A perfect visit to my best friend.

I spent a long weekend in Tulsa & soaked up precious time holding my beautiful 7 month old niece and hugging my best friend & sister. I enjoyed spending time with her beautiful family {so much!}

I arrived late Thursday night, so Friday morning was my first real time to visit with them. Friday we took a lazy morning and savored morning snuggles with the baby. Baby Cate has an awesome amount of hair that looks like a crazy mohawk when she wakes up…absolutely adorable!

Later in the day, Casey & I took Cate shopping for some odds & ends. After dinner I got to enjoy the bedtime routine of a walk through a nearby neighborhood, dinner of squash & rice ceral , bath time/splash time, and good night kisses.

{a shampoo hairdo!}

This weekend with my sister was wonderful – we talked a ton, laughed a lot, cried a little. We ate like it was our job – wheat thins, nutella {gift from my observant sister}, Schuler’s pumpkin cookies, a lunch of free samples at Whole Foods, and a wonderful breakfast out at First Watch, etc.

{our free samples at Whole foods…turkey, stuffing, the works! :)}

Cate & I also made some enchiladas on Saturday {recipe here} so that her Mom & Dad to have a home cooked meal w/out doing the work. {She’s a great sous chef!}

 

My brother-in-law humored us & skillfully hung up a photo collage we arranged of their pretty family. {It made me smile to see some of the pictures I’ve taken displayed.}

I also got to experience a few “firsts” while visiting: first rejected baby food {bananas are not her cup of tea}, first time using a sippy cup,  and first time sitting in a high chair at a restaurant. She’s grown up so much since I last saw her!

My sister asked me take some pretty pics of the big girl. So I did just that, some at home in a pink tutu I bought her & a bunch on Saturday at a beautiful local park in Tulsa. I’ll post some today and a few more throughout this week because I can’t get enough of this pretty girl!

 

  

Oh what a great feeling it is to watch a miracle created by God laugh at me making a silly face!  I love her {so much!}

 

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Wakin’ up to a beautiful baby.

I got to enjoy quality time today with this pretty girl…

And, I get to be with her for a couple more days {wondrous thing for sure!} I love being her auntie.

He hears my heart.

Our devotions last night made me cry. Now let’s be honest here, I can cry at pretty much anything nowadays. When I was younger, I absolutely abhorred the idea of crying in front of people. I once broke the growth plate in my ankle in 7th grade at a basketball game and still didn’t cry because there was a crowd of people watching. Fast-forward to my junior year of high school when a close friend of mine died in a car accident, I cried in front of the entire high school giving a speech, and… it was fine. So now, I cry all the time – at good things and at bad things. I don’t love crying at all, it just happens – I’m sensitive, care a lot about people, have a huge heart that breaks easily {especially at this broken world}, and am the harshest self-critic, so crying just follows all that naturally.

Anyway, back to the point. This past year and a half, Eugene & I have faced lots of unexpected challenges & huge decisions, and more & more I’ve found myself unable to pray…just sitting in my car, crying, hoping in the back of my head that God hears my heart through my tears. I have felt somewhat inadequate for crying rather than praying, but no more because last night’s devotion reminded me that God loves us so much, and even our tears, sighs, groans speak to Him.

Our devotions are from this book & the parts below were especially moving to me…

Often a poor brokenhearted soul bends his knees in prayer but can only utter his cries in the language of sighing and tears. Yet his groaning has made all the harps of heaven burst into song and his falling tears have been caught by God and placed as treasure in the teardrop bottle of heaven. “You put my tears in your bottle” (Ps. 56:8 ESV)…wherever there is a heart swollen with sorrow, or a lip quivering in agony, or deep groans, or repentant sighs; the heart of Jehovah is open. He registers each one in the  journal of His memory, putting our prayers like rose petals between the pages of His book of remembrance. And when that book is finally opened, a precious fragrance will arise from it.

“Prayer is the uplifting of an eye, prayer is the falling of a tea, prayer is the outdarting of an arm as if it would snatch a blessing from on high. You do not need long sentences, intricate expressions, elaborate and innumerable phrases; a look may be a battle half won….Live in the spirit of prayer, let your life be one grand desire, Godward and heavenward, then use as many words or as few as you please, your heart is itself a prayer, and your look a holy expectation. [excerpt from The People’s Bible: Discourses upon Holy Scripture]”

God overwhelms me. And I’ve come to realize that what I find most amazing about Him, is also what I find most difficult to grasp about Him. He is all-powerful, all-loving, all-encompassing, all I’ll ever need. So I’ll cry away, sigh away, groan away, laugh away & rest in knowing that He hears it all.

P.S. I love this song…the lyrics are exactly what I’m talkin’ about.

I’ll be seeing my sister very soon. I will get to hug her & hold baby Cate. Oh what a wondrous thing!

Caramel corn harvest mix.

I made this to take to the last birthday party we went to this past weekend for Eugene’s family.

It turned out to be just the right combination of sweet & salty, light to eat, and it lasted for three days keeping its crunchiness {is that a real word?} I got the Caramel Corn recipe from my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook and decided to make into more of a chex-mix type of snack.  Oh and, the peanuts & candy corn made it…I definitely recommend adding both.

Caramel Corn Harvest Mix

3 bags of popcorn {15 cups popped}
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 bag of candy corn
1/2 jar of unsalted peanuts

First, preheat your oven to 200 degrees,pop all your popcorn, and line two 13x9 pans with foil & spray ‘em with nonstick spray.

Separate your popcorn evenly between the two 13x9 pans & add your peanuts to the popcorn.

Next, in a saucepan, melt the brown sugar, butter, salt, & corn syrup over medium heat.

Once you get a boil where there are large bubbles forming around the outside of the pan {like below}, cover & boil at medium heat for five minutes, only stirring a few times.

After five minutes, add your baking soda.

Stand back in amazement…your caramel sauce instantly turns to a foam once you add the soda. ;)

Drizzle the sauce over your popcorn & mix it well to attempt to evenly coat all the popcorn. {Work quickly, because it’ll harden pretty fast!}

Pop {ha, get the pun?} it in the oven & let it bake for 40 minutes.

Allow it to cool, then add your caramel corn & get ready to indulge your case of the munchies!

Go ahead & pick up some clearance candy corn now that Halloween is over & enjoy this harvest-time snack!

A big debut win.

In his first ever appearance as a head coach, Eugene walked away with a big “W” against Rio Grande on the scorebook. Last year, the JV team only won two games all season, plus the last time they played Rio, they lost badly. Not so this time…a close game throughout, Rio & the Jackets went back & forth for the lead until the last 2 minutes of the game when Eugene’s team broke away with enough points to secure their victory. The girls were surprised & elated at their unexpected win.  We’re doing another devotion meeting tonight, so it’ll be fun to hear their reactions to the game.

A little pre-game coaching…

Handing out instructions during a clutch timeout…

Free throws…

Team unity…

Yup, he’s mine… :)

Check out that score! I noticed even some of the fans were {pleasantly} surprised by the win…

For His glory – a prayer with their opponents after the game…

 

I really enjoyed watching the game because, since I do devotions with the girls once a week, I’ve gotten to know their personalities some & it’s great to see them play a sport they love { not to mention that I think the coach is amazing!}

A hallowed eve weekend.

I had a lovely weekend. It began with a great reunion of sorts as my teammates & I gathered to watch the Wittenberg vs. Juniata volleyball match. Some of us met early for some dinner.

Then the rest of us grouped together in the stands & talked about how much we wished we could play in the match again & laughed hard at stories remembered. ;) {I love these girls.}

The first game was a flop for Witt, but the Tigers quickly retaliated and defeated Juniata the next 3 straight games.

The student section gave a enthusiastic roller coaster ride demo during a time out…

After the game my teammates & I spent a few hours catching on on all the details we’ve missed since our last time together.

Saturday morning, I watched another Witt volleyball win, and then worked a busy wedding later that evening. Sunday was time with the 2 year-olds at church, celebrating All-Saints Day on hallowed eve {betcha didn’t know Halloween started with a Christian holiday}, open housing {no luck}, caramel corn making, family birthday partying, & sunset admiring.

{Recipe to come later this week.}

There was an intense competition of “Minute to Win It” games among the men & women at the family birthday party. Eugene just barely won in the race to get a penny from the bottom of panty hose using only one hand in each panty hose leg. That’s talent! {Sarcasm intended}

I lucked out & got Becca’s name for birthday gift exchange, so I framed two of the photos I took for her. I love how they turned out!

Eugene pulled the car over on the way home from the birthday party {like the great husband he is} and let me take a picture of this beautiful fall sunset.

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:22-23

God is good. Onto another work week…but this one ends with a trip to see my niece & sister! :)