Happy 4th!

It's hard to believe that it's already the 4th of July! Craziness! Time is flying by so quickly. I've actually been thinking a lot about time lately and how it is so very precious.  Back when I was younger, I remember hearing people talk about how time flies and I recall hearing stories about all the people who had sought after the Fountain of Youth. Back then, I simply could not understand it. Growing up and getting old seemed so very far off. Endowed with youthfulness, I didn't get why aging was all so bad. But now, I see.  I understand it. I'm 28, next year I will be 29. Those numbers don't sound tooooo bad, I'll agree, but it's time, it honestly just keeps slipping away. Five years have passed in a blink of an eye. I now have gray hairs and I fear the day that I start to get wrinkles. I've noticed my hands are looking older. A strange thing to notice maybe, but I looked down and they aren't as youthful looking as they once were. I"ll be honest, getting old scares me, a lot. I feel like I have so much to accomplish in life, but I'm running out of time. It's like I'm racing the clock. lol. As time passes, things continue to change. Family and friends grow older, they pass on, and a new group of youth arise. It's exciting, but sad at the same time. sigh.

Well, this is depressing talk for a 4th of July celebration. lol. We're having a cookout. Inviting some family over to grill out and perhaps go swimming. So we have been cleaning and cooking since yesterday. Parties are fun, but why do they have to be so much work? haha :p

Have gotten quite a few things accomplished this week. I spent Monday and Tuesday out at the shop answering phones and helping with the front desk. Tammy and Corey were gone and things have been busy out there, so Dad needed the help. It was pretty fun. I don't mind the whole receptionist thing, I find it semi-interesting and fun. On Wednesday, I had to drive over to Wateseka, IL to Dr. Martin/Rose to get my retainer fixed. It's been cracked since last Fall, but I'm just now getting over there. Jennica rode with me, so that made it more interesting! We stopped by this quaint little DQ that looked like it belonged in the state of Kentucky. haha. They had really good ice cream though! The drive was a killer...uuuugh. It made me kind of dread the road trip! I hate driving/riding for long lengths of time, it can get soooo boring. But at least we will be making quite a few stops along the way to look at different attractions. Jennica and I have been looking over the map and trying to plan our route. I think we're going to slightly modify the route, but we'll see. I'll try to post the finalized route once we figure it out! haha Which actually needs to be pretty soon so that we can try to book our hotel rooms.


We leave on July 19--TWO weeks from tomorrow. It's soooo surreal! And it's really starting to get to me. I have known that I'm leaving for a long time now, but it's really starting to feel like reality now. I am beginning to feel very emotionally unstable! haha Ok, maybe not unstable, but I've been feeling really sad and upset. Yesterday I was trying to rearrange my room and box up some stuff. ( I just have junk EVERYWHERE! Seriously, my poor mom and dad. My stuff has been spread out all over the house and the garage.) I just was overwhelmed and didn't know quite what to do with it all. So poor Jennica, I think I began to take out my anger and frustration on her; but then, I just started crying. haha. Like big sobs and a flood of tears. I was like, oh crap, where did that come from? I surprised even myself. lol. but it felt kind of good. lol. I yelled and threw some papers and then just sobbed out my sorrows. haha. What a release! ;)  Of course, right before that I had scraped my leg, dropped a bedframe on my toe ( I thought for sure it was goign to be broken) and pulled a muscle in my back when I tried to move this big, heavy bookcase. So, I don't think I was in the best of humor to begin with. haha...But yeah, I'm getting very, very sad. This will be the first time being away from Indiana and ALL my family. Over 2,000 miles away. That's a looong way. I'm sure everything will go ok, or I hope it will, but it's just making me so very sad. :(

Anyways, on Thursday I drove down to Lebanon to meet with my mentor teacher (from student teaching). I was supposed to get my recc. letter from her (and she also had the one from the vice principal) and she needed help with some project she's been working on. Anyways, we met up just long enough for me to get my letters and give her some cupcakes that I made. So it looks like we will be meeting again next week sometime. On Tuesday the 12th I think. She's actually driving up here to Rensl. with her daughter, kind of a road trip. My schedule is so jam packed, it's crazy! Too many things to do, and not enough time.

So yeah, on Wednesday I made some cupcakes. I had wanted to take Ms. Avery some and I had promised Ryan that I would make him some cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting (his fave) before I leave. So I eended up making two batches. Chocolate with almond vanilla buttercream frosting and then dark chocolate with orange cream cheese frosting. They both turned out pretty well, i think. Everyone had a lot of great things to say about them, so I was pretty happy. :) I love it when people enjoy the food that I prepare. It's such a great feeling! I mean, that's the whole point in cooking/baking right? For people to enjoy your food. And when they actually DO, it's so great! So yeah, I made cupcakes. And then last week, I made a cake for Bryan and Kristina's engagement party (6/25). It was my first two-tiered cake and I was sooo nervous about it! I think it turned out fairly well though! Mom and I went and bought some fresh flowers from Pat's to put on the cake. It wasn't quite the color I was wanting, but it worked. I had originally wanted to go with a deep purple, but the flowers were more of a pinkish/purple, so I ran out to Walmart and found some new ribbon and it turned out ok! Mom and Jennica helped me put the ribbon on and it was quite a task! There has to be an easier way! haha I'll have to do some research!

On Saturday, we went over to Grandma's house to make a homemade butterscotch pie. She used to make them ALL the time and she's famous for them. They're the absolute BEST! So Jennica, Courtney, and I went over there and videotaped the whole process. And what a process it was. haha! Our meringue just wasn't turning out very well and we ended up making it three, yes THREE, times. And then it STILL wasn't exactly right. haha. I don't know what in the world we were doing wrong, but something just wasn't right. The first time, Grandma had forgotten that we needed cream of tarter and we didn't even have any with us, so we had to run to the store, which was quite a process in itself. We went to three different stores before we found it. haha. So yeah, it was a fun day! And the pie is absolutely to die for! Whenever I open my store/bakery/restaurant I am definitely going to have grandma's pie on the menu. I know it will be a hit! :)  After the pie baking experience, we headed home and grilled out. Courtney came over for dinner and it was a fun time!

So yeah, I think that's been my week. I'll go ahead and end by posting a few photos from the past week or so.

Bryan and Kristina's Engagement Party on June 25, 2011. The happy couple with their cake!

Cupcakes that I made on 6/29. These are chocolate with vanilla almond buttercream frosting. My first time piping on the frosting instead of frosting by hand. I liked the results.

Dark chocolate cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting.

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It was a gorgeous evening, so I went and snapped a couple photos around the yard sometime this past week. I thought the lighting was really pretty.

I currently have an obsession with chocolate covered bananas! They are soooo good! :)

And here's a picture of the butterscotch pie we made. The crust is kind of burnt and it's a bit lopsided, but man did it taste SOOO good!:)


Well, Happy 4th everyone! Enjoy your day with family and friends! :)