Caramel Apples

So... I still haven't made the pie... I want to, I just don't want to be the only one home when it comes out of the oven. That's a dangerous thing. Besides, it has been so hot this week, I would hardly call it fall... (sorry, fall, but you're not really living up to the crisp days I've expected of you.)

BUT

I did make caramel apples. Well, really, they're Milk Dud apples, and they were delicious.

It was easy.

Just emptied all of these little boxes of Milk Duds...

 Melted them down in a pot... (with about 2Tbsp of water and a dash of cinnamon)

 Stuck some sticks into the apples and dipped them in!

 I put some tin foil on a cutting board and sprayed it with some PAM to make sure the caramel wouldn't stick.

 Stuck the apples in the fridge to help them cool...

 And later we ate them.

 They were so good.

And, I got to do all of this apple-dipping AFTER I spent the whole morning with this precious girl!

Miss Avery!

 We played with stuffed animals, went for a nice long walk, read some books and then A. slept for almost 3 hours! She didn't even make a sound when I laid her down for her nap! She woke up just in time for her daddy to get home and send me on my merry way. 

 I love getting to spend time with this sweet girl! Add her to the list of "pros of living in Sioux Falls," for sure.

So, that was my yesterday. Today I have done less exciting things. I worked on some applications, worked out, and now I need to go get ready for work... that all sounds like a lot of work being done...

Anyway, off to the closet to see what combination of my 4 sets of clothes will be worn to work today! Hopefully I can find something that's a little different from what I have already worn to work... they're probably starting to notice that I only have 2 pairs of jeans with me right now. Can hardly wait for Dad and Mom to be here next weekend (1. because I miss them, B. because they'll have my clothes, III. because I'll be moving into my own place! YAY!) More on that later!

Hi-ho! Hi-ho! It's off to work I go!
Happy Thursday!

Sweet Sunday

Today started with a cup of coffee, as I think every day should. :) When you start your day well, I believe the rest of the day is likely to follow; this idea held true for me.

I hopped out of bed eager to get ready for church and start the day (knowing that there would be coffee made this feat much easier). We went to The Point church this morning along with some of our friends. There was a great worship period before the sermon that really brought our attention to God in our world. The sermon was based on Psalm 139, one of my favorites. In a nutshell, our focus was on the fact that the Lord is greater than anything we can ever completely fathom as is His everlasting, unconditional love for us. He knows more about us than anyone, yet He loves us more than anyone. WOW! As if that's not enough, He will NEVER leave us; He is ALWAYS here! How could you ask for anything more in a God?! Often times, the more people know about you the more vulnerable you are to them discovering something that will cause them to feel differently about you. God is not this way at all. There is nothing that can be concealed from Him because He knew it about you before you even knew it about yourself. And the best part, it doesn't make Him care about you or love you any less!

¹ You have searched me, LORD, and you know me...

¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you...

¹³ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb...



I guess I don't understand how anyone's day can continue in any way other than good after hearing and dissecting that scripture...

I am getting off track...

After spending some time in church with God, friends and other lovely people, I had the perfect "first weekend of fall" experience; I got to go to an apple orchard! (YAYYY!) It worked out perfectly because we only had to drive to Harrisburg which is only 5 miles South of Sioux Falls. None of us had ever been to this orchard before, so we didn't really know where or how to get started, but finally someone asked and we went to buy our bags to load with apples. Scott, Keri, Nate, Trey and I had a blast wandering through the rows of trees in search of the perfect apples to make our sweet apple-somethings.

 The pickers. Left to right: Keri, Scott, Nate, Me, Trey

Yes, they have pumpkins too.

The first of many rows of apple trees.



 



Trey picked an apple with his mouth. Nate was thoroughly impressed.

 

Just waiting to be picked and enjoyed.

 

 

 

 

Is it strange that even old fruit has a certain beauty to me?

Taste test = yum!

  

Keri and Scott walking ahead with their apples in hand.

 

Freshly: picked, cleaned, polished. Gorgeous apples.

 

Us with a fun pumpkin.

(photo courtesy Nate Bertsch)

    

As you can see, our trip to the orchard was a successful one! I can hardly wait to turn our apples into some sort of sweet treat tomorrow! I'll be sure to post about it once I decide which apple creation to make!

After the orchard, Nate, Trey and I went to CiCi's for lunch, which was delicious and fun to get to spend more time enjoying each other's company. I had to work at Chedd's at 3, so the rest of my afternoon and evening were consumed by making gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches for people and cleaning the restaurant. Some days I feel more like a cleaning lady for that place than anything; today was definitely one of those days. I worked Friday and Saturday night too, so this whole closing shift is beginning to get to me! Luckily it was broken up with movies on the couch on Friday, watching some flag football on Saturday, and tomorrow I have the day off.

I am happy to say it was another great weekend. I hope you had a fun-filled first weekend of fall as well!

Aloha, Friday.

Today marks the official first day of fall, and oh, what a wonderful day it is!
I haven't blogged for a couple weeks due to some technological issues which are all, thankfully, finally resolved (or so I think).

Today I feel thankful. Not for one thing in particular, but for my life as a whole and the way the Lord has changed me and grown me into the person I am today so I may have the blessings I have. I am thankful for all of the things that he has given me that I am aware of as well as those things yet to be discovered.

A good friend of mine is Hawaiian, and she always says, "Aloha, Friday!" as a way of saying goodbye to the week that has passed and hello to the weekend that lies ahead. With that "aloha," I am also going to say some of the things that are on my mind that I am so grateful for; God is so good!

I am thankful that I can see

a freshly made bed

sunshine

children playing

patterns and colors of all kinds

I am thankful that I can hear

wind rustling the leaves

laughter

music

silences

I am thankful that I can smell

food as it is prepared

clean laundry

rain

my coffee

I am thankful that I can taste

cheese

ice cream

toothpaste

fresh fruits and veggies

I am thankful I can feel

crisp fall weather

textures of all kinds

warm leggings and sweatshirts

love.

Aloha, Friday.

Something for a wall

A few weeks ago, I was sitting, staring at a blank wall in the apartment. I began to feel a couple of things: 1. frustrated that the wall was completely bare, lacking a feeling of "home;" 2. inspired because I knew that I could come up with something to help the wall and make the living room more inviting. So, rather than stick with the frustrated feeling, I began brainstorming. Originally, I had no idea what I was going to do. I decided to run to Goodwill and see what I could find to re-purpose there. I wandered through the clutter and giggled to myself at some of the "stuff" around me. Then, I came across this board (I wish I took a picture of it before I did anything to it, because it was quite comical what was on it). The background was white, but it had a poem of some sort written on it in bright flourecent colors with goofy pictures titled "Love is Like Chocolate," (or something like that). Luckily, I chose not to be deterred by what was written on it. I knew that this board could be painted and turned into a wall hanging of some sort, so I splurged, spent the $6 to get it, and brought it home, very excited! I quickly picked up some dark brown paint and covered the silly poem. ;)

 

The blank canvas.

Once it was covered, I had a million and one ideas rushing through my brain of what this board could be. I decided to go with inspiration from a favorite Bible verse, Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Initially, the plan was to simply write this across the board, hang it on the wall and call it decoration. Simple, yet beautiful. I began playing with fonts on the computer adding and subtracting from the list of favorites. I debated between a horizontal and a vertical layout of my board... But I got bored with this idea. Instead, I decided to take it to the next level. This is what I came up with:
   



I decided to hand write the verse, using a paint pen, rather than printing it off the computer and using a perfect computerized font. Sometimes, I think that it is more fun to do things by hand. :) Also, rather than write the verse in a straight line (which definitely would have sufficed), I thought that I could add some energy to the board by varying text and location. I know that this is not a professional project by any means, but I am satisfied with how it turned out. The frames are some 50cent frames from Goodwill that I spray-painted gold. The pictures that are currently in the frames are all pictures of the sky that I or someone I know has taken.



Final product hanging in its place.



 

I hope to make many more of these, whether as gifts or for my own enjoyment. Who knows, maybe this one will be taken down and altered again someday, but for now, it will hang happily on the wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 Supplies List:

• 1 board- any size will do, dependent on the space you're working with.
• 1 2oz. bottle paint- used for the main color. Spray paint would also work. More or less may be necessary depending on the size of your board.
• 1 paint pen- choose a color that works well in your space and coordinates with the background color.
• a few small frames- I ended up using 4 of the 5 frames I got from Goodwill. Depending on the pictures you plan to display and the size of the board you may not be able to use as many.
• 1 can spray paint- I used gold to match the writing, but it would be fun to use a different color or even multiple colors for the frames.
• 1 bottle tacky glue- apply directly to the frames to ensure it is placed in the right spot.
• Pictures- various sizes depending upon your frames.

 

Happy creating! :-D





On the Road.... {again}

This past weekend my family embarked on yet another trip down to Evansville, Indiana. Although the overall purpose of this trip was not simply for enjoyment, we did have a lot of fun. With five of us packed into the car on the way down, the 13 hours spent on the road were anything but dull. Of course, there were spurts of sleep here and there, and considering the time we departed from Elk River, rightfully so. Nonetheless there were many entertaining moments in the car that made the sardine-like seating not so bad afterall. Below are some pictures of the road trip taken by my phone's camera, so not the highest quality photo you've ever seen, but it captures the moment (for the most part).

It was a dreary beginning to a long trip. Rain fell almost the whole time we were in Wisconsin.

After hours of rain, finally some sunshine joined us.

And with the sunshine came the next state: Illinois!

If only we knew how long we would be in Illinois, maybe we would have appreciated Wisconsin a little more...

Somehow, even though he grew up in Evansville, IN, my father found a way to get us lost... We drove on this "highway" for a long time before we finally made it back out to the interstate. What we didn't know was that there are places in Illinois where the highways are only wide enough for one vehicle and although the roads do not seem to be patrolled by officers of any sort, the bumps and potholes take care of any speeding issues. Miles and miles of corn.

^ The simple life. ^

Luckily for us, Aunt Jule packed us a lovely care package with ranch pretzels, sweet corn chip chex mix, starburst, granola bars, nips caramels and of course four delicious flavors of gum! Thanks Aunt Jule- you saved our trip!

I also kept busy by continuing to knit my very first scarf. I am so glad Grandma Jackie taught me how to knit. It will be a forever great memory and past time.

As we got to Indiana, the sun was setting. If only I had a great camera to capture the beautiful scenery; my phone hardly does the sky any justice. It was gorgeous!

Despite getting lost and adding an hour or so to our trip, we made it! It was so good to get to Evansville and spend time with the family. Whenever all of the family is gathered in one place good conversation is a guarantee! Sitting in Grandma and Grandpa's living room with kids playing on the floor and people talking all at the same time I could feel the love that filled the room. Although Grandma Jackie is no longer able to join us physically, she will always be with each of us in our hearts and minds. The memorial service held for her on Saturday was beautiful. I will forever be greatful to her and grandpa for starting such a beautiful family.

"When we all get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout the victory!"

"O there's sunshine, blessed sunshine, when the peaceful happy moments roll; when Jesus shows His smiling face, there is sunshine in my soul."