I am the proud owner of...

The HOOD OF MY CAR!!! YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEE :) :)

Sounds crazy, I know. Maybe it is, but I'm thrilled to say I own the hood of my car and before much longer I'll own the whole durn thing ;) Yeah-I'll explain.


Last night NewSpring Online had financial speaker Joe Spangl, host an online workshop. He was great and really inspiring (to me at least). He spoke about how he and his wife became debt free in 14 months, and no he doesn't make a killing either. He spoke about why it's important to be debt free and how it can enrich your life. I've always had a fairly good handle on my finances. I get that from my daddy. He made sure to teach me about finances at an early age, which I appreciate, I think it's the reason I don't have more debt than I do now.


At the beginning of this year, you may recall, I made a new years resolution to get an even better handle on my finances. I did, to a certain extent. I have kept up with my worksheets and graphs that I made. I'm glad I did, because this actually made things easier for when I sat down with Joe's worksheets.


So, how exactly did I figure that I own the hood of my car??


Joe has a crafty, little, nifty spreadsheet that he designed:

Ta-Da...a car. This little car has 435 squares in it. You just take what you owe on your car and divide it by the number of squares, this then gives you a price that each square is worth. When you make a payment, you get to color in squares.

This may sound and look a bit silly, I realize this, but it's exciting for me...so just play along ;)

I colored in squares today and I am the proud owner of the entire hood of my car. haha.

Joe has numerous little graphs like this one, you can find them here if you want to make your own little "color in the debt" picture: http://nextsteps.iwasbrokenowimnot.com/tools/saving-spectaculars/

I've worked fairly hard to get Sev and I down to a car loan, truck loan, student loan and home loan. I realize that still sounds a bit hefty, but we're able to pay more than we owe each month, on each loan. I've decided to knock the car loans out asap, they are the highest interest.

I honestly want to be debt free. I don't want to owe ANYONE anything! I want to have financial stress relief. Now, luckily I don't have to stress much over money as it is, but I can't even explain how cool I think it would be to work each week, bring home a pay check and keep every single bit of it!!! (well, minus utilities...but that's life, and they aren't much. I could wait tables on the weekends and pay those).

I have a strong desire and urge to travel...far and for more than the typical "one week vacation a year"...how seriously boring is that?? "weeeee, it's the summer, we're hitting up the beach!! FUN...weeks over...see you next year....back to the grind" yuck. Nope, not for me. I want to go to Haiti and see my sponsored child. I want to go to other countries on mission trips. I want to drive across the USA. I hear Paris is nice. I wouldn't mind an authentic taco from Mexico ;) I also want to sponsor more children through compassion. I don't want to work a 8-5. I want to do whatever I feel like doing and having the freedom to do it. Why can't I?? I live in America. Well, I can't right now because I have debt. However...I won't have it forever...nope...because today...I already own the hood of my car!!!!!!

I got my child sponsorship packet today!!

I have already written Love twice, via the internet. Basically, you go to the Compassion website and send an "email" to your child. The email actually goes to the compassion team in Haiti (or wherever your child is located) and they translate the "email" into the childs language on a piece of paper and give it to your child. I was getting antsy, so I had to go ahead and write her. However, I got my official "child sponsor" packet this morning. It had little Loves picture in it (a hard copy, I already had one online). It also had a bit of information about her, what she likes to do, how she spends her free time, what chores she has(I say "has" because what kid "likes" to do chores-even in Haiti, I'm sure little Love does not like doing chores, ha!) to do, how many brothers and sisters she has, where exactly in Haiti she lives. The packet also included a "getting to know your sponsor" card. It asks you specific questions, questions that compassion has discovered the children like to know about their sponsors, like; your full name, your birthday, you spouses name, his/her birthday, what you like to do...etc. It also has a spot to attach your photo and then on the other side of the card, it is left blank (for the translator). I'm filling my card out today and will hopefully have it in the mail tomorrow.
I'm soooo excited to get to know Love. I have decided that I am going to visit her, when God tells me the time is right. I've also decided to dedicate my cake money to my sponsorship and hopefully future visit. I am really feeling called to do more work for others and specifically in poverty stricken countries. I will let you know as soon as I hear from Love, that is a day I'm anxiously waiting on :)

In other news-Sevy's b-day was yesterday!! His big 27th b-day. We spent the day with his parents at Table Rock national park. We went for a little boat ride on pinnacle lake and took a small hike around the base of Table Rock Mountain.

My love for God is growing stronger and stronger every day. I've been reading the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and I've really been feeling a tug at my heart. My mother just purchased his second book for me...I'm excited to dive into that! Keep Severyn and I in your prayers, I really feel God working in us. We are excited to finally have found not one but actually a couple of places that we may be calling our church "home" in a couple of weeks. NewSpring has its official "first Sunday" on the 27th of this month and a preacher that actually preached at the Church that we LOVE in North Rock Hill is starting a Church here in Columbia, we hope to visit that Church this weekend. I'm excited...I can't wait to find my place in a Church home!!!!!
**edit to say: I don't mean that we're looking for more than one church, lol, I mean..we have more than one to visit and consider and try to find our place that God chooses for us :)


Oh-I'll post a pic of Love soon. I can't copy it from my online profile with compassion, so I'm going to actually have to take a photo of my photo to share on here. I will soon, promise.

A Child Named Love

So, I've started listening to 89.7, our family friendly Christian radio station, here in Columbia. Last week they were talking about sponsoring a child from Compassion. http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm

At first I thought nothing about the information provided, or the things that they were talking about on the radio. Honestly, I was hoping they would hurry up and stop talking and play some music!! I got to work on Monday morning. I got in my car for my lunch break later that day and here they were talking about it AGAIN! I started listening to the stories and the testimonies of the people who have sponsored children from this organization in the past. Something started to tug at my heart. If you know me...I'm not even a "kid" person. It would be more like me to bawl my eyes out at "Old Yeller" or "Where the Red Fern Grows" as opposed to any movie (see I can't even recall the names of any) about a poor, starving, sad child. SAD, I know!! However, I really started hurting for the children these people were talking about. I decided to do a bit of research about the organization. I asked a few people if they had heard about Compassion or if they had ever sponsored a child. I realized that Compassion was more than just a company that took monthly payments from people and then used a small percentage to give to the needy and then made a profit off of the rest. I looked them up on BBB and read all the information I could find. 85% of the monthly contribution goes directly to the child you sponsor (in the form of food, health care, clothes, school supplies and tuition). The other 15% does go to the organization, to keep it going...and after researching and praying, I have no problem with this, because these people are serving the Lord. I am very sceptical and tend to keep a guard up when it comes to spending my money and who gets my money.........notice I said "my". After really praying and listening all week to, the week long rally, the radio station was doing for Compassion...it suddenly hit me. It is NOT MY money!! Every single penny that I have in my bank account is God's. He provided me with what income I do have. It may not be much and at times it may seem like we're stretching pennies...but we've got all that we need and God has been sooo good to us! It also hit me that I've been blessed with a talent (that I may not always think I'm GREAT at, but others sure do!) making cakes. The more I thought about it and prayed about it, I knew this was something I wanted to do. I will use my cake profits to support a child!! I have been making cakes like crazy and I'm sure I can keep it up or at least make a cake a month that will help support my child.
I went home on Tuesday evening and told Severyn. I asked him what he thought and if we could support a child on our 5 year Anniversary. I didn't want to give gifts this year, I just wanted to do something for someone else and for God's glory. We prayed about it together. Severyn got online and actually found the little girl we decided to sponsor.
Here is the cool part (for me anyway): Our little girl is from Haiti. She is 5 years old (one year old for every year Sev and I have been married). Her name? Love. That's right, I couldn't make this up. Her name is Love Woodshaina K Joseph. We became sponsors of Love on our 5 year anniversary. Here is the thing I love about Compassion. They are Christ centered. They focus on not only getting the child out of poverty and giving them what they need but they focus on telling the child about God. They provide church activities and services for the child. They hold vacation bible school for the children in the area. They give the children bibles and make sure they have a way to church. Love will be able to hear the word of God because of a small monthly contribution that Severyn and I have decided to give. Severyn and I can even visit Love! We hope to do this on one of our anniversaries in the future. I promise you, after doing all of this research and praying, my heart was broken.
I highly suggest anyone to look into Compassion and consider sponsoring a child.
It is $38 a month and this is actually until the child turns 18 or 22 (depending on the program your child is in). You can cancel, if you need/want, at any time...but I have faith that God will provide a way for Severyn and I to continue sponsoring Love until she is out of the program.
You and your child will become pen pals, they will write to you and you will write back :) I am sooo excited to get my first letter from Love. You will get pictures and send pictures. You will also have a name and a face of someone that really needs your prayers. You will have a translator that will read your letters to your child and will translate the letters your child writes you. If you get the chance to visit your child, the translator will also be there to help you speak to your child. I guess some people do it because it is a tax write off, but I didn't find that out until after the fact.
If you decide to sponsor a child through Compassions, please let me know :) I would love to hear about your child!! I know it's not for everyone, but I just wanted to share our story and our anniversary gift to one another!!!

I will post a picture of Love as soon as I can, I currently have one but I need to upload it!! Feel free to keep Love in your prayers :) I will also update my blog when I hear from Love or receive information about her.

Where does the time go??

HAPPY 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SEVERYN!!!

That's right, Sevy and I have been married for FIVE years today! Wow. I won't sugar coat it, marriage can be soooo hard but man it can also be something pretty sweet. It doesn't feel like it's been five years. We still are not sure what we're going to do to celebrate our 5 years together. We do have exciting news though!!! We have decided to support a child in Haiti and this is something I am VERY excited about. I'm going to work on a post to blog more about that asap.

I love you Severyn Robert.

Why oh Why...

Do weekends have to fly??

Seriously, I think the work week clock moves at a much slower pace than the weekend clock!! Our weekends just zoom on by.
Severyn and I have decided we really want to find a Church home. We visited different churches while in Hawaii and we attempted to visit a local church here in Columbia. However, neither of us felt like we fit in anywhere and sadly, we stopped looking for a church all together. Oddly enough, we are rarely home on the weekend...we tend to travel all over SC visiting family and friends. This proved to also hold us back from finding a church home (love how the devil works, huh). We spend a good bit of time with our friends in Rock Hill and love their church (North Rock Hill Church). We decided this past weekend that we will just commit to driving to Rock Hill on Sundays until we find a church that we both agree suits us. I really enjoy NewSpring in Greenville and we were informed that they are finally opening a campus up here in Columbia the end of September. We're hoping we feel like we belong there, once we try it out on opening day!!
So this past weekend, while we planned to stay home and get some stuff done around the house, we actually ended up in Rock Hill Saturday night. We had originally decided to just drive to Rock Hill Sunday morning, but then we were invited to just stay the night with our friends, so we took them up on the offer. Friday night Sev and I tried a new little restaurant not far from our house. A little pizza joint. In the middle of NO WHEREville! It was pretty yummy. We've tried to go there twice before. Once we sat down, ordered our food and then were told we would have to leave b/c the oven had gone kaput and they would not be able to cook anymore food that evening (its a small, hole in the wall, middle of nowhere, joint I'm telling you). The second time they were already closed when we pulled up. It appears, third times a charm! We enjoyed a nice pizza on Friday night and then came home to hang out and watch TV together. Saturday morning I finished working on a cake that was due a little bit later and Sev left to go help a friend fix his boat. I delivered my Noah's Ark cake a bit later and then hit up Hobby Lobby for some cake stuff :) I came home and picked up the house a bit and started on another last minute cake until Sev got home. He mowed the yard and washed the truck. We then packed up and headed to Rock Hill. It was our friend Kennedi's B-day, so my last minute cake was actually a surprise cake for her! We were happy to celebrate her birthday with her. She and I ended up staying up way too late, having a nice chat at Starbucks (yummm). The guys went to watch the UFC fight. We all met back up a little later and talked until the wee hours of the morning. Sunday morning we all headed to church. Kennedi actually sings in the church band, we LOVE the Sundays she sings...it makes it that much better! God seriously blessed her with a wonderful voice. After church I had every intention of getting back home soon and getting my house organized and ready for the work week. Didn't happen. Nope. We ended up spending the day out on the lake, being lazy and enjoying fellowship with our friends. I can't complain, isn't that what weekends are for??
Sunday night came all toooo quickly and here it is...MONDAY! blah. Though, I can't complain, I have a NICE longggg weekend next weekend!!!.....but I have a feeling the sneaky, little, weekend clock will figure out my plans and speed the time up again **sigh**

PS. Severyn and I will have been married for 5...FIVE...years this Thursday!!!!!

So cute I can't help but Share :-)

We had the sweetest little visitor today!! Sev and I came to stay with mom and dad for the weekend, I had cakes to deliver!! We were outside this afternoon when the sweetest little guy stopped by for a surprise visit!! He was such a cutie. I thought I would share a short clip of one of his favorite words of the evening...."Aliiiiiiiiii". You will also hear him say "toe" "shoe" "lick" "penny" and "booboo" but he obviously loves Ali :) We can't blame him, we love him too!

Just some randomness...

I have been baking up a storm!! I, sadly, didn't get a pink fridge for my birthday. However, my current, one and only, fridge is stuffed to the brim with cake, icing and stuff to make both! I seriously wish I could just stay home and make cakes all day...one day maybe :) I'm loving this new creative outlet. At times I get tired, a bit a burnt out, frustrated and want to throw in the towel...not literally, but almost! Like last night when I was making a batch of icing and the kitchen towel that I was using to cover my mixer, to contain the mess (you wouldn't believe the cloud a bowl of powdered sugar can create with just the help of a mixer), actually got sucked into the mixer and I ended up with powdered sugar all over me, the floor and the counters...but I had a nice "mixed" towel in the bowl. HaHa. Don't worry, I was able to save the towel and it didn't hurt my mixer. Though, Ali was on a sugar high after he helped me clean the floors :) I decided that "throwing in the towel" just wasn't an option for me. I've been working on a price list for some time...in the process I have decided that some people are just plain CRAZY!! I mean, don't get me wrong, I would jump all over the offer to make a cake and be compensated over a grand for it, but good grief! I was astounded by some of the prices on cakes and the people actually willing to pay that much! I was floored when a girl told me over the weekend that I actually made her feel bad, like she was stealing from me, for the price I quoted her. Uhm...thanks....I think, LOL (and to think, I thought what I was quoting was HIGH). I guess when you really love doing something, you don't realize how much time you spend on something and how valuable your time really is. I could seriously let my house go to squat and work on my cakes all evening long. Good thing I have Sev to regulate :)

I was sooo sad while doing a bit of craigslist reading today. I ran across an ad for a guy asking for someone to do his Algebra homework. He stated that he would pay anyone to do his homework and turn it in for him. I'm guessing he was taking online classes. He said he just couldn't do it himself and paying someone was easier...well duh....but how sad is that?? I wanted to jump through the computer screen and yell at the kid "DON'T YOU KNOW NOTHING IN LIFE WORTH HAVING COMES EASY!!!!!" ahhhhh...what is our world coming to?? my generation just stinks! We've been handed sooo much and expect sooo much that we don't want to work for a thing! I get that every generation of parents just want the best for their kids...but slowly, they have ruined us, by giving us the best they have also made us entirely too lazy.

Uhmmm, that's about all of the randomness that I've got in my head right now, you're lucky...it didn't take up the entire screen today ;-) Happy Tuesday.

My quick trip to Raleigh...

I got to spend the night with Henry! Oh and Dobby too!!!...oh yeah, Keith and Mer as well ;-)

I decided Henry really was as cute as everyone said he was. I took a picture of the little guy, but I'll have to add it to this post later.
Yesterday, while at work, we realized we needed parts TODAY and there was no way we could have them shipped here in time. Then I heard that the parts were in Raleigh. Naturally, I thought "Henry!!!". Then, when my boss asked me to possibly drive half way to Raleigh and get our parts, I devised a plan. Why couldn't I just go the entire way to Raleigh and stay the night with Henrybebe. I quickly called Keith and got permission, then I pretended to be the BEST employee EVER and suggested "If you want, I guess I could go to Raleigh and pick the parts up, I can go tonight and come back with them in the morning." SCORE!! Not only was I now the employee of the month (just kidding, I dubbed myself that) but I got to meet Henry!!
I arrived in Durham a little after 9pm. I enjoyed a short visit with Meredith before she went to sleep. Keith and I stayed up with Henry until around 11:30pm. I got to feed Henry.....a lot actually, that is one hungry baby! He was so sweet and cuddly and he smelled good too! I asked Meredith if I could get up with him when he woke up for his middle of the night feeding. She said I could if I really wanted...I didn't know why she looked at me like I was crazy?! I fell asleep and what felt like only a few short hours later I heard the faintest cry. Henry!! I hurried to his nursery and found him in Moo's arms. Thinking it was around 1am, I said "can I stay up with him until he falls back asleep" she said "sure, I don't think he's hungry, he just ate at 3:30"...."3:30...WHAT time is it??" I looked at his clock and it was a little after 5:30am, had I really been sleeping that hard??!! I had not heard him cry for his middle of the night feeding! Oh well, I scooped him up and rocked him while Meredith went back to sleep. A short while later, after the sun had already started shining through the windows, Henry was fast asleep. I got ready to put him in his crib and realized I didn't want to. He is so tiny and he'll only be tiny for a short period of time. I'll never forget the first time I got to hold Perrin and Alexa. Now those two are toddlers and barely even want to be held. So I enjoyed a few hours of alone time Henry. Oddly enough, the time flew and before I knew it Keith and Dobby were up, playing a game of....well...."Keith chasing Dobby around and around, while Dobby zigged, zagged, ducked and dodged, trying to get him to go outside for his morning potty break". I reluctantly stood from the rocker and made my way downstairs with Henrybebe. I got to enjoy a few more minutes with my cousins and then it was off to Columbia for me. I don't think Henry liked that idea (hey, don't tell me otherwise! Humor me here) because when I went to hug him goodbye....he threw up on me, lol. I had to change my shirt and then give Henry another hug goodbye before I headed down the road. It was a very short visit, but I'm glad I got to see Henrybebe before he grew like a weed and turned quickly into a little boy that wanted nothing to do with being kissed and hugged by his cousin! Even though I just about lost a $50 bill to the pit of Dobby's belly (yes, I walked in to the guest room to find Dobby with my $50 bill hanging out of his mouth!!! LOL) it was a GREAT trip and I can't wait to see them all again :)



ps. I figured out why Moo looked at me like I was crazy when I asked to get up with him...I'm TIRED! Babies are a LOT of work!! hehe. I guess I should take this as another opportunity to thank my own mother for her countless nights of getting up with me, Thanks Mom!!

HOT! HOT! HOT!

It's over 100 degrees in good ole' Columbia, SC today! OVER 100!!!! Man oh man what I wouldn't give to have a pool right about now :-)

This past weekend was nice. Quiet, productive and nice. Friday evening Sev and I tried a new little restaurant in Lexington, SC. A lady that he works with also works there and told him about it. IT WAS SOO GOOD!! It was kind of a birthday dinner, since Sev and I really didn't celebrate my birthday with just the two of us. I had peach chicken and it was sooo tender and moist and had just the right amount of sweet peaches on it! I would have never thought to put peaches on chicken, but it worked!! After dinner we came home and watched TV until we fell fast asleep. Saturday morning, Sev woke up and left to go work with a friend of his from work. I got busy cleaning!!! With all of this cake baking, decorating and dirt bike riding...I hardly have time for my chores!! My poor house is suffering badly! I spent the entire morning, afternoon and part of the evening cleaning. I SCRUBBED our bathroom (I get that from my g-ma, I mean...hands and knees scrubbing base boards with Clorox and toothbrush!), I did 4+ loads of laundry, dried and folded! I cleaned under the washer and dryer in the laundry room. I cleaned under the fridge and stove in the kitchen. I vacuumed like a mad woman on a mission! I sat in our shower up to my feet in bubbles scrubbing the tub! I changed all of the linens. At this point, sev was back home, he washed Ali and I washed all of his bedding. We dusted up a storm! I cleaned out all of the closets and cabinets in our bathroom....and I mean purged! (my mother is now the proud owner of a dozen half used bottles of lotion, sprays, cleaners, face washes..etc. etc. hahaha). I then focused my attention outside and pulled a few weeds...this lasted all of about 20 minutes until I pulled up a weed and the biggest, ugliest, scariest, black widow spider I have EVER seen came crawling out at me!!! NO SIR! I don't do spiders!!! I ran to the garage and came back armed with spider killing ammunition. I chopped at the ground, with a shovel, until nothing was left un-chopped! Then I proceeded to spray the entire area (and I mean DRENCHING the entire area) with spider/bug spray!! I may have managed to kill every flower in my flower bed...but darn-it I got that spider!!! yuck...
After all of the cleaning and spider killing, I washed up and Sevy and I went to the movies :-) We saw "Funny People" with Adam Sandler. eh' not my favorite movie and it lasts wayyy tooo long, but I enjoyed my time with Sev.
Sunday morning we got up and did what else but....went riding!!! We met my dad, brother and Jonathan at Enoree. We rode and rode and then....I thought I was going to die! No kidding. It was sooo hot yesterday!! It is also VERY hard to ride in this weather, with all of MY HAIR! I imagine it to be the equivalent of riding in 100 degree weather with a fur jacket on and the fur collar flipped up around your neck! HOT! I started getting yucky feeling and I could feel a headache coming on. Dad and I took a break. I re hydrated and rested in the shade for bit. After our break, I was ready to GO! We took off and rode and rode some more! I had a blast, of course. No one fell...but Sev did manage to step in a yellow jackets nest!! Dad and I weren't there to witness that, but I hear it was rather comical. Don't worry, he wasn't stung! After the ride we headed back home. I had every intention of cleaning some more...but that never happened. I. could.not.keep.my.eyes.open. Could not! I was beyond exhausted. I slept the entire car ride home. I showered and fell fast asleep...all before 8pm!
What a weekend :-) I love productive weekends!!

Happy Birthday to meeeee!!!

I turned 22 yesterday!


mmmmk not really, but I have come up with the master plan of all plans!!! If I start NOW by telling people that I'm really 4-5 years younger than what I really am, then by the time I'm 40 people will think I'm only mid-30's! HA!

I had a GREAT Birthday Weekend!!! It started on Friday, when Sevy sent B-day flowers to my work :) Then I was allowed to leave work 30min early and I headed on home to pack for a weekend in the upstate. Friday night we had some yummy BBQ chicken and just spent time with my family. On Saturday Dad, Sev, Chris, Jonathan and I got up (early) and headed to Brown Mtn.. I wanted a longggg birthday ride! Dad surprised me Friday night with some NICE bark busters for my bike...uhm....basically some metal pieces that go over the handles and protect your hands from hitting trees, or rocks ,or briers ,or whatever while you're riding. I had the best time and was not ready to leave the trails! I'm fortunate enough to have my brother and father as teachers, so I think I'm getting better and better with every ride. I'm VERY proud to say I was the only one that didn't take a spill.........though I'm sure that's glory short lived! I'm GREAT at falling too :) I was asked (just last weekend) why I enjoyed dirt bikes so much. I don't really know why. Its a thrill but on top of that its a challenge and I like learning new skills and tactics to over come the challenges. Plus, I've always liked being outside!! We had a few scary moments out on the trail, but no casualties, lol. I think we'll all be back out there the next chance we get!! We got home around 8pm and rushed in to clean up and eat my Birthday dinner!! Mom made her famous lasagna and we had a lemon pound cake for dessert!! No, I did not make my own b-day cake ;-) I got to spend time with my family and just enjoy life :) We woke up Sunday morning (my actual b-day!!!) and I got to open some SWEET birthday gifts. Then we had a yummy brunch with my in-laws. After brunch, we packed up the cars, loaded the dogs and hit the trails for a 6 mile hike. Sev's parents had hiked the trail before and thought we would appreciate it. We all had a nice time and I enjoyed splashing around in the creek at the end of the trail. We got back to the cars just in time, right before the rain started. After a long ride on Saturday and then a fairly long hike on Sunday, I was beat! NAP TIME! I took a short nap on the couch while Sev hung out in the shop with my dad. We hit the road back to Columbia around 7:45pm. I was veryyyyyyyyyy sad my Birthday weekend was over :( Though I had a wonderful time!!!! Thank you family, for the gifts and the well wishes and the time I got to spend with each of you!!!!


26 years old....I know its not OLD OLD, but man does time fly!!!! (oops-well now you know my real age, lol).

WATCH OUT...I've been thinking....

Sooo I'm thinking about turning this blog private. I normally could care less what anyone reads (thinks) about me, haha. However, for the sake of my family and friends, that I post about often, I don't want the world reading this blog. I have begun to get a crazy amount of hits/views on my cake blog and if you go to my profile from that blog you can easily access this blog. If you agree and think this blog should be private, def. if you're a friend or family member that I post about from time to time, please let me know what you think!! I HATE having to log in to read others blogs...so I don't really know if I WANT to turn this private. I like my loving, sometimes funny, comments that everyone leaves and I don't want those to dwindle. So let me know what you think...let me know if privacy really should be an issue. If you're a lurker, well HELLLO and I would love to hear from you too!!! It's not that I think I'm so cool all of my stuff should be for the VIP only, hahahaha, it's just for sake of privacy.
So, if I turned my blog private would you still read it?

Love to all-Linds

Catch Up

Well, I've basically been baking like crazy. This leaves little time for other activities. Though I did manage to enjoy a dirt bike ride this past Saturday with my family. We celebrated my dads birthday on Friday and I baked his cake! (check it out on the cake blog) I also got to receive the wonderful news that mer had baby Henry on the 16th!! That's about all of the "news" from our little neck of the woods.

On Friday night, my brothers girlfriend was talking about spray tans and how her friend was not having much success with the spray tan she had received, it just wasn't sticking to her skin. I started to tell my family about the bad spray tan experience I had experienced. I told my family that I ended up looking like an umpalumpa and they looked at me like I had lost my mind, they didn't know what an umpalumpa was!! It didn't help that I tried to remind them of the WillyWonka movie by singing the "umpa lumpa dobidy do" song....my entire family thought I had really lost it at that moment, haha. So anyways, I went on to explain that an umpalumpa was a short, little, orange guy, with green hair in "WillyWonka and the Chocolate Factory". That was exactly what I looked like when I got my spray tan. It's funny now, but at the time is was NOT! I had gotten the tan for my cousins wedding and orange toned bridesmaids were NOT the look she was going for! The other problem that occured when I had my spray tan was when the horrible smelling and even worse tasting spray got into my mouth. When I exited the spray booth I spit (I know sooo unlady like!!) and then wiped my mouth......leaving a nice white ring around my mouth, much like a milk mustache. **sigh** I was something to see! Thankfully MAC does an amazing makeup job and the day was saved.
I'm telling this story because I actually ran across a picture of some umpalumpas today and wanted to post the picture so my mom and others would not think I was crazy when I referred to my bad spray tan experience as the day I was turned into an umpalumpa with a milk mustache!!

Happy Tuesday!!!

I may be in trouble for this....

but I ALWAYS knew she had horns!!

I struggled my entire childhood trying to prove this fact.

NO ONE, not one single soul, wanted to listen to my out cries, my pleas to just listen to me!!

"Now Lindsey, she is the sweetest lady. That is just silly."

"Lindsey, that is your mother you're talking about!!"

For twenty five years I have tried hard to capture proof. I wanted desperately to say "I Told You so!!"...I had almost given up hope.

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Until today.

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My father, of all people, was able to capture the wild horned woman (only a handful of us have seen) in a photo:

She may be rare and she may be as mysterious as big foot himself...but...I TOLD YOU SOOOO!!!! SHE DOES EXIST!!!!!!!

hehehehe....I will admit she's a pretty sweet mom when she wants to be...but don't let that sweetness fool you. There are horns under that wild head of hair!!!

Love you Mom :-) and Thanks Dad ( hope I don't get you in trouble) ;-)

Lets talk about Me Babyyyy

So, the most important day of the year is about to be here!! Oh come on...what do you mean "what day??" Well now its only the very day my parents were blessed beyond words, the day angels sang and the sun was just a bit more brighter...... MY BIRTHDAY!!! geesh.

So to keep up the "ALL ABOUT ME ME ME" flow I've got going with this post...

Usually this time of year comes around and I get a few "what do you want for your birthday?" questions and my response is "uhm, I can't think of anything." Now, I don't want to sound greedy this year...but I had a few minutes to think about things I wanted, but would not buy for myself anytime soon. Eh' I don't expect any of this, truth be told I would actually prefer money to pay my stinkin' school loans off...but everyone can dream :)

Pandora Clip (I only need one more clip and my bracelet will be set as far as clips go):

Helllllloooo who doesn't want a pink fridge???? Mmmk, really (though I would DEFINITELY rock out a pink fridge) I really just want an old fridge for my garage, a girl needs an extra fridge when she bakes a lot of cakes!!



and seriously, if anyone ever runs across a used pink fridge...let me know, LOL, the more I look at this pic. the more I really "NEED" a pink fridge!!!!

Another Pandora clip...but this one has my birthstone on it...cool huh!?




A Pandora Birthstone charm!!!




I wouldn't mind a cute pair of Brighton earrings :)

While I already have a nice little camelback. I really could use a larger one...in both ways; large bladder for more H2O and a larger pack to carry more. This is how I stay hydrated on the dirt bike trails.

.......................Some things never change ;-)

"Dream on, Dream on, Dream until your dreams come trueeeeeeeeeee "(okay, mirrors are breaking)

Stay tuned (if you give a hoot and I KNOW you DO...its all about ME,lol, really I'm kidding folks) I may add more...Happy Friday!!!

WILD HOGS HIT THE BEACH!!!!

As promised, pictures from our beach trip!!

The first night we were excited to meet up with Sevs Army buddy, Makoto. It was nice catching up and hanging out. The boys were trying to teach Steph and I how to disco dance, lol:

Aren't they cute :-)

It had been over a year since last we saw Mark. You learn to make your friends your family in the Army, so it was nice to have a "family reunion". Mark was one of the friends we spent many holidays with in Hawaii.

They wanted to be twins!!! ....okay, not really...but funny enough, they ended up matching EVERY DAY!!!

This was seconds before Jonathan said "Okay...GO!!" and Steph went..................screaming the ENTIRE WAY DOWN THE STREET!!! LOL Fortunately, after she learned that it was absolutely impossible to apply the breaks at the same time giving the scooter gas...she caught on and ended up being a pretty good rider!! Oh...and that was also after she managed to barely miss a mailbox, stop sign, tree and house!! hehehe
Sev and I, please excuse the wind blown look!! We all sported that style for the evening :-)

McDonalds!!!! but then we realized you can't eat and drive a scooter...so we scooted off after I snapped a picture ;-)
Jonathan took a quick break to eat sunflower seeds but I had to post this picture, click to enlarge. You will notice that poor Jonathan had the WORST scooter...he had to tape a flash light to the handlebars...lol.

WILD WOMEN!!!

Jonathan was making fun of the way Steph and I "scooted".

Wide open roads, the wind in our hair and no where to go...ohhhhhh sweet freedom!!

SEE YA Boys!!!!

We had a great time!! I'm sad to say I missed the photo of Sev jumping the side walk in attempts to race around a golf cart on the road. It was quite a site and made for a great laugh!! Steph kept saying we reminded her of the movie "Wild Hogs". The best part of the evening was when we rode up, gravel flying, and realized we were smack dab in the middle of a classy, upscale, outdoors party in Murells Inlet....oops!!

I can't wait for next year!!

Happy 4th of July....late.

The weekend before the 4th Sev and I made a trip to the upstate for his parents house warming party. They built a GORGEOUS house in Landrum, SC. If I can get permission, I'll try and post pics sometime soon. My mother-in-law rides horses, so they live on my dream land :) horse pastures, a peaceful pond (filled with turtles), and a nice stretch of woods....eh' and it doesn't do much but make me even more envious that they have a big dog and a barn cat, haha!! They have two cabins on their property, which makes for a nice little hide-away from the rest of the world when Sev and I visit. We really enjoy getting the chance to visit with them and its even better now that they are back in SC and their house is finished. We spent Friday night with them. On Saturday Sev helped his parents outside and I visited with my grandma. Then on Saturday night we gathered together at Sev's parents and enjoyed an evening with their close friends. I made a cake for the occasion...check it out on my cake blog!! Then Sunday we spent the morning with them and ended the day at my parents house...where we got to hear all about their trip out west.

Then it was only a 2 1/2 work week for me!!!!!

July 1st Sevy and I headed to the beach for some fun in the sun with Steph and Jonathan. We had a BLAST!!!! It's always nice to get away for a mini vaca and even nicer when you get to spend that vaca with people you like, haha. The weekend went by wayyyy toooo fast!! We got to spend a night out on the town with them on Wednesday night (dinner with our mom's at the Gulf Stream Cafe and then a stroll around Broadway). Thursday we spent the day on the beach and Thursday night we rented.........SCOOTERS!!!! Oh. My. Gosh. We seriously had the best time!! I am not going to post much about that until I get my pictures downloaded...but it really was fun and I suggest everyone rent a scooter once in their life!! Friday morning we rode the scooters to the flea market (one of the most random spots, but a yearly tradition to walk through). Then we returned our scooters and Steph and I spent time shopping and eating icees at Broadway. The guys met up with an old Army buddy of Sev's and played a round of golf (...is that right? a round? I don't play golf...so really I have no clue). Friday night we ate at a place in Murells Inlet ( I think I spelled that correctly). We were alllll tooooo sad to wake up Saturday morning and start our packing to return home. Well, I was sad, Sev was sad and Jonathan appeared to be a little sad...I think Steph just missed Pbug, haha. However, we managed to talk Steph into spending the night of the 4th in Columbia so we could shoot fireworks together!!! and that's what we did!! We shot fireworks in our neighborhood Saturday night and grilled hamburgers. It was a nice 4th of July :)
Sunday was a lazzzyyyy day....HEY isn't that what you're suppose to do after a vacation?!?!!!


will post pics soon :)

Man, to be little again...

So, I don't usually make a habit of this, but today I was CRAVING a peach milkshake from Chick-fil-a. If you haven't had one, try one...A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!
So I grabbed one on my lunch break. As I took a sip it took me back to summers when I was young (er) (I'm still young!!). I have such fond memories of spending all summer swimming in the pool and having cook-outs on weekend evenings. My family used to make homemade ice cream for these events and MAN was it the perfect way to end a summer day. The peach milkshake today tasted just like the peach ice cream we used to have churning in our big, silver, steadily humming, ice cream maker. Man, I miss those carefree days!!! As I sat in the parking lot, enjoying my milkshake, I started to think about all the things I miss about being a kid during the summer, here is my list: (feel free to comment on some things you miss most about your childhood summers)
* I miss the hill beside the house I grew up in, my brother and I spent hours and hours pushing our scooters to the top of the hill and riding them back down. It was so fun and I can still feel the way the foot board on the scooter would wobble when we reached speeds almost too fast for a scooter to go.
* I miss lightening bugs...weird, but really, I can't think of the last time I've seen a field glowing from the hundreds of lightening bugs.
* I miss the old tire swing that hung from the tree in our pasture. My dad never did "things" small, so our tire was an old tractor tire...that thing was huge!! It was perfect for climbing inside and twisting the rope just enough to send us into a crazy, stomach churning, out of control feeling, spin.
* I also miss the creek my brother and I were fortunate enough to grow up beside. I can't think of a better way, to pass the hot summer days, turning over creek rocks and hunting for the next creek creature. I remember when we thought it was an "excellent" idea to remove the crawfish and minos from the creek and "rehome" them in our swimming pool.
* I miss the smell of fresh cut grass and the way it (cut grass) would stick to my feet when we were outside playing.
* I remember taking dad up on his "great" offer to spend hours picking up sugargum balls (those horribly, prickly, brown things that fall from trees) for the simple payment of a ride in the bucket of his "amazingly, cool" John Deere tractor. Yes, I also miss that...prickly sugargum balls and all.
* I really miss the smell of musky dimes (lol, I'm leaving this the way I spelled it..but thought it would be PC to put the proper spelling in muscadine. I want you to know I even googled the spelling, LOL..but it came up both ways. After further research I realized it came up both ways b/c there are A LOT of people out there that spell it musky dimes, so it showed up in lots of searches BUT the proper and correct way is not musky dimes, lol)...man oh man does that smell bring back memories. We had a few big bushes on the land surrounding our house and that smell ALWAYS takes me back to summers spent on E. Prince Rd.
* I miss the way our playroom (located in our basement) was always cool and made for the perfect place to play on really hot summer evenings, after we spent the day outside.
* I miss the occasional icee we would get from my grandfathers stand and I even miss the sickly sweet combination of every, single, one of the flavors I would insist on mixing together.


Obviously there are lots of things I miss about being a kid during the summer :) There's even more, but I'll spare any readers. Strangely...I'm suddenly hearing the jingle " I don't want to grow up..." as I go back to work **sigh**.

Kids say the darndest things :-)

Lately, I've been a cake baking fool!! I'm loving every second of it too!!!!
On Sunday I met Aud in Newberry, she asked me to make a cake for a friend of hers ;-)
It was nice to see her and extra nice to see Alexa...even if it was only for a few minutes. Later that evening I called Aud to see if she made it home okay and if the cake had survived (it was my first fully stacked, 2 tier cake...fully iced in butter cream and HEAVY). She said it had arrived safe and sound and while she had to rearrange her fridge, it fit inside nicely.
Here is where I could just squeeze Alexa.
Autumn said she put the cake on the counter and began to clear out her fridge.
She said Alexa said "momma, momma" and when Aud said "Yes, Alexa" she said "She's watching you."
Autumn said she stopped and looked at Alexa and said "Who's watching me Alexa" and Alexa pointed to the cake and said "She is momma, she's watching you."

How cute is that!!!! My cake is a girl!!! Alexa is sooo smart and very creative, she never ceases to say the cutest things!!

So, for future reference my cakes are female ;-)


Other than baking up a storm, Sev and I haven't been doing much else. We spent last Saturday out on the lake with friends. This weekend we're spending time with Sev's parents, where I have another cake to bake for their house warming party!
Sev's just about done with his first summer class and when this one is complete we'll get a quick beach break!! We're excited to spend a few days at the beach with Steph and Jon!!! We NEED a vacation and we lovvvveee spending time with my cousin and her husband :-) After that Sev will start back with his second summer class, yuck...calculus 2...pray for him!!

Happy Tuesday :-)

A new blog and a weekend update

Sev and I had a nice weekend...I say that alot don't I?....but who doesn't love the weekends??
Anyways, we just hung out on Saturday, sev worked and I cleaned. Then Sunday we rode, and I mean we rode HARD. It was the hardest I've ever ridden. Not the hardest trail...but the hardest I've pushed myself on a ride. We ended up running into another group of riders along the way and they happened to have a girl with them. I've never had the chance to ride with a girl so I asked Sev to hang back with that group so I could get a feel for how other girls ride. She was FAST. Skill wise we were probably even, I was able to keep up with her and we kind of had the same style. However, she was on a bigger bike, more power, and was able to pull away just a tad on the straights. This frustrated me and forced me to ride harder in the turns. It wasn't a "race"...but in my mind it was a challenge. Sev said he had never seen me ride like that. It was sooooo fun!!! We came around a bend and I saw the girl slow down and from what I could tell the turn was just a slight turn and then it straightened back out...."nows my chance!"...I twisted the throttle and entered the turn going faster than I should have been...it wasn't a small turn, it was a jack-knife. Quick thinking and fast reactions had me ditching the bike mid turn. It sailed off the side of the 3-4ft drop off and I landed smack in the middle of the trail.....ouch. Sev was quick on his feet (literally, he dropped his bike and was running from the momentum up to me). I just wanted him to get my bike. I suffered two badly scrapped elbows, a bruise on my stomach, a hole in my pants on the left knee, and scrapes and bruises on both knees. My bike suffered a broken front brake lever. My helmet suffered a broken bill. Severyn laughed because, when I finally got to my feet, I brushed myself off and said "shoot, she got away." IT WAS SUCH A RUSH!!!! I'm really in love with this sport. We got back on and did a bit more riding before we called it a day. I have nice big bandages on my elbows and I realize I look like a kid that forgot to put their elbow pads on while learning how to ride a bicycle...but I'm okay, and I can't wait to go again!!!!

I emailed a few of you but wanted to put a quick note on this blog about my new blog!!!! I decided I wanted to keep a separate blog about my cake/cupcake endeavors. I'll still share on here from time to time my different creations...but I use this blog mainly for family and friends and I'm sharing the other blog with EVERYONE...so I'm trying to keep the two apart. Check it out and let me know what you think :)
http://4theluvofcake.blogspot.com/
I have another cake order this weekend, a fathers day cake...from a lady that found me through my blog, yippeeee!! Marketing at its best, lol. Then the following weekend I have a house warming party cake. Between riding and cake making, I'm enjoying life!!!!!

My lunch break at Mcdonalds...

Now, first off...I have to say that I'm just glad that ANYONE willing to work, whatever job they can get, and not live off of MY TAX money gets props (b/c my mom is probably think "props" what??? it's like kudos mom, like "yay way to go!") from me.
Secondly, anyone reading this is going to think "really, she took the time to post about this?"...and the answer is "Yes" I'm taking the time to post about this...because I can AND because it took my entire lunch break AND I find it funny AND I want to share because I'm not sure how hard it is to work at Mcdonalds...but apparently its pretty difficult.

and the story goes:

I kind of have a vise now for Mcdonalds iced lattes. My mom told me about these little drinks and I have to admit...they are quite yummy and for half the price of a starbucks!
So, because the sandwich I packed for lunch was a pb&j, that I made 3 days ago (don't ask) and the pb&j was feeling a bit more like cement than actual, creamy, gooey, sticky pb&j...and I could really use some caffeine...I decided to toss my lunch and go to Mcdonalds.
I can tell the moment the lady comes across the speaker...its going to be a bad ordering day at Mcdonalds (do you ever have those days? where you just KNOW they are going to mess something up at the fastfood drive-thru?).
Lady taking order: "What can I get cha'?"
Me: "I would like a 4 piece chicken nugget happy meal with BBQ sauce and apples instead of fries. Oh and a water with that please"
Ordering lady: "uh huh anything else"
Me: "Yes. (and here is where it allll started going down hill...as if her attitude hadn't already triggered the downfall) I would also like a medium, iced, sugar free, fat free, vanilla latte.
Lady: Got it, pull around.
I look at the little screen that records and shows what they are ringing up and I see "tea" and "latte" not "iced latte" (I told you, I have a vice and I KNOW what the screen is suppose to read).
Me: "I'm sorry, its suppose to be a WATER, not tea and an ICED latte."
Lady: "I KNOW, I have to ring up tea!!! pull around".
So, I pull around and hand over my money and I'm directed to the next window where I wait...and wait....and oh my gosh are they killing the chicken, plucking the feathers and cooking my chicken nuggets or WHAT...and wait.
Finally they hand me my nuggets and apples and the guy at the window says:
"Pull up there to that there flag post and wait, the rest of your order will be out shortly"
Me: "okay, thank you"
I pull to the flag post as directed...and wait....and wait....and oh my gosh did they have to go and harvest the coffee beans or WHAT???...and wait.
Finally the guy comes out with my latte and my water.
The latte is HOT...not iced....its 95 degrees out!!!! WHAT.
Me: "sir that (pointing to latte) is supposed to be iced. "
Mcdonalds employee: "huh, whaaa?" (seriously that's how he said it...no T on the end of what)
Me: (pointing to latte) "THAT is supposed to be ICED"
Guy: "huh, oh...okay"
and this is where I should have just shut up and let him walk away....
Me: "and sir could I please get some BBQ sauce and carmel dip for my apples and nuggets"
Guy: "uhhh, okay" and walks away.
At this point another car has pulled up behind me and is obviously waiting on their order.
A few minutes later...(I guess they have to harvest a whole other pot of coffee beans)...a different guy walks out.
He hands me a bag and my water and says "I've got to get your latte" and before I can say anything he turns and half sprints back inside....uhm....I don't think BBQ sauce and Carmel dip takes an large size mcdonalds bag OR weighs as much as what he handed me...I look inside....nope, someones food and now there are 2 cars behind me waiting...so I wait to let the mcdonalds employee find out who's food it is.
He comes back and I see him try to hand the lady behind me my latte....AHHHHHHHHHH.
She shakes her head.
He walks to me..."heres your mocha ma'am"
Okay....if you've been following along, it was suppose to be a latte...but at this point I just want to LEAVE!! So I take it and say, "sir this is not my bag of food but can I trouble you, realllllly quickly for some BBQ sauce and carmel dip, please" (I know I know, I should have just LEFT but come on, who eats chicken nuggets w/out sauce??? that would have just been pointless plus I had 10 more minutes left in my hour lunch break, lol).
Guy: "uh huh, sure" and he runs off.
I will admit I didn't have to wait as long for the sauce and carmel, as the guy quickly returns.
He hands me the dips and I drive off.
I stick the straw in my water and because I've been waiting in 95 degree weather for my lunch I take a BIGGGGG swallow.


Its a vanilla milkshake.



Happy Thursday and if you have a full time job, be glad its not nearly as hard as a full time job at McDonalds!!!