Tabor College Homecoming!

Alumni.

I've always connected that word to older people. Gray-haired grandparents coming back to visit their alma mater.

Well, this weekend was my first homecoming as part of the alumni crowd and no longer a student. The big 1. First year back.

It was a little strange to start off with, because it really hasn't been a year since graduation. It hasn't even been a half year. It has been a whole 4 months and 3 weeks since I walked across that stage, and so I just didn't feel very far removed. Especially because I still have friends there. And I've been back for weekend visits.

That being said - I had a blast! It was great to catch up with Tabor friends, from my class and others. And for some reason, Hillsboro still feels like home more than Fresno or Kansas City at this point in my life.

Here are some pictures of the football game and the young alumni reunion!

Saturday evening we went to see the musical Oliver. It was really good. I'll be honest and say it's not my favorite musical in the world (too depressing) but everyone did a really good job. The costuming and make-up was excellent, and a HUGE shout-out to the pit for doing a great job with the music. 

Maybe I'll retire in Hillsboro...

Fall is here! And so Are Pumpkin Spice Latte...Cupcakes!

So I KNOW I always post about cupcakes...so brace yourself for one more post on cupcakes. I had a staff meeting this past week, and I had signed up to bring a dessert. Being the October staff meeting, I wanted to bring something seasonally appropriate and homemade. I came across this blog post on made-from-scratch pumpkin spice latte cupcakes. They sounded so good, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make them. I did, and they turned out wonderful! They are chocolate-free, so Eric can eat them, and definitely very delicious.

For all of you interested, heres the recipe:

My life is filled with cupcakes

So after the amazing twin gave me some neon food coloring, I couldn't wait to try it out. So I whipped up a batch of half chocolate (for me, of course) and half funfetti (for the husband) cupcakes to decorate. Eric had agreed to help, but he only decorated one and left to watch football. (That's what I get for trying this project on a weekend.)

Soon thereafter, Eric informed me that he had signed "us" up to make cupcakes for a bake sale for a KU kids program. So, with the previous cupcakes not even cold in their graves (or....should I say not yet digested) we set out to make even more cupcakes. This time, the wonderful husband helped out a lot. He helped bake AND decorate half of them. What a guy. And they turned out so well! I was almost late to work the morning we dropped them off because the ladies who were running it could not stop talking about how cute they looked. Mission: accomplished.

PS. These cool-looking flower cupcakes are super easy. You cut mini marshmallows in half diagonally and put them in colored sugar (easily made the night before by putting a drop or two of food coloring in a small plastic bag or container of sugar and mixing it up. Then let it sit out overnight to dry.) The sugar only sticks to the sticky cut ends of the marshmallows, and viola! - you place the marshmallow petals on a freshly-frosted cupcake. We mixed it up a bit by making big and small flowers and using sprinkles to decorate. This is a really impressive yet easy project to whip out to show you know your way around the kitchen. Trust me. And who doesn't like cupcakes!?!