Cake Pops

Tonight I made these little beauties.

The process went a little like this:

Cake Pop #1 - I better test this to make sure it tastes good. We wouldn't want the guests at the shower to think I can't bake/dip.
Cake Pop #2 - I better test this one to make sure it isn't poisonous, y'know, in case I accidentally dropped some poison in or something...
Cake Pop #3 - This one is made with milk chocolate instead of white. Gotta make sure it's good too.
Cake Pop #4 - What was wrong with the consistency on that last one? Oh, that's right...nothing!
Cake Pop #5 - Uh...can't think of an excuse to eat this one, but I am going to anyway.
Rest of Cake Pops - In a container that has a lid in the fridge hoping they'll make it to the shower they were made for.

Oh dear, I don't know that I should bake anymore.

Ode to Pinterest

I must start this post by confessing the misleading nature of the title seeing that I have no desire to turn this into a "lyric poem that expresses a noble feeling with dignity" (taken from my dictionary), nor do I possess any poetic aspirations at all. I plainly want to express my love for a little website called Pinterest.

I am amazed at how often Pinterest comes up in my converstaions. It may be on the verge of being a little pathetic, but so far I'm not ashamed. I am making good use of my findings, after all. I think the Pinterest People (that's what I call them) should think about paying me for all the advertising I do for them. I honestly promote that website multiple times a day.

One thing I truly love about Pinterest is its ability to make me appear more creative than I am in actuality. The first few ideas I pinned and used were highly complimented (who doesn't love an owl cupcake?). For fear of being accused of plagiarism, though, I decided to cite my findings - after all people deserve credit for their ideas. This integrity has slightly backfired for me, however, as my husband now says "Wow! What a great idea. How did you come up with it?" and immediately and knowingly snickers. He knows I no longer have to think for myself. I have decided to stop worrying about plagiarism to protect my ego and appear brilliant. (Side note - my husband is incredibly kind and only teases me lovingly.)

Pinterest is a great tool for getting to know and love people on a different level. For example, I can always go to "J's" pinboards for a good laugh. When I need a good recipe, I know I will find a real food connection with my friend "B." "C" always has fantastic, not to mention darling crafty ideas stored on her boards. I know "H" can hook me up with all sorts of fun educational ideas for my children. Oh, how I love and appreciate all the support I receive from my fellow pinners.

Really, who can blame me for loving Pinterest? Look at everything I gain! Great ideas - a given, but much more. I get "totally meaningful" friendships, pride boosts, and hopefully a little cash in the future if they catch on to the ingenius idea of me being on their "word of mouth" marketing team. :) So, if you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Oh my dear Pinterest,

How I do love you!

(Maybe I should be a poet after all. You can't beat material like that.)

A Big Fat Check

Yeah, I wish I could say this check could be cashed, but it's not that kind of check. It is however exciting to me that I get to check off what may have been the most difficult item on my big to-do list. On Memorial Day 2011 I ran 13.1 miles! Woohoo!!! (That's not what I was saying right after however - that sound was more of a groan.) I am really glad and proud that I did it! The training definitely came with more than a few challenges which makes me even happier to say I did it.

Let's start from the beginning though, shall we?

I have never been much of a runner. I remember cheerleading and tennis practices when they would make us run and I'd be huffing and puffing after 2 minutes. I HATED it. I never thought I would run over one mile let alone 13.1.

However, a few years ago I was sick and tired of not getting enough exercise, but couldn't bring myself to cough up so much money for a gym membership. Gone were the college days when I could go the the university gym for free. I had to think of something I could do for basically free and that was running.

So, as much as I hated it, I started to run. My husband and I even got a treadmill - nothing fancy, but it did the job. At first it was hard to run for more than 4 of 5 consecutive minutes, so it was more of a walk, jog, walk, jog workout. I was eventually able to do a mile, then 2. At this point in my progress my husband decided to run a 5K, so I decided to run it too. I trained hard for it and was so excited when I finally accomplished it (not without a little walking, I admit).

My husband and his sister, who ran the 5K with us, got such a high out of the race that they wanted even more. I sat back, proud of the 3 miles I'd just run, and said, "Good for you!" I in no way wanted to do more than I just had. Did I mention I'd never been much of a runner?

So I kept doing my 3 (sometimes even 4) mile runs, while my husband and his sister worked hard to do a half marathon. My husband would keep coming back from his long runs feeling so excited about the new milestones he was reaching. I was way proud of him, but still had the "good for you" mentality. He worked hard all summer and ended it by running the Park City Half Marathon! He and his sis did a great job! It was so exciting watching them at different points in the race and especially crossing the finish line, knowing the whole time how hard they had worked at this. I was definitely emotional watching them do something so difficult so well. That's when the seed was planted for me - it was pretty cool after all. Still, I let a whole other year of my "shorter" (3 miles is still not short in my mind) runs and another of my husband's half marathons pass by without signing myself up for such a commitment.

Meanwhile, my sister-in-law decided to train for a full marathon - crazy girl! She worked hard for months and would come to family events saying things like "I ran 18 miles earlier today." I told you - crazy girl! When marathon day came, we went to watch and I was overwhelmed by the number of people that had worked so hard to accomplish this. It was impressive. As I sat watching I said, "I want to do this!" I covered my mouth, shocked at the words that had just escaped. "No I don't," I corrected myself, but there was no denying it. I did want to do this.

It still took a few months before I actually did anything about the words that had accidentally escaped my mouth. I was scared to death! My husband, after much convincing, told me that we could do one together, so we signed up! That submit button was the hardest click of the mouse I've ever experienced.

I trained and trained over the next few months, increasing by about a half a mile to a mile a week on my long run days. I ran hills that I never thought I could. I passed distances I had once thought impossible for a short-legged creature like me. I became emotionally attached to the routes I would run. I worked HARD! I did it. On Memorial Day 2011, I ran a half marathon. I developed tendinitis in both of my achilles tendons and IT band syndrome but I DID IT! Later I'll tell you more about the actual race day, because it was a great day for me, but for now, I just want to say...CHECK!

Garden Lessons

After working in the garden this afternoon with Bug I have learned a few new things.

1. She will have absolutely NO problem with throwing rocks into the lake that we will be visiting in a few weeks as she so perfectly demonstrated by the number of rocks she threw into our garden.

2. She does not appear to be afraid of those she is nicknamed after.

3. There is no need to spread a blanket out on the grass beside the garden next time. She will not sit and play on it. It will only get pulled into the dirt (right next to the nice little rock pile she created) adding a bit more laundry to the to-do list.

4. She is definitely no exception to the "kids like to play in the dirt" concept, but is just as loveable caked in it as she is after bathtime.

I don't believe this will be our last time gardening together. We both quite enjoyed it! Besides, look at the wealth of knowledge I've obtained in just an hour or less.

We're Not All That Different

The other day I was driving on busy Riverdale Road, a place I try to avoid if possible, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Now, I'm not in the habit of looking into other people's cars. I usually don't even notice if someone is waving to me, but there was quite a lot of hand movement happening to my left. I peered over, doing my best to appear not to be looking and noticed that the girl was signing. I looked in the passenger seat and in the back to see who she was signing to - no one. "Hmmm, strange...why is she signing to herself?" I said...out loud...to MYSELF.

I guess we're not all that different are we?

I'm a Thief

In honor of the wonderful book I finished last night, The Book Thief, I decided to admit that I too am a thief. That's right - I steal things. Not books like the character in the story though. No, I'm not a book thief. I'm an Idea Thief. Notice the italics. Do you think Markus Zusak will want to write his next novel about me. I bet you he does!

Let me explain. Some of my very best ideas are borrowed (sounds so much nicer than stolen) from other brilliant people. You see, I'm not always great at creating ideas from scratch. I think my brain feels too much pressure that way or something. But I am pretty good at carrying out other people's ideas.

For example, I steal most of my crafty project ideas from my friend's craft blog. It's great. You should visit Shenanigans sometime. You'll feel inspired. I know I sure do. So far from that website I have stolen 4 ideas and there are 3 more potential thefts. I am working on the quiet book, I've made a felt rosette, I made a felt flower for my hair, and I bought all the materials for the Modern 3D Wreath. I'm saving a formula can for Bug's future headbands, you better believe that I will be making creepy crawly candy containers for Halloween, and the only reason I don't currently own the Luscious Wreath is because JoAnn was fresh out of heart-shaped wreath forms.

I also steal my recipes - forget making up my own (remember the brain pressure previously mentioned). I like to use (a word that also sounds better than steal) Food For Thought for my recipe ideas. So far this month I have made Better-Than-Olive-Garden Alfredo Sauce, meatballs, and Becky's Chicken Roll-ups. If I wasn't trying to cut back on desserts I would be making her Mint Truffle Cookies instead of blogging right now. They look delectable!

When I taught Second Grade for three years I had a lot of fun lesson plans. I've gotta say, there was some really fun learning taking place. Can I take all the credit? No (although I will claim some credit because teaching is a HARD job). I must turn myself in because the two teachers on my team were full of fabulous ideas as were uen.org and many other great teachers that shared their ideas on the internet. Thank goodness for google is all I have to say!

This is just a portion of the stealing I've done in my life. I love other people's ideas and who can blame me? People come up with some pretty great stuff! Thank you to all of you out there who are willing to share your ideas so that I can take them! I am sending you some of the credit you deserve at this very moment!

What a Good Helper

I would just like to take a moment to publicly thank Bug, my one year old, for always being so willing to help with the laundry!

*If she wasn't so happy and innocent when doing it, there might be room for frustration, but it's hard to get mad when she's just having so much fun!