Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Cupcake Mania


I made SO many cupcakes this weekend! The first ones were "Thank You" cupcakes that I made for all my friends that helped me when I went to the hospital the other week. I delivered them in cute little cupcake boxes that I bought at the craftstore that are made by Wilton.

The second ones were for a memorial day BBQ, of course.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Ryan's new bed...


Jacob made Ryan a bed this weekend and it turned out to be so amazing. He made him a bunk bed that looks like a tree-house. I'm going to paint branches and leaves on the wall and even put some fake leaves and branches around the bed to create a 3-D effect. I'm gonna paint clouds on the ceiling too. Jacob is so talented. Ryan LOVES his new bed.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Got a Kidney???


If anyone needs a kidney out there, don't come looking for mine! Mine suck! Once again, I was rushed to the ER on Thursday with another kidney infection. This time, it was my left kidney. I had one about 7 years ago right after Jacob and I were married. It started with a pain in my side that started on Tuesday evening. It started getting worse on Wednesday so I called and made a Dr.'s appointment for Thursday afternoon. Thursday morning was fine until about 10:30 when I just hit a wall. My body just couldn't take it anymore and my fever spiked, I got the chills, relized the full extent of the pain I was in and I started vomiting. The worst part was the migrane that my head was swimming in. Then, mass pandamonium started...
My very good friend, Amanda called me for something trivial and discovered that I was not okay. She tried to move my appointment up but we had no luck. Wonderful Amanda pretty much alerted the entire ward and I felt so rediculous because I felt like the whole ward was in an uproar because of me. I pretty much relized what was happening by now with my kideny so we decided to go to the ER because I knew the Dr. would tell me to go there anyway. Amanda came over along with the Relief Society President and then Amanda raced me to the hospital while the Relief Society President watched my kids. This woman (Amanda) has the most tender heart! As I was puking in her car (don't worry, I had a bucket) she was rubbing my back and when I looked up, she had tears in her eyes because she knew I was just misserable. We finally got there and by then I was shaking because of the fever and my heart rate was way high because of the pain. They poked me a lot and I finally got some relief by way of I.V. with some pain killers, anit-nausea medicine, fluids and lots and lots of antibiotics. I was about knocked out for 3 hours (because of all the meds) but Amanda stayed by my side and stroked my hair the whole time unil Jacob arived from his job site in Logan (which is an hour away). They sent me home with some very lovely drugs including some very strong antibiotics. When I got home, my house was cleaned, dishes were washed and the phone immediatly started ringing off the hook with calls of concern from friends and people in the ward begging to bring us dinners. Before I left for the hospital, by the way, my house was a disaster because as I layed there on Thursday morning, the kids sat in a cardboard clubhouse, watched cartoons and got out the rasins and crasins and crackers and ....you can see where this is going. Two of my girlfriends came and brought us dinner and wished Jacob well (because I was passed out until about 8:30).
Notice there are no pictures of all of this because I looked about how I felt. These past couple days have not been fun because I pushed myself too much (Jacob's grandparents were in town and I had bought tickets to the Dave Ramsey Live Show in Salt Lake).
The point of this post is not to get sympathy. I've had about as much as I can take thanks to my wonderful friends and ward! :) My point is to take care of your body!!!! I recieved a testimony of this as Jacob and Amanda's husband, Jeff gave me a blessing. In the blessing, Jacob said that the Lord has blessed me greatly with a healthy body that I will heal from this. He also went on to say that when I did get better that I was to help other people because I was healthy and able to do so. I felt like Heavenly Father was basically telling me: "I've given you this body, so take care of it!! It's not so fun when you don't, is it? :) It's a gift, so use it to do good unto others." I knew I hadn't been drinking enough water and I knew my past history with my kidneys so I should have known better.
I have been given this wonderful body that I begged for in the pre-mortal existance and I need to do all I can to ensure that I take care of it to the fullest. That includes taking time to excersize and also eat the right foods! I had been on a sugar binge for the past month or so with complete disregard to what it was doing to my body because I didn't see it on the scale...yet. We need to be proud of our bodies that our Heavenly Father has given us so generously and not be so hard on ourselves, too. We are a work of art, created by our Heavenly Father, and in His likeness and we need to look in the mirror and tell ourselves that. I think we, as women especially, don't see ourselves as Heavenly Father does our wants us to.
So....DRINK YOUR WATER, put only good foods in your body and be proud of them. They really are a gift that we have been given so that we can go forth and do good unto others.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Sugar Mammas


My wonderfully talented and beautiful sisters and I have started a blog called "Sugar Mammas" where we will post picures of our cakes. ( I have 2 other sisters who do cakes) We will also have instructions and tips on how we made them along with the recipies. There will also be plenty of other dessert recipies on there too for all of you with a sweet tooth. Feel free to take a peek when you get a craving. My sisters and I are sugar-holics but I think that I beat them all on sugar intake. I definatly eat the most sugar! I think that they are more diciplined than I. I have very little self control.


Enjoy everyone!




Monday, May 12, 2008

Thank You Thank You Thank You!!






THANK YOU AUNT LORRIE!!! Okay, you win. You are now officially my favorite Aunt! (Actually, I think you were my favorite even before this) I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Aprons!!

My wonderful, beautiful, thoughtful Aunt Lorrie and Uncle Mike (Jacob's Aunt and Uncle) sent me not one, but 2 aprons embroidered with my company's logo on them!!! Can you believe it?! She is so awesome. She did all this in the midsts of planning her son's wedding. Here are some pics of my new favorite posession: Here is also a pic of my business card that she got the Logo off of.

Star Struck...



A cool thing happened the other day. I recieved a call from none other than WILLIE GOLDMAN!!! That's Duff Goldman's brother...from Food Network's "Ace of Cakes"!! I was so star struck! For those of you who don't watch "Ace of Cakes", first of all, you should be ashamed of yourselves; second, it's the best show ever on the Food Network. It airs on the Food Network at 8:00 and 8:30 on Thursday Nights. It's a show about a bakery that makes insane cakes for people. Duff Goldman is the owner and head pastry chef. His brother, Willie, is his producer from the show and has actually made a couple of appearances on the show himself.


This is why he called: I was on the Charm City Cakes website and I had sent them an e-mail requesting to use a cute little quote that Mary Alice had said at the end of the "Sound Garden" episode. She said "...Going happily forward with cake in our bellies...". It was so cute that I wanted to use it as a slogan for my "Bite the Cake"
business. I wanted to put it on my cards and on my website. Anyway, Willie was calling me to make sure that I wasn't putting it on T-Shirts and selling them or something. They can't be held liable for anything that I do with it and they don't want me using their name for selling or business purposes. He was SOOOO nice. I totally enjoyed talking to him. I must say, I was a bit Star Struck.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Total Money Makeover...

Okay, I am so not one to say "this book changed my life!" It's cliche right? Well, I've got to say it...THIS BOOK CHANGED MY LIFE! Jacob and I thought we were good with money, and then we read this book. You know that dark cloud of uncertanty and doubt that you get when you think about your bank account?? Once you read this book, it gives you hope and direction. Jacob and I are so, so excited for the future and our retirement now! It tells you how to put your money where it's going to pay off the most debt the quickest. It's simple advice that ANYONE can do weather you make $300,000 or $30,000. It's sensible advice that applies to everyone...even if you already think you are good with money. It teaches you how to pay off even that debt that is concidered "acceptable" like cars and student loans, and even your house! Jacob and I have already paid off about $10,000 in credit card and medical debtscf in just 6 months!!!!!!!!!!! Are you kidding me?!! That's insane! We feel so fantastic and no longer have that looming cloud of worry and uncdertanty when it comes to money and the future. We plan to pay off Jacob's student loans and his car by the end of next year! My car is already paid for. I sold my beloved Jeep and am driving around a '98 Astro Van that we got a killer deal on a paid cash for. I am very proud to drive around my Astro Van because I don't have a payment on it and in a year or two, I can get a better car when we have enough saved up for it. Jacob even went as far as to sell his $19,000 truck and buy a very nice one for only $7,000 that gets even better gas miliage. We even had to sell it for less than we owed on it but by doing that, we still have less debt. We even re-fied our house to have a lower interest rate, pay off our principle but we still have the same payment. After the student loans and car is paid off, we will start paying our home off even more! Can you imagine?! Not even having a house payment by the time you are 45?! I'm telling you guys, GET THIS BOOK!.. and follow it! You will feel SO good. It might not be so fun at first to look at all your debt but at least you will have a plan and you will get hope again by dealing with it.
I'm taking Jacob to the Dave Ramsey Live Show in Salt Lake on the 17th. It should be a blast. I am such a fan. He really knows what he is talking about. Good luck everyone!