Not to brag or anything.....

.....but my kid is one of the cutest triceratops EVER!

 

 

We went trick-or-treating last year, but this was his first official trick-or-treating experience since he could walk! Was good times. He stayed out the WHOLE time!  And he was certainly getting the hang of it. He was starting to knock on doors and was waving bye to everyone (he doesnt talk yet, so he at least had the manners to wave since he could say thank you). He was even trying to get a sneak peak into peoples houses to see if they had dogs... =P. What shocked me the most is that he kept the head piece on the whole time.    

Jacob misplaced my camera, so I'll have to try and get even more pictures this weekend once I find it and share his cuteness then!

I realize that 1- unlike most blogs, mine doesnt really have one straight topic and 2- often times it seems more like a bitchfest. And for that I apologize, but with my best friend on the other side of the country and not many friends in the immediate area, its the easiest way to vent. 

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I was starting to get pretty discouraged in the job search- I got a phone call Saturday about an interview at Panera, but that was it. But today, someone at SECEP called. Woop woop.   They called to 'invite' me to a informational session on their Teacher Development Program. At the end of the session, they have interviews if its something that you're interested in.   I went to one of the workshops/interiews shortly after I graduated.  If I remember correctly, you start out as a TA and then work your way up- they help train you with those particular students and it gives you a chance to see if its the route you truly want to go. And they help pay your tuition so you can get all the classes you need to get fully licensed and whatnot.     I was offered a spot in the program back then, but I was offered a job in HCS shortly afterwards so I went with that instead (Full teachers get paid more than TAs!)  .     Hopefully things work out and they want me too! I'd much rather do that than a medial (sp?) food service job(excluding my awesome baking, of course). And its something that has always interested me.   =)

Josh's Birthday is today....

.... so I thought I would try to do something real nice for him.   I decided I'd make him a good breakfast and decorate the house a bit, and of course make him a cake.   He's only been awake for a few hours and I got flack for everything but the streamers- that, he showed an appreciation for and liked/got a kick out of. 

for breakfast, I made stuffed french toast(have you had IHOPS stuffed french toast? Its bang). I havent made anything pumpkin yet, aside from the marshmallows, and we have fresh pureed pumpkin so I decided to make a pumpkin pie cream/custard for the filling and I also made some homemade cinnamon whipped cream.  I stayed up late to make sure that the filling and whipped cream were made and ready for the morning.   Sadly, I forgot the bacon.   

 He was going to get together with a friend and I had plans to go to a craft show (which ended up being a bust, btw) so I made his and wrapped it up so he could heat it up when he finally got out of bed.  I got home before he was out of bed, so I was home when he ate it.   He had some smartaleck things to say about what I made and then he had a smart ass comment about not making eggs. He expectedd me to make eggs and then let them get cold so he could reheat them- GROSS! Nevermind that I put a lot of thought into making something and took the time to prep it before I even went to bed. AND I made sure that it wasnt too pumpkiny (like I wouldve liked it) and I made it creamier than custardlike to appease more to his senses.  I didnt have to make him breakfast, and I def didnt have to make sure it was ready for him to heat up when I left.  Needless to say, my feelings were hurt. 

Then we move to the cake. Over a month ago, he told me he wanted German Chocolate Cake. When I asked what he wanted a week or two, to be sure just incase he changed his mind, he told me he didnt care.   I had gotten a response from a craigslist ad I posted about a fondant covered cake. I had never done fondant before (I've only done 3 cakes, remember?) So I knew I had to start somewhere and  I saw a recipe for Chocolate Marshmallow Fondant  (I hope I did it right, I miscalculated the amount of sugar so had to keep adding and adjust) so I figured I would give it a go with his cake.  plus the cake store I go to finally got some large moose cookie cutters in, and I REALLY wanted to put a moose on his cake.  Cuz he's my sugar moose (its totally a play on sugar bear from honey boo boo, im not gonna lie).    I decided to go with chocolate cake and chocolate icing- since we didnt have all the ingredients for german choc cake, and he did say he didnt care- he even added that I didnt even have to make him a cake...

I mentioned somethin about the cake and then he had something so say about that too!   When I told him, if he still wanted german chocolate I could still do it he said no worries and then under his breath he was like "its my birthday..." Wel then why didnt he just say so, only need a few items.   Ay..    I made choc cuz I know he likes it, if it were soley up to me I wouldve made a pumpkin apple spice cake.   yummmm.....

he did apologize for being an ass, before he left the house. but It still bothered me and I still feel under appreciated.   I know he's stressed, but aint no reason to take it out on me - ESPECIALLY when I'm doing stuff for him!   

Fingers Crossed

I'm not gonna lie, I'm one of those people who tries not to think about things or approach a problem- not in an attempt to make it go away, but with hopes that it will go away.  Does that even make sense?   

I've looked and have found a few jobs to apply for, but didn't put a single application in until today. The nerves totally go to me.   I haven't really worked for over a year and a half (besides my seasonal stint @ Micheals and my short stint as a deli delivery girl)and totally nervous of starting a new job.  I havent applied to any bakeries for fear of rejection, mmost of the ads I see want experience (commercial experience) that I dont have. I've dealt with a lot of cupcakes but I've only decorated 3 cakes. Who's going to hire a cake decorator if they havent even decorated a handful of cakes?        But then again, whats the worse they can say? No?   And they dont have to know how many cakes I've done, I guess I could jist show them my 'work'.

 MY figneres are triple, no quadruple crossed for the application that I put in a few hours ago.  I've been talking about it for a while, but finally applied to the SECEP program.  I've always been interested in it and its a M-F job, no evenings (which is very handy with Josh working nights- it would mean he'd only be with a sitter for a few hours a day) and it would also give us additional benifits.   Insurance helps a lot, but it doesnt mean medical bills are cheap.   Even with insurance, Jacobs last doctors visit is still going to cost us about $200!  Crazy!!

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I finally made pumpkin marshmallows last nite. theyre yum,  but I dont think we'll have them all eaten in time.  Anyone want some?

I was starting to think that I was being over ambitious with the cake, but I think it ended up turning out just fine! Thanks Katie for giving me the opportunity!

No thanks to my students loans, I'm going to have to find myself a job again....  DARN YOU SALLIE MAE!!!!! I shake my fist at you!!!!

Maybe I can luck out and find a bakery job. Get paid to do what I love AND then learn some more stuff? Cant get much better than that. I was at Farmfresh the other day and was appalled by the icing job on some of the breast cancer awareness cakes..   We're trying to help out the boobs people, cant you at least attempt to make the cake a beast?   Maybe they're hiring?  Hmmm........

SECEP is also looking for assistants. I used to always want to work for them or a program like theirs. May as well put my degree to use. Then it would probably help that butt kick I need to get my licensure stuff straight.    I just got soo frustrated after the last school I taught at and enjoyed being hom with my monkey that I let it go by the wayside. Almost makes me wonder if I still want to teach. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it while I did it . I had a lot of fun teaching and spendin time in the classroom with the kids, but dealing with administration who doesnt care about their staff and dont help you out in terms of discipline with the kids and whatnot?

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to go to pastry school. There are two in the area: Art Institute and Stratford University. I talked to SU and they said I could go part time which means 2 days a week for half a day. Sounds feasible- with Joshy working nights and all. BUT its costs about $25K. We def dont have that kind of money to spare.  If I were miraculously able to get the money, via loans, grants, or scholarships, it would mean that my current student loans would be put on hold- which would be awesome, because they're whats kicking our butt right now. But that would also mean we'd be further in debt- we're trying to get out of it, so dont need that!     

The selfish part of me wishes that my grandma shared the inheritance with her grandkids, but my aunts, uncles, and mom have worked their butts off and are more than deserving of some extra 'treats'. Raising kids aint easy or cheap!   

Josh's sister and her husband got out of debt with the help of Dave Ramsey- they got us a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Membership when we got married. After 2 and a hal years, we finally opened it. Hopefully itll help us out. So far, a lot of it just seems to be common sense.  We're canceling cable after this weekend, so we've got a start! 

On to more exciting things.....
I'v finally got a plan for my cousin's bridal shower cake. I'm not feelin so discouraged by it anymore. I crumbcoated it tonite. Hafta go buy some butter, since one big batch of buttercream wasnt enough.  Hopefully itll come together and kick some ass!  

AND I've got another gig coming up!   I'll be making cupcakes for a pair of twin boys' birthday.  Their mom gave me a choice of Sesame St Theme or Cat in the Hat.  And she's letting me choose th flavors, as long as theres 1 kids flavor and 1 adult. I was leaning towards Cat in the Hat, but who knows. What I do know is that its gonna be fun!!!!!

Totally psychin myself out right now....

my cousin's bridal shower is this saturday. I'm makin her cake and I still have no idea how I want to decorate it!  I've been lookin on pinterest like a champ for some ideas, and I've seen a bunch that I like a lot but im not sure if I have the skill to do them well.  learning to decorate cakes via the internet isnt as easy as you may think! 

I dont want it to look homemade like a cakewreck.   I was thinking about maybe decorating it similar to how I dcorated my mom's birthday cake but at the same time I dont want my 'portfolio' to have all the same kinds of style.   

maybe something like this?


I've got a lot of playin to do in a short period of time. Wish me luck!

Introducing the newest member of the family...

 

Ain't she a beaut?

 

I really wanted to make  pumpkinmarshmallows for its first use, but alas I didnt have any gelatin (I had orange Jello mix but that seemed weird) so it will hafta wait another day.

 

 

Instead, I'm making eclair like filled donuts!   These:  Vanilla Cream Long Johns.   I've never made donuts or custard fillings before so hopefully they turn out delish.  

Eeep!!

I'm geekin out over here right now. No, really. I feel like a middle schooler who just found out some dude likes her or something.  

Exciting stuff over here people.

I got a Kitchen Aid Mixer!!!!    In Tangerine.     Isnt it like the best news EVER?

You're jumping for joy right now, arent you?   I knew it.

A picture of this beautiful machine will be coming soon.    I just made some sweet potato cupcakes last night (theyre yummy by the way- the recipte called for a meringue frosting, but I didnt want to deal with te handmixer to make it- if only I waited an extra day), Looks like I've gotta find something else to make to celebrate!!!

Have I ever shared how awesome my family is?

Pretty much all my family is in the area- but we've all got our own lives, some more than others =P, so we dont see eachother too often like we did growing up.   Mainly holidays and family get togethers.   With all the craziness that has been going on these past few months, it further pushed my desire to stcik around. When shit goes down, someone will ALWAYS be there!

One of my cousins got married last weekend in Philly and it was FUN!  Hung out and drank with my cousins pretty much all nite.   Dance floor, photo booths, good times were had- hence why my family is awesome!  I had better words in my head, but they never seem to make it to the 'paper'.  

If you have a husband who gets jealous, it may not be the best of ideas to dance with a topless muscular guy and touch his muscles when the hubby is drunk.   I said good times were had, didn't i?   Once Josh sobered up he got over it. I didnt let him stop me from joinin after party festivities....   =)

BTW- I learned that people are actually reading this blog. One of my cousins shared that its in his favorites. I'm thinking that he must get REALLY bored at work......  Hi RAY!!!

One of my other cousins is getting married in December, here's to another fun nite

I'm actually making her bridal shower cake at the end of the month and im excited about tha- t. I've made a few sketches with how I want to do it, but I dont know what flavor to do!   Her sister said she didn't care as long as it wasnt chocolate- any suggestions?   Everyone seems to like the red velvet.  Yeah, its chocolate-ish, but its going to be two tiers....   White? Almond?    Lemme know peoples....