Thanks'gigem'

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! (early, because tomorrow is for family and not blogging, at least until the meal is over) Hope you all have a wonderful day of thanks and giving (or shall I say 'gig-ing' hee hee) Anyhow, on a more serious note, I have completed my 'saw 'em off' cake as promised. I was a little rushed, so it doesn't have quite the quality I was hoping for, but oh well.

Step one: Saw 'em off
Step 2: cover in fondant, and grafitti. The horns were orginally cake (as you can see above) however, they were quite delicate, and crumbly, and not worth the effort, so now they're fondant horns. The base is just Maroon covered cardboard, so we'll just be eating bevos head. How awesome is that?

And that's exactly what we're gonna do to 'em Ags!

let it begin!

So, we went to see Bolt on Friday in 3D (it's my first 3d movie, I was pumped) It's a good movie, very Disney. However, I thought the hamster was going to steal the show...he didn't. The best lines are in the commercials. He's still cute though, but not as cute as Bolt. The animators did an amazing job capturing puppy mannerisms! I think the most disappointing thing, was that we couldn't get a military discount for a 3D movie...why they don't allow the discount for those specific movies, I don't know. However, i saw a poster for another flick involving a puppy that I've already inform Brandon hes going to. (I've been dragged to numerous flicks that were no good, he has to endure this, I don't usually insist on movies he doesn't want to see) 'Marley and Me' is going to be coming out around Christmas!!!!! I loved that book, it's probably the first book that made me tear up a little. Apparently Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson are going to star in it, which doesn't excite me, but as long as the script is close to the book, it should be good.

In other news, I will be competing in February in a cake decorating contest, which I realize is over 3 months away. Yes folks, I have joined the local cake decorating club and have been entered in the 'one tip challenge' (in which we're given one decorating tip and bags of icing and must decorate an entire cake with that one tip) and I will enter a cake into the contest as well. The best part is, you have to pay to enter and all the proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald House! The theme this year is "the great outdoors" so I'm thinking of doing some sort of campsite ravaged by cute little fondant bears. If you guys have any clever ideas, or not so clever ones, I would love to hear them! So far, I'm thinking its going to be 2 layers that will look like rocks and trails with some campers climbing up and exploring. On the top of the cake, will be the campsite where some bears have made themselves at home. One will be half sticking out of a tent, while another has his head sticking in a cooler of food. Maybe I'll have another scrounging around another cooler or something. Anyhow, I've got time to design and such, but I want to try to get started so I can make them look nice.

the finale

Well folks, you've been with me through 16 weeks of cake classes (can you believe it?) Not every week presented many photos, but I tried to share all of the cakes I made. This week however, is the final cake class for me. Its a bittersweet time, because on the one hand, I'm going to terribly miss designing and decorating cakes every week. On the other though, I am quite over the whole, make a cake and icing every week. That was getting old. Especially this week. I started out with a box mix, and added the egg and oil like you're supposed to, but for some reason it was just dough-like and I couldn't make it thinner. So then, I found a recipe that only called for things I actually had. This seemed great in theory, because cake from scratch is always better right? Um no... I spilled powdered cocoa all over the floor. Dark chocolate cocoa. Normally, I'd just leave it on the floor until I was finished with my task. However, I have a dog now and I like him...so I couldn't just leave the cocoa powder on the floor. I stopped everything and had to wipe up and mop the floor, and then try again. During this, the cake finished and lo and behold it didn't rise. At all. It would have made a 1/2" tall cake. Now ordinarily, I would have just whipped up another batch and made a 4 layer cake. However, since I had the cocoa powder fiasco, and the previous attempt at a cake was bust, I just about lost my mind. Ok I'm lying, I lost it. I had to leave the room and cool off before going to the store to get more eggs and another cake mix. Praise God, third time was a charm and I have a cake! However, I still had to mix the fondant color, make gumpaste, cut and cover the cake board, ice the cake and then cover it with fondant. 4.5 hours later I had my base cake ready for class, and my spirits were lifted! Without further ado, here is my final wilton cake (however stay tuned, I'm planning a 'saw em off' cake for thanksgiving!)

After I got home, I put some pearl dust on the little balls, but it got kinda messy...I'm not sure how to get it off of the grey base

Still no tulips, but I was shown how they're done. Unfortunately, I don't have the tools to make them yet...yet...but I will get them and make a dutch fantasy tulip cake.

'Fall' la la la laaaa

*Warning, this ones a long one!*

Well folks, it's been quite a week! As you've read previously, our son graduated and I had 2 cake classes this week (as to not have any the week of Thanksgiving. no tulips as of yet, but I'm gonna learn tomorrow, I can feel it!) But, the events didn't stop there! Oh no! On Thursday, we took a day trip to Destin to visit McAlisters tea and to do some holiday shopping. Don't be so surprised I've started shopping already, I've got half of my Christmas cards made already, I'm a little excited this year. There is this great outlet center that has unbeatable deals, we saved quite a load of cash shopping there and not retail! (i.e. we needed more of our casual silverware, and they had an Onida store there that was selling a 4 piece set for $20, when retail is usually $85, and they were brand spankin' new!) That and since stores aren't selling the items anymore, the chances of someone else choosing the same gift greatly decreases! Anyhow, we were quite successful I must say! I got my parents taken care of, and my brother in law's gift has been in our house for quite a while. I don't think he reads this, but if he does...stop reading now! We found 'Arrested Development' seasons on dvd for a really good price, so we nabbed them....and then watched them. They're not used and passed on as not wanted anymore, they were always intended to be his gift, but we wanted to watch them too...but not buy 2 sets. (We're trashy people...we know.) Anyhow most of my parents in law have half gifts, as does my husband. I still have no clue what to get my sister, or how to finish off my f.i.l or step f.i.l's gifts.

That night, my husband found out he's starting primary Monday, not next Monday as he was previously enrolled. The Navy likes to keep you on your toes. So, we were planning to go camping next weekend, but that wasn't able to happen so we went camping this weekend! (After seeing the new bond....I wasn't really that impressed) We (husband, Apollo and I) drove up to a state park called Falling Water, which is home to the tallest waterfall in Florida. Its around 73' tall, but not above sea level. It falls into an enormous sink hole, which was pretty cool! The fall wasn't really 'falling' it was more like 'trickling water' but it was a really beautiful park! Puppy liked getting to be outside and eat sticks and rocks and go to the bathroom wherever he pleased, but then it got cold, and he wasn't such a fan. Poor thing! It was my first time camping in a tent, and I think I would have liked it more if I had known it was going to be 30 degrees, and had planned my wardrobe accordingly. That and we forgot a lantern, so we went to bed at 8:00pm. Other than that, it was amazing!

here's to you Mrs Robinson

Our little dog is growing up so fast! Physically he's a little over 20lbs now, but he's also maturing into a nice little pet! He's finally becoming fairly reliable at the whole not peeing inside business, and today, our son graduated puppy class! Yes folks, Apollo got a certificate (not a diploma, apparently puppy class is like getting a G.E.D) stating he finished the course. When you graduate from dog school, they give you a nice bag of treats...why didn't A&M give me anything, I payed them enoguh! Anyhow, without further ado, here he is all full of pomp and circumstance...(no we did NOT buy the hat, it was a Petsmart thing, all the dogs got their pictures taken wearing them!)

And my personal favorite....

oh children!

Kids really do say the darndest things! I was at (eye roll and sigh) hobby lobby, since no one wants to shop lift them, to get the cake things I needed, well yesterday, but will need again tomorrow. As I was waiting in line to check out, a mother and her son (I'm guessing he was around 10) were in the process of checking out. The son looked to his mother and asked "Where was Jesus born? Bethlehem?" The mom was trying to check out and absentmindedly answered "yes." Then the little boy asked "Where is Bethlehem? Is that where Uncle Jimmy lives?" The mom stops and says "Um no, that's Birmingham." (Can't you just picture Jesus being born in Alabama?) Then the boy continued "oh...is Bethlehem anywhere near here, or is it in Spain?" (I don't know why he assumed Spain) The mom replied "Its in the middle east, I'll have your dad show you on the map when we get home." Then the little boy, very hooked on Spain, asked if it was in the middle east of Spain! Oh goodness, I had to contain myself from rolling on the floor laughing! He was a riot!

In other news, I have finally organized my blog posts into categories, so you can easily bypass and ignore stuff you don't want to read by selecting your favorite catagory! Woohoo! On top of that, I am beginning to defeat my fear of the grocery store. That's right folks, I have finally found a wonderfully clean and well organized store so I feel less anxious while I shop! Hooray baby steps and Publix!

ode to MacKenzie (and Craig) via cake

I'm not sure how much Craig had to do with the choosing of the flowers in his wedding ceremony, so I'll just dedicate this cake to the both of them. If Craig didn't do anything....never mind I take it back and its all MacKenzie! :) Anyhow, we just made our first cake from the fondant and gum paste course. Of course, I forgot to make my gum paste before class (its only in the title of the course, its not like its important right?) so I just thought 'ok, well I've got a coupon, I'll just have to buy some ready made.' Wrong! Michael's apparently keeps getting stuff stolen from the cake section. Now, I love cake decor, but stealing stuff from them? Really? And on a regular basis? Since they seem to be having a lot of trouble with theivery, they won't restock, so they don't continue losing money. So, I had to sit through class gum pasteless, until some kind people in my class allowed me to bum some off of them. Cake people are nice. Anyhow, for those who don't know 'Craig and MacKenzie' they are good friends of mine from college, and for their wedding ceremony, MacKenzie carried a lovely bouquet of little calalillies (sp?), and each of the bridesmaids had one large one. (All of which she made on her own I might add!) Very modern and lovely! So, we learned how to make the flowers in class, and it made me think of their wedding, so I decorated this weeks cake in their honor. I'm hoping to learn tulips next week, I know we're learning carnations, but I'm not such a fan of those. Apparently you can make bluebonnets out of royal icing, so I'm on the prowl to find those and make a Texas cake! (The pics were taken in different rooms under different lights, sorry for the lack of congruency, but the base is covered in fondant as well as the cake, and the flowers are a gumpaste/fondant mixture.)

Just a few quick comments

I have just a couple things to say about the election. (ok, well many, but I'll just post two) For all the obamites griping about the republicans vocally displaying their disappointment in the election results by using the argument "we put up with Bush for 8 years" b.s., remember, the republicans put up with your griping for the exact same 8 years, and have as much right to express freedom of speech as anyone else. Secondly, no I don't agree with obama's beliefs, but I doubt he can bring down an entire country in just four years (just like Bush hasn't brought the end of the world, obamites) if he does, Mexico and Canada are not too far away. Just kidding. Sort of. God is bigger, his plans are better, lets move on with our lives. Thanks and gig 'em.

On a happier and more important note, my parents are coming to visit for the weekend! Yay! My mom grew up here, and I'm not sure when the last time was that she came to town, so she'll get a chance to check out the place and all the changes. I don't remember much from our visits, mostly because I didn't drive around, and when you don't drive, you don't pay attention. I do know that after hurricane Ivan, quite a bit of the area was distroyed and rebuilt. So, it'll be interesting to see what actually has changed. The Disney store in the mall is gone...and now the puppy store is too, but that's all I've really noticed. Apollo will get to meet his 'grandparents' and apparently 'grandma' has a toy for him. If she's not careful, he'll sneak in her suitcase and follow them home, he's not too loyal if there are bribes involved. Speaking of the little guy, he graduates from puppy school next wednesday! We're so proud of our little boy :) He still doesn't walk very nice on the leash outside of class, but he's getting really good at 'sit' and 'down.' He also knows 'shake' pretty well, which is really cute!

hello holidays?

The first of November brings with it cooler weather and more importantly, the beginning of the holiday season! Halloween has come and gone (we actually had trick-or-treaters!!! 5 of them!!) costumes are put away and candy comatose children are beginning to think about Thanksgiving, and perhaps adding protein from turkey to their sugared diets. Despite how excited I am about the holidays, I'm sad this year about Thanksgiving. The past two years, I've gotten to spend it with Brandon's dad's side of the family, who make a big 'to-do' about the holiday. Its so warm and inviting and fun! Everyone chips in to make parts of the feast, and it's just one of those traditional "what you think of Thanksgiving to be" holidays. We didn't know Brandon's schedule in time to get tickets and file for leave for us to to this year though. This year, his mom and her side is coming to visit, and while it'll be really nice to see them and spend time with them, they want to eat at a restaurant for Thanksgiving. Now, I don't really want to cook a huge dinner by myself, (I'm not quite brave enough for that, and my kitchen is tiny.) Maybe I would be up for making a turkey cake like the photo of the one to the left. Isn't that cute!? But a restaurant seems like a cop out to me. Oh well, at least I'll get to watch The Game this year. I've also tried to start thinking about gifts for family for Christmas, and it's really hard! I don't have a solid idea for anyone! My husband just got his tax return and bought himself an xbox 360, so I won't even see him until next Halloween sometime, much less find a great gift for him! We're not even sure we'll get to go anywhere for Christmas either, because he'll start Primary in the middle of December. My happy holiday dreams are beginning to fizzle. At least my parents are coming next weekend! They're bringing me a pizzell maker, (a delicious cookie, kind of like a cross between a waffle and a crepe) so if we can't go home for the holidays, I'll have my favorite holiday cookie. We have a fireplace here too, so we could sit by the fire with our puppy, around my 2' fiber optic tree. Ahh, first year of marriage ghetto fab memories!