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altarnarock
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Name: Jenn
Birthday: 12/23/1981
Gender: Female
Interests: listenin to hard rock music, chattin on AIM, cooking and baking, going to concerts, playin bass for worship team, eating out at new places, biking around town, and trying to make the most out of this God-given life I have
Expertise: you can ask me about hair--bleaching, dying and SPIKING...I can tell you what gel works and what is not worth your dime ;)
Occupation: Nugget Working Music Student
Industry: Grocery/Music
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
7/13/2003
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So the story behind these mini cakes is this: Liz
invited me to attend a 10-week women's Bible study session following a
Beth Moore series called "Beloved Disciple: The Life and Ministry of John." I
have been going pretty regularly (minus one week..but I was in San
Diego visiting my sister, so I had an excuse!) and It's been really
great because it helps me get into the discipline of getting into God's
word each day, which I've been so desperately needing. Not only that,
but I also had the opportunity to meet older and amazing godly
women of Christ. The last part of the series ends with
Revelation, a book that John wrote. Beth Moore finishes w/ a focus on Rev. 21, in
which the New Jerusalem comes from heaven "prepared as a bride
beautifully dressed for her husband." So a few weeks before, Liz asks
me if I would like to do a wedding cake or cupcakes for the last day of
class. We discuss it further and decide that cupcakes would be better
than cakes because she would not need to provide forks and knives (And
believe me, I'd rather do cupcakes than carry around a huge cake). In one video session, Beth Moore talks about how the
great multitude in Ch. 7:9 are in white robes, yet very distinct, b/c
John writes that this "great multitude that no one could count, from
every nation, tribe, people, and language." She was reminded of a
childhood song that sang like this: Jesus loves
the little children, all the children of the world; red and yellow,
black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little
children of the world.
So Liz and I decided
that I could 4 flavors, 1 dozen each: Red velvet, lemon, chocolate, and
vanilla. The white frosting would symbolize the white robes. Also,
since gold appears to be a dominant theme in heaven, I got a "gold"
cupcake stand (cardboard w/ gold foil wrapping) to hold the cupcakes.
It was definitely a lot of work, but in the end, it was so worth it.
The smiles and surprise..and Liz even let me pass out my business
cards! It makes me think of the hard life here on earth, and
trying to live for Christ. Sometimes it seems like a lot of wasted
energy and labor. This world hates Christ and mocks it. Yet when this
old earth passes away, the new one comes, God will calls us to be with
him forever. I can just imagine the relief and nodd: It was all worth
it.
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How does one keep the 5th commandment in today's society? I suppose it's not that hard if you have a 9-5 job M-F and have weekends off. But I work in the food industry. Working weekends is practically a requirement. Baking might be slightly different, but not by much. Instead of nights, you work *VERY* early mornings.
As most of you know, I've been to baking school and do some baking production for Nugget, and am even trying to start a side business of baking. However, I've quickly learned that I have a long ways to go in terms of being a DECORATOR, which I felt I wasn't properly taught at in baking school ("btw, here's how to make a rose...go practice at home"). There's a lot that wasn't covered...including air brushing, flowers (learned how to do it outta clay and marzipan, but not frosting), drawing, etc. So now the opportunity comes...and my bakery manager wants me to train to be a decorator!! Problem: one of those days is Sunday @ 3:30am. And it's an 8 hour shift.
Okay, so getting up at 2:30 in the morning is hard enough, but that's beside the point. It's DURING church service! I've been pretty lenient about working on Sundays...as long as it's AFTER church. But during? No way. But I can see the carrot of opportunity dangling right in front of me, asking me to compromise "just this once." I've already made that mistake before..once I used to not work on Sundays AT ALL. But now I do. But if I allow myself to work Sunday MORNINGS..man I feel like it would be game over. (Actually, I've rarely been given morning shifts, so I don't think it would happen....but arrgh..don't you see the back and forth?!!)
So now I've probably passed up an opportunity to be a cake decorator, but honestly, I rather please God than try to live out this shallow dream of being a pastry person. I'm just gonna pray and leave this in God's hands...if it works out, it does, and if it doesn't, it's okay. I feel so blessed already and I'm grateful for it.
**UPDATE** Praise God, he chose to work it out!! My training day got moved to another day and instead of the mornings, I get the PM shift on Sunday!
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| Hi it's been a while!
Life has been interesting. I can feel it headed somewhere, but not sure how all the pieces fit together. Of course, the biggest thing that some of you are noticing is the interest in baking. With Luke's encouragement, I've been trying to pull my passion for baking into a side business, starting with a business card (thanks, LWTECH), and hopefully a cool website (hosted by renegadesv's :). Mind you, that I suck at math and have no idea of how to run a business at all, but we'll see where God leads this passion he's given me. Maybe one of these days it will turn into a cafe, but as of now, I am content with baking things on my free time.
Speaking of baking, I've been doing more of it at Nugget lately. It's so much better than closing the deli every night. There's something about baking a product off and packaging and just that pride that goes into it..and having it be put on sale and bought! It's a cool feeling. I guess the side business will help me personalize that more.
And for the other interests: Music. Specifically, bass...and maybe drums?? A part of me is still wanting to join a band and rock a few shows every now and then. I'm considering learning drums on the side (haha a re-occurring theme!) to be a fill-in drummer if needed. I've always wanted to be a decent drummer, but I've never played live before an audience before (and honestly that idea still scares me a bit). I guess I will practice every night with some worship songs and see how if I still want to commit to learning the craft.
Honestly, that's more than enough to occupy my time. I've decided to participate in a special 11-week Bible study this summer and it's truly been a blessing. Just getting me BACK into reading and spending more time in God's word really has brought me into a closer relationship with God. Working out and exercising has taken a back-seat, but it's okay as long as I don't go too long without some cardio. I have decided to be a sister's group coordinator, that meets every other week. I still have to manage/landlord my parents' house in Davis. And I still help out on the worship team and leading Sunday school. Oh yeah, and did I mention baking any chance I get? 
Thanks for letting me share. When life gets too busy, I gotta remember Matthew 6:33. It's all about seeking God. Everything else is distractions.
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| so got a special request to make a b-day cake for Mr. Zhu...or pronouned "zoo". Hence, his Clare-crowned nickname. This cake was pretty last-minute and I really scrambled to figure out how I could make this. First of all, this was my first ICE CREAM cake. I didn't think it would be that hard, but it's quite tricky...especially when it started leaking everywhere!! Also, I overmixed the cake batter , so it caused a lot of tunneling..(TONS of holes in the cake!) EEK! Stuff like this always happens when I'm trying to make a cake to impress ppl. When I'm not trying, it's not so stressful. haha. Anyways, here's the end result. Not tooooo bad...but definitely have a long way before I reach a professional level. Gotta keep practicing and learning!
 
I must've bought over $10 in cookies! haha and I only used a few of them. It's a chocolate cake w/ mint chocolate chip ice cream inside, covered with REAL swiss meringue buttercream. Oreo panda face in front, animal crackers/cookies, one Hello Panda in the grass, and Oreo Funstix to make up the "cage". If I had more time to mess with it, I would've tried to incorporate more detail, but for just "coming up with it," and I think it was a decent first effort. Hope the birthday boy and guests liked it!
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