Michigan bound

I really love farmer’s markets. From July to August there is a great one every Friday. Over half of the sellers are certified organic farmers, there are also local artists, jewelry makers, and live music. Last Friday Matthew and I decided to go see what all the buzz was about. Since it is so early in the season there wasn’t much of a selection, but it was still nice. We met a really awesome lady who makes quilted bags, artwork, and fabric cards. We took one of her business cards because she makes wedding invitations.

The market was great but really made me miss the ones in Louisiana. I love how down south farmer’s markets will just come out of no where. You will be driving for hours through swamps and empty back country when all the sudden a market pops up. My favorite was forty minutes away from the island we were staying at (last summer), not only did they have a great selection of produce but a large variety of handmade signs. Some holding words of wisdom, others proverbs and assorted religious paraphernalia.

At the market we bought a cilantro plant, we’ll buy more in August when more produce is in. Afterward we were pretty hungry so we went to George’s International, a great little Mexican grocery store. The best part about this place is that they have a taco stand in side. For the price of Taco Bell you can get authentic Mexican. Yum, yum. Instead of using cheese or sour cream for flavoring they give you limes that you squeeze over your taco or burrito. It’s really good.  Following dinner we went across the street to a Mexican bakery where we bought two delicious (and rather large) pastries for the astounding price of $1.57. Viva Mexico!

We bought some biscotti for 88 cents and drove to my dad’s. He was cooking out but none of us were hungry. Matt and I had just had some great Mexican food and my dad and step-mom were pretty full from Thai they had had earlier. So the pork tenderloin that had been marinating for two days straight, was cooked, then stored in tupperware and banished to the fridge.  We stayed at my dad’s talking on the porch until the sun set then decided it was time to go home.  Matthew and I had intended to stop by his old university to return some books, but became very lost. We ended up going through two different counties and ending up in a terrifying town called Laota before we found our way home. By the time we got back we were both exhausted and called it a night.

Other than that there isn’t much to talk about. For the 4th Matt went to a cookout with his family while I stayed to have one with mine. It was really gray and rainy so fireworks were canceled. They are supposed to be held tonight but I don’t think we will go since we have to be up early tomorrow. Tomorrow Matt and I set off on a six hour road trip to Michigan where we will spend almost two weeks with his family. I’m pretty excited for this vacation but will miss the internet.

My final thing to report is a very exciting discovery. I decided I needed to find a blog to read other than my own and my friend Sydney’s. Also I need a change from reading wedding stuff. So I went out searching and found what may be the most amazing blog ever. Confessions of a Pioneer Woman is about a lady named Ree who lived and worked in New York City, but then when visiting her home town feel in love with a Rancher, packed all her things and moved to the country. Now she has four kids and writes about the transition from city to country life. She posts amazing photographs, and amazing recipes. Not only does she blog about her daily events but she is writing a book about how she and her husband met. I absolutely love it and think everyone should check it out.

That’s it for now. Bye, bye!

I am a Forester…whatever that means

My town is known for it’s outstanding private school, Huntington University. A few weeks ago, even though I’m enrolled in a community college, I sent in an application for Huntington. However, I did not turn in my transcript. You see, I’m afraid of a little thing called “rejection.” It wasn’t until last week when my good friend/pastor (though he hates being called that, I mean pastor not friend) gently threatened me into applying. I have a GPA of 3.5 and scored 1700 on the SATS but was still terrified. The day after I turned in my transcript a letter came in the mail. The letter was really thin and as the story goes, thin letters mean REJECTION. When the first line didn’t say “you’re accepted” I felt like crying. But further into the letter I found out I was in fact ACCEPTED.

Even though this school is $25,000 more than the community college I was enrolled in I have decided to go. If I’m going to become in debt for something I think my education is worth it. Besides, in my opinion it’s better to spend thousands of dollars on a great school and be able to easily get a job then barely spend any money on a school and have trouble finding one.  As an added bonus I have so many good friends going there, it’s part of my community, and Matt is going there. HU also provides Married Housing, which is an apartment instead of a tiny dorm room. It’s just as much as an off campus apartment but this one can be paid with grants, scholarships and student loans. Win.

Probably the best thing about this school is that my counselor LITERALLY looks EXACTLY like Bill Hader. That’s a picture of my counselor, not Bill Hader….just kidding it’s Bill Hader. And he’s really nice. Everyone at HU is nice, all the people at the community college were rude and very unhelpful. Yeah, I’m happy about my decision.

Now the only thing left to decide is whether I want major in Social Work or Visual Arts Education (I would be an elementary art teacher).

Other than that nothing is really new in my life. Well except that we (Matt and I) met with Heath and we all decided it was best to wait a little bit to get married. He wants to do some pre-marital counseling with us. I’m okay with it I guess. He wants us to wait until September but for married housing you have to be married before (frickin’ obviously lol) and school starts in August. I’m pretty sure Heath will compromise by two and a half weeks. Especially since married housing was HIS idea.

Bing, hot Etsy findings, and literature

Does anyone else think the Bing commercials are hilarious?! I personally think they are just about the funniest thing ever. Confusing at first, but then funny. Matt and I made the official decision that we are tired of google. So instead of saying “google it” we are saying “bing it.”  Just another example of how goofy, geeky and kind of strange we are.

Anyway, what this blog is really going to focus on would be my latest Etsy findings. I’ve been spending a lot of time on there, “window” shopping. I’ve pretty much ran through my graduation funds. I feel really guilty I”m not really even sure where it all went. Mostly dates with Matt I think. So all the stuff I want I can’t really get but still it’s really fun to look.

First up is a great ring from a seller in Turkey. She says that there are a lot of abandoned beaches where she just picks up these sea urchin’s. The actual ring part is nickle free and she makes that too. I like how you can’t see the band so the urchin’s look like they are floating on your finger.

I also really really like these funky, colorful, vintage owl coasters. I think I’m kind of on an owl kick lately. My friend Nikki has this great owl necklace she found at Goodwill. It’s metal and about five to six inches tall. The neck and head are separate so it kind of moves on a hinge. I want it so bad. I never seem to be able to find anything good at thrift stores but all my friends are really gifted with it.

Okay enough Etsy (is there such a thing?)! Yesterday Matt and I went to see Year One. It was pretty funny but kind of a let down because it wasn’t nearly as funny as either of us thought it would be. I thought Micheal Cera was really hilarious but Jack Black was just pretty predictable. I feel like he is always the same kind of stupid funny. To be fair, Micheal is always the same kind of awkward funny, but to me he just hasn’t gotten old yet, where Jack has.  I feel like Bill Hader stole the show, even though he was only in it for a total of four minutes.

Movies I”m looking forward to are Harry Potter (I don’t care how geeky it is I love me some HP), and a preview I actually just saw while writing this blog; Away We Go.  In my opinion Away We Go just looks like it’s going to have an all star cast. That guy from the Office and that girl from Saturday Night Live (I”m so great with names!). I’m excited. Plus the poster is really cool looking. I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover, but is it okay to judge a movie by it’s poster? Food for thought.

Speaking of books, I’m reading a few right now. Well I’ve started reading one and the other is going to follow directly. I purchased the book Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I know it sounds like a Christian devotional but it’s really not. It’s Elizabeth’s memoir about going through a really terrible divorce and then searching to find herself. She goes to Italy to search for pleasure, India to meet a Spiritual Guru, and finally to Indonesia where she works with a Medicine Man who teachers her all his secrets in return for English lessons. I’m only on the Italy part at the moment but it’s amazing. She writes beautifully so you feel like you’re there with her. I LOVE it. I have a feeling that this is going to be one of those eye opening, life changing, books.

The second book Matt’s mom had me borrow, she said it is the most creative book she has ever read. It is called The Time Traveler’s Wife. I’m really excited to read it I think I might even start before I finish Eat Pray Love. I’m pretty good at reading multiple books at one time. An even more interesting thing about this book is that while I was at the theater to see Year One I saw a poster for The Time Traveler’s Wife. I need to hurry up and finish the book before the movie comes out. I told Matt’s mom about it and she’s excited. Rachel McAdam is in it and she is just an amazing actress. Maybe Kathy and I will see it together?

This concludes my blogging for the day. Goodnight.

Mint, Marriage, and Michigan

So today we decided to do something different and went to the Farmers market that is going on at our awesome outdoor mall. It’s going to be running every Wednesday until October. So that will provide a lot of great opportunities to get some fresh yum yums.

Today we bought strawberries, rhubarb, lettuce, flowers and Matt and I bought a Spearmint plant.  There are so many kinds of mint that it makes it super hard to decide which is best. We were stuck between Peppermint and Spearmint but finally settled with Spearmint because it has such a nice flavor. You can chew on the leaves and it makes your breath super fresh. Also once the leaves get bigger you can boil them and make a yummy tea.

Because mint has a really bad reputation for taking over gardens we can’t plant it with our other herbs. Luckily when my mom was cleaning out my grandparents storage shed she found a lime green pot. I think this will make a comfy home for our new leafy baby.

Bef0re we went to the market (my blog time line is all messed up) we went to Bower’s Jewelry. Mom is giving me her old wedding ring. Even better it has my grandma’s diamond in it. We are going to pass it down the family to our oldest daughters. I just love tradition.

I ordered Matt a ring too, it’s a reasonable priced one on Etsy. Even more reasonable considering that it is hand made. I would rather spend money on a ring hand made by an individual than buy one from a jewelry store.  This one is from Israel. If you are interested in nice handmade jewelry the shop owners name is Isabeau, on Etsy.

Matt and I also had a meeting with our Pastor, Heath. He just wanted to talk some things over with us and make sure that we aren’t rushing into anything. He wants to make sure we are serious and ready before he marries it. I can understand why, he doesn’t want to officiate a marriage that will fall apart. Halfway through he got some bad news and was pretty upset so instead he had us meet with our mutual friend Matt B. Matt B knows Matt and I better so I think this was for the best. In a few days we are going to meet with both Matt B and Heath. I think everything will go great though. Matt and I know this is for the best and we are confident that we are going to make it. I’m pretty sure that they will see it too.

In conclusion, doesn’t that just sound so professional?! The street fair started today. Yay Heritage Days! It’s the one interesting thing that happens in my town. Seriously, nothing interesting ever happens other than this. I think we will either go late tonight or tomorrow. Maybe Friday. Actually, I have no idea.

I lied, that wasn’t the conclusion at all, this is! On July 5th I will be leaving for Michigan with Matt and his family. I’m not sure if I will bring my laptop or not. They have a Verizon internet hookup thing that they can use anywhere but I don’t know if they will bring that. The point of this is that from July 5th to July 12th I’ll be pretty quiet.  When I first heard Michigan I thought “laaaame.” But after hearing them talk about it and seeing pictures I’m really excited. Lake Michigan reminds me of the Pacific Ocean just without the annoying saltiness. Also the campground doesn’t seem that bad (I usually hate camping).  Annnd they said there are some really great artsy towns around there. So wish me luck on my camping adventure.

Overdue update

My graduation party was a success! I don’t have any pictures left because we sucked all the juice out of my camera so I need to get some more batteries. I lost the rechargeable ones and I think it’s about time to invest in some more. Anyway, the party was really great. All of my family got along splendidly, which was an exciting surprise. A bunch of people came that I didn’t expect, my pastor and his wife (not the old wrinkly kind your thinking of this guy is really young, funny, and has lots of tattoos) and some other work/church friends. Most people gave me money but my lovely Vegetarian, and just over all amazing friends gave me this really cool cookbook. There card was really sweet it said “even though you’re not going to be a chef we still love you and are super proud of you.”

The book is called The Starving Student’s Vegetarian Cookbook. I had my doubts, since I”m not a veggie, but it has soooo many amazing recipes. It’s really tempting to go vegetarian. But I have iron problems already so it might not be a smart choice. Inside there is a great Gumbo recipe that I really want to try. I think I need to spend some of my graduation party money on tofu.

I’ve already spent some of my money, which makes me feel guilty. I always feel guilty when I spend. I’m just trying to tell myself it’s not something I do often, I deserve a treat and I basically worked 13 years for this cash.

So anyway, on Monday Matt and I drove to the city to go out  for sushi but the restaurant didn’t open for four more hours and he insisted he was starving so we went to this great Mexican place behind the mall.  Afterward I went to the mall and hit up Forever 21 (I adore that store). I bought an open slub cardigan and a gold necklace with the Eiffel Tower and some other trinkets on it. All for 14 dollars! I wanted to buy a cardigan sweater but it was $22 so I decided not to. I’m going to wait a week and see if it goes on sale, if not I’ll buy it anyway. I’m so cheap!!! This Friday Matt is going to take me out for sushi and we are going to see Year One, which we both think looks hilarious.

In pretty big news, Matt and I are planning to get hitched some time in the next month rather than waiting until September. I know we change plans like crazy. It’s just that we don’t feel comfortable living together without being married, and we know we aren’t going to have enough money for the wedding we want in September. So we are going to a have a small thrown together wedding soon. We’re going to sit down and talk to our pastor but I’m pretty positive he’ll still do the wedding. We’ll have it at our church and then maybe a reception in the basement. I’m going to order a dress from forever 21. Just something simple and white. I hope this doesn’t upset anyone. I know it seems like a big deal but it really isn’t. We love each other and we were going to get married anyway. Oh and a side note…I’m not pregnant! I’m sure people will think this is a shotgun wedding.   What I’m most scared about is telling my dad who was really getting into the September planning. He’s such a great understanding guy though I think it will be okay. Above is the dress I’m thinking of.

In grim news; the job situation is starting to get scary. In six months I’m going to have to pay my own car insurance. I’ve gone six months without being able to find a job and am absolutely terrified that Matt and I will go another six. I’m trying to keep my head up but it’s getting harder and harder to do.

Happy news again! I’m going to order a pair of TOMS. If you haven’t heard of TOMS, it’s this great shoe company that for every shoe you buy they give a pair to someone in need. Isn’t that great? You can help someone by buying really great shoes. Ah I love it. I just wish they would send a picture of the person who they gave a shoe to. Except it would probably make me cry. The shoes I want are gray and the inside has picture of elephants. I love elephants. That pretty much sealed the deal for me. They have some really cool plaid designs and paint splatter designs but I want a pair that can go with anything I wear. Gray seems like the best bet. By my shoe size it says “ships by July 7″ so I guess it’s saying that they will take longer to ship but will be here by the 7th. Right? Oh well. I don’t mind waiting.

That’s all for today. Love you all!

BREAKING NEWS…and other not so important stuff

My graduation party is tomorrow!! So we have been cleaning like crazy. The back porch (where the party is being held) has been completely cleaned off, it really needed it. We also strung up some Christmas lights that look super pretty. Matt and my mom even power washed the house!!! Yesterday I made a list of groceries I needed and my mom went shopping for me. I’m making three kinds of cupcakes, vanilla, Mexican hot chocolate and an undecided kind. Matt is making wings, spicy and mild. There will of course be a vegetable tray and because we wanted to do something easy and low budget we’ll have lots of hot dogs available, some tofu ones for my veggie friends too.

My mamacita also bought me this cute little graduation puppy. He comes with markers so people can write stuff on him. He has some signatures on him already but I’m not allows to read them until after the part. I don’t know who drew eyebrows on him but I think it’s pretty cute.

I’m getting pretty excited about this party business but really nervous too. I’ve never been good at throwing parties so it could all blow up in my face. Matt keeps assuring me everyting will go great so I’m just trying to stay calm, relax, and have fun.

I sent most of my invitations out on facebook. So far I have 31 confirmed guests and about 50 maybes. Most of the time even when people confirm that they are coming they don’t, so I really have no idea how many people will be there. I just hope that someone shows up. If no one comes I’m going to feel like a super duper loser. I guess I know about ten people who are definitely coming for sure, but it would still be nice if more people came.

In other news, the herb garden is sprouting!! It’s going mucho slower than Matthew and I thought it would but that’s okay. We’re just happy to see our little babies. The Rosemary took forever to sprout up, we were worried that the seeds were never going to grow. But they came in, slowly but surely. The first to pop up were the basil seeds, I think there are about fifteen or so sprouts. Then came the chives they came in really fast and are starting to push the soil up with them. I really have no idea what to do about that. Matt says he thinks that it will eventually settle down but I don’t know. I’ve been kind of gently pushing it back. Silly little plants.

I want to grow more stuff, like actual food. I wish we had thought of it sooner and gotten a plot ready. Our gigantic porch takes up most of our back yard so we’ll have to get creative about finding a spot. My mom and grandpa bought some of those upside down tomato plant things, which are hanging from our garage. They seem to be doing really well, though I haven’t seen any fruit (?) yet.  Blah. I can’t wait to have fresh Basil, Chives, and Rosemary to use!

Now for the breaking news! I have semi-officially decided not to go to culinary school. I absolutely love cooking and baking and it will always be my passion. BUT I honestly and completely feel like I need to do more with my life. I need to do something that REALLY matters. So I’ve done a lot of thinking, soul searching, and praying and have decided that I would be most happy/do the most good in another career. I have semi-officially chosen Social Work. The Social Work system is really messed up right now and needs people who really care. I really care and think I could do a lot of good here. All I want is to help people, I think this is the way to do it. I also sincerely hope that everyone accepts my decision and no one is upset with me for changing it, though I’m sure there will be a few who will.

This change is both exciting and scary for me. I had everything planned out and now I have to redo things. I think I’ll stay at the school I”m enrolled in for a year, then switch over to Huntington University. I’m back to worrying about getting accepted into another college, and worrying about paying tuition. I’m just going to do my best to trust that everything will work out. Support would be marvelous.

Woah graduation

It’s so crazy that it finally came…graduation. I still remember (maybe not like it was yesterday,but I do remember) being made to sit in the front of a big, smelly, yellow bus, to keep me safe from the scary seniors. I remember my first day of elementary school, crying because I couldn’t sit with my cousin and playing with the class hamster. The first day of middle school, having to switch classes for the first time and thinking the school building was huge. Then I moved to the high school and the threat of becoming lost was always there. Being squished in halls and terrified of getting eaten by seniors or thrown in a trash cans. All of which have proven to be myths. In my four years never did I witness a cannibal senior or a death due to waste basket dunking. Thirteen years of my life, over. It feels like a dream, it all happened so fast.

Graduation wasn’t nearly as long as we all feared it would be, it actually seemed to go by quite fast. A few speeches were given, only a couple were tear jerkers, then the reading of the name, singing, switching the tassles, throwing our caps (even though it was forbidden), going to homeroom for the last time, getting the diploma. And BAM we’re graduated.

The best part was the class prank. While we were sitting in the auditorium waiting to march a group of known trouble makers passed out a penny to everyone (500 students). When we got our diploma we handed them a penny. Well not really “we” I lost mine so didn’t have a chance to partake in the prank. I’m not upset over it. It was funny to see what different speakers would do with the pennies. One kept putting them in his pockets, while the others just threw them down.

After graduation I met up with two of my friends, my dad and Matt’s parents. The picture above is me (obviously), with my friend Kortnee and Matt’s lovely mom, Kathy. So far the pictures Matt’s family took are the only ones I have. My camera needs batteries I love that picture though.

I said my “goodbyes” to my friends Kortnee and Patrice, and my dad and stepmom. Then headed home to change and go out to a really late dinner with Matt’s family. We met up at his house and then got to the restaurant at ten. Luckily our local Italian restaurant stays open pretty late. Matt’s brother Jacob graduated with me so it was a really cool duel celebration. He’s kind of camera shy so I don’t have any pictures of him, silly Jacob.

I wish I had his talent for dodging photos. Adam (Matt’s youngest brother) borrowed his best friends camera for graduation. It’s a really fancy one that zooms in really close. He was taking pictures the entire night, I don’t think I can recall a single moment where a camera wasn’t flashing in my face. Most of the photos were taken in the backseat of their vehicle. Adam’s goofy but I adore him.

I love Matt’s entire family, they’re so wonderful and do a really great job of making feel welcome and part of the group. I think that’s one of the keys to a successful relationship, not just loving the person you’re with but loving the package they come with.

The rest of the week has pretty much been spent getting ready for my graduation party and trying to squeeze some unrelated things into the mix. For instance on Sunday we went to service and afterward Jacob’s graduation party. I met even more of Matt’s GIGANTIC family and had a really great time. Also, I made a 3D card for Jacob. A few days ago I saw some for sale at Walgreens for about six dollars a piece and thought to myself “I could SO do that.” So I did. Jacob is a great photographer so on the front of his card I made a 3D camera; with the lens sticking out. I let Matt do the inside, he cut out some construction paper to make polariods and wrote a really sweet note with it. The card was a hit and I plan on making one for all of my friends. I think it’s a really great personal thing to give someone. I wish I had been able to take a picture of the card, but my camera is dead.

On Monday I went to Ivy Tech with a plan to get my Math placement tests out of the way. While I was there I got my student ID number. I did so bad on the placement test it’s embarrassing. I don’t think it’s fair the way it’s set up though. If you miss two of the same kind of question (i.e two multiplying questions) the test shuts off and decides where to place you. I was doing really well I answered five questions correct and missed a radical fraction question (my worst) I answered two more questions correctly then had another radical fraction question. And voila, the test shut off. Nine questions and it shut off. I know I could have done well if those questions weren’t so close to each other. I feel really stupid because now I have to take an Algebra Intro class. Ugh. I’m smart I promise. Matt says he thinks it’s better because now I’ll have two easy mat classes, but I still feel like a dumb-dumb.

Anyway, after the test the test lady told me to go get a counselor and take my results to her. So I went to Karen, and she asked if I wanted to go ahead and schedule classes so I said sure why not. I’ll be taking a math and history class on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11-1.I decided to go slow and ease into the college thing. After the first eight weeks I’ll be able to start culinary classes. After scheduling she had me to get my student ID and parking pass. Wow! I thought I was just going for tests. I have to go back up to talk to student aid but then I will be done.

I’m getting kind of scared about culinary because my counselor was talking about how strict they are with dress code and health regulation stuff. I’m worried that the strictness will take the joy out of baking and I’ll hate class. I’ll have to wear the white button down uniform, which I think is kind of cool. Hopefully I’m worrying over nothing.

I’ll just have to keep my dream in mind. Maybe it will be hard at first but it will be worth it when I own my bakery. Sorry for such a long update, I’ll try to make them more frequent, and much shorter.

Allie’s Mega Mozzerella Pizza Pie

Last post I made it was my mom’s birthday and because of the festivities I didn’t have much time to post pictures. So here they are! I decorated her a cake.3 It was a triple chocolate cake with cream cheese icing. We also got some sparkler candles which I’m sad to report were pretty lame. They really didn’t do any sparkling.

Nothing else has really been going on except that tomorrow is my graduation and I’ve been bit  by the baking bug super hard lately.

My mom was out of town for about a week and we have been kind of low on groceries so making meals was a challenge. We should have bought groceries before she left, but it was fun putting stuff together.

I ended up making a really delicious pizza one night which Matt dubbed “Allie’s Mega Mozzerella Pizza Pie.” It was all from scratch the dough, everything. And it was super delicious. A tip for making pizza; nothing is better than fresh mozzerella. Yum. Yum. Yum.

It was super delicious, but most importantly Matt and I had a really great time baking it together. It’s good to do stuff other than sit on the computer and watch TV, which it feels like we do most often. I suppose that when you spend so much time with someone it’s normal to get in a rut. Anyway, back to baking!!!

I just finished making a Shoo-Fly Pie (apparently it’s an American classic?) and some rhubarb cookies. I wanted to make a pie and this one has looked pretty delicious and interesting. But I think the recipe needs some adjustments. It ended up being a little overcooked. I haven’t tried it yet but I don’t have high hopes. Shoo-Fly is supposed to have a gooey texture and this isn’t gooey at all.

The rhubarb cookies however turned out great. I can’t stop eating them. I must stop though, I’ve ingested too many sweets today. Earlier Matt was having a huge ice cream craving and I was having a giganormous frozen yogurt craving so we went to Zestos. I recieved a lovely card in the mail today from my step grandparents, and some money. It’s nice to have a bit of cash. All the frozen yogurt I can eat, for a little while anyway.

Well that’s all for now. I’ll leave you with some yummy pizza pictures.

Lovely Sunday

Hello gentle reader!

I’ve posted a picture of my tattoo, it’s on my left wrist and says “Amen” in Hebrew. Amen means “and so it shall be,” which means quite a lot to me. I used to have big troubles with depression and cutting. I know how cliche that sounds but I absolutely promise my problem had nothing to do with attention, being emo, or any of those silly things. I started when I was about 11 and with some help managed to pretty much stop for good when I was 17. My left arm is really scared and to be honest it’s incredibly embarrassing. I”m trying to not be embarrassed and just think of my silly past as a learning experience. Hence the tattoo, some bad stuff happened, but it’s over now and everything is going to be okay. “And so it shall be.” Wooo, got a little personal there. O_O

There really isn’t anything else to update on except today is my mother’s birthday! Yay!

Birthday’s are pretty much a big deal in my house. The person is usually pampered, showered with love, food and PRESENTS!

My sister and I went to my mom’s favorite store. We bought her a pretty white storage box and filled it with goodies, scrapbooking stuff, candles, sweets and a tree. We arranged it nicely and plopped a card in.

I’m in the process of making her favorite foods. Chocolate cake with cream cheese icing and my specialty, fruit salsa. Yum, yum, yum. We went out to lunch as a family which really isn’t that big of a treat because we do it every Sunday. Usually, the birthday person picks a special place to out to eat at. Mom didn’t want to ruin the Sunday tradition so we still did lunch and instead of picking a place for dinner she asked my sister to make her chicken and noodles. My sister is the queen of chicken and noodles.

Everything is calming down now, I finally have a minute to relax. The cakes are done and are cooling, the salsa is refrigerating. I”m sitting beside Matt, watching him play a game. All in all it’s a really great Sunday. Great weather, great people.

Oh there are some new things!

1) I’ve decided to become healthier. So for one hour, five days a week I do some intense cardio biking. I’ve also given up pop (my heart thanks me) and am going to cut back on sweets. I want to lose some weight so that I feel better about myself. Shockingly, I’ve found that I really enjoy the exercise time. I use a stationary bike and refuse to allow Matt in the room while I use it. It’s made for some great alone time. The best part is that the bike has a book holder so while I”m sweating and nearly keeling over I can at least enjoy a good book. Which brings us to number two.

2) I”m reading The Stepford Wives! I’ve talked about how much I love the movie in here I’m sure of it. So I decided it’s time to do a little more reading. I used to read all the time but have pretty much been slacking in everything lately. This book was a good choice, it’s a great read. Much different than the movie but it’s understandable. The book was written in 1970 so of course there had to be some changes to make it a little more modern. I’m halfway through the book and even with all the differences I still love the movie. Oh, and did you know that Ira Levin (the author of Stepford Wives) also wrote Rosemary’s Baby? He’s pretty much the king of unsettling reading material.

If you are wondering whats up with these pictures I took them at work. I’m a barista at a snazzy coffee shop and have been thinking about taking some pictures there for awhile. I finally got around to it. Enjooooooooooooy.

At work yesterday with the help of a friend I figured out how to mess with the shutter speed on my confusing Sony Cybershot DS-H2. It’s really fun playing around with a slow shutter speed. The only problem is I forgot to commit the default shutters speed and aperture to memory. I know a bit about both but had trouble getting them to match up so the picture wouldn’t be blurry. Finally I reset my camera to default settings. Now I just need to remember: Shutter speed 30, App. f2.8 and EV 0! xD

Alrighty off to decorate a cake. I’ll post the slow shutter speed pics sometime soon.

La petit gateau

I love baking. I suppose anyone who knows me knows this fact. I don’t just love baking though, I really LOVE baking cupcakes. They’re just so fun to bake, decorate, take lots of pictures of , and then of course…eat!

When I bake cupcakes I never use an actual cupcake recipe, I always use cake recipes. I’ve tried cupcake recipes and they always come out too dry or too bland. It gets really frustrating using a cake recipe though. There’s always extra batter so you have to throw it out (which is annoying; waste not want not) or make a sheet cake with. I hate having cupcakes and cake in the house, it’s just way too tempting. I’m sure my thigh’s curse me for it.

So last night, I decided to give cupcake recipes one more try. I googled “best chocolate cupcake recipe” and found a really great blog. Sadly, it’s been abandoned for a year, but it still has some really great recipes. Http://peachwriter.wordpress.com. I would definitely suggest trying her recipes, they are super delicious. All the ones I’ve tried so far are anyway. I plan on trying the salty chocolate cookies next, sounds interesting, and perhaps terrifying.

In other news, my Cherry Jam turned more into a Cherry Syrup. I know what the problem was though, too much cornstarch. Cornstarch can be a tricky little devil to work with sometimes. Next time instead of trying to do my own recipe from memory I”m going to use my Grandmother’s freezer jam recipe. This should help reduce the risk of disasters. I guess it can’t really be called a disaster it still tastes great and as my mother suggested would be delicious over vanilla ice cream.

I can’t wait until the strawberries are finished growing at our local farmers market. Then my mom, my sister and myself can go and pick some. Berry picking is super fun to me and brings back so many memories of going picking with my sister and grandmother. I remember my sister and I being playfully scolded for eating “more berries than we picked.”

Matt refuses to go with us because he hates picking berries. When he was a kid his mom took him and he picked A LOT because he thought they were getting paid for it. So he was shocked and appalled when he found out they were in fact paying to do the manual labor.  It’s one of my favorite Little Boy Matt stories.

So he won’t be going, but all is well because it will be a girl’s day out, which we haven’t had in quite some time. Hopefully everything will go smoothly.

Today is Matt’s dad’s birthday! He’s fifty today! He’s picking up some food from a local Italian restaurant and we are going over there for dinner. They don’t really do the gift exchange in his family, just the dinner. So, seeing as how they are VERY German and how it’s his birthday, I am going to attempt to make a Black Forest Cherry Chocolate Cake. Fingers crossed!