Word Scrabble

My friend, Kevin, came up with this game called Word Scrabble, I know it sounds redundant because scrabble is already a word game, however, it differs in the fact that don't actually have a board. Instead, in a conversation when you hear someone say something you just add onto their statement.

Sound confusing? Take a look at a couple of example conversations:

Me: my brother lives in the ghetto. Ghetto.

Kevin: Ge-tofu

Speaking of long engagements
Candace: I had a friend had to wait two years to get married because they had to wait for him to get --
Rebecca: off his mission

Sometimes you don't even have to be part of the conversation to join it, try it next time you are with a group of friends or just walking past talking people.

Fake Flowers

In my floral design class we have to do a fake floral arrangement. I usually don't like fake flowers because... well, they aren't real and no one likes a phony. However, my mom doesn't mind fake flowers and so she commissioned me to make something in one of her random buckets for her kitchen (or at least, I assume that is where its eventual destination will be). It was actually kind of fun trying to find only white and green fake flowers and the arranging itself only took 15 minutes tops. 

For the last week of my cake decorating class, we worked on another type of fake flower, the Wilton rose. After 20 or so trials, I finally was able to get a couple that were semi-decent and which

 I didn't mind putting on the cake that I needed to make for work. These roses, although they are not real are just as great and much more edible than those from your garden. My room mate, whose wedding cake I will be doing in July, even proposed that I try to do these on her cake. If I can get better, why not.

Mission Frenzy

I have always had a desire to serve a mission, from the time I was in primary and my teachers would ask "Now how many of you are planning on serving a mission?" up until now, when it is much more logistical. Initially I think I wanted to because I knew that all the boys were expected to and no one would ever think that I should do it. Maybe it was because I thought it was prejudice that boys were pushed to serve, but girls were hardly ever mentioned. In fact, in discussing this with my father, one of the first things he asked is why. Why would I want to serve a mission?

There are a lot of reasons, as he explained and I knew, and there are a lot of other options in my life. I could finish school, I could really throw myself into dating, find a man and settle down. If I wanted to learn another language, I could simply take a class and then go on a study abroad. I could start working or join the peace corps, I could still serve no matter what I chose. And yet, I still want to go on a mission, a full-time mission for the LDS church.

I'm not entirely certain I can answer that "why" question, but I'm working on it. It has something to do with a desire within that I can't quite squelch otherwise. It has something to do with the power of the atonement and change. I have felt changed by love and I have felt progression and improvement through the gospel and if I can bring even an iota of that knowledge to someone else, then I will feel satisfied.

So now I am one step closer to turning in my papers, I just need to meet with my Stake President the Sunday after this one and then he will submit them. Afterward I will wait a couple of weeks and probably be assigned a mission on June 18 so that I can receive my call sometime in late June. It's funny, because a couple of years ago this time seemed so distant that it was almost unimaginable and now it is so close I can almost taste it.

Lost Vegan

I went to visit my sister Susan in Vegas this weekend. It was great. Here you see her youngest, Eliza, who has large cheeks and the babiest eyes I've ever seen.

Amelia Bedoo really enjoyed the corsages I made.

Susan even enjoyed them and although we didn't wear them to church, we wore them at her house. It was also really interesting because Susan has decided to eat primarily raw foods in her diet and she had a plethera of delicious fresh fruits and vegetables for me to eat.

Hutch actually requested to wear this daisymum ear piece.

This gorgeous polka-dot cake was fun to make, even though Susan and I spent almost all of Saturday working on it.  I have confidence in fondant now.

Put a Bout in it

Floral Design has again amazed me with the wonderful skills it has endowed me with. This week we worked on boutonnieres which are impossible to spell but easy to create-- with these under my belt I can bout up any prom or wedding! There were some definitely cute ideas. See the ear flower above, this are cute options for bridesmaids, or even just for every day.



Calla lilies are gorgeous and can be made to look very elegant.


The classic rose.
And finally we have one of my favorites, the more carefree wildflower corsage which is a real joy to make and to wear.

Penguins

I have a friend who happens to be a musical genius and so this week's cake was a dedication to his Penguin song. If I can get it from him, maybe I will embed it here for your listening pleasure. It was really fun to make though and I think it means that I am getting to be a a master cake decorater. The only problem is, I could be a lot better if I ever decided to take the time in it.

Prickly legs

Juan really loved soccer. He was from Peru, so I suppose it was a mandatory thing, something that I knew was more than a love-- it was culture, it was ingrained in his soul and it came as easily as his ability to love at all. I, on the other hand, did not grow up playing soccer. So I decided to learn, to love, and to grin and bear it.

Good theory eh?

I joined his intramural soccer team, stood on the side lines and even got thrown in from time to time only to discover that I wasn't even as good as I had thought I was. Our team still won the tournament, even when I didn't play the last three games and I felt happy for Juan. But I still didn't know how to play soccer any better than I did before. So starting Spring term I joined yet another soccer team with one of my co-workers. I haven't gotten particularly better, however, the team is slightly more desperate so I am required to play the entire 40 minutes without any substitutes resulting in me becoming more comfortable on the field and avoiding the ball.

In all seriousness, I like soccer. I just wish I had some inherent ability to handle the ball and to make sweet goals. And, as far as progress is concerned, I have been practicing once a week in between games with my coworker and some of his friends, just last night we played around a little bit which means that I at least feel somewhat more comfortable with the ball.

And who knows. One day you may even see me on TV.

The Every Day Model

After I chopped off my hair to donate to poor cancer victims, I decided to create an album about the "every day model" with me doing every day activities as a model.

The every day model washes dishes reflectively, she must always be concerned of cleanliness not only of her self, but everything around her.

She must also choose nutritious foods and be careful of what she eats.

The every day model must keep up her vocabularly by reading daily.

The every day model must work on her appearance to look her best every day.

Good dental hygeine is a must.

As is good general hygeine.

And at the end of the day, the every day model must relax and de-stress.

Adventures continued

Here are my latest creations in the floral and cake industry, remember, I'm still just learning.

This is my cake, I could have done a nice little border around the bottom so that it didn't look so splotchy, but I was trying to be fast, so it got left behind. I also did not send it to Juan, but instead had everyone eat some at my work training meeting.

I also made this great garden floral arrangement with floral foam and gave it to my sister, Sara. I think she really enjoyed it and I had a lot of fun making it as well.

I will never be bored again

Today while at work, productively accomplishing homework and work projects, my co-worker showed me a website that I'm not quite sure how I lived without. Check out: awkwardfamilyphotos.com

Here is a little preview.

Adventures in Learning

Here you can see the cupcakes that I meant to send to Juan. I ended up not making it to the UPS store before they closed, so instead they were eaten. I will probably make another batch before too long though.



To the right you can see my mom and the flowers that I arranged for her in my floral design class.














Lastly we have more cake decorating skills in the making.

Conclusion: Cakes, flowers, mothers, and missionaries make for a great summer.

Progress

I can now open my mouth and eat. I love food.

Wisdom

I am getting my wisdom teeth removed this afternoon. I think I am psyching myself out too much though from stories of it going terribly terribly wrong, like my sister who reacted to the anesthesia and couldn't stop puking for a couple days to the friend who ended up in a coma for an extra hour or so. Crazy, eh?

Hopefully though when they are out I can smile and go on a mission.