Are You Sure That's My Dog?

That's exactly what I asked the lady when I picked Wizzo up from the groomer. Obviously I knew it was him, but he doesn't even look like the same dog!!

Before...

After...

I seriously hated it the day it was done. It was just SO short! Although, the bandanna is too cute! I told them to take only an inch off all over and trim up his face a bit so his hair didn't hang so much over his eyes. Clearly, they didn't listen! It makes his face look so "boxy", and I miss his long hair! Next time I will be sure to tell the groomers that I was not happy with how it turned out this time. And now that it's so short, he probably won't need to go back until January! I'm not even kidding....it had been 2 months since his last groom, so he can go at least four.

But now, after uploading these pictures, his new 'do does look kinda cute. It was definitely long before. I still miss his darker hair, and I still think he looks like a different dog. It's amazing what a haircut can do!

Wilton Cake Decorating - Course 1, Class 4

Last night was our final class of Course 1. We learned how to make the rest of the Wilton Rose (which our instructor told us is called so because it has a certain number of petals). We also learned how to make ribbons, leaves, and sweet peas (so not as hard as they look!)

Here is my cake!

I think it turned out pretty good! I had a hard time doing roses at first, but my instructor recommended trying it with thinner icing. As soon as I did, they looked so much better! I was pretty happy that it was the icing and not my technique! Obviously, I could still use more practice, but for my first time ever putting roses on a cake, I'm happy.

The cake is red velvet from a box (hey...it's easy!), and I had a much harder time icing it this time without getting specks of cake in my icing, hence the little red dots you can see if you look closely. I'm not sure if it's because it was red velvet and my other cakes were white, or if I just didn't let them cool long enough in the pan or what. My instructor said she will usually do a "crumb coat" first and a second coat later if that happens.

I had a lot of fun in this class, plus I learned some pretty neat techniques! Course 2 is being offered in September, and I've already signed up! We learn more advanced decorating techniques, but I believe we only make one "Grand Finale" cake. It will be on Wednesday evenings, so look forward to those posts starting next week!

I HAVE A JOB!!!!

Edit: I'm not starting until Monday 8/31. Apparently this week is crazy with school starting, so to keep things a little less hectic for me and all the others involved, I'm starting next week after everything settles down and is a little more organized!


That's right, folks. You heard me correctly...I HAVE A JOB!!!!! And I start this Tuesday! Gone are my days of being a lazy bum--er, awesome housewife!

It's been almost a year since I have worked. My last day at the nursing home was 9/11/08, but I did work for them for 3 weeks again while Grant was at survival training. Still, it's been a long time. I'm a little nervous that I won't know what I'm doing, but then I remember that I'm going to be working with kids, and they won't be able to tell if I'm doing things right! ;) I'm sure it will be rocky for the first couple of weeks, but my supervisor will be there, and it will all come back...just like riding a bike!

I'm not 100% sure of where I'll be working, so I'll update about that after my first week. I believe it will be 2 days at a headstart, with a few home visits after that, and then 2 days of office visits and traveling to homes and daycares. As much as I'd love to be in one place and not have to lug all my materials around, I think it will be nice to be constantly changing. It'll make the day go faster, and (hopefully!) I'll never get bored!

Wish me luck! I'm going to be a big girl again! :)

Wilton Cake Decorating - Course 1, Class 3

Our third class was on the 17th, and I really enjoyed this one! Again, I had a hard time smoothing my icing on the cake, so I'm going to have to work on that for next time.

We learned how to make the shell (which I also learned in 4-H, but forgot how to do), figure piping (for faces and 3 dimensional shapes and such), and drop star and swirl flowers. The flowers looked a lot more difficult than they were. It was tough to do them on the side of the cake though.

We also learned the second part of the rose, which was the rose center. It's a darn pain to practice them too, because you have to change tips just for one measly (sp?) little step! Anyway, our instructor also showed us part of the final step, the 3 inside petals. Mine didn't look too bad, but my petals definitely weren't spread out enough. Practice, practice, practice I guess!

I made the flower cake (as opposed to the clown cake...it was just weird...although I'll admit that the people who did it in class made it look cute), and I was really proud of this one! My border came out really nice, and the flowers weren't too bad. I added the dots to spruce it up. Cute, eh? ;)

Close-up of the shell border and the swirl drop flowers.

I made a white cake and decided to layer it with strawberry preserves....it was delicious!! :)

Next week is our final class, where we can do a rose cake or sweet peas. I'm planning on the rose cake, unless they would come out looking terrible! I'll be sure to post pictures of how it turns out!

Wilton Cake Decorating - Course 1, Class 2

Our second class was on the 10th, and we were required to bring a cake already iced to class. Mom brought a funfetti cake that she wasn't going to use (mmm funfetti...my fav!), so I decided to make that. It was a 2 layer cake with the buttercream icing in between. I don't have any pictures of the cake sliced because I sent it to work with Grant and the guys gobbled it up!

Anyway, in class we learned how to make stars, curving lines, and zigzags with tip 16. We also learned how to print, write (cursive), outline, and make dots with tip 3. The final thing we learned was the first step of The Wilton Rose, oh la la! ;) It is broken down into 3 parts to make it easier to learn, and it is a good thing, because it is much harder than it looks!! Tonight we just learned the rose base, which is basically a dollop of icing that looks like a hershey kiss on the flower nail.

We had time at the end of class to start decorating our cake! Our course book explains all of the techniques and shows a few cakes we can make. I chose the rainbow cake (the other choice was a teddy bear shaped cake) and had iced it with blue buttercream. Let me tell you...it is sure hard to get your icing super smooth on the cake! Since I didn't color the rest of my icing before class, I had to spend time doing that, so I didn't finish decorating before class was over. I came home and finished, and added a name. Happy Birthday Sammy!! (p.s. Sammy is entirely fictional...Grant was not helping with creative names that night, so Sammy made it onto the cake.)

Stars are pretty easy to do...that is the one thing I remembered from my 4-H days. My favorite part was learning the zigzag! That's what the clouds are made out of, and I think they are adorable! :) My printing is pretty sloppy...still have some work to do on that!

Close-up of the stars!

Next week, we have to bring another 8" cake iced with whatever color we want. We can make a clown cake (with actual clown head figurines you can buy...ummm creepy!) or a drop flower cake. I think I'll be making the flower cake!

Oh and here is the buttercream recipe we use:

Class Buttercream Icing (Stiff Consistency) - Yields 3 cups

1 c. solid white vegetable shortening

1 tsp Wilton flavor (vanilla, almond, or butter)

2 Tbsp milk or water (I use water)

1 lb (approx 4 c.) pure cane confectioners' sugar

1 Tbsp Wilton Meringue Powder

Cream shortening, flavoring, and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend an additional minute or so, until creamy.

To change consistency, you simply add 1 Tbsp to the stiff recipe to make medium or 2 Tbsp to stiff to make thin. We decorate with medium and ice the cake with thin.

Wilton Cake Decorating - Course 1, Class 1

My latest adventure has been taking cake decorating classes! I've known that these courses tend to be offered at craft stores, so I checked at our Micheal's here in town and was happy to hear that they were offering Course 1 starting in August! I've had experience with cake decorating in the past (I took it as a 4-H project back in the day!), but don't remember a lot of the specific techniques. I thought this would be a great opportunity to learn more skills, and who knows, maybe someday I can have my own business!! (a little ambitious I know, but hey, a girl can hope...) :)

Anyway, so my first day of class was August 3. We learned the basics of decorating, like how to make the icing, how to fill icing bags, and how to torte (cut in half/make level) and ice a cake. It was pretty simple stuff, and most of it I already knew, but it was a nice refresher. We also learned which supplies we'll need for the class.

I found some 50% off coupons to use for supplies, so I made a list of what I wanted to get and what I needed in addition to the supplies I already had at home. I ended up buying this 101 piece kit and using a 50% off coupon. Even though it was expensive, I justified it by using the coupon and by adding up the cost of everything I would need that is already in the kit. It was going to be more expensive to buy everything separately, plus I got things in the kit that I wouldn't have normally bought! It's awesome!! :)

(sorry...I don't have a picture of my kit, so this will have to do!)

The next class we are to bring in an 8" iced cake, and we'll be decorating it in class!

Pet the Jet

Yes, it was called "Pet the Jet" because, well, you could literally pet the jet if you wanted. The squadron held this little event for Grant's class and their families since they would be heading over to the flying squadron soon (as opposed to the training squadron). There was pizza in the bar for everyone, and the Squadron Commander talked for a bit. We then went to a classroom where an Instructor Pilot briefed us about the F-15E's capabilities...well the unclassified stuff anyway! He also showed us some videos of the jet dropping some bombs. We then were allowed to go out on the flight line to get up close and personal with the Strike Eagle!!!

Engines

Seymour Johnson AFB tail flash!

See the missles?!?

You can see just how big the wheels are!

Radar!

Intakes

Can't believe he is flying this!!! So awesome!

Looking out over the wing.

Wing patch

Squadron patch

Underneath!

Cockpit

He's excited for his first flight! :)

Missles and Bomb bays

Hubby :)

More Visitors!!

Mom and Rick came to visit from the 7th-10th, and we were happy to have them! They got in on Friday a little before lunch, so we waited for Grant to come home from work and we went to Schlotzsky's Deli for some sandwiches. Later we stopped at the commissary and then hurried home to unload the groceries and change before heading to Grant's squadron for Pet the Jet! (Look for details about that in another post!) After that, we came home and sat on the deck talking for a while.

Mom & Rick in front of the F-15E Strike Eagle!

Family photo!

On Saturday, we decided to head to Raleigh to check out the area. Our first stop was the State Farmer's Market, where we had lunch at the State Farmer's Market Restaurant. Grant and I had some Carolina BBQ pork, which was different from the "normal" barbecue taste, but pretty yummy! It had a sweet taste, but then a tangy taste. I liked how it changed flavors. At the restaurant, they had the state's largest watermelon, so of course we had to get a picture with it! :)
After browsing through some of the vendors' stands and picking up some delicious kettle corn, we decided to head out. It wasn't the best day for adventuring outside, since it was about 100 degrees outside that weekend! Anyway, we then headed to the Raleigh Rose Garden, where they have a ton of different roses. They were really pretty, and I thought it was neat that they all smelled different! Unfortunately, it was just too hot to enjoy them for long. There was a couple having a little picnic under the gazebo...it was cute! :)

Saturday evening we headed to a Mexican restaurant downtown that we had heard was good, and it was! Sunday morning, Mom & Rick picked up some Krispy Kreme donuts (mmm!), and we hung out around the house (Grant went to the squadron to study). That afternoon, Mom & I headed into town to do some errands, and then we came back and grilled brats and chicken. We also had corn on the cob and some watermelon. It was probably the best meal we had all weekend, haha! They left Monday shortly after lunch, and luckily were able to see a few planes take off and fly over our house!

It was good to see them, and we'd love to have more visitors!!! Thanks for coming Mom & Rick!

Long Overdue!!

Instead of making separate posts for all of the topics/pictures/events I want to write about, I figured I'd just do one big post. So here goes! Basically the last month in a "nutshell"!

Our friends Grant and Stacey (Grant went to ONU with Grant) were married in Columbus on July 11th, so we made the drive up there to celebrate with them! We got in late Friday night and met up with Grant's parents who drove down to spend some time with us for the next morning. We went to Max & Erma's for lunch on Saturday, then had to get back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. Unfortunately, it was raining most of the day, but that didn't stop anyone from celebrating! They had a shuttle bus to take us from the hotel to the reception, where we had delicious food and fun times! Dustin & Dannielle (another one of Grant's ONU friends) shared the hotel room with us for the night. We took off Sunday morning to drive back to NC.

The guys didn't have class on Friday, July 24, so we decided to take off to Atlantic Beach in Morehead City with some friends. We had a good time playing football, splashing around, and making a sandcastle! Then a storm blew in and our beach umbrella was blowing down the beach. Thanks to Justin for his speedy skills catching it! Luckily, no one got hit!!

On Saturday, the 25th, I flew from Raleigh to Cincinnati for my friend Jenny's wedding. I went to undergrad at Miami with Jenny (which is also where she met Chad, her new husband!), so I was excited to catch up with old friends. My flight was an hour late arriving because a storm cell was right over Cinci. So, we circled in the air for an hour! Needless to say, it was so nice to finally land and get off the plane. Here is my rental car for the weekend:

They smashed cake!

I got to catch up with Amy!

Congratulations to the beautiful couple!!

FANTASTIC candy buffet!!! Loved it. :)

Always a good time catching up with these crazy girls!

Whew, that was July. I think I'll do another post for August. :)