Hello again.

Last fall I gave my life a mini personal evaluation. I had just finished a summer of wedding photography, jenny cookies orders, teaching cookie classes, two night a week shifts at Pottery Barn, and balancing two kids, a husband, and a house that could probably stand to be a little more organized. Even though I know I'm the kind of person who thrives with a full to-do list, I realized somethings gotta give.

After 7 years at Pottery Barn I had to say goodbye to my 40% discount. It hurt...more than you know. I'm sure it was ridiculous to the general public why I'd worked there for so long when it was obvious I couldn't fit one more piece of furniture into my house. Plus my husband may have disowned me if I hid one more Pottery Barn shopping bag in our garage until he left for work the next morning.

I turned down a lot of family photo sessions and passed on a few wedding photography jobs for the upcoming summer. I felt like my dessert business was keeping me super busy and I didn't know where it would be by the following summer.

God always has a plan, even when you don't know it. Right into my lap fell a huge opportunity to work with Tori on her show and her book. RIGHT. INTO. MY. LAP. I knew I was passionate about parties and creative desserts, but the experience I had working with T&D really opened the doors and my eyes to what I was capable of and how to do it.

I am always looking at real estate, vacant buildings and retail spaces mainly out of curiousity but also sometimes daydreaming and imagining an adorable bakery/gift shop where people could come drink coffee and eat cupcakes. Last January I drove past a location I thought looked not only incredible, but perfect for what I had pictured. I called the realtor to get some info and he asked if I wanted to look at the building. It was the week of Ally's birthday party so knowing my crazy schedule the week of one of my kid's birthdays, a tour was not going to happen. I told him I'd get back to him in a week or two.

Then Tori called and I spent five months going back and forth to LA working with her. Finally, the show was done taping, we'd finished the book, all the kids birthday's had passed, and I was home for good. On an euphoric high from the amazing experience I had been presented, Dan and I both were positive we needed a shop to house all this energy, potential and opportunity that had come my way. And I knew just the right location. Lucky for me, it was still vacant.

From May to August we went back and forth with the owner. Yes, no, their money, our money, lease equipment, purchase equipment, is this the right decision, is this the right time? It felt like we were on a rollercoaster. One minute we had come to a decision and were signing the lease, the next minute it wasn't the right timing. We both prayed for the answer, a sign, something! An audible voice would have been really helpful, but of course, we didn't hear any answer. Dan started feeling like the timing wasn't right. He's spent the last few years working on his mortgage business, building a reputation, forming a team, and it's finally almost where he wants it should be. He felt if he had a couple more months and a few more systems in place, his business could be in the perfect spot and he'd be able to focus on our business together, without having to juggle both. The shop would cost a substantial amount of money and we wanted to be extremely cautious going into something long term in one of the worst financial times. So we put the shop on hold. The owners so graciously took the building off the market and I'd imagine they're eagerly awaiting a phone call from us, telling them we are ready.

Naturally, I was totally bummed. It's kind of like when you go look at a new house or drive a new car at the dealership, it's a complete let down when you drive home in your old car or the house doesn't work out. I had mentally been setting up shop, not only decorating it in my head, but filling my garage with things I'd need and use for the business. Yes, if you saw my garage you'd think I was a hoarder.

Getting back to God's plan. Last spring The Everett Clinic had contacted me about ordering a significant amount of cake pops for their annual company picnic. Of course, I thought by August I'd be whipping out the 1700 cake pops alongside my crew of jenny cookies employees. Didn't quite happen that way. Instead we put the shop on hold, decided to save more and re-evaluate the situation in a few months, and I found myself pumping out the cake pops in my home kitchen, alongside a good friend and my only jenny cookies employee, Dan.

I had decided I was sending Ally to the Marysville Co-op for kindergarten in the fall. Never feeling 100% confident with this decision, I interpreted it as maybe I was just sad she was heading off to kindergarten. The week of the big order I woke up one morning super early 5am (early for me!) thinking about her school. I didn't feel settled about it. It didn't feel right. Something told me I should revisit the thought of Northshore Christian Academy. Later I realized it wasn't something but somebody talking to me. I had asked for an audible voice, maybe not to answer the school question, but you've heard of unanswered prayers right??) I got on my iPad and started researching Northshore. I emailed the director and made an appointment to tour the school. When Dan woke up I told him I wanted to go see the school and asked what he thought. The tuition would be substantially more than her little preschool the past two years and then thinking of TWO kids in private school gave me a gut ache. Dan replied with the most obvious answer. He said he puts thousands of dollars a year into his business, why wouldn't he put that into his child? DUH. Of course. We toured the school. I hate to use the word "sold" when I describe the visit because it makes it seem like the school was trying to sell us something. It wasn't. It was the teachers and the staff, the church, the principal praying with us, and the fact that Ally would learn about Jesus not only at home and at church, but at school as well.

We signed her up. That night I went home to finish the last of my gigantic order. As I was rolling cake ball after cake ball I started thinking since we had put our shop on hold that I should splurge this order and go on a Hawaiian vacation or do something really fun with the money I was making. Hmmmm...what would I want to buy??? Where should we go?? Then it dawned on me. Hello Jenny. Jesus had this whole plan waaaaay back in the spring when the order had originally been placed. That this order wouldn't be done in a bakery, or done to buy equipment for a bakery, this order would provide Ally an entire year's school tuition.

Jesus had a plan. And has one. I quit my silly little Pottery Barn gig, gave up photography business and found myself working side by side with a celebrity that I not only really liked, but doing something I was totally passionate about. Did Jesus plan the Tori Spelling thing? Hmmmm... sounds silly, but maybe? Jesus says "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and future." I'll have to ask him.

Meanwhile the decision to hold off on our shop was a blessing in disguise. I am booked solid with weddings, parties and events, pointing out to me that a shop is not needed to fill my calendar. I'm able to spend the days with my kids, what I had always set out to do, and do jenny cookies stuff at night and on the weekends. A shop is in our future, just not a grand opening in the next couple of months like we had originally planned. God's timing isn't always our timing.

I guess this post was meant to explain where my blog and I have been for the last 6+ months! Busy! Ally started at Northshore and after only 2 weeks of school, it's been one of the best decisions we've ever made.

And come on, could that plaid uniform GET any cuter?