Life is interesting. And so is fate. And so is the statement “things happen for a reason.”
After I kissed my baby goodnight tonight, I looked at my phone and noticed that a good friend of mine from college sent me a picture message of my husband and me that was taken a few months after we met. She titled the picture, “Babies.” Why? Because we were babies … we were so young and had no clue what journey life had in store for us. That picture was taken nine years ago. Yes, count them. Nine years.
Before meeting each other, my husband and I knew of each other. My circle of friends hung out with his circle of friends in college (and later I found out that my circle of friends hung out with my brother-in-law’s circle of friends in college). However, we had never officially met until my final year at school. Before meeting each other, I remember being at a college house party, standing in my husband’s room, looking at a picture of him, and saying “Oh, that’s who everyone keeps talking about.” Yes, our circles ran super close and we had so many opportunities to meet.
Yet, fate knew that we weren’t ready … until that fateful night in the kitchen of my college house during my final year of school when our paths finally crossed, thanks to the friend who sent me the picture message tonight. This friend and I didn’t have a huge history together … we only knew each other a short time before moving in together.
This friend helped me cross paths with the love of my life. This friend helped make my final year at school truly unforgettable. This friend has become so close to me over the years. This friend and I went through our pregnancies together. This friend and I are now riding the parenthood roller coaster together. This friend and I never would have met had fate not played a part in this interesting thing that we call “life.”
The photographer of the picture message photo? This friend. What I love most about the photo is that it involves all three of us. My husband, my friend, and me. We were all “babies” nine years ago. Over the years, we’ve had our ups and we’ve had our downs. We’ve had our struggles and we’ve had our triumphs. We’ve had our cries and we’ve had our smiles. At the end of the day, as they say, “things happen for a reason” … and I’m sure glad that they did nine years ago, not only because of my marriage but also because of my friendship.
This cake is a celebration of love, life, fate, and friendship as I continue to strongly and thankfully believe that “things happen for a reason.”
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/3 cup smooth natural peanut butter (not salted)
- 1 box (9 ounces) chocolate wafer cookies
- 1/2 cup of diced peanut butter cups
- Whip together 1 1/2 cups heavy cream and the confectioners’ sugar until stiff peaks form.
- Whisk the peanut butter in a separate bowl until soft. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream to the peanut butter and whip together until light and fluffy.
- Fold the peanut butter mixture into the whipped cream mixture.
- Place a dot of the whipped cream mixture onto the bottom of seven cookies. Arrange the six cookies in a circle on a serving platter and place the seventh cookie in the center.
- Top the seven cookies with the whipped cream, spreading outward but not covering the edges of the cookies. Top the whipped cream with cookies and then add the whipped topping. Repeat the layers.
- Make sure that the last layer is whipped cream. Top the whipped cream with a small portion of the peanut butter cups. Sprinkle the remaining peanut butter cups around the serving platter.
- Place the cake in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. When serving, cut the cake into wedges using a serrated knife.
Such a pretty cake! And so simple!