Brown County: SHOPPING!!!

What vacation is complete without some SHOPPING??

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

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

And here I am with a random stranger. LOL

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

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

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

Brown County: Yummy Food!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brown County: Homeward Bound

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

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

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


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

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

Appropriately, "wind" was part of their theme.

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

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

Dressing/Stuffing

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

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

Recipe:

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

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


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

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

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

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

I use real butter. Paula Deen would be proud.

I cook the onion until it's pretty tender.

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

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

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

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

And So...I Clean

There are things I love about vacation days. I love sleeping in. I love waking up and turning over and sleeping in some more. I love eating what I want when I want where I want. I love being able to do chores at whatever time I choose, and not just when I must. I love watching Oprah (not because I love watching Oprah, but because I never get to watch her unless I have a vacation day).

But it only takes a few hours to get stir-crazy. Today I took advantage of the chance to catch up the scrapbook and visit the new CVS in town (with a photo kiosk that talks), do some grocery shopping, run outside (in the wind, not like the wind)...stuff like that. And then it hit.

The need to clean.

I'm not talking a "whisper and a promise" cleaning. I'm talking cleaning. I ran the vacuum over the floor about four times, trying to get all the stubborn, ground-in cat hair. I vacuumed the furniture - again, to get the cat hair. I cleaned out all the movies and made piles of keep, toss, and donate. I moved things to dust.

And as always, I pondered how to next move the furniture and what color to get for the painting fest I'm convinced will take place in not too many months.

I'd paint tonight, but I am choosing to listen to the tiny bit of common sense I have left. So rather than painting, I ponder. And I clean.

Bits for Sunday, October 18 2009

Yesterday I went for an oil change. You might have heard of the place that takes care of that for me. It’s called Dad’s garage.

Dad prefers to change the oil himself because he believes the little jiffy-lube places change it too quickly. Or something like that. I only listen about 50% of the time.

My adventure began when I drove to the auto parts store to get the oil and filter. I walked inside, looking all forlorn and pathetic, only to be waited on by a young man slightly over the age of twelve, sporting a hoodie and ear buds. I can’t complain, though. When I pulled out the list and read him the Dad-ordered-ingredients, he was very quick to find them for me.

After that, I drove to Dad’s garage, where I found the ramp waiting for my car. I parked right outside and waved the keys at him (he was on the mower) as I scurried right past the ramp into the house.

He came inside and said, “Why didn’t you pull the car into the garage?”

I replied, “Well, with me behind the wheel, the car would have gone into the garage, up the ramp, through the wall, and out onto the front porch.”

I headed to the treadmill and Dad headed to the garage to change the oil. When he came in, he asked me when I’d last had the oil changed.

Uh oh.

I knew I was overdue. I’d even told him I was overdue. I’d even semi-begged him to not lecture me about it.

Dad continued, “You’re supposed to have an oil change every three thousand miles. Do you know how many it’s been?”

I cringed and tried to mentally calculate how many months it had been since my car found its way to his garage. I decided to go for the worst. “Five?”

“Eleven.”

WHAT!?!?!?

I don’t even know eleven thousand miles. I’m about the least well-traveled person I’ve ever met. And I knew for sure I’d had an oil change in May before I went to Hershey. Maybe one since then. But at least that one. And he says I’ve driven eleven thousand miles since then?
It’s obvious what happened.

Someone stole my car. Someone stole it and without my knowledge, drove to Honolulu and back. (I’ll keep the other couple thousand as my own responsibility.)

Three times Dad walked back out to the garage to check his little tally marks for my car. Three times he came in and nodded that his story stood. Three times I said, “It just can’t be! Where would I possibly have gone for eleven thousand miles?”

We did conclude that when baby James was born in July, I did drive to Anderson. And not only did I drive to Anderson, I drove around it while Trudy was in labor and I went shopping. And there were two trips to the lake. Two, I tell you!

We never did reach an agreement. I left Dad’s garage with a spare quart of oil and the mystery of who stole my car and drove it to Honolulu and back before I could notice it was missing.

If it was you, could you please fess up and end the Dad’s Garage confusion?

Concert!!...Again

Because I didn't get enough of a concert fix in my trip to see Mr. David Phelps last month, I went to another one today. Not to see David this time. (That would have been quite a commute because the entire Gaither crew is overseas right now.)

Anyway, went to see my friend Brent. Brent is from Florida and travels the country singing at churches and camps and things like that. And he is rarely in Indiana, which I find to be very sad. :( I think the last time he was within a couple hour's drive was about 2 1/2 years ago.

So when I found out he was scheduled to be in Hagerstown (which is about an hour and a half from me), I decided to go see him, even though it was a Sunday morning and I normally have very strict rules about missing my own church.

I sat in the third row so I could take pictures. I told him I'm normally the one holding down the back pews...so I might get a nosebleed from sitting so close...

I love Brent's music. He writes a lot of his own songs, and he says in lyrics what I would say if I could trim the writing down to fit in a lyric. And he finds the greatest words, too! One of my current favorites has a line that says, "But now you're wandering the undefined periphery." Periphery is a greatly underused word that is very fun to sing. (In the car. When no one can hear me.)

In other talents...he also plays the piano. Quite well, I might add.

AND he's a ventriloquist. This is his buddy, Sam. Sam is hilarious. I realize he's supposed to be a connecting tool for the kids, but I actually really love Sam. I'm just a big kid.

And here I am with Brent. I've seen him before in concert - 3 times - but never did the picture thing, much to the shock of everyone. But today was picture day.

So the concert was so much fun. I was convinced I'd get lost making my way there, but I didn't (WOO HOOOO!!), and the potluck that followed the concert was great - even if we didn't get there until the very end.

Hangin in There

Well there's only one more day in the work week and I think I'm gonna make it! This week has been a character-builder, but it has been good.

In not-that-interesting-but-I'll-tell-you-anyway news, I dyed my hair this week. Myself. First time I've ever done that all by myself. Let's just say I dyed my hair...myself...my bathroom...maybe even the cats. I had color everywhere. And I seem to have missed a patch in the back. So if you see me, do admire the two-tone hair. :)

Tonight I went shopping for a new shirt. You might remember that prior to the David Phelps concert, I went shopping for a new shirt...only to spend two totally fruitless hours out on the town. Tonight I had sweet success. Two for the price of one, even.

It's the little things.

Ahhh, Cleansing

There is nothing like a good cry (a.k.a. massive meltdown) to cleanse the heart. And the tear ducts.

Here's what I love, though. Amid all the crud that led to the meltdown, I remembered the verse that says "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." And for that, I'm thankful.

Bits for Sunday, October 11, 2009

I have successfully mixed up my days and nights once again! I took a nap this afternoon, woke up about 5:30, and discovered two hours later that the clock in my living room is off by an hour.

With any luck, I’ll make it to bed before it’s time to get up, and I actually will get up somewhat on time.

My Sunday night lineup of shows just hit the airwaves, so perhaps that will help me keep my mind on the correct time. Of course I’m knee deep in editing, so who knows if I’ll even pay attention to said shows?

Earlier this week, I posted something about my latest writing adventure, so this may be somewhat of a repeat for a few of you, but I wanted to share anyway.

I’ve said before that getting published (at least in the history of Bekahland) seems to be about as likely as winning American Idol. It is a tough, long, obstacle-filled road, and I’m not particularly known for patience and strength.

So I’m moving ahead in a different avenue right now. I’m looking into the possibility of self-publishing, which is something that quite frankly scares me to death. How is it that the very things I dream about can be so terrifying all at the same time? I’m not alone in that, I’m sure. Your dream may not be to write, but you surely have a dream. And if you’re honest, something about that dream scares you.

But why not pursue it anyway?

I’m cautious by nature. I would prefer to know the outcome of any given situation before diving into it. The very thought of taking a risk makes me want to throw up. And given that throwing up is about last on my list of things to do…well, you get the idea.

Even so, why not now?

If I think about it long enough and hard enough, I will rationalize my way right out of it. If you don’t believe me, ask me sometime how strawberry bubble gum doubles as a serving of fruit and a coffee bean is definitely a vegetable. Rationalizing is a gift of mine, and while it can sometimes come in very handy, it can also keep me from running after some of my dreams. Okay…any of my dreams.

And so, I move forward with it. I’m praying hard about it, watching in my ever-cautious way to see if God throws out any major stop signs. But while I watch…I go ahead with the work. I crawl through the manuscript, page by page, looking for errors. Looking for ways to improve a sentence. Wondering what people will think when they read the words. Wondering if I said things the way I should have. Wondering how exciting it will be to have the project completed.

You are now up-to-date on the latest in Bekahland. I’ll keep you updated on the progress! And in the meantime, thanks for hanging in there with me each week. I really appreciate your emails and comments. You are an encouraging bunch!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday. I think he's 77. I think. Something around there. :)

He's currently preaching at a church without a pastor, and this morning, the church gave him this giant birthday card...that also doubled as a welcome card to my Mom.

(I made him stop for pictures while he was still in his Sunday best.)

The church also gave him a cake. (This is one swell church!)

Mom made him all his favorite artery-clogging foods. :) We do love our meat and carbs in this family.

I made him peanut butter fudge. It's one of his favorite things. He said it was good. I said, "The appropriate response here is THIS IS THE BEST FUDGE I'VE EVER EATEN!"

Dad is impossible to buy for. He only ever wants gift cards. So this year I gave him flower bulbs. I was going to put them in a Victoria's Secret bag (like Mom got on her birthday) but I figured he'd fail to see the humor.

Happy birthday, Dad!!

Tired of Looking at Big Hair

I got tired of opening up my blog and seeing that blessed big hair, so I am writing a new post.

It's not been a very eventful week, which explains my lack of posting...but in addition to lack of eventfulness, I've also been looking at/researching/contemplating/praying about/freaking out about a new project.

A couple of years ago (I think three, to be exact) I wrote a little project that I love so much. I've been trying since then to publish it...and that adventure has yet to be successful. Granted, I could have tried harder. My writing buddy Jody (link on the side) has had an awesome year of writing, complete with a book contract, and I am ecstatic for her. She deserves everything she's been blessed with this year because she worked hard to get there. I, on the other hand, spent quite a bit of time enjoying outings with friends and time in the kitchen and time at work...well, maybe that part wasn't so much enjoyed, but it was necessary. And as a result, the publishing pursuit didn't receive quite the attention it should have.

I've toyed with the idea of self-publishing, but it can be scary to think about. The writing conference I attended last year did not - much to my surprise - put it down. I figured in a room full of agents and editors and publishers, the very idea of doing it yourself would not be encouraged. On the contrary, they said it was a viable option to pursue.

In my prayer time about it, I've not had any giant stop signs from God, so for now I'm moving forward. It is possible that the moving will be fast...and I'm not one to normally love a fast-moving process. I am far too cautious for my own good.

So that's what's going on in Bekahland. I'm home on a miserable (yet perfect) rainy evening, curled up on the couch, eating soup and proofreading at a frenzied pace.

MAMA!

Big Hair Woes

I've been having some hair woes lately, so I feel compelled to share them with you.

Growing up, I was...encouraged...required?...to have long hair. I never knew life apart from long, unruly, tangle-laden hair.

Just in case you don't believe me.....

There it is! Poofy bangs and all!
When I went to college, I went through this whole "discover who I am" thing and ended up slowly chopping off the hair. A couple of years after college I was down to this:

I was trying to look older.

Now I'm trying to look younger, so I'm growing it back out. NOT to the length of the first picture. Actually, I haven't decided how long I'm going to let it get, but it's on its way.

Not quickly enough.

I've only recently exited that horrid "do I keep going or do I chop it off?" phase, and I thought my hair life was improving.

But you see, recently, my hair has grown. Not longer. Bigger.

I reinvested in straightening shampoo and conditioner. I woke up earlier to spend more time with the flat iron. I was up to about a half hour a day. And still, by noon, my hair was a thick, ratty brillo pad. Forget running my fingers through it - I couldn't even get a brush through it.

I was Mia Thermopolis before.

Yesterday, in desperation, I decided to schedule yet another hair-thinning appointment. I just had it thinned 2 months ago, and I knew at this rate, I'd be bald inside of a year, but I didn't know what else to do. I considered chopping it off and declaring myself incapable of long hair. I also toyed with purchasing an even more expensive flat iron to try to bet through it faster.

Then it occurred to me...perhaps my flat iron isn't dying after all. What if maybe the heat setting got turned down by accident? I took a look at it when I got home from work, and sure enough, my heat options range from 1 to 7, and mine was set on about 3.5. Well no stinking wonder!!

This morning I fired up the flat iron and within minutes - smoke and steam rolled off my hair.

SWEET.

I went to hair with nice, smooth, long (now that it's not all shriveled up in a tangle) hair.

Like Mia Thermopolis after.

Bits for Sunday, October 4, 2009

** Pictures in the post below! **

Life has officially returned to normal. I’ve cleaned up the kitchen, pulled out all the card-making supplies, and am currently crying over the reveal of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Welcome to my Sunday night life. :)

Most of the weekend was not normal. It did not include cooking or cleaning. But it did include an amazing time of learning, laughing, crying, and having fun.

My friend Marie and I went to Fort Wayne to the Extraordinary Women conference. I’d never been to a women’s conference before, but I was looking forward to this one. I was excited about the lineup of speakers, which included Chonda Pierce and Karen Kingsbury.

I have to tell you, interesting things happen when that much estrogen converges upon one location. The conference started Friday evening and then began again early Saturday morning and continued through most of the day. Marie and I went early Saturday to stand in line waiting for the doors to open, because we’d scoped out some good near-the-exit-with-extra-leg-room seats we hoped to land. We weren’t too far back from the doors, and we had our tickets out and ready for viewing because let me just tell you what happens when doors open for women.

Have you ever seen video clips of that bridal store that has the major sale once or twice a year? The running…the trampling…the insanity? It was like that. No orderly lines where you have your ticket checked by an usher as you enter a door. You had to hold that thing up for it to be a blur in his line of vision as you went streaming by in a dead run for the stairs.

Well. At least if you were the other women. Marie and I hustled until we were free from the trampling dangers and then we walked normally. After all, it wasn’t even eight in the morning yet. On a Saturday.

But aside from that, it was a wonderful weekend. It’s a good day when you can kick back in a stadium seat with an overpriced order of nachos and hear four big-name speakers and two concerts.

My favorite speaker of the weekend ended up being Angela Thomas. I’d heard of her before, but I didn’t really know much about her. (After she spoke, Marie and I visited her table, bought a book, and had the chance to meet her. Shortly after that, I stared at my newly acquired and autographed book and said to Marie, “I kind of think I already own this book now that I think about it.” Sure enough, I do! Woops!) Here’s what I loved about Angela: she was the real deal.
She spoke honestly about the good and bad of her life. She shared what she’s learned and what she’s still struggling to figure out. She invited all of us to stand and represent what God had done in our lives, and she giggled with joy at each answer to prayer. She invited us to make a place at the altar and then she walked among those who did, hugging them and praying over them.

Angela left me with more than two copies of the same book (such a Bekah thing to do). She left me with much to think about regarding how I love others. She left me challenged to be more concerned with being real in front of others and less concerned about how they might think of me. (And if you know me well, you know that is a BIG challenge.)

The things I learned (there were more…but I don’t want you to have to read a novel) were well worth nearly getting trampled at 7:30 in the morning. They were worth having my water bottle confiscated. They were worth overpriced concession food. If you ever have the chance to go, you should take it. It’s a huge blessing!

The Fall O Fun Continues...

Normally I don't have two fun weekends in a row. And after last week and the joys of the David Phelps concert...who would have thought I could handle yet more fun??? But I did!

This weekend I went up to Ft. Wayne to the Extraordinary Women Conference at the Coliseum. I'd never been to such an event before, but it was so much fun, and I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to go!

This year's theme was "Free to be Real" - and the speakers had such encouraging and helpful things to say...stuff that we could implement into our lives.

I went with my friend Marie, and we decided to just stay in a hotel up there, since it was a two day event that ended late on Friday and began early on Saturday. We went up a little bit early on Friday to get settled into our hotel room. (This is me eating M&M's while we waited for the festivities to begin.)

This is how our hotel looked at SIX FORTY EIGHT ON A SATURDAY MORNING - the time we crawled into the car to head to the Coliseum in hopes of getting the seats we'd scoped out the night before. And here's a shout out to the loud boys of the bachelor party who arrived home at 3:59 in the morning.

Kind of felt like I was on a cruise...the bathroom had all sorts of towel creations. A shower caddy...a bow tie...very cute.

We decided that the bath mat was definitely not worth the $12.00, so we just left it.

The great water bottle drama of 2009. This was in the side of my backpack Friday night, and as I went through the turnstile, with women threatening to trample me from behind, the usher snatched it out of my bag and informed me I could not take it inside. It took me a good ten minutes after it was over to track this thing back down. They'd said they'd "hold" it for me. Do you know where it was, according to the second usher I asked? "Over there on the floor under the arena sign." Are you KIDDING ME????

Friday night opened with Al Denson leading the Praise Band. I've heard some of his songs on the radio and have always liked his music, but I'd never heard him in person before. I thought he did a great job - and I was so very impressed with his character. He went out of his way to do little things to uplift others, and I really appreciated that about him.

After praise and worship, Chonda Pierce spoke. I've heard her before on TV and DVD's, but I'd never heard her live. I laughed until I cried. She is absolutely hysterical. Great way to open the event, I thought.

The last event Friday evening was a concert by Matthew West. I'd heard him on the radio too, but I'd never seen him in concert. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it because I didn't know his music very well, I didn't think. Well, he must have used all the songs they play on the radio because I knew all but a couple. I enjoyed the concert, but the ladies sitting in our row asked us to let them out because "it's just not our kind of music."

I tried to get a shot of the crowd, but it wasn't very light in the room. The floor was full and the entire lower section of the arena was full. By the end of today, there were women in the upper section as well.

Saturday started with more praise and worship, and then Karen Kingsbury spoke. I've only read a couple of her books, but I really enjoyed them, and I know she is quite popular in the fiction crowd! Everyone was snapping pictures of her like crazy.

My most favorite, favorite, favorite speaker of the entire event was Angela Thomas. I had heard of her before today, but I'd never read any of her books, nor had I heard her speak. I absolutely loved her spirit. What a sweet woman! Marie and I were both in tears.

We had a lunch break right after Angela's session, so Marie and I went down to the bookstore area and purchased one of her books to study together. We also had the chance to meet her. Such a gracious and loving lady!

After lunch, Mandisa gave a concert. I remember her from American Idol, but I'd never seen her live. She has so much energy and was a fun concert!

The last speaker of the day was Stormie Omartian, whose books on prayer I absolutely love.

Now I'm home and exhausted, but so very glad I went. I'm just going to take a quick little cat nap and then head to the store to have the pictures developed so I can scrap scrap scrap them! :)

SHOUT OUT to Comet Tennis

Well I have four days down in the week-o-busyness. I wouldn't be writing now...I'd be mowing...except I was blissfully saved by rain. That's the good news. The bad news is I might be evicted for too-tall-grass if I can't mow soon!!

I don't want to disappoint Phats, so I want to be sure to give a shout out to Comet Tennis. I went to a match yesterday before church, so I could see my friend Megan play and my friend Phats coach. He said if Megan won, I should have to do a backflip.

She won.

Too bad you missed the backflip, Phats! ;)