Burst Pipe

As previously explained, the word "adventure" is sometimes synonymous with "disaster." Today is one of those days. Charles and I moved into our new home in Plattsburg, MO about three weeks ago. It's definitely a work in progress, but it's perfect for us. I was taking a nap (one of the perks of being a childless homemaker) and woke up to a loud humming noise.

At first, I thought it was the heater. However, the humming was louder than normal. It almost sounded like someone was taking a shower. Since I was home alone and definitely not preparing to take a shower, that sound didn't bode well. I immediately jumped out of bed and went to investigate. It didn't take long for me to discover the puddle forming on our bathroom floor.

Crepes.

Hopping into action, I first attempted to turn off the water around the leak. No go. Then I high-tailed it to the front yard where I knew the water turn-off valve was for the whole house. I'm not sure why, because I had no idea how to work the thing. Next step? Mommy!

No, really. I called her like 7 times. No answer. Double crepes. Last resort? I called the city and asked them to turn off the water since my pipe was spewing water and I couldn't stop it on my own. A few minutes later, a nice man came down and turned the water off with a large pipe-like key. (Of course! Why didn't I think of an obscenely long pipe key? Ugh.)

Finally, I got a hold of the owner of our house (we're renting to own) and she called the man who's been helping them get things fixed around the house. He came without delay, thankfully. A couple hours, a trip to the hardware store, and many curse words later, it was all fixed! He even put a new double breaker in our breaker box so we wouldn't have to flip the breaker every time we wanted hot water for something. Woohoo!!

I guess this adventure wasn't too terrible... although I definitely was freaking out for a bit there. My husband, trying to be all sympathetic, said "So, this is one of those days you wish were just a bad dream, huh?" Without pausing, I said, "I've definitely had worse." This doesn't even compare to how badly I wanted Sophia's diagnosis to be a bad dream. Comparatively, I've had a pretty good day, for sure.

Pumpkin Butter

So I had this baby floating around in my cabinet just begging to be used:

Yes, my cabinets really are doorless.

Pumpkin! And, since, we are less than a week away from last Thanksgiving, there's totally nothing wrong with putting it to use. The problem: what to make. I searched on Allrecipes.com for a good option, since I'm not well-versed in pumpkin-use. I landed here, mostly because it didn't require eggs (the last two of which I'd used in this super-delicious brownie recipe minutes earlier.)

However, I didn't have any apple juice or cloves. That wouldn't deter this adventurer! I substituted the apple juice for the same amount of melted butter (oh, my poor heart!) and the cloves for the same amount in allspice.

The recipe turned out to be thus:

15 oz can pumpkin puree
1/4 c + 2 Tbs butter, melted
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1. Combine everything in a saucepan, and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat, and simmer for 20 mins or until thickened, stirring frequently.
3. Once finished, chill in the freezer until ready to eat!

This stuff not only tastes delicious, it also makes your home smell all Autumn-y. Mmm.

A couple of shots for your viewing pleasure (read in a French accent, of course):

So, I didn't read the part about cooking it at first... and might have enjoyed
some un-cooked goodness on a piece of toast. Don't judge.

Le simmering.

Aww, he found a brownie friend. Dare I mix them? Perhaps.

Thanks for reading!

Cooking from Scratch

A while back, a recipe I was attempting called for taco seasoning. Unfortunately, I had a total of absolutely none. So I said to myself, "Self, there must be a way to make taco seasoning. You don't just grow it." I did a search (where? Pinterest, of course) and ended up here. *cue singing angels from Heaven*

Whaaat? That's right. You can make taco seasoning! And it's inexpensive and totally delicious in a taco soup. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. You can make other things from the ingredients you already have in your house. Don't have tortillas? Make them. Want a cake or a batch of delicious brownies? The box is not mandatory! Is it weird that I didn't totally grasp that until I was in my twenties? Maybe. Don't judge me.

Since I didn't do a whole lot of intense cooking before Charles and I got married, (granted, I could cook pretty much anything out of the family cookbook without much trouble - I don't want you to think I was altogether incompetent) and I wanted some brownies a few days ago, I had to do a search for a good recipe. I landed here, and since I didn't take pictures, I'll let you take a little stroll to his website.

Back? Good. Anyway, I made those brownies and they were super delicious and Charles loved them (which is always a good thing.) Problem is, there were some left over because there are only two of us and the recipe makes a 9x13 pan-worth of brownies. Solution? Half the recipe. When I made them today, I put in half of everything (except I used two whole eggs because I didn't want to go through the trouble of splitting an egg in half.)

They turned out delicious again and, as they cooled, I proceeded to made the totally delicious pumpkin butter found in this post. Here's a picture of the brownies getting cozy with the finished pumpkin butter:

Ooh la la.

In the end, I was putting tiny spoonfuls of pumpkin butter on top of my brownie squares. Heaven! I would definitely recommend doing this for yourself. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

The Lacey Adventures

There's something my Dad's side of the family always says when they hear about me doing anything new: "You're on an adventure!" I hate it. I really do. Mostly because the first time one of them said it to me, an all-day solo airport fiasco ensued. Long story. Basically, I got up at dead-thirty in the morning, only to be bumped to the next flight, which turned around half an hour after lift off because the door wasn't sealed correctly. Many hours, several bumped flights, and two airports later, I finally got to my destination... and claimed my luggage which had been sitting there from the flight I was supposed to come in on originally.

Phew! Get all that? Good.

So why would I choose to write about our "adventures"? Well, simply because - say that word or not - there are roughly a bazillion adventures you'll take during your life. Good or bad, they'll come, and you just have to deal with it. So here we go - cue The Lacey Adventures.

Old Blog: You Won't Want to Read This - Edited

I feel like very few people actually care how someone else is feeling or how they're doing. I can't even say I'm not a frequent offender in that category. I couldn't tell you how many times I've done the "We should catch up!" or "We need to hang out sometime!" with absolutely no intent to do so. (Okay, maybe not NO intent, but it's not going to happen anyway.) Truth is, my life is centered around my little family right now. I'm concerned about my husband, how the baby is doing, sometimes our puppy (who happens to love chewing on everything in sight - gahh!) and occasionally my own well-being. What kills me is I don't have tons of pressure to be open and social, but when people ask me how things are going in my marriage or with the pregnancy I feel like they're just checking the question off of their list of things to do. It's like people want to seem interested about my marriage or whatever but don't want to actual answer because whenever I do actually give it to them, their eyes tend to glaze over.

You want the truth? I love marriage. I love every moment I spend with Charles. My favorite mornings are when I can wake up next to him, feel him close, nibble on his ear, etc. He loves to cuddle. If he hasn't already wrapped his arms around me and I ask him to, he hops right into action. He has this adorable reaction whenever we get within a few feet of a baby, which I love. He's actually fantastic with babies. We don't fight. Well, not like fight-fight. No yelling is involved. Ever. We talk things out and if we get frustrated or upset we walk away or talk about something else. I've never gotten along so easily with someone, especially not someone I had feelings for. Yeah, he's stubborn - so am I sometimes, but things always work out after we've talked them through. It annoys me when people think I'm just highlighting the good parts of my marriage, that it can't possibly be that good or I'm just overcompensating for what it lacks. I don't know about you, but I'd think after growing up in a world where divorce is so close to "home," people would appreciate a functional relationship. Maybe I'm nuts.

I don't know. I know no one will really read this anyway, so I'm going to stop for now. My blood pressure was already a little high.

Old Blog - Pinterest... and Such

I think I'm in love. Well, we all know who my first love is, but Pinterest is a close second. It's like a craftaholic's paradise - the perfect place to share any and everything, especially craft and food (did you say FOOD?!) ideas. Heaven.

Pinterest even got me up before the sun this morning (gasp!) Charles starts work now at 5:30AM and since we live 30-40 mins away, he gets up at 3:30AM to get all cleaned up and ready for work. He even ate some apricots for breakfast this morning! (Those who know him will know how shocking that is.) Anyway, I'd been waking up off and on all night, so I decided to get up and spend a few minutes with my hubby before he galloped off to work (figuratively, of course.)

After he left, I turned to my laptop and began to scour Pinterest.com, which I was doing for the next couple hours, until my stomach began to really grumble... at about 5:30AM. I don't just mean regular "Oh I'm hungry" grumblies. These were "FEED ME NOW, PUNY HUMAN!" grumblies so I rushed to the kitchen and decided to get all fancy (kinda) and make fried eggs with pumpernickel toast which, by the way, is delicious. And of course I had to wake up my mother and allow her to share in some of the gloriousness.

It has been a good morning. Thank you Pinterest and Pumpernickel toast.

Old Blog - It Will All Be For Your Good

People are always talking about how they're grateful for blessings. I'm certainly grateful for blessings, but it's trials which I'm especially grateful for. Trials are known as the "refining fires," fires which the Lord will only allow if He knows you can handle them. Here's the common example of Corrie Ten Boom and thanking God for the fleas which were afflicting them while they were in a German concentration camp:

Corrie Ten Boom - Light in the Holocaust