All sorts of stuff

I love it when we have a lot going on! First, we now have a web-domain (http://www.tastybellalife.com/ ) but it is not up and running, otherwise I'd be saying Salut! to blospot. I have truely loved blogspot since I got it but had been planning to upgrade since I first started blogging back in June.

Which means, the photography lessons will be put on the back burner for a week or two while I learn how to use HTML.  I am very excited about everything that's going on in our business, but we have to find balance. I feel I could better serve you by knowing how to make an awesome website  and then how to make awesome pictures, and last on the list, how to edit our awesome pictures. 

Lucky for me though, our camera has an auto button that will set the ISO and Apeture to the appropriate settings for the event. And I get great pictures, like this one...

I am chomping at the bit to edit this one.

Another deal breaker at the moment- we now have TWO cakes to make for the first weekend in March. That really gets me all tingly. I am  ready to show off my talent, pics will be up by the end of the sixth. You have my word!

The Man at Walmart

There is a man who sits at Walmart, almost daily. He is seventy-seven years old.

He always talks about the same thing. How long he's been married, the fact that kids should be allowed to walk and men should pull their briches up. He asks me if my husband gets jealous. I say no and he replies "all men get jealous".  He is such a joy to talk to.

I found out the other day from his daughter that he has Alzhiemers. Actually, he's had it for ten years. That is amazing to me. I knew a woman when I was growing up whose husband got it and withing two years was almost like a baby. The man's daughter said the medicine and the time spent at Walmart does him wonders.

Sometimes I think it does us wonders as well. When we walk in Walmart, he is there almost as a door greeter is there. Dyersburg is so blessed to have him.

keep Smilin'

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
I have so much going on that I can barely contain myself. Hope to get a domain by the weekend. Today I got a Nikon D3000. The picture is so clear, I am absolutely in love with it. I am getting a car this weekend (Red 2007 Pontiac Vibe) and I have stuff to work on my clothes.  I cannot wait to get the new stuff up. More to come. Until then... keep smilin!

Cake Balls

My daughter has her first Valentines Day party at school today. Thanks to the snow, we got all day yesterday to get ready for it. She colored pictures and we made cake balls. These yummy treats are so easy to make.
First, bake your favorite cake.
Once it has cooled, crumble it up and add to your favorite icing.

Stir it well!

The roll into small balls.
IMPORTANT!!! Store in freezer for one hour.  This makes the balls firm in order to continue to the next step with success.

Melt chocolate of choice. I chose white chocolate.

Once the chocolate is melted and the cake balls are hard, dip balls into chocolate. (Or drizzle chocolate over cake balls, that would be pretty!)
And then we chose  to dip the chocolate (still warm) into some Valentine sprinkles.

And wa-la, treats for Nevaeh's classmates!

I must!

I need another job or something. I got such great hours and good money when I first started at Walmart. But I started two months before Christmas and at the time we were understaffed. The six hour difference is the difference between me being able to have some extra money after paying the bills and no money after paying the bills. I do have a birthday cake I am selling in a few weeks but that money needs to go either in savings or towards something for the cake business (like piping stuff for the icing).
Not to sound conceited but I am very talented in what I do- whether it be crafting or cooking or writing. I am thinking I just need to combine them. I am already selling my food. I need to do craft shows and maybe become a freelance writer. My time is very limited. Between school, Walmart, keeping up with the house and spending what little time I have with my family, it really is.
But I did some thinking the other night in the truck on my way home. I normally go to bed around twelve- thirty or one. I get up at seven. If I were to get up at five instead and work on the side money stuff or even school during that time, I would get another half a day (12 hours) a week. And that's only if I did it six days a week.
I like my sleep though. I need to get back into the secret. Maybe then I could get up and not be tired. But a woman at work told me something I can't seem to get out of my head. It went something like "It's dog eat dog world in the industry". I am not a mean person and will not step on others' toes in order to get ahead. That does not mean I won't be aggressive. I have to do it. For me, my self-confidence and my family. I must!

thoughts

I long to get better at this. Need to come up with some creative stuff to write about. Give me your thoughts, please!

The best trip of my life

I spent three hours in NYC. That's it. And yet, I am totally in love. I have been listening to New York State of Mind (thanks to my sorority sister), and Empire State of Mind Part 2 by Alicia Keys.

 "Big lights will inspire you"



After spending the evening in Philadelphia, sweet husband said he'd take me on a journey if I could stay up. My response was "Get me some coffee or hot chocolate and I will!" One of the neatest things about New Jersey is that they still have full service gas stations. Actually, that's all they have. You are not allowed to get out and pump your own gas.  Interesting...

Before I knew it, we were close. So close that we got the traffic report every fifteen minutes on the local radio.  And would you believe, we tried to stop at a Walmart and they were closed. I didn't know that was possible. It began to snow, but did not deter these two adventures (and their two tag alongs). As we approached the Linclon Tunnel I woke Nevaeh up. The lights were so big, the city was so big. We somehow managed to drive around. My only guess was because it was night time. Their roads are horrible. But who can blame em', they never have time to fix them.

We saw the empire state building almost immediately and then drove around aimlessly. I noticed they had a "Whole Foods Market" on every corner it seemed (foodie's heaven).  There was a Best Buy open at 3 am. At one point we tried to get out to see the Statue of Liberty and the security guard informed us we couldn't park. So we stayed in.

We were hunting for Times Square when we got pulled over in front of NYU. We had just bought the car and the tags were still showing up as registered to our other car. They let us go but not without some college students yelling at them and us asking them for directions. Eventually we made it, and even got a spot to park!

High light of the night. Nevaeh and Bre saw the giant M&M store (complete with a TV on top). After that it was over. We went home. Got there about 9 am and crashed. God is good.