Cuteness Alert

What I am about to show you is so cute you may just squeal with delight. That's what I was doing when I made these little babies on Wednesday night. What are you about to see? Let me tell you, I recently started experimenting with cake balls, like really recently, like last week. I've heard so many things about them and they always sounded wonderful but things always came up in the way of me making them. What pushed me over the edge, Bakerella's blog. She makes cake pops and they are SO darn cute! I saw them and she keeps making them and finally I'd had enough. I had to enter the world of cake pops too. So, I started off by experimenting with just cake balls, I thought that'd be an easy start. I made a dark chocolate fudge cake (didn't realize when I purchased the cake mix that it was dark chocolate---umm, duh! in the name of the cake-- I just thought it was like VERY chocolately, and the point is I don't like dark chocolate-- wow! what a run-on... anyway), mixed in homemade chocolate buttercream frosting, and then dipped them in vanilla almond bark. Let me tell you what--these little gems were DEEEE-licious! And I guess other people thought so too because someone asked me to make two more batches for them. Yay! Well the Metochai business fair was coming up (that's why I originally wanted to do some practicing) and I had decided I wanted to give away cake pops at my table. So after the success with my first "draft" of cake balls, I decided to try a new combination--one of my new favorites-- yellow cake with chocolate. For the cake pops I used yellow cake, cream cheese frosting, and chocolate almond bark. I don't normally buy almond bark outside of the holidays, so I had forgotten how wonderful it was! I discovered I could probably just eat it with a spoon...mmmmmm...(probably not the best discovery to make)but I knew these had a very good chance of being even more awesome than my first combo. I had sent hubby to the store to purchase styrofoam so my little pops had a chance to dry, nice and smooth-- let me tell you what, it worked like a charm! My cake balls had always had pools of almond bark around them, and bubbles, etc. But check out these litte beauts...


Aren't they just precious? I think I found my new favorite thing to make... at least for awhile :-)


Of course I had to try one!


Hungry now? You should try to make them soon. Everyone will love them at the holidays. If you need a recipe or tips or anything, just let me know and I'd be happy to share what has worked for me so far. Happy Thanksgiving!

Accomplishments

Last night I did a 4 mile run in 44' 18". I felt pretty great the whole time and didn't have to do any of my gross, loud, pacing breathing. I use that type of breathing a lot when I'm really pushing myself and need to keep getting enough air. But not last night! I could run with my mouth closed even part of the time. A year ago, I'm pretty sure I couldn't have felt that good for a 4 mile run, but I am truly grateful I can enjoy it now. I love to be outside on a beautiful day and just enjoy God's creation and spend some time talking with Him. It's a great outlet after a long day at work. I pray that I will continue to be healthy and strong and enjoy running for many years to come. So not only was my run in 44 minutes an accomplishment, I also walked for 2.5 miles bringing my grand total for the day to... 6.5 miles. Woohoo! Half marathon here I come.

Happy Halloween!

Well today was the day of my 5K with Davita Kidney Awareness. If I remember correctly, this is the 4th one I've done. I have done 2 10Ks which don't count in that total. It wasn't as big a group as some races I've been too, but it was still a lot of fun. My goal this time was to complete the race in less than 30 min. (my previous 5K had been 32 min. plus some seconds). It was a beautiful day for a race and I was feeling pretty good and my time was... 29' 28". I was so excited! I couldn't believe I had done it. I've been struggling with getting faster than a 10 minute mile for a long time, so I was very happy with how things went. A friend from work was so nice and drove me to the race and home. We had a great time with her and her family! She did an awesome job too-- this was her first 5K ever and she did it in 32 minutes her first try. Great Job! I'm going to download a couple of pictures on here to show you how much fun we had. Now off to spend some time with hubby-- shopping, dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, and a movie. What a Saturday!

Thursday

It's been a little while since I've blogged, so I thought I'd put something up here for those of you who check in on me from time to time. I've been doing quite a bit of baking recently and it has been great-- a thank you cake, baby shower cupcakes, and snickerdoodles. And this week I've made blueberry muffins and birthday cupcakes and tonight I'm getting together with a friend and making Oreo Truffles and PB Chocolate Chip cookies for our bosses (yes, we missed the official Bosses' Day last week, but we figure it's the thought -and baked goods- that count). Other than that, there's not anything to wow your socks off, so I will attempt to find an exciting youtube video of sorts. Ok, so I decided to add this youtube video. It's a new song we're going to be doing at Metochai this month and I really like it! Enjoy!

God is great, God is good...

and I truly thank Him for our food. I have a pretty sweet story today, so I really wanted to share it with everyone. I'm just always amazed when God provides in such visible ways, I'm a visual learner, so actually seeing things happen is powerful for me!
When Hubby and I came to Seminary we knew we would probably struggle financially, plus we were straight out of college and pretty much newly weds (who gets paid well at that point in life anyway, right?). We've had our ups and downs with our jobs this past year and we're definitely thankful for our current jobs. Still, we pinch and save and do what we can to get by and still be able to enjoy our time here. So the seminary does a really cool thing for its students, every Tuesday they give away free food on campus. FREE FOOD! How wonderful is that? Most times, I don't go that often, I mean, there are families who have multiple children and only one person working( and sometimes only part-time!) and I'm sure they probably have less than we do, so I feel that they should always get first dibs, and sometimes I'll go later in the day and if there happens to be leftovers, I don't mind taking. But last night I had decided to go and just get some bread because we were out and weren't planning on going to the grocery store for as long as we can last. So after chapel today, I went outside and decided to walk for 30 min. and let the crowd get through and then I'd head over there. Well I had been going about 20 min. when it started sprinkling and eventually started raining pretty good. So I thought, "Well maybe I'll just go after work and see if there's anything left. Surely that'd be ok." But a little voice said, "No, go ahead and go now." And I was like, "Are you sure? I mean, really it's raining, I'd rather just stay inside and not get more wet and check it later. Isn't that ok?" And I really felt the urging to just go on over. So I went inside grabbed my gold card and a little bag and walked on over in the rain. I went in the RAC, the girl swiped my card, and I walked on back. There was nobody left getting food and as I walked toward the table, I started smiling because I was pretty sure I knew what I was seeing. Can you guess it? One loaf of bread. (Agh! And now there's tears in my eyes! What's that about?) So I walked up to the table put the bread in my bag and knew in my heart that God had provided for us yet again. I just have to continue listening. How amazing! Give us this day our daily bread--and He did! Jehovah Jireh!

Kidney Awareness

Hey Everybody [well, I think there might be 4 of you ;-)]
So I figure if I have a blog, I should try to update at least once a week if I possibly can. Since I made you miss out on the wonderful word of the week on Sunday, I will at least put something up here. Anyway, you might wonder about the title of this post... do you? Are you? If you are, I will explain. I've been looking into doing the Cowtown Half Marathon come February 2010, so I decided to find a run for the Fall so I could have a little goal to work towards before my big one. So I was looking and looking and there were ones that were nearby, but they were raising money for their local YMCA or something or other. There were ones far away with really good causes that I'd love to run for and raise money for, but, as stated, they were too far away. So I searched and found a race on October 31st with the DaVita Kidney Awareness (and it's only 15 minutes away!). I don't know much about kidney disease and I don't really know anyone in my family who has that problem, but according to their statistics, 90% of the people who have kidney disesase don't even know. WOW! That's a little scary. I thought this could be a good race that I'd like to raise money for and it'd also give me about 5 weeks to prepare for it. I'm pretty excited because this is one of the first Fall races I've done and one of my friends here at work is going to do it with me. She is new at running and doing so awesome! Anyway, I'm looking to raise $25-$50 to contribute that day, so if you're interested you can donate or you can provide encouragement as I train or you can just pray that we all have a safe run that day. I just wanted to get the word out there and let you all know what I'm up to this month. I'm pretty excited!
Here's the link if you're interested learning more about the runs. They hold several across the country each year. https://www.kidneyawarenesstime.org/eventhome.php?WalkathonID=149 If you are interested in donating, you can do it on-line. Just contact me first so I can help lead you through the process. I'll be excited to post in about a month to let you know how it went. Au revoir!
P.S. Since we're on the topic I thought I'd find a kidney tip for you. From the DaVita site (why didn't I think to look there first?), here are the top 15 foods for people with kidney disease to eat, so it's probably good for everyone right? Here you go:
1. Red Bell Peppers
2. Cabbage
3. Cauliflower
4. Garlic
5. Onions
6. Apples
7. Cranberries
8. Blueberries
9. Raspberries
10. Strawberries
11. Cherries
12. Red Grapes
13. Egg Whites
14. Fish
15. Olive Oil

*clink* there's a toast to the health of all our kidneys! Untiil next time...

Autumn!

Well it's officially Fall now and I love it! This day has been amazing outside and I wish I could spend so much more time outdoors. Even here in Texas, I love it. Why do I love the Fall? Well let me count thy ways...
I love the fall because
it's starting to get cool enough to wear sweatshirts and jeans, but you don't have to wear a coat or shiver when you go outside.
great smelling candles like cinnamon vanilla and sweet apple filled tarts (I have these!)
the warm foods like apple crisp and chili
going to pumpkin patches and on hayrack rides
driving with the windows down
chilly mornings and warm afternoons
starting up another new school year and seeing old friends
you can turn off the air conditioner in the apartment!
making warm drinks like chai tea and hot chocolate
raking up leaves and jumping in the piles (I wish I could do this still, maybe in a few years...)
caramel apples
fall festivals and fairs
football season
all the pretty leaves on the trees

I love that God created all the seasons-- what a wonderful and amazing thing to do! Every day that I can spend outside, I thank Him for His creation and let Him know how very much I appreciate all He has blessed me with. Happy Autumn everyone!