I didn't know there was sunshine in this city!

Well, we made it! We have now been here for a week and while it still feels like we're on vacation, we love it! When we got here last Thursday, the temperatures were SO HOT all weekend! We finally saw a little rain Sunday morning, but it quickly went back to blue skies and has been BEAUTIFUL all week. Everyone kept trying to tell me about how depressed we'd be with the over cast skies and rain, but, man, this is heaven. I look forward to the rain that is coming soon too :)

BIG thanks to my wonderful parents, awesome sister in law Nicole, and fantastic aunt and uncle for helping us move!!! We hope more family and friends can come visit us soon!

It has been SO great not working and having Dustin at home too before he starts classes. We were able to put our house all together, including most decorating done by Wednesday! Which is seriously record time for us. In our last two places, pretty sure we NEVER were fully moved in. I love love love our little apartment. It is the perfect size for us and I feel like we have tons of space for storage and everything. This complex is so amazingly quiet that sometimes I wonder if we even have neighbors.

We met our ward on Sunday and when the bishop found out we were from Utah he said, "Oh good! You're active!" Which we laughed pretty hard about cuz being from Utah definitely does NOT make you active. Our ward is pretty small, but after feeding the missionaries on Wednesday (we have missionaries just for our ward! How weird is that?! Okay, it's not weird, it's actually really normal outside of Utah!), we found out that the activity percentage is 25%.... so that's why it seems so small. We'll see how long it is before we have to give talks in sacrament meeting... and yes, I said HAVE to give talks cuz I hate giving talks....

We made some new friends called the Stanfords--Yolanda (yo-land-a) and Nate. And their 5 kids. The invited us over for lunch on Sunday and we had a great afternoon with them. Nate goes to Western States University like Dustin so he gave us a whole bunch of great advice. We had them over for a fondue and games last night too and it's nice to have friends here already!

Today was a fantastic day. Dustin got to go to new student orientation, and I got to work on application stuff. I am now trying to work with Robert Half Accounting and ExpressPros Jobs to find something to do out here. I did some more testing for Express Pros for Excel, Word, 10 key, and typing, and I feel really good about my scores so hopefully they have something for me when I go meet with them on Monday.

After I was happy with my test scores, I treated myself to a couple episodes of Desperate Housewives before Dustin got home. Hahahaha. Tonight we are heading over to my aunt and uncle's house in Battle Ground for they BYU vs Utah State game.

Pictures and more Portland happenings to come!

Almost there!

We're almost there! I know you're all excited because then I can start blogging about COOL stuff instead of just about moving. 3 days. That's all the time left. Then cool stuff begins... like job hunting.

That's right, for the first time in over 3 years now, I am officially unemployed. My last day at StoresOnline was a good one and I will miss the people I worked with and became good friends with, but I am kinda happy that it's done.

This week I also applied for what I think would be a fantastic job--- it's a data entry position in Boring, OR. I seriously think it would be one of the coolest things ever to say I worked in a town called Boring. Doing data entry. But the position sounded like something I would actually really enjoy and the salary is right, benefits are right, and schedule is right, so *fingers crossed* that they contact me for an interview soon! Costco application is in too, and WinCo already rejected me for the cashier/checker position. Probably cuz I said I wouldn't work on Sundays. But I didn't really want that job anyway. Oh well.

Most everyone we talk to asks if we're all packed up. Well, we're getting there.... I swear it's a process that never really ends. Except that it has to end on Wednesday cuz ready or not, we're driving that Penske away. Our house has turned into a disaster zone as we've been trying to find an appropriate box for all of our crap...er...stuff. But tomorrow will be dedicated to getting everything fixed so Tuesday we can run errands, Wednesday I can card club and clean, and then move!!

So much left to do, so little time!

The Final Countdown

22 Hours left at StoresOnline

8 Days left in Utah

2 1/2 Days left working at the Funny Farm

3 Going Away parties left to attend

3 Dozen cinnamon rolls left to make for the last day at work

3 Applications submitted today, 10+ left to discover open job postings

2 weeks left til school starts back up

and....

100 boxes left to pack and load!!! And then unload!!! And unpack!! (Does the packing/unpacking ever end?!)

My competition....

So today as I was browsing among the deals on Groupon, I came across this little gem....

MY COMPETITION!!! Crave Bake Shop in Lake Oswego, OR had a "deal" for cake balls. That's right, for only $9 (originally $18), you could get a dozen cake balls! I'm sorry, but I don't care that they are gluten free, dipped in Belgian chocolate, and made by a Le Cordon Bleu trained chef that was on Cupcake Wars. That is still WAY over priced in my book. And guess what?! By lunch time, the deal had SOLD OUT. Crazy.

So folks, that means that MY Cake balls (Breezy's bites) are a SMASHING deal. And that I should charge more. My non-gluten free, Nestle chocolate dipped, BYU trained chef cake balls are selling for $5 a dozen. But maybe I should go up to $10 for Portland seeing as a normal dozen can go for $18. That means $10 is still a DEAL. If you'd like to order, please send me an email with your flavor choices and quantity, and I will make sure to deliver some quality cake balls made with love. I am also now selling cookie dough truffles and Oreo truffles. Please inquire for pricing if interested. Cash preferred.

Now to get a Breezy's Bites web site up and running..... :)

101 Cake Balls

My newest cookbook. I have not experimented with it yet, but plan on doing so this week!

All I've been posting about lately is the move, so I interrupt the countless moving posts that you are all sick of reading about to blog about CAKE BALLS.

You know what would be my dream job? Baking and decorating in the kitchen all day long. But not in a professional bakery because instead of "lalalala, make some frosting; lalala, decorate a cake; lalalala, let's try out a new recipe", it would be, "THERE ARE 15 CUSTOMERS STILL WAITING FOR THEIR CUPCAKES AND YOU RUINED THIS BATCH OF FROSTING AND SPEED THINGS UP WOMAN!!" and basically, that would not be my dream job anymore.

I still have dreams of someday setting up my own bakery and selling all things wonderful. With a specialty in cake balls. You know, those wonderful little bite size pieces of cake and frosting harmoniously combined and dipped in chocolate?!?! Freaking awesome.

Sweet Tooth Fairy sells these little treats for A BUCK A PIECE! Which is way overpriced. They are not that good. Not compared to my cake balls. Mine are bigger, better, and half the price. The only problem? I don't really sell them. But I'd like to. "Breezy's Bites" sold at "Sweet Escape". Don't steal those names, I'll kill you.

So here's the goal: Move to Portland where cake balls aren't as well known (I feel like they are a big Utah thing?). Bring a batch of cake balls to a ward or school function. Everyone devours said cake balls and HAS to know who brought them. At which point, I chime in and say, "oh yeah, that was me. I make them. I can sell them to you for a steal of a deal for you next __________ (fill in the blank. Possible options: Birthday party, bridal shower, baby shower, women's luncheon, etc.) And BAM. I'm in business. And selling cake balls like hot cakes. And making money. And living out my dream job. Until I'm shut down for not having a business license or food handler's permit, or permission to sell baked products from my home. BLARG. But it's a start, right? We'll see how that dream plays out. Until then, there's always plasma to earn money. :)

September

Man, time keeps flying by and our move date gets closer and closer.

Update on our Portland move: We are scheduled to move Wednesday September 21st at 6:00 PM, drive to Jerome, spend the night, drive the remaining 8 hours on Thursday September 22nd and check in to our new home at STAR CREST MANOR in Portland around 3-4 PM. That's fine, everything is finalized with the apartment. But boy, was it drama. I guess this management group has had a hard time with students in the past and wanted us to pay a huge deposit and THREE MONTHS rent in advance. Which I was definitely not happy about. Shouldn't the background check, rental history check, and credit check verify that we are responsible adults that are the ideal tenants and therefore they should be begging us to live there?! I told them that was unreasonable that they should discriminate against us but would be willing to compromise with a lower deposit and first and last month's rent in advance, to which they agreed. Man, I don't remember it being so hard to get an apartment, but this whole deal has been quite the experience.

This means we have 2 weeks and 2 days left in good old Utah and we plan on living it up. Today we went bowling in the good old Jack family Labor Day tradition and I am sorry to announce that I failed miserably. Actually, my last frame I started with a STRIKE, but then proceeded with 2 gutter balls, sealing my fate in last place. If I would have hit ONE single pin after that strike, I would have beat Dustin. But nope, fail. Dustin was able to go fishing with his dad and brother and the other men in the family (uncle, cousin, brother in law) this morning and they had a great time catching stinky fish. We ended the night with a Jack family BBQ complete with homemade Butterfinger ice cream (yum!), and a trip to the Creers to visit for a little bit.

The packing process is coming along. I feel like we have SO MUCH STUFF that just needs to get packed, but then we have 2 weeks left so I don't want to pack up everything and not be able to use it all... Hmm..... good thing I'll have a couple of days before we move that I will be done with StoresOnline and focusing on getting everything together.

I look forward to the time I'll have in Portland while I'm job searching and will be able to set up the apartment, blog, recipe blog, and work on some projects! It will be nice to relax a little bit. Because job searching is so relaxing. Hahahaha.

Good times to come in September!