I can't do two events in five days.

Especially when I'm sick.

Saturday's bridal shower was awesome.  I'm so grateful for so much help from others.  I can't even imagine getting through it without their help.

Saturday night Catherine started getting sick.

Now I have it.

And my first Women's Ministry event is in two days.

Of course I'm no where near ready.

Because all my focus has been on Saturday's event. And Catherine's health.  And now my own.

And because I don't do well with church politics.  And bureaucracy.  And trying to navigate my way down the proper channels of communication and permission.

Sometimes it's just easiest for me to do my own thing instead of trying to follow somebody else's arbitrary preferences.

I have a voice.  Let it be heard.

I have gifts.  Let them be shared.

I have passion.  Let it be used.

If this is offensive to you, blame my fever.  Or the strong odor of my perfume that Catherine got into while I was resting.  But you're probably not one of my regular readers anyways.

Now I'm gonna curl back up in my blankets.

Being on a spending freeze has definitely gotten me doing more in the kitchen, and it's been really fun!  Especially since my husband is willing to do the cleanup!  Bless his heart!  Oh, and did I mention that on top of everything else, our dishwasher broke?!?

Catherine LOVES to help bake.  In the past I would just let her watch from her highchair pulled up to whatever I was doing.  But now she is helping with lots of stirring, and she can't get enough of it.  Her latest phrase repeated over and over is "Gotta stir it up!"  She even has to stir the food on her plate at every meal now.

In the last few days I have made Mounds Bar Brownies (so rich!), Smores Bars (just made it up as I went along - used a sugar cookie dough as a crust and added chocolate chips, marshmallow creme and marshmallows), and Peach Slowcooker Oatmeal.

Tonight we made our own version of Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits.  Those are one of the best things in the world (can I get an amen?); in fact they are the reason I go to Red Lobster!  I'm not a huge fish eater and usually get chicken there, ha!

Anyways, I started with this base recipe from the Top Secret Restaurant Recipes book.  (Warning: on my computer some annoying video started automatically playing at this site, and I couldn't find it anywhere to pause it, so I ended up just muting my whole computer.  Automatic videos or music is a HUGE internet pet peeve of mine, but that's another blog post.)

Then I researched a few other recipes, reviews, and comments online and ended up with this:


Cheddar Bay Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix (I used Aldi brand)
1/2 stick cold butter
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup+ shredded cheddar cheese (I actually grated it myself from a block of extra sharp)
garlic powder
Old Bay seasoning
dried parsley flakes
(sorry, I don't measure seasonings)

Cut the butter into the Bisquick mix with a large fork and knife.  Keep going til you end up with pea sized(ish) butter clumps.  Add the rest of ingredients and stir.

I used a small ice cream scoop and plopped onto cookie sheets and baked at 400 degrees for 12ish minutes (not sure here because I had to pull them out early because our oven was smoking.  Ha, turns out my sneaky daughter had turned up the oven to 490, yikes!).

While they're baking, melt in the microwave 2 tablespoons butter (I used margarine).  Dump in a bunch of garlic powder (Catherine just went to town here), more parsley flakes, and a pinch of salt.

Brush on top of hot biscuits (or somehow transfer with a spoon if you're like me and don't think you have a brush) and bake for another couple minutes.

Enjoy!  They are just as addicting as the real thing!

I have had just about all I can take.

I am into photography. I would never say I'm super skilled at it, but even without training in the art of photography, I have common sense. And common sense is apparently missing from a lot of folks these days. I don't know what the deal is, but it seems that folks are afraid of taking a vertical photo. At least anybody who I give my camera to so that I can capture a moment in a special place with my sweetie. I am so irritated with how recent pictures have been turning out, I feel like I want to just take all the photos myself, but then of course I wouldn't be in any! It would just be endless photos of Josh, which I would be fine with, but it might get old for him after awhile.

Maybe I just need to look into a tripod.

Here's the latest photo taken in one of my favorite places - St. Joseph, MI. Not at all how I had planned...



And after my crop job. A little more how I intended it; except the top of the sculpture would have been included in the photo. Argh!