A Three Hour (not really, more like an hour and half) Tour

Once upon a time I went on a boat tour... I was wearing my tourist/photographer hat. We saw lots of tall, shiny things on this boat tour. It was just such a beautiful day to be on a boat. The sun was shining, the sky was wide and blue, and the photo ops were a-plenty... and I took full advantage of all those photo-ops... Take a look...

We saw the Sears Tower... I refuse to call it Willis tower... absolutely refuse...

And the Chicago skyline....

And this building is my favorite building in Chicago... The one in the middle there... I can't explain why I love it, but when I was a college student in Chicago, I fell in love with it... and the feeling has stayed...

And there's the Trump tower... sometimes I forget that it hasn't been there for forever...

And lots of Chicago bridges. If I remember correctly, the tour guide said that there are 54 bridges like this throughout the city... but I may be wrong on that fact... I'm not going to bother to check right now either...

And I love these concave, all glass buildings....

Because they do this.... and it looks cool....

And this is an interesting view of the Sears tower... You could see the new glass ledges that they installed... and the people standing out on the ledges... it was a little freaky...

But is was a fun day spent with my mom, and her friend.

A great time was had by all...

Sleepovers

Today I am wearing my "Hostess" hat... and no, it has nothing to do with ding dongs... unless you consider two cute little girls ding dongs... Anyway, my very best friend and her daughter and her niece came to stay with me last night. It's always nice to have my friend with me. And those girls... well, they are the cutest things ever. Right now, they're in their PJs, eating donuts (with sprinkles of course) and watching Enchanted. And did I mention that they have their hair up in cute little buns, but they've been slept on, and so they are now messy buns with hair falling out all over the place, and it is just the cutest thing ever. Seriously. As a single woman with no children, it's always an adventure for me when I stay around kids. You see, I am not accustomed to the whole get up and take care of the kids thing. I'm just not. Sometimes I just don't understand how people can do that day in and day out. I love my sleep. I love to sleep in on weekends. So when I'm awoken at 6:30 on a Sunday morning, I'm not really that "happy" to be awake. But then I watch these two cute girls play and bounce around and think, this is so much better than sleeping in. So maybe that's how parents do this everyday? Could waking up at 6:30 with the kids actually be entertaining and, dare I say it, fun? Because right now, it totally is... they are cracking me up... And I'll even admit it that I loved preparing bowls of cereal for them, getting plates for their donuts, showing them how to work the remote so they could fast forward through the scary parts of Enchanted. Seeing their cute smiles has made it all worth while... but honestly, I kind of need some coffee at this point of time.... Those girls might be cute, but cuteness can not replace the miraculous effects that caffeine has on my body...

It's only a Trifle

Once upon a time I put on my "Baker" hat. Now, that is one good hat, let me tell you. You see, I was going to a friend's house for a BBQ and I decided that my contribution to this blessed event would be dessert,. A trifle to be exact. A Triple Berry Trifle to be even more exact. What's a trifle you ask? Well, technically, it's this:

English Cookery . a dessert usually consisting of custard and cake soaked in wine or liqueur, and jam, fruit, or the like.

And OK, my trifle didn't exactly fill this definition... I didn't soak anything in wine or liqueur... bummer, I know... but it did have custard (if you consider instant pudding custard, and I do) and fruit. I don't think the guests really cared... they didn't call the Trifle Police or anything, they just ate it up! And, to be oh so humble, they told me it was the most delicious thing they had ever put in their mouths. It's true... ask any of them! Well, maybe, don't ask them. Because then you'll find out that I was lying... and that would make me look really bad... and we just can't have that, now can we? Anyway, the trifle was a hit at the party. Now, I could be stingy and refuse to share the recipe with you all, but that's not the type of girl I am! So, I'll go ahead give you the recipe and let you be the talk of the next party you go to!

Triple Berry Trifle

What you will need:

2 1/3 c Bisquick
1/2 c milk
3 tbs. sugar
3 tbs. butter, melted
1 Pkg instant vanilla pudding
1 pt. blueberries
1 pt. raspberries
1 qt. strawberries, sliced
1 c sugar
1 pkg. frozen whipped cream (thawed)

What you need to do:

~ Prepare package of instant vanilla pudding according to instructions on box, refrigerate.
~ Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
~ Combine 2 1/3 c Bisquick mix with milk, 3 tbs. of sugar, and butter until soft dough forms (this is the recipe for shortcake on the Bisquick box).
~ Spread dough out thinly on greased cookie sheet.
~ Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until a soft golden brown color. Remove from oven, and let cool.
~ While shortcake is baking, combine blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries with 1 c sugar in large bowl. Set aside.
~ Cut shortcake into small bite sized pieces.
~ Layer 1/2 of the pieces of shortcake in Trifle bowl.
~ Pour half of the pudding over shortcake pieces and spread evenly.
~ Pour 1/2 of berry mixture over pudding, spread evenly.
~ Spoon 1/2 of whipped cream over berry mixture, spread evenly.
~ Repeat layering with the remainders of shortcake, then pudding, then berries.
~ Top with remaining whipped cream.
~ Refrigerate until time to serve.

And it should look a little something like this...


Notice the layers... yummy...

All those fresh berries... so tasty... This trifle is obviously missing the whipped cream on the top... just imagine that it's there for me, OK.

Seriously, if you make this, your friends will love you... I promise!

Crankiness

Oh my... today I'm afraid I was wearing my "Ms. Cranky Pants" hat... It's not a pretty hat. It's dingy, dirty, and faded from the many times it's been worn. And yet... I still end up putting it on, it seems like, all the time. And today I just picked that thing up and slapped it on my head and didn't care. And that's where I left it... all day... well, at least until later afternoon, when I ate 6 pieces of dark chocolate (yes, I said six... don't judge), and suddenly the world was a magical place. Dark chocolate is apparently the antidote to all crankiness. It's true... I just wish I had figured it out sooner... Anyway, I think my crankiness has been building and building for a while now. You see, some times (read this as most of the time) I feel like I'm making a horrible mess of this life I've been given. And lately, I've really been convicted about, well, everything. It all started on Sunday. I went to church, and no, that's not what made me cranky. But boy was I ever convicted that I have been giving in to the flesh for too long. But do you think I went home and vowed to fight the flesh and live a better life for God? No, I ate way too much food for lunch, felt sick, took a nap, and then sat on the couch watching t.v. for pretty much the rest of the night. Flesh 5, Bethy zip... and I just seemed to continue in this way... Monday I overslept (man the flesh is really kicking some major booty now)... and then I didn't work out... again... in fact, I haven't worked out in forever (Flesh 500, Bethy -250)... And I've realized that I've just been giving into the flesh over and over again. So much so that I wasn't even aware that Flesh was beating me into the ground, until today... which of course is what brought on my crankiness. Because I'm ashamed that I've let Flesh win... I've let Flesh take over my physical, emotional, and spiritual life. I have blatantly looked sin in the face and chosen what "felt good" over what I knew was right. I've let my body and "how I feel" dictate to me what I do... I feel like eating six pieces of dark chocolate... I don't feel like working out today... I want to sleep in for an extra 10 minutes, and who cares if that makes me late... and so on, and so on. No more. It's time to "beat my body and make it my slave"... I need to "put aside all hindrances" and seek to live a life more holy and Christ-like. It's time to throw out the "Flesh Rules" hat for good... and maybe someday I can also hang up the "Cranky" hat as well... that could be asking too much of me though... I'm a work in progress...

I got my face rocked

That's right... He's seen a million faces and rocked them all... That's just the type of guy he is, that Bon Jovi... Friday night I wore my "spectator?"... "concert-goer?"... "rocker chick?" hat at the Kid Rock/ Bon Jovi concert. And it... was... fantastic! I was starting to get a little sick, but I went anyway... probably not the wisest decision I've ever made, I'll grant you that... but it certainly was one of the funnest decisions! My friend and I had a good time rockin' out with that handsome, handsome Bon Jovi... I mean, whew!! Who knew a 70 year old man could still be so good looking?! Oh, he's not 70... sorry... my mistake...

Anyway, here's our view from Fri. night... we were so close...

or... maybe... not... OK, OK... we were in total nosebleed land... and let me tell you... those stairs walking up to the tippy top of the spaceship that has come to rest on Soldier Field are killer!!! I didn't want to go to the bathroom halfway through the evening because I was terrified to walk up the stairs again! Seriously... I was afraid I would die... but I went ahead and made my way down to the bathroom and then up the steep mountainous steps... again... and I almost did die... see... look...

This is my "I almost died from climbing 5,000 stairs" face... not pretty...

But like I said, we had a great time... Here are some snapshots from the event... Notice that I forgot my photographer's cap at home that night and got some really terrible pictures... oops! What can I say other than... I'm sorry, but enjoy!

There's Kid Rock... he was, um... interesting....

You know, I can't tell if this was Kid Rock or Bon Jovi... Can you figure it out for me please?

Oh... my... there he is... Those are some lucky concert goers way down there...

We just reveled from way up in the sky... and that was OK with us...