Kreativ Blogger

My dear friend, Marisa, gave me this "Kreativ Blogger" award. I feel so honored she would pick me as one of her "Kreativ" friends. I think what she does with her sewing machine is amazing! She and her sister, Jenn, even have their own Etsy store, Sycamore Lane. She is such a dear friend and such a blessing to me!
So the way this works is, there are 7 topics that I am supposed to say 7 things about. Here goes!

Seven things I did before . . .

1. Starting this blog post, start dinner at 8:30 p.m.
   
2. Took a nap today.
3. Went grocery shopping today.
4. Had a doctor's appointment today.
5. Made Thank You cards today.
6. Graduated from Cedarville University in 2001.
7. Worked as a local "travel" nurse in Cincinnati and Columbus.

Seven things I do now . . .

1. Work as a contract nurse at the local Air Force base hospital on their medical floor.
2. I love to cook.
3. I am currently preparing for our first child--due in something like 20 days!
4. Attend Apex Community Church.
5. I am part of the Creighton House Church family.
6. Blog.
   
7. Enjoy good coffee.

Seven things I would like to do . . .

1. Be a stay-at-home mom.
2. Get my master's degree in Nursing Education.
3. Teach nursing someday.
4. Home school my children.
5. Have at least four children.
6. Take a family missions trip to Africa.
7. Raise godly children.

Seven things that attract me to my husband . . .

1. His tender heart.
2. His love of children.
3. His love of the Lord.
4. His passion for life.
5. His support of me and my dreams.
6. His smile.
7. His love of people in general.

Seven favorite foods . . .

1. Coffee
2. Chocolate
3. Bread
4. Candy
5. Pasta
6. Potatoes
7. Cheese
8. Pickles (Gedney Baby Dill, specifically)
   

(Notice the carb theme? Couldn't resist the pickles!) ;-p

Seven things I say most often . . .

1. I'm so tired!
2. Oofda!
3. So I was thinkin' . . .
   
4. When Nugget comes . . . .
5. Botherness!
6. Kenya, No! (hee, hee)
7. I can't remember. (No, really, I can't remember anything these days! I say that at least 25 times a day!)
   

Now I am supposed to tag 7 more people.

1. I'll start with my friend Kristi. This woman can make the most creative cakes!
   
2. Our friends Joel and Krista are missionaries in Costa Rico. They have limited internet access right now, but take the most amazing pictures and do some phenomenal video work!
3. My grandmother because what other woman my age can say her grandmother knows how to blog! In addition, she knits and crochets some amazing things--like a beautiful butter colored afghan for Nugget!
   
4. My sister Kim wh o is busy raising 3 boys while pregnant with twins in the middle of nowhere North Dakota--if that doesn't require a large amount of creativity I don't know what does!
5. My sister Nikki who is raising 3 boys, going to school on and off, working with the children at their church and helping her husband with the youth! Craziness! Just managing that schedule requires a large amount of creativity.
6. My brother and SIL, Bobby and Tiffany, who are busy raising 3 kids 2 years old and under! Tiffany still has time to make fantastic cakes--check out my sisters' blogs to see some pics!
7. My mom managed to raise 4 kids on a shoestring budget and now balances "grandmothering" soon to be 13 grandbabies. Her and my dad create fun things in his workshop for all these grandbabies!

Wow! This was a long post--it took a lot longer than I thought it would! Feel free to accept the "award" without completing all the post stuff--you all are crazy busy people! Just wanted you all to know you are loved!

Pondering

My heart is pondering:

To topple the "stronghold of our experiences" we must "let God be found true, though every man be found a liar" (Romans 3:4, NASB). The only One who has a right to shape our lives is Jesus Christ. We must determine to allow nothing and no one to shape us, not even our personal experiences, unless they are consistent with the promises of God. In truth, who is ruling our lives, God or our experiences?
Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlefields

While drinking:

Chocolate Chai

Recipe #47885 | 40 min | 30 min prep |

| Edit...

My Notes:

My Notes

ONLY YOU see your private notes, and they print with the recipe.

SERVES 2 -3

Change to: Servings US Metric

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

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Ingredients

• 1 bag black tea (such as orange pekoe, darjeeling, english breakfast, or lapsang souchong)
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• whipped cream

Directions

1. Pour the boiling water over tea bag in a small saucepan.

2. Cover and let stand 3 to 5 min.

3. Remove tea bag.

4. Stir in sugar and cocoa powder.

5. Cook and stir over medium heat just till mixture comes to boiling.

6. Stir in milk, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

7. Heat through.

8. Do not boil.

9. Pour into cups.

10. Top each serving with a dollop of whipped cream.

How cool is this?! I was reading SouleMama today, who is also in her 3rd trimester, and she was dreaming of having one of these for the new baby. I must say I agree with her! It is so cool--more than I would probably pay for at this point in my life, but I can dream. :-D I love reading her. My days feel more peaceful and she has such fun, creative, and homey ideas. Hope you had a peaceful day.

Updates

Forgive my lack of blogging lately! It seems I am busier than ever getting ready for this baby. Sunday I had a wonderful shower thrown by my friends Amanda and Sarah. I will get pics up but first Ralph needs to edit them (they were taken from a somewhat unflattering angle--we need to make them PG). ;-p They did such a fantastic job and are amazing friends! Thanks, guys! And thanks to all of you who made it to the shower and provided such wonderful items to welcome Baby Nugget into the world with.

Yesterday we got all of our paper work completed at our birthing center. While we were there, we watched a great water birthing video which got us both so excited for the delivery and to meet Nugget.

One last thing, hate to bombard you with giveaway's but Marisa pointed me to one today that I think we could all use for Christmas. Go over to Frugal Mom for a chance to win $100 Amazon gift card and a great bag from a fun new Etsy shop!

Bread Baking Fiend

Friday I went on a bread baking binge! Total count: 2 loaves of English muffin bread, 4 loaves of my family's famous bread, 1 loaf of Challah bread (pictured above), 2 pizzas and 10 caramel rolls. I am rather proud of myself. I froze a lot of it for future use. We ate one of the pizzas last night (the other will make great lunches this week). Half of the Challah bread was used to make French toast for our breakfast this morning. Our house smelled wonderful yesterday! There is something very homey and fall about the smell of fresh baked bread. What are some of your favorite fall smells? One I don't get much of out here in OH is when people fire up the wood burning stoves in MN. That was always a fun fall scent!

Fun Fall Giveaway!

There is always a giveaway happening somewhere on the internet! This week I found a fun one atInie Fixx. I found some super cute stuff I am hoping to win! One is Amy Butlers Little Stitches for Little Ones. I've been wanting to start sewing again and this looks like great motivation! There are also some fun scrubs from Bidwell Botanicals that really look yummy! Take a look around--so much fun stuff!

Look What I Did!

I made homemade yogurt--and it was easy!! I was reading The Grocery Cart Challenge, a blog by a woman who chronicles feeding her family of six for roughly $50/week, and found a recipe for homemade yogurt. It looked quite easy. We go through quite a bit of yogurt for two people since I have yogurt smoothies for breakfast most mornings. I thought it looked like a great way to save a little money without a huge time investment. Here is the link for homemade yogurt. We figured we will save at least $200/year, if not more. We also recently canceled our satellite TV until we figure out how much money Nugget is going to cost us. We don't have an antenna for our TV at this moment, which has freed me up to do things like learn how to make homemade yogurt. Pretty cool what a little less TV time will bring. ;-D

Fall Treat

Ralph and I were craving a fun fall treat last night. We landed on apple cake! Yum! At first we wanted to make Mom's Apple Cake but it would have used most if not all of my apples. Then we found one on RecipeZaar. It is so yummy we had to have 2 pieces each last night!

Apple Bundt Cake
From RecipeZaar

Recipe #51757 | 1¼ hours | 20 min prep |
SERVES 12 (change servings and units)

Ingredients

* 2 cups apples, peeled,cored and diced
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups sugar
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup orange juice
* 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 4 eggs
* 1 cup chopped walnuts
* powdered sugar, for decoration
* all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix apples, cinnamon and sugar, set aside.
3. Mix all the rest of the ingredients, mix well.
4. Grease bundt pan.
5. Add 1/3 of batter mixture to the pan.
6. Sprinkle half of the apple mixture over the batter then follow with 1/3
batter, and then add rest of apples and top with rest of batter.
7. Bake for 55- 60 minutes.

I baked ours in a Pampered Chef Bundt pan so it took closer to 70 minutes. It was well worth the wait!

Fun Fall Food

I love the fall! I love fall food! Let me share with you a recipe that had Ralph and I licking our lips all week last week.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Apple Soup
from Real Simple
3 pounds sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 apple (such as Granny Smith or Empire), peeled and thinly sliced
Kosher salt and black pepper

Heat oven to 400° F. Prick the potatoes with a fork, place on a baking sheet, and roast until tender, 40 to 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, and apple and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 10 to 12 minutes.

Halve the potatoes, scoop out the flesh, and add to the saucepan. Add 6 cups water, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook until heated through, 8 to 10 minutes.

Puree the soup in the saucepan using a handheld immersion blender (or, working in batches, a standard blender). Add water, if necessary, to reach the desired consistency.


Yield: Makes 8 servings

I'm pretty sure we didn't need to add any water. It made a lot for the two of us, but it made great leftovers all week! We served it with grilled venison steaks one night and grilled venison chops another. McCormick's makes this Grill Mates Cinnamon Chipotle Rub that was a fantastic complement to both the meat and the soup. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the yummy meat and the rub!