More Baby Cookies

These cookies were an order I did for my sister. She wanted cookies that matched the invitations that she sent out for a co-worker's baby shower. I had previously done the cookies for Baby Aben and decided these would be great. I added the name of the new baby for a more personalized touch. She decided on cookies instead of a cake because the shower was held at a restaurant. According to my sister, these were a huge hit.

Baby Boy!

Glad to report I am now an aunt. Although it is actually my husbands step sister, I believe I can still claim the title. These are the cookies that I made for her baby shower a couple weeks back. Everyone loved them and the mom-to-be, thorougly enjoyed them. Congratulations Alex & Kristina and welcome to the world Baby Aben!

The dreaded before pictures....

These pictures make my toes curl but I believe they show the progress I have made. This first picture was from my senior year in college (Spring 2006). I didn't weigh my self in college because I was happy, active and my clothes fit well. I wore a size 8 dress to my college gradutaion. It wasn't until after college that those late night fast food runs really hit me.

This is a wedding picture from November 2006. I had began to put on weight but I was so happy and Brandon loved me no matter what I looked like. My wedding dress was a size 14. I was a little disappointed but with wedding planning and working my first full time job; my health wasn't really a priority.

This before picture is one of the worst ones that I have. It's funny how I really don't have many pictures from 2006 after my wedding cause I was so unhappy with the way I looked. After seeing this picture, I knew something had to be done. This was about the time that I had went into a popular store in the mall to buy a pair of jeans. I had gotten the largest size on the rack and I couldn't get them on. I asked the sales associate if they had a bigger size in the back. In her most hateful voice she said, "we don't carry sizes larger than that in the store...you will have to order on line." I felt awful. I left the store in tears.

In August of 2007, my grammy and I walked into a Weight Watchers meeting. It was scary. Although I wasn't the biggest lady in the meeting, I was one of the youngest ones. I kept saying to myself, "how did I let my self do this?" I left the meeting more determined than ever. I faithfully counted my points and after eight months, I had lost 35 pounds and made Lifetime. That was one of the proudest days of my life. I had done it. I vowed to never again see 178.8 on that scale. The weekend after I hit goal with Weight Watchers, I was a bridesmaid in my brother-in-laws wedding. As I stood in front of the church with the other wedding party members (Brandon was the best man) I felt beautiful and I knew my husband was thought the same and was proud to call me his wife. All my hard work had paid off.

This August I will celebrate two years of being at Weight Watchers goal. I am about seven pounds below my Weight Watchers goal and honestly I would like to be about ten pounds less than I am now. But keeping the initial 35 pounds off has been major for me. I am so thankful that Weight Watchers emphasized not only losing the weight but learning to live a healthy life. Believe in yourself, set goals and allow yourself to be beautiful no matter what your size. God created us in his image. No matter what the world says, we are beautiful in His eyes.

For Clever's Baccalaureate services, I was asked to make cakes. I used a paint brush to paint those circles on the cake with a mixture of clear vanilla and icing dye. I used my alphabet cookie cutters to make the bubble letters on the cake. Congratulations Graduates!

Graduation Cake

My brother-in-law got a new car a few weeks ago which was a Red Mustang. For his high school graduation cake I decide to make him the Mustang emblem. Although some people didn't know what it was; Tanner immediately knew and was really excited. I made matching red & blue cupcakes as well.

Beautiful Spring Wedding

Yesterday, Brandon's step sister got married at a beautiful house about an hour away. I made their wedding cake and was pleased with the results. The wedding colors were black, white and red. She requested a three tiered square cake with red ribbon and black scroll work. Due to the long distance away and our need to be at rehearsal on Friday night cause Brandon was in the wedding, I had to start the cake on Thursday night. My wonderful sister-in-law Chelsey came and helped me.

Thanks Chelsey!

Me and Brandon at the wedding. Isn't he cute?

The finished product. The bride and groom were both happy. But the groom was more excited about the grooms cake....

Valentine's Party

Friday night we had a Valentine's Day party with our young marrieds Sunday School class. We ordered pizza, ate cake and played the Newlywed Game. Although most of us have been married for several years, the game was extremely fun. I am proud to announce that the husband and I were victorious. I was asked to bring dessert so I opted for Dark Chocolate Cake (recipe from the back of the Hershey's Dark Chocolate Cocoa box) and Red Velvet Cake. This was my first successful attempt at homemade cake (not boxed). I was very pleased with the results and due to the fact we had very little leftovers I am assuming everyone enjoyed them as well.
The Red Velvet cake recipe came from http://pinchmysalt.com/.

Red Velvet Cake
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened)
2 oz. red food coloring
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Bake two round cake pans at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

I just used the basic cream cheese icing recipe I always used but I doubled it and added a little more powdered sugar to make sure it was good and thick in order to stick to the sides of the cake.

Cream Cheese Icing
1 stick of butter
1 pkg of cream cheese
dash of vanilla
1 pound of powdered sugar.

I will probably try a few different recipes in the future. The cake was not as moist as I have tasted in other red velvet cakes. But all and all it was delicious. People at the Valentine's party were impressed. I just used red sprinkles to make the cute heart on top of the cake.