How Has Cake Central Effected Your Life?????
Decorating By imaginecakes Updated 28 Jun 2007 , 10:08am by blessBeckysbaking
Good Morning Everyone!!!
In honor of Jackie and Health sharing their amazing story with us, I thought it may be a good idea to let them know the diiferent ways that their wonderful creation has impacted each of our lifes.
My story: (FYI...my spelling can be horrific at times 
)
My husband was a Fireman in the Airforce, he received multiple Firefighter honors all while getting 2 Associates degrees, 1 Batchlor's degree, and eventually his Master's. He got his Batchlor's degree in Safety Managment and his Master's in Industrial Hygiene. He took and passed a VERY difficult professional test called the CIH test, to become a Certified Industrial Hygienist. He passed on his first try, which is virtually unheard of! Making him one of the youngest CIH's in the country. Now while I am very proud of his accomplishments mind you, this can become a little intimidating! I tried to go to college several times, always with a different major in mind, only to always drop out! I even took Real Estate classes and got my Real Estate License. I tried a few Independent Consultant things such as...Partylite, Avon, etc. Nothing felt "right" you know? Now all the while...through all of the schooling...test taking (DH)...etc. We managed to have three little girls, move a few times...to a few different states. There were times when he put so much time and energy into studying that I felt like a single mom of three very small children. We usually had no family around, so breaks for me were out! We usually ALWAYS had to tell friends "no" when it came to get-to-gethers because he was busy with his nose in the books. (He had a full time job too of course). So while I was VERY proud of all of his accomplishments, and he was very quick to give me TONS of credit...saying he couldn't have done any of it without me and my support...that I was at times virually a single mom...etc. I still always felt a little "in his shadows" you know?
Well, I always knew that I loved to bake, and I always recieved compliments on it when I did. I loved the "challenge" of saying to family members...no...this Christmas you DO NOT have to order that pie from Marie Callender's (a tradition in his family...same every year, the Lemon Supreme) I will duplicate that pie this year!! And I did, hence the end of that tradition. And then when I started making the cakes for my daughter's birthdays, I began to realize that nothing else in the whole world mattered when I was baking and decorating...I was on cloud nine! It took me a few years to realize that THIS is what I was MEANT to do! (not that I am awesome by any means ) But...THIS is where my "passion" lied. And it felt so good to be in the spotlight when I created something really cool for our kids, or our friends and family...I loved be the center of the "wow" factor!!! That is about the time that I found this site, and I am telling you that I have learned so much from this site and have been so inspired by the amount of talent and wisdom on this site that it is probably one one the sole reasons that I am so happy with life today! I am ALWAYS signed into this site...usually with a huge "cheezy grin" on my face!! 
I can't thank our wonderful creators of this site enough for litterally helping my find my way and passion in life!! I now feel like a seperate successful person...and that feeling is PRICELESS!
LONG I KNOW!!! I'M SORRY!!!! 
AWWW...come on guys!! I bet there are some really great stories!!!
This is my testimonial:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-359423-anniversary.html
CC has been wonderful for me. I still don't get much time to practice with going to school full time and with 4 kiddo's, but everyone here is so supportive. I have my 1st wedding cake this weekend and it's good knowing I can count on CC to give me info and calm me down while I'll be freaking out.
I don't spend as much time on here as I use to, which is a good thing, house work is getting done 
I have made many friendshipes off-line through here which is great.
I always recommend people come to CC if they are into cakes. This place is kindof like a stress reliver for me.
Come on everyone!! I posted one of these in the "Cake Decorating" forum too...so please respond to one or the other!! Think of how proud this will make them, to see how all of their hard work has paid off!!
humm lets see how cc changed my life...
well i am only 19... so still pretty young and. i kind of coasted through high school... i guess you chould say i wasn't challanged enough by it... i found it easy so i started skipping classes and then no doing the work etc etc etc... i live in a very rich area of toronto, so teachers don't call home or yell or even really care... manly because our parents make more money then they do ( horrible i know, i wish they cared more!!!!)
my mom ( she has been a single mother and raised me with no support from my dad )always hoped i would go to university but my grades weren't high enough ( i didn't want to go to university. i really don't think it would have been the right match for me). i still realy don't think she cares much for my new found career path... she tries but i still kinda think she's disapointed i am not going to be a ceo of a drug company like she is. the summer before my last year in school i started working at a bakery, when describing something i had made at home, my manager had made the comment that i should go into culinary management. i liked the sound of it so i did more and more research on it until i came upon the pastry program,.. wow i liked the sounds of that one. i enrolled. i had to take a math test ( my worst subject ever since my grade 4 teacher embarassed me in frount of 2 classes when i couldnt remember my 5 times table.... what a jerk he was ) so i studied for this admission test for 2 weeks day and night, when i wasn't working i was studying. guess what... i got there and the test was only 5 questions... hard ones... but i still kinda felt cheated because i studyed so hard. well the studying and passing of the test made me releaze that i now had something to work towards and something to make a career out of. i started getting into to cakes only recently when i got a book for christmas. i haven't taken any course yet ( waiting for my pastry ones in school) but i love the challange of doing to impossible, baking the perfect cake, or trying not to eat a whole bowl of ganache. before i found cc i thought i was destined only to make round cakes or sqaure cakes, but when i found you guys i saw you could make pretty much ANYTHING into a cake.... i love the support we get. i love the fact i have new dreams and ambitions and am actually persueing them... i am so proud of me!!!!! i know tones of people who are in university or college and hate thier classes or have failed the entire year because they are pasrtying every night ( that has never been my thing to be honest.) i always felt like a bit of loser when i bake, my friends thought it was dorky that i would rather make a cake, then get high or drunk... but not me... i love it.!in fact my bf said it the one things he loves about me.. that i am able to do my own thing. its great to know i am not a dork and loads of you feel this passionate about something i think is so great
THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT CC!!!
Well, let's see... my house is a mess and my kids feel abandoned because I am a CC addict!
It's true! But the good of it is that I have gotten back into cake decorating (just for family for now) after 10 years of feeling like I just didn't have the time or creativity anymore. Finding CC also made me realize that even the most beautiful cakes are made by every day normal people, and that everybody struggles with insecurities about their own work. Having a place to talk to others who are into decorating helps all of us overcome those fears and insecurities!
I really want to thank Jackie and Heath for keeping this wonderful place running so well, and thanks to all the other members for supporting each other!!
varicose veins in my legs(from sitting in from of the puter), bloodshot eyes(from staring at the monitor), dark circles(from lack of sleep(nah, I was born with 'em)), wide,flat behind(j/k..born with that too), other than that I now know that I am absolutely normal and am part of a large group of people who are obsessed with sweets.
All I have to say is that I don't know if I would be where I am today without CC. I come here everyday to read the forums and look at everyones pics. I love this site. I took the Wilton classes and yes I was into decorating, but When I fell upon this site...well I have not stopped. Now because of all the people here if I need to ask something I can and I get lots and lots of good ideas and when something goes wrong you can come here and tell the storie and others have had the same thing or close to it happen to them and can tell you if there is anyway to save it or if you just toss it out and start over. I love everyone here it's just like one big happy family. I would love to give you all one big hug for all the help and support that you have given me, and countless others.
Hi, my name is Julie and I'm addicted to CakeCentral.
(Other addicts say in unison "Hi Julie")
Jackie and Heath are wonderful for creating and maintaining this site! I come to this site everyday, multiple times a day.
It has affected my life in many ways:
a) I have a boring office job and and able to make my day go by faster by reading and looking through CC.
b) The vast knowledge on here has made many of my cake and cookie endeavors more barable and doable.
c) (This one more so affected my husband's life) I have actual cake people that I can talk to about cake and filling and icing and decorating and supplies and mixes and ingredients and tools....lol...my husband now gets to enjoy some quiet time.
d) I was able to find a job at a bakery (that I no longer work at) through CC. It wasn't the best expierence however I did learn a lot and I would've never had that opportunity if it was for CC.
e) I've made new friends, long distance and local!
This is not a complete list. I can't think of everything right now. I really don't know what I would do without this place....it's the wind beneath my wings 
that carries me through my second job (office job 7am-4pm) after I've been up all night working on my first job and passion, CAKES!
THANK YOU JACKIE AND HEATH!!!!
Love this site. I started cake/cookie/candy decorating about a year ago afer taking a class at the New School in NYC. I became addicted to decorating and googled lots of different sites. CakeCentral, in my opinion, is the best site out there for sharing of information! The site is well organized, the people who post here are non-judgemental and only want to help each other (I have yet to see any nasty replies - so different than other sites), I have gained a wealth of information.I find I am involved in a hobby which for me is based on artistic expression.
When I first started decorating I was at first concerned - "OMG - I'll gain weight because I'll eat all these confections!" Well, I was wrong as it had the opposite impact on me and I lost the notorious last 10 lbs (sounds crazy but its actually a good workout with all the running around, mixing, piping, etc...).
This could get sooo long!! We might have to do a couple of threads on these! Not everyone is going to want to read 100 long paragraphs! (I hope they would though!)
Here is mine:
I have always been a crafty person. But, it wasn't until I got married and left home at 19 and started cooking for my own husband did I start seeing I loved to bake. I always did little things here and there with crafts but, while we were in the military the biggest thing was scrapbooking. What a mess I made with that! Then, just before we were getting out a friend of mine had a birthday and I just had to make her a cake! Red Velvet with white frosting and made it look like a snowball (even though it was a 2 layer round cake). When I gave it to her her eyes just lit up and she was almost in tears because her Mom use to make her the same exact cake for her bday every year! I didn't even know it! No one had told me! I just told everyone I was making a cake. That thrilled me and touched me soo deeply. I was already good at planning and decorating the parties for our group but, the joy that came out of that cake started my brain a stirring. So, I guess it was only natural that when I got my event coordinator position at Michael's did I get talked into taking cake decorating classes! My instructor was wonderful and my mom had done stuff way back when I was young so we decided it would be fun together! So we took the first 2 courses and then I had to leave my position to go back to school full time. But, I still kept making cakes. But, I just thought the basics were so....I don't know, NOT ME! Then my step mom's bday came up and I wanted to do something totally different. There was a picture that I saw on the wilton website that I wanted to do but, I had no idea to do it. Then I need to ask questions and find more answers and I just started searching for good websites until I came upon CC!!! I was so excited I found this plethora of photos that I jump for joy and yelled to my husband! And then a couple months later I started posting in the forums and.....HERE IS MY NEW ADDICTION!!! I now make the most beautiful cakes all because of the talent and knowledge here on CC and I am a part of it!!! I just love it here and will forever be greatful to Heath and Jakie for creating this site! Everyone is like a family here that we all need to help us get through the wonderful world of cake decorating!
So, THANKS GUYS!!
I saw this thread this am when it was started and got so excited to post MY story, then I couldn't find it again 
So, PHEWWW, I've finally found it!!
I've only been decorating cakes for a few months (since March) but how my life has changed bc of it!! I've never considered myself a crafty or creative person, and I've always sort of envied others for having hobbies. Growing up my sister collected everything under the sun, now that I'm the "grown-up" my hubby and daughter have their hobbies, even my 4yr old son is starting. So I've tried reading, crochet, scrapbooking, painting, cooking... Nothing really struck a chord with me until now!!
I'd been wanting to take cake deco classes at the local Michael's but for various reasons procrastinated. So for my birthday this year my gift to myself was to take Course I and see how it went. Well I was absolutely smitten! Then a week later, I was surfing the web looking for cake ideas and FOUND CAKE CENTRAL!! I'm telling you, I've been here everyday since! At first all I could think about was learning "caking" stuff, but even after only 4 months I am able to help others with questions and give ideas!
That's another first come to think of it, I'd never before "belonged" to a group like this. You are truly like family. Even tho I have a very rich and happy family life, now I have something that's all mine. I look to see who's on and recognize an astounding number of you by your usernames and wonder 'where's so-and-so been?' I feel like I know many of you.
You all are so generous and patient with your knowledge and talent, helping us newbies find our way! I am eternally grateful to all of you and especially Jackie for doing what most people these days can't be bothered to do... get off their lazy butts and make it happen!! This website is leaps and bounds better than ANY other caking site in the variety it offers, from recipes, tips, chatting, tutorials, the list goes on! Just about anything you need is here! Its brilliant! Well done!!
Jeez this is getting sappy and really long... guess I should get off my soap box and let someone else have a turn
Thanks again everyone for the laughs, information and sense of being welcomed into your community!! Much love to all!
whew I knew I had posted to this but it is posted in another forum ok thought crazzy was popping up early today!
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