Grand Finale Cake

Tonight I had my final cake decorating class of Course 2. Next week, I move onto Course 3. Course 2 was a bit different than the previous one, in that we didn't make a cake every week. This time, we used everything we learned to make one grand finale cake. Here's a breakdown of the process...

First, I baked a simple yellow cake mix (I like Duncan Hines). Then, I leveled each layer.



I filled it with raspberry preserves...

plopped the layers together...

put on a crumb coat with buttercream icing made from scratch...

decorated it with flowers and birds made from royal icing and...

Voila! Here's my final cake!

Not too bad, huh?

The Writing's On the Wall...Literally

I know, I know...I've been MIA for a few weeks. Getting back into the swing of things after spring break was more difficult than I anticipated...lots of things going on.

One thing we've done in the past few weeks is create our own whiteboard on one of the walls in the bonus room. A few months ago, Don found something called Idea Paint online. Basically, it's paint that turns any wall into a whiteboard. We ordered a small can, but unfortunately for us, the company had just been featured on "Good Morning, America" and were completely sold out of paint. It was put on back order, and we finally received it not too long ago (P.S. This company rocks...since we had to wait so long, they sent us a MUCH larger can to compensate us for the wait). Anyways, we followed the directions (it's about a week-long process) and voila...

we have a whiteboard on our wall! It seriously works as well as (actually better than) the whiteboards in my classroom.

After we painted the wall, we decided to buy and stain some molding to use as a frame and ledge. I love how it turned out!

I promise I'll be back sooner rather than later with more posts. Have a terrific weekend!

Easter Yumminess

I decided to make a special Easter cake to take with us to South Bend this year. HOURS later, here's what I came up with...

Have a fantastic week!

Final Four Festivities

Last Friday, Don and I spent the day downtown getting Final Four fever. Indianapolis is hosting the Final Four this year, and our hometown team, the Butler Bulldogs made it to the Final Four (and now into the National Championship game tonight). Of course, the city is going particularly crazy since the Bulldogs are in it.

Anyways, they had all sorts of festivities going on at Lucas Oil Stadium (where the Indianapolis Colts play) and the Convention Center.




Ah, how I miss football season...

Unfortunately, we just missed Butler's open practice, but we did see West Virginia and Michigan State practice. Too bad Michigan State lost to Butler in the Final Four :)

Here's Don, wearing his Butler shirt, while standing in front of the Michigan State practice...

Butler already beat the Spartans...now they just need to kick some Blue Devil butt!

Go Dawgs!

Bulldogs and Easter

First off, I need to say congratulations to the Butler Bulldogs who are headed to the National Championship game right here in Indianapolis tomorrow. I spent my freshmen year at Butler, and even though I graduated a Hoosier, Butler holds a special place in my heart. Besides, let's be honest, IU hasn't stood a chance in the tournament in awhile so Butler's the next best thing...and a much better Cinderella story!

Hoosier and I got dressed up for the game...he did NOT like this one bit.

P.S. I'll be posting more Final Four pics soon. We spent Saturday in downtown where all the festivities are going on.

And, of course, a big Happy Easter to everyone! I truly hope everyone has a blessed, joyful day. We are headed up to South Bend in a couple of hours to spend some time with our families. I hope you all get to do the same.

Saying Goodbye

On Thursday, we spent most of the day with some of our best friends, the Gosney's, because they are moving to Ohio. Kim and I have known each other for several years through work, and over that time, our husbands have become very good friends as well. We always have a blast hanging out with them, and we love their girls like our own.

We spent the day hanging out at their house then we all went out for dinner. The girls ended up at Eddy's in Geist, one of our favorite restaurants. The guys decided to head up to Anderson to a barbeque joint. Afterwards, we all met back at the house for wine, beer and lots of talking.

Kim, baby Anna and me...




One of my favorite girls, Olivia...

The whole crew (Don, me, Kim, Steve)...

Kim and me...

Oh, how we will miss them, but we hope they are so happy back in Ohio!

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Actually, it's more like "Here Yesterday, Gone Today," but that just didn't sound as good! What am I talking about??

The hot tub that was in our backyard (that didn't work)...

is GONE!



I put it up on Craigslist for free and over 100, yes 100!, e-mails later, poof! Someone came and took it away. Now we just have to get these ugly pavers out of here and plant some grass seed. It's amazing how much bigger our (already big) yard looks!