Picky Palate: The Best Baking Blog, Ever

This is by far on of the best sites I've come across. I could eat just about anything on here and, honestly, I think this gal may be a genius.

Picky Palate

I don't really like pumpkin, but the the Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Spice Buttercream made my jaw hit the floor. I think I know what I'll be bringing to Thanksgiving Dinner!

And another

Nap Time

They're so sweet when they sleep.

This Actually Happened

Me: What's Mom going to have for lunch, guys?
Jackson: You want a large Diet Coke? Hey Mom, you want a large Diet Coke?
Me: Yes, I do!
Jackson: Okay, it's still at McDonalds.

I love this kid.

Say Vandalay!

One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes involves George trying to hang on to his unemployment benefits by making up names of employers he’s contacted. One in particular, as you probably know, is "Vandalay Industries" where he’s claiming to be applying for a position as a Latex Salesman.

I can’t help but think about this scene every time I log into my unemployment benefits page. Ever been on unemployment? You can get up to 30% of your salary for 6 months, but you have to be seeking full-time employment and you have to contact 4 employers a week. Not a big deal…and I actually feel fortunate that I’m getting what I’m getting considering my husband has a job (although I still have yet to receive my first payment). I can’t imagine the stress a family would feel if they lost their main/sole income.

In self-pity, I just need to say that July was one of the most emotional months I’ve experienced. I probably shed more tears in a period of a few weeks than I did in all of 2010. Most of it was stress and job related. But some of it was just life too—it’s interesting how much stress from one area of your life can impact every other part.

As with other trials in the past, I've felt myself asking “what am I supposed to do now?”  Being let go from the place where I’ve spent the majority of my career, and where I’ve made many dear and long-term friends, is rough. I can’t believe how much of blessing it has been though--in fact, I'm glad it has happened.

I got to spend 3 days bumming around at Bear Lake with my kids in the middle of the work week. I’ve slept in past 8:00am most days and got a laugh when Brookie rolls out of bed at 10:00am. We’ve swam in the back yard, gone to the playground, had our first trip to Cowabunga Bay and spent countless hours watching our favorite shows and movies. Jackson turned three years old in the midst of all this too!

He's such a big boy now (more on that later).

We will see what the next few weeks/months bring in terms of staying home, new jobs or career changes. I've been contacted by a couple of people about different positions…but I’m not going to settle. I know it will all work out and Ty and I are confident/faithful that it will. So for now, I'm focusing my energy on the little, fun, random moments like these:

Jackson took these photos all by himself. He's quite the cameraman these days.

Here’s to a great summer (at least, what’s left of it).

Love,
Jill

Other Gems From the Photo Shoot

They're silly kids.

Turning Stress into an Asset

Turning Stress into an Asset - Amy Gallo - Best Practices - Harvard Business Review

This was published by the Harvard Business Review in the context of work-related stress. Check it out--it's a quick, easy read and I think it can be applied to everyday life.

Do:

• Think of stress as an indicator that you care about something, rather than a cause for panic
• Focus on the task, rather than the emotion
• Build relationships so that you have people to turn to in times of stress

Don't:

• Assume your stress is going to last forever
• Worry about things that are out of your control
• Spend time with people who are negative

Two things that have become 'therapy' for me in times of worry/stress are exercise and baking. I'm running a 5K on Monday (second of the season and second ever). And, I think it's time to pull out some of the favs from Joy the Baker or How Sweet It Is and try them out this weekend. Brownies, anyone?

JC

Oh how I've missed you

Dear Blog,

We had a fun few weeks going there...postings nearly every week (if not every day). Things got a bit chaotic with job changes and circulating the flu through every member of the family 2x. It's not that I've been having too much fun to update. Actually, things have been overwhelming to say the least.

When times get tough, I find the best therapy is zoning out and ignoring whats bothering me. Therapists may warn against this kind of treatment, but its what I prefer. As a matter of fact, right now I'm watching Jada Pinkett Smith on the Piers Morgan show. I think I would like to be her. Maybe when Tyler and I come back for our second chance at this life thing we can come back as Jada Pinkett and Will Smith. They're cool and according to Jada have a fantastic, um, love life.

In reality, of course I don't want want to be anyone but me and YOU don't want to be anyone but you. But...if you could where someone else's shoes--even just for a day--who would it be?

Jill

Ni Hao

Our good friend, Ella from Denmark, travels to China several times a year for her work. She sent a fun little package in the mail last week. Despite my best effort to get both kids together in their Kimono outfits, it didn't work out.

We had fun, though. Jackson ran and hid behind the couch:

But Brooke was willing to pose:

And she was even willing to be silly. Of course, she does this on her own--she doesn't need any influencing from me:

And now for the two together:

I tried.

JC

Inspired

I love to be inspired.

One of my current inspirations is Ashley Ann from Under the Sycamore. Not only an Oklahoma girl like me*, she's a fabulous photographer, artist, designer, mom, entrepreneur.

Others?

• Jessica from How Sweet It Is. She's my go-to blogger for overly rich and sugary sweet desserts. But she used to be fitness trainer and does her time on the treadmill/weight room. I love her workouts, too.
• Dana from House Tweaking has a great eye for design. Her site is dedicated to "tweaking" her builder-spec-home boring house into something memorable and beautiful. Great ideas. She makes a good living as a pharmacist by day, but has decided it's not her passion. She wants to design full time. Now, they're in the process of "down-sizing" their home, bought a fixer-upper, and hope to pay it off in about 5 years so she can have her dream job.
• Michelle from Three Men and a Lady. I stumbled across this blog while looking for my sister-in-law's blog Three Men and a Lady - Deckers. Michelle is a DIY queen, and will turn any old trash from the dumpster into something wonderful with a little paint and TLC. I often wondered if she was a Mormon girl (she live's in AZ so it's not a dead give-away). Well, her last name is Hinckley and her Father-in-Law is named Gordon Hinckley, Jr. Oh yeah, they're moving to Utah. I think we have our answer!

Here's to some good reading!

*I can still claim to be an Oklahoma girl even if I don't remember living there, right?

JC

Double Chocolate Cake

This was yesterday's Mother's Day dessert. It look's beautiful and it tastes amazing. I believe that if you're going to have dessert, it better be fantastic. Try this cake--it will make your day.

Double Chocolate Bundt Cake

Via Confessions of a Bake-a-holic 

1 chocolate cake mix
1 small pkg instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
3/4 cup water
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup oil
1 heaping cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 10-inch bundt pan with cooking spray and dust with flour (I like Pam spray for baking--it's grease/flour all in one). Beat cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water, sour cream and oil in large bowl. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into pan. Bake 55-60 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool 15 minutes in pan on wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Set on serving plate and glaze.

Chocolate Glaze
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T butter
2 T corn syrup
1-2 tsp hot water

Melt chocolate chips, butter, and corn syrup in saucepan over low heat. Cool about 10 minutes. Stir in hot water, 1 tsp at a time, until consistency of thick syrup. Pour over cooled double chocolate cake.

Need Some Help

This past week has been particularly hard to stay focused on anything. Seriously, I need help.

I did a search online for brain exercises to help improve focus/concentration, and I came across this article from Inspired Abundance. I think I'll take them up on some of these.

The article lists some exercises to help build your brain, including:
1. Do some crossword puzzles
2. Changing your daily routine
3. Try Sudoku puzzles
4. Eat foods that help your brain like proteins, complex carbohydrates, essential oils, etc.
5. Start a new hobby (maybe I can finally *finish* Brooke's curtains--trying to learn to sew)

We'll see how this goes. In the mean time, I'm relying on caffeine.

JC

Some Days

We’re always a little put out when one of the tykes wakes up sick. It means one of us has to miss work or attempt to work from home (which, if you’ve tried it, know it takes skill) while taking care of said sick one. 

This morning, Jackson woke up with a swollen pink-ish eye and he cried that it hurt and wouldn’t open it. Probably Pink Eye, we thought. We didn’t want to contaminate Joy’s house (our daycare provider), so I stayed home with him and made an appointment with the doctor to see what it is/how to care for it.

I’ve gotten in about 20 minutes of work so far and it’s almost 2:30. But I have to say, it’s been a pretty fun day. Jack started to feel a little better about 8:00am and has been talking my ear off all morning. I’ve heard the most amazing stories. He drank almost my entire can of Diet Coke, told me all about the shows he was watching, poured all of Shadow’s water into her food bowl—just some of the things this little boy likes to do. He told me about volcanoes and requested that we watch some on the computer (“Dad’s computer”, he requested). So we did—pretty amazing.

On the way to the doctor, we stopped off to get a drink at McDonalds, saw several garbage trucks, school buses and “honk honk’s” (semi-trucks). He pointed out every one of them with enthusiasm only an almost-three-year-old can provide. He was cute-as-can be at the doctor: took out two pieces of gum from my purse when I wasn’t looking, read me a Curious George book with Fire Trucks, and so forth. Of course, when Dr. Buchanan came into the room he had nothing to say/face emotionless.

We got our prescription for eye drops and headed over the car wash. I assumed it would take about 15 minutes for a wash/interior clean. Then we could get his eye drops, head home, get him to sleep and me to work in my office downstairs. The car wash was the busiest place in the valley, but I didn’t realize how busy until my car was half-way through the cycle. About 20 minutes, a package of Swedish Fish and 3 bouncy balls into it, we went to see where we were line. No joke, there were about 6 cars ahead of us waiting for detailing. So what did we do?

We walked over the McDonalds. Jackson ate fries, drank another Sprite and played with his new Batman toy. I learned all sorts of new interesting things about Batman and bouncy-balls. He named one of them “Mom”, another “Jackson” and the third “Dadio”. (I guess “Brooke” would be the name of the fourth ball he requested later).

We’re home, he’s sleeping, I’m on my work laptop…but I just had to write it all down. It’s not very often I get to spend one on one time with Jackson or Brooke. Even though illness and germs are usually involved on these days, sometimes they’re pretty fun too.

Here’s to a great week!

JC

P.S. Don’t worry—we washed his hands really, really well after McDonalds. These next few days will be a hand sanitizer festival at our house!

My Silly Hat

Barney sings a song about "my silly hat". The kids love to talk about their "silly hats" when they put books, toys, pillow cases, etc. on their heads. It's the only thing I could think about when I watched the guests at the Royal Wedding this morning (yes, I'm a total nerd I know).

This couple is RIGHT out of 1986:

Wait, I actually like these:

This one is gorgeous (this woman is gorgeous). It's said that this couple's wedding  (Prince Albert and some swimmer) is supposed to be grander than Prince William/Kate's wedding (how do I know this crap?):

My favorite hat was Ms. Beckham's (of course):

Now back to reality!

Have a great weekend,

JC