Baking My First Wedding Cake.

Hello friends! Guess what? I baked my first wedding cake! OK, I'm sort of lying. Technically, this isn't my first wedding cake, per say. I have done one once before but that was alongside a friend (a.k.a I had someone to share all the stress and balance out the crazy emotions with).

Whereas this time around, it was all me, 100% me. (Note: I did have some help at the very end, but I'll get to that later!)
Plus, the first wedding cake I did was completely different from this one! It was an 8" round cake with fondant, sugar flowers, and cupcakes on the side. The wedding cake I did this time around was made up of TIERS, frosted with buttercream, and decorated with real greenery.

I wrote this blog entry so that I could share with you what this wedding cake journey was like for me, and perhaps encourage a fellow baker or two that you don't have to be a "professional cake designer" to execute a beautiful wedding cake. If I can do it, so can you!! So, let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Back in the Fall after our good friends got engaged, I received a pretty little card in the mail from the future-bride-to-be that said: will you do us the honour of baking our wedding cake for our wedding on April 1st, 2017?

The Evolution of our Living Room Space.

I know I'm not an interior decorating guru or anything--nor do I participate in any remote form of Feng Shui--BUT I changed our living room around again. And I think that this arrangement just might be THE ONE. Yes, the one. The one that will stay for months and months to come.

Let's go way back, shall we?

After Jarryd and I got married in June of 2014, we moved into an above-garage apartment. It really did constitute as one of those apartments you "have to have" in your first year of marriage in order to get the full newlywed experience. {That's one positive way of looking at it...Ha!} This is what out first apartment living room looked like:

{July 2014}

We hardly had any furniture, but the beauty of it all was that you're just so excited to be married and living together that you don't even care what your apartment looks like.

But hey, weren't we just so creative with our American Flag casually draped over our rocking chair? Haaaa!

And then we rearranged and decorated for Christmas holidays:

{December 2014}

This look quite bachelorpad-esque, don't you think? Like, it has absolutely no personality to it. There's nothing in there that looks like "Jenny", and that's a sad, sad truth to swallow.

{March 2015}

 And now we're gettin' somewhere! We finally had enough money to buy a coffee table (which was much needed), and an area rug. And I painted our "tv stand" and end tables white! And we finally put up some wedding photos on the wall! (I sure do miss all of that natural lighting coming in through all those windows!)

{August 2015}

This was right after we moved into our current apartment! Yay! Just gettin' settled.

{October 2015}

We bought a futon for our second bedroom, but because we needed more seating available in our living room we decided to move it out here...

{February 2016}

 Put up some nice pictures on the walls and organized the tv stand! In regards to this arrangement, even at the time we weren't crazy about it. It just felt too crowded.

{April 2016}

There was even a short time where we put our desk in front of the window. That was quite nice, but the room STILL didn't feel right. (Perhaps I am more into Feng Shui than I thought?!)

{July 2016}

We bought new end tables, moved the desk around, put the coffee table by the window, and replaced that horrible dirty "floral" rug with a beautiful white sheepskin rug. {Let's see how long we can keep it white for!}

These two photos above were the photos that I had just showed you in my "One Year Apartment Anniversary" Blog Post (that you can click here to read), and literally the week after I took these, I changed up the living room AGAIN!

Are you ready to see what our living room currently looks like right now?? YAY me too!

{September 2016}

Because I knew that my family was coming to visit soon, I wanted it to look more put-together. So I went on a huge IKEA and HomeGoods haul. Well, I don't know if HUGE is the correct word to use because I didn't spend a crazy amount of money or anything, but I did buy a noticeable amount of home decor {just enough to spruce things up a little!}.

Also, at this time when I went to IKEA, I arrived just under an hour and a half before they closed. Talk about PANIC MODE. A person needs at least 3 hours at IKEA, right?! There's so much to consider and ponder {and admire}!

 Yep, we finally filled that empty wall!

 The two silver frames and the world map in the middle are all from IKEA. The world map definitely wasn't an impulse buy, as I had been eyeing it online for awhile! ;) The photo to the right is my FAVOURITE photo from our engagement shoot. We even had it on the back of our wedding invites.

 And this lovely photo was taken at, duh, DISNEYWORLD. It's where we took our honeymoon and I wouldn't have traded that experience for the world! It was SO fun!

There is ALOT of IKEA in this photo. The large palm plant was on sale for only $11. I was so hesitant to buy it because, I don't know...I KILL plants. But I thought, hey, as long as it survives up until my parents leave then that'll be fine. And now, almost a month later it's still living!

Also the framed greenery art is from IKEA and so is the cactus, and the two plant holders. :)

So I found this sultry soft sheepskin at HomeGoods for a way better price than the one at IKEA! It was only $16.99 and it feels amazing! I honestly used to loathe this rocking chair, I kept asking Jarryd to just throw it out and get rid of it somehow someway. But once I laid the sheepskin on it, I've been totally smitten and now it's my favourite place to sit. Actually, it's where I'm sitting RIGHT NOW as I type!

You would not believe how much a room changes once you stick a giant plant in it. Buying that plant was probably the best home decor decision I had ever made!

It felt almost surreal having my family here, in my living room! You get so used to having them live millions of miles away that you just can't picture them sitting in your apartment! And the awesome part is that both of my parents said that we did a great job with decorating the place! Yay what a compliment! :)

Anyway, I love our apartment and I love coming home to it after a long day at work {especially when it's clean! haha!}. SO, what do you guys think?? I'd love to hear your opinions! :)

Our One Year Apartment Anniversary.

Guess WHAT! At this very same time on this very same day of last year, Jarryd and I were moving into this apartment! We have officially lived in this beautiful space for exactly one year! Ein jahr. Un año! {Wow, I don't think I've ever actually written in Spanish on my blog before--that's a first! I don't even speak it...}

Anyway! I can't even believe we've been in this apartment for a year. The time has flown; yet at the same time, it feels like we've lived here for five years. You know?!

I was showing Jarryd photos of our apartment from a year ago of when we first moved in and it was pretty shocking to both of us. Well, it's no "Extreme Makeover-Home Edition" or anything, but to us it's felt like a pretty impressive transformation.

Because of my love for documenting the chapters of my life, I decided to take some photos around the apartment FIRST give the place a good cleaning {haha--just being real here!} and then take photos of our apartment now in July of 2016!

So be forewarned, the changes are nothing radical, OK? Don't get your hopes up, friends. We're not made of money over here. :P And that's the whole thing, there is SO much I wish I could do to this space furniture-wise, picture-frame-wise, area-rug-wise, fake-plant-wise {because I kill all of the real ones apparently} and other useless-small-home-decor-wise but it all comes with a cost. Jarryd and I are both people who'd rather spend money on experiences than attainable objects. Example: we'd rather spend money on going on a date night, or buy plane tickets/train tickets and travel than save up to buy the perfect dining room table set. {Actually, to be REAL frank, I am perfectly content spending all of our money on groceries and baking supplies; I find life so boring when there's no good food around!} That's just us and it's a plus that we are both that way!

Most of the time when we do start buying furniture, it's because we have reached the ceiling of our "I'm-so-fed-up-living-without-having-a-_____" meter. That's how it went for our new end tables. We hated not having places to put our drinks and food beside us while sitting on the couch watching a movie so we finally caved. And I'm so happy we agreed on the style of end tables because I'm in LOVE with them. Mmm! :)

That's not to say we don't plan on buying furniture in the near future. In fact, we've got a little list going on. We need something for the front entrance to put our keys on and such, and just to fill the empty wall we have. {On a normal day we like to fill that space with an old bag full of trash there as a reminder to take it out :P } We also have been eyeing some grey sectional couches with a real high seat depth. Sigh....we'll see.

Anyway, below I've provided you with some Before {July 2015} and After {July 2016} photos of our apartment. Enjoy!! :)

BEFORE: The View Dining Room/Living Room

AFTER:

BEFORE & AFTER of Hutch in 2015:

We can't forget about my crazy hutch! Last year, I wrote a blog post about my DIY Hutch Makeover {If you missed it, Read it HERE!} and added it to Pinterest. As of today, July 2016, it's been Pinned 228 times! How cool is that?! I know to some professional Pinteresters' that number is just smidgeons in comparison to their numbers, but to someone who isn't even passionate about DIY projects, that's pretty good! {I've done 2 DIY projects in my whole life, and I am just fine with that haha!}

AFTER:

I really do love this pale blue beauty. It's definitely the most unique and characteristic piece of furniture we have in our place.

BEFORE: The Living Room

AFTER:

Yeah, yeah, I know we need something to happen on the wall behind the couch. Give me another year... :P

How cute are our end tables?! They have a glass top with gold legs, and they're huge. Like they could probably hold 50+ cans of pop, glasses of water, and mugs of tea if need be. {NOT that I've tried it before or anything...}

Jarryd had enough of having the coffee table in front of the couches, so he moved it in front of the window. I'm not totally sure what purpose it holds, but it's not the worst looking over there. As long as no sunlight is blocked, I'm happy. :)

Plus, with the coffee table by the window we are able to show off our new RUG! It's sheepskin!!! {Faux of course}. But it's so white and so soft and so feathery looking, we just love it. I pray that it stays this way forever. <3 {Please don't change little rug, we love you just the way you are!} We were just so glad to be done with our old rug.

This is where all the magic happens. Well, kind of. I'd say 90% of the magic happens in the kitchen, and 10% happens on this "espresso" desk that I use to take photos of the magic I made that day. ;)

This isn't the prettiest looking space...in fact it's too "busy" looking for my liking; our "tv stand" needs alot of work. And yes, I record Hallmark movies...every weekend...but who doesn't...right?

A closer look and focus on the end tables. :)

BEFORE: The View of the Dining Room/Kitchen

Much has changed here! 1) We 86'd our dining room table set! Honestly, we hardly used the thing. It was more for storing stacks of books and papers, than it was for eating! {We like to eat at our kitchen island or on our couches}

2) That rolling chair absolutely does NOT belong there. That looked so terrible...

AFTER:

We bought barstools!! It was SUCH a good investment! We also cleaned up the space above the fridge, added some decor pieces/it's where I store my rotating cake stand. And that corner of the kitchen unfortunately is incredibly dark even during the day, so we bought some LED strip lights from IKEA and it has changed everything. It actually makes me want to work in that space now.

I went on a bit of a fruit haul on my last grocery trip...Mangoes, watermelon, avocado, apples, yellow peaches, and yellow squash {which is actually from my in-laws}.

 BEFORE: The Kitchen

It's quite bare looking...but the counters are very shiny!

AFTER:

SO much has changed here!! 

I bought that beautiful marble piece at a local thrift store and I am in LOVE with it. If only I had marble countertops...hehe.

 BEFORE: The Master Bedroom

AFTER:

The BEFORE looks better than the AFTER, am I right?! I'm not a fan of dark curtains at all, but with our new jobs both Jarryd and I wake up between 4 and 5 AM, which means we're in bed by 8:30 PM, which means now in the summer it's still bright outside when we go to bed! SO, I had to buy black-out curtains. So sad...their darkness doesn't suit my style-personality at all!

Anyway, our Master bedroom decor is the least of my worries. It's really just for sleeping, you know? BUT we did buy fancy new 700-thread-count grey sheets. We love them!

AND that king-size white blanket is SO SOFT!

BEFORE: The Spare Room {"The Spare Oom"}

Before this was just our storage room, really. You know, the room where you just throw everything?

AFTER:

I seriously love this space when the couches are set up like this. They're not the comfiest of couches, but they look so stylish! And that chaise lounge is the best place to sprawl out on after a long day at work.

And here is the spare room with the couches turned into a bed! Nothing matches in this room, which drives me nuts, but it's a work in progress. Like I said, we spend our money other places...

So, there you have it: our second apartment that we have lived in for one year and we absolutely love it! There's nothing like moving into a never-been-lived-in, brand new, with brand new cost-efficient appliances. {If there's one thing, just ONE thing I would change, it would be to have more windows. There's only 3 windows, and they're all facing the east. I'd love to have just windows everywhere!}

My family is coming to visit in just over a week, and we are super excited to host them and are just downright thankful that they don't have to spend their nights in a hotel! YAY! :)

Thanks for reading, friends! <3

The New Normal.

^Making new Saturday morning traditions, blogging, bagels with cream cheese, and COFFEE in my new mug!!

Hi blog friends!! Eeek! I miss you, so so much.

I have officially completed my first full 3 weeks of work and the accomplishment feels great {and so does the paycheck}. ;) My eat and sleep schedules have finally adjusted; now, I'm not saying I get 8 hours of sleep every night {because I DON'T and it tears me up inside!} but I find myself getting sleepy and ready to retire into the bedroom between the hours of 8 and 9 pm. *thumbs up*

Does anyone else ever feel simply inadequate when it comes to time management?! That, is my issue right now.
It's Saturday morning and the apartment is an utter mess. {I apologize, I feel like my messy apartment is all I blog about anymore!} And I JUST remembered now that I have to get some laundry done. BRB (that means "Be Right Back"--for those of you living in the stone age)...

OK I'm back! Where was I...? Oh yeah, the apartment mess. Literally every room needs to be cleaned up. It fascinates me--in the most annoying way--how quickly a mess can form. And there are only TWO of us living here. What is going to happen when kids come into the mix? Yikes. Perhaps I'll have my time management skills down by then?

The "new normal" right now is that I wake up at 4:50 AM, leave the apartment by 5:20 AM, arrive at work at 5:45 AM, leave work at 2:30 PM, and arrive home at 3:00 PM.
With that said, for 10 hours out of the day, I am away from home. {This feels like such a long time to me.}
If I do get home from work before Jarryd, then I gotta get dinner started right away. Then, we eat. And the last thing either of us wants to do after dinner is clean. Especially in my case because I am standing all day at work, all I want to do is sit down. Sit anywhere and everywhere!

When I was working part-time hours, I actually enjoyed cleaning. Makes sense right? I have more energy, and more time to turn up my music and make something fun out of it.

NONETHELESS, I have honestly enjoyed my new job. Really! I have definitely gotten into the swing of things, and I know my job well. I love love LOVE the routine of it all. My quirky personality just loves the organization of it all.

I hate to compare, but at my old job every single hour of every single day was a surprise. I can't remember if I have shared this on my blog before or not, but at my old job I struggled with SO much anxiety. Writing it out on here does not do justice to the feelings at all--in fact, seeing my words across the screen, they appear silly and elementary.

For those of you who don't know, at my previous job I was a cook at a hotel/resort/conference center. Sometimes I'd have to cook for over 200+ people on my own, which was a nightmare in itself. But it didn't matter how high or low the guest numbers were, it was the fact that I didn't know the numbers half the time. Nobody there understood though; when I'd tell people "Hey, I feel like I never know what is going on here!", I would receive a "that's just the way it is" laugh-it-off type of reply. It was the constant unknown that caused the stress and anxiety. I would have shifts where my heart wouldn't stop racing and I'd be unable to take a full, deep breath. I would take multiple trips to the bathroom just so I could be alone and close my eyes {and sometimes cry}.

{Can any of you relate to my struggle with anxiety at all?}

Perhaps I was just a lone routine-organizational-craving personality surrounded by thrill-seeking-challenge-craving personalities? Am I the only person on earth who loathes disorganization in the workplace? Whatever it may be, I am so thankful that God hears/heard my prayers at brought me to where I am now: a workplace where everyday pretty much looks the same. A workplace where I only have 5 coworkers {instead of 50+ coworkers whose names I can never get right}.

This job is a huge blessing in that we'll be able to pay off our debt in a quicker fashion! In comparison to most, our debt is quite small. But comparisons aside, we have debt and it needs to be paid off. I guess I'll hold off on the Target shopping sprees then, sigh... :P

Also, nobody tells you how quickly the two-day weekend goes by. Sure, they always say "that sure went by fast", but they never really tell you how fast. It's literally gone in the blink of an eye. I feel so deceived!

Anyway, do any of you full-time-jobbers/time-management-experts have life advice for this girl? ;)

Hello Weekend--A Recap Of My Week.

Hello blog and friends! I've missed you so. I just completed my very first week--of full-time, Monday to Friday--at my new job. And wow-wee, by Friday afternoon I was T I R E D.

I have felt all sorts of disoriented since I signed onto this new job. My normal routine of using my midweek mornings and afternoons to do laundry, baking/cooking, cleaning, and BLOGGING have totally disappeared. :'(

The beauty of part-time work is that you have soooo much time to conquer to-do lists and endulge in endless hobbies. But the downside of part-time work is a substantial drop in income (of course), and in my former case, sporadic hours of work throughout the whole week (including weekends).

With this full-time job, by the time I get home at 3 pm I have to get dinner rolling. Then when the hubs gets home an hour later, the rest of the evening is history! (Can anyone tell me how weekday evenings seem to fly by so quickly? Is it because I'm continuously checking the clock, counting down the hours before I have to go to bed obnoxiously early?)

In regards to blogging/writing, I have always found it easier to do so when I am alone and my surroundings are quiet. But you know what? I think with my alone-time cut down to practically non-existent, I need to force myself to write even when I'm not in "introverted mode". Does that makes sense? :)

Today, (Saturday), we woke up to see the apartment in shambles. The natural bright light of the morning really reveals everything, doesn't it? Laundry piles all over the floor...dirty dishes all over the kitchen island...garbage can overflowing...and clutter everywhere. It's the WORST waking up to a messy home. At least to me it is. We then spent the morning getting the laundry done, picking things up, and running the dishwasher. I feel like this is the worst way to spend a Saturday morning. Blech.

I'm just excited to adjust to this new work schedule and get my weekly routine down. I have to remind myself that the apartment isn't always going to be this messy and I'm not always going to be this tired. I just haven't found my groove yet, you know? In time, in time. :)

So I'm sure y'all are dying to hear about my past week--the suspense is killing you, right?! Haha jokes. I have myself a wide open Saturday afternoon so I finally have time to write a recap of my week. Here goes!

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Jarryd and I attended a conference for our church last Saturday. It was a morning filled with time to get to know the pastors/elders from the churches different campuses, spiritual gift assessments, and--my favourite activity--personality profiles! By learning these things about myself, I'm able to see where I'd best be suited to serve in the church. We did the DISC personality profiles and I was HANDS DOWN an "S", also know as "Steadiness", also known as a golden retriever. :P

^ I mean, look at that! This is totally me. The highest you can score per section is 25 and my "S" was 25. Can any of you guys relate to this??

Jarryd of course was a "D" for "Dominance". I could have done his quiz for him, and he for me. ;)

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This Tuesday was the start of my very first women's "Freedom Group" meeting, and it was awesome. Not just the ladies that I met, not just the content that we dug into...but the timing of it all.

I honestly had such a bad day that day. I definitely won't get into it on my blog, but emotionally I was a wreck. I cried the whole car ride home from work, I cried during my shower, and I cried telling Jarryd about it later. I was tempted to skip the Freedom Group all together, seeing as I wasn't in the "mood" for it. But I pushed that low-life temptation aside and arrived, happy to be there!

And, it was great. It was all about Jesus. JESUS. It's like because I had forgotten about Jesus, all of my problems seemed so much bigger than they actually were.

We touched on Romans 5:8, a verse that even now I can't seem to get out of my head.

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us".

Not after we had sinned and asked for forgiveness, but WHILE we were sinning; in the midst of our sinning He loved us and died on the cross for us. While we were mocking Him and spitting on Him, He died for us!

We took that verse to an interpersonal level and asked ourselves, "is this how we react to those who are hurting us? Do we show love to them while they are hurting us? Or do we wait until they beg for our forgiveness?" Wow. Talk about a wake up call. I realized then and there that I need Jesus so badly. I need His strength to help me love those who hurt me and I need His eyes to show me the bigger picture; to see the world through not through my narrow view, but through His vast perspective. 

This meeting was exactly what I needed because it renewed my mind for the week (and hopefully for the rest of my life)! I no longer felt hopeless and defeated, but I felt refreshed and joyful. I for real woke up the next morning incredibly happy! (Happy at 5 am, impossible! Not anymore!) God is so good. Because of Him, I didn't let anything negative get to me; He kept my spirits high.

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As for work, overall it has been good! My first full week has been a success. I have definitely gotten the hang of things and have even stepped outside of my comfort zone. The job is not perfect, it's not my dream job, but in all honesty I prefer it to my old job. (Which is a HUGE relief!!)

The food shown above is just one of the perks of working in a cafe. I get to try new food and drinks! And when I say drinks, I mean Starbucks Frappucinos. At least once a day...sometimes even twice. Hehe!

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My morning and afternoon commutes have been filled with Bethel Music's album "You Make Me Brave". Oh. my. If you don't have this album, I highly recommend it. I can't stop listening to it. It brings me so much joy. It's my daily reminder of why I'm on this earth and who I'm living for: Jesus.

The song "Forever" by Kari Jobe always moves me and brings me to tears. (It also sounds SO good cranked up in the car!)

The moon and stars they wept
The morning sun was dead
The Saviour of the world was fallen
His body on the cross
His blood poured out for us
The weight of every curse upon him

One final breath he gave
As heaven looked away
The son of God was laid in darkness
A battle in the grave
The war on death was waged
The power of hell forever broken

The ground began to shake
The stone was rolled away
His perfect love could not be overcome
Now death where is your sting?
Our resurrected King
Has rendered you defeated

Forever he is glorified
Forever he is lifted high
Forever he is risen
He is alive, He is alive!

We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
The Lamb has overcome

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By the time Friday afternoon came around, I was too tired to do anything. Well, anything other than watch the first season of "Fuller House". (!!!) You guys, I was so impressed! It's JUST as funny as "Full House" was, and the little jabs at Marykate and Ashley Olsen are priceless. I am 2 episodes away from completing the whole season, and then I am going to watch it all over again. That's how much I love it!

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So that was my week. To sum it all up, it was a rollercoaster of a week, filled with bad emotions, good emotions, JESUS, early bedtimes, great worship music, adjusting to the new normal, Freedom Group, sleeping in this morning, Fuller House, and the TV show Kitchen Nightmares. All I'm gonna say is that watching Gordon Ramsay throw up into a trash can was the cherry on top of an interesting week. ;)

ALSO, at the grocery store we decided to pick up a pineapple. I couldn't help but think that pineapples are one of the most beautiful and interesting fruits! Seriously! It's so unique looking. I have now decided that this is going to be my next drawing project:

Yippeee! I can't wait to get started on it! :)

Thanks for reading, everyone. I really appreciate all of the feedback and advice. :) <3