.tongues.

I was craving cake today...

So I made a cake!

It wasn't anything fancy. I might post some pictures of it tomorrow.

And...after we ate cake, we took pictures of what our tongues looked after we finished eating it.

It had some black lettering on it, so it made all of our tongues black.

I know, I know. Soooo attractive.

Yeah...

Have I mentioned that I just love these kiddos?

:)

-Ives

.genius.

I really swear that I was intending to post something other than a quote, but then I saw this one:


And couldn't resist!!

I love it.

Love it.

Love, Love, Love, LOVE!!!!!

LOVE.

Just think on it for a while...read it over and over again.

I can't get over how awesome this quote is!

I promise I will post something other than a quote tomorrow, but as for today, you'll just have to fall in love with this as much as I have.

-Ives

.100.

.fail.

I thought I uploaded one of the last quotes in the series...but I guess there was some kind of technical malfunction. So in order to keep you entertained, check out this picture that I drew my good friend, Ashley while in high school.

I think you'll be quite amazed by my artistic talents

See? Told ya :)

-Ives

.sense.

I can definitely appreciate a quote like this.

On a different note, my mission papers officially went in today! The day really didn't start off too great, but this was a good end to the day.

-Ives

.swinging.

I love this! Adorableness. Seriously.

Thanks for the quote, Hil :) I do 'ppreciate it!

-Ives

.remember.

This might possibly be my favorite quote from Winnie the Pooh. I just love its simple, yet hopeful and encouraging message.

-Ives

.kindness.

.what about lunch?

My talk was today! I thought it went really well!!! Surprisingly!

I really tried to prepare as best as I could and even if it was good or not, I don't think there is anything that I could have changed. So I think that's the best thing that came from it.

Plus, I learned a whole ton about Charity, so that's good, right?!

Anyway, all in all, today was a good day, I think.

I also took a 3 hour nap. It's was wonderful and terrible at the same time.

But mostly wonderful.

-Ives

you may not know this, but I have a strange obsession with Winnie the Pooh quotes. Brace yourself for the next couple of days.

Think of it as, a series, if you may.

-Ives

.pic.

This is another oldie (big surprise there, right?). I was trying out a different editing thing that I have been wanting to work on. I don't think it turned out too bad though.

Oh, and I have a talk on Sunday. Ah!!!! I've never given a "big kid" talk in Sacrament meeting so I'm a little bit terrified! It's going to be on charity which I'm actually really excited to talk about. Mostly because I've recently been learning a lot about it and want to share! Wish me luck. And if you could throw in a prayer or two in my direction, it would be nice as well :) So I spent a good part of today either thinking about completing my talk and then finally, finishing it up. It's still got a couple glitches but I have enough time to work through those. Now it's on to my Primary lesson! It's going to be a busy day on Sunday!

Tomorrow morning is another week of Hawaiian Dance. Our dance instructor is going to be getting at us hard core so it should be a rather brutal (but good) morning, I think.

Have a good night, y'all :)

-Ives

.tough.

I have to be honest here and say that this has kind of been one of those days. I needed Sheri Dew to tell me that it's okay to have a hard day every once in a while. I have heard stories about how future missionaries have a hard time before they go on their missions, but my goodness, it's one thing to hear about it and another to experience it.

It's not so much temptation that I'm having trouble with, it's Self Doubt. It's the kicker. Right to the gut. Stabbed in the heart nonsense that keeps popping into my head like a sledge hammer. I feel as though there are two angry people standing on either side of me, screaming absurdities at me. Does this mean I've gone mental?

But it's all good now. I've got a really good support system here to help when it gets rough. It's always good to have the when life gets a little bit tricky, right?

Oh! Mission update: I gave my papers to the bishop who is going to give them to the stake pres. which means that they will be in within the next couple of days! Yay! It's really out of my hands now. I will let you know when they are officially in! Ah! I'm so excited!

Anyway, I hope you have a great night!

-Ives

.yup.

Alright. If you haven't noticed by now, I like to post lots and lots of pictures about the cake making process. Mostly so that it makes me look like I know what I'm doing.

I mean...of course I know what I'm doing...

hm.

Anyway...so here's how it went down.

In order to make a heart in the middle of the flipping cake, you have to carve out the center of the cake.

Like this one:

It's slightly different for the other half. It has a small island in the center of the cake, but I didn't get a picture of it.

When it's all carved, you fill it with a different colored cake. I added frosting to the cake, bakerella style, so it wasn't crumbly and stuck together quite well when we cut into it.

Then you stick both sides together (while praying feverishly that you didn't get the two sides mixed up and end up with an upside down heart...) and dirty ice it! woot woot.

You may then presume to take pictures of adorable children.

Such as this one:

Seriously? Seriously?!

Adorable. I mean, look at that little belly poking out of her shirt like that.

So... we just got a 1M tip and so I wanted to try out the rose cake idea and got this:

Perty aint it?

And when we cut into the cake, we got this!

No upside down cake for you!

-Ives

.rose cake.

For a special Valentine's Day treat (and honestly, another excuse to make it), I made a cake!

It was really quite yummy and I was trying out i am baker's rose cake tutorial, as well as her awesome "heart in the middle of the flipping cake" idea, which I tried out on my birthday. I just love the surprise when you cut in to the cake! And the anticipation of knowing if it actually turned out or not.

I'm happy to say that a Victory Dance was definitely involved at the cutting of this cake.

I'm planning on putting up some more in depth pictures of the cake making process, but for now, check out these awesome pictures taken with my Big Sis's brand stinkin' new iphone.

Pretty cool, eh?

Oh, and sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting a picture to be taken!

...just keepin' it real here.

When I mentioned to Micah that the heart in the center of the cake was going to be chocolate, he told me that it would be black...just like my heart.

...or something along those lines.

For the record, it wasn't meant to be black like my heart, they were leftover cake crumbs!

...it's spurn by my laziness.

...or my black heart...

whichever you prefer, really.

I can't get over how awesome these pictures are!!!

Anyway... life is great. I hope yours is as well. :)

-Ives

.V-Day.

This is what I call "The Progression of V-Day"

Can you see it?!?!

Yeah.

So today is V-Day, also known as Singles Awareness Day. And even though I am technically single, I do have a V, who is awesome and... so I have no business writing a cynical post about the effects of Valentines day on a lonely person's soul. I do miss my V though, to be honest.

Actually, today was like every other day, except that I have another excuse to bake a cake!

Yeshhh...

Score!

Well, I hope that your V-Day was fantastic and your special someone did something...special for you. And all you single ladies out there...eat chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate ;)

Chocolate is the solution to all of life's problems.

Seriously.

Oh!!! And on a totally random, geeky, nerdy note, I just about died when I saw this video today:

Seriously died.

...went all...fan girl on everyone...

It was quite the sight.

-Ives

.oldie.

This is an picture from the good old high school days

*sigh* ...well, I don't miss it that much, but you get the point.

And there you have it.

Have I mentioned that I'm running out of pictures to edit from way back when?

Yeah. running out!

OooOooh and today I had my Stake president's interview! But...I found out my doctor didn't give me my TB test so I need to get that done before I can submit my paperwork. If all goes as planned (which it better!) I'll have them in by the end of this week! Ah!!!! No more set backs, no more delays. These papers are going in!!! This week!!!

End rant.

Okay.

Oh, and mission prep was tonight. And it was AWESOME!!! I loved it. Even though I was scared out of my mind most of the time. That's supposed to happen, right? That's how it's going to be on the mission. Ya know, that whole "awkward dream" kind of thing. Hm.

I hope your day was fabulous! And wonderful and great and fantastic!

-Ives

.sad?

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~Abraham Lincoln

This is me trying my best to look morose or sad, but...it's tough. Guess I'm just too happy :)

-Ives

.my symphony.

"To live content with small means

to seek elegance rather than luxury,

and refinement rather than fashion

to be worthy, not respectable,

and wealthy, not rich

to listen to stars and birds,

babes and sages, with open heart

to study hard,

to think quietly,

act frankly,

talk gently,

await occasions, hurry never

in a word, to let the spiritual,

unbidden and unconscious,

grow up through the common

-this is my symphony"

-William Ellery Channing

And with that said,

-Ives

.eyeball.

I made an eyeball cake today.

Actually scratch that. I made TWO eyeball cakes today!!!

I started the day finishing up my first cake for the optometrist who is helping us out by looking at Amani's eyes for a very, very low price (erm, ...for free!) so we made him a cake!

This was what the first one looked like before I put the veins on:

And after:

I don't think it turned out too shabby, considering how shaky the cake making process started off. It was a majorly crumbly cake. To say the least.

It's pretty legit though, right?!

I was planning on settling on just making this one, but as the kids were leaving with the cake, they loved the cake so much that I decided to make another one before they got back from the appointment!

I went a little crazy with those veins though...

The Veins are taking over the world!!!!!!!

erm...sorry.

But seriously.

And...talk about being poked in the eye:

Can you even imagine?

Ew, ew don't. Don't imagine that!

Nasty...

OooOooh, by the way, how do you like the cake stands that my lovely big sis made for this?!

Awesome, right?

Yeah, I thought so :)

-Ives

.a trip to the moon...?

I found this in my email last night while I was skyping one of my favorite people:

Under the subject it said: "A timeless memory from outer space"

and went a little like this:

dearest ivy.

it has been so long since i talked to you. so for you not to forget me, i've sent you a picture of our recent trip to the moon.

i hope you like it.

love,

Nathan

With this picture attached:

I think this pretty much explains why he's one of my favorite people :)

Victory dance style

-Ives

.another one?!

I was hanging out with my big sis yesterday and commented, almost offhandedly that she wanted cake.

So...I made another cake!

And boy, was it yummy!!

It doesn't look all that neat and polished, but it's the taste that counts, right?

Right...?!?!

I found this utterly divine buttercream recipe which I will share with you at another time because I'm sick. Again... dumb.

-Ives

.yes, please :)

Yes, I made another cake yesterday. Surprisingly quickly too!

Since yesterday's superbowl game just happened to correlate with our little friend, Christian's birthday party, I made a football. Naturally!

So here's how it went down:

The cutting:

Ten minutes later...

I'd say it was pretty successful :)

-Ives

.cake.

The final product! More on this tomorrow :)

-Ives

.lazy.

I'm making a cake and skyping one of my favorite people, so I'm being lazy. I will provide some very intellectual conversation with you tomorrow!!! yay!!!!

.pattern.

"my life is but a weaving between my God and me.

I do not choose the colors; He worketh steadily.

Oftentimes he weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride

forget that he sees the upper and I the underside.

Not till the loom is silent, and shuttles cease to fly,

Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful in the skillful Weaver's hand

As the threads of gold and silver in

the pattern He has planned"

I'm not sure who wrote that, but I just love it.

Today has been so laid back. I don't think I did anything productive except for maybe edit some old pics from high school. And maybe made dinner...

So yeah. I hope you enjoy these:

I'm off to my pajama skype date with one of my favorite people. It will be complete with milk and cereal. Cuz we're that cool. mmmhmmm!

-Ives

:)

I have what I call a "Book of Remembrance" where I keep all of my most favorite quotes and stories. I used to write a lot more than I do now. If I found a quote that I loved, I would say exactly why it was important to me and kind of my interpretation, I guess you could say. Mostly just random musings. I should start doing that because I found a paragraph that I wrote about this quote, and I loved what I wrote down. So here it is:

"Elder Russell M. Nelson said, "A covenant with God is not restrictive, but protective." Heavenly Father gives us commandments to essentially save us from ourselves from ourselves. It's important to see the blessings, as opposed to the restrictions. The phrase, 'I can't, I'm Mormon' should really be reworded to 'I can, but I won't, because I know what you don't' :) We need to stop fighting the Lord. It's important to have the right attitude when looking at life. If we approach life with 'a bunch of rules' then we will be miserable. It's guaranteed. The rules define life and help receive freedom. In the Strength of Youth Pamphlet, there are 111 blessings on 42 pages. Once we begin seeing the blessings, instead of restrictions, the commandments become sweet. The Strength of Youth principles are Eternal and freedom only comes from obedience through rules. I guess you could say that the 'truth will set you free.'"

I love this church. I love this gospel. I love everything about it.

I'm just so lucky :)

Well, I'm off to skype with one of my favorite people and then go to bed! Because this whole new sleep schedule is rough...photographic evidence of this morning's event can be found here. But trust me, it's not pretty.

-Ives

.zombie.

My big sis is one a mission.

To get me into normal and regular sleep patterns.

Today was day 2 of the process. And it was brutal.

I could have been a straight up zombie with how much mumbling and grunting I was doing this morning.

Poor, poor Amy...this is going to be a tough job for her.

So with all my free time, the day turned into hobby day. I practiced the ukulele and piano. Did some mission prep, edited a ton of pictures and even painted a picture! I even had time for a well deserved nap!

My life is so hard. Seriously.

And while you're contemplating how truly hard my life is at the moment, check out the pictures I just edited!

Well, that's all for now!

-Ives

.par-tay!

We finally celebrated Micah's birthday today! Yay!

He was actually the last one to see his own cake because ya know, we wanted to surprise him or something :) But the good news is, he actually liked it! I was a bit worried. I've trained him well. And have gotten him addicted to my cake decorating shows. So he knows a good cake when he sees it.

Even though he did keep mentioning how dry it was...hm.

Oh, and today I learned that I am completely incapable of starting a lighter. It just shows how faithful I am, right? Right...?! Ya know, because i followed the W.O.W... hm.

Oh. And take a look at this picture:

What do you think? I entitled it "Waiting" but it's totally uber-processed and I need feedback. Not sure if I have a knack for that sort of thing. I'm trying to find my photography niche or something. Not sure where exactly it's at. Maybe I need to get more skilled before I can even start thinking about that. But not back for my first self portrait, right?!

Well, it's been a fantastic day. I got dragged out of bed by Amy bright and early this morning. She even took away my blanket (worst punishment ever...). Nahh...it ended up being a really good thing. Who ever knew that so much happened around here before 11 in the morning...

Oh! and I picked out my first pair of glasses since I broke and threw away my last pair of glasses in the 7th grade (it was a very tramatic experience). I'm really excited to get them! You'll have to tell me if you love them as much as I do when they come in.

That's all I've got for now!

-Ives