Wednesday, December 3, 2008

frances cake take 12: the half-baked edition

a little while ago i got a very nice e-mail from nicole. it appears there was a rumor circulating that she didn't like me (how old are we again? this rumor business is so seventh grade. which i like to pretend never even happened), and she was just writing to clear it up. i hadn't heard the rumor, but it sure was nice to hear that it wasn't true anyway, and we decided to put it to rest once and for all by getting together for frances cake. because if anything kills nasty rumors, it is baking. not sure if you knew that, but it's true.

now, i don't want the following information to be regarded in any way as an indication of how i feel about nicole, but, as it happens, i was so swamped the day of our rumor-busting cake date that i didn't have any time to look up a recipe, let alone pick up ingredients. and so, when nicole appeared on my doorstep in her adorable purple sweater, i asked if it would be all right if we just ate some of the lemon tarts bri and i had made the sunday before. (this was only tuesday so it wasn't gross or anything.) nicole said that was fine. and that is why nicole is just fine, too.





nicole and i met at a rilo kiley concert (actually, we met in her car on the way to a rilo kiley concert), so we had a pretty fool-proof start. and then she moved to salt lake from lehi and started coming to my ward, which also helped. the biggest news in nicole's life the day she came over was that her boyfriend, patrick, had just been baptized into the mormon church. so, over our lemon curd, we talked a lot about mormonism and what being mormon means to us, which is a discussion i really needed. i have, of late, had some difficulty articulating, to myself and to others, what it is about mormonism that is so important to me. it was really enriching and comforting to sit and hash the whole thing out with someone who knows where i am coming from, with someone who can relate, who sees life through the same lens i do. i am all for diversity, don't get me wrong, but sometimes you need to be reminded that there are other people playing on your team, and nicole gave me just that.

as this is a post about cake and not religion (though i suppose the two could be closely related) i won't go into all the details, but let me say this. while from the outside i am sure the mormon church seems a stark contrast of nothing but black and white, i have always done my best learning and growing inside the nuances of the gray spaces. sunday school cliche or not, the business of being mormon is an intensely personal and rewarding experience for me. there are things i do not like or understand, but what i gain has always outweighed anything i have had to sacrifice and i am always grateful to be reminded that my way of living the gospel is just as good as anyone else's. (if not better.) (i kid, i kid.)

anyway, back to nicole. since frances cake, her life has generated even bigger and more exciting news. she and patrick are getting married! hurrah and congratulations! i can't prove that it is all thanks to my tarts, of course, but i wouldn't be surprised.

5 comments:

Sarita said...

And this is why you are such a good Sunday School teacher.

And Nichole is just fine.

Not that this post needed to be about me, but you forgot to mention that I introduced Nicole to you. But thats okay.

Rilo Kiley was good to me.

Joel said...

I love how you all forget to maintain the Modest Mouse was the headliner that night

not that I don't like Rilo Kiley

Joel said...

I meant mention not maintain


why can I not erase/edit my own comment

Sarita said...

What he really meant to say was that Rilo Kiley was good to him too.

frances said...

actually, you are right. sarita, you deserve a little credit for introducing me to nicole. consider it given. and, i really should have taken this opportunity to give myself credit for introducing you two love-birds at the same event. blast! i guess a namesake will have to do. and, finally, i completely and totally forgot that modest mouse played that night. i do, however, remember very well my confiscated fork. sheesh, this comment is a post of its own.