His 30th Birthday

Last week my hubby turned the big 3-0.  Chris was not as excited about it as I was. Possibly because he had to go to school all day, or maybe just because turning 30 isn't as much fun as it sounds. Either way, he was out of the house most of the day which gave me the perfect opportunity to bake him a cake!

My friend Crystal is an excellent baker and agreed to help me with the adventure, and Clare let us bake at her house so Chris wouldn't find out. Plus, she lives right near the restaurant we were going to eat at so I didn't have to attempt to walk this baby across town! There is no way I could have pulled this off without the two of them.

It took nearly the whole day, but we ended up making a heavenly chocolate 3 layer cake with peanut butter whipped cream frosting and Godiva chocolate ganache on top. It tasted even better than it sounds!

P.S. I made him a "30 for Your 30th" card like a few people suggested!  He Loved It.

P.P.S.  And now I get to officially cross something off my 12 by 12 list!

Typography

After about 15 minutes of staring at these fonts, it dawned on me that any normal person would have just picked one by now. Can you see the differences?

I'm taking my time with the new Priceless Design site. It will be the first (real) Wordpress blog I've done, and I want to get it right.  The typeface will have to compliment my all-time-favorite HoneyScript. Which would you pick?

90% natural, 10% fresh

Presenting, Turkey-Lurkey!! This Thanksgiving was the best yet. Mr. Turkey was cooked in a turkey-bag this year. Although I was a bit skeptical at first, now that I've tried a turkey-bag I don't think I will ever go back! You don't have to baste the turkey, and there is practically no mess. He came out totally moist and practically falling off the bone. Tracy and I (well, Tracy mostly) stuffed him with garlic butter, salt and pepper, thyme and parsley, and carrots, onions, and celery.

Everyone was required to make a hand turkey with 4 things they were thankful for, and we put them up on the wall.  My favorite was baby daphne's, which said she was thankful for things like Mommy and Daddy, milk, and music!

My turkey said I was thankful for my family, good friends, the Internet, & free time.  Living in Dominica, I don't need much else.   

Sunday Afternoon Adventure

Yesterday helped to remind me of a couple of awesome things about living on a small island.

- It's November, and I'm still able to go to the pool any time I want.
- Instead of graffiti, bright fruits are painted on walls.
- You can stand in the middle of the {only} highway for several minutes without any cars passing.
- I can hand someone off the street my dSLR without worrying they will run off with it.
- The one and only street light on the island is activated by pushing a button.
- Sunday afternoons with friends and a camera can be just as much fun as movie theaters or malls.

 

 

It's in my blood...

I realize that I don't talk too much about my family here on my blog, other than mentioning Chris every now and then. This is probably because they all live so far away this year. I miss them.

I have a wonderful mother, Diane, who is so generous and kind. She is hilarious, and I get my laugh-till-I-cry gene from her. My mom is a kindergarden teacher, agility dog trainer, and is quite crafty when she wants to be. She taught me to love books and reading by always being half way through one herself.

My sister Julie is the most tender-hearted girl you will ever meet. She instantly makes you feel welcome and like you are the center of her attention. Julie is super compassionate to everyone she meets. She is a graphic designer by profession {check out her work here} and amazing artist.

I am lucky to have my step-father Peter in my life. He is kind hearted and always has good advice in tough situations. He has a keen sense of intuition, which is difficult to describe but incredible to see in action. Peter is a minister as well, and married Chris and I back in 2007.


My father, Ted, is a man of many hats. He is a drummer, engineer, Harley-rider, and also where my computer and technology geekiness comes from. He is a computer programmer and made sure I was way ahead of the other kids in mathematics. We even had an original Apple desktop computer, way back when.


It's fun to look at the bits and pieces of my family that I carry with me. I am a teacher like my mom and computer nerd like my dad. My sister and I are so very different in some ways, and so alike in others.

Although I dislike the two day trip to get back to California, I will be glad to see everyone at Christmas this year.  We will be in California for about 3 weeks in various places.  Let me know if you'd like to get in touch!

Wonderful, if not perfect

"That time of the semester" has come early this go round.  We had the 4th Semester Banquet on Thursday night, and tonight is the school's banquet.  It's basically a prom replacement for students who have been living on an island for 16 months.

What makes this so bittersweet for me is that my husband and I will not be attending because he is repeating this semester.  That's right.  We should be moving back to America in 5 weeks, but instead we will be here another 4 months.

The whole repeating thing was a hard pill to swallow at first.  Mostly because my pride was getting in the way.  Being a student is what I'm good at.  I graduated with above a 4.0 from high school, aced my AP exams, magna cum laude from college.. school is my thing.  And somehow, Chris's schooling is mixed in with my feelings about myself.  It's a confusing mess of emotions for me.

Even though I'm sad that Chris is repeating, I am thrilled that I get to come back to Dominica after Christmas.  Although I complain sometimes about the island, I really do love my life here.

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A better dream..

If getting my masters in educational technology is the dream, then creating my own blog design business is the better one. I'm so close to being finished with this masters; my final classes begin next week. Sadly, I'm just not that excited about it anymore. What I really want to be doing with my time is working on design and learning coding and playing with Photoshop and Illustrator. I had more fun designing my global learning project than I'm having running it.  

This week is a vacation from school for me before the final push. I hope that after a little time away, I'll be ready to get 'er done.  

Right now I'm taking a blog design workshop from The Blog Designer Network, and I'm learning so much about the "right" way to do things. I've always just winged it when it came to blog installation, and now I'm learning how to properly code things. It probably sounds all nerdy, but it is super exciting to me!  

One of my goals for Twelve by 2012 is to get Priceless Design ready for a grand opening and I'm really excited about it. There is a lot of logistical stuff to think about now like paypal accounts, pricing, terms of service, and if I really want to leave Priceless Adventure connected to Priceless Design. I'm thinking of moving Priceless Design over to (shock) a self hosted Wordpress site. It makes more sense for the long haul.  

The best part about opening Priceless Design is that I will be making money by doing something that I really love.  Something that I can get lost in for hours.  Now if only I could find a way to merge that and my masters degree into a job that paid well & had benefits.  Designing for a college website maybe?  Teaching teachers how to design online classes?  Creating pre-made class templates?  Who knows, but at least I'm narrowing down what I'd like to do.  

Pin Day Wednesday, Fall Edition

Pumpkin Smoothie {pin}

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Sad to say, there has not been real butter at the store in over a week.

There will be no salted caramel mochas or butter beer for me any time soon.

Someone in America enjoy one of these treats for me, ok?