Eight Reasons to be GRATEFUL!

So, you might be wondering...where are the rest of the cake pictures??  Well, here's the thing...my digital camera took a poop and it is officially in the land of dead electronic things.

My awesome sister-in-law, who is a regular guest-blogger here:), and, by the way, is doing a great job on her own blog,  took many, many pictures on her phone, and they are being downloaded and sent.  So, they're on their way...and I am trying to be patient.

Til then I will give you my Gratituesday list born of last weekend's cake euphoria!

I am grateful for:

1. MY HUSBAND:  What can I say?  I married an amazing man.  As I was about to stack the cake the night before, I realized the fridge wasn't level and would destroy my cake if it sat in there overnight.  This precipitated a complete melt down in the kitchen.  As I cried and breathed into a paper bag, this man single-handedly leveled the fridge all while whistling and telling me I'm good at what I do. 

He even took a large metal level to the head and kept his cool!  Forget John Wanye, I'll take a Lennon Lore ANY day!!

Amazing Cake Muscles...my husband...and his cartoon doppelganger:).

2. My car:  The new-to-us SUV is a GREAT cake mobile!  all the seats fold down and the A/C works great in the back to keep all that lucious butter cream cold!

3. My husband:  Yup, he gets two separate numbers.  Aside from the appliance leveling, he also put his huge muscles to work to move my 75 pound cake from fridge to car, from car to reception hall and did it without so much as an eye-roll or stumble!  He also DROVE and did an amazing job of warning me about bumps and slowing down to almost a crawl for railroad tracks.  Could not have done this without him!

4. My sister-in-law:  She was there when we arrived, and boy did we work well together.  She kept me calm, helped me get things set up and helped me serve.  What a great encourager!  I love my husband's family...scratch that...I love MY family:).

5. It was work - yes, it is HARD work.  But I had FUN.

6. The Bride and Groom: They were thrilled with the final product.  I added it up...this cake and the service I provided would have cost a littl over 800 smackers.  And if that sounds horrendously expensive to you, I'll do another post about all the labor and fine ingredients that produced this beautiful cake...whew!  By far the nicest wedding gift I've ever given...and it was well-received, giving me the satisfaction of knowing my love was accepted.  Cuz I show love with gifts...among other things:). 

7. I just loved seeing Scott and Krista get married.  I smiled so much my face hurt.  What a glorious, joyful wedding!  I'm SO grateful I could add something special to their big day. 

8. Confirmation of growing skill:  I KNOW I can do this.  Bakery...business...the Lord is opening doors and gently, firmly pressing his hand to my back and ushering me through them.  I feel confident.  I'm ready to move forward.  I'm excited about what the next year and a half will bring!!



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I May Be On to Something Here.

I try to focus my posts on my cake projects, because, let's face it - it's fun.  But lately, I've been doing a lot more work on the businessy side of things, and I just can't let that go un-noted.

Regulars know by now that I try to particiapte in Gratituesday, a weekly effort from Heavenly Homemakers.  Well, I have a lot to be thankful for  this week. 

1.  Advancing Women in Business Seminar - WOW.  I just can't say enough about how encouraging and empowering this event was.  It's an annual event, created by Indiana's Lt. Governor, Becky Skillman and hosted by the Office of Community and Rural Affairs.  I networked, I got out of my comfort zone, I learned and now, I'm moving forward on my business plan! 

2.  Indiana's Small Business Development Centers - WHAT an incredible resource!  Friendly, helpful people and just as excited about my ideas as I am.  Can't wait to work with them more.

3.  New Freezer.  That's right kids...my mother in law slaughtered a cow, we bought a freezer for our little chunk of it, and there's enough room up top to store multiple cakes that are in the process of awesomeness.  I have SPACE!

4.  Possible new delivery vehicle.  I think this just might be providence.  We found and EXTREMELY affordable SUV with the space I need to deliver larger cake orders.  That means the possibility that I won't have to borrow larger vehicles anymore and I will be able to take on more and bigger orders!  Again...SPACE is a wonderful thing!

I feel like I'm walking through doors that have been opened by a bigger hand than mine. 

Sweet.


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Name Them One by One

It's Gratituesday!  This is an important exercise for me to undertake every week...counting my blessings.

I'm grateful for:

My sister-in-law who has accepted my invitation to guest blog (hopefully this week!)...

Online cake tutorials that teach me enough to keep me challenged...

The cupcakes I'm going to make for our Vacatiton Bible School wrap-up on Friday night and the eight little 3 year old souls I am spending my evenings with, learning about God, creation and our great Savior

God's faithfulness...even when I am unfaithful...which, let's face it, happens about every five minutes...

A really crazy, happy birthday party last weekend...

REST.  I'm a little weary - so this is a short blog today.  

What are you grateful for today?


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Captured by Kt, and Enjoyed by All

It's good to know people.  And it's especially good to know people who do cool things, like running photography businesses out of their homes. 

And I love it when people like that buy cake from me:). 

This is a picture by my friend Katie Smith, who does wonders with film through her photography business, Captured by Kt.  Find her on facebook here, or just do a quick google search for her and enjoy looking at her handiwork.  She had a great eye and a God-given talent.

This Gratituesday, I'm grateful for professional-grade pictures and friends like Katie who are doing good things and raising happy babies.


Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Gratituesday

It's been a very long, long weekend.

What it lacked in cake and butter cream it made up for in french fries and soda pop.  There was a trip to a theme park, visits to various attractions in Terrible Haute (an affectionate title I assure you) and lastly, there was a trip to the zoo.

I'm beat.  That two year (almost three!) old has put me through some very public tantrums, smacks in the face, world class sassing and just generally vexing behavior.  I've not been a perfect parent, but we all survived and we still love each other.  I'm extremely grateful for that!  You have no idea!

And I'm gonna keep choosing to be grateful - for my son's burgeoning independence (would that it would transfer to his toilet habits, or lack thereof), for my husband's stalwart heart, for the firm discipline I got when I was a kid that I'm now passing on to my kid - "you'll thank me one day!"  Aha...

I'm thankful for opportunity.  I've been on the receiving end of many encouraging words from small business owners and the like - what a boost!  I'm thankful for my husband's opportunities - another job interview lined up for Thursday morning. 

And I'm thankful for God's sweet, always in time provision for our little corner of the universe.  Cake orders that pay phone bills - - teenagers who don't over charge for lawn work - - baby sitters who like to be paid in cake. 

And even on days filled with parental trauma, we have a dear little blonde boy telling me, in his tiny, sweet voice, "For God so loved the world...that he gave...only son so that  - - ever beweeves in Jesus...not die...but have everlasting...LIIIIIFE!" 

He always jumps and screams the last word. 

And it makes my heart so happy, so grateful, so ready to take it all on again tomorrow. 

Thank you, sweet Lord. 

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Gratituesday

What a day this has been.  I've been all over the map, joy, hope, anger, despair, remorse, relief, grief and now...gratitude.

A blog I frequent, Heavenly Homemakers, does a little something called "Gratituesday."  I'm joining in today, because I need to remember why I'm grateful.

Amidst other tragedies, literal tragedies, in our family today, I lost a big cake order.  The iris cake is a no-go, and all because I have yet to go through the costly process of becoming a certified, state-approved food handler.  I've been working on that particular aspect of my dare-to-dream bakery, but it just hasn't happened yet.  So far, there's been no need.  Every order has been a friend, and my friends have never been serving my cakes at places that require certification.  This was the first time my unofficial status has cost me, and I let it get to me.

After seeing me mope around the house for an hour or so, my husband, dear man, disappeared to his man cave only to re-emerge not long after with a list of reasons for me to stick my chin up and hope.

1.  He called the health department to find out what I needed to do to get my own kitchen up to code.
2.  He put a call in to the inspector at the health department, to set up a meeting for me
3.  He called my parents, asking them for help, and they are generously working with me to get that certification course under my belt.
4.  He called our local business guru to find out where there might be a kitchen already at code with an owner who'd be willing to work with me on rent/bartering.
5.  He filled up my bike tires.  (This is unrelated, but I am nonetheless extremely grateful for it.)

The older I get, the more I am touched by that kind of love...serving love.  I'm grateful for my husband today, for my parents, for the Lord, who saw me crying like a little kid in my living room today and sent me some good news. 

I have felt God's hand pulling me toward this dream for a long time now, and it may be time to make Cake Lore more than a blog and a little word-of-mouth, under-the-table hobby.  I'm grateful for the encouragement I received today - here's to renewed hope and God's sweet love! 
 
Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!