Happy Thanksgiving!!!

So I wanted to wish everyone a very blessed and safe Thanksgiving! Also, I wanted to share two of my favorite recipes! They are yummylicious!!!!

Love to you all!


Pumpkin Surprise Cake:

Bottom Crust: 1 yellow cake mix (minus 1 cup to be used for crumble)
1 egg
1 stick margerine (melted)
Mix together, and pat into bottom of 9x13 pan

Middle filling: 1 large can Pumpkin pie MIX
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk (I use evaporated milk)
Mix together, and put on top of bottom crust

Top Crumble: 1 cup cake mix
1/4 cup margerine
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Makes a crumble for the top of cake... Bake at 350 for 45 - 50 minutes depending on your oven. Mine usually takes longer.



Cheesy Corn Casserole:

1 can Cream Style Corn
1 can Corn (do not drain)
1 stick margerine (melted)
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup Cheddar Cheese
1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

Mix together, and place in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 45 - 50 minutes. Is done when sides are slightly golden. 5 minutes before it's done, pull out and put as much cheese on top as you want :) This is wonderful and is one of my families "must have's"

:) Em

Guess who's still here?

Hi all!

I hope everyone is just having a wonderful day, and enjoying the fall weather!

Things have been incredibly busy and I even had three days off of work! The Lord has been so good, and has given us so much to be grateful for.

We were able to go to the Loving and Leading Conference in Milford, OH this past weekend. We left at 5 a.m. on Thursday Morning, and spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday Morning there. You hit the floor running! But I can't even begin to tell you what it did for my heart. We learnt so much, and got so many new idea's, that we just couldn't wait to get home!!! More importantly, God gave me a renewed vision of my heart for Children and also strengthened my walk for Him. Each hour, you had a different session that you could go to, then we would meet back up for a general session a few times a day. One of the sessions I chose to go to, was the Bearing Precious Seed Tour... here are a few pictures... talk about a mind opener... Wow!

This is what you saw when you first walked in. See the white cone lookin thing? That's paper that's about 2 ft wide, and it's been printed on both sides, and this machine folds it. It was unbelievable! This is what was coming out of that machine...
I should have written the numbers down of how many/much/etc... but these are rolls of paper. This is the most expensive part of making the Bibles...
These are the ones that are half done, they just have to be trimmed, then binded. Most of these are John and Romans.

Then... on Saturday afternoon, we met back at my brother's house in Indy, and we adopted 4 kids for the weekend! It was a blast, but so tiring! They are getting so big, and I love them to death! I have a few more pictures, but these are the ones that are off of my phone...

Doesn't her face just say enough??? This is Audrey... and her eyes speak for her... ;) Trey was excited that Phil was there... someone to play Crash with him for hours on end!!!! Doesn't Phil look confused? lol They had a great time together...
Yup, this is Ginger. Boy was she glad we were home! She slept for forever! A huge thank you to Betty and Jason for watching her for us... they were a lifesaver! They have a dog named Libby... and Ginger got played out!!! :) Phil was just as glad as Ginger was to be home, and be able to have his buddy back!

There's a little update! I'll have more pics whenver I can get them off of my camera... I have pictures of me with pink hair!!! ahhh!!! :)

Happy Wednesday!!!

Red

I have a new email!!!! See link on sidebar...

Happy Tuesday!

I had to share this picture...

So I have a friend, who's name is Jill... We have been best of friends for like four million years. Actually, since we were like 4 years old. She has a little baby named Chevy Marie. She's ADORABLE. She sent me this picture this morning, and I had to share it with my blog friends....

Doesn't that just make your heart go pitter-patter? Look at that tongue!!! :)

Happy Thursday!

Em

Grrrrr!!!!!!!!!

For some stupid reason... Blogger won't let me put pictures on! Or change my main picture! I've been trying for the past couple days to do things on my blog... but it won't let me! Anyone have any suggestions?



Life is busy, but good here... I'm starting to teach piano in January, so I'm trying to educate myself on how to teach - sounds like a cliche doesn't it? I'm excited about that.



We got the Study/Piano room painted last week. It is a burnt orange... If you know me, you know that I love color :) oh! Our Church's Weiner Roast and Hayride is this weekend... should be a blast, it's my favorite activity! It means fall is here so break out the Jeans and Sweatshirts!!!! :) Also, Phil and I are going to Tanners Orchard this weekend too! It'll be a blast! Don'tcha wish you were here?!?!!?!?!?!?



Work is going good, kinda slow right now... it's the "off season" for my job... the little Scouts are busy sellin Popcorn though! Hey! Speaking of... have you tried the I think it's called White Gold? It is Popcorn (duh!) covered in white chocolate, with almonds.... it's heavenly!



I just sent an email to the LadiesJOYfellowship email welcoming a girl to the "group" and I just like sent an email telling all about myself! LOL for some really odd reason, I'm super chatty today! Not like a blonde cheerleader chatty, but just chatty :)



Mmmmkkkaaay. I think it's time for me to go... I hope everyone is having a wonderful day and enjoy the beautiful weather!



Much luvvvv, Red <3

Here's the little treat....

to satisfy some of you... LOL :) J/K... I have tons of pictures to put up, but just haven't had time to download them from my camera. However, it is so much easier to do with my phone... so here are a few pictures from this morning. Hope you enjoy!

The new hair... it's not a good pic, but you can see the highlights! :) I love them! You can kind of see the cut too... I ended up getting about 6 inches cut off... I'm just now starting to get used to it being shorter again :) Amy, since you asked about 10 times.... this is for you ;)

I got to keep some of my nephews Tuesday night and last night... it was quite an adventure! We did homework and showers at night, and did breakfast and went to school in the morning :) It was a blast and they were awesome. Ginger loved having kids to play with, even though they are scared of her... lol Nick & Ryan were used to her soon after they got there, but Trevor... is a different story... :) They took pictures of themselfves this morning on the way to school... aren't they cute?

Nick is 9...
Ryan is 7...
Trevor (Trevie) is 5...

It made me want kids even more! We took them to church with us last night, and Phil preached (M&D are out of town) and I sat in our pew with three boys and Hopie! :) It was great fun.

Hope you enjoyed the pics... more to come! Happy Thursday!

~Em

She yet liveth...

Hello all! whew! Has life been crazy!!!! Work has had the most part to do with it... Our big dinner fundraiser was on Friday night, and it went great. I had a huge part in the organization of it. My stress level on Friday night at 11:30 (when I left) went from a 20 to a 2!!! That in and of itself will make you tired! :)

I got home, and went to bed, where Phil told me that his boss called him to do the Iowa route on Saturday. This route leaves at 2 a.m. So usually when Phil runs this route he goes to bed at about 7... well, he went to bed at 11:00, when his boss called him. lol So I, being the wonderful wife that I am... got about 1.5 hours of sleep, then jumped in the huge truck with my hubby... We had a great time together, which is what is important. It's about a 4.5 hour drive up there, but the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a Chik-fil-a!!! (which we don't have around us...) We got back about 6 p.m. on Saturday. We were exhausted! LOL Phil being the most wonderful husband that he is... took me away for the night. We only went like 30 minutes away, but we stayed in a hotel and ate out. It was wonderful to get some much needed rest.

This week is full of me getting back in the routine of things at work... getting caught up on everything that I got behind on while doing things for the event. Tonight we are making supper for Phil's brother, who's wife just had a hysterectomy. Phil is working like crazy on the bathroom that we are remodeling... wait till you see pics!!! It's gonna be awesome!

Anyways, I have lots of pictures to post, of the event, my hair, our Iowa trip...etc. But you'll have to have a little patience with me... ;)

I hope everyone has great days this week!

Happy Birthday to my sister in law Renee today!

Still alive, and doin her thang... Em

Update...

There have been a couple of inquiries on the hair thing... There was a little messup with the cut, so I'm going back this Saturday and she will fix it. It will be alot shorter than I wanted to go... I'll explain when I get the pictures.

I hope all is well with everyone. I have a HUGE thing coming up at work, that I do all of the "manual" things for. It's a huge dinner involving about 600 people... I'm getting a little stressed, and it's a week from tomorrow. So needless to say, you won't hear from me till probably the first of October... I will try really hard to post pics of the new cut, but life is super hectic right now... I covet your prayers for my sanity over the next week!!!

Also, there are several people in our church who are not doing well. I can't stress to you enough how important your prayers are. We know God is good, and He will do what He wills is best... But please pray for these people:

• Dennis and Diane Lambert - They have had Lizzy since she was 5 weeks old. She is now 41/2 and they have been trying to adopt her. They have adopted her brother, but have been in court with her.... DCFS came in on Monday and took Lizzy out of her home. The Lamberts are having a really rough time. I don't know all that is behind it, but I do know that this is the family that Lizzy knows. Please Pray

• Connie Gilroy - Has been fighting cancer for years. Things are not looking good. We love her so much, and she is in so much pain. She needs God's grace and mercy to overflow on her behalf. Please Pray

There are many others that I could list, but these two are very crucial right now.

Thank you for your prayers!

God is good, ALL the time!

Happy Weekend!!!

Lots of things going on this weekend... I'm getting my hair cut and highlighted, going to a Tremont Football game or a movie tonight, Morton Pumpkin Festival... lots of things!!! So exciting!!! :) I hope you all have a great and safe weekend.

Loves from me!

Em

Hi ya Friends!



I hope this finds you all in the wonderful grace of God! We are so blessed beyond measure! The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want! He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside the still waters!! My cup runneth over!!!! Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever! I was sitting here at work, and those verses keep going in and out of my head, oh the joy we have when we are one of HIS children!



So I have a few pictures to share...


On Opey's birthday, which is the day before mine... Nom, Op, Nae, Phil and I went to Applebee's (one of our fav's) to spend some time together, and wish Opey well on his birthday. I had to share this picture, Morgan and I were texting, and she said... who's with ya'll? So, I sent her this pic. When I went to take the picture, Renee made a funny comment about not liking her picture being taken... lol

If you have ever been out to eat with me, you'll know that I always order water with tons of lemon. (Yes, I make my own lemonade!) Well, in most places, they bring one, maybe two. Yeah, so Applebee's is definately the best at this. Our waiter was awesome.... doesn't it look neat? Everyone kept asking if it was just water... ;0)

So on Labor day, Phil and I went to New Salem and walked around the park that is all about Abe Lincoln. They have the houses and buildings just as they were. I told Phil to take a picture of the only Tavern I was allowed to walk into!!! :) Actually, in those days a tavern was more for a home cooked mean, and a bed to rest. Hardly ever was there liquor involved. Interesting huh?

That's all for now Folks!!! Till next time... Em

3:00 AM

Hello all: Today is my birthday, it hasn't started off well though... we got a call about 10:00 p.m. last night that a very dear man in our church had had a stroke. We rushed to the hospital, along with most of our church family to be there for his family. It is now 3:00 a.m. and they have transfered him to OSF (he was at Pekin). They have just taken him in for an MRI. At first, he had lost his sight, and alot of other things. Now, he can see better. Praise God! However, he doesn't have very much control of the right side of his body, and his speech is very slurred. But God knows, and He is faithful! There are quite a few of us here... but I'm still really sleepy!

I feel bad being so excited about my birthday... If you really know me, you'd know that I'm like a kid when it comes to Christmas about my birthday.... I love it! Right now though, it's not lookin like it's gonna be such a bright day! But I'm sure we'll make up for it, and celebrate all weekend! I have a feeling that something is going to happen tonight, and it might involve Monicals... but don't tell anyone! ;) I don't think I'm suppose to know! (shhhh!!!)

Pray for me please... I'm seriously considering giving piano lessons, but I lack a thing called self-confidence, or lack of knowledge fear... lol I've had quite a few people ask me about them, and if I would do it. We were just praying about a way to pay off some of this work that we are doing to the house. God knows, and he'll provide! Just pray that I won't be stubborn to His will. Speaking of His will... I have something that I need to write about, but it is very hard for me... I know that alot of people struggle with this thing, but I tend to hide it to myself. But I know that if we have struggles, or things we just don't flipping understand, that for some reason, God gives us people who have expierenced the same thing. And He gives them to us, or puts them in our lives for a purpose, and I don't want my pride of self dignity or whatever you want to call it to get in the way....

God is good, all the time... even though sometimes we just don't see it.

total eclipse of the heart....

At 4:40 A.M. (that is in caps for emphasis!) Phil and I crawled out of bed to go watch the lunier (sp?) eclipse. We thought that we would have to drive out of town, but we actually were just able to stand in our front yard and watch it happen. It was so neat. I don't have any pictures, because it wouldn't work... but you can search on google and see pictures of other ones. The entire time we were standing there I had "total eclipse of the heart" song in my head... lol Anyway, this is totally a Phil thing... he loves stuff like this. He was practically begging me last night to get up so early with him (I am the farthest thing from a morning person...) and I have to say, it was totally worth it. God is truly amazing! I have a ton of other things to post about, but not a lot of time... hopefully soon! My birthday is in three days! :)

Happy Tuesday!!

Emily

Butter and Flies :)

Hello all!

Phil and I had a great weekend together... We went to the Illinois State Fair on Saturday. It was cool. I wish I would have had my camera to take more pictures, but I hate to carry stuff around when I'm trying to look at things and eat my favorite "fair gyros" :) I did however, get a few with Phil's phone... I had to share this with my blog friends...

Yup, this is ALL butter!!! Amazing huh? The tallest point was probably 4 1/2 feet tall...

Look at the little kitty cat!! You can't really see them, but hanging from the tree they had made little dragon flies and hung them from string... On this last one, be sure to look at the owl. The detail was incredible!!! It even had little glasses on! And the doggie!!! I could have stood there for hours and just stared at it... but of course as you can see, I wasn't the only one who thought it was cool!

On our way home, we made a pit-stop at our local Wally Word to buy a new pet...errrr plant.

This is our new fly trap plant! If you haven't seen these... they are really neat. I remember having one in our class room when I was in kindygarden... the one that is really out of focus and has a black spot... we got a hold of a fly and put it on the petal... and it closes up around the fly! It was really neat! Naturally, if you just leave the plant alone, the flies land on the petals, and they eat them... it's a live plant!

On Sunday, we had our church picnic... this was different from any other year though, we actually stayed in the basement of the church for most of the activities (eating) and only went back to the pavilion for snow cones (made by none other than the Snow King and Queen... yours truely) and our traditional egg toss. We also had some other games, but people didn't last very long, because it was like almost 100 degrees... it was burning hot.

Anyways, that is an update on the Hulett home... we are good, and God is great!

Camping Trip

I know, you'll are probably fainting thinking of Emily going on a camping trip... lol. When Phil and I got married, I agreed that I would go with him at least once. He thought I had never had the "true" camping experience... Well, he can say that I did now. LOL We had a blast, here are some details from our camping! (the pictures are taken with my camera phone, because I forgot the camera in the car! Imagine that!) Enjoy!

This was the fire we built! You can't see it too well, but I'm really proud of it because I was the one who went looking for fire wood. Of course I was sure to tell Phil, that I really didn't enjoy this part... Everyone at work thought it was hilarious that I had never built a fire... I work for the Boy Scouts... Of course I replied back with... I'm a girl... :)

This is our tent!!! It was so easy to put up! Phil kept sayin that you aren't suppose to sleep when you go camping... Yes, I know... why did we put it up then???? We ended up staying up until about 5 a.m. then going and taking a nap :) Although, Phil does these trout line things... and we had to go out every two hours to check the lines... oh joy!

This is me with one of the fish I caught! We ended up being able to take back about 5 fish... two were really good size catfish! yum! And give me credit for looking so icky... I'd been up for almost 30 hours with about two hours of sleep and no shower!

Speaking of me looking icky... Ginger went with us... She was filthy!!!! She loved the fish we caught and how they jumped she would just start barkin and growling... it was cute. We wrapped a shirt around her to get her home and walked straight into the bathroom... This was her right before we left. She got hot so she went and laid in the muddy water... Ya just gotta love dogs...

Last but not least... a pic of the hubby and I... he ALWAYS does this in pictures... but ya just gotta love him!

Friends

Please pray for my friend Hopie. She had her tonsils and adnoids taken out this morning... The surgery went fine, but just pray she heals fast! :) I love you Hopie!!!

Announcing.... Mr & Mrs Jonathan LaBarge!!!!! These are some of Phil and I's dearest friends... We weren't able to make it to the wedding... but I got a picture!!!! Photography by Ryan Keiter

Congrats guys! We love you!!!!

Okay, so I finally got my camera to my work so that I could download all the pics... I have 205. Ah! But I don't think Blogger would let me post them all on here... So I'm going to pic some of my favorties.... I think I'll have to do two posts to get all the pics in!


Our 1st House!!!! We are homeowners!!!Us, signing our lives away for 30 years...Our Ginger...Bill & Meghan Howell

(they came and spent some time with us before we left :) It was great... we miss them tons!)
Morgie Porgie and I at T-Fest '07!!!! (yes, that is face paint on my cheek...)
Mr & Mrs. Brian Newby :) This is my cousin and her new hubby... they got married in Jamaca in March, and we had a reception for them in Indiana... it made for a nice weekend away!
Phil and I in Indiana at the Esenhaus (sp?) I got to show him where we used to live and where all of my wonderful childhood memories were :)
Amish Buggies!!! I was so excited to see them again!

The house that I grew up in as a kid...

I'll post more pics later...

Three wonderful years...

So today three years ago, I married my best friend. Three years ago, I would have never dreamed that I could love a person so much. He has given me the life I needed, the love I need, and the encouragement to make it through whatever our future holds. Today, My husband and I celebrate our 3rd Anniversary. God has truly blessed our relationship and our marriage. Of course, like any other couple we have had trials and very few fights (seriously!)... but through it all, we have remained each other's best friends. I couldn't dream of spending my life with anyone else... We have the kind of relationship where we can't wait to get home to each other to see the other, or to talk about our days. I could go on and on about how much my husband means to me, but for sure he is the best thing outside of salvation that has ever happened to me.

I love you more everyday Philip Ryan!

Phil sent me flowers at work... there is a story behind the colors... aren't they beautiful???

The card reads (in his handwriting...): I hope you have a wonderful day and thank you for the 3 years so far and many more to come. Your loving husband

And everyone says.... Awwwww.....

Hello all.

Yes, I know it's been forever. But so much has drastically changed in my life...

• I quit my job in Tennessee where I absolutely loved the people I worked with
• We packed our entire home
• I ate sushi for the last time at Wasabi while a TN resident
• Phil quit his job at McAlisters
• I said good-bye to my closest friends on earth
• We packed the moving truck with the help of some of our dearest friends
• We traveled ALL day to Illinois
• We signed on our first house that we own on June 1st at 11:30a.m.
• We moved into our new home on June 1st at 12:00p.m.
• We unpacked our house and started remodeling the basement
• I started my job with BSA in Peoria, IL on June 5th
• Phil started his job at CIP in Morton, IL on June 5th
• We moved our membership to Bethel Baptist Church on June 17th
• We celebrated Fathers Day - another year to celebrate something we aren't
• I'm sure there is something I'm forgetting...
• Oh, Ginger is now completely potty trained in our new house

So, to alot of you, this might not seem like much.

But right now, it's the biggest struggle I've ever had...

-In memory of truly great pianist-

So last year, on February 22nd to be exact... A personal hero of mine passed away. Don't get me wrong, he's in a much better place... But I'll never forget the awe that I had when I watched him play the piano. His name was Anthony Burger. The picture below was actually taken on the cruise that he passed away on. I had seen him a few times in concert, but now... I wish I'd gone every chance I had, just to watch him play. He played with such emotion!

Oi, do I wish I could play like him!

Last Saturday another awesome pianist passed away after years of fighting cancer. His name was Roger Bennett. Roger sang/played for the Cathedral Quartet for many years. I remember as a kid going and seeing them in concert multiple times... I even remember when they announced that he had cancer and his many years fighting the disease. A few years ago, after the Cathedrals retired, and Legacy Five was started by Roger and Scott Fowler. We saw them in concert many times too. You can go to www.legacyfive.com to read more about Rogers home going. He had a journal that he kept online for people to read, when he got really bad, his wife was doing entries to inform everyone. It will be weird going to a Legacy Five concert and him not be there playing... Both will be missed!

Southern Gospel has lost two of the most talented musicians ever.

The life of a busy lady...

I know, I know... it's been forever. Lay off. Life has been crazy! So much is going on, and work will be a little lighter this week, so I decided to take this opportunity and catch whoever reads this never updated blog! BTW: Does anyone read this? If noone does, it's okay... I enjoy typing and pondering all the things that are happening and how much God has blessed us with!

Okay, so one of the big things in my life right now is, Cake Decorating. I have been going to classes, and am acutally in the Advanced Class right now. Holy cow is it hard. Flowers are the main thing in the advanced... so I wanted to share some with you. They aren't perfect by any means, but these are my FIRST try at these!

First is a daisy! The leaves are suppose to have a little bit of space between them, but my icing was a little soft. Not bad for my first try though! This is made with Royal icing, so it gets hard, and looks great on cakes! Also a favorite for the kids to eat! :)

Second, this is suppose to be a pansy, but I didn't have any yellow frosting... this wasn't that hard to make, but when I look at pictures of pansies, even if I would have had yellow frosting, it still wouldn't look like pictures of pansies do... It's super easy though!
Thirdly, this is a violet! These were taken with my cell phone, so I know they aren't great pictures...This was the tiniest flower I've made so far... It's so cute!

Here is a cake that I made in class... on the top is canonilli lace. This was my first try at it, and I kind of stunk on it, but it's so pretty with white on white. It's very poplular for wedding cakes. I did a wider lace on the left, and tighter on the right... I can't decide which I like better...

So, I put this in here because I know that my family will get a kick out of it. So, I'm walking down the isle at Wal-mart, and I'm talking to my sister on the phone... all of the sudden I see this couple walking towards me and I say "No Way" Seriously. I have to be dreaming... "I could swear that I just saw the Smallwoods" I told Nom. I let her go, and put myself in a place where I could see them again (No, I wasn't stalking) I asked them what their last name was, and she said "Smallwood" and looked at me like I was crazy. I said "Holy Cow" "I'm Emily Rowell...ehhh Hulett, well Rowell is what you would know me by" I was totally stumbling over my words I was in so much shock! This is a family that was in our church in Indiana. I played outside with thier kids after church all the time!!! They live like an hour from me, and it was totally by chance that I saw them... It was great. We stood there and talked for forever, and caught up. It was great. I think we concluded that it had been close to 12 years since we had seen each other... Yeah, totally a Wow thing!

Last, but far from the least... We got a new car!!!!!!!!! I was deeply upset... the Malibu gave out on us... it was going to be too much to replace what needed to be replaced, so we traded it and got a great deal! The new one is a 2005 Ford Freestyle. It is a mix between a van and an SUV, with a lot of simularities of a station wagon. I can fit 7 people!!! It will be so nice when we work with churches and travel on deputation and stuff like that... It's so nice! It has 18,000 miles on it. I can't wait to show it to everyone! God is so good! :)


So, this is just a couple of things that are going on... I'll post later about Phil's graduation and moving back to Illinois, and all... Please keep us in your prayers! :)


Red