it's been awhile

long time, no see. i can't believe all the crazy stuff that's been going on since i posted last. i'm pretty sure i haven't posted since december, and that just is crazy. first: i'm still a full-time psychology student and, while i love school, it's still school! there are some days you just.don't.wanna. despite that, i'm still doing good (thankful i'm blessed enough to devote myself to school and homemaking full-time). second: um...we bought a friggin' house! is that not the coolest thing ever? it's amazing and i'm madly in love with it. it's all open and in a good neighborhood, and it'll be such a great adventure to grow into. speaking of growing (no, no babies...yet!), but we did get another fur baby. my husband's little dream dog is a golden retriever, so we have a golden puppy. he's just a bit over four months old now and a handful. Here is a picture of Mushi when we first got him, and one from today:

in addition to Mushi (which means "pest" in japanese. Skyler named him after one of our favorite anime "mushi-shi." i think it's a cute name for a pet!) we have another addition coming next weekend. a standard poodle puppy! that's my dream dog, so i'm super excited. it's sad to me to only have one dog, Mushi needs somebody to play with. they're really close in age and it'll be great to raise them together. (he's apricot. two orange cats and two orange dogs. what?!) oh, by the way, the poodle's name is Udi! (Sky picked it out and i love it!)

in may, one of my besties came to stay with us through the move and for a couple weeks. Jo's husband is military and on a big ole tour in some far away place (he is saving the world, trust me). so she had some free weeks to come spend some time with us, and it was the first time we spent more than a few hours together since before i enlisted. entirely TOO long. we made curtains for the new house, painted ceramics, went to disneyland (Jo said it was pure magic), went to seaworld (and i even rode the new roller coaster!). we went shopping and went to the farmer's marker and made cupcakes and salsa and watched trashy television together. nobody understands trashy tv like a bestie.

i knew i needed some girl time, but i had no idea just how badly i needed Jo time. i felt like a new person with her, totally rejuvenated. Jo and i married our husbands only two days apart, so our anniversaries are super close. we are spending our anniversaries together in vegas this year and it'll be amazing to double date or have some girl time or just be with our men. and next spring, Jo and her boy are going to come back to stay with us and do disneyland and seaworld again. i'm already excited.

and i'm back to baking!!!

 it's been a frustrating adjustment going gluten free as a baker. but i feel the itch and i've been working on some great recipes. i'm ready to start selling product again, and hope i can put myself out there! (or maybe get hired on as a decorator at the local allergen-friendly bakery/cafe?)