When I first started this blog I was very unsure about what to name it. I kept feeling like I needed something catchy and "with it." But, everything that I thought of had already been taken. Since eXfuze is a product that really helps me and was on my mind a lot when I started this blog, I thought that "The eXfuze Life" would work. But, the more I have thought on it, the more it is not me.
So, I have switched this blog to new blog with a very simple, but honest name - "Thoughts from Kathryne." I know, not catchy or maybe as fun, but truly what this blog is. Please pay me a visit and let me know what you think!
Kathryne
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
A Baking Fail
This blog post is linked up to Friday Fails with Myra at My Blessed Life. If you have any fails to share, feel free to link yours up on her Friday Fails page.
Last week we had some friends over from church for dinner. This couple is fairly new to our church and we had been trying to have them over for awhile, but it just hadn't worked out. It ended up falling into place at the last minute so I was scrambling for what to make for dinner. Thankfully I figured out the dinner portion and I had enough ingredients to do the apple cake from the recipe that I posted the other week.
I had just enough time after work to get dinner together and then put the apple cake in the oven while I got ready. I took a little taset of the batter from the bowl while cleaning up the dishes. While getting ready for them to come, my stomach started feeling a little funny. It was like I'd had some pop because my stomach almost felt fizzy, if that makes sense. But, I hadn't had anything but the little taste of apple cake batter. I started putting two and two together and wondered if there was any baking soda in the recipe.
I had to stop getting ready and check into this. The cake hadn't been in the oven too long and it just had tiny little air bubles on the top - no big deal. But, I looked at the recipe and instead of calling for baking SODA, it had called for baking POWDER. Unfortunately, I distinctly remember putting baking SODA in. Oops. I decided to let it keep baking and see what happened. About fifteen minutes later I took a peek and this is what I found.
Oops. I knew pretty quick that this wasn't going to be presentable. Here is a little better look after I took it out of the oven.
Thankfully, our guests were running about twenty minutes late and I had just enough ingredients to throw another batch together.
Definitely learned my lesson on this one. Has anyone else ever switched baking soda and baking powder? If so, I'd love to hear your story.
Have a great weekend!
Kathryne
Friday, March 19, 2010
An Electrical Fail
I am branching out and linking up to a blog carnival for the first time ever. This post is linked to Friday Fails with Myra at My Blessed Life. I have had several fails that I could put up, but I'll start with our electrical fail that happened last Friday.
Since moving into our townhome in December, my husband has replaced all of the electrical outlets in our home. All of the outlets were pretty new, but the person who did them installed all two prong outlets. How dumb, huh? We were tired of looking for the one or two three prong plugs in our home in order to plug in something with three prongs. Saul replaced all of the outlets but one in the kitchen within a month of moving in. On Friday evening he decided to tackle the last remaining outlet.
It was a tricky one and it took him some time. He displayed his flexibility by working in positions like this!
After about forty-five minutes he had it all put back together and everything was looking great! I went into the kitchen to admire his work and congratulate him on a job well done. While we were standing there in the kitchen, sparks started flying from the outlet with loud popping sounds!! Just then we lost power in the entire house! Yeah, not good!
We hadn't blown any breakers inside so we went outside to try to figure out which master breaker was ours. Now, nothing is labeled outside on the electrical meters/breakers, so we had no clue which of the four was ours. So, here we were, late at night and in the rain, trying to figure out which breaker to flip and hoping that it would be ours and not our neighbors. Thankfully, people were home in the other three townhomes in our building and they were all using electricity, so we were able to figure out which one was ours. = ) We flipped the breaker and our lights came right back on. Praise the Lord.
When we went back inside, this is what we found.
Praise the Lord that we were home when this all happened and that no fire started! We are very thankful that this fail didn't cause any permanent damage. A wire was pinched and that was what caused the sparks and power outage. Thankfully we were able to get everything back up and running within a day or two.
Thankful for electricity,
Kathryne
Since moving into our townhome in December, my husband has replaced all of the electrical outlets in our home. All of the outlets were pretty new, but the person who did them installed all two prong outlets. How dumb, huh? We were tired of looking for the one or two three prong plugs in our home in order to plug in something with three prongs. Saul replaced all of the outlets but one in the kitchen within a month of moving in. On Friday evening he decided to tackle the last remaining outlet.
It was a tricky one and it took him some time. He displayed his flexibility by working in positions like this!
After about forty-five minutes he had it all put back together and everything was looking great! I went into the kitchen to admire his work and congratulate him on a job well done. While we were standing there in the kitchen, sparks started flying from the outlet with loud popping sounds!! Just then we lost power in the entire house! Yeah, not good!
We hadn't blown any breakers inside so we went outside to try to figure out which master breaker was ours. Now, nothing is labeled outside on the electrical meters/breakers, so we had no clue which of the four was ours. So, here we were, late at night and in the rain, trying to figure out which breaker to flip and hoping that it would be ours and not our neighbors. Thankfully, people were home in the other three townhomes in our building and they were all using electricity, so we were able to figure out which one was ours. = ) We flipped the breaker and our lights came right back on. Praise the Lord.
When we went back inside, this is what we found.
Praise the Lord that we were home when this all happened and that no fire started! We are very thankful that this fail didn't cause any permanent damage. A wire was pinched and that was what caused the sparks and power outage. Thankfully we were able to get everything back up and running within a day or two.
Thankful for electricity,
Kathryne
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Painting Experiment
Since buying a townhome in December we have been in the process of figuring out paint colors and beginning to decorate. Everything was white (except the bright yellow bathroom and the burnt orange kitchen cabinets!!), so we had a pretty clean slate to work with.
I think we have changed our minds a zillion times, and then some! We would think that we really liked something, but then we would bring it home and put it in natural lighting and would absolutely hate it.
We finally found some colors that we thought we liked and went to work painting our bedroom in January. We choose a nice warm caramel color that we thought would compliment our black furniture and dark red comforter set. We liked it at first, but now that it has been on the walls for about six weeks - we HATE it! Not at all the look that we were going for.
So, we are on the hunt for the perfect color for our bedroom again.
Meanwhile, we bought WAY too much of the accent wall color of paint for our living room (looong story about this!). So, we decided to experiment the other night and try mixing some nettle (from the living room) and white to see if we could come up with something that we liked.
Here's my sweet man mixing the paint.
And here are the three colors while we were still mixing. I forgot to take one of the final product.
I'll post pictures once we finally decide to paint our room so that you can see how it turns out. I'll be sure to include a before and after.
Do you have any bad paint stories to share?
Kathryne
I think we have changed our minds a zillion times, and then some! We would think that we really liked something, but then we would bring it home and put it in natural lighting and would absolutely hate it.
We finally found some colors that we thought we liked and went to work painting our bedroom in January. We choose a nice warm caramel color that we thought would compliment our black furniture and dark red comforter set. We liked it at first, but now that it has been on the walls for about six weeks - we HATE it! Not at all the look that we were going for.
So, we are on the hunt for the perfect color for our bedroom again.
Meanwhile, we bought WAY too much of the accent wall color of paint for our living room (looong story about this!). So, we decided to experiment the other night and try mixing some nettle (from the living room) and white to see if we could come up with something that we liked.
Here's my sweet man mixing the paint.
And here are the three colors while we were still mixing. I forgot to take one of the final product.
I'll post pictures once we finally decide to paint our room so that you can see how it turns out. I'll be sure to include a before and after.
Do you have any bad paint stories to share?
Kathryne
Friday, March 12, 2010
Exercise Update
I am trying to keep myself somewhat accountable on exercising and weight loss. Nothing too big to report this week. We only exercised two times last week. I was excited because I was starting to feel a difference, but after not exercising very much last week, I am feeling just as flabby as before.
We have had a busy week this week, which has made it hard to exercise. But, we were able to exercise on Wednesday right after work. It felt good to get at it again, but I could definitely tell that I wasn't where I was last week in my endurance.
We went over to my parent's house earlier this week for dinner. Over dinner they were sharing with us that their employer is doing a health and wellness program where employees get points for doing different things (i.e. taking so many steps a day, drinking so much water, exercising for so long, etc.). They have only been doing it a few weeks and we can already tell that they are slimming down (NOT like my parents need to, they are already thin). My mom was sharing that if the employees are not at the "healthy weight" for their height and bone type, then they have to lose 2% of their body weight by the next weigh in.
Ugh. I was very discouraged to hear how far above the "healthy weight" I am. I was at the top of the healthy weight range when we got married and my goal was to get close to that. I'll be honest, right now that seems like a big feat. I guess I'll just have to take one step at a time - literally!
Happy exercising!
Kathryne
We have had a busy week this week, which has made it hard to exercise. But, we were able to exercise on Wednesday right after work. It felt good to get at it again, but I could definitely tell that I wasn't where I was last week in my endurance.
We went over to my parent's house earlier this week for dinner. Over dinner they were sharing with us that their employer is doing a health and wellness program where employees get points for doing different things (i.e. taking so many steps a day, drinking so much water, exercising for so long, etc.). They have only been doing it a few weeks and we can already tell that they are slimming down (NOT like my parents need to, they are already thin). My mom was sharing that if the employees are not at the "healthy weight" for their height and bone type, then they have to lose 2% of their body weight by the next weigh in.
Ugh. I was very discouraged to hear how far above the "healthy weight" I am. I was at the top of the healthy weight range when we got married and my goal was to get close to that. I'll be honest, right now that seems like a big feat. I guess I'll just have to take one step at a time - literally!
Happy exercising!
Kathryne
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Crustless Apple Pie
The other night we had men's prayer meeting at our house. We usually have a small snack after prayer meeting and I felt like I had absolutely nothing in the house - no brownie mix, no chocolate chips, no anything! I had gone into the office instead of working from home that day, so I didn't have a lot of time to work on something.
On my forty-five minute drive home, which is exactly the reason I now work at home, I brainstormed, trying to think of something to make. I finally remembered that I had a few apples, but I definitely didn't have time to make a pie crust. That is when I came up with the idea for a crustless apple pie. I turned to my trusty search engine and found a recipe.
The final product was more like an apple cake, but it sure was delicious - and fairly healthy too! The following is my tweaked recipe.
Crustless Apple Pie - Prep time - 10 minutes; Cook time - 45 minutes
1 c. brown sugar
1 1/4 c. white sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3 chopped apples (with skin on)
1 c. nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all of the ingredients except the apples and nuts. The batter will be stiff and even crumbly. Add the apples and nuts to the batter. The juice from the apples should make the batter easier to mix. Pour batter into a greased pie plate (it fits perfectly in a 9"). Bake for 45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Here is a picture of the batter. I forgot to snap a picture before we ate it. Maybe next time!
Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!
Kathryne
On my forty-five minute drive home, which is exactly the reason I now work at home, I brainstormed, trying to think of something to make. I finally remembered that I had a few apples, but I definitely didn't have time to make a pie crust. That is when I came up with the idea for a crustless apple pie. I turned to my trusty search engine and found a recipe.
The final product was more like an apple cake, but it sure was delicious - and fairly healthy too! The following is my tweaked recipe.
Crustless Apple Pie - Prep time - 10 minutes; Cook time - 45 minutes
1 c. brown sugar
1 1/4 c. white sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3 chopped apples (with skin on)
1 c. nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all of the ingredients except the apples and nuts. The batter will be stiff and even crumbly. Add the apples and nuts to the batter. The juice from the apples should make the batter easier to mix. Pour batter into a greased pie plate (it fits perfectly in a 9"). Bake for 45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Here is a picture of the batter. I forgot to snap a picture before we ate it. Maybe next time!
Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!
Kathryne
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Trials, Joys, and a "Being Real" test
Right after I posted the blog on being real, I had a chance to really see if I was going to be real or not. I had written the "Being real" blog on Saturday and set it to run on Sunday morning.
Sunday was just a rough morning. We stayed up WAY too late on Saturday night and I woke up on Sunday morning exhausted. Then I got all worked up about something that wasn't really a big deal, but with being so tired, I ended up getting really upset about it. Honestly, I was ready to crawl back into bed, but I knew I couldn't and shouldn't do that.
Shortly after getting to church, the question came, "So, how are you Kathryne?" I had a choice to be real or fake. Thankfully, I had the guts to be honest and tell this lady that it had been a rough morning. I think the lady who asked me was shocked at my answer because she is so used to hearing "Good, great, etc." But, it gave me an opportunity to say that I want to be real, that I am not going to be dishonest about how I am really doing. We didn't talk at all about what was bothering me, but it led into a good conversation on just being real and transparent.
I am so glad that I went to church, even though I was emotional at church too. Pastor had a great sermon on trials. We have been doing a series from Ephesians and he had his message all planned out, but decided to change it late on Saturday night because he just felt like so many people in our small congregation could use a lesson on going through trials successfully. I am so glad he did, because it really challenged me. Here is a little synopsis:
1. Trials are to be responded to with joy. How?
a. Trials put God in an "obligated" position (Abraham)
b. Trials strengthen your faith in God (Abraham)
c. Trials are a pathway to promotion (Joseph, Jesus/Spurgeon)
d. Trials are a tremendous teacher (Peter)
e. On the other side of the trial is tremendous joy (Job)
2. Trials are seasonal.
3. Trials grieve the human spirit.
4. Trials are diverse.
5. Trials test the genuineness of our faith.
6. Trials are refining us for eternity
a. They make us more persistent (developing a "no quit" attitude)
b. They make us more perfect (Christ-like)
c. They make us more prayerful
d. They make us more stable
7. Trials are rewarded in eternity.
Here in the "G Home," we have had our share of small trials recently. For a few weeks straight it seemed like anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. To be honest, I will admit that I did not respond well to many of these trials. I was so convicted by the message because I had NOT been responding with joy to the different trials/temptations AT ALL. My sinful nature was really coming through.
I had some apologies to make that afternoon. I know that God uses trials to refine us, but I was really letting them frustrate me instead of refine me. I am so thankful for the Lord's forgiveness. He is so good.
And, because I haven't been very good at posting pictures like I wanted to be, I thought I would include one of my sweet husband and I that we took on a Saturday afternoon.
Kathryne
Sunday was just a rough morning. We stayed up WAY too late on Saturday night and I woke up on Sunday morning exhausted. Then I got all worked up about something that wasn't really a big deal, but with being so tired, I ended up getting really upset about it. Honestly, I was ready to crawl back into bed, but I knew I couldn't and shouldn't do that.
Shortly after getting to church, the question came, "So, how are you Kathryne?" I had a choice to be real or fake. Thankfully, I had the guts to be honest and tell this lady that it had been a rough morning. I think the lady who asked me was shocked at my answer because she is so used to hearing "Good, great, etc." But, it gave me an opportunity to say that I want to be real, that I am not going to be dishonest about how I am really doing. We didn't talk at all about what was bothering me, but it led into a good conversation on just being real and transparent.
I am so glad that I went to church, even though I was emotional at church too. Pastor had a great sermon on trials. We have been doing a series from Ephesians and he had his message all planned out, but decided to change it late on Saturday night because he just felt like so many people in our small congregation could use a lesson on going through trials successfully. I am so glad he did, because it really challenged me. Here is a little synopsis:
1. Trials are to be responded to with joy. How?
a. Trials put God in an "obligated" position (Abraham)
b. Trials strengthen your faith in God (Abraham)
c. Trials are a pathway to promotion (Joseph, Jesus/Spurgeon)
d. Trials are a tremendous teacher (Peter)
e. On the other side of the trial is tremendous joy (Job)
2. Trials are seasonal.
3. Trials grieve the human spirit.
4. Trials are diverse.
5. Trials test the genuineness of our faith.
6. Trials are refining us for eternity
a. They make us more persistent (developing a "no quit" attitude)
b. They make us more perfect (Christ-like)
c. They make us more prayerful
d. They make us more stable
7. Trials are rewarded in eternity.
Here in the "G Home," we have had our share of small trials recently. For a few weeks straight it seemed like anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. To be honest, I will admit that I did not respond well to many of these trials. I was so convicted by the message because I had NOT been responding with joy to the different trials/temptations AT ALL. My sinful nature was really coming through.
I had some apologies to make that afternoon. I know that God uses trials to refine us, but I was really letting them frustrate me instead of refine me. I am so thankful for the Lord's forgiveness. He is so good.
And, because I haven't been very good at posting pictures like I wanted to be, I thought I would include one of my sweet husband and I that we took on a Saturday afternoon.
Kathryne
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