Happy Surprises

When I cam home last night I had two awesome surprises waiting for me! The first was a box of goodies from Jaz at Octoberfarm!


It came all wrapped up! It made me feel like I was opening a birthday or Christmas present.


There was even a card and chocolates!


Ta-da!


She even included an extra jar of her homemade pepper jelly- which I can't wait to try! I'm going to have it out for Thanksgiving.


A honey bear. :)


The jar of preserves.


More candy! Which was tempted to eat for breakfast...


Instead I had some of the yummy jam on an english muffin.


After a few bites I decided to try it with peanut butter... it made the best PB&J I've ever had!


The ingredient list for the jam.


I ate my breakfast while reading my new book that I won from Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween! Once I get good at crocheting (I'm seriously stuck right now! I need to see if my aunt Taunya can help me...) I am going to start making some of these wicked cute things. My goal: to be able to make these by this time next year. Then I can make a bunch and have a giveaway with them!

I have won so many great things this year. I want to have a giveaway of my own! I am brainstorming now to try and come up with something I can giveaway. Hmm, I wonder how well fudge would travel? I don't really know what else I'd be able to make and mail to someone. I can't really make anything cool that isn't food. xD

I am so thankful for my amazing blog buddies. Thank you Joyce! Thank you Mrs. B! And thank you to everyone who reads my blog!

Send Noah a Christmas Card!!

Christmas will come early for a five year old Michigan boy this year. Noah Biorkman is battling cancer and is not expected to live much longer. Noah's family is celebrating Christmas now and Noah loves Christmas cards. Noah's mom is asking for Christmas cards for her son.

Please take the time to send a card or letter to:

Noah Biorkman
1141 Fountain View Circle
South Lyon, MI 48178

OR

you can make Noah a Christmas card online at Studio Day Spring and that they'll cover shipping costs and send all the cards to him if you use the code: NOAH

The link is http://www.studiodayspring.com

Note: There are two addresses floating around on the internet. The other one is:

Noah Biorkman
c/o Scott Biorkman
3480 Petoskey Way
Milford, MI 48380

I think the card would get to Noah either way, one of them is just newer than the other.

When You Talk

Apparently, when you talk the Universe listens. I felt like a zombie for a couple days. The hours passed slowly in class and I felt overwhelmed by homework. As usual, though, as soon as it gets to the point where I want to complain about it everything gets better. Today we got out of class an hour early. Yay! And because I got so much of my homework out of the way on Monday and Tuesday I only have two things to do tonight. Only lecture classes tomorrow and Friday, so I don't need to get up for class at 6:30 AM, which means I can go to bed later than 8PM. I guess you only need to put up with the bad stuff for so long before things get better.

I have been forgetting to say what I am thankful for! I have a lot of days to make up for, so how about I make a list?

Home
Family
Nice classmates
People who care
The good days

I've had this song stuck in my head for the past few days.

Toes by The Zac Brown Band


Oh and for those who want to know about my Baking class, it is probably the best class I've taken so far. We're in a kitchen getting a lot done, but it is not nearly as stressful as cooking theory was. I definitely prefer baking to regular cooking! If I had to choose between the two baking would win hands down. The homework for class is boring. We have to read certain chapters out of our text book and do a few math problems. The math is similar to what we need to do in class to change recipes, so it's actually useful. It's kind of cool to be putting math to good use.

So far I have been on 3 stations: quick breads, baker, and mixing. On the quick bread station we made coffee cake and scones, when I was baker I baked trays and trays of cookies, and today on mixing station we made 4 different kinds of bread dough. Did I forget to mention that we got a book when we came to NECI full of these amazing recipes? I have the recipes for everything they serve in the bakery and more. YUM!

Unfortunately I have the world's worst partner for this class. I do not like this guy. He is a jerk who thinks he knows everything about everything. He treats me like I'm stupid. He brown noses the teachers. Gah! I'm sorry, I just really don't like him. No one in our block does. I can't wait for this class to be over simply because I can't stand working with him.

I don't want to end this post on a bad note, so I am going to find something happy to write about! How about the fact that Thanksgiving is only a week away? Yeah! I am looking forward to Stuff Yourself With Turkey Day. I even have most of that week off from school.

I'm Alive! Sort Of...

I am alive, just busy. Busy, busy, busy. When I went home on Friday I was told about what a horrible week it had been there. My Aunt Jen and Uncle Jay are getting a divorce, which I found out about 4 weeks ago. But about a week ago my uncle started getting a little nuts about everything. Accusing my aunt of stuff, blowing up and throwing things, and refusing to go to mediation, opting to get a lawyer instead. He's making it a nasty divorce, which my cousins definitely DO NOT need. They stayed at our grandparent's home all weekend because of it. In times like this my family really pulls together. I was with them all weekend, doing what I could to help.

Then yesterday (ugh this week is going by slowly!) my new class started. I'm in baking now! This is a fun class, but it has homework unlike the class I just finished. Plus I have all the homework for my other classes that I need to do. I have to write a resume/ cover letter, make an e-portfolio, and read my entire ServSafe coursebook. I've got it all down to a schedule, but it's still time consuming (I did homework for 3 hours straight last night, no break) and mentally exhausting. SO, by the end of the day I'm ready to just fall asleep. Which is good because I have class at 6:30 AM.

I just wanted to post to let you all know why I haven't been around, and why I may not be around much for the next 2 weeks. I have a lot to do both here at school and at home. My parents are buying a house. Finally! It needs a lot of work done to it, though, so I'll be doing painting, cleaning, etc. I hope everything is going well with everyone else. I'll try to read and comment on your blogs a bit.