God is good, and that's ALL THE TIME!

This week I have been having a bit of pain which we think is due to inflammation of the cartilage which joins my ribs together- pain around the sternum, radiating to my back either side of my upper spine. Before you get in a tizz though, let me assure you that we've checked out my heart, and all is well. This has all been a bit of a "pain", and has halted my gymming efforts. But on the finance front, we are forging ahead, and God is splashing out His blessing on the whole thing!

On Monday I asked my boss for an extra day's work so we can save for a house, and he was very agreeable about it, and said I could pick up the extra day as soon as I wanted to!
But at the end of the week, he also asked about my starting hours (I start at 9.30a.m. because I live about 45 minutes drive away, and have to get the kids to school). I said I'd thought of starting earlier, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to consistently make it there at 9a.m. My boss' response:
"Try to come in earlier if you can, we'll continue to book your appointments from 9.30, and whenever you get in earlier, you can claim the extra half hour."
That is amazing! I was just gob-smacked at God- how GOOD He has been to me!! So instead of earning 20 hours' pay a week, I will be now earning between 25 - 27.5 hours! GOD IS GOOD!! It really shows me that He is behind me making this step to change our financial management- He is FOR ME!
It has caused me to be thinking of one of my most favourite scriptures: Jeremiah 29:11-
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."
Listen to this verse and it's fellows, as they are expressed in The Message Bible. Don't you feel so secure and loved as you read this?
Our God is kind and loving towards us. He's not harsh and judgmental!

Jer 29:11-14 in The Message:

"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen.
When you come looking for me, you'll find me.
Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed.
I'll turn things around for you. I'll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you. I'll bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it."

I hope YOU enjoy the goodness of our God this week!

In Him,

Cake Pops!

Today I thought I'd try my hand at something new! Inspired by the entertaining recipe blogging of Pioneer Woman, and the baking genius of the lovely Bakerella, I went to the shops and armed myself with cake mix, frosting, lollies, chocolate melts and lollipop sticks.

In March, Pioneer Woman hosted a Bakerella cake pop fest, where a few lucky people got to go to her Lodge way out in the sticks of Oklahoma (read, gorgeous ranch accommodation with a to-die-for kitchen) and learn how to make these cuties from the master herself! Naturally, she blogged about the whole process, but if you, too would like to give these cake pops a go, you can find the step-by-step instructions here.

Well, lacking an army of readers to flock to my door to join me in my quest, I conscripted my three girls, who were gladly prepared to experiment with me! That is, until I stipulated that kitchen cleaning assistance would be required by all who wished to participate in cake pop decorating. This decree weeded out one daughter, who was disinclined to continue her involvement in the program.

Part 1: The coloured sugar.
Being novices to cake decorating in general, I decided we should start with something easy, so we opted for plain white chocolate coating, rolled in coloured sugar, with a candy star to finish it off.
The girls had 20 good minutes of fun massaging and shaking food dye through small zip-lock bags of sugar. Our zeal resulted in eight colour varieties, and used up all of my white sugar, but was great fun to do!

Inky hands!

Part 2: The cake pops.
With cake pops, you can pick whatever flavour of cake you like, and cake mix is fine to use, so I picked a Green's Lemon Cake, and added a splash of orange essence, and a few drops of rose pink and yellow food dyes to make a nice apricot colour. The finished cake, complete with finger imprint in the middle. This was the first cake I'd made that I didn't have to be careful with- I was about to turn it into a pile of crumbs before forming it into balls. So, sure as eggs are eggs, I gave it a good bash to get it out of the tin, which resulted in a goodly sized chunk ending up on the floor. I'll be more careful next time... I think!

We mixed the cake crumbs with a good wad of frosting until it was a moldable consistency, rolled it all up into small balls, and pushed lollipop sticks into them. We dipped the sticks into melted chocolate first, so they would hold inside the cake a little better. Then we put the balls into the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up, which they did nicely.

Now the funnest part- decorating!

Melting white chocolate in a bowl in another bowl of hot water. It's a bit more tedious, but a bit safer than doing it in the microwave. Believe me- I've had melting-chocolate-in-the-microwave disasters before!

Some of the coloured sugars on pretty plates... aren't they sweet!


Cake pop battle!

Oops, I popped!

An interesting perspective...


Cuties!

Finished specimens... I thought I'd try the Bakerella trick and put a coloured backdrop behind them. I couldn't quite get the right angle though- you don't see any polystyrene blocks in her pics, although I bet they are there! I think it's the camera- I was just using my iPhone camera, and couldn't take great closeup shots of multiple pops. That'll teach me for not recharging the camera batteries!
Gift of love. My darling hubby got the honour of having the first one. I picked a real cutie for him- cos he's a real cutie!
My pick. Mmm, it was yummy! But very sweet. I'll definitely make these again, but only for parties or gatherings of some kind. I don't think my pancreas will stand it if I make them just for our family too often!
1st date...

1st kiss... don't they make a great couple!

Yummmm!


In Him,

Ooh, ooh, ooh, I just got an award!!!

I have absolutely no idea how to do this, so it's a learning process, folks! Please forgive me if I botch it all up! Today I was having a little surf on my bloggy friends' sites, and to my awe and shock(???) I found that Miss*Suzanne over at I Was Thinking had given me a pretty award! Thanks so much, Miss Suzanne!
Here is the award:

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to a few bloggers who must choose a few more bloggers and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Now apparently it is my esteemed task to nominate some of my bloggy friends for this award too, so here goes:
I nominate my lovely sister Amanda, who has just started blogging at In His Image, the gorgeous MamaBear, at Bears In Exile/Return Home, the courageous Terri, at Once in a Lifetime, the famously entertaining Ree at The Pioneer Woman, and the like-minded Tammi at Valley Girl.
Lovely ladies, please pass this award on to some of the bloggers you follow and appreciate, and include with the picture the text which is written beneath it.
Happy blogging, lovely friends!

In Him,

Post script: I just heard from my lovely friend Denise at Shortybear's Place, who I omitted from my awards because I couldn't access her blog last night. Glad to know she's still blogging! Denise, here's your nomination too!

God infuses inner strength into me!

I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me.
(Philippians 4:13- The Amplified Bible)
I love that thought!

In Him,