Baking day!!!

Today I had nothing to do. Mike had to work, other people are in school....I was on my own. So what did I do? Fired up the oven and got busy!!! I decided today that I was going to make things that I had never made before. It was so much fun to experiment and try new recipes. I didn't take pictures today, because I was so busy with all the recipes today, but I thought I would link to the recipes that I made today.

First I made a peach cobbler. My dad told me that I should because we had peaches that needed eating. We only had 2 that were usuable, so I cut them really small and it worked, though I would have liked to have had more. I made up this recipe, so I posted it on my blog.

I made Fig's Cheese Muffins. Oh my goodness! These muffins are amazing! I couldn't resist, so I ate my first one just minutes after I pulled them out of the oven. The cheese was all melty and so absolutely delicious!!! Seriously, go make these now!!!

I also made Ree's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever. I actually haven't cut into it yet, but I have sampled the frosting. And if that's any indication of what the cake is like....wow! I better get to the kitchen and cut myself a big piece!!

Then I made Nicole's Zebra Cake. The first time I saw this cake on her blog, I couldn't figure out how the stripes were made. So I decided that I would just have to try it myself and figure this out. It was well worth it. The cake is delicious. Some people commented that the almond flavoring was too strong. She has 1/8tsp in the recipe, but I put in 1/4 tsp (because that's how her original recipe read) but I think it could actually use more! Another comment people made was that the cake was kind of plain, because if you put frosting on it, the design would be covered up. So....I made an icing for the cake. I mixed together 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and just enough milk to make a runny icing. Then after the cake had cooled for a minute, I poured the icing over it. The cake absorbed the icing and gave it the sweet kick it needed.

Finally, I made blueberry bread. This also was a recipe I kind of modified. I took the basic recipe for blueberry muffins, threw in an extra egg and poured it into a bread pan and called it good. I'll put this one up on my recipe blog too.

All and all, it was a pretty productive day. And now we finally have yummy things to eat in the house!! :)

Great weekend!!

I wish this weekend wasn't over yet!!! It was so much fun, and it's hard to believe we only have a week left of summer before classes start next Tuesday.
Friday night, I went with Mike to his company picnic at Lawrence Street park. They had it catered by the catering company from Holland Rescue Mission, which is a really neat program if you ever need a caterer. Anyway, after the meal, they started a game of kickball. I'm not too good, so Jordan and I opted to watch instead, which was a blast!!!




Mike up to kick....all his balls went way high and way out to the outfield













Headed to third base














Brett posing for a picture....he was only like this for 2 seconds, right when I snapped the picture :)









It poured while they were playing, so everyone got pretty wet, but it was all fun! After the kickball game, we left to head up north to Big Star Lake. We got there about 9:30 or so and hung out for a little bit before we built a campfire. The four of us (Mike, me, Brett, and his friend Jordan) hung out and talked for a long time. Brett's mom made some popcorn so we enjoyed that. It was after midnight when we put the fire out and went inside. We all got ready for bed and ended up talking until after 2!!!
Sunday was a totally relaxing day. We spent a lot of time just hanging out, eating, and going out on the lake. We waited until after 12 to go out on the seadoos, but we got them all gassed up and ready earlier in the morning. The lake was fairly calm, there was a breeze but nothing to major. Mike and I went out on his seadoo and Brett and Jordan on Brett's. Mike's family came so he went to say hi and I took the seadoo out for a spin before coming back to the dock for him. It's fun to drive the seadoo, but I like riding with him too....it's more fun for me when there's two people rather than going out on my own. We decided to take a break and so we went back up the the trailer (actually it's a single-wide mobile home) and watched Scooby Doo and had lunch. We had a ton of food, and it seemed like we were always eating. There were 18 people up there, so there was no lacking of conversation! We spent our time between watching TV and talking and going out on the lake. It was Brett's birthday (19...he's catching up to me and Mike now!) so that's why there were so many people there. His brother in law grilled steaks and we had potato cassarole, pasta salad, corn, and garlic bread for dinner. Then we had birthday cake and Brett opened his cards and presents. Mike and I decided not to go out on the seadoos again because we were so cold, so we packed up while Brett and Jordan went for another spin. It was a blast...but it always is when I'm with my friends!!

Blonde moments

My hair is naturally light brown, or some call it dirty blonde, but that just sounds wierd. But due to being out in the sun for 3 weeks in Romania, and a good amount back home, it has lightened up a lot, and is now unmistakably blonde. And of course that means that some people (namely Kevin) have teased me about being blonde. Although, I think on two occasions, I might have deserved that title.
Last Sunday when we went up to Big Star, Kevin was sitting behind me in the car, and he mentioned that he could smell my hair gel from where he was. Nothing I could really do about it right? He told me that I should use Elmer's glue instead as that's what he uses. I told him that I would rather not have my hair turn white and be all sticky. He burst out laughing....apparently there's a gel that's modeled after Elmer's glue....he doesn't use real glue in his hair!!!!
Then on Tuesday before I left for work, I thought I would get the dishwasher started. I suppose I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. Before I left for work, I noticed my dad down on his hands and knees in front of the dishwasher. Suds and water were pouring out of it. Apparently, I had put liquid soap in it instead of dishwashing solution.
Okay, I'll admit it...sometimes I can be a dumb blonde!!! :)

That's my guy!!! :)

On Tuesday, Mike and I have been dating for 5 months. 5 fun filled, exciting months. I wanted to do something special for him, so I told him to pick a place and I wanted to take him out for dinner. He chose to go to Peppino's. Good choice! Our dinner was delicious! He surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He brought me my favorites...daisies!!! This was the first time I've ever received a bouquet of flowers from a guy :) You better believe I was one very surprised, and happy girl!









Aren't they beautiful?
































































A couple weeks ago at Hagar Park

Bloggy Catch-Up

Oops...must be the dog-days of summer, but I'm certainly slacking on my blog lately! It's been almost 10 days since my last post, and that one was so short I don't know if it even counts. Anyway, I have three things to talk about over the course of the next few days, so stay tuned for: adventures at Big Star, my favorite flowers, and blonde moments!!!


Sunday after church, Mike and I left to go up north to Big Star Lake. His friend Brett's family has a trailer up there and they invited us up to spend the day with them. Another friend, Kevin, came with us. We got to the trailer a little after noon. It was a little chilly out, but the sun would occasionly come out from behind the clouds. We decided we might as well make use of the seadoos so we went around the lake a few times. Mike offered to let me drive, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find our dock, so I just let him drive. If you've never had the experience of flying over the water with the wind blowing through your hair, I highly recommend it :) We hit a few large waves, but for the most part the lake was pretty calm. It got cold out on the water so Mike and I headed back to the trailer for some hot chocolate. Brett and Kevin joined us a little later. And we all huddled around the heater, our feet were so cold!!! We watched some TV and just hung out and talked for awhile. Brett took us out and showed us where he likes to go off roading. He had his new car instead of his truck so we didn't actually go, but I got to see a lot of the area around the lake. Around 4, the guys decided to get the fire started so we could have dinner. I helped Brett's mom get the fixing's ready for pizza hobo pies. We ended up doing more talking than working, cuz there's really not much preparation needed for that type of dinner. The guys built us quite a nice fire and after a while we had some coals that were perfect for cooking our dinner. After dinner, Mike and I went for a walk. When we got back Brett and Kevin were out on the seadoos again. I asked Brett to take a few pictures of some of the houses for me, there are some beautiful houses up there!! Mike and I waited for them to come back. We packed up and headed home. It was great to have a day just to relax and enjoy the time with friends!







The sun was just starting to go down before we left so we watched it for a little bit from the dock












A panoramic view of the lake, from our dock











That nice wall of water? Yeah, that's Brett :)








This is our favorite house on the lake. Wouldn't it be the perfect spot for a Bed and Breakfast???

About time!!!

I finally put a new recipe up on my recipe blog. I haven't updated it since May, and I figured it was about time. Go here to check it out!

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Anyone else having problems uploading pictures? I have a new recipe for my site, but I don't want to put it up without pictures....Stay tuned :)

I've got friends in high places....

Anybody else get that Garth Brooks song stuck in their head (cuz of the title)? Anyway, it pays to have friends in higher up places. Especially those who work in greenhouses and occasionaly treat me to some beautiful flowers! I'm referring to Jennifer's husband, Mark. The week of Vacation Bible School he surprised me at church with some beautiful Tiger Lillies! Then last week when I was housesitting, he dropped off even more flowers at home for me! I took some pictures of the Lillies. Aren't they beautiful?!?!