Job Descriptions. Ugh.

Why can't I find a job? It's not because I don't look. Believe me, I do. It's not because I don't send out my resume and cover letters. Believe me, I do. It's not because I haven't read three different books on how to create the perfect resume and cover letter. Because I have. And I've even met with a career counselor and completely reconfigured my resume. Seriously... I just want a job!

I'm so sick of reading job descriptions. They're all basically the same. Everyone wants someone with a bachelor's degree. Got it. If you've got the degree, they'd also like you to be proficient in Microsoft Office Suite. Still got it. And if you're proficient in that, please also have great communication skills. Done. On top of that, please also be able to work independently but not so independently that you can't work well in groups. Still good. So why can't I find employment? Based on the job descriptions, I should be hired by now.

But I'm still unemployed. Non-profit organizations have passed on hiring me, major corporations haven't taken a second look, companies that have 100+ apparent open positions aren't interested either. What is so wrong with hiring a 27-year-old, educated, personable, organized, female? Seriously. Just give me a chance.

New Addition

On Thursday, July 23rd, precious little Ellen Grace joined the family! She is quite possibly the cutest newborn I have ever seen (she's pretty much tied with her big brother, Josh, in the cute category). Right now she really just eats, sleeps, pees, and poops... nothing over the top exciting. One thing she has going for her is that she doesn't cry that much (knock on wood for her parents that she keeps this up). And she is such a little peanut! Just tiny.

Oh, she is going to be one gorgeous girl when she grows up. So there's your warning Dad and Josh, you'll have to keep your eye on her. ;)

Welcome to the family Ellie!!

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

The chocolate chip cupcakes are good! (So far no one else has tried them, but I've had two, so they can't be all that bad.) They are super rich, even with all of the chocolate chips at the bottom. I skipped the homemade chocolate frosting and just used purchased chocolate frosting. I didn't notice a difference and I'm pretty sure no one else will. The cupcakes are just so good!

After this recipe, I've officially decided it really would be nice if I had a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Before I only thought that it would nice to indulge myself with purchasing one. Now I'm realizing it might be becoming a necessity. Apparently Martha doesn't realize that not everyone has one. It's really hard to add the sugar in a steady stream when you are trying to keep the mixer that's in your right hand from throwing butter everywhere while the bowl in your left hand with the sugar in it keeps bumping into the mixer. Tricky business.

And beating the egg whites into stiff peaks didn't go so well. I didn't beat them too much, stiff peaks were formed. But as I was pouring them into the bowl with the batter, I noticed that there were still some egg whites that hadn't been sufficiently whipped up in the bottom of the egg bowl. I'm not sure what happened there. I figured that since a majority of the egg whites were in the form of stiff peaks, the still runny egg whites at the bottom should be fine. The cupcakes were going to be baked, so it's not like anyone would notice.

Here is my one complaint so far... three recipes in. In the first recipe (Cornmeal & Blackberry) I made, Martha commented that you should bake the cupcakes at 375 so that the berries don't sink to the bottom. Of which, the berries didn't sink to the bottom. Then I made two more recipes (Blueberry & Cream, followed by Chocolate Chip) of which the cupcakes are baked at 350. In both of those recipes, the blueberries and chocolate chips sank to the bottom. Why aren't they baked at 375? Why Martha? And... coating the chocolate chips in cake flour did not prevent them from sinking to the bottom.

I just love cupcakes!!

Running Clinic

So last night was the first night of my TC 10 mile running clinic. I was a bit nervous about the whole idea of a running clinic and a running group. I'm not a fast runner, I'm the first to admit that. I lace up my shoes, hit the pavement, and just go at my own pace. So I was hesitant to sign up for the clinic because I figured that everyone else would already be a running guru and would be fast... then there would be me bringing up the rear of the pack.

Tracy found the running clinic at the Running Room and said she thought it would good for us. We would be "guaranteed" entry into the TC 10 mile race (in case we didn't get in via the lottery). That way we wouldn't have to risk running the race by ourselves should one of us not win the lottery. Side note... we both won the lottery!! Plus it would be helpful to learn more about running and training. And if we were both the slow people there, at least we could be slow together.

As it turns out, we're the fast people! There were 3 or 4 guys who were faster than us, then there was us. We couldn't even believe it... we were the leaders of the pack! What were the odds? First, we both got in the race via the lottery. Second, we were the fast kids in the running clinic. This race just might not be as bad as we thought. And, we're ahead of the "curve" because we can already run 6+ miles.

When we first got to the clinic, I sat next to one lady who has never run before. Literally, she has never laced up her shoes and gone running before the group run last night. That's impressive that she decided to tackle a 10 mile race as her first race. I told my mom last night that it would be like her deciding to run the race with me and my mom just started laughing because has zero intentions of ever running a race.

So... all in all, the running clinic has promise. I can't wait for next week!

Blueberry Cream Cupcakes

I tried out my second recipe the other night, this time it was Blueberry Cream Cupcakes. It's kind of a stretch to call these "cupcakes". They're more like muffins but I guess once you put the cream topping on top, they're more cupcake-esque. Two issues that came up: no sifter and no stand mixer. The recipe called for "sifted" cake flour. Sorry Martha, but no sifter for me so I tried to put as much air in the cake flour as possible without having a sifter. Even though I've only made two of the recipes, I'm already realizing that having a stand mixer would make the process so much easier. As of now, I guess the old hand held mixer will have to get the job done.

The cake batter pre-baking tasted super good, so I was hoping that meant good things for the finished product and it definitely did. My finished product final grade... YUM! (And that was even before I topped them with homemade whipped cream.) I do believe Tracy's husband, Aaron, also will agree with the final grade. He seemed to quite enjoy them when I brought them over to her place the other day. Once they were topped off with the homemade whipped cream, you could just tell that there was nothing low-fat about this creation. They were so rich and delicious. Martha sure knows how to make a mean blueberry cream muffin.

Hello!

Cupcakes. Running. Weight loss. Unemployment. What do all four of those things have in common? ME! I love cupcakes, I mean, I love cupcakes. And in order to eat those cupcakes, I need to do something to keep them off my hips, so I run. The running helps me keep the weight off (most of the time). I worked really hard to lose 30+ pounds and cupcakes are not going to be my demise. And I currently have lots of time to run because I'm unemployed. This is how all four fit into my life.

Oh Wow! A blog. I originally was going to start this to be like "Julie & Julia". I know, that's very copy cat of me. My friend Tracy recently gave me Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook for my birthday. So I thought, I should make a recipe a day and blog about it. Then I realized that that would be a lot of cupcakes and I clearly can't eat them all myself. No amount of running would help me if I ate that many cupcakes. So then it turned into a blog about cupcakes and running. By that point, I figured I might as well blog about two other topics that I know enough about - weight loss and unemployment. But really, why not create a blog?

As for cupcakes, I made my first recipe from the Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook. My first try was "Blackberry-Cornmeal Cupcakes". They were a hit! They were super easy to make. Martha said that I would get 16 out of the recipe, but I only got 15. She also said that they would taste best the day they were baked and I have to disagree with her. I think they tasted better the next day. In general, the first try was a success!

Thursday is the first day of my first running clinic. Oh boy! This is going to be interesting. Tracy (the above mentioned friend) and I are running the Twin Cities 10 mile race this year. 10 miles... that's far. So to keep us motivated, we signed up for a running clinic. The first meeting is this week, so we'll see what I've signed myself up for. Stay tuned!

That's all for now. I can't promise that I'll post something everyday. But I'll definitely try. Later!