Lawyerboysbakergirl

My Lawyerboy husband became a One L in the fall of 2008. Before that, we lived in Minot, North Dakota. We met in Bottineau, North Dakota in January of 2000 when we were both attending junior college. I played volleyball and basketball and Lawyerboy played hockey. We moved to Minot to continue our education. After he graduated with a sociology degree, he worked at Minot State University for the Rural Crime and Justice Center while continuing to pursue his masters in criminal justice. I got a bachelors in elementary education in 2003. That fall, an elementary teaching position in my hometown of 100 people became available and I happily accepted! Lawyerboy and I married in the summer of 2005. I continued to drive the 50 miles to work and Lawyerboy continued his thing. I was loving teaching in my hometown and truly enjoyed every single moment of it! Lawyerboy on the other hand, was not as satisfied with his career. He completed his masters in criminal justice. One of the very first conversations we had back in his dorm room at our junior college was about what we wanted to be. As he talked, I asked if he would be interested in being a lawyer and he said, “Yeah. Maybe.” Each year after we were married, I ask him if he wanted to take the LSAT, the test one needs to take to apply to law school. He would always reply with, “Are you ready to leave your school?” Of course I wasn’t. I loved my job. However, there was only one law school in North Dakota and it was a few hours from Minot.

Lawyerboy and I had always talked about how if we were going to move, we would go out-of-state and start a new adventure together. In the Fall of 2007, we asked each other the same questions and gave the same answers. This time though, I added, “Take the LSAT. If you get a score that gets you accepted somewhere, it is meant to be.”

We found out he got into a couple of schools in April 2008. I have never felt more elated and sad at once. It was hard to say good-bye to not only my teaching job, but my hometown with the most supportive people and wonderful students. It was a great place to start my teaching career and I smile every time I think of it.

Lawyerboy and I made the decision to move to the Twin Cities so he could attend Hamline Law. We had no place to live and it was hard to find a place when we lived eight hours away! We drove down once in the summer to look at places because we thought we wanted to buy. We put an offer on a place, but it was a short sale and the process went on and on. Luckily, my cousin Steph and her husband Mike offered for us to live with them. We were with them from the middle of August to the 27th of September. They offered for us to stay as long as we needed to. Steph loves having people around. As much as I love them, I don’t care to stay, let alone live with other people. I like my space, my alone time, and I needed my own kitchen! We pulled out of our short sale and moved into an apartment near Hamline that Jeff, a fellow One L, and his wife Amanda lived in.

My brother, sister Micky, dad, and uncle filled my dad’s horse trailer with all our furniture from our apartment back in Minot that my mom and sister Micky had finished packing up for us while we lived in the Cities. Micky and my dad drove it down here and helped us move in. Were are so thankful to all of them for helping us to get into a space that was ours.

I was so excited to put away all my kitchen supplies so I could start cooking, and even more importantly bake! However, that was not what life had in store for me. For the next year and a half, I would wake up to my phone ringing at 6:00 AM to be asked to sub. I was the only income, so after I would teach in a different school or grade level every day, I would come home to change and eat a bowl of cereal before heading to work at SuperTarget for six to seven hours. I’d get home around midnight and do it all again. On weekends, I would work both days at Target. Lawyerboy studied and went to class. I kept a journal during that time. I will write more later on what it is like being married to a One L and how it affected relationships with family and friends. Plus, what it was like getting lost in a new city and being exposed to different cultures. Learning about cultures has been one of the best experiences!

For now, let’s fast forward to present day. We got here, here being St. Paul, Minnesota in August of 2008. It is now March of 2013. Lawyerboy graduated in 2011 and is a lawyer! He works at Johnson Law Firm in Wayzata. It is a boutique estate planning firm. I am still substitute teaching in St. Paul, but it is just for one school and not all over the Cities! I no longer work at Target. We have been on a lot of trips and taking in what the city has to offer now that we have a little more time and a little bit of an income! I have more free time to bake and I have been documenting my baking and some cooking with pictures for a while now. I will post pictures of those goodies and the recipes. Of course there will always be a little story to go with it! So let’s get this baking/cooking party started shall we? Check back to see more Slices of My Life and recipes!

Hi! Thanks for checking out, or stumbling across, Brenda’s Baking Binder. I have been thinking about starting a blog for a long time, but never took the plunge. I tend to be a private person and don’t even have Facebook. If you think that it is weird that I will write about myself on a blog and not Facebook, you may be right. It took years for me to actually be comfortable enough to start this so I am not going to apologize or explain why I have one and not the other. I want to be able to write about some things that happened in my life, but mostly to share all the pictures I take of my baked goods and the wonderful recipes I have. Many of my recipes come from the best baker I know, my mom. She learned to bake from her aunts. I also have recipes from my paternal grandma. Of course I have gotten a lot from recipe books and on-line. Some I keep exactly as written and some I tweak to mine and my husband’s preferences. That is one of my thins about baking, but more so cooking… you can make it your own by adding this or that.

When I was in fourth grade, I remember my piano teacher asking me at church if I preferred to cook or bake? I remember thinking to myself, “Difference? Who cares? They both allow you to be in the kitchen!” I said baking because I had heard my mom tell people she preferred to bake, so I thought that was the correct answer. Turns out, for me, it is. I truly could spend the whole day in the kitchen making yummy treats.

I hope to share a little slice of my life with you. I am not an expert baker. Nor am I an expert on fitness, relationships, or the law. However, these are all important things/people in my life. I will give you insights on what I do to stay fit (including hunting and shopping stories), how my husband and I survived his first year of being a ‘One L’, maybe some baking tips from my mom, lessons I’ve learned from my family, friends, and students.

I will posts lots of great bakes, some cooking dishes, drink recipes and maybe more!