Birthday Cake

You may or may not know this, but in some of my spare time, or not so spare, I decorate cakes. I do not have a business of any sorts but most of my requests are through word of mouth. I have done a couple of wedding/anniversary cakes, but I prefer normal birthday or sheet cakes.

All of that being said, I have a couple of loyal customers that seem to always come back for more. Take for instance, Dana, a co-worker of mine. I have made 7 cakes for her now (including the two you are about to see). So, she must like something about my cakes!!

Anyway, her son will be 3 Monday so she asked me... about a month ago... to make his cake. She ordered the invitations, plates, and all the goodies for his airplane themed party and made sure I got one of the plates so that I could use it as a template. I am soo glad that she reminded me yesterday morning about bringing the finished products in today because at that moment, they had slipped my mind! I mean she did ask me to do them a month ago! ;) I posted the finished products on my Facebook page this evening thinking that she wouldn't see them because I forgot that she just learned how to use Facebook on her blackberry that she has had for a really long time now. However, I am so glad that she did because this is the comment I received:

"Best cake so far! It is absolutely perfect!!!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!! :) oh you have made my day! YaY!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And that, my friends, is why I do this:

Happy Valentine's Day

From my Dad. He surprised me today at work and brought me this! :) Love!

Hum de dum...

I have a bit of a disclaimer for this posting. I started this last Wednesday and just hadn't gotten back around to working on it. I am a bit frustrated because I am having a lot of issues with writers block. I really enjoy writing, but I feel like I have so many different things to write about that they all just jumble together and make me draw huge blanks. I want to post some pictures really bad but I will be honest and say I just don't want to drag out my laptop to take them off of my camera to then put them on a CD to then take that some place that has the internet and up-load them. Am I just lazy? Hmm... I am not going to answer that one! :)

Anyways... here's the post:

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17 ESV

I am not sure what to post today. I have Jackson’s birthday “stuff” that I need to catch you up on, but I will have to do that this weekend. I have his birthday letter and his birthday picture and pictures from his party.

So, to maybe prompt some thought, I went to verseoftheday.com and James 1:17 is what I found. Recently, I have realized that a lot of my conversations and thoughts have really centered on God’s timing. So often when we want something or think that we NEED something, we rush to God and expect him to jump. Now. That is just not the case. I have been praying hard a lot about settling down and allowing God to help me understand that I AM NOT in control.

Currently, Wayne and I are doing a Crown Ministries Financial Bible Study. I have mentioned many times before about us trying to get our finances in order. This bible study has really shed some light on what God says about our finances. Did you know there are OVER 2,000 verses about finances and money? Apparently God really though this was a huge topic that really needed a lot of clarification! And boy do I need it! However, not only do I need it, I need to heed to it!! It's not going to matter if I just know what the Bible says, I need to practice it.

I know that God will get us through this time of struggle with our finances. I also believe that he will bless us along the way for taking the extra effort to get ourselves out of this mess. Oh, I just can't wait to finish with all this!

So, can you tell what is on my brain non-stop these days? If not, reference the last 2 postings as well as this one...

Sacrificing

So, I really kinda felt bad about posting such a deep post last week. I really have had some time to soak it in and have some prayer over it. You know, our God is an amazing God and in a lot of ways I was reminded of that today at church.

In Sunday School, the topic was sacrificial giving and we had a lot of conversation around what people today consider sacrificial giving. The one thing that kept popping in my head was the giving of my time for others and/or in service of Christ. We also went over the scripture that tells of the poor woman giving all that she had and how God blessed her.

We began having conversation around considering others needs over our wants. The teacher also mentioned that we do have to understand that because our flesh may really want something, it doesn't mean that it is what we need. A question was presented from the teacher..."What are you praying for?" "Are you praying for a specific desire or are you praying for God's will in your life?" God is our father and he really does know what is best for our lives. He sees the whole picture just as our earthly parents tend to know the difference in our needs and wants.

I find myself, all too often, praying for my own desires. I need to understand that my desires may not necessarily be what's best for me and my family. I need to become more humble and really consider the whole picture in some areas of my life. Again, God really does know what is best for me. I just need to take the time to listen to what he has to say.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Why is it?

Why is it that when I feel like I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel, it just seems to get pitch black again? At the drop of a hat…

I am really struggling this week. I am going to be blatantly honest with my posting today. I will probably let this one sit in the drafts folder for a while before it actually gets posted, because I am really laying my heart out. Almost being too open but this is my outlet. This is my open table. This is where I can just put my feelings out there and hope that most of you will just say a silent prayer for me. I worry a lot about what I put on this blog because, c’mon people, it’s the internet. I have NO idea who is reading this. Yes, I may see that I only have 5 followers but really they are the only ones that are willing to admit that they read my postings.

At the beginning of January, I made a commitment with myself, my husband and God that I would try harder to handle our finances better. We are trying to cut out all unnecessary monthly expenses and I think we have done all the “cutting out” that we can do. I am so sick and tired of living pay check to pay check. Do I know that I am not the only one that does this? Yes, of course I do, but I absolutely hate it. Yes, hate is a very strong word and I just don’t throw it out, but that is the word that has to be used here.

As we are coming upon the later part of January it seems as though our efforts are paying off just a little bit – efforts meaning cooking dinner at home every night, taking my lunch, not driving all over the place for unnecessary reasons. I think we have a very small nest egg (I am talking more like a tadpole egg) in our checking account until we get paid the next time. This would be considered our “light at the end of the tunnel”.

And then, a birthday for a special little man in our lives arrives. I thank God every day for the blessing that he gave us through Jackson. He means more to me than words could ever express. I will tell you that we haven’t been giving extravagant gifts to Jackson. Honestly, we just can’t afford it. And I know that he doesn’t care what he gets at this age, but as his mom, I want to be able to do everything for him.

So, yesterday on my lunch break, I ventured to Target to get his birthday party stuff. I was able to get him 2 toys and an outfit. Is that plenty, yes. And I am satisfied with my purchases, at this point, but to see my receipt. TO SEE MY RECEIPT!! I just cry. A co-worker of mine tells me not to worry, everything will work out. I know that it will. It is hard for it to sink in – especially when I don’t want to spend any money at all.

Then, I make a call to Jackson’s doctor because he has a horrible cough that is not getting better. It also sounds a little bit like croup. I was thinking that they could just send a prescription in to the pharmacy and we would be good. No, gotta take him in… especially if it is croup because he will have to get breathing treatments as well as maybe a steroid… another co-pay… on top of the costs of the prescriptions.

So, our tadpole egg has been cut in half and we still have another week before pay day. Now is where I would insert “pitch black”. Again. It is a never-ending cycle.

I am really not complaining, just venting. I know that we got ourselves in this situation on our own but we have to get out of it… and it will just take time and a lot of will power and prayer to get out of it. It is a lot like dieting, I guess.

I will need to take a few moments to reflect on the blessings through this.

1) Jackson is here and we are able to celebrate another birthday with him.
2) For the most part, he has been a very healthy baby/child.
3) We able to have very good insurance that covers the majority of our medical expenses.
4) We both have JOBS!

It really all could be worse. It is my prayer that I am able to overcome this darkness and see the blessings that do outweigh all of this. Thank you all for “listening”. Even all of you who don’t want me to know that you are “following” me. :)

A little bit of worry...

So, tonight, I have a little bit of worry on my heart. I mentioned in a previous posting that my mom would be in Israel for Jackson's birthday party. Well, she left yesterday. This is definitely a once in a lifetime trip. I am so glad that she is able to travel as she does. She absolutely loves it. Many have asked if this is a mission trip and no, not specifically. This is actually a pleasure trip that an evangelist was heading up. There were about 25 people going but she was the only one from this area. She left from our local airport last night around 8 pm and was headed to Atlanta,GA where she was going to meet up with the rest of the group. The flight from Atlanta was going to be non-stop to Tel Aviv.

Usually when she goes away, she gives me a full itinerary including the hotel information. Last night before, I went to bed, I realized that I didn't get either of these things before she left. So, I am not sure if she made it there or not. With the 6 hour time difference it is hard for us to make phone contact as well. I did hear her say that she will probably have Wi-Fi in her hotel, so now I am just waiting on the email, blog posting, or note on Facebook telling everyone that she is okay. Mom, if you are reading this and you attempt to call, please call my cell, I will keep it with me all the time.

Until I hear from her, I will just have to continue to pray for her that she remains safe.

Bamboo-ology

Kristin Byrum is a college friend of mine that now has two photography businesses with her husband Aaron. One is a wedding photography business called Kristin Byrum Photography and the other is Bamboo Studios. She and her husband have been in photography for about 6 years now.

After many, many questions from inquiring minds about how photography really works and how should someone get started, Aaron decided to have a photography workshop this past Saturday. My mom purchased a seat in the workshop for me for Christmas. I was so excited about going. Not only to get more information about photography but to also catch up with Kristin and Aaron. I hadn't seen them in several years. I had a WONDERFUL visit and ended up learning a lot in the workshop. We were able to have a model and practice some shooting. Here are just a couple of my shots. Once I edit my others I will try and get them posted.


I think this one is a bit over exposed, but I love the dramatic effect of it all.

Love these even though her face looks washed out... the sun just gave us too much light... I am glad that I was able to join in on Bamboo-ology. I hope there are additional classes in the future. Just have to practice a WHOLE lot before then so that I can gain some added skills! Thanks Aaron and Kristin!