Junior Mint Cake Recipe

Quite possibly, the most amazing and delicious cake that you will ever eat, the Junior Mint cake was one of my favs growing up.  My mom used to make it for my birthday and I'd say that in my first 20 years of life, this cake celebrated no less than 12 with me!  It's so easy to make, you could be enjoying on within the hour.

Ingredients:
1 chocolate cake mix (+ related things: eggs, water, oil)
1 tub of chocolate frosting
1 box of Junior Mints candies

Instructions:
1. Prepare cake mix per box instructions.  Bake it!
2. Put chocolate frosting and Junior Mints in a mixing bowl.
3. Mix 'em together with the mixer for a minute or two.
4. Ice cooled cake.
5. Put in fridge for a bit.
6. Serve cold and enjoy!!!

(7. Dust off the tenny's 'cause you might have to do a bit more exercising so you can eat a second piece. :)

Inspire

via [weheartit.com]

Getting Ready for School to Start!

School starts for the 2011 school year on Monday, Feb. 21st at Centro Escolar LifeLink and I'm really excited!

Over the last week that we've been back in Nicaragua, I've enjoyed catching up with our students and their families as they stop by the base. Everyone is looking forward to the beginning of the school year!

While Wayne has been busy with finishing the Primary School Building, I've been lesson planning, completing registrations and getting all the admin stuff squared away. But yesterday was the most exciting day yet!

Elisa and I got together for some brainstorming and then headed to the bookstore where we purchased our Preschool curriculum for this year! After some feedback from our teachers last year, we felt that changing our curriculum might be a good move for us, so we started researching our options in November. After seeing what the market had to offer and speaking to teachers and Directors of other private schools here in Nica and in the States, we found the perfect curriculum for us! Our students are going to benefit so greatly from this quality platform for learning!

We've also selected our First Grade curriculum and found a bookstore willing to give us an amazing deal on it!

God is blessing our planning and we know that with Him on our side, great things are on the horizon!

Quote Inspiration

"The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next."

--Abraham Lincoln

Saw this on a friend's fb page and immediately loved it. Great words to kick off the 2011 school year at Centro Escolar LifeLink.

Feliz Na

In praise of fancy photo cards

Shutterfly has really stepped up their game this year with beautiful, new card designs to meet all your holiday needs. While browsing their new catalog, I could not help but notice the great use of color and clean design.

Classic looks and colors, right along side non-traditional color palettes with modern images. The perfect frame for your Christmas photo.

I don't know about your family, but we spend several hours each year walking around, posing, smiling, the whole nine -- and a few years we've had to go back out a second night/day to get the perfect shot! I love to have already decided on a card so that I can match our clothes and accessories.

They're also carrying the cutest, personalized gift tags! I'm not always the most matchy of persons, but I love the idea of wrapping everything in plain, jewel tone colored papers with fancy, personalized tags.

And if you're still shopping for gifts -- don't miss their photo gifts, including huge canvas prints and make-your-own calendars.

Here's some of my favorites!

Cards I love

Gifts that rock

Fun stationary items

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

-- Melody Beattie