Birthday Celebration

Wednesday was my first Birthday away from my camp family and Mason Church friends.  I had a bit of a breakdown the week before.  You see, my camp family and church friends always made my Birthday so special since I was far from my family.  Thinking of celebrating without them just made me miss them even more.  Besides that, I simply love my Birthday!

It turned out to be wonderful. Tara, my co-worker, made me a cake, gave me a funny card and a gift.  The guys at the office bought me a cake, gave me a funny card and flowers.  My parents sent me beautiful orange roses and had them delivered to the office.  Bekah sent me a scarf from Japan.  I received many wonderful cards in that mail and some great phone calls too.  To to top it all off, three friends from Mason City met me in Des Moines to have a Birthday dinner.

It was a great celebration.  God knew I needed every one of those bits of encouragement.  He knew that I love my Birthday and made it special even though I'm in a new place and making new friendships.  I'm very blessed.  And I'm very thankful that God even cares about Birthdays.

I'm so thankful that Stacey, Mary and Keri made the trip down to celebrate.

This was our yummy dessert.  We went to Hu Hot for dinner.

These are those beautiful roses.

I'm In Love!!!!

Some of you read that and thought, "WHAT?"  Let me be more specific. I'm in love with scarves.  I love them.  They are such a great accessory.  Here's my stash.

Bekah sent me these three beauties from Japan.  I just got the one in the middle this week as my B-Day present.  Yes, I opened it early. :)  These are actually some of my favorites.

These three are my other favorites that I wear A LOT!  They go with just about everything.

Here are the basic solids I have.  I'd like to get some more colors like red and blue.

And this is one that my friend, Anna, made for me. She took different types and colors of thicker yarns and simply knotted them randomly.  Some of the knots include all the strands and other knots only include a few strands. It's pretty unique and I love it!!!

Here's a closer look for those of you that want to make one.  I know there are some of you out there dying to try it.

At my jewelry party, Dani shared with us a new way to tie them.  Can't wait to try it.  So there you have it, my scarf collection.  Give them a try. It's a look that anyone can pull off.

Wonderful Neighbors

God has truly blessed me with wonderful neighbors.  When I moved to Creston, I prayed that God would place me in the perfect neighborhood where I could be a blessing.  It turns out they have been such a huge blessing to me!

On Friday afternoon, Karolyn called to ask if they could mulch my leaves.  She said Gary had the riding mower out with the mulcher on it and he really wanted to get my leaves done for me since it was going to rain.  She said he worries about me sometimes.

Well, I had just taken a picture of the tree in the back because I thought it looked so beautiful.  You can see the leaves underneath.

And here's what it looked like after he was done.  It looks so wonderful!!!

There are many more leaves to drop yet, but I'm so thankful for their help.  I think I need to do some baking or take them a meal.  They are so sweet.

Party!!!!

I hosted a Premier Jewelry party last night.  I decided to do this as a way to get to know my neighbors better.  I also love any excuse to have people over.  I forgot to take pictures of the actual party, but I did get some pictures of some of the preparations.

I thought it would be fun to share some of the entertaining aspects.  I don't know what this is called, but it's the first time I've used it.  I think it was used at my parents' wedding, but I may be wrong about that.  (Mom, if I'm wrong, let me know.)

The next one is a trick my mom taught me.  She always liked to make the napkins look nice like this.

And this is how you do it.  Just put them in a stack, take a glass, press down and twist.

 I knew I'd forget to take pictures when the food was all ready and set out, so I got one before I was busy fixing the cheese bread.  Here's the spread!  We had Olive Cheese Bread (not pictured here), Veggies/Dip, Ginger Sugar Cookies, Almond Pie Bars and Chips/Salsa.

 Here's the bread before it was baked.  I promise it's much more appetizing when baked.

The party was a great success.  I had two neighbors come and they seemed to have a great time.  I also had several ladies from church attend as well.  Like I said, any excuse for a party.

Simple Yet Scrumptious

This is one of those one dish meals.  I love those!  Just throw it all in together and you're set.  It's also one of those meals that doesn't really follow a recipe.  If you are the type of cook that has to follow a recipe....don't worry.  This one is so easy anyone could make it.

1 Hillshire Farm ring sausage (I tend to like the spicier - you can also choose the turkey or lower fat options)
3-4 potatoes
2 cans green beans (un-drained)

First, cut the sausage into about 1-inch pieces. Throw them in a frying pan to start browning them a bit.  Next wash and slice the potatoes and throw them in the pan too.  Next put in both cans of green beans with the liquid.  Here's where I add a little salt and lots and lots of pepper.  Bring it to a boil and reduce the heat to medium and cook covered for about 15-20 minutes...just until the potatoes are tender.  Uncover and turn the heat back up and let the remaining liquid evaporate. The starch from the potatoes will thicken the liquid a bit.  Enjoy!!!

It's not a pretty meal, but is one of those hearty yet healthy stick-to-your-ribs meals.

The Results Are In!

The results are in ladies and gentlemen.  Which do I prefer?  A garage with carpet or a garage without carpet?  Drum roll, please!  Without!!!!!!!!!

I'm so thankful that it's finally gone!  I will now be able to park in my garage this winter.  The Henry Family was such a huge help.  I couldn't have done it without you!

Here are the after pictures, as promised.

Here is the Henry Family hard at work.

Even the kids got down and dirty!

Sweeping up!

The finished product.

These are the kind of pictures you get when you give the kids the camera and tell the to take some pictures. :)

House Project

As of tomorrow guess what will be gone?  Yep the awful, horrendous, disgusting, terrible carpet in the garage.  Toby, his family and Dennis are coming over tomorrow to help me tear it out.  I promise to post an after picture very soon.

Church News

My new church here in Creston has been without a pastor for about a year now.  Pastor Sauser retired and actually works in my office as an agent now.  Anyway, this weekend we had a candidate for pastor come.  He did a great job presenting his ministry and preaching God's Word.  I'm praying for them and my new church family as we vote next week.

Their family would be a great fit for our church.  Now, it's simply time to trust in God's plan for our church and their family.

Hair Cut

As you can tell, I'm pretty much grasping at straws to come up with blog posts.  I thought you might like to see my hair cut.  If not, then close your eyes cause here it comes.

Here's the before.  Now don't judge too harshly.  It was a bad hair day.  I had this great idea that I would grow it out long again.  Then I started remembering how long it took me to do my hair when it was long.

And here comes the cute little do I came home with today.  While she was cutting it, the electricity went out, so I was really hoping it turned out.  I couldn't see it at the shop.  I got home, put in some hair goop and presto change-o.  Here it is!

Sorry the pictures are dark.  I did try to lighten them up a bit.  Oh, well, you get the idea.

Cookies!

I made these cookies yesterday and they turned out absolutely scrumptious!  They are the best sugar cookies I've ever tasted!  I also made a butter cream frosting and that didn't hurt them either.

I took plates to my neighbors.  It had been awhile since I had made the rounds.  I met one that I had never met before, so that was an added blessing.  Please pray for me as I seek for opportunities to get to know them better.  They have been a blessing to me and I hope to be so to them as well.

So anyway, you need to make these cookies.  They are amazing!

Currently Reading...

I just finished reading The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges.  I took my time going through it and loved it. It's one of those books that has revealed many areas of my own heart where I need to be growing and changing.

This week I'll be starting Seeking Him by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Tim Grissom.  I'm really looking forward to this one.  It's a 12-week study, but it will probably take me 24-36.  That's just how I roll.

What are you reading right now?  I hope you are challenging your mind and heart with God's Word.