Cakes and Things!

It's been forever since I posted, but I've been super busy! I've finished my first month of the semester and only have 3 to go. For those of you who don't know, I'm trying to get straight A's, begin my honors thesis, train for a triathlon, standardize sailing club procedures, and to improve my cake skills. I've broken tonight's post into subheadings--lame, I know, but I just have too many topics to over. School, Inaugural Day, Facebook, Hope, and Cakes.

1. School - I can't get through my International Business class, my Business Spanish teacher doesn't test us on what she says she is going to, I'm a day behind on my reading for my Political Philosophy Class, and I had a wake-up call in my Spanish Phonetics class. Today was the first day that I've heard myself speaking in Spanish. Wow. Recording myself speaking a foreign language is nerve-racking, but listening to it is a little disheartening as well.

2. Inaugural Address - It was actually pretty good. Full of promises and emotion, and of course the occasional contradictory statement. As far as speeches go, it was a wonderful one, though I don't know how much I believe him. I'm now itching to contrast it with Pericles' Funeral Oration and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. That might just come later, if I ever get any time for cool analysis that isn't school related. (P.S. I must say, Aretha Franklin's bow caught me off guard. I almost laughed out loud. Man I wish I could pull something off like that. And I wish it was common to wear stuff like that every now and then. I felt kind of bad for laughing at it, but my mom's cousin has made me feel a bit better. Apparently I wasn't the only one entertained. She's been photoshopping that hat onto peoples heads. Everyone from Paris Hilton to OJ Simpson. It gives me smiles every day.)

3. Speaking of Facebook, I've recently added a glob of my extended family. It all started when my mom got Facebook. She added her cousins, and then I added them. Man it's been great. I almost feel like I'm somehow connected to them now. Not knowing them is probably the worst part about living out in UT. I miss NC!

4. Hope - I have some excellent news! Branden is starting a business in Las Vegas. He and his business partner have founded a rock chip repair company and have run the numbers. This should be profitable, and looks like a way to survive in the rough job market. (For those of you who don't know, Branden has been looking for a job for quite a while). In a way it's all we have to count on right now. If it goes well, it means that we'll be able to get engaged. If not, we'll have to figure out another way and probably wait a few more months. So, keep Branden and Kelly (his business partner who is a man by the way) and their company in your prayers. It could very well end up being the answer to ours. If you're ever in Vegas and need a rock chip repair, just look for the hot pink tent in the Walmart parking lot. (P.S. Branden's wearing the welding mask in this pic, not a top hat)

5. Cake - Someone very close to me is planning on getting married, and it's only since I stated this post that I learn that it's now official! My cousin Emily is engaged, and and I may just have the honor of baking her wedding cake. I'm really excited. I've learned how to make a tiered cake (though she told me she just wants one tier), and I've gotten the practice of getting the fondant on the cake smoothly, but I'm working on my piping and decoration skills. Here are a few of the cakes I've made since the summer:

#1 - My first cake. I know it's pretty bad. It ended up breaking (I've now figured out how to fix that problem) and I filled the middle in with butter cream frosting. I decided to try a bunch of different decorating styles, and now, I can't wait to begin perfecting it. I think I'm going to start making a cake every Sunday until the wedding.


#2 - This is the cake that I made for Halloween. I ran out of time to actually get the stem brown, and to get the cake a deep orange. I used a gel food coloring for the mouth and eyes, only it wasn't quite a gel when I first put it on there, so my pumpkin looks like he's drooling.



#3 - Here's my Thanksgiving cake. I figured that I had made enough regular cakes (notice the Boston eclair cake and the pumpkin trifle in the background) to last a while. And yes, it's a cake, and the only things that weren't edible were the dental floss I used to hold up the heavy tail feathers and head, and the skewers and toothpick I used to insert the tail feathers and head into my cake. It was really fun!


Well that's it for now. (except for the post from my crazy day two days ago!)