update on my life.

Meet my CA 150 class. this is my professional cooking class.

I love these guys!  we spend at least 10 hours a week together and we just have a great time. Today all i did was giggle all day cooking with these guys. These guys make me feel like i'd rather work in a restaurant than a bakery. LOVE THE TEAMWORK!

This is where i work, Cyd's.

we sell a whole bunch of stuff... super expensive but usually really quality stuff.

I spend most of my time back here, where Sarah O is chilling.

Serving these wonderful foods.

our newest merchandise, stainless steel utensils. aren't they cute?

most my coworkers in the front of the house are young, crazy, and AWESOME! it's fun to work with them the time usually flies by. I love my job!

Here's bosslady. She has sooo much passion for her place. What a good role model for me to have. I'm so glad that i'm able to work here.

More expensive merchandise!

one more place to show... since no one is visiting me, i'll put up pictures of beautiful peoria, so you know.

This is grandview drive. There is a street in Peoria with HUGE, nice houses with SICK views of the lake. A lot of people just go there to walk or drive by and see the beauty. Today i went there so i can show you what it looks like. The pictures don't do it justice though.

While i was walking up and down grandview I saw a hiking trail so i went for a little hike.

This was maybe not the smartest thing i've done in Peoria. Seeing that I just took a random hiking trail without knowing where it goes, alone, or even if i should be on the trail, or if i would be able to figure out my way back.

I won't lie, I was scared when i was walking in the forest alone and I wasn't sure if the trail was okay... some parts of the trail had spider webs that went across, meaning it hadn't been used for a while.

the road less travelled by, but it was nice to just go for a walk in nature to think about some things.

the trail led me here. to a bench called the listening point. It was really peaceful and nice.

two scary points on my hike, when a deer like 15 feet away saw me and ran away... SCARY!!!

and the second... then the trail forked on the way back and i wasn't even sure which was to go. BUT i made it back safe and sound, and exhausted.

Maybe next time i have some time, i'll go downtown and take some pictures of the riverwalk and bridges and plazas and such. stay tuned... or COME VISIT!!!

back to xanga...

so... i stopped using xanga... and was just using facebook....

but i miss just writing my thoughts down for the world to see. I guess i could write facebook notes, but i always thought notes were for like special things... and feel weird using them.

so now and then i'll be back on xanga just writing about nothing in particular. check me out now and then.  (i missed all these smilie face. )

just a quick update on me... I have moved to Peoria and tomorrow I will start school at Illinois Central College to get 2 associates degrees (Culinary Arts Management and Restaurant Management). I'm excited to start school and to study... I'm nervous to be in a new place, but so far so good. at least there are some people here that i know.

I will still be apart of CFC and commuting to champaign for the weekends for church.

i think it's going to be a hard year, with a lot of changes. i worry that things are going to change and i'll feel out of place in cfc and peoria. but hopefully, i'll really make this year to be about me and Jesus.

thanks for reading, i can't promise i'll be more entertaining in the future, but i think i just need an outlet to say what's going on in my life.

Although it feel like i just had one.... I have the date for this semester...

SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2008!

this one i think is going to be bigger and better.... details to come...

as always, thanks for the support!

This weekend was the first CFC family retreat EVER!

and it was AWESOME!!!  NO, I do not have a family yet, nor did I attend the retreat. BUT I did have the privilege to serve at it. There was like a team of helpers that ran like a mini retreat for all the sunday school kids and a littler team of nannies that took care of the really little one. I was a nanny. Introducing my baby:

JOHN!

It was awesome! It was like being a mom of a 6 month old for a day.

(and may i say one of the BEST babies ever!! This boy only cried once for 2 seconds when i put him down once in the 2 days we were together... SUCH A GOOD BABY!!! and SO FREAKIN' ADORABLE!!!)

now i know the pattern, sleep, eat, play sleep, eat, play, sleep eat, play... ... ... it was awesome! i took care of the sleeping and playing parts. and i must say... there is nothing better than a baby falling asleep in your arms. It has been such a long time since i've done it... the first night i didn't put the baby down but held him all night while he slept for about five hours. it was awesome! looking down at the peaceful, adorable, cute little guy... the pain in my body the next day was all worth it!

Day 2, I realized that I was spoiling the little one... and that i shouldn't hold him like I did the night before. So I let him sleep in the stroller, but some of the naps i had to rock him to sleep, so i thoroughly enjoyed that part before i put him down. and the playing part was fun too. This little guy is so curious. He's happy just looking around at all the things around. And he loves standing and working on his legs.

So, so far this entry is about nothing, besides the fact that I absolutely loved being a mom, ... i mean nanny this weekend... but here's more of my thoughts.

I'm SOOOO glad that we did this family retreat. I was telling Christine that my favorite part of the day is watching the parents pick up the kids at the end of the day. Not just because all the kids are so stinkin' cute as they wake up, dazed and confused and go home... But because i loved seeing the parents filled with the word of God and refreshed, lovingly carry their kids home with huge smiles on their faces. I'm so glad that we were able to have a retreat for these families. The parents kept thanking us for helping out... but i'm so thankful to them, as they set the example as older brothers and sisters in christ.

Sometimes, I really love CFC! What an awesome, beautiful body of Christ!

 So people have been asking what I have been up to, since my small group is all students and they are busy with finals... here's one of the things that i've been up to...  HOLIDAY COOKIES!!

Why did i decide to make cookies... There are sooo many holiday decorating shows on food network right now... i just needed to decorate stuff too!!!

It was a PAIN to bake the cookies for the first time... but as soon as i finished baking and saw the icing i  got really excited to decorate...

this is the first layer of icing...

i enlisted the help of my artsy roomate, hannah... just for fun...

it was sooo fun i ask samoneem to come over to play with us... (the cookie reads, Jesus loves you! she's too holy for us for sure!!!)

Here are some of my favorites trees, thanks to hannah who found the cookie cutter.

Here are the finished products... 3 trays of beautiful cookies!

and this is the mess that i made...

and this is the final product... i boxed it in one of my mamaseo togo boxes and brought them to work to share with my coworkers... because i heart them!

This was sooo fun that i had some of my small group kids come over and decorate them again with me.

Mikey wasn't that into it.

I had a great time though!!! have a great break everyone!