Barry

Just a short post...but here are a couple pictures of Barry post-painting. He received a major haircut because we found out that paint will not come off of fur...no matter how hard you scrub!


So he may look somewhat normal in these photos, but if you look at his tail, you'll notice it looks really, really skinny...kind of like a rat tail :)

They shaved him very close...that's why he looks 10 pounds lighter and very shiny! Well, at least this takes care of his shedding problem...for a couple months at least!

Annual Girls' Night!

This weekend was a lot of fun. The "Berg" girls (Mom, Crystal, Sara, Amanda and I) went to Des Moines to go out for dinner and a show.

This is an annual tradition (thanks to Mom) to get everyone together (no husbands or kids) and just enjoy each others company and see an awesome Broadway musical. This year we got to see Mamma Mia, and it was fantastic! The music just puts a smile on your face. It's always fun to bond with "the girls" and its nice to just hang out and catch up.

Brad and I also managed to paint the whole foundation with water sealer, with not one, but two, coats! whew whew! We wouldn't have been able to accomplish this feat without help from my sister Sara, my father-in-law Rod, and our faithful friend, Ben Boll! (thanks Ben!!!) Our lab Barry also helped...by rolling around in the grass (which had wet paint on it) and he got dubbed, "warrior Barry" with his Braveheart stripe down his face. Problem is, sealer doesn't seem to come off of fur. So on Sunday we had to go to Petco and give him a MAJOR haircut...tail and all. I'll post a picture of that later this week :)

New at The Chocolate Season, Custom Chocolates are now on-line and please give any input on this new service or if you have any ideas you'd like to see at The Chocolate Season. Hope to get new product pictures up, if you have any favorites you'd love to see up, just give me a shout!

Have a wonderful week and I'll be back later this week to update a picture of Barry....(I know you're all waiting in suspense!)

A Catering Crusade

Well, this weekend was a busy one (as usual!) I received the opportunity to cater a parents' fundraising party as well as an alumni reunion for Campus Crusade! The events took place on Friday and Saturday, so I spent a good chunk of my time grocery shopping, baking and presenting a delicious assortment of food for a wonderful organization.

I was so thrilled to be a part of this event because the staff of Crusade are good friends and mentors of mine and also because I was excited to see friends from college. I became a part of Crusade while at UNO and the friends, community, support and learning opportunities there are endless. Christians are able to have a time to worship God, hear an uplifting message, and go to neat conferences like the Denver Christmas Conference (where I happened to get proposed to...in front of thousands of college students...on stage!)

The really fun part of both events was the postive response I got from those who attended. The desserts and appetizers were a big hit, and I was very grateful for the time to network and provide this service to those who needed it!

This weekend was also spent getting things ready for some new house projects. Brad has decided to tackle a couple big things, like renovating the kitchen with a brighter, yet calmer, color, new baseboards, chair railing and wainscoting! I'm so proud of his "can-do" handyman attitude! We also took off the old storm windows on the front of the house (with the help of father-in-law Rod) and started the agonizing process of painting thick, gooey sealer over the brick foundation so we can proceed with landscaping. Uggggg. Sealer. That will take awhile. I'll post pictures of the before and after shots, so look forward to that!

This week at The Chocolate Season: new pictures of cookies, cheesecake and Oreo mudballs, as well as details about the new personalized chocolate corporate logo molds! I hope you all have a wonderful and very productive week, and if you have any home improvement words of wisdom or funny stories, I'd love to hear them!

Home to Algona…

Well, this last weekend Brad, Sara and I drove back home to Algona, IA to celebrate Easter with the family. Actually, we did more than just celebrate Jesus’ life and resurrection, hide Easter eggs in the living room and hang out….we got to paint. A whole house. My parents’ house to be exact. Surprisingly, it went by pretty fast, from 8 am to 6 pm, we inhaled the aroma of paint fumes and donut holes…and it was nice.


That’s something families don’t get to do a lot of nowadays. A family project, completing a task together. Sure, it’s a hassle and lots of work, and I’m still sore, but it was fun seeing all of us (amanda, brad, sara, mom, dad, mike, crystal, me, and my brad) all work towards a common goal. If you are in need of some reconnection, then I would definiatley recommend finding some “thing” that you could all do together…plant a garden, paint, spring clean, move stuff….whatever! :)

After the fun weekend spent with my fabulous family, we came home to a (still) un-packed home and went straight to work on truffles for GALA, a fundraiser/prom for adults to support the local Catholic school system. I was very excited to be a part of this fundraiser in my home town and I even themed the truffles to their colors (pink, gold, purple) and was very pleased with the outcome!

So, hope you all had a wonderful Easter, and take a look around at the new truffle and PB ball pictures. Also look forward to the newest item to be offered in the “What’s New” section on the homepage in a week….personalized chocolate corporate logo molds! I’m so excited to offer this service to future customers! (they are so neat!)

PS- i’m always interested in any comments, and I still would love any input on the next product picture!

a very “moving” week

Well, this is the first official post on The Chocolate Season blog! How exciting! I hope this blog will let you know a little bit about me and what’s going on in my life concerning friends, family, and of course, the tasteful happenings of The Chocolate Season!

The last couple weeks have been full of moving. My husband Brad and I bought an old school house just a couple miles north of Omaha. It has tons of character and orginal wood floors and of course, a massive kitchen! (whew whew!)

Luckily the Lord blessed us with wonderful friends, and a few of them (Matt, Clarissa, Jimmy, Amanda and Kody) were all there to help us pack up and move. My family, Sara, Rod and Mary, were also along for the ride, with Rod uncovering his secret identity as “super-human strength guy.” I mean, all these guys were just moving huge items like our king size bed as if it were an inflatable mattrees!

And the gals, Sara, Clarissa and Amanda packed up my whole house in a matter of minutes..(ok, not that fast…but they were good…real good) and Mary came and helped unpack a majority of the kitchen and dishes!

So a big thanks to everyone who helped us start the newest chapter of our life! As for The Chocolate Season, I’ve had some fun doing a bunch of truffle orders, and it seems like the most popular items so far have been the cheesecake brownies and rocky road popcorn! Look forward to the newest item picture update next week: More truffle pictures and PB Balls….mmmmm……

If you have any requests for the next picture update, let me know! That will be the next thing I make to to show on the web site!