Doll Cake for Sophia

Notice how "hard core" I look in that first picture. :) The cake turned out, though, and not bad actually. And it tasted good, too. I felt a little pressed for time, as I had to work over this hitch, and therefore, complete the cake after work on two different nights. It was worth it though - Sophia really loved it.

Getting Ready for the Party

Photo courtesty of the Sun-Sentinel.

Ever since she turned one, I've thought about making a doll cake for Sophia for her second birthday. And although I don't expect myself to create something anywhere close to the cakes in the above picture, I do have high hopes for the one I plan on making for her in just over a week.

Up until about 10 minutes ago, I've been wondering how I'm going to pull this off. What, with working up until her birthday, I didn't know if I'd have time to make a doll cake "traditional style". All of the recipes I've found so far describe using 2 round cake pans, stacking the cakes once baked, covering them in wax paper, freezing them, and cutting the cake to form the shape of a skirt. Whew...makes me tired just thinking about it. Luckily, though, I was able to attend a Pampered Chef party with Coolskool a few years ago and learned that they actually sell a batter bowl that is oven safe and the perfect shape for making doll cakes. I put up an ad on the trading post here at work earlier this morning, asking if anyone in my area had one I could borrow. Would you know that I immediately got 3 responses from people? So on Monday, I will have a borrowed Pampered Chef batter bowl with which I can attempt this whole doll cake project. I will post pictures once completed, no matter how it turns out!

Not Complete - but close

The day before I went to the doctor for my wrist I was able to finish crocheting this sweater. I look forward to buying the perfect buttons for it in 2-3 weeks when I can finally remove this splint. :) I'm very happy with it - I actually like it more than the picture in the pattern and I can't wait to eventually get to do some little bloomers, too!

Tea and Flowers

I love pictures. I love getting the chance to capture the colors of beautiful gifts, even long after the tea has been enjoyed and the flowers have wilted. These gifts came from my wonderful husband and beautiful daughter, in honor of my vestation. The tea filter in the first picture is part of a "tea tumbler" that Sophia picked out for me at the sporting goods store here. She hasn't stopped saying "Mama's Tea" every time she sees it.

New Project - Baby Sweater

I found a pattern that I understand, so I'm giving it a shot. So far, I've been confused by how exactly the arm holes are made, but got through it. And, I had to remove a few rows of the "shell" stitching (on the bottom - the part with the big gaps) when I finally realized what the pattern was saying.

This sweater is for a friend of mine who is due to have a baby girl in June. The pictures don't show just how much pink, purple, and other colors are mixed throughout the blue, but trust me, it is definitely a "girl" yarn. I can't wait to post the finished product!

Hat and Booties

All done - hooray! I was able to thread the ribbon through last night right before we headed over to Mark and Jennifer's to see the new baby (I'll be posting pics of baby Sarah on My Life, My Love later today).


I found some of this ivory ribbon in my scrapbooking stuff and really liked the way it looked against the green. The booties were definitely more challenging that the hat, and it was hard to make two that were exact, so they're not. But I'm proud of them all the same. Jennifer and Mark loved them. This experience has definitely made me excited to try new patterns, like maybe even a baby sweater. :)

Baby Blanket 2

The crochet part is finished. I used only a small part of the last skein of yarn, so I wanted to make a baby hat with the rest. I was able to find a very simple pattern on line and quickly learn all of the "crochet-ese" I needed to know in order to read it. What a challenge that was! I got through it though, and it actually turned out ok. If you can believe it, I still wasn't out of yarn after the hat was made, so now I'm using every spare second to make some baby booties. I plan to go into town sometime within the next week and look for some matching satin ribbon to weave through the brim of the hat and the cuff of the booties, and maybe even the edge of the blanket. We'll see. I'll post another pic soon.

Baby Blanket

I picked up some 100% wool yarn from our local craft shop the other day just because I liked the color and the quality (it's extremely soft for being all wool). I then had the idea to make a baby blanket for my friend Jennifer who is now dialated to 2 cm and is anxiously awaiting the birth of her baby (gender unknown). I decided to do it in crochet, as I haven't crocheted anything in a long time, and was kind of curious as to whether or not I still knew how. The pattern is very simple - just single and double-crochet, and I'll just have to wing it on the edging, as I don't know how to do anything real fancy. I picked up a few more skeins today when I was in town so that I can finish it over the weekend. I'll post another picture when I'm done.

1. My real name is not Belle Etoile, but rather Katie. That's not actually my real name either, but it is the one that I answer to. So in that sense, it is real.

2. I believe there are only two ways out of this life. One way is to go out knowing the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the other way is to not.

3. I believe that I do know His love and sacrifice, even if I don't act like it sometimes.

4. I was born at home, in Cordova, AK, at 6:33 a.m. June 8, 1981. I've been a "morning person" ever since.

5. I'm a vegetarian at heart. I do eat meat occasionally, but when it's up to me to cook something, I rarely think of any meat dishes.

6. My favorite breakfast food is stone-ground oats - or oat groats - with cream or plain yoghurt, toasted pecans and real maple syrup.

7. I have 4 sisters and two brothers.

8. I am the fifth child born to my parents.

9. I cherish the relationship I have with each of my brothers and sisters, and my mom and dad.

10. When me and my brother Gregory were about 11 and 7, respectively, we created 3 secret passwords that, to this day, I have never told a single soul. (And last time I asked him, he hadn't either.)

11. 90% of the friends I had growing up were Christians. I myself didn't ask the Lord into my heart until a week after my 22nd birthday. I was baptized in December of the same year by Isaac's dad, Fred.

12. I love Isaac's family. They've welcomed me with wide open arms, and have never made me feel like I don't belong.

13. I have one child, Sophia, and would love to be blessed with a few more.

14. My favorite children's movie is "Matilda", and I also love that name.

15. I did an exchange year in Berlin, Germany the year after I graduated from high school.

16. If I could spend another exchange year anywhere in the whole world it would be Italy.

17. As a kid, I really wanted to be a housekeeper when I grew up. I told my stepmom Cheryl this, and she suggested that I aim a little higher. :)

18. I don't know my own height. I've gotten different measurements from different health professionals... Somewhere between 5' 7'' and 5' 9''.

19. I like to brag that I enjoy eating all fruits and vegetables, but I kinda don't like stewed tomatoes.

20. I'm good at remembering numbers, including phone, social security (watch out!), how many kcals per gram of fat, etc.

21. I couldn't remember the name of a famous actor or actress - or name a movie I watched last night for that matter - to save my own life.

22. My favorite treat of all time is hot chocolate - made with real chocolate, real sugar, and real milk (and occasionally with cayenne pepper or cinnamon added).

23. My maiden name, Knapp, is a German phrase that in English means "close one". As in, "I almost spilled my hot chocolate all over my scrapbooking materials - man that was a close one!"

24. Despite popular belief, I am only fluent in two (2) languages: German and English.

25. I can undertand and speak some Spanish and French (but I'm extremely limited, let me assure you in case you ever want me to "show off" my talents in these languages).

26. I have been to Canada, Costa Rica, England, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, and Austria.

27. I really love chocolate.

28. I prefer dark over milk chocolate.

29. I love my husband more than anything in the world, including chocolate. :)

30. I first heard about him when I was 10 years old.

31. I was 21 when we first met.

32. I know he's the kindest, gentlest, best-looking man I have ever met, and I couldn't ever have imagined that I would ever adore someone as much as I adore him.

33. I love tulips (that's the first ever kind of flower Isaac ever brought me).

34. My favorite color is deep red.

35. One of my favorite authors is Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., although every time I start of one his books I always think, "This guy is so weird!" - but I always end up loving the book.

36. I love Audrey Hepburn movies.

37. One of my favorite things to do in 8th and 9th grade was to visit my mom and stay up late watching old movies, especially ones with Hepburn.

38. On more than one occasion, I've managed to eat an entire watermelon in less than 24 hours. (And I'm not talking about one of those dulcineas either.)

39. Last summer I let Sophia completely ruin her appetite while sharing a watermelon with her mama.

40. If I could ever own another dog, I would probably choose to own another Chesapeake Bay Retriever.

41. I don't like cats, in general, but occasionally I'll meet a cool one.

42. Mostly it's because I find cats to be so wishy-washy. They don't want to be touched half the time, and the other half they're practically giving you a new fur coat as they rub their body all over you, begging to have their belly scratched.

43. I am terribly, horribly scared of hornets and wasps.

44. I've been stung at least 15 times in my life, all on separate occasions.

45. I was once stung on the tip of my middle finger by a black wasp with some sort of red marking on it's rear. It hurt more than any of the other stings.

46. I've only stayed in a hospital once: after I gave birth to Sophia.

47. I loved being pregnant (for the most part), but I thought the labor and birth thing was horrible.

48. One of the things I loved most about being pregnant was not having to "suck in".

49. One of the things I didn't like was the sciatic nerve pain - ouch!

50. I think maternity clothes are the cutest and most comfortable clothes out there, and they should make regular clothes more like them.

51. Having Sophia in my life has changed me into a better person.

52. I am more at ease with myself than I ever was before she was born.

53. I love her like I love no one else.

54. In 3 1/2 months I'll be vested with my union.

55. Then I'll be that much closer to being with her 24/7.

55. I'm a working mom.

56. Sometimes I wish I lived in a place where I could where pretty shoes outside for more than 2 weeks a year.

57. I attend a Baptist church.

58. I married the son of a preacher.

60. I live in a small town in Southcentral Alaska.

61. I love to be outside...

62. ...to hike and walk and enjoy good conversation.

63. I love to sit around a camp fire drinking good beer...

64. ...and chatting with good friends.

65. I love to swim outside - in lakes and rivers.

66. I once took a roadtrip from Anchorage to San Francisco...

67. ...and I swam in every body of water we stopped by.

68. Some day I'd like to learn how to use a sewing maching...

69. ...to quilt...

70. ...and to make my own clothes.

71. I own property about 300 miles from here (where I grew up)...

72. ...and someday I'd like to build my own house there.

73. In the first 20 years of my life, I lived 10 of them without electricity.

74. The smallest place I ever lived in was a 10 x 20 cabin w/loft with my dad, stepmom, little sister and little brother.

75. The farthest distance I've ever run was 13 miles.

76. Some day I'd like to run a marathon.

77. I enjoy reading articles from Heather Lende...

78. ...and Catherine Newman.

79. I always cry (and my husband can vouch for this) at the end of every single Heather Lende article I read.

80. I always laugh (and the guys at my work can vouch for this) at some point during every single Catherine Newman article I read.

81. I take movies extremely seriously. Mostly sad ones that make me bawl uncontrollably. Like Dancer in the Dark.

82. Isaac says I cry from movies so that I don't have to cry about "real life".

83. When I first moved to Valdez for my job, I lived in a place called "Mancamp" (just the name sounds scary, eh?).

84. I work with all men.

85. I love giving them updates on my baby girl.

86. I came to work on a 10-week-call - that was 3 1/2 years ago.

87. When I was in college (full-time) I cleaned houses and greased equipment for my spending money.

88. I am an Operating Engineer.

89. I still attend college, but only 1 class per semester.

90. When I work, I get up at 4:30, when I don't, it's more like 9:00 (or however long Sophia lets me sleep :) ).

91. But I really, truly am a morning person.

92. I fell best when I sleep 9 hours per night.

93. I love Thai food, especially Thai tea and anything curry.

94. I love Indian food, too.

95. I think my husband has the most beautiful voice in the world, and I love when he sits on the couch and strums away on his guitar.

96. I wish he let more people hear it, but I'm kind of glad he saves it for me.

97. I'm teaching my daughter German.

98. But, more importantly, I hope that I can teach her to love the Lord.

99. I hope that her dad and I can give her a good example of that.

100. She just walked over and gave me a kiss - I can think of few things better.