Squash Pie

This afternoon Shelly decided that she wanted to carve a pumpkin, which made me hungry for pumpkin pie. So I pulled out The Farm Journal Complete Pie Cookbook to see if I could figure out how to make a real pumpkin pie without that canned stuff since we have real pumpkins. As I was perusing recipes, one for squash pie caught my eye. Since a) I've never had squash pie, b) it sounded interesting, and c) the pumpkins were in the garden and the squash were on the porch and I was too lazy to go all the way out there... I decided to try squash. It was fun! I had to roast it first and then puree it and then add a bunch of good stuff. It tasted a lot like pumpkin. Mom said that Grandma used to make squash pie and called it "poor man's pumpkin." I'm not sure how Dad feels about it... we didn't tell him what it was and he doesn't like squash. :)

Vectors and Trig functions

Tonight I turned tutor and went over to my cousins' to help Kendra with her physics. She's learning all about vectors and vector components and adding and subtracting them and it was really fun for me. I don't know if it was for her so much, I'm not a very good at explaining things. Especially math, if I can see an example I get it... but to explain it to somebody else so they understand... yeah, I'm glad I'm a chemist.

Then the little girls brought out their knitting projects for me to fix. They're so funny. Somehow Carli's is twice as long as it's supposed to be. The entire time they were fixing they managed to tell me all about their knitting class and their friends' projects at least twice.

My car makes an awful squealing noise when I turn it on. And I'm losing coolant fast! I topped it off on Saturday and it's already below the cold fill line... eeeesh.

Shopping

One of the perks of being home is living with Jakey again.

We went to the mall tonight. He doesn't like girl stores.... and he told me that "chivalry is dead" and wouldn't carry any shopping bags even though it was mostly his stuff. :)

Zippers

Are the bane of my existence.

First I broke a needle.

Then I broke my zipper foot.

Then I broke mom's zipper foot.

Then it didn't look right so I took the zipper back out.

Eeesh.



I went to Ohio, it was good. Went to Champaign to stay with the girls, it was fun. Listened to some cool music in Tremont and sang in a bin, different and enjoyable. Worked late tonight and got caught up. Happy Gab?

1000 degrees

I went to Champaign on Wednesday night for church and for a birthday party. Such a good time. Even though I can't read, and met Kaleigh in the completely wrong parking lot. *sigh* I think I get blonder every day. It was really good to be back for Wednesday night... I miss that place a lot. After church we hung out at the girls' really cute super nice house. It was hard not to be jealous. :) I know I say it a lot- but it was soo good to see people again. Like Dona! I haven't see her in ages! Since Kaleigh is more of a night owl than I am, I ended up coming back with Caleb and Bob- we discovered that Bob's gas gauge must have negative dots and that gas stations aren't always open 24 hours. I did miss out on going to see Matt's farm layout... o well.... next time.

Today at work I was prepping some new crucibles I just got. I wrote on them with ink that can withstand a lot of heat, and then they went into the 1000 degree muffle furnace. They glowed orange when they came out and the black writing was white hot. Super cool. In case you were wondering, I did name one Gab. :D

Tomorrow a handful of people are going out to Ohio for an invite... Washington people don't travel, it's kind of annoying/frustrating. Should be an interesting trip. I can't decide if I'm excited or not.

Blessings.

How do you feel about pickles?

So I'm getting to know the guys up at Service Auto really well. My car broke again on the way home from ISU bible study. This time it was the water pump... thankfully I was only about 1.5 miles from my house when it started smoking and making an awful noise. *sigh* We're thinking about adding Brent and Bill to our Christmas card list since we've seen them so much in the last few weeks.

Saturday we decided to clean the attic. Dad backed the grain truck up to the house and we got rid of a lot of stuff- old mattresses, and old hospital bed, old magazines, more drapery rods than we have windows... it's much less full now. My great grandparent's built our house and they left stuff when Grandma and Grandpa moved in, and who also left stuff when they moved to town (including a lovely gold key to hang on the wall- supposedly all the rage back in the day). So we have four generations of furniture, keepsakes, memorabilia and junk up there. Shelly and I decided that Matt and Jake are worse hoarders than we are. There are more boxes full of empty tractor and Lego boxes ("they might be worth something someday!") than anything.

My old roomie Sarah was baptised this weekend so I spent Saturday evening at testimonies and then I stayed with Katrina overnight. It was such a good time. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep though, so I'm not really looking forward to getting up in the morning.
Blessings.

tap dancing and trombones

So it's been awhile... Lots of stuff going on.

My family was in Missouri all last week on the anual Wyss vacation. I had to work so I didn't go until friday... kind of depressing. But I did get to listen to Nickel Creek on the riverfront with some really fun people. And I had the house to myself.

My car broke last monday. A tie rod broke and my front wheels were pointing towards each other... completely undrivable. So I got to ride in a tow truck. It would happen when all the family is gone- I felt bad about having to bother other people for a ride home. It's fixed now. And my lappy is fixed. *sigh* Such a week for repairs.

Tuesday I got to see Amber and Sarah and Kaleigh. Woot! Good stuff- especially the tap dancing trombonist. :D

I drove to missouri friday after work and it was thunderstorming when I got there. Grandpa had rented a bunch of cabins so I was wandering around in the rain looking for the cabin with food. I was sooo wet when I finally found it. They made me sit on a towel but I was so completely soaked that I left a puddle and a trail to the door. :) I spent most of saturday by the pool.

I thought about going to champaign today for the picnic but I'm tired of driving. So I'm just being lazy.

Blessings.

O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?

Minnesota and things

I like Minnesota a lot. And the Twin Cities are cool. Mostly because they are home to my super cool former roomies, Meg and Amanda. It's a long drive though... Matt and I had fun though.

Last Thursday my Grandma Schlipf had a bad stroke. They don't think she will be with us much longer.

So Mom hasn't been home much in the last few days. Shelly and I have been cooking a lot. Tonight, after a few minor catastrophes we had meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn on the cob. I'm still not sure how gravy can "jump" off the stove and get everywhere. *sigh* She's not very domestic.

Then we scrubbed down the kitchen. And the bathrooms. It smells really clean. :D
Should be some crazy rollercoaster days coming up... prayers would be much appreciated.

California Dreamin

It was a good trip. It's good to be back though... I missed having my bed to myself.

Some observations:

• there's no one at Peoria Airport at 4 am
• take off is fine. landing hurts my ears
• San Francisco's 45 degree streets are kind of cool
• California architecture is refreshing
• Frisco is Foggy and cold
• Chopsticks aren't that bad
  
• Red wood trees are much bigger in real life
  
• There are a lot of cows in California
• never buy a Town and Country mini-van with stow-and-go seats... they are super uncomfortable and really hard to get in and out of
• Yosemite is really cool
• 15 minute weddings are great
• it really hurts when you drop a can of furniture polish on your foot

Ok, so the last one wasn't in California, it was tonight. And it kills! I'm gonna have a lovely bump and a bruise to match...

Anyway, we saw a lot of stuff. Went a lot of places. I think I liked Muir Woods and Yosemite the best. Or the amazing lobster bisque at Scoma's.

One highlight was touring China town with Matthew Schrenk and Dan Luthi. And of course Amy and Alan's wedding and reception was fun. (I didn't catch the bouquet, I made sure to be in the very back) And now I can add running through O'Hare to catch a connecting flight to my list of accomplishments. We made it. Our luggage didn't.

So we were there and back again...
Blessings.

ice cream and old friends

Tuesday night Dorothy and I went to the ice cream place in Eureka that changes owners and names every year. I don't know what it's called this year. I had a chocolate tornado (previously known as a barn buster, snowstorm, and blizzard) with Reese's peanut butter cups. It was amazing. It was good to see her again and catch up... we talked for a long time after they closed.

Last night Nic invited some people to his house to play mini-golf and volleyball. Gab was too busy redoing her bathroom to come with me. (*tsk* such an excuse) It was a fun time even though the girl-guy ratio was a little bit small. The weather was beautiful for being outside playing games. And for taking Bob's sweet new ride around the section. :)

I almost gave Heidi a heart attack- and it totally wasn't on purpose!

Wedding #7 is tomorrow. Then I'm leaving for California with my family. We're going to San Francisco for a few days and some other places; then next weekend we're going to my cousin's wedding (#8). Woot.

Blessings.

Nothing much

So my life is pretty boring. I go to work every day. I don't really have anything to blog about...

I went to wedding #6 last friday. I knew Jordan from High School and I went to homecoming and Prom with him and Rachel. Rach and I also used to hang out a lot at ICC. So it was really weird to be at their wedding. They were very cute and I got to see a lot of people from high school. :) I skipped the reception... I'm tired of them.

OOOOOOO I did hear some wonderful exciting news at church on thursday night- my co-trumpet section leader, a.k.a. 'the trumpet god', started repenting last week. I was a little bit wound up. Still am. Woot!
Blessings.

Jobs and Tickets

So. It's been a busy week I guess. I started working Monday. I don't like getting up early. But I enjoy the lab. So far there has been a fire and a flood (neither of which were my fault). I test water. Waste water, drinking water, ground water- I didn't know there were that many kinds.

The Tuesday before Heidi's wedding I was coming home from world relief sewing at church. I had stopped at the library (somebody had checked out the RJ I wanted, mur) and accidentally passed a stopped school bus on my way out of town. Yes, I knew it was illegal, but I didn't see the lights, and it was too late when I saw the sign... so I just hoped that no one got my plates. No such luck. I got a phone call and a ticket from the w-ton police later that night. It was kind of a rough week.

When you pass a school bus in IL it's a $150 fine and 3 month license suspension along with a court appearance. Soooo.... since I need to get to work somehow, and my insurance would have gone up exponentially... dad talked to a lawyer. This past Monday was my court date. Nothing like the first day at a new job and going to court all in the same day... it was kind of nerve wracking. But... I kept my chin up. :)

When we got to Pekin, I wasn't on the docket for the day. There were some tense moments until my lawyer got there and figured out that they had changed the day and not told either of us. So he fixed that and then sat down with the prosecutor and got it worked out that I pay a bigger fine, but the ticket got reduced to improper lane usage. And if I don't get a ticket in 6 months it doesn't go on my record at all. I still had to stand in front of the judge which is really kind of scary. I was so glad that I didn't have to say much... my lawyer did all of the talking and it's over and I'm not in jail. (I wasn't really worried about that... but you never know!)

So thankful for my advocate on judgment day. -1 John 2:1-
Aleluya A Neustro Dios!

Curtains, another wedding, and a present

I've been meaning to make curtains to match my blue wall for a few weeks now... and never got around to it. But then I was in Walmart and saw some fabric that would make the perfect curtains for the landing and I was inspired. So Friday I made curtains for three windows. It was fun. They are very cute, at least, I like them.

Today I met Sarah in Gridley and we went to CP for Chris and Ashley's wedding. Number 4 of 9. (I'm skipping number 5, it's tomorrow). Sarah and I went for a nice rainy drive in the country, I think we took a route to Cissna that's never been tried before... but we made it. We almost couldn't find the church but then Sarah and her amazing church finding skills got us there as I was on the phone with Jer for directions. I was excited to see Karen at the wedding...good stuff. And hearing "Chris" and "woo" in the same sentence was huh-larious. I'll miss them both... it's kind of hard to believe that I lived with Ash for two whole years, and that Chris was my quasi-roommate-next-door-neighbor for that long also.

When I got back my graduation present was waiting for me. I am now the proud owner of a beautiful Singer Sewing machine!!!! It has 10 stitch options, a serger attachment, and automatic button holes. It's sooo cool. Too bad I already made my curtains. :) I spent most of the evening trying it out. And I learned how to smock with it. I like to look at it, it's sooo pretty!

Anyway. Church in the morning.
Blessings.

"You know what I think when I hear W.M.?"

"Waste Management!" hehe.

Leo was really relaxing. Lyssa had Dippin Dots at her graduation party and they had tons left over so I got to eat a lot of those. I spent a lot of time reading by the pool and hanging out with Abby. And rode the go-kart and played Wii and shuffle board and volleyball. I went shopping with three of my aunts one afternoon and we spent at least an hour in Christopher and Banks. I don't even like that store. I guess it's good for me... or something. Abs and I went jet skiing one evening on the mighty st. Jo river. It's not the cleanest river... I think I would be afraid to actually swim in it.

Joanna and Will's wedding was this weekend. Matt and I went on Saturday night for the singing. I stayed with Gab and Meg at Wayne and Gloria's. I haven't seen Meg in ages so it was good to catch up with her and Gab. And talk to other U of I people that I haven't seen since May. Sunday was good...lots of Mexico trip people there... they said yes. The reception line was waay too long, but I was with cool people so I really shouldn't complain. :) I guess a little wait to see real people is better than a drive through with a plastic figurine. Gab rode back with Matt and I... fun times. We stopped for "the Great Guzzler" which of course meant a bathroom stop... It's good for Matt right?

I have one more week of freedom.
Blessings.

200

This is my 200th post. Wow. I feel accomplished or something. Too bad I don't have anything profound to say. :)

I got a job. Woot. At PDC Laboratories in Peoria. I'm excited most of the time, but there's still a part of me that wants to be lazy a little bit longer.

Today is Katie's wedding. She asked four of us girls who aren't on vacation to sing, so I'm a little nervous about that but it should be ok. We practiced yesterday at Heidi's and we don't sound too horrible. I attempted to help Heidi a little bit after practicing but I didn't get a whole lot done. O well. It was good to see her again and hang out.

After the reception Mom and Dad and I are going to Leo for Alyssa's graduation. I think I'm staying until Thursdayish. It should be a good time!

In which I venture into large crowds

So Gridley this weekend was really good. The weather was beautiful, and everything else was really enjoyable. I was really excited to see my roomies again, and the other U of I people that came. I did branch out a little bit and met a few new people. :)

I never get headaches ever... and I did Saturday night. It hurt. I almost threw up. So weird... but I was feeling a lot better at Amber's. It was sooo fun to stay with Kris and Sarah and Amber and Kaleigh. I miss those girls. So what do you call a lady with one leg? Eileen! Where does she work? IHOP!! Wow. Gotta love laffy taffy jokes and Sarah jokes.

Sunday Matt and I visited Grandma after church and then he left me in Gridley. (On purpose, I wanted to stay after the festivities were over, and Nic kindly volunteered Bob and himself as a ride home.) A group of us went to Kaleigh's and threw things at each other, played games, and spent a lot of quality time outside in the sun. Good times. The guys had me home before midnight... I guess that's late when you have to work in the morning. :D

Blessings.

p.s. Mike, you still owe me a pie... cause I'm pretty sure you didn't bring me one this weekend. :)

Blue

So I decided to paint my bedroom this week. It's been the same since I got rid of the peach/pink Precious Moments border in 8th grade... so I figured it was time. It also needed a complete scrubbing. (I won't tell you how long its been for that *grin*) I painted one wall stargaze blue. *sigh* I love it. The other walls are white because I didn't want to live in a cave.
I'm also excited that my bedding matches my walls for the first time in pretty much ever!

I did have to miss out on a C-U trip because of painting and the mess it created in the rest of the house. That was disappointing.

But I did get to see a bunch of super awesome girls at Joanna's personal shower Thursday night. Which made up for it. And I got to ride with Amber and Melissa and Kristen, good times.

Ooooo.... and I'm really excited because Mom brought me home a zone 5 hardy crepe myrtle bush!!! Woot. They have them all over down south- they're covered with flowers and they're gorgeous. I wanted to bring one home with me when I was in Florida but I thought that having to bring it inside for the winter was too much work. But now they have hardy varieties! So I planted it today.

Mass chaos in Gridley tomorrow.... I'm mostly going to see U of I people. (I know that's a bad reason but I don't really care.)

Blessings.

One down....

Eight to go. *grin*

Heidi and Luke's wedding was... yeah... I don't know. Really, really, surreal. But good.

Saturday was long and busy, Wendi woke me up at 8:30 when she called to tell me that pictures were not outside since it was thunderstorming. So we took a few at the fellowship hall and by afternoon it was cleared up enough that we went to the river front to take some more.
The rehearsal was fun. I didn't know that they had the whole walking in thing down to such a science. So if you ever sit in the 8th bench on the center aisle in W-ton... you're the spacing for the bridesmaids.

They had the dinner at the Tea Room in Mackinaw Saturday night. It's good food, but it's definitely "chick food." Some of the younger people at my table weren't especially fond of the menu choices *cough* Wendi. We had to go around and share a memory... so fun to listen to but not so much fun to do. :)

Church was full but not overly crowded. I like to watch all the people as they come in, it's always interesting to see who's there.

We had some amusing moments getting ready and waiting for the wedding to start. Like getting locked out of church. Trying to hide kleenex in our Bibles. And rescuing a crying baby. But, otherwise it went really smoothly. I didn't trip. I didn't go too fast. I didn't cry. They said yes. It was a good wedding.

Katelyn and I found the leftover Pepsi from lunch on Saturday at the reception. When you're wearing a purple dress, I mean, lavender, you can pretty much go anywhere and you don't get scolded for being in the way.

I found out that my ice cream punch pouring skills are sadly lacking. Either that or the ladle was poorly designed. :)

So. I'm exhausted and will probably sleep through any Memorial day festivities tomorrow morning. Blessings.

Sewing

I went to world relief sewing today for the first time since I used to skip physics at ICC to go. It was fun, I knotted a comforter for a while. Then we ate pizza and Dairy Queen ice cream. Grandma taught me how to quilt- it's pretty easy but painful! I can't seem to figure out the thimble so my fingers are a little bit sore.



4 more days until I never see Heidi and Luke again.... mur.