Hello Again!

Well. This is awkward.

How long's it been? 6 months or so?

OVER A YEAR YOU SAY!?

Well. I do apologize for my absence. And you see, I can't even promise how long I'll stick around this time. I'm very hard to pin down you know. Elusive. Mysterious.

 

In the grand scheme of life I am like that umbrella in the picture. Did you really expect me to say the figure of the person in the picture? How mysterious would I be if I were that predictable. 

Anyways, let's not spend time discussing our past year. Let's just say life has happened and is happening and will continue to happen. Let's just stick with the present. 

HAHA JK. 

Like I'm not going to gush about the most perfect baby that has ever been. 

 

 GUISE. She's not even a baby anymore. She's a rambunctious toddler. The time, it does fly. I am constantly amazed and awed by Noelle. She's SO SMART, so sweet, so funny, so sneaky, so caring, and so damn cute. I am a little more in love with her every day. Tom and I, we got hella lucky with her.

As for myself, I'm now officially going to school full time, working full time, and being a full time wife/mother. So I am busy. Really busy. 

That whole school thing, I'm finally doing at nearly 32 what I should have done at 18, and I'm in the Middle Grades Education program. Hopefully I'll be a middle school history teacher in not too many years. 

The work thing, I'm not loving, but I am loving the fact that it's work. And I'm getting paid. I am very very happy, with all the crap I've been through, to have a job at all. Especially one that allows so much flexibility. However, it's not all sunshine and roses, but when is it ever. 

I lost my grandfather in August and I've been doing an excellent job of pushing that thought to the back of my head. So I'm not quite ready to think about that and come to terms with it. Possibly because I'm afraid of all the tears and perhaps not being able to stop. It's not helping that my grandmother is having a lot of medical issues and is in and out of the hospital these recent months. So. Real shit is happening and I'm not cool with thinking about it. 

To summarize the past year: LIFE. IT HAPPENED. 

Happenings

I've been busy you guys. Sunday-Wednesday nights are filled with either baking delicious treats for the Uptown Umbrella Market or actually being at the Market. Then Thursday is trivia night. Friday is ladies night. Saturday I crash. Sunday it all begins again. Along with working a full time desk job. Lately, I've even been skipping trivia to have a few hours to myself and go to bed early. 

I love it though. I love trying out new recipes. I love going to the Umbrella Market. I love having awesome feedback from strangers that enjoy my treats. I love it all. I don't love the 12 year old that's the Market manager this year (ok she's maybe 19, but NO OLDER than 21). She's a bit (ok a lot) annoying. It's the fake bubbly that makes my palms itch to smack her. Anyways, in all, I'm having fun. 

I'm not exactly making any money though. Each Wednesday I have to spend $20 ($10 for the table and another $10 for the umbrella) and then I have to give the market 10% of what I make. So then, once I pay all that out, what I have left is pretty much just covering the cost of the ingredients that I put into it. That should start turning around now though. I'm going to be buying my own table this week and in a couple more weeks I'll get my own umbrella too. 

I'm not too worried about making money at this point. I figure in a month I should be bringing it in. Each week (I've gone twice now) is teaching me more and more. My baking is getting more streamlined, my costs are evening out. I'm still having a ton of fun. 

You know how I said I've been having fun trying new things? Here's some of my favorite things:

Lemon Basil cupcakes. I originally made these for my friend's birthday. I then fell in love with them. Everyone is a little apprehensive at first, but then they try them and realize it's nothing to be scared of. Light and fluffy basil cake with a smooth lemon frosting- delicious!

S'mores cupcakes!! Graham cracker cake with marshmallow fluff filling, chocolate ganache spread, and then marshmallow topping- pop it in the over to toast the tops and HOLYHELL DELICIOUS. It's also ridiculously messy. Worth it. 

This I just made last night- Mini Oreo cheesecakes! The crust is an Oreo cookie. I mean, yes. 

Happy Friday!

I've been busy ya'll. I have spent more time behind my adorable pink Kitchenaid mixer than ever before and so I have been neglecting my blog. Sorry. I'll try to do better. 

Until then, enjoy the Hamburgler doing what he does best. 

It made me LOL.

It's Friday!

I'm not dead. I've just been tired, working, busy cuddling my Noelle, and uninspired. I'll be back. Gimme a minute!