Almost Caramel Surprise Brownies

I've told you before that my Mom is a fantastic cook. It's a genetic thing. Her mom and her sister - also fantastic cooks. My aunt (Aunt B, we call her) has three particular dishes that I adore. I've never asked her for the recipe to any of them because I'm afraid she'll say no and I don't want to experience culinary rejection.
One of her specialties is her lasagna. It is the best lasagna I've ever had in the whole world. Not kidding. Another is her cream puffs. YUM. And last, but in no way least, her caramel surprise brownies.

She often made me a plate of them for my birthday. Oh. My. Goodness. Soft, chewy, warm deliciousness with gooey caramel...my mouth is watering just thinking about them.

Last month I found this brownie suggestion on a blog and after making a batch of them, I decided they were kind of close to Aunt B's Caramel Surprise Brownies. Not quite as amazing, but awfully close (and much easier to make, I'm quite sure.) I've done some tweaking of my own, and I present to you....Almost Caramel Surprise Brownies.
The Recipe:
1 box brownie mix
Ingredients listed on box to make brownies (usually eggs, water, oil)
Caramel ice cream sundae syrup
1/2 bag chocolate chips

Prepare brownie mix according to instructions on the box. Add chocolate chips to batter and stir in well. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Heavily drizzle the caramel sundae syrup in lines over batter in both directions. Cut caramel into batter with a knife. (Add more on top of that if you like.) Bake according to directions on box. Cut and serve.

To be honest, my favorite brownie mix in the whole world is the Baker's Corner kind from Aldi. If I don't have that on hand (as I did not when I took these pictures) I buy another store brand. I prefer them to the name brand. I bought the syrup in the squeeze bottle so I didn't have to mess with drizzling it from a spoon out of a jar. Mix the brownie mix according to the package directions - add the oil, eggs, and water.

Stir it well. I just use a spoon - don't mess with the beaters.

Add 1/2 bag of chocolate chips. I did this becuase Aunt B's brownies always had chocolate chunks in them. Someone at work suggested also adding nuts to make it a turtle brownie. If you like nuts in your brownies - go for it.

Spread the batter in the dish.

Drizzle the caramel over the batter. It goes on much faster when it's room temperature. After my bottle was refrigerated, it was harder to squeeze out.

Take a knife and drag it through the batter to "cut" the caramel down into the batter.

Bake! Cut! Serve! Eat! Enjoy!

SSMT: Verse 8

I am very excited about this SSMT verse. Verses, actually. I have what I feel is a very beautiful story about how I came across them (again) and something God taught me through their discovery. I'm saving it to share with you in just a few days. Today I want to focus on the verses themselves.

Therefore I am now going to allure her;

I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.

There I will give her back her vineyards,

and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.

There she will sing as in the days of her youth,

as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

Hosea 2:14-15

I hope I can learn all that!

If you've read my blog very long, you know last year was mostly a desert experience for me. And today I want to share with you what this verse means to me from that vantage point.

My desert began because Isaac said he was going into a wilderness. My goal was not to copy him. Fine - you're going into a wilderness? I'll go into a desert! No no. Not the goal. But because he shared with me what God was asking of him in that season, my heart was sensitive enough to hear that God was calling me into a desert of my own. It was always important to me that his journey be called a wilderness (because that's what he called it) and mine be called a desert, because they were not the same. He went one way and I went another. And I have no idea what he learned in his path. I can only speak for what I learned in mine.

But from this side, I can say it would not surprise me at all if God sat on His Throne and looked down over my life and said to Himself, The time has come for this baby girl to go on a journey. I'm going to allure her. (Allure means to attract toward something. Trust me. It wasn't an attractive thing...but I felt attracted to it anyway, because God drew my heart.) I'm going to lead her into this desert. Just the two of us.

There was nothing haphazard about that desert. Others looking in saw it as depression...pitiful attachment to love...weakness. But I was completely confident in what it was. It was God's ordained plan. He led me there. And when it was over, He led me out of it.

While I was there, He spoke so tenderly to me. My study Bible said the word "speak" is one of the most generic words in the whole Bible, but it encompasses promises, announcements, instructions, reports, directions and decrees. And it felt like that to me. I carried my journal with me everywhere. To work, to church, in the car, and everywhere in between. God spoke often and I didn't want to lose any of the tender words that fell from His Spirit to mine.

I'm not entirely sure what the second half of this means to me. I am not sure what vineyards He gave back to me...how that deep, dark valley will become a time of hope in the grand scheme of my life, or how it will cause me to sing and praise.

But I am confident all those things are true.

God did not take me through that very intense time of life just for fun. He had a plan in all of it. Things are happening behind the curtain of my life - things I can't see. And bit by bit, He reveals how the pieces are working together for His glory in my future.

Sunset...Sunrise

I told you during the Florida recap that I wanted to tell you about this moment. I feel kind of strange telling you about it when I still don't know entirely what it means. But here goes.

You may or may not have noticed my love of gorgeous sunsets. I had my little self parked on that sand every single night we were home at sunset. God said some pretty pivotal things to me during some of those sunsets.

Promises. Revelations. Urgings.

The very last night I was in Florida, I was home alone at sunset. I was busy trying to pack and get some reading done and enjoy the small bit of rest and quiet time. I wasn't even going to go watch the last sunset. But I was on the phone with Mom, and she said, "Go see it! You'll be glad later that you did."

So I threw on my hoodie, grabbed my camera, and ran to the edge of the line of cottages. I didn't even go all the way down to "my spot" this time.
That was the last sunset picture I captured. The sun was already that far down before I arrived. And as I snapped the picture, God reminded me of the things He'd spoken to my heart that week on that beach. Not just at sunset, but many other times, too.

And He said, This is a sunset for you. Not a literal sunset, but a heart-sunset. All these things we've talked about...all these things I've asked you to come undone about...you leave them here. Let the sun set on those things.

I'd been reading in When Love Ends while I was on vacation, and the author said in the introduction to the book, "Every story has a beginning and an end." And I wrote in my journal, This vacation has shown me so much how the end has come for many of my pivotal friendships and relationships.

And though that sunset, God made the end beautiful. Made it concrete.

And I thought that was the end.

But it wasn't.

The next morning, as you may remember, we had to get up at five to make it back to the airport. As we drove toward Tampa, the sun began to come up, ever so slowly. Since I so rarely see a sunrise, I thought I'd snap a picture:

Beautiful.

And God (who apparently speaks even at this hour) whispered to me right there in a packed-to-the-gills Altima, I brought your morning. Walk toward it.

(In my desert journey, one of my theme songs was Josh Wilson's Before the Morning. I love it when God mentions that.)

I knew my new beginning was before me. The sun had set...and I was riding toward the morning.

Hypothetically Traveling: Chicago

A girl's gotta dream, right?

One of my favorite things to do is to dream up little vacations. I say little because normally I look pretty close to home. Sometimes my vacations actually happen, and sometimes they stay in folders under Favorites in my computer. But I never know when I might have the time and resources to take a little trip, so I like to be prepared with some ideas...just in case.

So today I thought I'd show you one of my hypothetical vacation ideas.

Destination: Chicago

Let me make it clear this is not a vacation I'd take by myself. I'm not that much of a city girl. But I do think it would be fun to take a few days (with a friend) and head to the Windy City.

Given that the very idea of driving in Chicago traffic makes me...faint...I would prefer to arrive on a train! This is actually something I've done before. When I was in junior high, my parents and I rode the train from Indianapolis to Chicago for a day during spring break. I loved the train. And it would be so nice to not have to worry about keeping track of a car...parallel parking a car...paying to park a car. I love tours. I just love getting an overview of a place. So, what better way to get an overview of Chicago than...the double decker bus tour? I've never ridden on a double decker bus, but doesn't it look fun?

And of course, you can't go to Chicago without stopping for a while at the Skydeck of the Sears Tower (or whatever it's called now). I've also been here before, but I definitely want to go back. Though I'm generally not a fan of heights (my hands are getting cold just thinking about it) the view out of this thing is definitely magnificent.

Something else I've never done but think I would love...is a dinner cruise. And if I did this little hypothetical trip in the summer, they do fireworks cruises at night. Oh my goodness. Yes please!

I love a zoo!! Have to visit my people! Okay just kidding. But I think it would be great to visit the zoo and see what sort of great pictures are to be found here.

This may surprise you (Phats, especially) since I'm not generally known as a sports lover, but it has been a longtime dream of mine to go to a "real" game. I don't care what sport, I don't care what team, I don't care what stadium. I just want to go to a game. So if I'm in Chicago, I figure it would only be logical to visit Wrigley Field and watch the Cubs. (And honestly, if I had to pick sport/team/stadium, this one would be in my top five. For real.)

I know, you're probably saying "Better start saving your pennies if you're going to do all this stuff!" I know. You're right. And lodging is never at the top of my budget when I travel. But part of the Chicago experience, for me, would need to include at least one night in a hotel with a view. The rest of the time, I can stay in some little place out of the way, but one night, I want to look out over the city lights...just to say I did.

As I stated in the 100 random facts about myself a while back, I have never ridden a Ferris Wheel and someday want to do that. So if I went to Chicago...and just happened to be near this one....

So there you have it. My hypothetical Chicago vacation. If you're an expert on the Windy City and have any additional suggestions for me to put in my little folder...let me know!

My Life: The Movie

I love it when I find a blog post idea while reading another blog.

I found this one a few days ago. I happened to be reading Only a Breath and blogger Melanie did a post based on this question, which she found on another blog: “If they made a movie of your life, would it be a comedy, tragedy, or drama? Who would you want to play you?”

Sooooo...I started pondering that. Truthfully, my life would make a better reality show than anything else, but if we were going to do a movie, it would probably best fit in the "dramatic comedy" category.

Of course, who else could play me but my twin...Flo the Progressive Girl?!?! I went ahead and thought through a few more aspects of my life: the movie. I think a dramatic comedy needs the perfect setting. And I believe the perfect setting would be a darling little cabin in the woods. Plenty of fodder for drama...you know...when I see a mouse or have to shovel a mile-long driveway, or the electricity goes out during a storm. And plenty of fodder for comedy too! Like...when I see a mouse or have to shovel a mile-long driveway, or the electricity goes out during a storm.

Every good movie has a BFF for the leading lady, and I've selected the talented Melissa Gilbert to play my BFF. I picked her partly because she reminds me of my BFF and partly because I heart Little House, so when I loiter around the set of my life: the movie, I have a few questions for her. Many of them have to do with Albert and Almanzo, but I'd rather not say that out loud.

This has never actually happened in my life, but most movies include some sort of "leading lady must pick between two men who cannot possibly live without her" situation. And I figure if I'm going to have a movie, it should have something like that, whether or not it's true-to-life. So, for one side of that drama, I've selected Dale Midkiff. If Dale Midkiff really did play a love interest in my life: the movie, I'd fire Flo the Progressive Lady and star as myself. :) Stop rolling your eyes. Unless you've seen all the Love Comes Softly movies and Back to You and Me, you cannot possibly appreciate his charm.

And for side B of that little storyline, I've chosen Yannick Bisson. I suppose you need me to tell you who he is. He starred in the TV series Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye. He's cute! What can I say?

If I'm going to live in the little cabin in the woods, I think it's only appropriate I have a neighbor. A neighbor who likes to mow the yard. (His and mine.) I know the joy of this because I used to live next door to landscapers. So for this role, I have selected Taye Diggs.

Don't tell me you'd object to being his neighbor. Or to him mowing the yard.

This is a real-life dream of mine, so I decided to write it in to my life: the movie. I'd like to drive an SUV. Living in that cabin up the lane surely means home improvement projects (which will require help from the neighbor and provide comedy for the script), so I'll need something to cart around the supplies. I would also like my SUV to have a sunroof. (Hopefully the movie budget will allow for that.)

Another thing necessary for comedy, drama, and a cabin in the woods: a hot tub.

And...a hammock. This is partly because in the movie, I'd still like to be a writer, and I think all writers should have a hammock. It also will provide SIGNIFICANT comedy. (For example, every time I try to get in and/or out.)

Writers, I know, are supposed to have cats. But most men don't like cats, so I'm guessing one or both of the leading men would have made me get rid of the cats I have now. But living out there in a cabin like that, I need something to watch over the house. So I think...a Great Pyranees dog should do the trick. Bathing said dog = comedy.

And just because it's my movie, I'd like a Kitchen Aid mixer. I'm not sure how it fits in to the movie in any way - but I'm sure I could make something comedic out of it. Say, perhaps, a powdered sugar shower?

So...that's what I came up with.

Cutie Patooties

I have been so blessed with friends who have cute kids!

Saturday I had the opportunity to visit with my former co-worker, Rachel, who has two super-sweet girls. They are going to be awfully good friends as they grow up...you can already tell! In an attempt to get her baby sister to look at the camera, Anna "snapped" her fingers up high like she saw us doing...

I call this piece Baby in Basket. (Not to be confused with Moses.)

She put all her stuffed animals in the basket one by one and wanted me to take a picture of each one of them.

I heart this picture.

She uh....put the tutu on all by herself. Can ya tell?

I believe this was attempt #459

Hiding in the tunnel....

Peekaboo!!!

Thanks, Rachel, for the yummy cookies, the AMAZING shoulder massage, and the chance to play with your sweet kids. I love em!

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Sunday I spent the afternoon with my friend Amber. Every now and then we meet up for lunch after church, so we did that...and then we took a little impromptu trip to Starbucks and to Lowe's to look at paint samples. (I may or may not have a project coming up.) We had the best time! You know you have a good friend when she'll spend an afternoon wandering around Lowe's with you, while you wish your way through paint samples and patio accessories. Sunday afternoon and evening...I did some serious writing. This is one version of what a writing-palooza looks like:
* Monday I was invited to speak at a book club dinner - in a couple of months. The person who invited me heard me back in December when I spoke at the IWU Staff Council Luncheon. I guess she forgot the part where I had the complete meltdown and projectile snot-fest. :) I will endeavor to do better this time!

* Tuesday I met my friend Amy for lunch. She and I usually get together 2-3 times a year to catch up on what (typically has not) changed since our last lunch. She's so much fun and the hour always goes far too quickly. This time we had a writing chat, and that was fun! She has an idea brewing and I can't wait to see what comes of it!

And as you already saw...Tuesday was also Rachel's senior reading. * Wednesday was a test of blood pressure levels and patience. I wrote one of my co-workers in the afternoon and said "I understand the concept of counting to ten. But I'm on my fifth round of it. Should that concern me?" She bought me a Mr. Goodbar. It helped.
* Thursday I was treated to lunch by one of my students. We normally go to Baldwin when we do a catch-up lunch, but this time he took me to the Wildcat (which is kind of like a fast food area) and we did a little Chinese-ish food. I went totally on his recommendation and it was fantastic. I took a picture because I wanted you to see the vegetables. Thanks for lunch, Zach!
* Friday evening, I had a lifetime first and personal best: I ran one mile without stopping. I've never ever done that before. A few days earlier, on Facebook, one of my friends posted that she'd done it for the first time in her life. So when I got on the track Friday night, I thought I'd just see how far I could get. When I got to 8/10ths of a mile, I thought I might keel right on over, but I figured 8 was so close, I'd just keep going and see...and I DID IT!!!
* Saturday was UBER BUSY. My crowning moment of the day was getting a new manicure: WHICH I FORGOT TO PAY FOR!!! Debbie, my sweet nail lady, wanted to try something new on me again (this time it was a normal color, but a brand she'd never used before) and we were both so excited about it that I totally forgot to pay her! Great. When I remembered, six hours later, I called her...completely mortified. She just laughed at me. After that, I went to visit two cutie pies....

...and then off to a birthday party for one of my blog-anonymous friends.

Books I'm Reading: Sparkling Gems from the Greek has started covering Easter verses - and I'm learning some pretty fascinating stuff. One day this week, it covered a verse I never remember even seeing in the Bible! Continuing to re-read In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day as I study it with Olivia. Started The Hole in Our Gospel. Someone bought it for me over Christmas break and this week I felt very led to start it. It's stepping on my toes!

Favorite God Moment of the Whole Week: I might do an actual post on this at some point, but God taught me a pretty valuable lesson about His timing through some daffodils that took forever to bloom...but finally did!

Update on Last Week's Goals: I am now the proud owner of a list for spring cleaning! I wrote out a list, room by room, of everything I'd like to accomplish throughout this spring. I tried to make it manageable. And I did some writing - and it felt so good!

Goals for the Coming Week: In the land of spring cleaning, I want to focus on the kitchen. I want to clean the microwave (seriously - you don't understand...), knock out the cobwebs, clean out the refrigerator (as in wash it out), order some labels for my canisters, and give the cabinets a wood oil treatment. And in other news, the first of Olivia's wedding showers is just around the corner, and I want to finish making her gift!

30 Days of You and Me: Day Eighteen

Today's topic: my best friend.

Hey Lynnette! This post's for you!

SURPRISE!! :)

I met my best friend when I was in the fifth grade. We were set up - by my sister. (Too bad she didn't know any guys my age...her skills for finding kindred spirits seem to be pretty great!) Anyway.

My sister and her husband moved back to our area (he's a minister and took a new church) and Lynnette was selected to be my Sunday School tour guide when I visited their church for the first time. Lori thought we'd be good friends, so she set up a playdate of sorts at her house and...well...the rest is history. I have a lot of great pictures of the two of us through the years, but I want her to still be my best friend at the end of this post, so I'm going to NOT post those. We'll both be glad about that later.

* Lynnette was my church function buddy all through junior high and high school. She came with me to all manner of lock-ins, weekend retreats, and church camps. She was so long-suffering, bless her heart.

* She put up with junior high and high school crush...after crush...after crush. SERIOUSLY would not be surprised if God puts an extra jewel in her crown for this. Hours and hours and hours of listening to me yap on and on about the cutest boy(s) in the whole wide world.

* Speaking of crushes...there was one particular guy that I just l-o-v-e-d, and she consented to going with me to see him in a local play. After the play, she was the one who pushed me (literally) to go find him and say hi. We still shake our heads about the (rather unexpected) hug I received from him. She said it lasted so long, she could have gone for a hamburger and still made it back by the end. Yeah that's kind of true. What can I say?

* Lynnette is also a writer, so we have that creative, artistic flair in common. She, however, can write poetry. We've already been over my (lack of) poetry skills. So I admire that in her. Several years ago, she wrote a poem about friendship, framed it, and gave it to me as a gift. I still have it sitting in my living room, right beside the picture of the two of us on her wedding day.

* It was in her wedding that I got to serve as maid of honor. That was a fun weekend and a fun wedding. LOVED the dress I wore in that wedding. It was yellow and had a tiny little train. Adorable. That was also my first/only time to ride in a limo. Loved that!

* During my desert journey last year, I have absolutely no clue how I would have survived without her. She prayed for me, listened to me (sob) on the phone night after night, and sent so many encouraging emails.

* She also spent my birthday with me last year. She lives in Virginia Beach and was my tour guide for my very first glimpse of the ocean. (She's always my tour guide to something, isn't she? Too bad THAT doesn't pay more for her!) She took such very good care of me that weekend, when I was already deep in the grief of the desert. She took me shopping and out to eat and got sunburned with me on the beach.

* She's very wise. I wish I had her kind of wisdom. She's calm and logical...the perfect counter to my loud and dramatic.

I love this girl - I could go on for many more posts about the things we've done and the joy we've shared together. I love having a deep friendship that goes back that far - and there's a comfort in knowing it will go on forever. She's stuck with me now. :)

Lynnette, I just couldn't have asked for a better lifelong friend. God picked you out just for me, and I'm thankful for you!!

And how about you? What do you love about your best friend?

Cupcake Creations!

Remember back in February when Angi and I went to the cupcake class in Ft. Wayne?

Well, Angi was asked if she could make some cupcakes for a wedding shower of someone we know through work. She said yes, and then she asked if I'd want to help her.

Gulp.

I hate the idea of messing up someone else's project. But I love cupcakes more than I fear messing up, so I said yes. :)

And so it was that last Friday night, I donned a Paula Deen apron: Yes. THE Paula Deen. If only it had given me a southern accent. (I have always wanted a good southern accent.) My job was to cut out the fondant flowers. 192 flowers. Thank goodness I had a little press!

In case you weren't sure...192 flowers...not a quick job. But I'm a good little Paula, so I cranked those puppies out!

Angi had already baked the cupcakes before I arrived, so she spent her time filling them (I'm learning this is really the only way to go with a cupcake), and making the frosting to put on top. My philosophy on that? More is more. (My philosophy on staff meeting: less is more.)

My handiwork. She had two sizes of presses - so some flowers were big and others were tiny. After I rolled out the fondant and pressed out the flowers, I had to flatten and shape the petals. Then I had to layer some of them - and all of them got a pearl in the middle. I whipped up a little assembly line! Then we just pressed the flowers into the frosting. Angi also had THE CUTEST cupcake wraps to go around them.

Don't you just want one??

Kinda wish I still had one myself! I did sample one because I thought it only right to make sure it was edible before the bridal shower folks got a taste. HA!!!!!

Thanks, Angi, for inviting me over for the festivities! I hope my work was satisfactory!