Cake Decorating Class: Week 3

I didn't realize I never posted pictures from week 3 of cake class. That week we learned star flowers, swirl flowers, and 2 different leaves. I didn't care for the star flowers so I didn't do very many.


The teacher took a picture of me while I was working.
As always, we had a great time!

Cake Decorating Class: Week 2

Cake class was so much FUN this week! This week we had to bring our own frosting. I made mine Monday night and then took it to work on Tuesday and put it in the fridge. It has to be at room temperature to use it, so I pulled it out of the fridge around 2:00. When you are working with the frosting, you have to keep a damp towel over the bowl so the frosting doesn't get crusty. My frosting was in a sealed Tupperware, but I didn't know if I should use the damp towel or not. I was so stressed and worried that my frosting would be crusty when I got to class. But it was fine. You just use the damp towel when you are working with it. If it is out to reach room temperature, a sealed container is just fine.

We used the same tip we used last week. This week we learned how to do zigzag, a swirly line (I can't remember what our teacher called it), and stars.
I decided to practice my shells again, just to remember how to do them. I think I'm getting better.
This is the zigzag border. It is so much fun to do.
The wavy line is by far the easiest border to do. Especially if you are willing to forget that it should be symmetrical on both the up and down side. I guess I'll keep working on that part.
Stars were so much fun. I think they are so pretty.

This was the bear before we frosted him.
Maybe stars aren't as fun as I thought...
They were so easy on a flat surface. It was a bit more work trying to put them on a 3D cake.
Our teacher made chocolate cake so we could see our gaps. I had a lot of gaps.
But it still turned out so CUTE!
Here is every one holding their bears.
Here is a close up of every one's bears.
Jessica, Kim and I decided that we want to get a weekly apron picture.
Next week we get to learn about flowers. I can't wait.

Josh helped me eat part of the cake last night. He declared that he loves butter cream frosting and he can't wait for next weeks class.

You can learn more about Randi's cake decorating upcoming classes HERE.

My new purse

I finally bought a new purse. It was a bittersweet moment. I've been purseless for 2 months now. It nice to be able to carry stuff again.

Formspring Question Answered - How many kids do you want?

How many children would you have if it were up to you? What does Josh think?

I've been sitting on this question for a few weeks now.

We are in near agreement about our family size. We both want at least 2 kids, but some days I think I might want 3 kids. The factor in my wavering decision is, I want at least 1 boy and 1 girl. So if we had just 2 boys I would want to try once more for a girl. But I would stop at 3, even if they were all the same gender.

Another thing we agree on is, we want some space between each child so we can enjoy each age to the fullest. Our agency will let us renew our profile when the youngest child turns 1, but I think we will wait until they are at least 2, maybe even 3.

I guess the reason I haven't answered this question yet is because all plans of children are on hold for now. We are still in mourning and our hearts feel no where healed enough to put ourselves back out there. Right now we are focusing our lives on it just being the two of us. And right now, I am okay with that.

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Ask me a question on Formspring. Also be sure to view my page there, I'm not posting all the questions and answers on my blog.

Cake Decorating Class: Week 1

Tuesday was our first cake decorating class. Jessica, Kim and I are taking the class together. It was so much fun!

The first thing we learned tonight was how to feel the cupcakes. That was the easy part.

Then we learned just a fun swirl to decorate cupcakes. The first thing I learned is...I was holding the piping bag wrong. Its supposed to be at a 90 degree angle.

My first cupcake.

My second cupcake.
Everyone else only did one or two cupcakes. I was the only person that had to practice on three. But I think I finally got it in the end.

I love my face in this picture. I was concentrating so hard to get it right!

After the cupcakes we learned how to pipe shells.

This is the cake our teacher did her demonstrations on. I am so excited to know how to better frost a cake now. To smooth the frosting, she used a Viva paper towel and just gently patted it smooth. At the end of class our teacher does some drawings. I won a rotating cake board and the cake. Since Josh wasn't home this week, I took it to work the next day. Everyone wanted to know why is said The End. Because that is how our teacher showed us the two different ways to write on cake.

Class was so much fun. Every time I hang out with Jessica and Kim, I am so grateful to have them as friends.

Josh is already encouraging me to practice my new skills on a regular basis. I can make the cakes beautiful and he will make sure they get eaten.

Our teacher has a website HERE where she has some pictures from her other classes and a schedule of upcoming classes.

Mother's Day 2010

It was a Mother's Day of very mixed emotions for me. (Maybe I'll blog more about that on my infertility blog later this week.) The best part of the day was just being with Josh. He is so wonderful and so good too me. Every day I am reminded how lucky I am to have him in my life. This year he decided to get me a gift for Mother's Day. I usually avoid this holiday, but I'm glad he thought I deserved some love this year.

I think he found the perfect card. On the outside it says:

My wife, my friend, my love.

You mean so much to me.

On the inside it says:

"Companions and confidants,

husband and wife,

best friends and lovers,

true partners for life.

Even though its long

after our honeymoon,

you're the one who still moves me,

who completes me,

and who makes my heart soar...

You're the wife of my dreams

and the kind of mother

I wish every kid in the world could have.

My feelings for you run deep...

I love you, my beautiful partner,

and I wish you the best Mother's Day

any woman could possibly have."

He also wrote a beautiful message just for me. I really am blessed to have him. I love him so much. He is my world, my everything.

This is the necklace he bought me. That sweetheart, it is beautiful. Every day is made better just by being your wife and any trial is bearable with you by my side.

Smiles from friends

The Post Office is quickly becoming my favorite place to go. (Check out this POST to see when the love started.)

About 2 weeks ago I got a fun package in the mail from Shannon.

Love the chocolate.

Love the candle.

Love the decorative boxes.

Love the treats for the kitties.

LOVE the sign.

Today I received two more fun packages in the mail.

This one was from Joanna.

The bag is perfect for the cake decorating class I start tomorrow night to help me haul my supplies back and forth.

The lotion and lip balm smell so good.

I love the kitchen towels. (My collection has grown over the last few months, which is nice, since I don't think I've really bought new kitchen towels since our first year of marriage.)

The shopping list pad is already on my fridge, that will be so handy. I always get to the store and wish I had a list.

I can't wait to try the face mask out tonight; recently I complained to Josh that the alarm clock is too bright.

There is also some beautiful stationary and a relaxing bath ball.

I should have taken a close up shot of the magnets. They say: read this, do this, take this, eat this, or else, or suffer, or not, 'cause I say so.

The last package was from Kirsti. I love how springy it looks. She knows I have a love for sunflowers in my kitchen, but she pointed out something I have never noticed. Here is what she wrote in her card: "I love the analogy of the sunflower. How it follows the light of the sun with its head up. If we also follow our Savior with confidence, eve in our trials, we will received strength. (And be beautiful too!) Thank you so muck Kirti, I needed to be reminded of that.

Her package included lots of beautiful flower things :)

Stationary, gift bags, cards, a note holder, kitten stickers, super cute buckets, and folders (which I can't wait to put in my filing cabinet ((which I really need to organize)) ).

She made the painting herself. I LOVE IT!

I seem to spend a ton of time on the computer, so I decided to hang both of the signs right above it so I can see them often and remember their messages.

Thank you ladies, you are awesome. Your packages really came on perfect days to cheer up an otherwise icky day.

Sending Smiles Craft Auction

Sending smiles is holding a craft auction for the Baumgarten family. I was able to get a few items done for the auction. But more importantly, I am going to win the doll by Chrissy Lee. :) Please help spread the word, so we can help this family as their husband and father fight a brain tumor. There is a ton of cute things to bid on and all the proceeds will be donated to the Baumgarten family. You can also click on the Pay Pal button on the Sending Smiles website and make a donation. Check the auction out HERE.

Whose the man!

This post is all about bragging about my man. :)

Four weeks ago Josh started a new job. The company does land surveys for the oil field companies. (These surveys are how the oil field companies keep the environmentalist happy.) He wears a cowboy shaped hard hat (I'll try to get a picture soon.)

After just eight days on the job they gave Josh a $2 raise. Even though the pay period was technically over, they still applied that raise on his very first paycheck.

Today they upgraded him from a field tech to a biologist. This means a few things. He is now the crew leader when they do their cactus surveys. He now gets to do hawk surveys and they will pay the gas. AND he just got another raise, this time it was $3!

I love you babe. Thanks for working so hard for our family. You mean the world to me and each day spent with you is better than the day before. Forever isn't long enough to spend with you.

Better Than Burgers (.blogspot.com)

Josh accuses me that I spend too much time on blogger. (He's probably right, but I'm not going to admit to that and let it go to his head.) To further prove his point, I just found a new recipes blog Better Than Burgers.



What is the first link I clicked on? Their giveaway. But after that I got down to serious business and checked out their desserts. Death by chocolate anyone?

Formspring question answered - Childhood memories

What are some of your favorite memories from childhood?

Here is a random sampling of the things that come right to mind.

Selling pumpkins with my dad. I always looked forward to October so we set up his stand. I think that is when I decided I wanted to be a secretary. I liked helping people pick out the perfect pumpkin and then counting back their change. But, I did not enjoy wedding said garden. I also remember a few times I would get up early and go help my dad change the water lines. It was towards the end of summer when the watermelon were ripe, so we would have that for breakfast.

I loved playing Barbie dolls. By far, my favorite thing to do growing up. :) Who knows how many late nights we stayed up playing all night. I remember my friend and I used to think that we would be old ladies, hiding in our attics, playing Barbie.

I think the funniest memory is when we went to Disney Land the first time. I remember two things about that trip. The "Its a Small World After All" ride and on the way down, the hubcap fell off of the truck and I can remember my dad looking for it on the side of the interstate.

I loved playing in the ditch by my grandparents house. When it had water in it, we would wade it in (it only was a few inches deep) and when it was dry we would make sandcastles.

The alpine slide in Park City. My mom had a friend who had a condo, or worked for a condo, I forget that detail. But we would go spend a weekend in Park City and do to the Alpine Slide. That is back when they didn't charge you per trip up the mountain, but instead you could buy a day pass and go as many times as you wanted.

We went to Lagoon every year, usually 3 or 4 times. I loved it! They used to take your picture right inside the park, and then you could have it made into a key chain where you looked inside to do the picture. We always seemed to hit the bounce back and if all of the family couldn't come the second time, we would sign our friends names instead so they could come with us.

Ask me a question on Formspring. Also be sure to view my page there, I'm not posting all the questions and answers on my blog.

Family Block Kits

My cousins and I got together this week to put our family block kits from the Idea Closet together.

The first kit you can modge podge a cardstock picture onto, but I decided to just tape a wallet sized picture on so I can change it each year. I LOVE the saying on this kit, it really helps me remember how much I love Josh and it will be okay if it is just the two of us forever.

The second kit came with papers that were cream and black, but I knew this paper would fit our family better. Its the Sarsaparilla kit from Close to My Heart.

I love getting together with these women. They married my cousins, but quickly became family. I remember growing up I didn't like to play with my cousins (cause they were boys), but I am so glad they married such wonderful women and that we have become such close friends. I love you guys so much.

Formspring question answered - Adoption isn't about giving up

Why do you think people believe it "helps" when they tell people like us about the people they know who adopted and then got pregnant? I've actually had people say "So, don't give up!" Um, I chose adoption, I didn't give up.

I think a lot of time people are uncomfortable and don't know what to say. Then they remember so-and-so and how they adopted and got pregnant and they think it is the perfect way to give you hope.

I think that unless your life has been touched by adoption, people don't fully understand it. I can admit that I didn't.

I think people mean well when they suggest adoption as a means to get pregnant, but when you suffer from infertility you don't hear it that way. You know all about giving up, because you have spent so long NOT giving up. One negative pregnancy test. Then another. Then another. Dr. visit after Dr. visit. Test after test. You give your all trying to become parents.

Choosing adoption is not about giving up. It is about accepting God's will that He wants you to build your family differently. Nothing about adoption is giving up. Now you go from multiple fertility drugs and Dr. visits to mounds of paperwork, having your home and lifestyle picked apart. You give up the negative pregnancy tests for the endless waiting to be chosen.

Adoption is never about giving up. It is about building your family in a different way. Being pregnant doesn't make you a mother. Reading bedtime stories, kissing banged up knees, loving a child more than you love yourself is what makes you a mother. Love does not require DNA.

Ask me a question on Formspring. Also be sure to view my page there, I'm not posting all the questions and answers on my blog.

Formspring question answered - Where would you live?

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Idaho! We have always wanted to live in Idaho, and some day we will. Josh would like to live in Salmon, Idaho, but I want to go further north. I have looked at Orofino and Bonner's Ferry. I've never been to either place, but I love where they are located and they look nice. Because I have a good job with benefits, we are stuck in Utah until Josh finishes school.
We've also talked about looking for jobs in Oregon, Washington, Montana and Colorado. But even then, we talk about those places being stopping points on the way to Idaho.

Ask me a question on Formspring. Also be sure to view my page there, I'm not posting all the questions and answers on my blog.

Formspring question answered - What's nice and not nice about living in Utah?

What are your favorite things about living in Utah? Also, how about your least favorite things?

I guess I've never really thought about it. I've always lived in Utah, and except for a few short months, I've always lived within half an hour of where I grew up. In the nine years we've been married, we have lived in 8 different homes. Insane, I know. When I talk about how much I hate moving, I know what I'm talking about.

We've been in our current home for almost four years now and it by far the best place we have ever lived. It is bigger and nicer than anywhere else we have ever lived. But the nicest thing is the country we live in. We have some amazing views. We live on a dead end road so there is never any traffic. Josh loves watching the deer and elk in the fields and I love that I can put the cats outside and not worry about them getting run over. I love how quite it is at night. I grew up right next to a major road in town and it was never quite.

The down side to where we live is the shopping. The nearest gas station and grocery store are 15 mins. away. The nearest Wal-mart is just over an hour away. If I want to buy nice clothes, I have to make a 2-1/2 drive to the city. Sometimes I wish we had more variety for shopping nearby, but then that would mean a more populated area to live in, and I don't want that.

The other part about living in Utah, that sometimes bothers me, is the culture (aka, Mormonism) of the state. Get married, have lots of kids. Its hard living in an area where everyone is having babies, but you. I think if we lived anywhere than Utah, the pressure wouldn't be so hard.

Ask me a question on Formspring. Also be sure to view my page there, I'm not posting all the questions and answers on my blog.

Formspring question answered - What would you say?

do you know/know of, the new parents? if you could what would you like to say to/ask them?

This question kept me up all night.

I had a few journal entries where I had copied things that C wrote on her myspace and in emails she wrote us about how much she loves her baby. I would want to them know those things just to make sure they know how much she loves the life she carries.

C is amazing, please love her for the wonderful person she is. Open adoption seemed very important to her, please make sure you keep contact after placement. Try to get in lots of visits so she can see her baby and be sure to send her lots of pictures. Please love her and watch out over her and pray for her. I still love her so much...

I'm not sure how I would end it though. Its been hard to accept why she chose someone else, but I try to remind myself that this couple also suffers from infertility and I feel compassionate towards them. Infertility is so hard, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, not even them. And really, how can I even think to blame them for my grief. I don't blame C either. Most days I blame God. Why did we meet someone so wonderful and get to have the hope of being parents only to have it taken away. I ask a lot of why's to God these days....

I also try to remember that God's hand is in the creation of all families and her choosing them has probably felt like a miracle in their lives.Now I'm just back to waiting for a miracle of our own.

Ask me a question on Formspring. Also be sure to view my page there, I'm not posting all the questions and answers on my blog.