Having YOUR cake and eating it TOO

Well - I'm not much of a cake eater -- since I pretty much make them all the time BUT I have to tell you about THIS cake . It is from Claim Jumper - we went a bit back and I saw this HUGE cake that I wanted to try so bad and see how they made it - so anywho - I did AND it is to die for !! It is 7 layers of chocolate cake, choc chips, choc frosting , etc. etc. AND it just looks soooo pretty - that was what attracted me first to it . So - anyways - - If you want to HAVE your CAKE AND eat it .. and EAT it .. And eat it .. too - you should fur sure have one of these :-)

They also have it in the freezer section at fart and sminal ... Deeeelish !!!

Ashlynn Volleyball Player

Here is Ashlynn at her last V-ball game -- she does good ! We are proud of her and glad that she likes to play ... like her aunts that she loves ;-)

" Tag " from Kasha

I..........
I am – happy - most of the time and incredibly grateful !!
I want – to go to night night sooo bad right now
I have – to make sure my sheets are tucked in the right way before I can fall asleep
I wish – people would just get along and would always try to say kind words to one another
I dislike – mean people -- lots of dislike there
I fear – scorpions (big time) and scary movies - cause I can't get them out of my brain once they are there and - of course , remember them at night .. rrrr....
I hear - my freezer running and total quiet outside -- well except for the planes over my house
I search – for things I seem to loose , well really it's just misplace because I KNOW i put things in a perfect place so I can get them later .. Hmmmm ( wonder really)
I wonder – about peoples lives -- people I haven't seen in a while or even people I see on the street - I wonder if they are loved and happy and safe
I always – like chocolate - no matter what time of the day ;-)
I usually – try to go to bed early and get up early -- so therefor any second now I shall be healthy, wealthy and wise ??
I am not – alot of things I would like to be ... much improvements to make
I sing – all the time - in the car - at home - and I turn the music up REALLY loud
I never – say "never" - cause you just never know -- hehe
I rarely – go on big shopping sprees -- well once I did yrs ago - to california with some friends and pretty much got a whole new wardrobe - it was fabulous !
I cry – at the drop of a hat ... shoe ... plate ... crumb ;-) ... anything really
I am not always – on time - Jay would like me to be ... so - ya - sometimes it happens
I lose - papers that come in the mail - I try to save those coupon things and they really do get up and walk away --I swear
I need - Me time -- which I rarely get -- which is probably why I need it -- duhhh
I should – think of others more -- I need to be doing more for my friends , family , neighbors, etc. etc.
I dream – Of one day all sitting down in Heaven - Like Lucy Mack Smith said ... what a joyous day that will be ;-)

A Tradition ....

Even after about 16 years of doing cakes ... I still love it ! It is so fun and I'm so lucky I get to create things for people that (hopefully) make them smile of their BIG day !

LOVE FALL !!

Reasons why I love the fall season ....

... love to be able to open my door to my house and let some fresh air in - even if it's just

for a little bit

... love to get in the car in the morn and be a tidge cold ( especially coming from - HURRY - turn on the car and the AIR )

... love to get out my pumpkins and decor for this season

... it's nice to finally be baking and NOT dieing in the kitchen cause it's soooo hot

... now I finally feel like I can get dressed with something other than a basic T-shirt cause it's to hot to wear anything else

... just pretty much a happier person

... love that Christmas is around the corner

... love to be able to wear my puffy purple socks around the house

...love to start wearing my boots

... love that my bulbs are starting to bloom - cause they pretty much think it is spring - hehe

... I actually start to play some Christmas music when it starts to cool off

... love , love , love soo many things !!

Anyone else love things about this time of year ??

I am very grateful for the many people and blessings and opportunities that I LOVE in my life !

I LOVE CONFERENCE !!

I love this short story from President Monson this last conference . He always

has the best stories !

Finding Joy in the Journey
President Thomas S. Monson

Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family.
Many years ago I was touched by the story of Borghild Dahl. She was born in Minnesota in 1890 of Norwegian parents and from her early years suffered severely impaired vision. She had a tremendous desire to participate in everyday life despite her handicap and, through sheer determination, succeeded in nearly everything she undertook. Against the advice of educators, who felt her handicap was too great, she attended college, receiving her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota. She later studied at Columbia University and the University of Oslo. She eventually became the principal of eight schools in western Minnesota and North Dakota.

She wrote the following in one of the 17 books she authored: “I had only one eye, and it was so covered with dense scars that I had to do all my seeing through one small opening in the left of the eye. I could see a book only by holding it up close to my face and by straining my one eye as hard as I could to the left.”Miraculously, in 1943—when she was over 50 years old—a revolutionary procedure was developed which finally restored to her much of the sight she had been without for so long. A new and exciting world opened up before her. She took great pleasure in the small things most of us take for granted, such as watching a bird in flight, noticing the light reflected in the bubbles of her dishwater, or observing the phases of the moon each night. She closed one of her books with these words: “Dear . . . Father in heaven, I thank Thee. I thank Thee.”Borghild Dahl, both before and after her sight was restored, was filled with gratitude for her blessings.

In 1982, two years before she died, at the age of 92 her last book was published. Its title: Happy All My Life. Her attitude of thankfulness enabled her to appreciate her blessings and to live a full and rich life despite her challenges.

Tagged !?!?

Alrighty then ...just lookin at my sweet little ( ok - medium ) Aubriellas blog --- and I have been tagged ... I'm sometimes not the hippest young thing (i know a tidge of a surprise-wink-wink) when it comes to these 2 college girls we got , but I'll play along for you :-) !!!!

So - the tag is to name 6 of my quirk's .... hmmm - It's a good thing there's only 6 cause that's probably all I's got ... absolutely no more ---ha ya right ! Here goes .....


6. I really really don't like it when I see people being mean - just to be mean cause they think they can and think they are all big bad awesome mighty ... Rrrrrr --

5. I have a certain way I fold towels ... and pretty much I obsess over it . When they are all stacked and it's not looking the way I think it should I will start all the way from the very bottom again and re-do the whole pile (( quirk or ocd -- mmmm - I'm sure it's a quirk))

4. I'm a water drinker -- YEP - that's it ! Just water -- when we have any company for dinner or anything -- I have to make my brain try and remember to get or make some kind of a drink . Cause in our house it's water -- you don't have to make it ahead of time - it comes from the door on the fridge. Jay will get me a pepsi in a bottle and it will take me a week to finish it - well - of course he has realized that and ... it disappears now before it goes flat ;-)

3. When we are at stores and I see clothes or toys or ya know anything that someone has just dropped on the floor and has NOT put back . I HAVE HAVE to pick it up !! It's like a force that won't let my feet walk past it -- bizarre . Ashlynn has almost ran into me so many times when we are just walking and I stop and pick up something .... And I've been doing this for years and years . Well -now we go shopping and the other day she went to pick up something and looked at me -- and was like OOOO ewwww -- I can't believe I'm doing something YOU do MOM !!

2. My Planner --- LOVE LOVE LOVE my planner - I swear if I ever lost it or it was injured - I would die !! It has everything in it . All my cake stuff - week stuff - birthdays - names and numbers - etc. etc... I am a BIG list person ! I love to write and do lists ! Probably really more like I LOVE to cross the things off the list when done - it makes me feel like I accomplished something for a minute :-)

1. And the number one !!! Is CRUMBS !!! - to all the teenagers that I love who have eaten at my house they will know - course 1/2 of them are on missions now BUT -
I HATE CRUMBS ! Drives me bonkers to be walking in my kitchen and family room with no shoes on and to have granules of crumbs under my feet . Not to mention I probably just vacuumed and the crumb is a 2x2 piece of cake . Rrrrr - not like someone didn't notice that piece didn't make it to their very own mouth !! My children and their friends and my husband and my friends are so very patient with that odc ( or quirk) that I continue to feed . Thanks !!!


KK - Now I suppose I'm to tag 2 peeps ! Let's see --- Becki Crosby and Britta Jarvie :-)
( Since you both know and love my girls too )

Thanks - love you !!!

CAKES

Here are just a few recent cakes that I've done ...

This one has a crown on it -- tooo fun :-)

This one was fun to try the poka dot thing - the decorations Jen did were AMAZING !!

Then this one I did last night with a boa on the bottom - YES BOA !!! Right up my drive !!

So excited to do this one :-)