The Rest of the Tour

The kitchen is the next room on the tour. I love how open my apartment is. I have great cupboard space and the color is called "Orange Essence."

I have laundry in the doors to the left. The second door on the right is my spare bedroom. I'm not going to show you that room. It isn't decorated very nicely and that's where all my clutter is at the moment. It is also home to my piano.

And since I finally made my bed, I thought you would like to see my bedroom next.

And now my bathroom. I just love the decorations in this room! I love the decorations in all the rooms, but I get more comments about my bathroom than any other room.


Well, thanks for stopping by. Next time come in for a cup of tea and some cookies or something.

A Little Fun

Over Labor Day weekend, Stacey and her kids came over for an evening. The Callisons were gone, so we thought we would have a little fun. Here are some pictures!

We decided to swap their living room and dining room. Yep, we even set the table.



This picture is just for fun. Stacey is tired of being taller than all her friends and I'm tired of being shorter. Also, we didn't plan to wear the same shirt that day, it just happened. Thanks for a fun day, Stacey!

Living Room

Some of you have never been to my home, so I thought I would share some pictures of my living room. I rearranged it a bit yesterday, so those that have been here, can see the new look. Okay, so I only moved three things, but I think it made a difference.


I thought I had hidden the tags, but there they are under the pillows. I just bought them and hadn't removed the tags yet. Just in case you can't tell colors, the walls are a light green, the couch is gray and the pillows on the couch are burnt orange, green, purple and brown. I took of the tag because I decided I like them.

This shot shows the antique secretary at the edge of the couch. It's a family piece that is pretty special and absolutely beautiful. Once again, sorry about the tags.

This shot shows my new rug that has all the same colors at the pillows. I think I want to get another one to go between my living room and kitchen area.

This shot is to show off the area in front of my window. The table and clock are more family pieces. The hat on the old suitcase was my grandpa's, so it's pretty special.

This is the last shot of the living room. The cute kids above the TV are my niece and nephew. Thanks for visiting and stop by again. If I make my bed, I might show you my bedroom next.

Fruit Salsa

You guys are going to love this one. I made it this morning/afternoon - who really knows what time it was. I was still in my PJ's, but of course I didn't take my shower until 5:00 and then I just put fresh PJ's on. But you don't want to know about that. (I did get my apartment cleaned an my living room rearranged.)

Here is the cast: mangoes, fresh pineapple, strawberries, kiwi, mandarin oranges, lemon juice and sugar. I made this at my parents' a few weekends ago and their store didn't have mangoes, so we substituted peaches. It was still really yummy.

Chop it all up and mix it together.

So what do you eat it with? Take a stack of fajita tortillas and cut them in six.

Heat some oil on the stove and mix up some cinnamon and sugar. (Please ignore the pile of stuff on my counter top. I was going to work on that after I was done cooking, but it's still there. I guess I worked on the more important stuff...once again...I better get back on target.)

Fry up those tortillas and then cover them with the cinnamon and sugar.

Here they are! Ready to dive into that fruit salsa!

Here is the recipe. It makes a really big batch, so I just made a half batch today.

Fruit Salsa
3 mangoes
1 pint strawberries
1 fresh pineapple
2 10 oz. cans mandarin oranges
8 kiwi
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 T. sugar

Mix and serve.

Amazing Chocolate Cake!

You guys are going to love this recipe! I was watching the Food Network one weekend at my parents' and saw Tyler Florence make this. I had to try it. Well, here it is! You can find the recipe here, so I don't have to type it all out. Yes, I'm lazy. I made this for Judy's Birthday a few weeks ago. Yum!

Dad's Installation Service

August 17 was my Dad's installation service at his new church, First Baptist Church, Pana, IL. I was able to go and meet their people and see their new home. It was wonderful to see my parents again and much more of my family as well. Here are some pictures.


Aren't my mom and I cute?

This is my Uncle Danny and his wife, Sue.

Ethan said he was wearing his "King clothes."

These kids love their Grandma and Papa!

The kids wanted me to read them stories before they left to go home. I was to oblige. Yes, I'm still in my PJ's here and my hair is a mess.

Sweet slumber.

This is my parents with my Pastor Ted and Pat Phillips (my Dad's pastor). He was able to come and preach at the installation service. It was very special

Another Camp Update

Okay, so here is the much awaited update. Sorry it didn't come sooner, but the internet connection this weekend wasn't very good. But hey, it's still the weekend...and I digress.

This week is the end of the summer for our full-time summer staff. They have worked so hard and we will miss them so much!!! I have loved working with Keri and Melissa and will miss having their companionship in the office. They have done a wonderful job of making me look good.

I have learned much this summer. I'm not going to spill my guts for all the world to read, but I do want to say that God is good. It is amazing that He chooses to use me in this ministry. There have many that have trusted Christ this summer; many have given their lives to serve as missionaries; many have committed to read their Bibles and apply it to their lives; many have confessed sin. The list could go on and on. Even though I may not be the one counseling these in their decisions, it is wonderful to know that the work I do makes a difference in lives. People are changed because of what God does through IRBC.

On a lighter note, here are some pictures of the second half of the summer. Enjoy!

They just love to organize! I have to make a list of all the stuff I don't want to do before they leave me. (You think I'm kidding?)

Not sure what Anna was thinking when she did this to her hair that morning. Okay, so it was for Jr. Girls.
James wanted to see if his mouth was bigger than mine, so we took a picture to find out. Yep, an eight year old has a bigger mouth. I know what some of you are thinking about me and a big mouth, but I just want to say that if you can't be nice then keep it to yourself.
Some of the Dining Hall girls wore tie die one day. They came to help us fold new shirts for the gift store. Aren't they cute?

We'll call the next few pictures, "Fun with Lost and Found." We put out the lost and found at the end of the week, but we take a few fun pictures in the process.

This was a test run of "Don't Get Out of Your Chair Day. " It only lasted for one customer (don't worry, it was a staff member). What can we say, it was a late night.Aren't they cute in their camoflauge raincoats? It was pouring rain and they had to bring in several tubs of mail. Hence the raincoats that belong to Pastor Dave and Aaron.
I know...this is disgusting. Katelyn did the "Chubby Bunny" thing with bubble gum. She actually got 40 pieces of that gross stuff in her mouth!

Teaser...

Okay, it's been awhile since I have posted anything fun. So I promise to post this weekend with pictures and everything. How is that for a teaser?