Welcoming The Sweet New Baby

John and I were very sneaky last weekend! We told my sister, Lauren, that we, just on a whim, decided to go visit my Dad and Laura for the exact same weekend she and her husband, Eddie, would be there! Little did she know, there was an elaborate plan in the works! My stepmother, Laura, decided that since both of Lauren's other baby showers would be in Tifton and her side of the family would be unable to go, she'd just throw one for her the last time Lauren could be in Atlanta before the baby comes.

Everything we smoothly and the plan was a huge success! Lauren and Eddie had absolutely no idea the entire family would be coming over to celebrate the arrival of The Boy! We had such a wonderful time all weekend which almost makes up for the UGA football game!

Key Lime Cupcakes: Alternately Titled, Better Late Than Never

So...Mom's birthday was last week and I make her some really delicious birthday treats, but I haven't had time to share them until today! Oops! Better late than never I guess! For days and days I contemplated what I wanted to do for Mom's birthday. Since I've been helping her clean our her house, she told me not to buy her anything, but what would a birthday be without something sweet? I snuck over to Lance's house to borrow his kitchen so she wouldn't know what I was up to and I put together a little concoction. Mom's absolute favorite dessert is Key Lime Pie but I decided it might be fun to put a little twist on it and create cupcakes instead! Boy Howdy, they were Yum-O! Here's the amazing recipe I used for them!

CUPCAKES
3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1/4 teaspoon neon-green food coloring
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preparation
CUPCAKES
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners. Whisk both flours in medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to blend. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then next 3 ingredients (batter may look curdled). Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions. Spoon scant 1/3 cup batter into each liner.
Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.

I could have made the frosting myself, but I prefer to just buy the cream cheese frosting from the store (it's just as good and you don't have to do any work)! Win/win!

This is what I found the adorable Finn doing while I was cooking! He never would have gotten up on the back of the sofa if his daddy had been at home! But boy is he cute!

Exciting News

My working woes are over! I am now going to be employed full-time for a lawyer in town as an office manager/legal assistant starting first thing tomorrow morning. Even though I feel prepared and capable of handling whatever tasks my boss gives me, I have to admit that I am a little nervous about starting a new job. Fortunately, I'll have my cousin Molly there to give me a little guidance, but my boss also seems like a very nice and understanding person. This job is going to be such a great opportunity and I feel that it will really help me figure out which route I want to take my career! Who knows, I might decide I do want to go to law school after all!

In other news...Lance and I are really excited because this weekend is the first UGA homegame! Gooooo Dawgs! My wonderful Daddy got us tickets for the game and my fabulous friends are giving us a place to stay for the weekend! It's really funny to be going back to Athens as a guest in someone else's house considering I lived there for two and a half years! I actually enjoy being a visitor of Athens rather than a resident! Even though we have to find a puppy sitter for the weekend and we can't take baby Finn with us, we are really really really excited about going and visiting our friends!

Job Shopping

Thank goodness I moved back to Tifton and have about a million connections! I waited about two weeks after I moved home to get my first job and although it has been great experience, I've only been asked to work 3 days in the last 3 weeks. Not going to work if you're being forced to move out on your own in 5 months! Enough is enough! I decided to reevaluate my situation and try to find some new job opportunities! On the ABAC website, I found a job at a lawyers office but before I applied for it, I went to talk to the job guru, Ray. I worked for Ray about 3 years ago and because he knows me and everybody else in Tifton, I assumed he would be able to put in a good word for me and hopefully find me some tempting jobs!

I had, what I would consider, my first "real" interview today! Any job I've had in the past has practically been given to me either because the place was desperate for employees (the country club) or because they were giving me the job as a favor to Sonny. I'm so proud, because I feel like I found this opportunity for myself!

After I took my resume to this particular lawyer's office, I got a text from my cousin, Molly. She was telling me that she worked as a file clerk for him already and had seen my resume on his desk. She filled me in on her boss and we were able to do a little catching up since we haven't seen each other in about 2 or 3 years it seems! I got a call later that day asking if I could come in the next morning for an interview! Everything was happening really fast! My interview went really well and I feel like my background in English will be extremely helpful if I get this job! The only downfall is that the salary is not really as high as I would like or probably need. I still think it would be a great learning experience and opportunity for me! I've actually been really depressed about my abilities and skills since graduating. I've really been convincing myself that I am unworthy of a great job because I am unqualified for so many of them! This interview really made me feel so much better about my qualifications and the interest that I should be getting from prospective employers because I haven't already been trained to perform tasks in a certain way. Basically they wouldn't have to untrain me from a prior routine and then train me into their preferred methods.

Even if I don't get this job, I realized how marketable I can make myself and how capable I am of getting a good job that I deserve!

Happy Birthday To You!

Happy birthday to the sweetest and most loving mother in the entire world! What would we do without her? For the last 23 years she has cared for me and helped me grow up. She has always been there to listen and love me.

I love you Mom! Enjoy every moment of your birthday!