Make a Wedding Cake.

When an opportunity presents itself, you've gotta take it! Who woulda thought that someone would have actually ASKED ME to make their wedding cake. I figured one of two things for this bucket list item: a) I'd be asked to make this cake years down the road after a few classes or something or b) I'd end up making a wedding cake just for snorts and giggles (and have a whole lot of people over to eat it!)

But, when my roommate was in wedding planning mode, she and

her now-husband, sampled my cream cheese chocolate chip cake with cream cheese icing and nonchalantly said, "Do you want to make our wedding cake?" I think at the time I thought she was kidding and maybe she even thought I was kidding when I said that I would.

And it certainly was a true opportunity presenting itself because to my knowledge she didn't even know that this was an item on my list! Knock knock, it's me opportunity!

So finally the days withered down until wedding time and my kitchen was bustling as were the dining room and my mind. Everything was planned out: baking days, ingredient layout, utensils, etc. The cake was white cake, homemade dulce de leche, and Italian buttercream.

A couple of things: Italian Buttercream ROCKS! Fat-free dulce de leche is good, but not as great as the regular stuff and Betty Crocker white cake mix is TERRIBLE, never use if must use cake mix...Pillsbury all the wayyyy.

I had originally made a white cake from scratch that the wedding party had liked but to replicate that recipe to make a three-tiered cake that fed 150 people I realized could not happen with my awesome but household KitchenAid stand mixer. We decided to go with cake mix and I mistakenly chose Betty Crocker. Gross.

Wedding day: Cake made. Cake safely transported. Cake assembled. Cake presented. Cake Cut. Cake Success. And here's to happily-ever-after.

Bottom line: I felt extremely honored to be able to make a cake for someone's wedding. It's a testament of their confidence in you and their appreciation and enjoyment of your work. I'm no Ace of Cakes and it's a ton of work. But I'd DEFINITELY do it again. Just not anytime soon.

Run the Monument 10K

Picture this: Me. Running. and Running. and Running. Running for 6.2 miles. And in all actuality, I don't think 6.2 miles are that much to run, I mean it's only for an hour or so (unless you are some speedy-ass people and run it in oh 24-46 minutes). I'm sure you can find other ways to mindlessly spend an hour and forget about those wasted hours weeks, months or years later. However, I don't think I'll easily forget running the Ukrops' Monument 10k.

So..I signed up in February for the race, thinking that'd be plenty of time to train...oh about 6 weeks until race day.

5 weeks till race day: Still haven't run.

4 weeks until race day: It's cold man, no running.

3 weeks until race day: a 3 mile run. That's normal.

1 week until race day: 1.5 mile run..it started to rain and I had to turn around.

2 days before race day: hmm...I should do some running, 4.5 mile run. K, that's it until race day.

Race day: Amazing what adrenaline and determination to finish will do!

It was a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful race. I had my playlist bumping, the spectators were awesome, the weather a little chilly but sunny and the turnout grand! It took me a while to get in the groove but I was dead set on never walking, never stopping. It wasn't until around mile 3 that I'd gotten into a rhythm and as I crossed the finish line, I felt as if I could have kept going.

I'm not runner. And I can't say I enjoy running. But I do enjoy crossing that finish line. Over 37,000 people signed up to run that race, and I was one of the 30,000 that showed up on race day. It was wild and most enormous feeling.

So, I think I'll start signing up for other races, 5Ks, 10Ks, 15Ks..leading up the next race on the list: A Half-Marathon. BRING IT!