Can't think of a name :p

I have so much to write about and tell you. My days of being a stay at home mother of four, army wife of a soon to be deployed husband, business entrepenuer, Bible college student, and so much more fill my days to the fullest. As a result I could have my own TLC show, a very entertaining one at that. However I want my blogs to you to be ones that you can read in one sitting, lol. So bear with me as I try to bring you a whole lot of events in one short post.
I want to talk a bit about the business life. This is something that occupies a whole lot of my time and I haven't touched much on it. Not to mention there are so many people out there who know very little about the business world. In the generation that we are living in life seems to flash in front of you faster than the speed of light, and we live expecting instant gratification. That being said, I had this idea in my head that since I was an excellent baker, that my bakery would launch and explode. Just like that. I would be making a ton of money and most importantly, be doing what I love...getting my sweet indulgences in the hands of people all around the world in hopes that one bite would put a smile on their face. Now if you are not a baker or fancy chef, this may not make sense to you. For me, the best part of baking something super sweet and super indulgent is the look on the face of those who have tried something so gourmet. My business is going very well for the very first month. Kayla's Captivating Confections has sold tens of dozens of cookies so far, and I'm so thankful. But it seems some days not to be growing fast enough. Terrible of me to say, but transparency is a specialty of mine. I'll air my dirty laundry, people can learn and benefit from it.
Turns out, starting a business in this world of tough competition is difficult. Really Really REALLY difficult. (Emphasis on Really.)
I have decided from the get go that I was going to do this business right, and do it legal. After all, how can I expect God to bless something that I am not doing completely legal. So I get this checklist of things to do, naturally before, you start a business. I didn't do those, because in my microwave society I can't fathom waiting. Once the business was launched however, I was trying to play catch-up. (Story of my life.) I don't want to be one of those people who, as the saying goes.."When my ship comes in, I'll be at the airport." I want to be right where I need to be doing right what I need to be doing, at all the right times. Difficult task. Needless to say I am fortunately marking one thing at a time off of this ginormous checklist. IRS tax ID numbers, registering business name, sellers permit, etc. All while trying to maintain and run this bakery.
Watching Buddy on Cake Boss can be discouraging. I do not have some of the advantages that others have had in life. I didn't inherit some great talent, nor did I inherit an already successful business. Turns out being a soldier isn't a very high paying job so, although my husband provides bountifully for our four kids and I, there is not an abundance of extra cash to throw into a new business. Therefore, I do not have the means to put down any money on a loan for a small business.
That being said, I am going to put new meaning to "building from the ground up." Every penny that I earn was earned laborously. With my own two hands, and no hand outs. All the pun intended.
I hope that although I am not one to be envied or modeled after, that I can give you a little bit of the zeal that I have. So many of you are waiting for the next big thing. You are going through the motions of the day to day, day in and day out. I recognize and understand that this is tiring.
 However God did not intend for us to live our lives this way. Going through the motions. Rather John 10:10 says that God intends for us to have an abundant life, overflowing to the fullest. Does that statement resemble your life? It didn't mine, I assure you. So I prayed, and prayed some more. And I decided that I was going to take all this gumption and make it go. My mama says that her "get up and go got up and left." Which is hilarious. Because most days I sit down for the first time in 6 or so hours, and feel pooped. I'm sure you do too. But decide what's on your plate that can go, and find time for the things that make you happy. Don't loose the zeal, and if you need just keep checking in with me and I'll be glad to put a fire under your butt. If it's important to you, than it's probably important. Do it! Go! Whatever you desire, run towards it. Don't muddle! You may never get another chance. I love ya and we'll chat soon~

I've picked my poison

It's funny, I can recall saying to myself "I'll never turn out like my mother." Not that my mother isn't wonderful, she has a lot of attributes that I could certainly stand to have inherited. It's just that the rebellious side of me comes out once in a blue moon, and in such a time I've decided that I did not want to be like those before me, but rather my own, individual self. Well, needless to say, I've accomplished that mission already. :o However my mom does say, "She's picked her poison." It is a phrase, for those of you who don't speak Yankee like family and I, to imply that we have made our decisions, and now have the consequences whether good or bad...in this tense tho, the "poison" does indicate bad.
So I've made a decision to continue to be the Yes Man, for some reason, (I know we discussed that I would no longer do that) but now I'm facing the poison that I picked. Today my husband started clearing post. Which means he's signing out of all the place on this base and getting ready to leave. (No, I don't get to go with him.) Then, I came to the realization that I am a terrible procrastinator. I had an 11 page paper due on  a book I hadn't even read yet, a persuasive speech, and informative speech, and two exams due by midnight tonight. On top of that, oh yes it gets better, I hadn't started on the Iron Man birthday cake that I promised one special five year old boy for his birthday tomorrow, and I hadn't baked any cookies for the cookie exchange party that starts in two hours. 
Now with all this procrastination evidence that I have given you one may think that I have just sat on my butt twiddling my thumbs for the past week. However, that is not the case. My online bakery skyrocketed this week and I spent the last two days filling orders to equal 24 dozen cookies. Yeah, we rock this industry. :p 
Now that I've cleared the air, whew....I feel much better, I can move on to say...don't procrastinate. Ah, just kidding. I think for the most part we all have this inward sense to push the envelope a little. Unfortunately, if you walk a day in my shoes, it doesn't turn out for the better, and I can't seem to figure out why. Like yesterday....I thought that I was ahead of the game and made up um-teen batters of cookies so that all I had to do yesterday was bake up the 24 dozen cookies. Yeah, that's all. Lol. Not an issue, I promise my customers cookies that are baked fresh to their order. So the only dillema for the confectionary artist who thought she was ahead of the game......I didn't have any power. Like no electricity. Like no kitchen aid mixer, no oven, no lights, not even heat for that matter. Oh I so need my own TLC show. 
No life lessons here folks. I've just come to realize that no matter how much I prepare, I can still be caught with my pants down. (Metaphorically speaking). We'll chat soon~

The joys of cake making

I had to use sarcasm right off the bat. Cake making I have found, is quite challenging for my poor simple minded self. The baking of cakes is easy once you've found a good recipe, or cheat and use a box mix, and, once you've learned a few tricks of the trade. Let me share one trick now. The hardest part in making a cake, is getting it to come out of the pan once it's baked. Watch a Paula Deen show, and you'll know what I'm talking about. The glory of having your own cooking show like the Bag Lady, is that she can control alt delete her oopes out, and we however, cannot. So here's something I've found works wonders.
When greasing a pan of any kind used for baking, try putting your hand inside of a plastic sandwich bag. Then dip that bag in a butter container, and use your hand, covered with the bag, to grease ( I initially typed lube, lol) your pan. Sprays such as Pam, and the ones with flour can alter the taste of your baked goods. No matter what they advertise, that's the way the cookie crumbles. Not to mention by the time you've sprayed enough out of the can to actually keep your desserts from sticking, you've fume-agated yourself. So, try this tip, and let me know what you think.
Now decorating the dang cakes, is where the challenge lies. My biggest fear in the kitchen today was that my seven year old would make a better looking fondant rose than I would. Terrible for me to wish he fails so that I can succeed. Especially since I do this baking thing for a living. Lol. But, we did it. Yesterday I made a marshmallow fondant, and after letting it sit in the fridge overnight to finish forming, my son and I made roses out of it. How did I learn such mad skills you ask? Why YouTube of coarse. :) It was really rather easy, it's just the patience it requires to be so intricate, ugh! So there you have it. Done. We rock, and in my head, I want to bust out my "cant' touch this" victory dance. Oh, did I mention that I put those roses on top of a double stacked better than sex cake? For those of you who think I'm kidding, this is a real cake, and it's the best you've ever had....of cake that is. Chocolate Fudge cake seeping with caramel and sweetened condensed milk, topped with whipped cream and chopped heath bar. Oh yeah baby, come on over. Desserts on me. We'll chat soon~

Don't try this at home folks

Let me start by saying we should move on to step two in learning to bake. In my first posting I cleared the air by saying if I can do this, anyone can do this. Thus making us overcome our fear of baking, knowing that it is possible, and can be learned. Just like anything it takes a little time to master, but you will get there. So the second step in learning to bake is to pick a recipe. Think with me about your favorite dessert...what is it? Are you less adventurous and like the oldie but goodies such as the chocolate chip cookie? Or are you a pie lover? Apple, Pumpkin, Triple Berry, or maybe one of my famous crust less cranberry walnut pie sound amazing to you. Picture it in your mind, and then google the recipe. allrecipes.com is a great web site because it offers honest reviews by people who have actually baked the recipes themselves. But there are many web sites out there that offer excellent recipes and, if you're like me, you may not have a stash of great grandma's favorite recipes lying around. So window shop, browse, and pick a recipe. The next step is to make sure you have all the ingredients. Start there and we'll move on. I hope to post videos on YouTube here shortly linked to my business, so you can see a little hands on from the pros, or wanna be pros. :)
I say don't try this at home because today I had the brainiac idea to try and make modeling chocolate. The idea was courtesy of Cake Boss who makes creating 80 pound cakes look like, well, cake walk. So here I am in the kitchen trying to convince my seven year old that this will be fun, and ahead we go. I googled a modeling chocolate recipe which turns out, only consists of two ingredients. Chocolate and light corn syrup. I melt the chocolate, amazingly without burning it, and added the corn syrup. Once mixed together I spread it onto parchment paper and waited forever, well, 2 hours for it to completely cool. It's cooled, I'm excited, and the inner cake boss in me kicks in. I'm ready to get my hands dirty, and boy did I. It didn't occur to me that I was, actually, taking rock solid cooled chocolate and trying to mold it with my bare hands into a soft pliable dough. I honestly think I am more sore from trying to knead this chocolate than I am from my Wii Fit.
I get it, in the end. I knead it, roll it, and put it on the cake. Naturally since not a whole lot works out for me the first time, I didn't have enough. Don't ask me how 9 ounces of chopped and melted chocolate (oh by the way, a good trick of the trade when chopping chocolate...keep your hands above the knife blade. Sounds obvious but chopping chocolate squares is difficult; and crazy things can happen when you're trying to break through it) isn't enough for a simple 9 by 13 marble pound cake. Well the jury is still out on the taste of this poor sad looking cake I made. I was tempted to post a picture of it, but I don't think I could stand the humiliation. So, when my husband gets home and tries it, poor guy, I will be sure to let ya know. If it's any consolation, my son thinks it looks amazing. That's gotta count for something, right? We'll chat soon~

Yes, I burned the hamburger

One would think with my mad skills that I have in the kitchen that silly little things such as cooking hamburger, wouldn't be a problem. However, turns out I can't cook. In fact, I have a sign above my stove that says "I kiss better than I cook." My lovely family is very supportive, when they see my sign, they say "Oh Kayla you cook great food, you should take that sign down." Never! I know better than to believe those lies..:) After all, I do eat the food that I cook as well, and so my taste buds are familiar with my cooking "surprises". It seems that cooking with me just reinforces my theory that I have of myself in life...(ok I'll share it with you, but don't you dare laugh) "I am good at everything and great at nothing."
There, I said it. Now everyone on the world wide web knows. :p It's almost become a motto.
Turns out when you float from one thing to another in life, you don't get the chance, or take the chance rather, to become more than good at something...to become great at something. So I can sing, draw somewhat, crochet blankets but certainly nothing more skillful like hats, and yes, cook. In fact just as I was writing the first part of this blog, I let the hamburger helper (that already has the burnt hamburger in it) boil too long on the stove, so now it's stuck to the bottom of the pan. Don't you just envy my family right now? They get to eat a yummy, and well cooked, super. This is really too funny, and I had to share with you.
Now I might have mastered this baking thing, turns out business is good. People really say things like "I have never a better peanut butter cookie." Yeah we might be onto something...  See for yourself at www.kaylasconfections.com
Take the time to invest in the skills that God has given you so that you can be more than just good at something. Be great at something, and become something great. You have it in you! This much I know for certain. Most importantly, I am learning as I am becoming great at things (it's a slow process for me) to enjoy the ride. I told my husband when we were discussing launching this online bakery, that I wasn't going to give up on this dream, I was going to make it work and it will be great, I just needed him to come along for the ride. We'll chat soon~

I do not aim to make you fat

Being the dessert lady I find that I'm unfairly labeled with being the person who is trying to make you fat. So I thought I'd just use today's posting to clear the air a little. :) I hear things from people like "Kayla, my hips are sure going to appreciate this turtle cheesecake of yours," and "Ugh, this monkey bread is going to cost me 30 more minutes on the treadmill tonight." I do not aim to make you poor folks fat. I support your desire to workout and be thin. I mean what girl doesn't long to look like the victoria secret models? Boobs are upright, stomach is flat, curve-acious has a whole new meaning when they are titled with it, and here we sit having, as I say, sacrificed our bodies for our children.  However I must admit, that I think the way that God made you is just perfect to me. I think that you only get to live this life once, and I would hate to have gotten to heaven and told God that He has surely blessed me and I lived a full life, only having this one regret...wishing I had eaten just a few more BigMacs. Life can be full of little indulgences. My best friend manages to indulge a little every few days and remain strict in her daily diet of healthy eating. So do I want everyone to be fat? Absolutely not. I just want us fine people to be able to indulge in a little something sweet every now and again. Let's not swear off all desserts until the holidays and then pig out with pies cakes and all the gravies we can get our hands on.
We work hard don't we? We deserve to meet up with the dessert lady here and there and have good coffee and great treats over unsurpassed conversation? Yes! So keep running ladies, and keep hittin that treadmill, I support you! (Me, I'd rather die than go to the gym or exercise, that's sounds too much like work.) But for all of you out there, like my husband, who enjoy working out, keep on going!
I'm just here to remind you that not all indulgences can be afforded anymore. Not too many of us can indulge in a little trip to Europe or vacation in Hawaii. Let's not get upset about that, but rather enjoy the little indulgences that we can have; like Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies. (Happens to be my best seller.) Lol. We'll chat soon~

The Traveler's Journey

I am embarking upon new journeys all the time it seems. Of coarse we did cover that in my last posting, seeings how I am one who takes on more than I can chew. :) And today I have the luxury of trying to compile a family tree. This is quite difficult since my knowledge of my extended family is..well we can sum it up in this three letter word, zip! One cannot help but get a little mushy and nostalgic as the information floods to you (or trickles slowly down a very narrow stream) on your family members and the journeys that they have embarked upon. It's odd how you can have the desire to search for someone you have never met, and how the curiosity of family members abounds, tho they are distant and often dead, strangers. Sorry, I believe the politically correct term for dead is "expired."
So I have invested time and money searching for those people, and in the middle of all of this, I have to confess one of these mushy feelings I am experiencing...thankfulness. A rush of gratitude comes over me as I try and decipher port of call records dated from 1923. Imagine with me the journey of an immigrant trying to head to the "Western World." A land of opportunity. Hmmm...I wonder if America is all my great grandparents thought it would be?
Knowing now that I am only a 3rd generation American, makes me so thankful that my great grandparents were willing to take the trip and hop the seas. Had they not, I would have grown up in a different country. A land where perhaps I had to worship the government's gods, pray in the fashion they determined, dress the way they told me to, and raise my kids how "every generation before me did." Naturally then my train of thought leads me to the sweet treats that other cultures enjoy. Yes, my mind is always on sugar. :p
What if my family decided to stay? What if God placed me in a country like Asia where chocolate is considered a luxury? This means no mean mugs of hot chocolate, no warm chocolate chip cookies for Santa Claus, and absolutely no Reese's Peanut Butter cups. Are you kidding me? Ugh! Then I learn that India is a culture full of sweet-toothed citizens...surely my type of people. And yet most of them cannot afford chocolate due to high taxation (without representation?..had to... sorry.)

I am determined to delve into a daily life full of chocolate, not much modification has to be made there, as well as continue to learn about my distant family who unbelievably could have lived with a limited chocolate supply. Would it be too much pun to say let's get em' while they're hot? The chocolate chip cookies that is. Hot because they are coming out of the oven...get em' because we have the current luxury to indulge...never mind. You'll get that later :) Just a little thankful thought to approach Thanksgiving Day with tomorrow. We'll chat soon~