Crafty

I've slowly been learning how to use my Silhouette. I finally figured out how to create a cuttable image out of any image, and started putting it to good use. First up, I created an image of a disc golf basket on vinyl to put on our cars so we can show our support everywhere we go. I think they turned out really great!

Disc Chic Challenge

About a year ago some good friends introduced us to the sport of disc golf, and we've been addicted ever since.  We have a pretty nice course about 10 minutes from our house, so we run down and play a lot.  The terminology is very similar to golf, but instead of hitting a ball towards the hole, you throw a disc at a basket.

A couple of weekends ago I entered my first tournament - the Disc Chic Challenge.  With all the participants being girls, it was a bit less intimidating, and I entered in the intermediate division.  Pat tagged along to caddy for me, and we had a really nice time and met some great people.

The first round was played off of blue tees, which are the closest ones at the course.  I did really well that round and ended with a -3 tied for first place.  The second round was played off the yellow tees which are a bit further back.  I did not do well with my putting that round and ended with a +12.  So, overall I had a +9 score, and ended up tied for 8th place.  I did however win a CTP (closest to pin) and got a prize for that.  You can check out the full results at Disc Golf Scene.

Here are some pics of the tourney:

 Getting our instructions

 Warming up

 Putting it in

Our group from the first round: Dusty, Liz, me and Sunny

Me throwing backhand

Me throwing forehand

March, April, May, and June Book Lists

MARCH

Aftermath by Ann Aguirre - 307 pages
A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison - 438 pages
Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane - 339 pages
Half the Blood of Brooklyn by Charlie Huston - 223 pages
The Night Circus by Eric Morgenstern - 387 pages

TOTAL - 5 Books - 1,694 Pages

 APRIL

Fever by Lauren DeStefano - 341 pages
Fair Game by Patricia Briggs - 293 pages

TOTAL - 2 Books - 634 Pages

MAY

A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin - 728 pages
Lover Reborn by JR Ward - 572 pages
Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris - 327 pages

TOTAL - 3 Books - 1,627 Pages

JUNE

Timeless by Gail Carriger - 386 pages
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - 372 pages
A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin - 924 pages

TOTAL - 3 Books - 1,682 pages

I haven't ready so many long books in quite some time.  It feels good to get something I can sink my teeth into!  Looking back over the past four months worth of books, I'd have to say that my favorite was Ready Player One.  I just couldn't put it down.  The Night Circus also sucked me in as did both George RR Martin books.  Unholy Ghosts was the biggest letdown.  I had seen rave reviews of the book all over the place and was really excited to read it, but it felt a bit flat to me.  Maybe my expectations were too high.

I finally got around to reading the second Song of Fire and Ice book so that we could watch season two of Game of Thrones.  I think I'll be glad that I read book three well before season three airs so that the differences between the book and the show aren't quite so glaring.

San Rafael Swell

We took a couple of friends camping with us to the San Rafael Swell this spring.  They are usually forest campers, so it was a bit new to them.  Our trip started out with a flat tire on their truck.  That was quickly swapped for the spare, then we found a close spot to camp out of the wind (mostly).

The next day we went exploring and found a ghost of a mining town.  The buildings here were mostly standing and had random old appliances scattered about.

We also explored the remnant of the mines a little.  We didn't go far because we didn't have flashlights.

This one was big enough you could drive a four wheeler around in it.  It would be lots of fun to explore more one day.

 Hondo Arch

We went for a brief hike with the dogs.  Their favorite part was splashing in this small puddle.  I'm sure the water is completely gone by now.  The hike was down Crack Canyon, which is a slot canyon, and we didn't get very far before we had to turn around because the dogs couldn't maneuver the six foot drop-off we ran into.

We had a really good time, though I don't think our friends fell in love with the desert the way we have.  Maybe it has to grow on you.

Nesting

Some cute little birds decided to build a nest at my house this spring.  As cool as I think that was, I would have appreciated it if they had built it somewhere other than the wreath on my front door.  By the time I noticed, they already had eggs in it and I just couldn't bring myself to take it down.  We managed to get a couple of egg shots and a couple of little bird pics, but they grew up a flew away really fast!

All five eggs hatched and they all survived.  I don't know how they all fit in the nest though.  Now my wreath is destroyed and my porch is covered in poop, but it was fun while it lasted.

SLC Nerd

We heard about the SLC Nerd convention one weekend and thought it might be fun to go check it out.  There was one vendor selling games, but they were pretty much all the ones we already have.  It was mostly fun to see all the costumes everyone had put so much hard work into.

Moab St. Patrick's Day

For St. Patrick's Day this year Pat and his Aunt signed up to do a five mile run as part of the Canyonlands Half Marathon.  It was the first organized run he's ever done, though his aunt used to do lots back in the day.  He did really well for his first time out!  He came in 46th overall, and 5th in his age group.  Total time was 42:05.

My brother Paige was down there at the same time cheering on some friends who were also running.  After the race was done we went out to do some wheeling.  He hadn't done any of the trails and really wanted to try out his truck because he did a bunch of work on it, so we did Hell's Revenge and Poison Spider again.  No new trail stickers for the Jeep this trip!

 

February Book List

Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey - 341 pages
No Dominion by Charlie Huston - 251 pages
Hidden by Kelley Armstrong - 193 pages
Basilisk by Rob Thurman - 324 pages
Blood Trail by Tanya Huff - 272 pages
Saints Astray by Jacqueline Carey - 356 pages
Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews - 372 pages

TOTAL - 7 books - 2,109 pages

Winter Waterslides

I've been really bad about posting lately because I keep forgetting to take pictures every time we do something.  I decided to borrow a picture for this post and tell you about it anyway.  A couple of week ago on KSL I saw a deal for Crystal Hot Springs.  I really wanted to go swimming, and it seemed like the perfect answer because I prefer lakes to the super chlorinated indoor pools.  The deal was $12.00 for admission for 6 people, so I rounded up some friends to go with.  The admission was for the pools only, but when we got there we paid a little extra so we could go down the water slides too.

The resort itself didn't look like it had changed much in the 14 years since I was there last.  It was much more run down and shabby looking, but all the pools were still up and running.  The water ranged from 78° in the water slides to 106° in one of the hot tubs, with the other pools at different temperatures in between.  It was so nice to relax in the warm water, but it sure was cold when you got out.  The outside temp was about 38° during the day and dropped below freezing once the sun went down.

The coldest part was going up the concrete stairs to get to the top of the water slides.  The last time we went down them it was after dark, and the mats had ice on them.  Also, almost everyone that went down them came out with battle wounds - scraped elbows, heels, and shoulders.  It was totally worth it though!  We were only there for about 4 hours, but it was a blast.  I think we'll have to try and make it up there every winter.  Oh, and KSL still has that deal for one more day, so grab one if it sounds fun to you too!

January Book List

Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews - 447 pages
The Kingdom of Gods by NK Jemisin - 600 pages
Once Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost - 358 pages
Killbox by Ann Aguirre - 353 pages
Pleasure of a Dark Prince by Kresley Cole - 431 pages
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burrows - 145 pages

TOTAL - 6 Books - 2,334 Pages

Pepper Jelly

Last weekend I got a bit of a craving for pepper jelly with cream cheese and wheat thins.  I had everything at the house already, except for the pepper jelly.  I has plenty of peppers in my freezer though (remember the case I brought home from Lake Powell?  Yeah, there's still a lot of those.) so I did a search online to see what recipes I could come up with.

I finally settled on this one from Paula Deen. It seemed simple enough!  Since some of the chiles were hot, but most were mild, I decided to just use one cup green chiles in the recipe in stead of part green peppers and part jalepenos or serranos.  I made a double recipe (even though you aren't supposed to do that in canning).

I got everything ready to go, then realized that the family canner was at my sister-in-law's house still.  Luckily I remembered reading somewhere that you can make a water bath canner out of basically anything, so I cobbled one together with a stock pot, a strainer insert for a different pot, and some zip ties to hold them in place together.  I'm sorry I forgot to take a picture of that for you...  That canning method worked well, but only because I had two small batches.  It only held 4 pint jars at a time, so not exactly efficient for most things.

After all was said and done, I ended up with some great looking jars of pepper jelly, and will have some to enjoy for months to come.

Winter/January Decorations

I decided to break out the blues for a wintery feel this year.  I don't have a lot in these colors, but just enough to add a bit of interest.  I am loving all my colored paper lanterns.  It's so fun to be able to use any color of the rainbow!

December Book List & Yearly Totals

Doubleblind by Ann Aguirre - 302 pages
Side Jobs by Jim Butcher - 418 pages
Beauty and the Werewolf by Mercedes Lackey - 329 pages
Darkness Rising by Keri Arthur - 341 pages
Already Dead by Charlie Huston - 268 pages

TOTAL - 5 BOOKS - 1,658 PAGES


2011 TOTALS: 61 books - 22,044 pages

I've definitely slowed down a lot with my reading.  I keep getting distracted with other things like TV, movies,  comics, and video games.  Only so much free time to go around, and the books are piling up!