A Little More Planning

Let's just say that my Friday off was less than productive. I had the whole day and nothing planned. So what did I do? Nothing.

I know that I've written about this before, and my mom will just be nodding her head as she reads this, but it has always been a weakness for me. It's not that I don't have things I want to do, there just isn't a deadline for everything in my life. I thrive on deadlines. And checklists.

At work I have started to schedule all of the tasks for my projects on my calendar. I can't just say, "I'll do that this week." I have to say, "I'll do that from 3:00-4:00 on Wednesday." Now I don't stick to it 100% but at least it is on there and I don't forget that it needs to get done.

So tonight I sat down and created a schedule for my home. A schedule that plans time for crafting, blogging, baking and other projects. Of course it also includes things like cleaning, laundry and dishes. Hopefully having a plan to start with will help me to have more productive days.

This coming week, I'll have even more time, because my stud muffin is leaving me for a week. To go learn more about this golden stuff:

He leaves tomorrow for a week long "Grain Elevator Management Short Course" at Kansas state. Sounds really exciting, huh?

He's packing his swimsuit. I told him not to use it. For one, I don't have a pool to swim in. Secondly, there might be girls. I really don't care how long I've been with Adam, I will probably always think that there is some awful woman out there that will try to steal him. I trust him, just not those crazy vixens! ;) (Okay, I really don't stress that much about it.)

All I hope is that the pup keeps her crazy barking to a minimum. Like the kind of barking that makes you think someone is standing outside of the house trying to kill us. But it was really just a bird. Yeah, that kind of barking will not fly this week.

Hope that you all are having a great weekend!

P.S. I might start blogging about our bathroom remodel a little next week! I've got lots of pictures to sort through and edit, so it will take a while.

Peter Cottontail

Adam is on a mission this year to clean out our ditches.  He’s been cleaning out old stumps, tree limbs and garbage.  Last Saturday, he finally was able to weed-whack and then mow.

I was busy painting and heard him yelling for me.  Well, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it sure wasn’t this:

(Now, I did not zoom in.  He really let me get this close with my camera.  Just sat there.)

Adam had run over their nest and scared this little guy out.  I came to learn later that a rather large snake had been making it’s way to the bunny as well until Adam scared him off.  If I had known this, I don’t think I would have been on my hands and knees in the long grass!

Don’t worry, we didn’t hurt him.  Adam was using the shovel as a guide to push him back to the nest.

The little guy got scared and ran the wrong way.  Then he stopped and let me get close again.  At this point we weren’t sure he’d make it back home before another snake or hawk found him.  So I went to pick him up.  He didn’t even try to run, but was rather annoyed to be hanging in the air.

He made it back to the hole, safe and sound, with his siblings.  We’ve tried to stay away for awhile, so I don’t know if the bunnies are still there.

Thankfully, though, the nest is on the other side of Melody’s electric fence.  So they’re safe from her.  Though she wasn’t too happy about that fact.  She stared at us the entire time, knowing that there was a tasty bunny just out of her reach.

It’s the little things…

…that make my day.

First off, I apologize for my long absence!  But I hope to have some time soon.  Today I was working in the kitchen on a few things, with my trust laptop on the windowsill for recipes. 

Now, when I am working in the house I need some good white noise, not a radio, but the tv or a movie.  Since my kitchen has no tv or is even in sight of a tv, this is pretty much impossible when I am baking.

Then today I stared at the laptop a little longer.

Why in the world couldn’t I pop a dvd into this machine?!  Now I get to look at my recipe, bake some bread, and watch/listen to “The Holiday” all at the same time!

 

And watch my handy husband move and re-assemble our playground in the back yard. :)

Hope you’re having a great Saturday!

Rolling Along

Last weekend we borrowed this really big roller from a friend.  The plan was for Adam to hook it up to the the lawn mower and drive all over the lawn, hopefully flattening it out a little.  I was going to attack the old, ripped fabric in the flower beds. 

It all started out fine.  Then I started to see a lot of roots.  I decided that I really didn’t know what I was doing and I would like to have living shrubs this year.  So we switched jobs.

I think I spent twice as much time on the first half than the last half.  I was trying to go nice and slow, get some real good compaction.   Then hubby trots up and asks if he needs to attach some headlights, since at that rate I’d be going all night.

We didn’t really do the “rolling” thing in the ‘burbs growing up.  In fact I remember the lawn guys coming to turn our lawn into swiss cheese in order to aerate it.  So I guess I didn’t really know what to expect, but I didn’t think that most of the weight of the roller would be from water!

Truth be told, I can’t take credit for the fact that this “adventure” is documented.  While I was busy “rolling,” Adam walks out with the camera and says, “I thought you’d want to blog about it.”

Thoughtful and studly.  I am a lucky girl.  :)

Fitting

Funny.  I was listening to the radio this afternoon and I heard a song by Steven Curtis Chapman (SCC).  At first I thought that it was the song we had at our wedding.  But it wasn’t.

There had been two SCC songs that we had debated between.  The one on the radio had lyrics something like, “I’ll be here.”  The one that we chose was, “Go with You.”  Kinda fitting don’t you think?  I didn’t sit “here” somewhere, waiting for Adam.  I went with him. I went with him 6 times.  I went with him to 4 states.  I went through life with him.  Like I said, I think we chose the right song.

(This was the first time we went.  Moved to Iowa two days after our wedding.)

Flaming Marshmallows

If you know me well, or have at least sat around a campfire with me, you know that I cook my marshmallows like this:

Until a few years ago, I would just stick a brand new marshmallow straight into the fire and torch it.  I have since learned that the perfect marshmallow must be slow roasted first for inside gooey-ness and then torched for that wonderful charred crust.  :)  yum. 

And yes, I know many of you are appalled at the way I make my marshmallows.  I am aware that this is not the “proper” way to roast a marshmallow.  But I don’t really care. ;)

One s’mores innovation I stumbled upon this summer is pre-melting your chocolate.  I’ve never cared for the way that the chocolate is still hard in s’mores.  Doesn’t mesh with the gooey ‘mallow.   Hence this:

Find a clean-ish rock around your campfire and leave one half of your s’more there to warm up while you roast your marshmallow.  (Half of a pudgie-pie maker works great too!)  But be warned, your s’more will be even messier with that melted chocolate!

And of course the master fire-tender:

Other high points in life right now are:

• Lots of exciting thing happening with my job.  As we start to work on our 2nd campus, everyone’s job is morphing/changing/growing to accommodate new staff and multiply our ministries.  Personally, it means that I have decided to work full time.  God has shown me that He has given me the time now and I have just been selfish with it.
• The house is taking shape.  I “finished” the living room and dining room the other night, all of the surfaces are clear and partially decorated and most of the boxes are gone.  We buried the invisible fence this weekend for Melody.  She’s gotten zapped a few times, which is hard to see, but she has learned fast and now she will have the freedom to be outside more often and when we’re not home.  No more being stuck in the kennel all day.
• Just wrote my first check for our mortgage payment.  Only 359 payments left!!  It is still kinda crazy to look around here and see what God has bestowed upon us.  We hope only to be good stewards of this gift we have been given.

Isn’t that just a seriously cool picture?  I think maybe these days I am more inspired by my camera than paper and stamps.  **Gasp**  I know.  Do I really consider taking my stamping budget and put it into photography classes or save for equipment??  What do you think?  Thoughts would be great.

Hope this finds you all enjoying your week!  Thanks for stopping by.

Two more pics for Wava

Since your son is no longer at home for his birthday,  here's a couple pictures of Adam with his birthday "cake."  (He actually requested apple crisp this year.)

Pre-blow out:

Post-Blow out:

**Sigh** :)

**Warning:  Mushy/Sad/Mushy Stuff to follow!

Well, it's now 2:30am and I haven't been to bed yet.  Just busy crafting and watching sappy movies on Lifetime.  Just thinking about how much I really love my husband.  Like REALLY.  I know that I've loved him since the day we met in the River Falls High School gym almost 6 years ago.  He is my best friend, the person with whom I can share everything about myself.

The whole "leave and cleave" part of marriage I think tends to get all messed up.  What does it mean to become "one" with your spouse?  I don't really know, but I feel like after last spring, Adam and I jumped ahead decades. 

There was one night during my weeks in the hospital that was really BAD.  It was the night after we buried our son.  Beyond emotional pain, I knew that something wasn't right in my abdomen.  After two weeks already in the hospital, I had thought that I was on the mend.  Not so.  That night I had a tube re-inserted through my nose into my stomach, which made me vomit profusely, and was given awful medicine that made awful things happen.  I can't remember a time when I have felt worse. 

But I didn't want my mom or dad.  All I wanted, needed, was Adam.  He is the part of me that makes me whole, because we have been made one.  All through my ordeal we had amazing support from family, friends, nurses and strangers.  But Adam is part of me.     We have left the security and shelter of our parents and created a new #1.  Now, I love my parents (really do Mom and Dad!!) but they are no longer my #1.   Adam, God and Me make up my #1.  Three joined as one.

Now, this does not mean that we don't fight or get annoyed with each other.  Like tonight!  We were in Menards and Adam made some dumb comment.  I snapped at him and walked away.  Later he found me and just kinda talked like things were okay.  After much talking, come to find out that he didn't even know I was mad at him!  Really??  I dunno, I figured I was pretty obvious, but then I am woman and he is a man.  But I love him. 

So I'm not really sure what the point of this post it, but we'll just say that my blog was hijacked by journal tonight.  And I can put whatever I want into my journal!

P.S.  My family is pretty stellar.  My little/only sister had her senior prom while I was in the hospital.  She brought her whole group to the hospital so that I could see her all dressed up.  Kristi's the one in the cute green dress.

Back in the Kitchen

I've been so consumed with building Felicity Avenue that it has been too long since I've done some good baking. Today I was checking my blogs and found this fabulous recipe from Sophistimom. Cream cheese pound cake. It peaked my interest for two reasons:

1. I hate pound cake. Good reason, huh? No really, I've never been a fan of it, especialy that Sara Lee stuff that some people try to use instead of shortcake. But I love Sophistimom's recipies. So by her good name I wanted to give it a chance.

2. I have been wanting to buy a petite loaf pan for a long time.

~AND~

I had to make some thing for a bake sale at church.

So I went to the craft store on main street (which has a great baking section!) and got my new petite loaf pan. (Excuse the messy pan, didn't feel like doing the dishes yet.) When I was checking out the lady asked if I had any liners. Liners for a loaf pan?! Awesome!! So for less than $12 I was off to the grocery store and home to make some goodies.

Here is the finished product:

Great lighting, huh? :) In one word, FANTASTIC! Baked perfectly in 24 minutes. With a double batch I ended up with 27 petite loaves. One for us, one for my Secret Santa at work and 25 for church. I would still be baking right now if I was making cookies for the bake sale. Scoop x12, bake, turn pan, bake, transfer to cooling rack. Repeat. x10. Yuck. Needless to say, I am thrilled with my baking adventure!

To top it all off, I got this 25 pack of holiday ziplock bags at the dollar store. Not quite up to my crafty standards, but it's a bake sale. The rest of the entries were made and packaged by high schoolers, so...don't want mine to overshadow their work. I will "craft-up" the loaf for my Secret Santa. Check back later this weekend.

And the best part of my weekend?????

Adam is home ALL weekend!!!!

A Little Christmas Cheer

I spruced up my blog today. I felt inspired by Jennifer Holmes's blog and decided to figure out how to make my own header and background. The images themselves are from Designer Digital's Poinsettia Kit.

Now I've got the Christmas tree on and Amy Grant is singing her amazing Christmas songs. Her "A Christmas to Remember" cd will always be my favorite Christmas CD. I still remember getting it in 5th grade from my then best friend Louise. Can't believe that it still works (mostly!).

Worked on the Dykstra family financials today, so no craftiness.

I took down all my fall decorations...

... so hopefully tomorrow I can decorate for Christmas! I'll save the tree trimming for when Adam is home. Someday. :( The days are getting harder on both of us. A person can only work so many LONG, frustrating days in a row. Hopefully he'll be done soon. We plan to go to Door County the weekend before Christmas for some R&R together, just pray he doesn't have to work that weekend!

Back to the Blogging World

Yes, I am back.  Just when I started to get some regular readers, I disappear for a whole month!  Life was happening for a while.  Had to experience it.  One of the biggest reasons that  I have been absent is because I was in a craft fair this past weekend!  Adam was on a walk about two weeks before and saw a sign that the mall across the street from us was having a craft fair and needed crafters.  Why not?!  So for two weeks I busted my butt to get some inventory built up and set up my "business" affairs as well.

 

This was one of my two tables.  Overall traffic at the fair was HORRIBLE.  But then there are literally only 4 stores left in this mall.  I did sell enough to feel it was a success.  I got a few orders for onesies like these:

And several people took my card with promises to call.  Even a few who may be interested in wedding invitations!  I would LOVE to do weddings.  I made a new blog just for my business Felicity Avenue.  Check it out!

In other Dykstra news, we spent Thanksgiving with Dykstras yesterday.  It was a really nice day.  Got to spend some time with Adam's cousin Kurt who I really haven't ever talked with, just in passing on a few holidays.  Starting to really "settle" in to the family.  We won't make the Dykstra Christmas this year, so it was nice to see everyone.

Adam is starting to wind down from harvest.  Well, wind down a little.  He's still working this whole weekend.  I think if his machinery would cooperate, he'd be home a lot sooner each day.  Grrrr.... 

Got my first FAKE Christmas tree a few weeks ago.  I swore I would never buy one, but when you aren't allowed to have a real one, there are exceptions to be made.  It was only $35 from Walmart, 6.5' and pre-lit too!

Other than that, life is moving along.  Work is still good.  Mel's doing fine.  I'm staying healthy.  Waiting for our next set of directions.  It's been almost six months, aren't we due for a move?!  Ha!  I hope not, but if past history is any indication, who knows!

Happy Turkey Day!  (So I'm late, better late than never!)

Long, Dusty Days

Melody is quite happy with her dad's new happenings at work.  She starts licking his shoes, pants, hands, etc as soon as he walks in the door. 

Today we taught Sunday school.  When we were taking prayer requests, one girl told us about a sister of her friend who was really sick.  Through a few questions and later a phone call, we realized that this was the daughter of a couple in our small group.  Their preschool-aged daughter had already been sick for four days when we met last Tuesday.  Turned out her appendix had ruptured a week ago!  She was taken to a children's hospital 1 1/2 hours away.  Her dad seemed relieved to at least know what is going on ( the past week and a half they had been in and out of the doctor's office and all they heard was "It's just constipation").   Later this week she will have surgery to clean out her abdomen and then hopefully will go home.  I was scared when I got sick this spring, I can't imagine being that little and going through the same thing.  Please keep her in your prayers.

After Sunday school we went to church and then Adam left for work.  I went over to a new friend's house (she and her husband are in our small group too) and us and her 1 year old daughter when to our church's fall festival.  It was way too warm, but the leaves at the park were GORGEOUS!  Yummy hot dogs and caramel apples.

Adam's biggest excitement of the day was a new haircut.  It had been getting pretty shaggy.

Another week started.  Another week of waiting for directions.

Solo Saturday

These are flowers that we got from my parents in memory of Aaron.

 

Harvest is Here!  Adam has officially left me for the fall. :)  Okay, so it's only soybeans right now, so he'll be home around 7pm, but once the corn starts coming in, who knows!  So today is my first day of solitude.  Got up at 9:30, with no alarm clock.  Sat on the computer for awhile, cleaned up some messes, made chili and am working on some cinnamon rolls.  The recipe said to mix with an stand mixer and a dough hook, neither of which I have.  So I kneaded it by hand and am waiting for it to rise.  The dough seems a little dense, so I'm not sure what will happen.

When I was taking this picture off of my memory card for the pic of the day, I noticed that I have a lot of projects to share.  I'll share one or two a day until I am caught up.

 

 

 

So these are "my" famous pumpkin cookies.  They are not really mine (from a cookbook) so I can't give the recipe, but every time I make them and eat one freshly frosted, I swoon.  They are my FAVORITE cookie. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some applesauce that I made a few weeks ago.  We made this at the Y with the preschoolers and it was so easy (and fairly brainless) that I decided to make it for Adam.  It smelled wonderful when it was cooking; it tasted okay.  Probably will find a different recipe next time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all for today.  Need to go check on those cinnamon rolls.