busy weekend ahead

early in the morning i'm meeting up with my first friend ever and her beautiful girl, my god-daughter. then a quick drop-by at the orlando meeting and then off to the beth moore conference for the weekend. really excited about that. i'm going to the conference with my mom and grandma which should be a fun thing. then home to sleep. back to church at 9am to finish up the conference. then to royal oak all day for the johnny cupcakes event. sometime in there i'm supposed to eat. not sure how that's going to work out. as of now i am literally planning on being in line all day saturday to ensure that johnny and i will be best friends. poor michael has to be with me at that all day. he has no interest in johnny cupcakes, and part of the problem is i'm also getting paid tomorrow, so i'm sure to spend most of my low income paycheck. dave ramsey does not approve. at some point i should most likely review my lesson for sunday morning and then dreaded tornado drill. do you all remember those? i remember loving them! i loved that we were able to leave learning for a few and sit cramped in the boys or girls bathrooms until they called over the p.a. to release us. i always loved how the boys got SO excited to sit in the girls bathroom. elementary school was great. anyways, sunday morning i'll spend talking about the isrealites, then to a team meeting and then to detroit for the city to suburbs revolution called "reverse" detroit. so excited for that. excited to connect with high schoolers and hang out in the d. peace and love. a.

google

what it would be like if google took over the world....

all i have to say is....going to a real school completely sucks. i hate that i am stressed out about my classes ALL the time, and when im not stressing about the classes im currently taking, im stressing about all of the classes im taking next semester. this is terrible.

website

my new website is coming soon and i am sooooo excited! i have been in the process of getting my online cupcake ordering/shipping business up and running. obviously in very small steps but i realized that i am just going to need to jump start this if i want to see it happening any time soon. anyways, i finally posted a listing on etsy's alchemy page where you can post something you need and people bid on it. with that said, literally in two minutes of me posting it, i already have received 4 offers to do my logo design for both website and print. how exciting! i love that there are people in the world as passionate as i am about quality stuff and cupcakes! i'll let you know where to find my site hopefully soon! but for now, check out my other blog... holycupcake.blogspot.com.

peace and love, amanda

shopping

so i received my first paycheck last week that didn't go to paying my monthly tuition payments!! yay!! so my first splurge was at anthropologie. i decided that even though i should really be saving my extra money, i also really need to buy real clothes. when it comes to start student teaching next year all i will have is tshirts and jeans. i would much rather buy a couple of pieces of clothing every month now than save money for boring stuff and then a year from now have to spend $1000 on clothes all at once. anyways, i seriously LOVE that store. i could spend all day in there and have complete bliss. thats all for now, peace and love friends.

i used to love this movie...

i was just reminded of how awesome i used to think this movie was. i probably watched it at least one hundred times when i was a kid. i think im going to have to watch it soon...



Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

homeless in detroit

This is by far the saddest picture I have ever seen.

It was on the FRONT PAGE of The Detroit News this morning.

Charlie LeDuff / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- This city has not always been a gentle place, but a series of events over the past few, frigid days causes one to wonder how cold the collective heart has grown.

It starts with a phone call made by a man who said his friend found a dead body in the elevator shaft of an abandoned building on the city's west side.

"He's encased in ice, except his legs, which are sticking out like Popsicle sticks," the caller phoned to tell this reporter.

"Why didn't your friend call the police?"

"He was trespassing and didn't want to get in trouble," the caller replied. As it happens, the caller's friend is an urban explorer who gets thrills rummaging through and photographing the ruins of Detroit. It turns out that this explorer last week was playing hockey with a group of other explorers on the frozen waters that had collected in the basement of the building. None of the men called the police, the explorer said. They, in fact, continued their hockey game.

Before calling the police, this reporter went to check on the tip, skeptical of a hoax. Sure enough, in the well of the cargo elevator, two feet jutted out above the ice. Closer inspection revealed that the rest of the body was encased in 2-3 feet of ice, the body prostrate, suspended into the ice like a porpoising walrus.

The hem of a beige jacket could be made out, as could the cuffs of blue jeans. The socks were relatively clean and white. The left shoe was worn at the heel but carried fresh laces. Adding to the macabre and incongruous scene was a pillow that gently propped up the left foot of the corpse. It looked almost peaceful.

What happened to this person, one wonders? Murder in Motown is a definite possibility. Perhaps it was death by alcoholic stupor. Perhaps the person was crawling around in the elevator shaft trying to retrieve some metal that he could sell at a scrap yard. In any event, there the person was. Stone-cold dead.

A symbol of decay
The building is known as the Roosevelt Warehouse, once belonging to the Detroit Public Schools as a book repository. Located near 14th Street and Michigan Avenue, the warehouse burned in 1987 and caused something of a scandal as thousands of books, scissors, footballs and crayons were left to rot while Detroit schoolchildren -- some of the poorest children in the country -- went without supplies.

The building was eventually sold to Matty Moroun, the trucking and real estate mogul who is worth billions of dollars and is the largest private property owner in the state of Michigan. Among other properties, Moroun owns the decrepit Michigan Central Rail Depot that squats directly next to the warehouse. The train station has become the symbol of Detroit's decay. Like much of his property in southwestern Detroit, Moroun's warehouse and the train station are gaping sores.

The warehouse is so easily accessible, a person in a wheelchair could get in with little effort. There are holes in the fence and in the side entrance. The elevator shaft is wide open. It appears no one has ever tried to close the bay doors.

A colony of homeless men live in the warehouse. Wednesday morning a few fires were burning inside oil drums. Scott Ruben, 38, huddled under filthy blankets not 20 paces from the elevator shaft.

"Yeah, I seen him," Ruben said. The snow outside howled. The heat from the can warped the landscape of rotting buildings and razor wire.

Did he know who the dead person was?

"I don't recognize him from his shoes."

Did he call the police?

"No, I figured someone else did," he said.

"There's lots of people coming through here with cameras and cell phones. I don't got no phone. I don't got no quarter. Things is tight around here."

His shack mate, Kenneth Williams, 47, returned at that point with an armload of wood.

"Yeah, he's been down there since last month at least."

He was asked if he called the police.

"No, I thought it was a dummy myself," he said unconvincingly. Besides, Williams said, there were more pressing issues like keeping warm and finding something to eat.

"You got a couple bucks?" he asked.

Waiting for a response
There are at least 19,000 homeless people in Detroit, by some estimates. Put another way, more than 1 in 50 people here are homeless.

The human problem is so bad, and the beds so few, that some shelters in the city provide only a chair. The chair is yours as long as you sit in it. Once you leave, the chair is reassigned.

Thousands of down-on-their-luck adults do nothing more with their day than clutch onto a chair. This passes for normal in some quarters of the city.

"I hate that musical chair game," Ruben said. He said he'd rather live next to a corpse.

Convinced that it was indeed a body, this reporter made a discreet call to a police officer.

"Aw, just give 911 a call," the cop said. "We'll be called eventually."

A call was placed to 911. A woman answered. She was told it was a reporter calling. The operator tried to follow, but seemed confused. "Where is this building?"

She promised to contact the appropriate authorities.

Twenty minutes or so went by when 911 called the newsroom. This time it was a man.

"Where's this building?"

It was explained to him, as was the elevator shaft and the tomb of ice.

"Bring a jack-hammer," this reporter suggested.

"That's what we do," he said.

Nearly 24 hours went by. The elevator shaft was still a gaping wound. There was no crime scene tape. The homeless continued to burn their fires. City schoolchildren still do not have the necessary books to learn. The train station continues to crumble. Too many homicides still go unsolved.

After another two calls to 911 on Wednesday afternoon (one of which was disconnected), the Detroit Fire Department called and agreed to meet nearby.

Capt. Emma McDonald was on the scene.

"Every time I think I've seen it all, I see this," she said.

And with that they went about the work of recovering a person who might otherwise be waiting for the warm winds of spring.

jeremiah 29: 11-13

today i was reminded of the memory verse that we had the kids learn all summer long at SpringHill. it's jeremiah 29:11-13, for I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future, then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. you will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.

i truly believe that God has put this on my heart for many reasons, foremost the idea of moving all the way to Orlando. this makes me so fearful of what the rest of my life will look like. i am so plans-oriented that the idea of moving and not having any idea why or where or when drives me crazy. i am going to be in serious prayer for the next months ahead about this.

peace and love. amanda.

on my mind

i cannot begin to explain how proud i am of myself. for the last 3 years, since i've graduated high school, i've been telling myself that i will go to the gym regularly. over one thousand broken commitments and heafty payments my lovely parents have made later, i have finally broken this non-excercise streak i've been on. its been four days in a row now and i cannot be more happy about it!

unfortunately, through all of my happiness, i am full of anxiety too. i'm starting back to school tonight, but on top of it, i am also starting at a new school. oakland university here i come! ahhhhh.... this should be an interesting night. for the last three years i have gotten used to easy classes and professors that love me because i actually turn everything in on time and i come to class early. i hear university is a totally different story. i'll let you know how it goes.

peace and love. amanda.

im so tired of being tired. i am constantly exhausted. i seriously am so excited to go up north for a week and just relax and sleep.

hey look....

That's me!! :)

hmm...

so i am actually pretty upset about this. surprisingly or not, i have made a strong effort to purchase all natural, organic, biodegradable, eco-friendly products. whether it be cleaning supplies or cosmetics this household transformation has happened within the last year. anyways, as i was washing my face this morning i was reminded of my slowly draining bathroom sink. it has been this way now for about three weeks and i was tired of it taking twenty minutes to drain the water from brushing my teeth. i then realized that most of the face products i have been using, from the Godsend LUSH, are oil based. this meaning that all of the lovely oils making my skin squeaky clean and smooth have slowly but surely clogged my drain. sad day. this meant i had to go buy the yucky, icky, smelly, ooey, gooey, Drain-O. man was i bummed. i have made this effort for so long, and have put a lot of money into it, and i have to go ruin it all by purchasing this product of an opposite lifestyle. oh well, i guess i'll start from fresh. i just hope my sweet japanese girl facial bar doesn't require me to continue to buy the product equal to the eco-devil.

on my mind

things that are on my mind at the moment

*Michael
*Detroit Red Wings (#40)
*Cupcakes
*going on an adventure to the library
*my leaking toilet
*ahhh...what's my major going to be?!?
*i really want starbucks right now, grande nonfat latte add caramel 140*
*i love my job
*i love my NEW job at macy's
*i am so excited to get my new library card....yeah i know, im a dork

love you lots
amanda

Starbucks Claimed to Help Ma & Pa Coffee Shops

As said at slate.com...
The first time Herb Hyman spoke with the rep from Starbucks, in 1991, the life of his small business flashed before his eyes. For three decades, Hyman's handful of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf stores had been filling the caffeine needs of Los Angeles locals and the Hollywood elite: Johnny Carson had his own blend there; Jacques Cousteau arranged to have Hyman's coffee care packages meet his ship at ports around the world; and Dirty Dozen leading man Lee Marvin often worked behind the counter with Hyman for fun. But when the word came down that the rising Seattle coffee juggernaut was plotting its raid on Los Angeles, Hyman feared his life's work would be trampled underfoot. Starbucks even promised as much. "They just flat-out said, 'If you don't sell out to us, we're going to surround your stores,' " Hyman recalled. "And lo and behold, that's what happened—and it was the best thing that ever happened to us."
Ever since Starbucks blanketed every functioning community in America with its cafes, the one effect of its expansion that has steamed people the most has been the widely assumed dying-off of mom and pop coffeehouses. Our cities once overflowed with charming independent coffee shops, the popular thinking goes, until the corporate steamroller known as Starbucks came through and crushed them all, perhaps tossing the victims a complimentary Alanis Morrisette CD to ease the psychic pain. In a world where Starbucks operates nearly 15,000 stores, with six new ones opening each day, isn't this a reasonable assumption? How could momma and poppa coffee hope to survive? But Hyman didn't misspeak—and neither did the dozens of other coffeehouse owners I've interviewed. Strange as it sounds, the best way to boost sales at your independently owned coffeehouse may just be to have Starbucks move in next-door.
That's certainly how it worked out for Hyman. Soon after declining Starbucks's buyout offer, Hyman received the expected news that the company was opening up next to one of his stores. But instead of panicking, he decided to call his friend Jim Stewart, founder of the Seattle's Best Coffee chain, to find out what really happens when a Starbucks opens nearby. "You're going to love it," Stewart reported. "They'll do all of your marketing for you, and your sales will soar." The prediction came true: Each new Starbucks store created a local buzz, drawing new converts to the latte-drinking fold. When the lines at Starbucks grew beyond the point of reason, these converts started venturing out—and, Look! There was another coffeehouse right next-door! Hyman's new neighbor boosted his sales so much that he decided to turn the tactic around and start targeting Starbucks. "We bought a Chinese restaurant right next to one of their stores and converted it, and by God, it was doing $1 million a year right away," he said.
Hyman isn't the only one who has experienced this Starbucks reverse jinx. Orange County, Calif., coffeehouse owner Martin Diedrich started hyperventilating when he first heard a Starbucks was opening "within a stone's throw" of his cafe, yet he reported similar results: "I didn't suffer whatsoever. Ultimately I prospered, in no small part because of it." Ward Barbee, the recently passed founder of the coffee trade magazine Fresh Cup, saw this happen scores of times. "Anyone who complains about having a Starbucks put in next to you is crazy," he told me. "You want to welcome the manager, give them flowers. It should be the best news that any local coffeehouse ever had."
Now, lest we get carried away with the happy civic results of Starbucks' global expansion, I hasten to point out that the company isn't exactly thrilled to have this effect on its local competitors' sales. Starbucks is actually trying to be ruthless in its store placements; it wants those independents out of the way, and it frequently succeeds at displacing them through other means, such as buying a mom and pop's lease or intimidating them into selling out. Beyond the frothy drinks and the touchy-feely decor, Starbucks runs on considerable competitive fire. Consider Tracy Cornell, a former Starbucks real-estate dealmaker who found and locked up a staggering 900 North American retail sites for the company in her decade-plus career. "It was sort of piranha-like," Cornell told me of her work for Starbucks. "It was just talking to landlords, seeing who was behind on their rent. All I needed was an opening like that, where the landlord wanted out. I was looking for tenants who were weak."
As much as independent coffeehouse owners generally enjoy having a Starbucks close at hand, most of them seem to have a story or two of someone from the company trying to undercut them. And occasionally a new Starbucks will hurt a mom and pop—even drive them out of business. For example, in 2006, cafe owner Penny Stafford filed a federal antitrust suit against the company, alleging a nearby Starbucks illegally sank her Bellevue, Wash., coffeehouse. Starbucks employees were passing out samples right outside her front door, Stafford claims, even though the company's nearest outlet was over 300 feet away.
But closures like this have been the exception, not the rule. In its predatory store placement strategy, Starbucks has been about as lethal a killer as a fluffy bunny rabbit. Business for independently owned coffee shops has been nothing less than exceptional as of late. Here's a statistic that might be surprising, given the omnipresence of the Starbucks empire: According to recent figures from the Specialty Coffee Association of America, 57 percent of the nation's coffeehouses are still mom and pops. Just over the five-year period from 2000 to 2005—long after Starbucks supposedly obliterated indie cafes—the number of mom and pops grew 40 percent, from 9,800 to nearly 14,000 coffeehouses. (Starbucks, I might add, tripled in size over that same time period. Good times all around.) So much for the sharp decline in locally owned coffee shops. And prepare yourself for some bona fide solid investment advice: The failure rate for new coffeehouses is a mere 10 percent, according to the market research firm Mintel, which means the vast majority of cafes stay afloat no matter where Starbucks drops its stores. Compare that to the restaurant business, where failure is the norm.
So now that we know Starbucks isn't slaughtering mom and pop, the thorny question remains: Why is Starbucks amplifying their business? It's actually pretty simple. In contrast to so-called "downtown killers" like Home Depot or Wal-Mart, Starbucks doesn't enjoy the kinds of competitive advantages that cut down its local rivals' sales. Look at Wal-Mart. It offers lower prices and a wider array of goods than its small-town rivals, so it acts like a black hole on local consumers, sucking in virtually all of their business. Starbucks, on the other hand, is often more expensive than the local coffeehouse, and it offers a very limited menu; you'll never see discounts or punch cards at Starbucks, nor will you see unique, localized fare (or—let's be honest—fare that doesn't make your tongue feel like it's dying). In other words, a new Starbucks doesn't prevent customers from visiting independents in the same way Wal-Mart does—especially since coffee addicts need a fix every day, yet they don't always need to hit the same place for it. When Starbucks opens a store next to a mom and pop, it creates a sort of coffee nexus where people can go whenever they think "coffee." Local consumers might have a formative experience with a Java Chip Frappuccino, but chances are they'll branch out to the cheaper, less crowded, and often higher-quality independent cafe later on. So when Starbucks blitzed Omaha with six new stores in 2002, for instance, business at all coffeehouses in town immediately went up as much as 25 percent.
The key for independent coffeehouse owners who want to thrive with a Starbucks next-door is that they don't try to imitate Starbucks. (As many failed coffee chains can attest, there's no way to beat Starbucks at being Starbucks.) The locally owned cafes that offer their own unique spin on the coffeehouse experience—and, crucially, a quality brew—are the ones that give the Seattle behemoth fits. Serve an appetizing enough cappuccino, and you can even follow Hyman's lead and take aim at almighty Starbucks, where automated espresso machines now pull consistently middling shots at the touch of a button—no employee craftsmanship required.
After all, if Starbucks can make a profit by putting its stores right across the street from each other, as it so often does, why couldn't a unique, well-run mom and pop do even better next-door? And given America's continuing thirst for exorbitantly priced gourmet coffee drinks, there's a lot of cash out there for the taking. As coffee consultant Dan Cox explained, "You can't do better than a cup of coffee for profit. It's insanity. A cup of coffee costs 16 cents. Once you add in labor and overhead, you're still charging a 400 percent markup—not bad! Where else can you do that?" Until Americans decide they need to pay four bucks a pop every morning for a custom-baked, designer-toast experience, probably nowhere.

The Dark Knight

We are all at a loss for words of the death of acclaimed actor Heath Ledger. This is what the blog slate.com has said about this tragedy and the marketing techniques Warner Bros. will use.

Knight's Tale: Despite persistent rumors that Heath Ledger had not finished recording all his lines for the upcoming Batman movie, Warner Bros. insists that director Christopher Nolan got what he needed while filming.
Warner has kept largely mum about how it will manage its big investment in The Dark Knight after Ledger's sad and untimely death. The studio is still figuring out what to do not just with the film but with products like T-shirts and toys. In fact, the studio has set a big meeting for today to discuss those merchandising questions.
Warner plans to release the movie as planned in July. Usually, after filming is completed, actors do looping sessions—that is, they record and perfect their lines in a studio. It would be unusual for Nolan to have all the sound that he wants at this early stage but a producer—not associated with this project—tells us that it's not impossible. "I can't think of a movie where there were no looped lines whatsoever, but I can think of movies where a main character was not looped," he says.
On a big-budget franchise picture like The Dark Knight, he adds, looping would be the norm. "When you are doing a movie like Batman, as opposed to The Savages, you loop," he explains. "You are a perfectionist because you have the money to do it and the studio gives you whatever you want. You go through 17 takes of Heath Ledger saying, 'I'm the Joker,' and if it isn't just right, you loop it."
Warner could use a voice artist if needed—and there are rumors that the studio will do that. If so, the studio's denials would be understandable: Warner wouldn't want the public to be listening for variations in the voice when the movie is released. But the producer assures: "With a good voice artist, you would never know the difference."
Indeed, when Spartacus was rereleased in 1991, the studio wanted to insert the deleted seduction "snails and oysters" scene between Tony Curtis and Laurence Olivier. The footage was there, but the sound was not. Curtis was available to redo his lines; Olivier's part was seamlessly performed by Anthony Hopkins.
A Warner executive acknowledges that another actor may at least have to provide a Joker voice for such things as a planned theme-park attraction. Some marketing efforts—like an idea that involved calls to fans' cell phones—may be scrapped.
Dozens of licensing agreements have been in place for months, but another studio source says that relatively few involve Ledger's image. Many Batman-associated products are aimed at children aged 5 to 9, so, this executive says, Warner was proceeding with a degree of caution even before Ledger's demise because of the intensity of the Joker's character in the film. For some products, the cartoon image of the Joker was already being used. And Ledger did photo shoots so that his likeness could be used on certain products such as T-shirts.
Now Warner has to figure out what to do with products bearing that likeness. "You don't want people to think you're exploiting his death," the source explains. "But his character is part of the movie, and he was on board with wanting to do this with his character." And if Warner doesn't release the merchandise, "The pirates would come out of the woodwork, and then it's completely out of control."
Meanwhile, Warner is likely to alter some of its marketing campaign, which featured Ledger's image in the early going. A source close to the project says the plan all along was to start with the Joker and then segue to the image of Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face. In the film, Two-Face is in a love triangle with Rachel Dawes, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. It was clever to cast Gyllenhaal in the role vacated by Katie Holmes. Both have similar kewpie-doll faces, so it's not a grating change. And Gyllenhaal brings more weight to the part. That's one less thing to worry about in a blockbuster that's already carrying a lot of weight.

http://www.slate.com/id/2183273/nav/ais/#Knights

snickerdoodle cupcakes with cinnamon sugar icing

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Butter Cupcakes
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
3/4 teaspoon No-Color Almond Extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
Yield: Makes about 24 standard cupcakes.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In mixer bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Mix in vanilla and almond flavor.
Mix flour with baking powder and salt.
Add flour mixture alternately with milk, starting with the flour.
Pour into prepared pans.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool 10 minutes in pan on rack; remove and cool completely before decorating.

Cinnamon Sugar Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup milk
Yield: Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Directions

In large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, cinnamon and milk.
Beat with mixer until well blended.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
Fill cupcakes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Fluffy Boiled Icing
Ingredients

3 Tablespoons meringue powder
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
Yield: Makes 8 cups icing.

Directions

Beat meringue powder and 1/2 cup cold water until stiff, about 4 minutes.
In microwave safe bowl stir sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water.
In microwave bring syrup mixture to a boil (approx. 5 minutes).
Remove, let mixture cool slightly (1-2 minutes).
Slowly add syrup to meringue mixture.
Beat on HIGH for 4 minutes.
For top of range: Mix sugar, corn syrup and water in 2 qt. saucepan. Bring to boil; cool slightly and follow directions above.

Special Hints
Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of the icing for a traditional flavor!

pumpkin cupcakes with maple buttercream icing

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 package (18.25 oz.) yellow cake mix (no pudding in the mix)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
Yield: Makes about 24 standard cupcakes or 5 Mini Tasty-Fill cakes.*

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line standard muffin pan with baking cups.
In large bowl, combine cake mix, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add water, oil and eggs; beat with electric mixer 2 minutes.
Add pumpkin; mix until well blended.
Spoon into baking cups.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool in pan on cooling rack for 5-8 minutes.
Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely.
*Any of our cupcake recipes may be prepared in our Mini Tasty-Fill pans. Spray pans with vegetable pan spray, then fill each with about 1/2 cup batter. Place pans on cookie sheet and bake 14-16 minutes. Cool in pan on cooling grid for about 8 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely before filling and icing.

Maple Buttercream Icing
Ingredients

4 cups (16 oz.) confectionery sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter
3-4 tablespoons half and half
1 1/2 teaspoons maple flavoring
Yield: Makes 2-1/4 cups.

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine all icing ingredients.
Beat until smooth.

25 trends that changed america

http://www.usatoday.com/news/top25-trends.htm

keep your coins, i want change

so for the past year i guess i've been ranting and raving about change...and i don't really think i've made any sort of impact. i guess i've turned some people on to a couple of my favorite "organizations". maybe you'll find interest in them as well. so, here i go!

www.towriteloveonherarms.com

www.xxxchurch.com

www.relevantmagazine.com

www.starvingjesus.com

www.igniteapparel.com

www.naiveclothing.com

www.keepachildalive.org

www.invisiblechildren.com

www.theedgeyouth.com

www.kccquarterlifeou.com

www.kensingtonchurch.org

this crazy life

so lately life has been one long road trip, with lots of stops, lots of pot holes, and definitely some wrong turns. with the internship almost done things have become very hectic. im leaving for mississippi on saturday with a group of 85 students and leaders. i know that there are some great things to come with that trip. im also leaving on june 8th for springhill, a christian camp where you do all sorts of fun things with kids of different ages. work has been quite overwhelming though. dairy queen is back in business but fortunately i have no plans to go back to south street skatepark. kensington, however, has always been such a great community to be a part of, but since ive started working here my thoughts have changed partially. the people here are great, for the most part, and the pay is terrible but for some reason i still find joy in coming in every morning at 9am and slaving away until 5 (which typically means 8). although since the first week of my internship, august 10th, ive been counting down the days until its over, theres a part of me that is melancholy about the whole situation. ive had some crazy things happen this year, which youll begin to hear about later, but i guess for now im looking ahead and making sure i just take one step at a time.