This is just...wrong :oP

I love love LOVE the Cake Wrecks blog. It never fails to crack me up. And this post...well, you'll just have to see it for yourself. Make sure to read the description too! Enjoy :)

Priceless

2 struesel fruit pies, 1 pumpkin pie, 1 coconut cream pie, 1 toffee cheesecake, and 1 pumpkin creme brulee...

20 dollars.


2 cans of whipped light cream for topping the pies...

3 dollars.


Whipped cream artwork on brother-in-law's head...

PRICELESS :)

I've been tagged! Or "taygged" as they say around these parts...

Super fun tag! :o) "On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me..."

1 embarrassing moment: I run into things. Like all the time. There is a desk at work that I have yet to manuever around succesfully, and the bruises to prove it.

2 best friends: Jay and Kim

3 things you buy regularly: Diet Coke, candy, redbox movies

4 places you want to go (and might actually REALLY go): Australia, Ireland, Harry Potter theme park in Florida (yep totally nerdy), Billings (the "big" city) for Black Friday

5 goals for the upcoming year (that you might actually do): start selling cupcakes again and work towards a bakery, have another kiddo, stress a whole lot less

6 things most people don't know about you: my rigth pinky doesn't straighten out all the way. all of the kids in my tumbling classes give me a hard time about it!

7 things you would never say: "No I don't want a diet coke", "No I won't make you some cupcakes", "I love going to the dentist!" "Getting up at 5 am is wonderful", "I like bugs", "Let's move to Alaska!", "We should go camping for a whole week!"

8 things you love about the Christmas season: Baking! decorating, giving gifts, wrapping presents, being with my family, Christmas lights, hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls, seeing Kalei's face on Christmas morning

9 things you say to your kids: "Guess what? I love you!" "You are a stinker!" ""Do you need to go potty?" "I'm gonna get you!" "You are one smart cookie!" "Huh?" "Are you sure you picked up your toys?" "What would you like for lunch?" "Show me a cartwheel!"

10 things you do a lot: Work work work, bake, drink diet coke, adjust/fix glasses, read, shop at walmart (our only option here), sleep, chase Kalei around, cook, stress!

11 things you would rather not live without: my family, my friends, my job, jay's job, my Kaleibug, diet coke, my baking cabinet, my bed, a shower, candy, my home

12 people to tag: Cindy, Tatum, Jessica, Heather, Diana, Michelle, Liz, Carrie, Mandy, Miranda, Tana, Katte

It's About Time!!

A new blog post!! Woohoo!! Well, sort of... Long enough to say to expect a major overhaul in the next little while. I have been all computered out as of late. For one, it is in a dark distant corner of our basement. And right next to the laundry room, which admittedly I try hard to avoid going near most days! :) Add that to working two jobs, doing all of the usual mommy/wife/household stuff, my calling in Young Women's, and the all important sleeping and I am pooped most days! Other than using the computer to pay bills, I have pretty much avoided it due to its incredible ability to zap time in a serious way!

Today I did allow myself to get caught up on everyone's blogs though, and it was nice to feel connected again, I have really missed it. Reading them has inspired to me to make the effort to get back into blogging, even if it's just on a small scale. I definitely haven't quit baking, and I have so many cool pictures and ideas that I should have been sharing this whole time. So I guess what I am saying is, don't give up on me!

So...

I'm at home sick for what feels like the 8 millionth time in a very short period of time, and I needed to laugh so I thought I would share this Jim Gaffigan funny with you all.



I love cake.

Part 2 - The Part Where We Gained 7 Kids for 3 Weeks

When we first arrived in Miles City, we spent our time unpacking, setting up utilities, getting to know the area, all the usual things one might do after moving to a new place. The most fun thing about moving here though is getting to spend an infinite amount of time hanging out with my sister and brother in law, and all of Kalei's awesome cousins! Here they are from left to right: (top row) Curtis, Ethan, Jonah, Joshua, Zoe, (2nd row) Loundia, Cora, Tana, (bottom row) Sofie, Maizie, Lily, Jackson.

About 2 weeks after we got here, we had the wonderful opportunity to stay with 7 of the cousins (Cora, Jackson, Sofie, Maizie, Lily, Zoe, and Joshua), while Tana, Curtis, Jonah, Ethan, and Loundia went to Ethiopia to bring home 2 more family members, Beck and Teffy. It was such a blast and an experience we will never forget! These are pictures of some of the fun things we did :)

Cute girly girls at the park

The Olive Garden Breadstick Incident Reenactment of 2008

Maizie and Lily's school science experiment, which everyone got into. I love the look on Cora's face!

The men watching the NBA Finals

All the girls got to decorate (and in Cora's case, snack on) a princess visor, which they were THIRLLED about

The Man from Snowy Beard River

Mom, Dad! Look what I found in my nose! (At least the only medical "issue" that occured under our care was our own kid's... goodness!)

More snow!!!

Mcdonalds breakfast shenanigans

Just be sure to stay away from the YELLOW snow Joshua!

Welcome home, Teffy and Beck!

We sure are lucky to be able to live in the same town with these guys. They are such an awesome family and we have so much fun together!

to be continued...

Celebrate Good Times

JAY PASSED HIS TEST!!! :D

What are we doing?!?

So here's the story...

This past February, as I was on my way out the door to a primary Valentine's Day activity with Kalei, Jay stopped me and asked me to read an email we had just received from my sister Tana and brother in law Curtis. The email stated simply, "We want Jay to come and work with Curtis". So come to Miles City, Montana we did! In only a few short weeks we had our house and bags all packed and were ready to go.

My brother in law is an audiologist and has his own practice, Hearing Connection. He has been in the process of opening more offices in some of the neighboring towns to Miles City, and was needing someone to help run these other offices. So Jay has been studying full time for the past 4 months in preparation for the giant licensing exam that will allow him to start his training as a hearing aid dispenser. Once he is fully licensed, his main jobs will be to perform hearing tests and fit people for hearing aids who need them. We are so excited about this new opportunity and chapter in our lives, and I am so excited to be living right down the street from my sister and her family!

These past 4 months have been an absolute whirlwind of insanity! There has been so much to write about, but so little time to do it. But we have been enjoying the adventure immensely, and have the pictures to prove it. The pictures will speak louder than the words would anyway! So without further ado, I give you...

Miles City Adventure, Part 1 - Our Trip Here

Hooray for the end of the cleaning and painting!!

Goodbye hugs for Nana and Bubba

Both of these pictures are from a stop at the most bizarre gas station I have ever seen. But we had fun playing "jail" and getting to see a high-centered truck was pretty crazy!

Kalei LOVED the snow! It was her first time seeing it since she was still a baby and too young to care. Now she can't wait for winter! (I, on the other hand, am panicking... :P )

Our fun little house :) It is right across the street from the elementary school where Kalei will go next year, and also the school's playground. Yay!


Hopefully you have enjoyed this first installment of pictures! Stay tuned for part 2...tomorrow :)

According to Kalei...

"The Prophet talks to us and has asked us not to drink kelp juice."

Good to know that she pays attention to both primary and Sponge Bob...

Long Lost Richwines

Contrary to what many of you may be thinking, we really have not fallen off the face of the planet :o) Not yet anyway...

I know it has been forever and I have some SeRiOuS catching up to do! For now, here is the short version. We are no longer

HERE

We now live

HERE

So where is "HERE"? Miles City, Montana. And we are lovin' it!!

Valentine's Day Cupcakes - Special Dark

I won't even waste any time jibber jabbering here, let's get to the recipe!!

SPECIAL DARK CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
oven 350, makes 18 standard size cupcakes

3/4 C Hershey's Special Dark cocoa (you'll know you've got the right stuff because it is almost black)
1 C sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) butter
3/4 C buttermilk
1/2 C water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder


GANACHE:

10 oz. Hershey's Special Dark chocolate
1 C heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla


Cupcakes:
Put the cocoa, sugar, buttermilk, water, and butter in a medium saucepan. Heat over low-medium heat and stir until butter is melted and the ingredients are blended well.

Remove from heat and allow to cool 15 minutes.

While mixture is cooling, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium bowl, set aside.

Add vanilla and egg to the chocolate mixture, mix until combined.

Pour chocolate mixture into flour mixture in three parts, stirring until smooth after each addition.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full, and bake for 20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, and then remove to rack to cool completely.

Spoon a small amount of liquid ganache onto each cupcake one at a time,and swirl to spread evenly over the top. Ganache will set as it sits.


Ganache:
In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat cream until it starts to bubble. Remove from heat, add the chocolate, cover, and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.

Stir until mixture is smooth, stir in vanilla and salt.

Ganache is ready to use!

My New Favorite Thing

Chocolate plastic!! Or modeling chocolate, but chocolate plastic sounds so much cooler. I am sure this is old news to savvy bakers out there, but I had never heard of it until I got this awesome cupcake book from my sister T for Christmas, A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes, by Dede Wilson. It is seriously the most fun stuff!! Normally I just use fondant for cute cutout decorations and stuff, but fondant is going to have to move over for my new best baking friend.

Here is the rediculously simple recipe, taken from the aforementioned book:

28 oz (2 packages) Wilton Candy Melts
2/3 C light corn syrup

Melt candy melts in the microwave, in a double boiler, or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir in the corn syrup until the mixture blends well together.

Scrape out onto a large piece of plastic wrap and wrap up tightly (I used a large ziploc bag).

Let sit until cool and firm enough to roll out (or cheat and put in the fridge like I did)

That's it!! It is ready to play :)

You can use other kinds of chocolate as well, but I guess the candy melts are more foolproof since they aren't technically chocolate. I added Wilton icing colors to the chocolate when I mixed in the corn syrup, and it worked out very well. Pictures are coming...

Chocolate play doh. It just doesn't get any better!

Make that...

five earthquakes.

It's Over It's Over!!!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a pretty much a tv junkie, so I am ecstatic about this news.

In other news, we keep having earthquakes here. I go my whole life (including several years in various parts of California) without ever experiencing one, but in the past 3 days have been through 4. And those are just the ones I have felt...there have been many more small ones. Anyway, I have decided that I really don't like them! Fortunately Kalei hasn't noticed anything weird going on.

We have a super busy week this week, one of those where I am not even sure how to fit it all in. I have 3 cupcake/cake projects to complete, visiters coming this weekend, and I just started my new 3 day a week babysitting job. We are also babysitting for a couple of friends so they can go on Valentines Day dates, and we are going on a date of our own as well. Then there is a Valentines Day party at the Family Treehouse to attend, and it's Jay's grandpa's birthday this weekend. Tons of fun stuff, but my brain is scrambled just thinking about it!

Expect some new pictures and recipes in the next few days as I work on my baking projects. I have a super yummy cupcake recipe I have been working on and I can't wait to share it!

How are all of you doing? :o)

4 Year Old Drama

Last night, about 10 minutes after I had tucked Kalei into bed, I heard her calling out "mom, mom!!" (yes it's Mom now, no more "Mommy" :p ) So I go back into her room, just inside the doorway, and she is crying, yelling "I don't want my Sally Halloween costume anymore, I want a Foofah costume!" The funniest part about it is that she was actually asleep, a rather creepy habit of hers... It's ok Kalei, go back to sleep! :o)

Party Time and Yo Gabba Gabba Cake!

Kalei had so much fun at her surprise Chuck E. Cheese birthday party! It was crazy, loud, chaotic, silly, and everything a great birthday party should be.

There were lots of friends, and lots of food, most importantly her "taste playdough" (fondant) Foofah from Yo Gabba Gabba cake!

Kalei was also able to work on her mad air hockey skills, ride the rocket ship, and lead Chuck E. hand in hand all over the restaurant.

All in all, a great day. I love having a 4 year old!

Slacking...again

I am so behind on this blog! It's been such a busy holiday season, and while I have been baking up a storm and have taken a ton of pictures, I haven't taken the time to share any of it :( But I promise, I am getting there! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and that 2008 has started off great. My first New Year resolution - keep this blog up to date! :o)