Breathe Deep...

(cover art concept by the talented Whitney Weber.  If anyone knows the model, please let me know so I can contact her for proper permission.)

Let's see...

The last time I wrote on this blog, it was June 15, 2012.  That was quite literally 7 months ago.  What has happened since then?

Well, I wrote before that I was doing a lot of writing, and about that time, I scrapped a large bit of what I had finished and re-vamped the characters, added settings, and just all around focused my spare time on it.  I created a goal:  to try to get published.

Today, I finished it in time to submit it to the Amazon.com publishing contest.  

Just a few minutes ago, I finished the submission form.

How do I feel?  Nervous, my heart racing, relieved...and a little hungry.  What?  I haven't eaten lunch yet!

So, now that I have some free time, what will I do?  Here's my list:

start working on Book #2

start other writing works

update the blog (7 months should prove to be interesting to catch up on...)

And of course, be a mom, wife, go to church for our weekly services and weekly AWANA meetings, visit friends, and TRY to keep in touch with the real world better.  Well...I guess that part fits into the blog...

But here is the first of many (I hope) posts coming up, catching everyone up on our little family, especially B. It's amazing how much she has grown in just 7 months...

Until then...I have to breathe in some fresh, cool Maine air.  :o)

WALL-E Cake

Second try yesterday for the professional cake baking thing. This time, I had assistance. And man, he's good!

My uncle requested a red velvet cake for his birthday celebration, and Cary and I decided to go all out. First, it started with a visit to Michael's, where we found a WALL-E shaped cake pan (Cary wanted Dora the Explorer, but WALL-E won out).

I have only made cakes from scratch once before (see Watch Out Chef Duff) and I was of course nervous about the cake not tasting good. I mean, red velvet is quite a request!!!

When we finally got the red velvet made (and I do mean Red!), and baked, we started with the icing.

I've seen people decorate cakes before, and it looked like fun. But I had no idea it would be messy fun! There was icing everywhere!

And in so many colors! Cary did a great job of mixing the right colors together and bringing WALL-E to life.

Little stars here, outlines there...How do people do it day in and day out? But I can't complain too much. I got to play with food, which hopefully was enjoyed by our company last night.

Oops! Looks like Cary and Chester got caught! Fortunately I have the advantage of creating the blog, so I get to keep out the pictures of me digging into the icing!

Our finished product...great improvement compared to the past. I wonder how the cake would look if Cary and I didn't have such great teamwork...Maybe a professional decorating job isn't so far away...

Now, how did it taste?!

Let the Games Begin!

Who has been watching the Olympics?

This has been the first year that I have watched anything in quite a while. I am always a fan of the Women's Gymnastics. Those girls are phenomenal! And it looks like they are taking home the gold and silver this year...Go USA!!!

I have to say, though, that one of my other favorite events is fencing. I have never seen a match on tv, let alone the Olympics. I fenced for 2 years several years ago, and won my share of medals, but nothing like the Olympics (see geeky photo of me on the right). In fact, I think the majority of mine were out of pure luck. First place Women's Sabre out of 2 women competing...

But did you hear about the Women's Individual Sabre? 3 Americans took home all 3 medals...VERY impressive for the Olympics. Makes me want to put on my tight jacket and mask and get out that sword again...WOW!
What have you watched? Michael Phelps break all sorts of crazy records? Those Chinese 16 year olds (more like 14 or 15) For the first time in a very long time, I've got Olympic fever (well, kinda...)

As of this moment, USA has 46 medals, with China in close 2nd with 41...what a tight competition!

Bring on the Winter Games!

Watch out Chef Duff...

Because here comes Chef Jenn!

...Um maybe not.

Inspired by my new 'favorite' show, "Ace of Cakes", I decided to whip up a lovely Devil's Food Cake for mine and Cary's "anniversary" (well, I just wanted a reason to make a cake). I made it from scratch with the Home and Garden's NEW BAKING BOOK. The icing: buttercream.


Well, it started out fine, until I realized I was 3/4 cup of flour short for the cake. But that never stopped me! I started reducing the rest of the ingredients, then added extra cocoa to make up for the missing flour.


The icing though, was not what I expected. I LOVE buttercream frosting. But when I whipped it up, it was anything but. *note to self: find different buttercream recipe next time.* I then decided to add chocolate to that as well, making it a chocolate with chocolate and a chocolate shock to go with that...

Cary says it's delicious. Isn't that what was in his vows on our wedding day? (...for richer and poorer, in good times and bad; always tell Jenn her cakes are the best...)


Well, it's not culinary genius yet, but I sure am having fun messing up the kitchen and tasting the results!