Snow princess castle cake

This weekend, I had the priviledge of making a Princess snow castle themed cake for a little girls 1st birthday. This was certainly my biggest challenge yet but I was very happy with how it turned out! It's all edible except for the "towers". The snow is made out of white sprinkles and the snowflakes are made of white chocolate. And best of all, the birthday girl and her mom loved it!

a rather unimportant post...

So, my posts have been rather serious lately...so I thought I'd lighten it up a bit! Ok, so ya'll know that I live in my Sperrys and sneakers. I am not the most fashion forward gal. But, I've been thinking that I'd like some boots, and no, not like snow boots (which I have and Chris says, "why do you need another pair of boots?"). So, today while finished up my Christmas shopping I was on a mission...and a budget!
I am not a big fan of the mall but I knew it would give me the most boot options. However, I went in about 10 stores and was finding nothing. Frustrating. So, as I was storming through the mall on the way to my car I noticed some boots in the Nine West window. Now, I knew that was WAY out of my budget but I thought I'd just browse....so I picked up a pair of boots...$169. EEK! Ok, I was ready to walk out right then and there. But, as I was picking up another pair a rather over bubbly sales person (you know, the type you hope doesn't see you?) came over and she "just so you know, those are 50% off the lowest price". I thought to myself, it's still not going to fit in my $25 budget! However, the original price was $99 but I noticed a little red sticker that read $49.99. Wait, hold on a second, these boots are $25?? Woo hoo!! Mission complete. Now, hopefully I can find something other than my go-to sweatpants and sweatshirt to wear them with :) Check em out!

one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish...

On Saturday my good friend Ashley's precious little boy turned 1! He had a wonderful Dr Suess themed birthday party...I've already decided I am going to hire Ashley to plan my kid's parties someday! Wow, she did a great job. The pictures don't do it justice!
I also had the honor of making the cakes for the party. I had never stacked a cake quite this tall so I was a little bit nervous about it (ok, a little bit is an understatement). But, it turned out better than I expected and I was really happy with it. And Fletcher just loved his smash cake!!
Happy birthday Fletcher!!

Depraved Indifference

Powerful...do we love the way God loves?

Jesus loves the little children...

It's been a while since I've blogged...for a few reasons. First of all, we have been busy with all the holiday festivities...Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, decorating the tree, etc. Secondly, there have been a lot of emotions swirling around in my head that I haven't been able to articulate.
So, this may be a feeble attempt...
Most of you know that a close family member of ours provides foster care for children in need. So, for the past month or so, Chris and I have had the privilege to get to know three precious foster children- ages 1,2, and 3. When I hear the stories of what they have been through in their short little lives, it breaks my heart. When I think that they may go back into a situation like that, it breaks my heart even more. I am so thankful that these children are experiencing what it's like to be a part of a healthy and loving family, even if it's only for a short time. Every child deserves a home where they are loved and nurtured. Every child deserves to be just that, a child.
Chris and I have had many conversations about where the Lord is leading us. We have both felt strong emotions over the past few months and one thing is for sure- the Lord is calling us to help children in need in some way, whether large or small. We are not sure of His timing or even what He is calling us to do exactly but we are keeping our ears and eyes open because we know He will tell us in His timing. So, I ask two things of you, my blog reader:
1) First and foremost pray for these three foster children. I cannot tell you their names or their story but I will tell you that they are precious and loving children who deserve the same thing in return. I would ask that you pray for their family members to be able to provide a home that nurtures and protects them.
2) Pray that Chris and I are open to the Lord's leading, whatever it may be, however near or far in the future.

James 1:27

James 1:27...it's really been on my heart lately:

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

a near disaster...

A friend of mine's mom turned 50 today and I had the pleasure of making her cake for her. I was really excited about this cake...I've learned some new techniques for smoothing buttercream and I was eager to try them out. So, I spent quite a bit of time on the buttercream for this cake...smoothing and smoothing and smoothing. Finally it looked semi-smooth (I still have a lot to learn until it's completely smooth). So, imagine how I felt when, while stacking the tiers, I DROPPED the top tier (don't worry, it just fell on my clean countertop, not the floor)! My poor top tier was a mess, and so was I! Fortunately, it was fixable and, after another round of buttercream smoothing, I was finally satisfied (well sort of...I'm a major perfectionist). I was pleased with how the cake turned out and am already looking forward to making my next one!

SURPRISE!!!!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of flying home to Boston and surprising Emily for he 30th birthday. I actually couldn't believe we pulled it off since she is really hard to surprise! I threw a party for her on Saturday with the help of my mom and Tam. A lot of our friends and family came down from Maine to celebrate with us, we had a great time!

weekend fun

We had a wonderful weekend full of friends and fun! Saturday was Alexandra and Ron's wedding which so beautiful. It's been such a blessing to see so many of my girl friend's get married over the past few years and I look forward to more to come!
Sunday was spend at church...yup, the whole day! We had over 2000 people come to Harvest Celebration this year which was so great! Chris and I were exhausted when we got home at 8pm last night, it had been a long day of setting up and handing out candy! But, we had a great time.

Wonderful friends in the "picture wall"

Just love her!
me and the beautiful bride
our sports themed trunk at Harvest Celebration
Olivia and her friend Gwen

Congratulations Jordan!

One of my wonderful co-workers, Jordan, is a soon to be mommy! Here are a few pictures of our celebration of baby Hauser. We can't wait to meet him!

Happy Birthday Emily!!!!!

Today is one of my favorite people's birthdays! Not only is it Emily's birthday, it's her 30th birthday!!! I wish I could be there to celebrate but unfortunatley I live 900 miles away. But, I promised Emily that I would bake her a birthday cake and eat it for her. Chocolate with peanut butter frosting was her request so here it is! Love you Em!

Yumm!!

Girls Night Out!

I have some of the best girlfriends a girl could ask for! And we never fail to have so much fun when we get together! On Saturday, we celebrated one of Marie's last nights as a single woman with her bachelorette party! It started with an amazing dinner at PF Changs in Greensboro and the party continued at Marie's house late into the evening. Did I mention how much I just love these girls?!?

pink and black

There seemed to be a theme of black and pink cakes this week! I made one as a "thank you" for the leader of the fall Bible study I participated in and one for my precious friend Marie's lingerie bridal shower who is getting married on November 13th!

This was my first attempt at a two-tiered cake. It turned out alright but I definitely need some practice! The feathers were my favorite part though :)

This was my first attempt at using just buttercream...I found it pretty difficult to make it look smooth! However, I was happy with how the cake turned out in the end!

long, slow, beautiful dance

Ever heard the song "Long, Slow, Beautiful Dance" by Rascal Flatts? Well, it came on my ipod this morning while I was running and I got to thinking how very thankful I am that I get to dance through life with my best friend!

Generosity...

There's a lot going on in my life that I could blog about on this beautiful fall Monday...how about the Dixie Classic Fair (FUN!!)? Or, how Chris' truck got broken into while we were having so much fun at the fair (NOT so fun!)? Or, my latest baked item (Devil's food cake cupcakes filled with pink buttercream and topped with chocolate fudge)? Yes, all blog worthy topics but insignificant compared to what I need to blog about...

Generosity. I've thought a lot about this topic lately. Let's face it. I'm blessed. You're blessed. We are all extremely rich compared to most of the world. My first experience with extreme poverty came when I was 17 and traveled on a missions trip to the Virgin Islands. My heart was broken but not enough to really change how I lived my day to day life. Then, when I was 18 I went to Haiti for the first time. Talk about conviction. God began to show me His heart and break my heart for the things that break His. Ok, so I came back from this trip changed. But, I was in college and really had no money of my own, no real bills to speak of.


Fast forward 9 years to today. My financial situation has drastically changed. Now, I am married, have a full time job, and loads of bills that, yes, do have to get paid every month. But, God has made it clear that I have been blessed so that I can bless others (haven't we all??). I'll be honest, I worry about money just like everyone else. I think I "don't have enough" or "can't possibly give that much". But let me tell you an awesome story that put things in perspective for me recently:

On September 12th our church did a "reverse offering". Instead of collecting an offering, they actually gave money to each person in attendance that day. In total, they gave $12,000. There was one stipulation: you could not use it on yourself, you had to use it for someone in need. The stories that we have heard the past 3 Sundays have blown me away (think families taking $15 they received, adding $500 to it, and sending it to New Hope Pregnancy Care Center...you can visit blessed2bless4Him.com for more stories!). There are SOO many hurting people in this world, and right here in Forsyth County, and it is our job as Christians to be the hands of feet and Jesus here on this earth (refer to James 1:27, love it!). So, Chris and I took our $10, added some to it, and brought non-perishable food to the Clemmons Food Pantry to feed hungry and needy people. God has given both Chris and I a burden for those in need, especially children, and I'm excited to see what opportunities He will present to us to be His ambassador. So, here's my refreshed perspective on "my" money (but it's never really ours is it??):

"The purpose of our money is not the good things we can GET, but the good things we can GIVE."

Sunday baking

My new favorite weekend activity? You've probably figured it out by my latest blogs...baking! Here's what I made today: chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes with orange (colored, not flavored) buttercream. Yes, you read that right, there's a chunk of cookie dough baked right into the chocolate cupcake. I wonder what I'll cook up next? Don't worry, I'm sure I'll blog about it :)

happy birthday olivia!

So my youngest sister in-law is turning 7 tomorrow (Sept 26th). Happy birthday Olivia! Here are some pictures from our celebration this weekend. She had a pandra bear themed sleepover party and then we took all the kiddos to a corn maze this morning.

The cake that Sandra and I made for the party

The girls at the cornmaze

weeds

Weeds.

Do you ever think about them? I didn't...well, until I married a landscaper that is. Sometimes I'll comment on how green and "pretty" a yard looks and Chris will say, "but it's full of weeds!". Sometimes weeds are obvious but sometimes it's hard to tell what the difference is between pretty grass and weeds! Ok, so now it's fall and something else I've learned from Chris is that you can't fertilize a yard to make the grass grow until you kill the weeds. You've gotta get rid of the bad stuff before the good stuff can grow. So, I sound like I'm rambling but I promise I have a point in all this...

I have weeds in my life and I'd venture to say that you do too. Some of our weeds are obvious but some are so well camouflaged with our pretty little gardens of life that it's hard to tell the difference. I like to think that I have this pretty little life, a pretty little family, etc. My weed? PRIDE. I like things done my way and in my timing. Wow, I've been convicted lately. This weed has been growing for a long time. At times, I don't even notice it but when I look back on things I've said or done I realize that I live "in my own little world, population me" (yes, I'm quoting a Matthew West song). Thankfully, our Father is full of grace and He's the ultimate landscaper. I've had to do some hard things lately...given up control in several areas of my life. It's hard not to be in control...but what I've learned is that, by trying to take control, I was choking out the good things that Lord had planned for me. So, in this fall season I'm really working on choking out the weeds so that the grass can grow!

So tell me now...do you ever think about weeds?

just a piece of cake ;)

So, I made my first cake with fondant for my parent's 32nd wedding anniversary on September 2nd. It took me a couple days to make...the first day I made the cake and iced it, the second day I rolled the fondant and decorated the cake. Here are some pictures of all the fun!

Cake before frosting:

Putting them together:

Crumb-coating with buttercream:

Covering the cake with the rolled out fondant:

After it was smoothed out:

The finished product!

My parents loved it :)

And it didn't taste half bad!