A Homier Home

I know I blogged about this last summer, but each year I am taken aback by how cool gardens are. We plant tiny seedlings in dirt and before you know it...it's Jungle out there!!!!

Since we had so much success with tomatoes last year, we went all out and planted 5 different varieties again this year. They have dominated the majority of the garden...enough to inspire Nick to increase our overall garden 200% for summer of 2010. The raspberry plants, that I though I killed last year, have taken off and are producing enough berries for a decent size snack each day. The lemon cucumbers were an experiment and are deeming fruitful. As are the chives, basil, mint, sage, oregano, and thyme. Our spicy peppers are trying their best, but the brussel sprouts never stood a chance. Dang the slugs!

Last night I was inspired to have a Garden Dinner: Basil pesto spaghetti with cherry tomatoes and pan fried tilapia and herbed-buttermilk salad. Yummmo! I love heading out to the garden to grab something and then eating it that night. It's the 20 foot diet, if you will.

I also recently became absolutely disgusted by our home office. It was cluttered, unorganized, inefficient and not the ideal working environment for a girl who thrives off of tidiness, some style and functional. So...I took an entire day and upgraded the overall look. Moved a few things around, tossed a lot of stuff, purchased a few key organizational items and Vua-La!!!


A place that excites me to work and dwell.

Nick Turns 36!!!

August 7th turned a new page in Nick's Book of Life: The glorious age of 36! Since his actual birthday landed on a Friday and was near impossible for any sort of worthy celebration due to my weekend wedding schedule, we postponed his actual celebration for Sunday. However, we did have time on Friday night to squeeze in some social time with a few awesome guys at Archers for beer, darts and good convo (Thanks Trev, Nate and Ryan)!

A few weeks earilier, I had decided to surprise Nick with a Day of Fun, celebrated with a few of his dearest friends. Guys he has known for years and years. Guys who have walked along side him through the valleys of life, as well as celebrated the joyful moments! So on Sunday morning, after Nursery duty at Cornwall Church, we headed home for what he thought to be a day for just the two of us. The true plan was soon reveled as the guests began to arrive: The Best's (Pete and Joy, as well as their twins (Nick's Godchildren) David and Isabelle), the Norwoods (Ron-a-tron and Cathy, as well as their daughter Bella) and Kevin Unruh. Our house quickly turned into a kid-friendly playground, with the set agenda of a hike with the guys (plus me) and a steak dinner. We enjoyed all of Nick's favorites: Avocado, Bacon & Turkey sandwiches, great convo and a pleasant hike up to Fragrance Lake.

Then came dinner with the whole crew back at our house: Bacon wrapped sirloin steaks, garlic mash potatoes, grilled asparagus and green beans, baked brie and figs, corn on the cob, mojitos, and for dessert: Flourless Chocolate Torte and a Summer Berry Tart. He was happy as can be and in his words: "Honored the his friends sacrificed an entire day to travel to Bellingham and celebrate with him." Hearing him say this was a breath of fresh air. I got to witness Nick humbly recognize his own worth to others. That was the icing on the cake(or ganache in this case) and the best birthday present he could have given to himself.

Mag 7 Gather Again - Swift River

In honor of my mother's birthday, the Mag 7 took a trip to Swift River Reservoir in Southern Washington. We did as we always do and just relaxed together.

Hanging at the campsite:
Eating (Pappi took it upon himself to introduce Delya to her first whole food: Cantaloupe):
Reading at the beach:

Sailing (Dad's make-shift canoe/sailboat):
And just Hangin':

Lewis River was about an hour drive from our campsite. We strolled through the lush-green landscape for a final destination at the Lower Falls. Gorgeous, pristine water, and oh-so refreshing! Since Washington's random heat wave hit that weekend...we all took advantage of the cool waters and lived like kids again.

Andi dusting off those old cheerleading skills:

Ami taking the plunge:
What a great hubby...helping Mommacita scale the rock:

4 of 7:
Thanks Mom! Great place to celebrate your birthday!

Christ Church Bellingham

Our church is here! After 2 years of feeling unsettled in not having a home church and one full year of monthly meetings and prayer time, Christ Church Bellingham has finally arrived (http://www.christchurchbellingham.org/)! Nate Walker and Trevor Mauss have been working diligently (with tremendous support from their wives) in preparing a new church for Bellingham. Sunday evening services have begun, as well as Tuesday Night BBQs at various parks. We gather to praise Jesus, learn from each other, sing loudly, eat, play and dwell in fellowship. Nick and I are thrilled to reunite in a church community that is so welcoming, real, loving and raw. Wanna come???

Work, work, work

Work has obviously been keeping me busy these last several weeks. Both Pure Bliss Desserts and Steven Moore Designs have hit their peak season. Just about each weekend has been consumed with either a wedding to coordinate, a dessert bar/cake to bake or both. The end of July brought my craziest times with 3 dessert bars and a wedding to run all in the same weekend. It was busy, but way less stressful than what I was expecting. Organization is key! Pre-planning is a MUST! Asking for help and not over committing my social calendar helped too.

A few shots from that weekend (Thanks Taylor and Clinton!):

500 cupcakes to eat:

The cake to cut:

The Garden Wedding:

The Lavish Pink Wedding (Life is about learning as you go. My lesson: Cream cheese frosting isn't stable enough to hold fondant. That's locked in the memory bank).


Ami came up to assist that weekend. It was so much fun to spend some bonus time with my sister and niece.

We laughed:

We cried:

We snuggled:

We bathed:
I got peed on (if you look closely, you will see my pee soaked shirt)!
The summer is winding down for me in the coordinating business. Two weddings to go and then I will retire from Steven Moore Designs. I have truly enjoyed working for the oh-so-talented Steve, as well as learning more about weddings than I ever though I would. But alas, it is time to move on. My goal will be to focus on growing Pure Bliss Desserts and enhancing the opportunities to treat the people of Bellingham wirh delectable and amazing desserts! I will also continue to develop recipes and help produce goods for Chuckanut Bay Foods a few times a week. Still a full plate, but when you are as passionate about baking as I am, it rarely feels like work.

It's Catch-Up time!

Whoa! It has been a while...5 weeks actually. I guess that's what happens when busy season comes around. Blogging shifts quickly to the "low priority" status when there are cakes to bake, weddings to coordinate, recipes to develop, meetings to meet and fun to be had (the sun is limited you know...at least in Washington)! But today I am taking the day off from that busyness craze and enjoying the overcast day by doing what feels right in the moment. This moment feels like catching up on Blogs, so hold on...more to come!