Chad. The rest of the family was there, but Jonathan and Chad said that for the span of time we were at the flea market, I needed to be "one of the guys," so they just kept me with them. They were much fun to hang out with, even if they DID pick on me relentlessly.

We got tired of walking (and they got tired of trying out all the hot pepper dip samples, which I respectfully declined) so we parked in some Adirondack chairs for sale. I like to think we helped make them look more appealing.

Later, we met up with the rest of the family at the cornhole merchandise tent. Khi (Chad's son) fully immersed himself in the art of cornhole.

We left Shipshewana to head back to the lake. The family all rode together, but Jonathan came with me to keep me company and to catch me up on life, since we'd not talked much in a couple of weeks. We encountered a pretty bad accident on the highway and had to detour. At Jonathan's suggestion, our detour took on a life of its own, and before long, we were here:

...which was not only NOT a highway...but it was A GRAVEL ROAD. I am confident the only reason this whole debacle took place was because he wanted to show off what his new phone's GPS could do. Men and their toys. Sigh.

Upon arriving at the lake, I took part in my first ever cornhole game. (As you might guess...they're Colts fans.) This is Jonathan and his brother, Austin. And the lake.

The lovely ladies of cornhole. Yours truly alongside Austin's girlfriend, Katy. I mean Precious. :)

Katy had skill. I did not.

Jonathan tried to teach Khi how to play...

Khi had other plans.

This concludes the photo-tour of that particular day.

Last Saturday, I made my way to Indianapolis to visit my friend Kristin. It was a very full day. We picked up my replacement camera (mine could not be fixed, so they replaced it at no charge - SWEET!), listened to the new Gaither Vocal Band album (which she owns and I, for reasons unknown to me, do not yet), went to SONIC!!!!!!!!!!!! and had a hair treatment party. (a.k.a. Dye the white roots.)

While at the Sonic, her car's battery gave way, and we were stuck and frustrated. A family was eating at one of the tables nearby and I was convinced they were laughing at us every time she tried to start the car, so I was a bit miffled with them. However, in the end, the man came over and offered to use the battery booster he had in his car to help us. I'd never seen such a thing before, but when the car took right off after about two seconds of use, I decided I'm a huge fan. And if the guy really WASN'T laughing at us when I thought he was, I do apologize.

Sunday, as you may or may not have seen here, was my very first book signing at my church. The whole church family was incredibly supportive and I thoroughly enjoyed the day!

This week has been extremely busy at work, as we've gotten ready to welcome students back to campus. Wednesday, however, was busy for another reason. Every year, right before the fall semester begins, we have an all-campus convocation for the employees. They talk about the highlights and accomplishments of the past year, and they hand out awards for years of service and also to reward some employees for hard work.

Guess who was up for a years-of-service award this year?

Yep. My ten years of service were about to be recognized.

Y'all..I was petrified. I've been dreading this day since last year's convocation. People actually have fallen flat on their faces before while going up to accept these awards, and I was terrified I'd be the next one people talked about for years and years.

Our president, Henry Smith, and his wife, Teresa, hand out the awards personally every year...

I was called up FOURTH of all the people (and there were probably almost 30 of us) to receive the award from President Smith. And I made it without killing/maiming myself!

Then there is the issue of how to stand gracefully and wait for all the rest....

This is Jim Lo - love hearing him speak! He presented a devotional before communion and I thought it was outstanding.

Back in the office and opening my present...a Cross pen. Pretty appropriate for a writer, huh?

Our secretary, Lynette, also received a 10-years-of-service award. We are the only two from the original Financial Aid crew still together!

Thursday and Friday, we welcomed freshmen back to campus. Loved seeing them all move in! Loved it that I wasn't one of them! (God bless adulthood. I do love it so.)

Yesterday was a beautifully lazy day at home. My friend Olivia and I are reading Beth Moore's book Believing God, and yesterday morning we spent an hour on the phone dissecting chapter two. (We no longer live in the same state, so we do our studies via phone now.) Love her insights on the book!

After we hung up, I hunkered down in the office and finished tweaking Volume One of a ladies' Bible study I wrote a couple of years ago. My friend Julie suggested it to her ladies' group as a possibility of something to study, so I had to get it ready to print. I'm so excited that this group was willing to take a chance on an unpublished study from an unknown-to-them author! I have wanted to try the study on a group, and even though Julie will be teaching it and I won't be there, I can't wait to hear their feedback!

I'm also ready to get back into writing Volume Two! I stopped writing on it a few months back when one of the chapters stumped me, but now I'm ready to try again.

And to round out the week, I had dinner with my former roommate, Angela, last night. We've lived apart for six years now, and she's currently living in Michigan while she pursues her PhD. She was diagnosed with brain cancer earlier this year and is undergoing treatment for that. I am so proud of her for her tenacity in the face of this trial. She is definitely an inspiration! It was great to catch up with her. (And as a side note, I ordered a salad, which came in a SERVING BOWL. It was bigger than a salad I would serve to an entire group of company I'd have at my house. Needless to say, most of that bad boy came home in a box.)