Cake and Birthdays

I posted a while ago that I was in a cake class and I never posted anything else, so here are some pictures.

The first class we all made rainbow cakes. I didn't get a really good picture because I was trying to get a picture of the border around the bottom.

Jessie's rainbow cake.

I can't take credit for the cupcakes above...I believe Jessie did the star one, and my mom did the flowers.I was 100% anti-clown when we went into the class but after learning how to make it I think it is really cute!

That is the cake part, now for the birthday part!
In my family we are very avid birthday celebrators. I know some people who just let their birthday roll around and they may have a cake or something but that is it. That doesn't work in my family, birthdays are a time to celebrate.

Because I love geocaching, my mom and my sister spent hours making me a geocaching birthday scavenger hunt. I got a set of coordinates that led me to someone who had another set of coordinates for me.
It was lots of fun!
At the end I got a new laptop (which I really needed because my old one, beside being ancient, was missing keys) and a purple dinosaur cake Jessie made using the skills we learned in class.
She did an amazing job!
Today is Nathan's birthday, and the theme for his birthday was "perpetual kid!"
So I used the skills I learned in class and made him a lego cake.
Sorry for the long post....and the lack of fun content.

Just So Ya Know...

It's my birthday!

I'm going to have a hard time convincing people in my cake decorating class that I'm a year older. One of the ladies in there thought I was 13!

The Pain of Reading

I love books.
I'm almost 100% positive no one knows that about me though because I don't read as often as I'd like to.
"Why?" you might say, "Do you not read if you love books?"
Here is your answer:
I get so into reading that I kind of become obsessive.
I wrote a blog a while ago about how I live my life vicariously through other people, be it a tv show character, movie character, or even a real person. I need to add book characters to that list.
When I watch a TV show it is usually about 42 mins long and the characters have gone through something and the situation has been resolved. Add a couple more hours to that same situation and you have a movie. Everything happens in a reasonable time frame, so when I watch I don't feel guilty sitting there and watching.
Nothing bugged me more then when we would watch a movie in high school and it'd get shut off half way through so we could watch the rest the next day.
When I read I can't just put the book down and wait to read the rest the next day. I have to read (or listen to) the whole thing or I'll lose sleep!
Just yesterday my mom and Jessie and I were listening to the book The Hunger Games (by Suzanne Collins. It's really a page turner!) and at about 9:00pm my mom said "Ok, lets shut it off for tonight." I don't even know HOW she could say that! After she left Jessie and I hit play again and listened until 2am when it was finally over.
It's like that for everything I read. Not just the suspenseful page turners, everything!

It is an unhealthy relationship I have with books.

End Of The Road

I've reached the end of the "fixing my arm" road.
I had a consultation with the orthopedic surgeon this morning and she informed me that the surgery I was recommended for would only help me move my arm if my rotator cuff was causing the immobility in my arm, but it is my deltoid muscle causing the immobility.
So I'll never feel nor move my upper arm again.
The best chance to get any strength in my arm is physical therapy to strengthen my rotator cuff, but it still won't move like it did.
I'm not complaining though!
I'm alive!
The only thing wrong with me is that my stupid arm doesn't move and there are plenty of ways to adapt to that. I've been blessed beyond what I deserve in my safety, and in a mom who is willing to do whatever it would take to get my stupid arm to work again.

Thanks for all the prayers that were offered in my behalf during all this!
I couldn't have better friends!

Parting is such Sweet Sorrow

I wasn't going to write a blog because I feel like everything I have to blog about these days is fluff, but I have to post something and this has been on my mind. So bare with me and when I'm finally inspired to write something inspiring I promise I'll deliver.

I love Lost.

I don't think I've ever stuck with a TV show through it's whole life and loved it as much as I love Lost.

Like Jimmy Kimmel said, "If you don't follow it closely it's hard to understand, but if you do follow it closely it's even more difficult to understand."

It confuses the crap out of me and sometimes I swear it has gotten so weird I'll never come back, but I always return.

This is the last season and I can't wait! I have so many questions, and even though I'm sure they can't all be answered I know at least some of them will be cleared up.

Feb. 2nd just can't come quick enough!

And That's the Way the Cake Crumbles...

(not my picture. thank goodness)

It has been a very weird feeling to break for the norm of four years and not return to school this January. Graduating is weird!
When my mom and my little sister suggested I take the Wilton cake decorating classes at Hobby Lobby with them I jumped on the bandwagon!

We meet every Tuesday for two hours.
Last week was just basically just a 'welcome, this is what you need and here is your homework' type lesson.
Tomorrow (or today, however you look at it) we each have to take an already baked and filled and frosted cake to class.
We decided to bake our cakes today so tomorrow all we have to do is frost the cakes and go.
The first cake we made looked ok but had lots of airbubbles in it and the top domed up a lot (which is fixable but still a little disheartening).
We poked the second cake with a toothpick a million times and each time the toothpick came out clean, but when it came time to remove the cake from the pan half the cake came out and half stayed in and the both sides were covered in cake batter.
The third cake baked level (no dome in the middle) and came out of the pan just fine, but after about 15 mins of cooling on the rack it sunk in in the middle telling us it could have baked just a little bit longer.
The forth cake we made (to make up for the uncooked and broken second cake) domed up in the middle and about an inch stuck to the bottom of the pan when we were taking it out (all fixable), but when we went to level the cake off it started to crack into pieces on the side.

I certainly hope every Monday isn't like this!!

I'll keep you updated on what we do in class and how well we do! I'm excited!

It Pays to be Crafty

Jessie decided she wanted to make a jean quilt.
Nothing too fancy... just squares with an adorable backing fabric.
Katy and I went through a phase where every pair of jeans we owned went into an "I'm making a jean quilt someday..." box.
I told Jessie she could use our jeans (hope that's ok Katy) and she commenced cutting squares.
Last night as she was cutting up a pair of jeans she reached into the pocket and found $7 and a movie ticket stub.
Who knows how long it has been there and how long it would have sat there if she didn't decide to make a quilt.