He is everything to me.

One year later and I am more in love than I ever knew I could be. We will be celebrating our first anniversary this weekend. Yay!

This past year has been the most happy year of my life. My sweetheart is the greatest example of Christlike love. He serves without second thought. He tells me he loves me all the time, every day. He works incredibly hard for our future. He is kind to others. He is patient. He loves the Lord completely. He knows how to calm my mind and heart. He holds me when I just need to be held. He listens. He talks to me about anything and everything. He makes me laugh, or at least tries to, haha. He watches The Food Network with me. He cooks and bakes with me. He is creative and ambitious. He is full of faith. He is my gentleman. He is my favorite best friend. He is my everything.

Every new phase of my life has become so much more fulfilling. I am grateful to feel overwhelmed with love from my sweetheart. I am especially grateful that he is mine forever.

Thank you, sweetheart, for a most beautiful year. I love you.

My new obsession: Cupcakes!

A few months ago I was looking through some wedding gifts and I found Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Cookbook... thus began my obsession with cupcakes. I couldn't put the book down. I'd go to bed with book in arms, haha.

Just before Jon and I were married I took a cake decorating class and LOVED it! After we were married I found it difficult to find the time and energy to begin the hobby of cake decorating. Now that we've been married for a year I have learned to manage my time better I have found that I have a well-rounded husband who, I also discovered, LOVES to bake. It was a match baked in heaven. Cupcakes are so much fun to create and decorate. With such little cakes there is so much you can do!

The greatest satisfaction for me comes when I watch people eat my cupcakes... but then again, that's probably true for anything I cook or bake. We have absolutely fallen in love with The Food Network and with Cupcake Wars, Chopped, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Cake Boss etc. Jon encourages me to be creative with my cooking and baking and it's a great way to relieve stress and to learn to step out of my comfort zone. It's all very therapeutic.

Most of the cupcakes in Martha's book are also conveniently on her website. I wanted to share with you 4 recipes I have tried thus far... I'm sure there will be many more to come. Unfortunately, I didn't have all my pictures uploaded, so I borrowed some instead and oddly enough my cupcakes looked pretty close to these! To find the recipes, simply click on each cupcake title. Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

We made these for the 4th of July. For decoration we made stars from molds and candy melts and used blue sprinkles. These are so rich and so yummy. I tried to pipe the cream cheese frosting, but it was too soft. When piped I also found it's too much frosting and too sweet. The cream cheese frosting is much better if you spread it onto the cupcake. I love the richness of red velvet cake.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

These babies are little Oreo cheesecakes, also know as Cookies and Cream cupcakes. My other obsession is Oreos. Anything with Oreos. These are easy, not too sweet, and really fun. I especially love that when you turn them over you can perfectly see the Oreo. Can you really ever go wrong with Oreos?

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

If I had to choose a favorite from the cupcakes I have EVER tried to bake or eat, these would be it. Salted Caramel Cupcakes...mmmm. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Dark chocolate cake drenched in salted caramel and topped with rich chocolate ganache. If you have never tried salted caramel you need to! Martha Stewart actually borrowed this recipe from a bakery in NYC called Baked. They have a cake called "Sweet & Salty!" that Martha transformed into Cupcakes, genius! It is quite the process to make these, but they are so so worth it!

Billy's Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes

Billy from Billy's Bakery in NYC came to the Martha Stewart Show and made these delicious cupcakes. On the website link there is a video with Billy and Martha making the cupcakes. We just made these cupcakes last night and they were incredible! Wow, I've never had a vanilla cupcake like it. Instead of 1 Tablespoon, I added 2 Tablespoons of baking powder. The recipe calls for 1 but in the video with Martha, Billy emphasizes adding 2. These cupcakes are meant to be more flat, so don't worry if they come out flat. These sweet vanilla cupcakes are so buttery and just melt in your mouth.

I hope you enjoy these cupcakes as much as I did. I didn't realize how easy making cupcakes and frosting from scratch can be. For me, it was definitely intimidating at first, but now it has become my favorite hobby. Happy baking!

A Polynesian Wedding.

Jackie (Jon's sister) and Chad were married August 7th in the Salt Lake City Temple. The sealing was beautiful and the after party was fantastic! Polynesians know how to par-tay! I'm grateful that our children will grow up with so much culture in their lives. We are so happy for the newlyweds.

I love my man in a tux!

Can you see the goldfish?

The beautiful bride. Jackie actually introduced me to Jon. She is a true friend and wonderful sister.

Getting ready for pictures.

We are so excited for Chad to join the Niu family.

Each married couple in Jon's family receives a beautiful crystal temple from Mom Niu as a wedding gift. I loved the cupcake idea!

I love little Leilani's face, priceless.

Mom and Dad Niu.

Auntie Anna makes THE BEST chop suey in the world!! It's my favorite Polynesian dish.

I love the mountains in the background. It was a perfect night with perfect weather.

Another goldfish.

We sang "Lucky" as a surprise gift for the couple.

The entertainment was fabulous!! Tiare (Jon's sister) danced a Tahitian dance. She is so talented!!

Another wedding down. Congrats to the Jackie and Chad Peterson! We love you guys.

p.s. Thanks to Grandma Buck for all the lovely pictures.