Hey y'all! Sorry it's taken me so long to do part 2!! We had a family emergency that has caused me to be out of town for a week. Thankfully everyone is okay!
On to part 2!
So I told you in part one (Click here to read it) that we didn't get anywhere in the competition. Which was okay because... well we didn't have a clue what we were doing. We were just learning. A year past and it was July/August of 2013 and my friend and I decided we wanted to enter again this year. So we decided that we would do "Christmas at Grandma's Cabin". We were going to make a cabin with a front porch, chimney, outhouse, dogs, a pond and snow covered ground. We began working on the project... just the two of us. Two girls, a whole lot of sugar and a whole lot of work can call for a lot of giggling and laughing! That is for sure! I mean you just "have" to test the icing to make sure it's good whether anybody's gonna eat it or not. We worked and worked and WORKED on that thing 3 days a week if not more until the finial week it was everyday of the week! The thought "What it the roof falls in like it did last year?!" crossed our mind more than once! By the last day it was 7:00 and there was still a little work that needed to be done! So we put it in fuller than full gear and got it done! We were so proud of ourselves! "Good job Ole' Pal of mine!" She said patting me on the back. "Yep! Good job Ole' Pal of mine!" I agreed patting her on the back too. Now... If we can just get this up the mountain without anything going wrong it will be a great day! We got it up there with no trouble at all... other than I was nervous that something would go wrong. Well... everything was going great until it started raining. The gingerbread soaks in moister and can cause harm to the piece. Thankfully we got it inside without anything going wrong! I set it on the judging table and took one last look before I left the room. Because when you set you piece on the table that's it! You don't see it again until the next night around 5:30 and when you enter the room you aren't aloud to go see you piece you have to sit in your seat until you are either called to the top 10 or until around 8:30 when the ceremony is finally over. It's tough because you want to go see your piece and check on but... You can't. Anyway, I left the room and went to eat dinner and finish the rest of the night. The next day (the day of the judging) I do get nervous. I mean there's gonna be at least 450 people at the ceremony, plus local news and people from the New York Times. So that's kinda nerve racking for me. That night we sat through the kids division and they were all so cute! A lot of them dressed in little chefs hats (adorable!) and the little girls with their gingerbread men dresses. Then came time for the youth division... and my nerves start again. Oh dear! My friend was so excited! She was squeezing my arm pretty good too. Haha! :) Then the lady called "Top ten winner Y-608. The Happy Homeschooling Girls!" We got up, went to stand with our piece. The people came to where we were picked up out piece and took it up front to where the "Youth Top Ten Table" was. The rest of the ceremony proceeded... we didn't get in the top 3 that year but we were very happy with the outcome!
So on came June/July/August of 2014 and yet again we were trying to figure out what the plan was for the 2014 gingerbread entry. We deiced on doing a gingerbread tree that soon became known as "Nutmouse Tree House"! We couldn't wait to get started! My friend had gotten a horse since the last time we had entered so she was very busy with him but helped as much as she could! I worked on it everyday from morning until evening! Now some of you might be wondering "How in the world did she make a tree out of gingerbread?" The answer is rather simple.. Very slowly and steadily. Don't rush with anything when you're doing gingerbread. You'll regret it later! Soon I had a tree with two stories on the inside. A bedroom upstairs with a bed, nightstand with a candle on top and a picture of the most famous mouse of all hanging on the wall (Mickey of course!) Downstairs was a kitchen table with a bowl of apple-seeds on it, two chairs, a rug and a side table with a candle. Everything you put in the gingerbread creations has to be 100% edible. The outside of the tree had a tire swing, a pond, a garden, fall leaves, a garden, Grandma Nutmouse, Grandpa Nutmouse and Junior Nutmouse, Grandpa was busy gardening, Grandma had spent her day seed gathering and baking, and Junior was on his was to the pond to do some fishing. Can you imagine the sigh of relief that I heaved when we finally got it to the Grove Park Inn?! I left the room as usual when I set it on the table. I thought about that tree all night, and the whole next day until I got into that room and saw that everything was okay! I was just as nervous that night has I had been the past two years. My friend was right there beside me in her seat. "What's our number again?" She asked "Y-617" I replied a little shakily. They went through the child's division first (as always). Then came time for the youth division. They called out a few numbers including the number right before ours "Y-616". So I thought "Well, we did our best and that's all we could ask for." Then came "Top ten winner number Y-617. Team Happy Homeschooling Girls" Oh my word!! I couldn't believe it!! We went to the youth top ten table and waited for the top three winners to be announced in our category. They started with third place... I was for sure we wouldn't get in the top three! Just as that thought crossed my mind they called "Fist Place winner Y-617. Team Happy Homeschooling Girls." I couldn't believe it! We just won first place in a national commotion!! We went out to celebrate later with dinner.
This year 2016 will be my second year competing in the teen category. I competed last year too. I entered "Glamping VW style." It was my first year competing in the teen category and it's a whole new ball game! I didn't get in the top ten or place anything but it was fun anyway!! I can't wait to see how this years project turns out!! I can't tell you what I'm doing just yet but I will when I can!
I hope you have enjoyed my gingerbread story! Have a great week!
~C~
2014
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