Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Hey family,

Long time no post... as usual. I've been super busy with classes. I just wrote a brief for my appellate advocacy class about the 14th amendment and now I have two other papers due at the end of November for my Sustainability and Negotiation classes. (I'm writing about salmon farms for sustainability and whale watching NOAA regulations for negotiation.) I also participate in a mock trial this Wednesday for my trial practice class (I'm the prosecution in a murder case). I give my oral argument for my brief in appellate advocacy next week Thursday and then I need to work on my journal article in my spare time... that one is about killer whales in captivity. So, as I'm sure you can tell, I'm insanely busy. Finally, I accepted a job for this summer in the Orange County District Attorney's office. I don't know my unit assignment yet, but I requested murder. I'll let you all know how that ends up once I get the official word.

I'm really looking forward to my family coming out for California for Christmas as I've been a bit homesick hearing about Mikie's sports without being able to be home. In the meantime, I thought I'd share some of our fall celebrations with you. The weather has been pretty mild lately and we've been getting into the fall spirit as we look forward to handing out candy next weekend to the neighborhood kids.
I made some cupcakes this afternoon. I'm calling them pumpkin pie cupcakes (not too creative I know). I was hoping to use cinnamon cake mix, but ended up having to use vanilla since the store didn't have cinnamon. I bought a pumpkin pie and then cut it up into small pieces and then layered the cupcake papers with: vanilla cake mix, pumpkin pie, and then more vanilla cake mix. I cooked them like normal cupcakes and then frosted them with cream cheese frosting. They aren't the healthiest things, but they sure tasted good and were perfect for fall. The boys are eating them as I write...