2010

Initially, I was going to write up this witty little blog about my boyfriend and his SUCCESSFUL attempt at making a birthday cake for his mother.
It was going to be great!
I was going to go on and on about how he was tuning up his skills so that when he became a victim of the economy and found himself jobless, I would be there to sweep him up and find a spot for him in my bakery!
(I tend to do this with my friends: scope out their talents and give them jobs at the imaginary bakery in my head. For example, Jenny: she is my buttercream girl, no doubt.)

But the more and more I thought about it, with 2010 wrapping up and all, I decided to take this in a different direction: here goes...

Two thousand ten was a year full of new experiences, facing fears, discovering new talents, and renewing old relationships.

This year, for the first time, I COMPLETED a full time semester at a college, over full time, I may add! After spending years doing who knows what, I finally got my act together and went back to school.
It was great.

I was publicly recognized for ONE of my passions, and it was really nice: Newspaper article!

After years of talking about how I was going to start running, I finally started to walk the talk, or rather run. My friend Erin and I had these DREAMS of running a marathon, and while that did not really work out, we started running in May, and I have been running at least one to two times a week ever since. It's not much, but it's a start.

I met a celebrity, and got a book signed.

I wanted to share my thoughts, feelings, outlooks, and a few wacky experiences in the kitchen. And hey, what do you know, that's just what I'm doing. (And I could not do it without YOU.)

Finally, I signed up for dance classes. It was something I had wanted to do for years, but never had the money for it. I had a BLAST! And I am taking more classes this upcoming January.

On January 3rd of this year, I went sledding with some GOOD friends. We talked about life, school, work, and then we talked about hopping in a car and going somewhere MAGICAL.
On June 20th, my friends and I went to Hogwarts.We had a great time.
Those "good" friends are now some of my BEST friends.

I made thousands of cupcakes and went through hundreds of pounds of butter, flour, and sugar.
Yumm!

There was drama, like always, with new friends and old, but it was wonderful.
EVERY second of it.

I turned 21 and had my first drink; that's why this is so exiting!

But I mentioned something about "facing fears."
And maybe you are wondering what that meant.
(Or maybe you're just wondering when I'm going to stop rambling...?)
This year, I did a lot of things that I thought would potentially end in complete humiliation, and I was scared every single time. But on so many occasions I really felt like I pushed the boundaries and stepped out of my comfort zone, and it was GREAT.

So how does any of this relate to Nate and his mom's birthday cake?

My boyfriend's no cake decorator, but he TRIED. And he discovered that while he may not be so great at handling a piping bag, he sure can smooth out buttercream on his first try! Something that I have been working on for years and have yet to master.

And that is what this post is about.
(The following questions ARE NOT rhetorical; COMMENT your answers, please!)
What did you try?
What risk did you take?
What did you love and what did you hate?


As always, thanks for stopping by!
And start thinking about your New Year's Resolution.
There will definitely be a post about that in a week or two!

Cupcakes & Kisses,
Paula-Marie