Went on a Train Ride!

My mom and I went on a train ride today, with the Boone Scenic Railway! It was a little warm and crowded but it was perfect trip and we were able to take some great pictures. There were amazing views as we rode over the 150ft. tressle bridge. I took the oppurtunity to edit a couple of them and I thought you guys would appreciate it.

Baking day!

     So yesterday I made some Devil's Food cupcakes and was trying to think of the best way to frost them. Not wanting to go super fancy or too plain, I decided to try a new frosting recipe so that its still exciting to eat but not super labor intensive as far as decorating goes. So I found a super simple peanut butter buttercream recipe online here. Using a 1M piping tip from Wilton, simply swirled the frosting on top to make simple but yummy chocolate-peanut butter cupcake! I admit my frosting skills are still sloppy but if I keep practicing they'll get better! Let me know what you think below!

New Development

So in the saga of my never ending sickness, we've reached a new chapter that was somewhat unexpected. I'm on a antibiotic call clindamyacin to help clear up my infection. It's doing a great job of that, don't get me wrong. Over the past few days though I've started to break out in itchy red welts which are just miserable.Below is a picture of the break out on my leg, it may look pretty bad but to be honest other than  being itchy it's no big deal.

This is what they call drug rash, its an allergic reaction to a medication, one of its components, or to taking to many medications at once. Since I had been on multiple courses of drugs over the last two weeks, the doctor wasn't surprised that I broke out in the rash. He's recommending trying to finish out my antibiotics course and control the rash with antihistimine which works pretty well for the most part. If this happens to you, GO TO YOUR DOCTOR! This is considered a mild reaction but there's always a chance that you could develop a more severe reaction over time. Keep this in mind and stay healthy!

Taking Baby Steps

    You'll remember that awhile back I wrote about wanting to learn to decorate cakes, and an update is in order as well as somewhat over due. I was put in charge of the cupcakes for my sister-in-law's wedding shower awhile back. I showed you my first attempt at making little flowered cupcakes but as a recap here's what the first batch looked like:

(White cupcakes with a basic buttercream frosting)

   These went over well with the taste testers (My older brotherk, TK(25) and his friends, but those boys heard free food and were salivating. That said it took some work to figure out how much pressure was needed on the piping bag to get a more sharp shape and working with the frosting to get a better consistency. The day of the shower the cupcakes didn't look too shabby!

(white and devil's food cupcakes with a simple buttercream frosting)

Also, note the awesome cupcake tower we got at Hobby Lobby. The colors were much more vibrant and the cupcakes were perfectly moist. I think it came out great! Let me know what you think in the comments.

Starting something new

    So I've been in a rut, to be honest. its not hard to fall into when you've been sick and had your entire schedule be jam packed and than having it all stop, suddenly you have no idea what to do with yourself and so you do nothing. Well, I'm not okay with that cause I'll go insane. In order to combat this I've decided to start some new habits so that I can actively not be in a rut.

My plan includes but is not limited to:

• Walking everyday
• Doing at least one chore a day to improve my home
• Blog more!
• Working on a Bucketlist(which can be seen here at Bucketlist.org)
• Get to bed at a reasonable hour

The bucket list idea was something I initially found on Pinterest(one of my favorite time wasting sites). When it popped up on my dashboard, I had to give the link a go. When/if you scroll through my list, you'll find that its a) short and b) filled with a whole range of different things. To explain the the first point: I just started my list last night. The second point is really what I think the point of a bucketlist is, to experience all sorts of different things, to travel and to learn new skills. I look forward to adding more items to my list as well as crossing off many of them. So, what do you think I should add to my bucketlist? Do you have one of your own and if so, what's on it? Let me know in the comments below :) I'll talk to you later.

The Wedding

    My brother got married! We are all so excited to for Joe and his new wife, Luci, though we've considered her as part of the family for quite awhile now. They had a simple backyard ceremony at Luci's mother's home with her uncle Mark as officiant. There were only about 10 witnesses to the ceremony and it was followed by a lovely picinic lunch, and lots of fun conversation and good times. It was simple yet magical (especially when a neighbor randomly started practicing his bagpipes during their first kiss as man and wife, talk about fate!) So I'll leave you with several pictures of their beautiful day, all credits going to my wonderful mother.

(During the ceremony)

(after the ceremony, that's Joe and Luci's dog Buddy, looking dapper in a bowtie!) 

Infections, Weddings, and Settling in

      Sorry that I haven't written in a bit but I assure you that it was more out of unfortunate circumstances and busy schedule, not out of lack of things to write about. As I'm sure I mentioned, my family just recently moved before I started this blog, and finishing moving in to the house and settling into this new place has taken some time and unpacking but we're almost there(thank goodness!). What I didn't mention was that even before the first big move, I was sick.
      I had a huge infection in my left leg that was causing me terrible pain and just in general misery. I got antibiotics and I thought everything was taken care of, but it came back. I have three large infected spots on my legs right now. I went to the doctor at the beginning of the week to get antibiotics again, and my new doctor here in town took cultures of the bacteria in my "wounds". They came back yesterday as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). That means that the bacteria is resistant to my antibiotics. The Doctor says that most likely what happened is that my original infection never went away, that the bacteria that survived the first round of antibiotics got stronger, multiplied and spread leading to this. So now, I get to start a whole new week and a half of antibiotics and hope it works. I'm tired of being sick, its ruined a lot of things. I get sick from my medicine, I'm tired all the time and I was planning to visit my dad next week but he can't be around infections. I'm sorry to complain..things really aren't that bad.
     For instance, tomorrow my second oldest brother, Joe, is getting married. I'm so excited for him and his soon to wife, Luci. I can't wait for this joyous celebration and I'll be taking tons of pictures so I'll post those here soon. Until than, I'll talk to you later.