I'm Eating Your Chocolate Cake

Hello wonderful people who have found the time to read my humble little blog!
Yes, it's been a month again, but this time I have some excuses. Sad ones, good ones, etc etc.

Well, let's start, shall we?
In January I bought a secret plane ticket to the far side of the country to visit BFF.
I was going to surprise her on Valentine's day by waiting by her car after she got off of work. (Stalkerish much? I know, it would have been awesome)
Sadly, she was talking about Valentine's day and how she WASN'T working!
Quickly, I found all my devilish plans unraveling and wasted no time in telling her I was going to be there next Tuesday. She was quite shocked but, I have to admit, it was a great relief to me. I hate keeping secrets, especially about visits--it's much more exciting when you have someone to be excited with!
By the time I got there nearly everyone knew about it, but that was alright.

We spent Valentine's day together just hanging out. Some guy sent her flowers which totally nailed me deeper into the single schoolmarm box of shame. BFF's younger sister and I pretended to feel sorry for ourselves because the other two girls had Valentines and we didn't.
Besides that, though, it was a fun two weeks.

Sadly, the two weeks were drawing to an end. The night before I left for home my mother called and gave me the most terrible news that my cousin (1st cousin once removed) had ended his life.
It was a very distressing night and I had to fly home the next day. I felt like a zombie the entire time I was in the airport. God saw me through it, though, and I was never happier to sleep in my own bed that night.
The next day I walked around without knowing what to do and then my mom asked if I was going to the funeral. I really hadn't any idea if I should, or not! I had just spent 400+ dollars on a plane ticket to BFF's, along with some spending while I was there. I didn't have the cash on hand and would have to dip into my savings! I prayed about it and all I could find was a 600 dollar ticket. That night I was certain I would go but I forced myself not to buy a ticket and to sleep on it. I knew if God wanted me to go, He could present a way.
I wanted to be cautious.

The next morning I told my parents I wasn't sure if I should go and my dad suggested to fly home on a week day, as opposed to a weekend, because it was supposed to be cheaper. So I searched and it was 200 dollars cheaper! My dad also offered to pay half so I only ended up spending an extra 200 dollars! I praise the Lord for working that detail out. I bought the ticket on Tuesday and flew out on Wednesday.
It was so good to see my family, especially in that time of pain and grief. I was close to my cousin, I used to babysit him and his sister and I used to pick them up from work. He was a special sort of chap and it's so sad to know he's no longer with us. I was an emotional wreck, not on the outside, but on the inside.
But the entire time I felt God's hand on my shoulder, and I felt Him saying, "I am with you." I had a deep calm that I can't explain and I knew that this would pass.

On the upside, I got to see my wonderful sister and got to visit her restaurant that she's manager of! It's an all natural burger joint.
I hate onion rings, but their onion rings I could eat by the basket!! OMW, you haven't had onion rings 'til you had these.
I also got to see some sea lions at the beach and all that good stuff.
My uncle let me pick a ton of herbs from his garden, lemon thyme, greek oregano, peppermint, bay leaves and, oh my goodness, his curly leaf parsley is sooo good! I have to grow some.
In short, I was and am very happy to finally be home.
I haven't been back to work yet, my brother has revolutionized my job so well that, 1, I don't even know how to do it and, 2, he does it now. <_< I think I'm out of a job.
Regardless, I'm going in to work on Monday to see if there's anything I can do.

In the meantime, I cleaned up the house (with the help of my brothers) and have been cooking.
BFF FINALLLY got a computer so now she is back to writing! We are on chapter 10 and I'm so excited for our book (as usual).
I really hope that it goes far, gets published and that people really like it.
I also baked a cake today!
Chocolate Mocha cake. Recipe was given to me by Kerrie Farr and added my own twists.
I'll give you the recipe. It's in the oven as I type.

Photo courtesy of Master Yoda. It was his birthday cake.
Doesn't it look devilishly delicious???
Yes. It is.
Here's the recipe:

Mix together:
2 cupers brown sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups coco (dark and/or regular)
1 1/2 tbs baking powder and baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 tbs corn starch

Add:
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cup melted butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup hot, strong coffee

Put in a greased 13x9 pan and bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes.
COOL, mostly, then drizzle on the glaze.

GLAZE:
1/2-1 Cup of chocolate chips + 1 splash of coffee. Melt together.
Add about 1 cup of powder sugar.

So!
My sister and my wonderful niece and nephew are due for a visit next week!
I'm super excited to see them! Like: AIHdlaskjdlaskjdals!!!! <- that excited.
We will celebrate Saint Patrick's day, the first day of Spring and my brother's birthday!
We will also go see Hunger Games together. Um, woah, you haven't read that book?
Well...I guess you aren't missing much.
I'll include my review of Hunger Games at the bottom of this blog.
Anyways, my Stampin' Up party is soon and I'm so happy that I actually have some people coming, I think the grand total is five! Possibly six or seven!

This is all for now!
OHHHHH!!!
I also started studying Moral Government!
A couple from Faith Tech is putting it, live, online. I love it so much! And it's so good to have a Bible study to go to! =)
Anyways, God bless ye!



THE HUNGER GAMES
by Suzanne Collins

Most people know what it's about and, if you don't, go look it up. I'm not going to waste time explaining it. :p
Suzanne Collins' style of writing grabs your attention and doesn't let go until she drops you off the end of the book, making you want more.
Her skills with plot-making are exceptional!
She takes you through twists and turns and keeps you interested, excited and even apprehensive. There are hardly any boring parts.
She has inspired me to be a better writer, some day I hope to grip someone in a thrilling story the way she has for me.

Content-wise, well, let's just examine that...The book is about this bloody game of children having to fight to the death. The killing wasn't all a big huge deal for me because I grew up watching war movies but there were a few parts that I was like, "oh.. that's disturbing."
There was a bit of nudity that I had to raise an eyebrow at. Also, the romance was sweet for a moment, but then I felt she over-did it (for my old marm mind anyway). All-in-all, though, the pros outweighed the cons. But that's my writer's mind talking. I love how she told the story. It is an incredibly well-written book.

One last bit, of course...I, as a Christian, had a problem with the entire scenario. Humans fighting against humans, hopes being built, hopes being lost. It's all rather marvelous, but it lacks God. And when something lacks God it leaves me with this empty feeling.
If this were to happen in real life and if Katniss were a Christian, things might have turned out differently. There are times in the book (and the other two) where I'm like, "turn to God!" But, of course, no mention. It's sad, really.
So the book deserves a big 4 out of 5 stars for me. The last star is taken away for the content and lack of God.