I Really Need to Learn How to Sew....

Can someone please teach me to sew?!?! I'm sure there's lots of cute little girls at church who need a new dress:). Cute!!!!!

Breakfast at Emily's

Ben and I had breakfast for dinner! We fixed The Lady's Perfect Scrambled Eggs, Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Cinnamon Cream, and bacon. Paula Dean totally came through. The recipes tasted amazing - I HIGHLY recommend trying them for yourself!

So, about 5 minutes until American Idol..... I'm curious to see who will get kicked off. I have a couple ideas of folks that I think might have their last performance tonight:).

Birthday Weekend!

We had a ton of fun with Ben's family this weekend! We were very busy with all of the activities to celebrate Ben's birthday.



They had quite a drive in the inclimate weather. A normal 3 1/2 hour drive turned into 4 1/2 to 5 hours! Yikes! Charlie was a bit tired when he arrived.

We played the Wii a lot this weekend. Daniel and Ben especially. It was fun to see everyone "rock" on the guitar!

The guys played pool at Dave & Busters. We also went to the movie theater and saw "Vantage Point".

Ben's birthday dinner was Saturday evening - he got to pick the meal, and I'm SO glad my honey is low-maintenance:). We had Shake-n-Bake pork chops, "Party Potatoes", green beans (I was afraid that I'd run out with all the people that were going to be there so I went to Costco and got one of the school cafeteria-sized cans.... let's just say that green beans will be a popular side this week:)), homemade creamed corn, macaroni-and-cheese, biscuits, fruit, and lemon meringue pie. I always get asked for the recipe for "Party Potatoes" so I'll go ahead and include it at the end of this post. My grandma always used to make them for family gatherings, and I LOVE them!

We wrapped up the evening with a game of Yahtzee - always a favorite! I won:) (which was a refreshing change since I usually come in at the bottom of the pack).

Party Potatoes

Mashed potatoes for 12
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 c. sour cream
Salt to taste [Instead of salt, I use garlic salt.]

Prepare potatoes with usual amount of milk. Add softened cream cheese and sour cream. Place in casserole. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake in moderate oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

This may be prepared a day in advance and kept refrigerated unitl needed to bake.

(Treasured Recipes from Wolcott Christian Church submitted by Kay Hall and Lucille Keller)

Party Prep

Ben's parents are coming into town this weekend for Ben's birthday (it was the 18th). So, tomorrow, he's getting his "birthday meal". To prepare for the event, I used the same table decorations that we used earlier this week but made some special placecards! I can't wait to eat them:).

They just got here, so I better go say hi!

Lunar Eclipse

My hubby called me tonight to let me know about the lunar eclipse. He didn't think that I'd venture outside in the freezing cold and snow. But..... I have proof! (I know it just looks like a piece of lint on a black sweatshirt, but I promise it's the moon:). )

Jeffrey, My Bodyguard:)

After Awana tonight, one of the kindergarteners in our class, Jeffrey, wanted me to walk him downstairs to his dad (Jeffrey's parents work with the junior highers). He didn't "want to be taken". I wasn't for sure what he was talking about at first; he went on to describe a kindergartener's view of a kidnapping. I was happy to make Jeffrey feel safer.

As we continued, he exclaimed, "I know karate." I asked him, "So, you'll be able to protect me, then?" "No."

He did assure me that we he gets angry, though, he gets much faster and stronger:).

Our Special Guests

We had such a blast with Sean and Yo tonight! We talked almost the whole evening and really enjoyed getting to know them better. And it was really funny to learn that Sean has 2 younger brothers (just like Ben) and Yo is an only child (just like me). They're getting married in June, and so we got to compare notes on weddings, families, work, etc.

They brought the most amazing fruit salad. Ben really enjoyed it, so I was anxious to get the recipe: Take the reserved juice from a can of pineapple (you'll use the pineapple in the salad a little later) and mix in 1 pkg. of vanilla instant pudding and enough milk to make a good "sauce" consistency. Then, add 1 can of pineapple, 1 can of mandarin oranges, 2 "cans" worth of strawberries, 1-2 bananas, and mini marshmallows. It was soooo yummy and very easy to put together!

If only Purdue had won.....

Yo, Sean, and Ben

Pictures for Leann

I'm posting a few pictures of our house for my college friend, Leann. :) I didn't forget about your request! Sorry the pictures aren't very good! (I didn't photograph the master bed or bath because they have such a LONG way to go! And everyone's already seen a zillion pictures of the kitchen and laundry room:). )

The Great Room (If anyone has any paint color ideas, we're open to suggestions!)

The Guest Bath Room

The Guest Room

The Office... Boiler Up!

I've Been Watching Too Much Food Network:)

Ben and I are having company over tomorrow... I mean today:). Ben's friend Sean from work and Sean's fiance Yo (it's short for a beautiful, but longer and more complicated-to-spell, name) are coming over for dinner and the Purdue/IU game. Ben and I are really looking forward to spending time with them (and enjoying a Boilermaker victory!). In preparing for this event, it has occurred to me that I've been watching too much Food Network, specifically Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. In every episode, she creates a complete thematic menu using mostly store-bought ingredients but with some creative additions. While we won't be having "cocktail time" tomorrow night, I did try and create a tablescape.

The table is decorated with a giant mirror, candles, and fresh flowers. Can you tell I'm ready for spring?!

I wrapped the silverware in the white napkins and then made little flower placecards with organza(?) ribbon.

When Sandra Lee finishes her episodes, she ends with a catchy little phrase that includes alliteration. I'll give it a try: "And remember: keep it sweet, keep it sparkling, keep it spring-y, and always keep it Semi-Homemade." :)

AWANA Grand Prix

Tonight was the AWANA Grand Prix! The kids and adults built cars (like what I made in my ITE class in 6th grade - wooden with wheels). They got to decorate them however they wanted and then race them. They really liked it. One of the little girls from the Cubbies group (3-4 year olds) won 2nd place and received a trophy. She told me, "I like trophies." :) Simply adorable!!!

I packed the camera and batttery charger, but, in a stroke of genius, I forgot the memory card!!! Sorry I don't have pictures to share!! There were tons of people there, and the cars were AMAZING!

Worship Time!

Nancy Heslop took this AWESOME picture on Wednesday night at AWANA. It's the Sparkies singing to "Every Move I Make". They do a fabulous job with the words and motions. It's so great to watch and hear them sing their hearts out to God. (I'm the tall kid in the front:). )




The words go like this:


"Every move I make I make in You;
You make me move, Jesus.
Every breath I take I breathe in You.
Every step I take I take in You;
You are my way, Jesus.
Every breath I take I breathe in You.


Waves of mercy, waves of grace -
Everywhere I look, I see Your face.
Your love has captured me.
Oh, my God, this love - how can it be?!"


I love how the song talks about seeing God's goodness everywhere and being consumed with a passion for Him - in everything I do! It reminds me of Romans 12:1-2: "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Valentine's Day!

We hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day (or Singles Awareness Day... it depends on your perspective:) ).

Ben surprised me by fixing me breakfast and giving me a beautiful bouquet of roses and a great card. It was absolutely hilarious - both he and I gave each other cards that said something about the wife stealing all the covers! (It's definitely true - I have one freezing hubby at night!)




I made dinner for us tonight. And while it wasn't the typical romantic dinner, it was still yummy. We had Yummy Beef and Potato Casserole, green beans, biscuits, and cottage cheese. And Anne Marie.... I used my mini chopper in honor of you for the red pepper. I took pictures to show you!

It was a great day!

Budget Dilemma

Ben and I are always super excited when Cadbury eggs hit the shelves as they are our FAVORITE Easter candy. However, when we discovered last night at the cash register that the eggs were 50 cents EACH, we weren't so sure that they were "in the budget" (at least not to the frequency we would like them to be).

So, I was absolutely ECSTATIC to discover a homemade version of the famous candy. Tonight, I surprised Ben with the results. I skipped a couple steps and definitely missed most of the chill time, but they were still very yummy!

The recipe started off simply enough: butter, light corn syrup, salt, vanilla...

But by the time I added all the powdered sugar, I was totally missing my Grandma's cookie-making-muscles. I remember when we used to make cookies together, I would totally wimp out, and Grandma would use her super-human strength to get all the flour mixed into the chocolate chip cookie dough!

I made a little too much yolk.....

Cute!!!

I got to use our double boiler for the first time.

Not as pretty as store-bought, but they definitely had character....

Herbie was a little confused over the thought of CHOCOLATE eggs.

Ben took the opportunity to make a couple chocolate-dipped marshmallows.... another favorite!

The finished product!

If you look closely, you can see the yolk:). (Sorry for the blur!)

What A Game!

I guess I have 2 things to post about today.....

Hail Purdue!!

Blog Inspiration

I was getting a little concerned because I almost went a whole day with having nothing worth blogging about. However, Ben came to the rescue!

For those of you who don't know Ben (and as a reminder to those of you who do:) ), he is a little psycho when it comes to buying shoes. He is the only man I know that can (happily) spend HOURS in a shoe store. And that's even after he's spent countless moments on the internet researching the best and the worst online, reading reviews, checking out the features, etc. But even after all of that study, he usually doesn't end up with the first pair he takes home. The shoes wait patiently in their packaging until he can try them out at home and see if he's ready for a long-term commitment:).

And so, tonight, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when he announced that he needed to take his current pair back to the store for a new size. But I was:).

And to catch you up on the drama, the new pair he will be picking up is the 4th pair of THE EXACT SAME SHOES!!!! No exageration!

In all fairness, though, the first of the 4 had to be taken back because he found them $25 cheaper elsewhere:).

Valentine's Day Preparations

My friend Heather and I are reading The Excellent Wife together (by Martha Peace). For this week, we were reading the chapter on Love. We decided with Valentine's Day around the corner, we would make tonight a "practical application" evening:). So, we made Valentine's presents for our hubbies.


We filled red balloons with helium and special surprises and then tied them with fun string. Then, on Valentine's Day, they'll be able to pop the baloons one by one to reveal their surprises! It was so much fun working on this together tonight. We hope Ben and Kyle will have as much fun on Thursday as we did today!

Lynn Faulk's Amazing Oreo Truffles

Lynn brought snacks to our Young Marrieds class tonight. She is an amazing cook! My favorite tonight was her Oreo Truffles. She told me how to make them, and it sounds pretty easy!

Take a package of regular Oreos and whirl around in the food processor until you can't see the white anymore and they are like sand. Then, mix in an 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese. Form them into small (truffle-sized) balls. Put in the fridge (or freezer if you only have a couple of hours). Then, dip in chocolate. (Lynn said she doesn't use chocolate chips, but instead uses the chocolate that is made for dipping.) Then, and this is the really professional looking part!, she takes a plastic bag with a small tip of one end cut off and drizzles the chocolate on top. Tonight she used more of the brown chocolate, but she said white chocolate makes it look really good!

I HIGHLY recommend this recipe - it was soooooo yummy (and a very special treat, too:) )!

This looks like the recipe she may have used (including a picture).

I Officially Have A Rare Personality:)

It has been confirmed. I'm not normal:). I took an online personality test - here are my results:

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISFP)

Your personality type is caring, peaceful, artistic, and calm. Only about 7% of all people have your personality, including 8% of all women and 6% of all men You are Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

Purdue vs. Wisconsin - 9 PM TONIGHT!

Herbie and his friend are gearing up for the big game! A Purdue win will keep them at the top of the Big Ten!

Hail Purdue!

Chef Ben!

Ben treated me to a very special date night last night. He cooked AND cleaned up. He served his special lasagna and garlic bread! It was amazing! He had some other things planned, but we were so wiped out from the week, we thought that maybe we could have "Date Weekend" instead and save those for later:).

Ta Da!

Sparkies Say the Cutest Things....

Last night at AWANA, the Kindergarteners (AWANA Sparks is the age group from Kindergarten through 2nd Grade) were soooooo cute!

The lead teacher in our class had me ask the kids what "Easter" meant. And of course, the first kid that I called on answered correctly: "It means when Jesus rose from the dead." Totally stole my thunder. However, I kept asking the kids for more answers so that we could DIFFERENTIATE between the Biblical meaning of Easter and the commercial meaning of Easter. In hindsight, this may have been a little advanced:).

After a small while, someone was brave enough to answer "eggs", so that I could try to make my point:). We talked about why Jesus had to die (for OUR sins - we have some very smart Sparkies:) ). And then from there, our Kindergarten class got a little off track, but it was priceless. One of the little girls commented that Jesus was like an egg in an Easter egg hunt, and we have to go find Him. To which I replied, well, it's kind of like that - it is very important to find Jesus.

By the end of the evening, at least one of them had decided that the original Easter morning (when Jesus rose from the dead and left an empty tomb behind) was like Jesus hatching from an Easter egg. She colored some very beautiful multi-colored eggs and had Jesus popping out of one of them.

Another one of my favorite moments happened as one of the Kindergarteners did her best to phonetically spell "Jesus and God" on her picture. If I remember correctly, it ended up something like this: "GEZIS AND GOD". It was a beautiful picture, and I loved how she had tried so hard!

Hide 'n' Seek

Herbie was playing Hide 'n' Seek during laundry time.

He's watching you.....

Herbie Fears For His Life

Ben and I shopped at Costco tonight - one of our favorite stores:). We like to purchase our ground beef there. I'm not very good at price shopping, but I'm pretty sure that it's almost 1/2 price to buy the meat there in bulk, rather than pound by pound at the grocery store. We like to buy the patties and then individually seal them in plastic baggies. That way, they're already portioned out - each burger = 1/2 pound, so 2 burgers = Hamburger Helper:) (and virtually every recipe that calls for ground beef). Herbie thought this was the perfect opportunity to gain support for an issue very close to his heart.

EET MOR BEEF!

ALERT! AWANA Nerd Sighting!

Every week AWANA has a different theme night..... Tonight was Nerd Night.

View at your own risk:).

Sweet Surrender

The following is an excerpt from Nancy Leigh DeMoss's (one of my all time favorite authors!) book Surrender:

"Betty Scott grew up in China, where her parents were missionaries. She returned to the United States at the age of seventeen for her last year of high school, followed by college and Bible institute. During those years, Betty penned a prayer that has become the petition of many other believers who long to live a life of unconditional surrender to Jesus as Lord:

'Lord, I give up my own plans and purposes, all my own desires, hopes and ambitions, and I accept Thy will for my life. I give up myself, my life, my all, utterly to Thee, to be Thine forever. I hand over to Thy keeping all of my friendships; all the people whom I love are to take second place in my heart. Fill me now and seal me with Thy Spirit. Work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, for to me to live is Christ. Amen.'

After completing her schooling, Betty returned to China to serve with the China Inland Mission. Two years later, in October of 1933, she married John Stam, also a CIM worker. In December of 1934, just weeks after the birth of their baby girl, John and Betty were taken hostage by hostile Communist soldiers, and within a few days were beheaded. Betty was twenty-eight years old.

When she wrote, 'Work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost,' she had no way of knowing what full surrender would cost her. Although some might consider the cost exorbitant, I am confident that Betty, having laid down her life for Christ, would not think the price too high."

Heaven Is Her Home

Ben and I had the privelege of attending the visitation for Clara Farris tonight, a very dear lady from our church. Her daughter Char shared with us that Clara thought a lot of us and prayed for us on our wedding day. That was humbling, and it meant a lot.

Clara was an outstanding example of a servant of Christ. I would come to AWANA on Wednesdays with a complaining heart, and even though she was probably in a lot of pain, she was there serving with a bright smile on her face, giving her time and energy to love on people. I also remember when Ben and I were still dating that she would check up on me every so often and ask if "you and that guy are getting married yet" and reminding me that "he's a really nice guy". (I don't remember her exact words - sorry!) It was so sweet of her to be interested!

Clara's family shared this entry that she wrote in her journal this past November:
"Dear Heavenly Father,
'...I just found out I have bone cancer, I praise your Holy Name! You knew it before I did and you have allowed it for Your glory. Help me Lord that You might be magnified through this. I have now accepted this and praise You and hope I can be honorable through this.' "

They also shared the following verse - Psalm 116:15: " 'Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.' "

Clara's death is precious in His sight!

I'm so thankful to have known Clara and seen her (and her family's) powerful testimony of the goodness and faithfulness of our God! And I'm so thankful that Clara had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that guarantees that she is in heaven right now where she is enjoying the wonderful blessings of being in the presence of her Savior!

Humility and the Super Bowl

You guys have got to check out this post by C.J. Mahaney. He discusses his thoughts on last night's Super Bowl loss for the Patriots. His blog post was a great reminder to me of my sin and the grace of God. You'll have to read the blog to see the connection of those two and last night's game:).

Go Giants!

Woo-hoo!! Giants won the Super Bowl!! Herbie is psyched! (Doesn't he look excited?!)

Fun Surprise from Alabama

First of all, Boiler Up! Way to go Purdue on your outstanding win against the Illini! (Sorry, Dad:). )


Ben was gone all last week on a work trip to Huntsville, Alabama. He's on the team that is building the next "Space Shuttle" (Ares Rocket). He brought me back a mouse pad that shows a picture of what it will look like. Our company (I work at L-3 - also, just a different division) has electronics on the middle rocket on the mousepad.

La Fiesta de la Huckstep

Me gusto Date Night!

Ben and I had a lot of fun with our Mexican Fiesta! Fiesta Mexicana music (Dish Satellite music channel) set the mood. We ate homemade tacos and fried ice cream. Ben liked the honey version. We watched The Pacifier (OK... so no Mexican tie in, but it was a cute movie anyways). Then, we broke a pinata and played some other games. It was a great night! See for yourself!

Welcome to the Huckstep Party!

Herbie was hungry, too.

Ben decided he liked me better blonde!

The $10 pinata didn't quite stay up like it was supposed to.

So, Ben thought he would try "Pinata Golf".

Mission Accomplished!

Herbie had a lot of fun tonight! And so did we!