recently i'm... (16)

Baking: Cupcakes! I have been on a cupcake frenzy this past weekend! We had a party at our friends, the Schupras', to watch fireworks on Saturday night, and I was on dessert. So I made two Annie recipes - Double Chocolate Raspberry and Chocolate Baileys. Confession: Usually, when I make filled cupcakes with homemade frosting, I'll just use a box mix for the cake. I know, awful, right?! Oh well. Anyway, I modified that Baileys recipe by just using dark chocolate cake mix (no Guinness for me - can't stand the stuff!). Then, I wasn't really liking the taste of the frosting, so I added about a tablespoon or two of my homemade fudge sauce. That did the trick for me! So I guess those cupcakes were sort of like pseudo-mudslide cupcakes?

Awful picture of the insides:

Also, whenever I make filled cupcakes, I always make Doug a sample platter with the leftovers...

Then I made lemon cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting. Awesome.

Snacking on: I had leftover buttercream. I couldn't let it go to waste, could I?!

YUM. Also... what's summer without milkshakes?!

And not to be totally unhealthy, here's some lemonade.

Now that I seem totally obsessed with food and eating, I suppose I should also share that I have been...

Exercising: I promise! I did another step class Monday morning, and it went much more smoothly than last week. It's actually a great workout once you kind of know what you're doing!

Enjoying: the dog park. Zooey is a riot to watch.

Reading: I have been a reading machine since school let out! I've read a bunch of books, but a few that are worth mentioning are Brave New World (that one had been on my to-read list for quite some time) and Speak. I've become a little obsessed with Goodreads, and I gave Brave New World 3/5 stars and Speak 4/5. I'm also currently reading David Platt's new book Radical Together, in preparation for...

Excited about: Student Life Camp! On Sunday, we are leaving for Alabama with about 30 teenagers. We'll be staying in condos on a beach and attending sessions where David Platt will be the teacher!

Also excited about: Seeing my family this weekend for Emily's graduation!

Extremely proud of: My little sister is the salutatorian!!! Smarty pants!

Listening to: Ben Pasley, of Enter the Worship Circle - his album Chair & Microphone. My favorite song is "Hurricane".

Snapping pictures of: the Brodhagens! You can see some of my favorites here.

Wishing: that Kent, NY was five minutes away.

Missing: Victoria. I had to make jam by myself this morning... and I had no one to panic over the "full roiling boil" with me.