Posted on Jan 01, 2010 under General |
I hate to admit it, but I am just like every other American who falls into the holiday eating – should I say overeating- trap. And then come January 1st I have all these guilty feelings about the amount of calories consumed and deep down I know I should start working out.
This annual cycle is even worse for me because
A. I have two whole weeks off from work. When I am at home I tend to eat much more than when I’m in normal school routine. And even before we get out for break there are tons of holiday goodies made available by kids and fellow teachers.
B. I despise working out. I mean it- I truly don’t like to exercise. I don’t get a rush out of running, and the thought of going to a gym makes me roll my eyes. Once upon a time I did like going to aerobics class with my mom…but it was really more enjoyable because of the bonding aspect.
Have Maggie has helped us a little bit; she requires 2-3 walks a day. But it’s just not enough exercise in my opinion. Sometime last week I saw a segment on the Today Show about the Couch Potato workout. Go ahead and scoff, I usually do it too thinking that is just another New Year’s resolution people won’t keep. But I think this one really sounds do-able for a person like me.
The basic idea is that you take a 30 minute television program and all you have to do is keep moving for the entire show. During the actual program you are doing low impact movement, then during the commercial breaks you switch to high intensity exercise. It’s convenient because you can do it in your house and don’t have to go anywhere, no special clothes or equipment required, and you get to watch your favorite show in the process. Oh and my favorite part: no running!
So we’ll see how this plays out. Maybe you should ask me from time to time how it’s going to keep me accountable =) Kevin and I are eating at Flemings tomorrow for part 1 of the anniversary celebration…I suppose the workout will start Monday.
Posted on Dec 31, 2009 under General, Holidays |
It’s really hard to believe that we’re about to enter 2010. It seems like yesterday everyone was flipping out about Y2K and the world was going to end. I feel like this past decade has brought about more significant life changes than probably will ever happen to me again. Perhaps I’m wrong…ask me in another 10 years 
So I thought I would do a review of the last decade and reflect on how far we’ve come.
2000- I was a freshman in high school. I can’t remember anything big that happened that year. But I know I spent the night at Virginia Hines’ house ringing in the new year with a bunch of girlfriends and I’m pretty sure we watched Spice World a few times while playing the BS card game for seven hours.
2001- I met my husband to be. He was the student assistant for our all-girls choir. What a dream job for him. I also went to Washington D.C. and saw George W. Bush inaugurated for the first time.
2002- I was on the varsity cheerleading squad. I had mono for a long time. Got to know Kevin better…and he boldly sent roses to my house on Valentine’s day when I was dating someone else.
2003- Kevin and I started officially dating on March 1st. I auditioned at Samford for a music scholarship. Graduated high school and moved into a 6 story building where I would share a bathroom with about 30 other females.
2004- Surprisingly, I have no significant memories from this year. I suppose I made several road trips to Berry College.
2005- Moved into my first apartment with a roommate. Kevin asked me to marry him on October 21st. He graduated early in December.
2006- Had my senior voice recital. Spent a lot of time planning a wedding. Came to the realization that I did not want to teach high school choir (which had been my plan all along). I decided I am much better suited for little kids.
2007- By far the biggest life changes happened this year. I got married, took a honeymoon to Cozumel, finished student teaching, graduated college, got hired for a teaching job on the exact day I had prayed for, and we bought a house in June (moved in September).
2008- Maggie Magoo entered our lives; enough said. I truly started to care about college football and my marriage improved dramatically. Kevin and I went to our first UT game together in Knoxville.
2009- Lane Kiffin took over as head coach of UT football. I started my cake business Art by the Slice. I really started to feel like I’m getting the hang of this teaching thing. Our first sweet nephew was born! Kevin finished his MBA at Samford; so proud of him.
2010- Who knows what it has in store? I can already tell you a couple of things. We are taking a trip to Cancun at the end of the month (thanks to my awesome husband doing a great job at his work!) We are finally going to take our trip to NYC in June. I meant it, we are really going this year! My big bro will get to move back to the states and be much closer to us, hooray! And then there’s always the question of when will we move to Knoxville…most likely not this year but stay tuned.
Here’s to a new year with new challenges and new blessings. Happy 2010!
Posted on Nov 14, 2009 under General |
Only a handful of people reading this will understand it (namely those people from my hometown). I was browsing my favorite website the other day, www.cakecentral.com, and I randomly came across this picture:
This cake is an exact replica of a popular hamburger/hotdog place in the Tri-Cities called “Pals.” And yes the building really does look like that! When I was growing up it was always the joke around town to guess what color the Pals building would be next. It seemed like they changed the paint color every week. They have the best “frenchie” fries; Kevin and I always stop there when we go home. In fact this picture is making me crave some Pals right now! So hopefully my Johnson City friends and family will get a kick out of this.
FYI- I am going to stop doing my “Cake Catalogue” on this blog…Kevin suggested I transfer it to the blog on
www.artbytheslicecakes.com. That is the official business website, and it makes more sense to write about my cakes there. So check it out and I will try to post new pictures soon.
Posted on Oct 01, 2009 under General |
Well it’s official as of this past weekend, I am going to open a part-time cake business.
Back in May it simply started with the thought “it would be fun to learn how to decorate cakes…” So I asked Kevin to sign me up for classes through Wilton. And if you read my earlier posts from the summer you know how that turned out. I decided to take over the learning part myself and have been mostly self-taught with the help of books and online resources. It has been such a blast, and a great way for me to spend my creative energy. Little ‘ole me thought, it would be nice to sell my cakes one day, but I never really had an idea of opening a business.
Then entered my husband Kevin and dear friend Tiffany. These people are two peas in a pod when it comes to entreprenurial tpye things. Kevin had been talking for several weeks about how I need to print business cards, come up with a business name, etc. My orders are really starting to pick up thanks to my co-workers and friends at school. I decided he was probably right and I need something to help with advertising.
Our Georgia friends came to visit last weekend, and Tiffany was the only one who had not seen my cakes online. After looking at pictures and hearing about how much I enjoyed making them, the wheels in her brain started spinning and we basically spent the rest of the weekend talking about how we’re going to take over the world with this cake business (haha, not exactly, but at least how to get it jump started). It was so helpful having her there to talk to and bounce ideas off of. She thought of so many little things that I never would have considered but are such good ideas. She helped me design my logo and we came up with the name Art by the Slice. Kevin is now in the process of helping me print cards and working on my website. (Let me also note that both of these individuals have earned their MBA so I feel assured that they know what they’re talking about
So this is a big endeavor and I am excited/nervous all at the same time. I never originally intended to have a second job; let us not forget that I am already a full-time teacher! But hopefully this is going to be a good way for me to earn some extra income by doing something that I love. Perhaps one day way, way, way down the road it will allow me to stay at home with my family. But that’s looking quite ahead, let’s focus on getting the website together first. =)
If you live in the Birmingham area and need a cake for any event, or would be willing to recommend me to other people I would appreciate the support!
Posted on Aug 06, 2009 under Cakes, General |
I made this cake for my home-base school, which I plan to take tomorrow.
I found this cute design online. It was my first attempt at a fondant bow, and I definitely learned my lesson: always read the directions carefully! I saw the part about letting the loops sit out to dry, but rather than overnight I only sat them out for a few hours. My first bow was loopy droopy So I had to start over and fix it. Here’s to hoping that it doesn’t get ruined in the fridge tonight.
Had my first day of in-service today. We have a few more work days then the kids come back on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to a great year with my kiddos and fellow teachers!