Catching Up

Ok ok, I'm a little behind on my blogging. So for those of you who actually check my blog, please don't give up on me yet! Lately I've been nailing down wedding details, and getting excited for it more and more every day. That's a lot of excitement for one person to handle! Right now I'm looking forward to my family shower the most. A few of Hans' family members are flying out just for my shower, including his sister from Croatia, mom from Florida and aunt from Northern California. I feel so honored already! I can't believe I'm marrying a man with a bigger family than me! I'm so thrilled to see everyone and be the reason for these families to come together. It's all very exciting!

Below are some pictures from recent events in my life.


A meeting of the brilliant wedding minds here. Joy is in the yellow. She's my wedding angel, and the owner of Portefleur, along with Mike, her singing waiter husband.


Family trip to San Diego. Hans and I took this picture right as a bug flew in his face. Now quite a famous bug, really.


This is my brother David and his wife, Rachel. They have been in Washington for the past 10 days working at a kids summer camp as well as checking out the area for the possibility of moving there. Welcome home David and Rachel!!!!

Lessons in Frosting

This past weekend my cousin, Brianna, and I served a meal and a dessert to 85 8th graders and their families. (Grand total: 220 people.) Brianna is a chef and caters events like this often enough to know how many bags of green beans we need, and when enough rice pilaf is enough. Since Brianna taught me that it's ok to give yourself props, we did such a great job! Eveyone loved the food and our cupcakes were so cute you almost didn't want to eat them!

Below are a few pictures that will make you salivate. (Note: The first picture shouldn't make you salivate, although Brianna is striking a rather alluring pose.)





















The chefs standing in the star entrance. (Props to Amy Elwood for star construction)


Chocolate Ganache.


Strawberry Shortcake and Lemon Lemon.


White on white and coconut delight!






















Brianna and 1 of 3 giant pots of beans.


Isn't the salad so pretty?


Oh, the glamour of bagging raw chicken.

First Course: Salad with strawberries, feta cheese, red onion, avocado, candied walnuts in a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

Dinner Menu: Teriyaki chicken breast with Rice Pilaf and Sauteed Green Beans.

Cupcake Flavors (10 in all): Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting, Nutmeg with maple frosting, Chocolate cake with homemade chocolate ganache, White cake with white frosting, Lemon cake with lemon frosting, Strawberry shortcake, Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, White cake with pink frosting and coconut, German chocolate cake, Spice cake with cream cheese frosting.

Mmmmmm . . .

(Confession: I made not one, but two batches of white cake incorrectly! And it was out of a box. Tip: don't add the egg yolkes, otherwise it's not white cake, it's yellowish cake.)

Congratulations Vincent and Suzanne!

On Saturday, May 31st, my good friend from college got married. The ceremony was at the city hall in Santa Barbara and the reception was in a barn connected to the Carriage and Western Art Museum. It was such a blast seeing friends from school. Hans had a great time hearing all our crazy stories from college days. Here's a few shots from the blessed event.


The Happy Bride and myself.












My friends from college (Stephanie, me, Holly and Suzanne)












This is me and some guy I picked up on my way to the wedding . . . He was nice

4 MONTHS!

Well, it feels like it's c r a w l i n g, but it is officially 4 months until Hans and Amy are hitched. Yay!

The Next Wedding Generation

It's true, though my grandma shakes her head in wonder, Hans and I have a wedding website. Currently there is just a little information, but more will come as we go. So please check back if you're so inclined. Oooh, and you can count down the days with me. As of today, 128 to go!!!

Here's the link, or you can just click on the engagement picture to the right.

http://www.mywedding.com/hansandamy/

Vocation Discovery for the Jobless

This post is dedicated, in part, to Mark Stump, my fellow unemployed pal, and lasagna-maker extraordinaire.

I am currently going through a vocation book titled "Let Your Life Speak" by Parker J. Palmer*. While this is good timing, since I am unemployed, I'm finding that it might be more frustrating if I were to apply his methods to my job searching. His take on discovering our true vocation is to look inward, not outward. Basically, we were BORN to do something. I like his theory for sure, and have already started to discover traits in myself that would lead me towards certain types of employment.

My self-discovery has led me to realize that I am a pioneer. I do not and never have enjoyed any job where I carry through systems and processes that someone before me created. I really enjoy starting something and doing it different than expected. I love the idea of opening my own shop, or starting my own company. It's not so much that I have an entrepreunerial spirit, especially, or that I want to devise clever ways to rake in the dough, I just want to start something myself. It's the same reason I wanted to make pie's out of mud in the backyard and I wanted to dig my own swimming pool (ended up using the trash can instead) and make up my own language. I have an innate desire to forge new territory, discover, create, and pioneer the new, the different, the unexpected.

Here is the somewhat obvious problem: How, exactly do I make this pioneering possible? Those of you who know me well, know that I have side projects in excess. A cookie company with my cousin, an advertising agency (of sorts) with my friend from church, and a few more that are in the beginning phases.

Here is the second problem: None of these side projects make me any money. Since I do need money to survive in California and to buy gas, I've resorted to a daily browsing of Craigslist and local job postings. I've applied for everything that fits into my basic needs right now: local, lucrative, flexible schedule, and a tiny bit interesting. Bummer. I have to join the "work force" along with everyone else, and learn processes using existing programs and computers to get the same job done that someone has already done a zillion times before me. For most, this is an exciting challenge and they can find joy in doing what they were meant to do in this environment. I, however, shrivel up and come home each day feeling defeated, knowing I spent the day doing what I'm not made to do.


*Disclaimer: I have not read this book in full, so I cannot give a fully proper review. So please take with a grain of salt!