And it is done!!!

After days of frustration and countless mishaps and obstacles, my course 3 final cake is DONE! The woman from mom's club is due to pick it up in the morning. Hopefully, she will show, but if not, we'll enjoy it ourselves, although definitely not all of it. It's HUGE! I finally decided to go with Cherry Chip and Vanilla Buttercream on the top and Chocolate with Mocha Buttercream on the bottom, mainly because I already had all the ingredients for those two flavors and I didn't want to have to buy anything else for this cake.

I found a woman who has a cupcake business really close by who is willing to rent me commercial kitchen space. YAY! I can become legal, or at least head that way. She charges $25/hr to use the kitchen, so I can't really afford to use it regularly. When we get back from Oregon, I'm planning on going down to the kitchen and talking to her about the specifics, to see if she has a minimum hour requirement or anything. I'm also going to be checking with the church to see about using those facilities. For the time being though, I'm going to focus on getting ready for our trip to Oregon. This cake took up most of the last 3 days, so I have a lot to catch up on around here.

See you all soon!!!!

Another Trip To Yosemite... and results!

Here is tunnel view... in June and July, the axis of the earth tilts just right so that at sunset, half dome (center) is illuminated while everything else in Yosemite Valley is shaded...

I'm proud of this shot....  it still takes my breath away....

Jason

The "Sweet Madness" begins!

I have my first order! Sort of. Not really. But I can pretend :D. I have to do a final cake for my Course 3 class, a two-tier, wedding-style cake. The only problem is, we are leaving for Oregon one day after my final class and I just can't bring myself to throw away 40+ servings of cake! So I emailed my moms club and asked if anyone wanted a two-tier cake. One of the women is having a triple birthday party July 4th (for her husband, son and daughter, who all have birthdays in July) and said she would take the cake and freeze it and use it for that. She has given me free rein as to colors and flavors as long as it tastes good :-). YIKES! She even insists that she wants to pay me. OH NO! I'm not ready for this. Ok. I am, but I'm REALLY nervous! I'll let you all know how it goes and of course, I'll post a picture :-). Oh, and did I mention I've never met this woman?

Need your help

I've decided to take the necessary steps in the direction of legalizing my (non-existent) cake business. It's really hard to become legal selling cakes in CA, so I want to start now, so that when orders do come in, I'm not scrambling to get through all the red tape. One of the first things I need is a business name and I'd love some help from your creative minds :-). I wanted to go with "Sweet Magic" and legally I could, but there is a cake company in the UK with that name and they already have claim on the web address, so I'd rather not mess with any possible confusion that may evoke. So, jump in and help me out with your creative suggestions.

Thanks!

A cute conversation

Sitting on the floor in the kitchen while I prepared lunch.

GABBY: I wish we could get married.

JAMES: I didn't say we couldn't get married now. I meant before!

GABBY: Why did you say no before?

JAMES: Because you were a child then. You are grown up now, so we can get married. *pause* After naps, we'll get married, ok?

GABBY: Ok.

A change of plans

We've decided to modify our trip plans a little. I didn't think that 3.5 days was enough time to see everyone and do everything we want to do while we are up in Oregon, so we've decided to extend our vacation a little. We now plan to travel straight through on Saturday, June 28th (a week from this Saturday. YAY!) and arrive at Mom and Dad's Saturday evening sometime. They have offered to let us sleep at their house Saturday through Tuesday, then we will stay at Mary and Nate's until early Saturday morning and drove home that day (the 5th). I'm really looking forward to seeing all of you again!

Jason's birthday wish comes true!!!!

My camera's battery died and I was unable to get any pictures :-(. A perfect birthday for Jason, who hates getting his picture taken.

He turned 34 today and we had a very laid back day. He doesn't like big hooplas for his birthday, so we had a fairly laid back day. The kids and I went out to get his gifts and some ingredients for his birthday dinner this morning then we hung around the house while the kids napped. Jason barbequed Tri-Tip for dinner and we had his requested Black-Bottom Cupcakes for dessert. They weren't as good as Judy's, but it was my first time making them so he gave me a pass ;-).

James gave Jason a pencil sharpener that James has been playing with since. I had a hard time keeping Jp from opening it before we got home and it never did get wrapped. James gave it to Jason as soon as the van pulled into the garage :-). Gabby picked out some brightly-colored erasers for Daddy. From me, he got a new NIV Study Bible and a case for it, one of the things he asked for.

Oh, btw, there's another house for sale two houses down from us. 1690 square feet, 4 bedroom, 2 bath, $190,000. Anybody want to join us down here in the sun? :-)