Sunday Baking

Here's my confession, I LOVE TO BAKE.  If anyone knows anything about me, this is my passion.  Seriously.  On days when I'm looking for something to do, I just want to bake all day.  Nothing is more satisfying than a well baked good.  (Well, aside from my family and such).  I only however, dedicate one day to baking.  That day is Sunday's.  Don't we all wish we could bake everyday, and not gain any weight.  Where did my love for baking come from?  Well, here's the story...
Growing up, I often made crazy baking mistakes.  I made Apple pie, but put too much nutmeg in and everyone called it my nutmeg pie.  Numerous mistakes over the years followed.  When Bryan and I got married, I wanted to be the best cook ever.  But especially, the best baker ever.  We have a family chocolate chip cookie recipe that Bryan always raves about and I was determined to make it just as fantastic as our sister in law does.  I must have tried that recipe over a hundred times.  I never gave up, and was determined to get it right.  And that was the case with everything I tried.  I wasn't happy until it was perfect.  I work at Williams Sonoma part time to feed my kitchen addiction, and to afford it.  And one day my brother in law came in and was talking to my co-worker.  My co-worker said, "Isn't Emmy such a fantastic cook", and he replied, "yes, if it comes from this store and is in a jar".  That was the day that it all changed for me.  I was going to prove that I could make anything, and make it fantastic.
  This was actually only 3 years ago.  I can honestly say now that I feel pretty confident in my skills.  Not only has my baking improved, it's quite fantastic if I do say so myself.  I have become quite the perfectionist though.  I try a recipe and have to find the best of that recipe.  Vanilla cupcake's for example.  I believe I'm not the only one searching for that perfect recipe.  I want a dense, moist and just perfect vanilla cupcake.
  Someday I would love to open a bakeshop.  But for now, my main focus is my family.  Until that "someday", I will continue to bake for family and friends, and for the pure joy of just creating something amazingly yummy.  Like the 6 layer Salted Caramel Cake pictured above.  Yum!

Finally moving after 12 years!!!

Wow, really?  It's been waay too long since I've written.  I made a New Year's Resolution to blog more, so here I go.  Over the last 6 years we have endlessly looked, and looked, and looked at over a hundred homes.  We liked bits and pieces of many homes, but we only found 1 home that we absolutely loved. (But that home didn't work out.)  Are we too picky? (um, yes)  We mostly never understood the layout of homes.  I was mostly interested in having a larger kitchen than the one I currently have in my town home.  Oddly enough, some of the kitchens in homes were smaller than ours.  We made a few offers on some homes, and for one reason or another, they never seemed to work out.  We began to think that we were just supposed to stay in our town home forever.  Which we love our neighborhood.  We have amazing friends here, and our kids do as well.  But we really just wanted a backyard for our kids to play around in.  We made an offer on a home in Lehi back in September, and it was the first time we listed our home for sale.  With full faith that we would be able to sell in 3 weeks, it did not sell.  Once again we found ourselves with no new home.  But we decided to keep our home listed anyway.  We had only 2 people come through our home in the 2 months that we had it listed.  And feel very, very blessed that it sold for a full asking price.  We are also very proud of ourselves for taking such great care of our home, and having it pass inspection with absolutely no problems.  Except now, we had to find somewhere to move, and fast!  Over the years we have looked anywhere from Orem to Lehi.  But we had to sit and think about where we wanted our kids going to school.  We love the school they are currently attending.  And for the 2012-2013 school year, Madison will be starting Jr High (very, very scared about that).  We decided that we love Orem, and began searching only in Orem.  The home prices in Orem are quite a bit higher than the surrounding areas, and very few lots to build on.  We walked though a home in South Orem that we feel in love with.  The details were exactly what we had been wanting all of these years.  We found out the builder who built the home, and decided to build  on the west side of Orem, which is on a golf course called Sleepy Ridge.  Over the past year we felt very hesitant to build there. One, because it is so close to the lake and 2, for all the bugs that are associated with the lake.  But we spoke to quite a few people who love the area, and they helped put our reservations at ease.  So after 12 years, we are building a home and we are so excited.  We move out in one week, and we actually have nowhere to go while we build our home.  So for now, we feel stressed and crazy.  But though things feel up in the air, we know that the Lord is always aware of us, and hears our prayers.  Through this whole process over the last 6 years, we've been very aware that the Lord has been watching over us, and directing us in the right direction.  We certainly don't operate on our own timing, that's for sure.  He has a plan for all of us.
   We are very grateful for our blessings, and feel so blessed how everything has turned out.  We are so excited to move onto the next "phase" in life.  We haven't really had time to let the idea of building our own home set in yet.  Everyone keeps asking us if we are so excited, but we really haven't had time to actually be excited.  We just pray that things will go smoothly, and that it will all work out for the best.

Spring Break in Vegas

For Spring Break this year we went to Las Vegas. We had planned on leaving early in the morning, but instead left 6 hours later due to fixing a leak in the car's transmission. The kids were not happy. The drive was pretty much the worst weather ever. We drove through serious rain storms, which turned to snow storms and zero visibility. We did make it to our destination safely though. On Tuesday we went to the Childrens Museum and loved it. Later that day we ate lunch at a park in the middle of this great outdoor mall called Townsquare. The weather wasn't quite as hot as we were hoping. It was pretty windy which made it a little chilly. On Wednesday we went to M&M World. Which is just a huge shoppping center. We thought we would park and walk wherever we needed to go. We planned on going to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory which was at the Forum Shops a Ceasars Palace. It looked alot closer than it really was. We walked..FOREVER!! Approximatley 1 hour and a half. Oh my goodness!! Once we got there, the restaurant was of course at the very end of the shops. Bryan and I looked at eachother and realized that we had to walk back after lunch. Ugh! Bryan said he wasn't going to make the kids do that again, and decided to go alone but Ethan was so brave and wanted to go with his dad. Cute. Our heroes! That night we swam purely to soak our feet in the water. My sister Jenny and her family, and my parents came late that night to join us for the weekend. On Thursday my dreams came true, and we went to the Williams Sonoma Outlet (insert music here) haha. It was heaven, of course! For no one else but me. Thanks to my family for letting me go! We swam the rest of the afternoon, and had so much fun! We had planned on going back home Friday for Ethan's best friends baptism, but Ethan had found himself having too much fun and wanted to stay another day. So Friday was a little crazy, we ate lunch at Planet Hollywood, and went to Ethel M's Chocolate Factory. YUM!!!! The chocolate was divine! On Saturday was had a great morning swim for a few hours and headed home in the afternoon. It was a great vacation, now I'm ready for another one!

Westridge Music Fest

As always..yes, I do need to blog more often.. Last week Madison and Ethan and their annual Music Fest at school. To be honest, I dread it every year. So many parents, it's crowded, and of course my pictures always turn out blury. But this year was fantastic! I was able to attend the morning program all by myself, and I had front row! Woohoo! It was such a wonderful program, and the kids did great. Madison decided to join Show Choir this year, so it was fun to watch her singing more than just two songs. I had to remind Ethan to remember to smile, and try to not look bored to death. He came through. That boy has a smile that melts your heart! He came in to the gym smiling, and did not take his eye off of me the entire time. He had this smile that you think boys have when they have a crush on someone. Just super tender. The program was so good. Good job Madison and Ethan!

Changes in our life.

Wow, I really need to blog more often..... So I thought I would write down a pretty big change that we have just had in our family. Last Sunday we were called in to meet with a member of the stake presidency. Bryan was a little worried, but really just thought that he was being released from his calling of five years. We met with President Seaver and he first told us that what he was about to tell us was a very private matter, and that we couldn't tell anyone, not even our kids or families. Our minds were in serious confusion. Then he dropped what felt like a huge bomb on us. "Your ward boundries are going to change, and you will be part of a new ward" My throat immediately started to burn, and my eyes welled up instantly. Then he proceeded to tell us the boundaries, and then dropped the bigger bomb. That Bryan would be a counselor in the bishopric in that new ward. I was holding Bryan's hand at the time, and pretty much squeezed the life out of it. What? As if hearing the change wasn't hard enough, now he has to be in the bishopric of a ward we don't even know? My mind was racing, but the first thought was immediately about our kids. Our kids who grew up in this ward (that we've been in for 10 years), who have close friends in the ward, but mostly little Aidan who is going to primary this year with friends he did have, but not anymore. Although thankfully he will have one little friend. But they are all so shy. Then President Seaver asked what calling I had, and I couldn't even answer him. I'm the activity days leader! It has been my very favorite calling ever! I love those girls so much. It has just been thee very best calling. I had so many ideas for the new year, and just felt heartbroken. So we walked out in tears, and cried for about 2 days. Bryan may have cried a little more. Not being able to tell anyone all week was torture. Every person we saw who was either going with us to the new ward, or that we were leaving behind, we just wanted to hug. I don't like change, like not at all. Unless it's change that I make. We have been wanting to move for about 4 years now. That clearly will not happen now for awhile. It did put a little damper on our holiday though. Our hearts were very heavy all week. Then came the time to tell our kids. Poor Madison was crying with us the Sunday we found out, but didn't know why. All we could say was that dad was being ordained a high priest, and I'm afraid she will always think that's a bad thing because we were both crying. Well, we told our kids and to our dismay, they were actually excited. What? I've been in agony all week, and not even a bit of sadness? Well, okay! Our kids are much better than we are I guess. It was really quite shocking. We stared at eachother in complete amazement.
Sunday morning came around, and we both felt so nervous. We knew something that no one else knew minus like 4 other people there. We thought that they would make the announcement and sustain Bryan for the members in our ward moving on with us. But 5 minutes before the meeting, they told us they were not going to sustain Bryan. Oh the agony! We had to keep that secret for like 4 more hours. Bryan was really a mess. He was so nervous, and filled with so many emotions. Mostly tearful ones. So the time came, and although we didn't have our friends and neighbors there to support us, it sure felt like our new ward members were already supporting us. Bryan had to speak for a few minutes, and had been stressing all week because he knew nothing would come out of his mouth except blubbering words. He wasn't going to be able to hold back the tears. But he did great. He spoke quite well, and no tears. He did get choked up, but he did great. The spirit in that ward was amazing. Our new bishop is quite an impressive person. Super humble, and full of love for everyone. After the meeting, so many people came up to me to welcome us, it was quite a humbling experience. All week we worried, and were sad, but those feelings immediately left and were replaced with excitement and a confirmation that this is where we need to be right now in our lives. This new ward had been praying for a change in their ward. For more people to come, and more leadership. They were so overjoyed that their prayers had been answered. It was amazing to know that we (all of us moving into that ward, if I may) are a part of prayers that have been answered.
Our doubt, and anxiety has been replaced with peace, humility and excitment for this new change. And for me the realization that one, the Lord knows what we need in our lives. A good push to do better, and not to merely be complacent in the things I do, or don't do. And two, I needed this to help me improve my relationship with the Lord, and strive to do better in every aspect of my life. It's going to be hard, but a welcome challenge.

Photo Shoot

I wish I had some pictures to post along with this blog entry.....Yesterday I was able to take part in a photo shoot for a well known bank at their downtown office building. I was sooo nervous like I was going to a job interview. I thought the entire morning that I needed to back out of it. I should stay home and just stay with Aidan and keep to my regular routine. Sometimes it's hard to break out of the same day to day things we do. As everyone knows, I'm somewhat of a planner, so the fact that I didn't get information about the shoot until 5:30 the night before made me crazy. Especially the wardrobe details. I'm a stay at home mom, why would I have anything that resembles business clothes? The details were vague on what they wanted us to wear.."bank clothes, business attire, bright colors/dark colors" were the exact words. Wait, I need details. Did I need to wear a jacket? A skirt or pants? I think I tried on clothes for about an hour. After stressing out, I just decided to go with what I had. (Because I did contemplate a trip to the mall). I wore a semi-bright colored coral button up, collared shirt, with a half sleeve black cardigan over the top of it. I wore a supe cute black belt as an accessory at my waist over the cardigan. I also wore a black pinstripe pencil skirt with some 3 inch patent leather, pointed toe heels. You can't go wrong in a skirt, right? I was also lucky to have my hair appointment the morning of, and so that helped me not to have to worry about fussing over my hair. I also have to mention that my makeup artist skills were in full effect. I know the tricks of makeup and a good photo shoot. The key is wearing more, a little contouring, and a little more than I normally wear. My darling neighbor agreed to take Aidan for me and I was on my way. The whole way there I thought what in the world am I doing? Well, I arrived at the location, and when I walked toward the crew, feeling pretty confidant I might add, I realized that I was over-dressed, and the only girl with make-up on (there were four of us). What? After so many years I'm still amazed that girls don't love wearing make-up as much as I do..ha ha. Well, I was also the only one in a skirt. I brought my pants along with me, just in case. I felt panic and the need to go change quickly. I asked the girl in charge if I needed to change, and she said "No, you look perfect" Really, because I wanted to go and hide actually. One girl had on a long sleeved light blue button up shirt with black pants, the other a long sleeved white button up shirt with black pants, and the older lady did have a jacket over her long sleeved button up white shirt. And I also realized as I looked around the room, it was also not about "the cute people in business". Ha ha ha! Well, the photo shoot had barely just begun, and it was 4 women, and two men. Or I should say an Asian male, a caucasian male, an "older" woman, an African American woman, another caucasian female, and me..representing the "hispanic women in business" (that's what they said later in the photo shoot). Funny, seeing that I'm not at all in business, and actually quite far from it. Well, they called my name, and off I went. I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to do. The first little session was myself acting as the interviewee, being interviewd my the woman in her 50's at a desk. "Just talk to eachother" the photographer said. I'm like, okay I don't know you, and this is weird. But it got more comfortable and more fun. "Emmy, you're doing great", and "we need Emmy". Wow, talk about a self esteem booster. They kept wanting me front and center. Mind you I had to stand there smiling, pretending to be super confidant, in front of a crew of about 20 people just staring right back at me. The next session was the three women behind me at the desk conversing as if in a meeting, and me actually standing in front, posing at the camera. I actually, at times felt like bursting out into the giggles. I had to try to mentally remind myself to try and act professional..ha ha. After this session, the photographer had me in two photo sessions by myself. One where I was at "my" desk staring off into nothingness, pretending like I had just had the best idea. The camera just kept clicking like crazy, and the photographer said "Emmy you're doing great, "that's great".."when you hear the camera click this much it means you look good" Ahhhhh..I was just dying inside my head. It felt surreal. At one point I realized that they kept switching the way we were sitting, and kept putting me front and center. I was rather embarrassed after awhile, hoping they would leave me out of a few of the shoots. They did, and I was grateful for that. I wouldn't make a very good "real" model because all the attention would be quite uncomfortable for me.
Another photo shoot included myself and another lady sitting in chairs, in conversation, but we had to be using our hands. The photographer told me to relax, and said I was acting too much "Wow, I can act?" Hee hee. This was probably the most awkward photo shoot. One more shoot that I have to mention was myself and another person walking up and down the stairs, which we did like 2o times, I guess just to get the right shot.
After 2 hours, I had to leave the photo shoot early to go pick the kids up from school. They all thanked me quite graciously, and as I found myslef waiting for the elevator I ran into the manager. Before I go on, I need to mention that we all got paid at the beginning of the photo shoot..a big $50. Hey it was better than nothin'. So, she thanked me for coming and said "We wanted to give you this (handing me another $50), we all agreed that you did such a great job and we just wanted to let you know" Wow, what? I was like no, it's no big deal this was so fun. But she insisted and I was happily on my way. What a great compliment! And there you have it. It was really so much fun. And who knows where these pictures will end up, or if I will ever see them. I was told that they may be used for brochures, or maybe even a billboard...ahh, please let it just be for a small brochure.

Date night at Cold Stone.

We are "Mystery Shoppers" for Cold Stone Ice Cream in American Fork. We decided that since we have every week for three months to do this, we would let our kids choose a friend and take turns each week taking them. Madison took her friend Rachel last week, and they had a great time. I forgot to send Bryan with the camera. This week it was Aidan's turn and hewanted to take his "first" friend that he has ever had, Brian Trey, with us. These two boys are so stinking cute. Aidan as most people know is so quiet around everyone, but when he gets together with his friend he lets loose. There is nothing like two 3 year old boys in the ice cream store, big cute round eyes excited to get their ice cream. Next week it's Ethan's turn.