Top 10 of 2009!

I can't believe that tonight is New Year's Eve already. This year has flown by! I like thinking about the places I've been, the things that I've done, and the people I've met this year. Here is a list of the Top 10 of the year:

Number 10: Dying my hair!

In January I decided to dye my hair dark brown. I loved the way that it looked, but it faded pretty quickly so after a few months I gradually started doing highlights again. Maybe I'll try it again sometime!

Number 9: Decorating Cupcakes!

I've done cakes for just over a year now, but earlier this year a coworker showed me a book called Hello Cupcake that has some cute and easy ways to decorate cupcakes. This has been a lifesaver because it isn't as time consuming as making a cake, and it's pretty fun to do!

Number 8: Scuba Diving!

When I was in Cabo in November I went scuba diving. I'm not certified (yet!) but it was so much fun. Ryan got me a certificate to get scuba certified, so I will start those classes soon!

Number 7: New York for New Years!

I love New York City, and it is so awesome during the winter. I had a lot of fun there!

Number 6: SYTYCD/Hollywood!

I went to So You Think You Can Dance for my second time this summer. I got to shake Sean Kingston's hand this year. We had a great time playing around Hollywood. I can't complain about staying at the Ritz Carlton either!

Number 5: Mexican Riviera Part 1!

Tracy and I went on a cruise in July to the Mexican Riviera. We had a blast! My favorite part was swimming with dolphins in Puerto Vallarta. It was amazing!

Number 4: Mexican Riviera Part 2!

Ryan, Joe, Russ, Cherese, and I went on that same cruise in November. It was great. As mentioned before, scuba diving was my favorite part, but I also loved just hanging out at the beach and soaking up the sun!

Number 3: Puerto Rico!

In April, I went to Puerto Rico with Peng, Josh, Brock, Annie, and Tracy. It was SO SO fun! We chartered a private plane to an island called Culebra (just off of Puerto Rico). It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been! I loved the resort that we stayed at in Puerto Rico also (the Gran Malia Resort).

Number 2: Being a Honeybee!

From April until September I worked for the Salt Lake Bees baseball team as a Honeybee. It may not seem like a summer job should be almost topping my list, but this was so fun! I got to go to baseball games all summer (and get paid for it!). The girls that I met were so fun and I still hang out with a few of them. I can't wait to do it next season!

Number 1: Dating Ryan Sorensen!

I met Ryan in June and we started dating in August. He is amazing and I have a great time with him. We're going snow shoeing today. I've never been before!

Sneak Peek for Angie!

This is the cake that I made for my niece's 3rd birthday party tomorrow. Angie chose the cute theme "Tea Party" so of course the cake had to be a tea cup! Hopefully Carly likes it and has fun on her special day. Here's another view. The handle was SO tricky and doesn't look great... Sorry Angie!

Are you for SCUBA???

Last week I went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera with Ryan and some of his friends (Russ, Joe, and Cherese). It was a lot of fun! We went to Cabo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. It's the same cruise that Tracy and I went on in July, but this time we went on Norwegian. This was my 6th cruise, but the first one that I did that wasn't on Carnival. I have to say that I prefer Carnival, even though I had a blast on this one. While we were in Cabo, I went scuba diving for my first time. I was kind of nervous because I'm not certified, but the instructor gave me a quick lesson and we headed for the water. Ryan held my hand the whole time and I survived! We saw puffer fish and tons of colorful fish. We swam around a reef and went 50 feet deep. I would love to get certified and do many more dives (unless there are sharks around)!!!


In Mazatlan, we mostly just hung out at the beach by this resort (El Sid). Before we went back to the boat we ate at a restaurant that a local recommended. It was so so good! The best part was that none of us got sick after, ha ha!


In Puerto Vallarta we rode a local bus up to a far away beach. We were some of the only tourists on it, so it was quite an experience. Thankfully we got there safely. We were going to try scuba again, but the visibility in the water was bad. Ryan speaks Spanish and convinced a guy to let us take a kayak out into the bay. It was fun and really beautiful. After the beach, we at dinner at a restaurant that was right on the ocean. Talk about an amazing view! We were there while the sun set. It was beautiful.
Overall I had a great time and it was a great trip. The only part that I would change was the weather the last day/night. The boat was going through huge waves and was moving like crazy. I got kind of sick :( We had a room with an ocean view on the 4th floor. The waves were so big that they were spashing our window! I've never been on a boat with waves that large.

Too much of a good thing???

I have been baking cakes and cupcakes like crazy... About 1 project each week! I think that I may need a little break for a while!
This is the cake that I made tonight for my friend Bobbi's baby shower. She is a 6th grade teacher at my school and is so excited to have her baby! They haven't found out if it's a boy or girl so I tried to make it gender neutral :)


These are some black and white cupcakes that I made for Elise's birthday. They were pretty fun to make! We celebrated her birthday by going to lunch with Kati, Christin, and Elise's daughter Leighton. It was fun to see all the girls.


BYU had a football game against ? (I can't believe I forgot!) a few weeks ago, so I just had to make cupcakes for the game! I melted tootsie rolls to shape into footballs. Ryan appreciated my effort at being a Cougar fan.

90 Years!!!

I've been trying out some new things with my cake decorating lately... I've been using fondant for some of the decorations! I don't like the way it tastes so I haven't tried covering a whole cake with it yet, but I like using it as an accent.
This cake is for my friend Katie's Grandma. She is turning 90 tomorrow and they are having a big family party for her with around 300 people coming. This is the cake that she'll blow out candles on (they have Costco cakes for everyone else to eat).
Here's another view of the cake. I think it turned out okay!
There are only a few more Bees games left this season. I'm sad! It's been really fun working at the stadium as a Honey Bee this season. There are always interesting people there and fun promotions (like this one with Snuggle). I'm not sure if I'm going to do it next year yet, but I still have a few more months to decide. Now I'm just focusing on school starting... It starts on Thursday the 20th. I'm excited to meet my students but will miss summer, of course!

LA and SYTYCD!!!

A couple of weeks ago I went to LA to watch SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance) with Peng, Tracy, and Cami. It was so much fun! Last year I was lucky to get tickets to watch it, and was so surprised that I was able to go again this year.
We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina Del Ray and spent some time playing in Hollywood. We also went to Venice Beach and here and there in LA. It was lots of fun, of course! Now I'm just looking forward to my upcoming Mexican vacation. I love being a teacher and having the summer off so that I can travel... My summer hasn't been all fun and games though. I spent 2 weeks of my summer taking 4 graduate-level math credits that will count towards my math endorsement. Other than that, my days have consisted of going to the gym and pool!!!

Taylor Swift Concert!!!

Tuesday night Peng, Annie, and I went to watch Taylor Swift perform at the Energy Solutions Arena.  She was SO amazing.  It was for sure the best concert that I've ever been to.  She sounded great and was a very talented performer.  

My favorite song that she sang was "You're Not Sorry," but she combined it with "What Goes Around" by Justin Timberlake.  It was so good!  Here is a link to her performance on YouTube...  I bet you'll love it too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u5gnVWCLEs