Weekend Road Trip: Part 1

Last weekend was ROAD TRIP TIME!!!

I left work promptly at five on Friday to go visit my friend Jenna, who lives near Chicago. Seven hours later, I arrived.

Don't ask.

Part of it is that I take the long way there because I don't do Chicago traffic. Part of it is that I have mad skills in getting lost. And this was how I felt about it: Cal, my GPS, took 237 miles (exactly) to figure out what I was trying to do. He was okay with me for the last 95 or so. Seriously, Cal?

Oh! And when I exited near her house, I had to swing through a non-attended toll booth. I had my exact change ready, but I failed to pull up close enough to the little cone thing that looked like it had been ripped from a dog's neck. So there I was, at 11 pm, chucking change at a cone - with my non-dominant hand, no less. It was comical.

Needless to say, by the time I arrived at her house, I mostly wanted to SLEEP. And I did. In a fa-a-a-bulous bed.

Saturday morning, I got up and started baking cakes for Jenna's birthday party. (Because everyone knows no girl should have to make her own birthday cake.) I was PUMPED because she owns a fancy pants Kitchen Aid mixer. I was in culinary heaven. (And my jammies. Sorry.)
I baked the cake, and Jenna's husband decorated it. He did a great job. I was impressed. It was better than I would have done!
Doesn't that look good? (It was. Trust me.)
Excuse my brillo pad hair. Humidity, you know. Anyway. Jenna and I loved the birthday food. Chili, chips and salsa, fresh fruit, and of course - the cake. Happy birthday, dear Jenna! (I elected to take pictures rather than sing.) After the eating portion of the party, Jenna's brother-in-law (he's the one with the baby strapped on) decided it was time for a good game of Bocce. I'd never played it before, but somehow found myself agreeing to try. (Wha????) So Jenna's husband, Frog, and I were a team, and then Neil and his wife, Emily,were a team. I apologized to Frog up front that he got stuck with such a loser. (Hello! Did you NOT read the game night blog post? I never made it out of the negatives in Dutch Blitz?) Remember this picture from the weekly recap? Yeah that's Neil with some pent-up aggression toward the rookie!! Turns out it was warranted. Frog and I won. Because of this winning shot...thrown by yours truly. Oh yeah baby. After that, it was ON. Neil handed the baby over to his wife, who then had to bow out of the game. Neil SAID he was going to take me as a teammate until he found out Frog's friend Will was going to play. He snatched Will up as a teammate, and I again apologized to Frog. And I played hard. I had to represent for the girls, you know!
I wasn't kidding about it being hard core playing. Turns out Neil shouldn't have been so quick to give me up as a teammate. Frog and I won the second round, too. Just sayin'. And the third round...but who's counting?

After losing three times in a row, he suddenly didn't find the game quite as appealing anymore, so we were done. That freed me up to play with the lovely Miss Adelaide:

And that's the road trip...part one.

SSMT: Verse 11

June 1 ALREADY. Can you believe it?

Time for a new verse, and I won't lie to you...this one scared me. I noticed a few weeks ago that the verses I've studied and memorized this year have carried a definite theme of my life with them this year. God has uncovered each one in perfect timing and it's so beautiful to go back and see what He's unfolded in my daily life alongside each verse I've committed to memory.

So I was particularly curious to see what He'd lead me to this time. I think it's a good one.

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;

your love, O Lord, endures forever -

do not abandon the works of your hands.

Psalm 138:8

God has been doing a work in me lately. I'm not trying to keep it a secret from you. (Don't you hate it when people get all vague on blogs and make you figure out what they're saying between the lines?) I would tell you if I knew what it was. I don't. Not yet anyway. But I believe He's moving and working and shaping...and in that, He is about to fulfill a purpose. And that is such a beautiful hope.

Here's something I love about this verse. You know how the word love has about a billion (give or take a million) definitions? This one is "to be merciful...faithful...kind." What a balm to my heart those words have become!

This week has been one in which my mind has gone every conceivable direction about every conceivable topic. I went out to run and pray the other night and finally just stopped and told God I didn't even know how to pray because my thoughts were too scattered. It was a good thing He's God because otherwise I bet even HE would have been confused.

But in my "ooh look! shiny object!" praying, I rested in the comfort of this verse. His love is merciful. It's faithful. It's kind. And I need that right now. I need that part of His character. He's got one flawed girl on His hands and yet He's choosing to promise to fulfill a purpose in her. I love that.

And I can't wait to see how He does this!

May: Done

This has felt like one of my most disorganized months in a long time. It was a busy month...a month in which I faced a lot of change and uncertainty. My routines changed - sometimes by choice and sometimes by necessity, and it's just taking me a while to adapt to everything.

*I welcomed a new year of my life this month. Trying to top last year's birthday of an ocean-side vacation was not easy, but I still had a great time this year. My friends lavished me with attention and love and I so appreciated everything they did for me.

*In the world of writing...I was asked to write a devotional for a bridal shower (that was a new one for me!), and I wrote a speech which I delivered at the book club dinner earlier this month. Both pieces were very well received by my friends who read them; in fact, Rachel said the speech was one of my best pieces ever. Since I have some devoted-to-writing time coming up, I'm excited to be in this mode.

*Very aware of and grateful for God's protection this month. I can't go into details (right now anyway) of what happened, but I found myself in an unusually difficult situation and was just so aware that God was watching over me and that His angels aren't just wing-tipped fairy tales to make us feel better. They are mighty warriors fighting for His children every hour of the day (and night).

*In the land of entertaining...it was so much fun to have Rachel over a few times to watch TV with me. It was one of our favorite things to do when she lived on campus and I'd missed those times with her! Loved hosting Mother's Day, sharing a meal with Miss Jamie, having Marie in for Bible study, and of course - hosting another round of Pancakes with the Princess.

* In the kitchen...I tried a new cupcake recipe (didn't care for it), made the Twix bars you've now seen, tried a BBQ chicken pizza soup recipe (it was good!), made the successful ice cream lasagna recipe, and found a danish recipe that I cannot wait to try. If I thought I could eat a 9x13 of it by myself, I'd just make the thing today.

* Road trips! I went to Indianapolis twice this month (which is unusual for me) and over Memorial Day weekend, I hit the open road to visit my friend Jenna up near Chicago! (She's the one I visited last October on my way to Wisconsin. We decided we should meet up again, so this was the time!)

*Outside my normal schedule...I went to the Chick-Fil-A Leadership simulcast, attended Llita's book signing, celebrated with Rachel at her open house, went shopping with Kristin, started the new Bible study with Miss Marie, did a BUNCH of reading, finished teaching Sunday School (off the rotation for the next quarter), went to game night, survived storm after storm in what has to be one of the worst Mays ever in weather history, spent too much time shopping at Cato (they know me now), played my first game of Bocce, got to eat at SONIC, began working through some hard-core assignments from the Lord, and survived a whole month on extremely minimal sleep. :)

Stone Jar: End of May

Only in Bekahland

It's been a while since you had a good Bekah story. I thought you deserved one today.

Last week was pretty busy , and one day I needed to grab a couple of things quickly at Meijer during my lunch hour. I managed to score a front row parking spot (sweet!), ran inside, found what I needed, and headed to checkout.

The lines were reminiscent of the days of Wal-Mart. Only about five lanes were open and they were all backed up into the merchandise across the aisle. Fortunately, they opened a new lane and I was second in line. A semi-cantankerous middle-aged man was in front of me. The cashier said to him, "I'm sorry you had to wait." He shot back, "Not half as sorry as I am."

HA! I never have the guts to say stuff like that.

Anyway. That was just a bonus to the story.

I scurried back out to my car, dialing Mom on the way so I could tell her about the funny man in checkout. As I opened the door to the car and simultaneously said hi to Mom, I heard a familiar "clink."

My ring.

I knew it was loose but I didn't know it was in-danger-of-falling-off loose. But I knew that sound meant it had hit the ground.

Super.

I told Mom I'd have to call her back, threw my purse, phone, and bag in the car, and crouched down next to the car to search for the ring. I couldn't find it.

I moved to another angle, looked some more....nothing. (Oh and did I mention I was IN THE FRONT ROW?) Did I also mention I was wearing a DRESS?

Sensing no other choice, I got in the car, put it in reverse, and backed up a few feet. I hoped my tire hadn't crushed the ring and then switched to hoping no one would hit my car as it sat parked out in the driving aisle. How classy.

I scurried back up to the parking place and looked - nothing. I knew it hit the ground and not the inside of the car. I pulled in, parked again, left the door open, rested my head against the seat and said, "God, I already lost one ring to this weight loss. I really didn't want to lose a second one."

Just then I glanced to my left and spied the ring - under the SUV parked next to me.

Not. Happening.

I had no idea who owned that vehicle or how long they planned to make Meijer their home. I got back out of the car, dug my golf-sized umbrella out of the trunk, squatted down next to their car (after carefully scouring the parking lot for any people who appeared to be headed toward it), hoped no security cameras were capturing the free show I was offering in my skirt, and began raking that ring toward myself. It finally rolled close enough that I could grab it, and I did, in a hurry.

My face was as red as the stone in the ring. I shoved it onto my middle finger and drove away as fast as possible.

After posting that on Facebook, my brother-in-law commented "It's all over YouTube."And you know what? I fully expect that a some point in my only-Bekah life, I will become "one of those" YouTube messes.

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday was a true day of rest. I so needed that. Marie came over in the afternoon and we kicked back to discuss our first Bible study chapter. I've missed meeting with her and studying with her. I have a feeling God is going to do some serious work in us through this study! I spent the rest of the day in the fat chair, watching TV, reading, journaling, blogging, and playing online.

* Monday I had a surprise visitor at work! My former roommate, Angela, was in town and stopped by to see me. She's about to begin work on her dissertation while battling cancer - all at the age of 34. Her tenacity amazes me. So proud of her.

* Tuesday evening, as you already saw, was Pancakes with the Princess/The Biggest Loser Finale.
The pancakes were a success - they both LOVED the cinnamon swirl recipe - and as I said a couple of days ago, I was thrilled with the outcome of the show. Love the inspiration that Hannah and Olivia provided this season. Can't wait to see what they do with their lives!



* Wednesday was crazy storm day. I feel a little guilty complaining about our storms when there are so many who have been truly devastated by tornadoes this week...and I know full well from the days of the Greensburg tornado just how horrible that is. I am not making light of it. But while I'm thankful for our protection so far, I'm sick of rain every day. Mom took this picture during one of the many storms that hit us Wednesday:
That's just how our skies look now. Ev.ry.Day.

Wednesday evening, I was asked to take pictures at church for the finale of the kids' ministries. The elementary and junior high students banded together to make homemade ice cream. YUM!!
* Thursday we had a farewell lunch for Rachel at work. Four years of serving as our student worker has come to an end. Sadness indeed. We had a carry-in of Mexican food, because that's her favorite. I took dessert because that's my specialty. I tried a new recipe - ice cream lasagna. HUGELY loved by my office. You know what that means! You'll be seeing it on here!



* Friday we had a rare treat: jeans day at work. I adore jeans days. Since we don't get them very often, I had to make sure I got full documentation of it. Even our boss wore them! (She's vehemently opposed to denim in the work place.) She made it almost to 11 a.m. with jeans on before she switched to regular work pants.


* Saturday I went to my friend Jenna's birthday party and ended up playing my first ever game of bocce. My team won. Three times. (More on this later.) But please do note that my opponent Neil...was apparently harboring some not-so-secret aggression toward my mad skills.
Books I'm Reading: Read my daily devos in Sparkling Gems from the Greek and Jesus Calling. Also did some reading in the early part of the week from The Hole in Our Gospel, Writing About Your Life, and How Women Help Men Find God. (It's a book Rachel loaned me a while ago, but I'm just now getting to it.)

Favorite God Moment of the Whole Week: It's getting harder to pick just one! This week's came during the night one night when I woke up shaking and sick to my stomach - and I knew it was Satan getting at me. I got out of bed, paced the bedroom, prayed and quoted Scripture and felt such peace the whole time. I love it when I can sense the Lord's guidance and His approval when I do something right in my walk.

Update on Last Week's Goals: I should have read more, but I did get some reading in from the writing book. And God has provided PLENTY of direction on the prayer projects. I'm grateful.

Goals for the Coming Week: I want to get my scrapbook caught up (end of May has been busy!), get my birthday thank you's written (dreadfully behind on that) and clean up my bedroom. I'm almost embarrassed to be sleeping in there.

Cassie Graduated!

May 4th, 2008...one year after the Greensburg tornado, my niece graduated from high school. Remember that? When she had to give a speech because she was co-valedictorian? And she got her diploma from President Bush?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's been three years since that day. Three years since she graduated from high school with honors on her mom's birthday. And this year...she graduated (early) from college...with honors, no less...on my birthday!
That's my girl! For a few different reasons, I didn't go to this graduation...plan to go visit them a little later this year, and I'm really looking forward to that. But Mom and Dad drove out for graduation and I'm just now getting the pictures from the festivities. Let the record show, I'm pretty proud of Mom for the pictures she took. She's not a Bekah-razzi. But she did a good job.

(Although she did call me from her seat to find out how the zoom works on her camera. Seriously? I'm driving in the ghetto of Indianapolis because I'm not smart enough to trick my GPS and you're going to call from 16 hours away to see if I can mentally recall how to zoom your camera? Sigh of love.)

Here's the graduate with her parents, post graduation. Cassie told me later that the ceremony made her nervous. I would have thought speaking in front of President Bush would have ruled out any future of nerves, but then again, I was also threatening to throw up when I graduated from college. Too many people staring! So I felt her pain - on a smaller scale.

(Isn't Lori's shirt cute? I gave her that for her birthday.)

And the beautiful graduate with my parents:

She gets her height from me. :)

CONGRATULATIONS, CASSIE!!! I'm so proud of you for getting through in three years...getting through with honors...and just plain getting through! (Senioritis is a beast, isn't it?) You are going to LOVE adulthood and its lack of homework. (The trade-off, of course, being mornings.) Can't wait to see you soon. LOVE YOU and PROUD OF YOU!!

Devoted

This past Sunday was my last Sunday to teach junior high Sunday School (at least for a while). Our church uses a rotation system so the teachers don't get burned out...and I've taught for the last two rotations.

I just had one of my girls - and the one who showed up is the one who usually surprises me (in a really good way) with her insight and deep thoughts. The lesson covered the section of Scripture in Acts where the early church met together and devoted themselves to sharing in prayer and sharing with those in need. (Loose paraphrase.)

We talked about what it meant to be devoted. Her definition was that it meant the people were faithful and consistent in what they did. I thought that was a good way to put it. I asked her if she thought our churches today - not just our immediate church, but churches in general - were really devoted. We decided we are not. Not like that early church in Acts.

Our discussion stuck with me, because just a day earlier, God gave me a new assignment. It's a humbling one. Humbling because He could have given it to anyone and He chose to give it to me. I don't take lightly the responsibility that comes with it.

I want to tell you about it - but there are parts of it I have to respect privately, so I won't go into complete detail.

I have a friend that means so much to me, I couldn't tell you about it if I tried. He's been in my life for years and has been a gift God has used over and over to teach me about Himself. I love him deeply - in the way two kindred hearts love.

And he doesn't follow the Lord.

We talk about it from time to time. He knows where I stand. He knows all the things a person should know about loving Jesus. He was raised in it the same as I was.

And within the past few days, the Lord has laid on my heart an enormous burden to pray for him. To go to war for his heart. To do more than toss a "please speak to him" prayer Heaven's way.

In short, I've been called to devote myself to prayer for this man's heart.

To be faithful to pray - even when my schedule is busy. To be consistent in prayer - even if I don't see anything visibly changing in his life. To press forward when Satan presses back - as I know he will. To not give up - though something more appealing to my prayer life may appear.

It's a huge task. But the potential in his heart is unmistakable. When I think of the things God could do with him if He could have free reign in his life, I get literal goose bumps. How can I not devote myself to prayer?

Sunday, during church, God also pressed on my heart to use the book of Colossians as my template for these prayers. I love these words I just studied and prayed for him. I share them with you today because if you're in the middle of praying for someone's heart, I think these are incredible words to speak:

...we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. - Colossians 1:9-12

Pancakes with the Princess: May

May went flying by and I realized I was running out of time to host Pancakes with the Princess. Seriously - where did this month GO?

Since the Biggest Loser finale was on the schedule for this week, I asked my friends Greg and Angi if they wanted to come over for pancakes and then stay to watch the finale with me. We all love that show so much. (Greg and I water cooler talk Biggest Loser every week at work.)

They arrived in this massive deluge that hit Marion - but fortunately the power (mostly) stayed on and didn't interrupt our dinner.

Angi helped me with the cinnamon swirlies on the pancakes. (We did that version since there were just three of us.)
It was like a little art form. I was impressed with her swirling skills!

I don't usually have a ceiling cam while I'm cooking. LOL.

This was also the maiden voyage of my new griddle. I am so excited about this purchase! I found it about a month ago - on sale for $30 and I had an additional $10 off coupon. So it was a $50 griddle that I got for twenty bucks. Sure beats the snot out of making three pancakes at a time in my itty bitty skillet!

The official spread - orange juliuses, Amish breakfast casserole, and lots and LOTS of pancakes. Oh - and check out the cute new summer dishes. I mentioned those a while ago. I heart polka dots. Love my dishes!

Greg - making the most of every last drop of that orange julius.

We went ahead and made up the rest of the batter because they do make great leftovers. We were proud of our artwork!

Greg thought it was appropriate to have round two during the Biggest Loser. HA!

It was so much more fun to watch the finale with my friends. I am blown-away-inspired by Olivia and Hannah. Loved seeing them in the final two and LOVED the outcome. Those girls are just the real deal, and I could not have been happier. I didn't even care who won once it was down to the two of them. GREAT season.

30 Days of You and Me: Day Twenty

Today's topic? A Hobby of Mine.

I'm now convinced there will never be a topic to which I have one simple answer. My apologies.

So here are my hobbies...in no particular order.

1. Scrapbooking. I started scrapbooking right after college and have loved it ever since. In the the last year, I switched from traditional scrapping to digital scrapping, and my company of choice is Picaboo.

2. Writing. I love to write. I write when I scrapbook, I journal, I write devotionals, I write articles, I write blog posts, I write books. I write...write...write!

3. Cooking. As you might guess from the amount of recipe posts that show up on this blog, I love cooking! Cooking, baking, recipe hunting, sharing what I make - LOVE IT.

4. Stamping. I'll admit - I've not done this one in a while. I sort of quit during the desert out of a sheer inability to focus, but I haven't given up on it as a hobby. I started doing this in high school, because it was my attempt to keep up with my artist friends, despite lacking artistic talent. After college, I worked as a consultant for Stampin' Up! for several years. Love making cards!

5. House Hunting. Online that is. Probably one of those huge time wasters, but it's one of my favorite things to do on Sunday afternoons. I just love seeing what houses look like. (And house hunting is much cheaper than moving. HA!)

I think that's it! How about you? What are your hobbies? (I might need a new one. Fill me in.)

Tacos and Games

Saturday evening, I got together with my high school buddies for another game night. I just have to pause for a second to say that I really appreciate these friends of mine. I'm not sure how common it is for people to really stay connected with high school friends so many years later, but I'm glad to still have these friends who want to hang out.

We normally have pizza, but Cara thought it would be fun to have a taco night, so we did. Homemade salsa and guacamole...tacos and chips...and I took Twix Bars.Yummy!

And then...the games. We played a new one called Like Minds. Phats and I were partners, and we won. Three times. Guess we have the same brain! (Not sure what that says for me. KIDDING, Phats!)
This is me with Heather. She's gotten a haircut since our last game night - so cute!! Heather is smart and can outwit me any day. Remind me not to go up against her in Survivor. :)

We played Apples to Apples. It was more my speed. Oh and look! I won!

Cara and I were teammates for Password. Have y'all played that? It's HARD! The four of us only lasted one card before we cashed in for an easier game. But please do let the record show that Cara and I won this one!

I was not so fortunate on Dutch Blitz. Final score - Phats, Heather, and Cara all had around 100 points. I was still in the negatives.

But I remain proud of myself for playing games at all. Our Bekah is branching out and growing up!

Twix Bars

Several weeks ago, my friend Whitney sent me a link to the Hoosier Homemade blog - and more specifically, to the Twix bar recipe. It reminded her of the toffee cracker recipe I make, and she said she thought of me when she saw it.

I wanted to make it right away but I kept forgetting to pick up club crackers at the store (and apparently to write it down on the shopping list). So...I just made it for the first time this month, and I absolutely fell in love with it. I made a 9x13 for work and they gobbled it right up. I took it to game night this past week, too, and they declared it a keeper.

So - full credit to Hoosier Homemade (a blog that also has a number of other yummy looking ideas) - but here was my experience in making Twix bars!

The Recipe

Club crackers (approximately 50 crackers)
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Line half the crackers in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, white sugar, milk, and butter in sauce pan and stir until boiling. Boil for 5 minutes. Pour mixture over crackers, then top with remaining half of crackers. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Combine peanut butter and milk chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl. Melt and spread over crackers. Allow to harden, cut, and serve.

I have incorrectly represented the butter in this picture. It's half a CUP, not half a STICK. Make sure you get the whole stick of butter! I was also very excited to see Meijer has their own brand of graham cracker crumbs. Little cheaper!
Line the pan with the crackers - I can get about 9 crackers per row, but depending on the shape of your pan, you may be able to put in more or less.

The pan doesn't have to be huge. I put in the crumbs and sugars first.

Then I add the milk and butter. I cut the butter into small pieces first to help it melt faster. (Because, you know, I'm impatient that way.)

When you first start stirring, it will be thick and grainy from the crumbs.

It smooths out as you begin to stir. Make sure you stir constantly or the sugar will burn on the bottom.

It will start to look like this as it goes into a good boil:

Pour over the crackers....

Add the second layer of crackers, pressing them down into the caramelized mixture. Be careful not to burn yourself!

When it's time to put together the frosting, measure out the peanut butter and chocolate chips. (I put in a little more than a cup because one can never have too much chocolate.)

I melted it for about a minute and it stirred into this smooth mixture.

Spread onto the top of the crackers.....

Happiness.

Be prepared for no leftovers!