floral

Monday, September 26, 2011

It's a Piece of Cake, Literally

Along with the JDRF walk this weekend, I made a cake and mom and I made a diaper cake.
For directions on how to make a diaper cake, click here.
This is how mom and I's turned out:


Idn't it cute? :)


Top view:) All of the cute little toys were so fun and easy to pick out...


Then we stuck all of the extras such as diapers, toys, extra blankets, bottle package, and toy containers back into the diaper box.

And now for the yummy, edible cake that I made after I got home from a youth retreat at Ludlow Falls Camp. Noise was the name of it, and it suits it very well. We "learn" to worship our God with everything we have, had small groups, great worship, and limited sleep:).

So I just realized I didn't tell you what either of these baby themed cakes were for. Wow. So, my youth pastor's wife, Kathryn, is pregnant with her first little baby. A little boy I affectionately call Tibbles:).

Continuing on...


Idn't IT cute?:) This was hard to do on 4 hours of sleep, but I managed. There was only 1 piece of sheetcake left when everybody went through the line. Brad was a very happy camper that he got to take this cake home with him:).

Lord, I ask that you would be with Kat and Brad and little Tibbles. That you would bless that little boy all of his life, that you would guide Brad and Kat on how to parent him and raise him up to be a godly man. Amen.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

One Busy Busy Weekend...Whew

All I can say is that I am glad it is over. Really glad.
On Friday night I took the liberty to relax at my dear friend, Hannah's, house because I knew what was in store for me for the rest of the weekend. We watched the movie Something Borrowed. We enjoyed it, though at some points it was a tad sketchy, so, you can't say I didn't warn you. We then proceeded to walk to Ward Park and have a good 'ol girl talk:). My favorite kind of talk. Lol. And the next morning at 7:15 is when it all began.


First off, we departed our house at eight sharp to go and pick up Cassidy, Brenda, and Edie. They were kind enough to go and Walk to Cure Diabetes! For those of you that didn't know, I have been a type one diabetic since age 6. It will be eleven years in January. It's crazy to look back at all of the lows and highs (literally) and remeber all the people that have always been there for me through this disease. I know God gave me diabetes for a purpose and because He knew that with Him I could handle it. I'll admit it. I still struggle with the "whys" and woes of the disease, but I know that I have a purpose.


So, now that I had my soapbox moment, I'll continue on.

The JDRF ( Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) hosts several walks around the Dayton, Ohio area to help raise money to cure diabetes. JDRF is proud to be one of the only foundations that gives 80% of all it's money raised directly to research. Only 20% is used as overhead. That's crazy good.


This was my walk team this year. Every person on this team raised at least $100. I think we raised over $2000 this year as a team. The ladies adorning the pink and black are girls from my sister Danielle's sorority. They all walked with us and got some community service hours for it too. I appreciate it ladies!


Cassidy and I had just a tad too much fun at the tatoo table:).


Ha! So, funny story. Brenda, sweet dear Brenda, was getting her face painted and a little girl walks by with her mom and points at Brenda and says, "See mom! You're never too old to get your face painted!" Ha! Let's just say, Bren was not a happy camper nor was she a fan of that small child.



This is an example of a rather large walk team. All of these little girls were friends with a little girl with diabetes. This is why the JDRF does what it does. To help little girls and boys find a cure for diabetes. We can only hope to find a cure, and we need support from everyone to do that.




We have to remember to keep on walking, find a cure, and just pray. The best we can do is pray that the researchers will find that final step to the cure. Could you join me in praying for that?

Another way you can help is by donating. Though the walk is over, we take donations all year round that will go to research. Donate here under Berger's Brigade. Thank you for the prayers and support all these years!

This was only one of my adventures this weekend, more pictures and stories to come:).

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

But Wait! There's More!

Do you ever think God feels like He is watching an infomercial when we pray to Him?
Sometimes I feel this way. I'll be just a praying up a storm, asking God for this and thanking Him for that. Then I say, "Oh! and..." blah blah blah. And I ask Him to take another heap of my emotional baggage.


You wouldn't ask a person for as much as we ask God for. Ever. That would be ridiculous.
"Oh hey Susie, can you go and heal my grandfather and then tell me where to go on my next missions trip? Thanks, you're a doll!"
No. That would NOT happen.
So why do we do it to God?

Because Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."



That's why! Our God is so amazing! He always hears our prayers, He's never too busy for our menial problems.


I'm not saying He is going to answer the prayer you are sending up like you want it to be answered. My parents always told me, "God isn't a genie." He can do some pretty amazing stuff and we shouldn't tell Him He can't do it. Hello!!! He's God! Of course he can!


There's a difference between wants and needs, so go to God with an open heart and mind and don't turn away just because He doesn't answer how you WANT Him to. It's His plan, He's got it all under control ladies and gents:).

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Life Would Be Boring Without Dear Kelsey



This is my dearest cousin, Kelsey, and I. She left me for college this year :(. I feel bored, and boring for that matter, without her. But, when Kelsey comes home, what do we do?

Yeah, we make a Super Mario Brothers Mushroom cake.

It's awesome.

Don't lie to yourselves.


So, I'll give to the steps we took to make this cake.


1. We baked a 9x13 strawberry cake and 12 funfetti cupcakes. (We're kind of crazy about the funfetti).


2. We cut about 2 1/2 inches off of the end of the cake for the mushroom's face. We then cut a large "mushroom top" out of the rest of the cake. Turn the cake horizontally to get the maximum amount.


3. We make our own icing when we make cakes. It's a wedding cake icing that is in the Pohl Cookbook (my grandma's side).

1 cup of Crisco shortening                                           1/2 cup of warm water
2 lbs of powdered sugar                                               2 tsp. of vanilla flavoring

Mix all of the ingredients together. It will be thick. It sets up really nicely and gets hardish. You can keep it in the fridge for a few days. Oh, and it's simply delish!


4. We placed a few cupcakes around the mushroom top and cut around them to make a space for the cupcakes to sit in.





5.  We "glued" together the two pieces of cake and put a thin crumb coat around the edge of the cake to keep all of the little pink crumbs out of the colored icing. We then separated enough icing to put some "tan" on the mushroom's face, white on about five cupcakes, and red to put on the rest of the cake. Save some extra white for touch-ups if you are as picky as we are.

( I apoligize for the large bit of finger that is in this shot:))
6. Place the white- iced cupcakes in the holes AFTER you've iced the red mushroom.

Draw on his little eyes with black icing ( they are just vertical lines).


And there he is. Your very own Mushroom cake. isn't he a beaut?

Enjoy!!!



Friday, September 16, 2011

My Big Cookie :)

My parents just got back from a week in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I walked in the door only to find that my dad was out mowing our lengthy grass and my mom was nowhere to be found. But then I went in the kitchen.

And there it was.


My big cookie:).


Isn't it lovely?

And big?


And this girl was haaaapy:)

Very happy.


That first bite. Yummo!


So good. So so good.


I ate a lot of that cookie. Except for this piece because my stomach told me to STOP! in the name of that cookie!

If you ever need a stress reliever from a week at school, get yourself a big cookie:).

Thanks Mim for my cookie:) Love you!


Thursday, September 15, 2011

Farewell Summer, I'll Miss You


I'll miss all of God's gorgeous flowers...


His giant beams of radiant sunlight...



All of the fresh produce...


The wispy, carefree clouds...


The seemingly never-ending, green cornfields...


And spending time with my favorite Warners ever...:)


Heavenly Father, Thank you for all you have given us this summer. Rain when we needed it it, sun when we wanted it, and fellowship with family and friends. Thank you for the break. I pray that you bless all of us who are back in school, and bless all of the moms who are homeschooling. I love you so much.

-Bridget

Seven Severely Damaged Tomato Cages Later....

My tomato jungle is finally gone! Now, you may be saying to yourself, "Tomato jungle?". Yes. Tomato Jungle. It was a horrible place to harvest my vegetables from. But I enjoyed the harvest afterwards:).
 I decided that I would have a garden this year. Silly me, being a 16 year-old girl and all, planted every vegetable I could think of. I ignored my dad's reasons why this was going to be overwhelming and how I should just plant a few vegetables. Ended up, my tomatoes were just 1 of about 15 different vegetables. Now let me tell you the problems with my tomato jungle.
1. We got a lot of rain. A lot. And therefore a late start.
2. We had an abundantly fertilized garden.
3. I got twelve different tomato plants because the guy at Siegals gave them to me(grr).
4. We only had 7 tomato cages (weak ones) for 12 plants.
And thus was born the tomato jungle! I felt like i was on a hike through the amazon everytime I needed a stinkin' 5-gallon bucket of tomatoes. I got poked in the leg, stabbed in the face, and got cuts all over my hands. Tomato jungles and me, we just don't get along. So next year there WILL be more, stronger tomato cages to keep that section of my garden from becoming a jungle again.

My poor tomato cages...


But wait! There's more...


I've got myself one killer compost pile now:).


Say, I seem to remember a tomato jungle here....:)
And yes, I did just leave all of those already rotting tomatoes there to finish rotting and fertilize my garden:).


My last bowl of tomatoes:). Ah, sweet relief.
I use the green ones to make fried green tomatoes....yummo!

So, if you ever want tomatoes in your garden, remember to get yourself some good, sturdy tomato cages. If you don't, I hope you don't get lost in your tomato jungle;).