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Friday, December 8, 2017

Soft Gingerbread Cookies (Vegan-style)

I love reading, but mainly Kindle books which makes me unusual among other readers (at least the impression I get from my book club is that they prefer real books). For this past month's book, we read Washington's Spies. I thought it sounded interesting since I enjoy history, but for some reason this book fell flat with me. But, as usual, I gave it a try and finished it in time for our book club meeting.

This month I hosted book club at my house. When I host, I like to cook and bake. It's just part of hosting, in my opinion. One of our regulars follows a vegan diet which proves to be slightly challenging when I menu plan. But luckily I was able to come up with a couple options that were pretty tasty.

For a sweet treat, I baked soft gingerbread cookies. I have made them before, but not a vegan version, so I was a little nervous about how they would turn out. They came out great! Maybe a little too good because I can't stop eating them!

To make them vegan, I substitute coconut oil for the butter and a flax seed mixture for the egg. Easy as pie...well, cookies. Here's the original recipe if you want it: One Little Project.


Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Dressember 2017

Back in 2015, I was introduced to Dressember by my friend Ciara. Dressember is a campaign that challenges participants to wear a dress every day for the month of December to raise awareness for human trafficking and sex slavery. The last time I participated I didn't participate in the official Dressember by creating a page through their site to raise money, but instead encouraged my friends and family to donate to Project Rescue which also works to help victims of sex slavery.

This year I decided to participate fully in Dressember and created a page where family and friends could donate. It's a unique way to highlight something that is so prevalent and needs to be stopped. I hope my small efforts will impact lives around the world.




Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Design: Christmas Party

We have now been at this base for a whole year. Man, has it gone by fast! I got plugged in with the Spouses' Club right away by attending the Christmas party. It was so much fun and I'm looking forward to this year's event.


Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Design: Cookie Drive

Do you remember last year when I shared about an event called Cookie Crunch? Well, it's that time of year again! Our current base calls it "Shower (Base) with Cookies!" We are in the process of gathering volunteers to help with the loading, unloading and packaging of the thousands of cookies that the town collects. It's such a fun cause! Last year we had just arrived when they were doing this event so I did not volunteer, but I am hoping to help out this year.


Friday, November 10, 2017

Design: Pumpkin Spice Bunco

I will be hosting Bunco again this month. I immediately thought of Pumpkin Spice as a theme. If you happen to be a fan of Brant Hansen, you may agree that pumpkin spice is all hype and that no one actually likes it--Contrived scarcity and fear of missing out. I will admit that it's not something that I would want to consume all year round, but a little bit around this time of year is enough for me. I've enjoyed a few pumpkin spice lattes and such.

Hosting will also give me a reason to make Upside Down Pumpkin Cake! I was introduced to this dish back when we lived in Ohio. I attended a work party and my boss' boss brought it. It is incredibility delicious and moist. Plus it's super easy to make. If does use a boxed cake mix. If you've been following me so a while you'll know I'm not a huge fan of boxed cake mixes. The last couple of times I've made this dish I was able to find mixes that don't have a lot of junk in them. Hopefully I'll have that same luck again.



Monday, October 23, 2017

Design: Oktoberfest Bunco extras

Oktoberfest Bunco was a big hit! We enjoyed our German dishes of potato salad, schnitzel, apple strudel and more. Beer flights were consumed. Photos taken and, of course, Bunco played. Sadly I did not walk away with any of the amazing prizes, but it was fun nonetheless.

Because I love when pieces from an event match, I offered to create score cards and such to have that night. I wanted to share them with you!

Score cards. We played two games, but this could be expanded for more game play.

These are the rules we followed. I've seen different variations from club to club.

We could have just used note pads, but I thought this would be a nice added touch.

I cannot take credit for this design. The social chair found one similar and asked if I could recreate it. I changed it up just slightly so there would be a little contrast with fonts. The original had all the wording in the Oktoberfest-style font.

Friday, October 20, 2017

Logo work: British Cupcakes & Sweet Tea

One aspect that I love about being a military spouse and family is the support from fellow military spouses! There are so many ways to connect to one another, ask questions and offer tips or advice. Recently I was on the Facebook group for the spouses of our base and one lady was asking for help or advice for her new cupcake business. I offered to create her logo in exchange for cupcakes and she was happy to have my assistance.

This logo required a little more creativity on my end because the only request she had was that the logo be in a circle. I did a few Google image searches to see what has been done and to gather ideas. I gave her a couple before we decided on the final product.


And now all I want to eat is cupcakes. So excited!