Charlotte's Chitter Chatter

Pepper Jelly

2012-01-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

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

2012-01-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

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

2012-01-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

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!

Christmas Decorations

2011-12-21T22:39:00.000-07:00

I'm still loving the red and white outside lights. We made a trek down to Modern Display in SLC to buy replacement bulbs. We had tons of lights out and couldn't find replacements anywhere else.

I ordered more paper lanterns in a rainbow of colors so that I can have the colors I want for every holiday.

My mom and I made these ornaments the other night. We were hoping to do more, but the cardstock I bought to use was too thick for most of the tutorials we tried. These were the only ones that worked out. They are pinned on my Christmas Pinterest board if you want to try them yourself.

Christmas Lights at Temple Square

2011-12-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we spend the day in Park City with some friends. While we were there, some other friends (who live in Orem) called and said they would be at temple square that night and asked if we would like to join them. We jumped at the chance since we don't see them very often, and it was on our way home anyway.

The peachy-pink and yellowy-orange trees were my favorites.

The floating lights in the reflecting pool are also really pretty.

All bundled up. It was COLD outside! My poor toes were frozen.

The whole gang: Megan, Brent, Ashlee, Kristin, Travis, me, Pat, and four kiddos.

It was fun looking at the lights with the kids. They get so much more excited about things. I was actually quite disappointed with the lights themselves. When I was a kid they were much better - more and bigger trees lit. Temple square is also a lot smaller than I remember it being.

2011 Pumpkin Shoot

2011-12-11T22:32:00.001-07:00

This post is a bit late. I took these pictures with my camera, but I've been using Pat's camera for almost everything, so I forgot they were there. We did the pumpkin shoot this year the second weekend in November. It was a very snowy weekend. There were several inches of snow on the road as we headed up the mountain to our usual shooting spot, but we made it without incident.

Paige and his date, Alexis.

Noel and Alex, our neighbors, joined us for their first time ever.

Pat getting ready.

We had a smaller than usual turnout this year, but we still had fun. It was shorter than we would have liked because the wind picked up and it was COLD. The mission was still accomplished though; the pumpkins were dead!

November Book List

2011-12-01T13:31:00.001-07:00

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher - 477 pages
Blood Work by Kim Harrison - Graphic Novel
Ganymede by Cherie Priest - 346 pages
Angels of Darkness - compilation by Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook, and Sharon Shinn - 406 pages

TOTAL - 2 Books - 1 Graphic Novel - 4 Short Stories - 1,229 pages

Pineapple

2011-11-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

We got a couple of pineapples in our most recent Bountiful Basket. When scrolling through Pinterest a while ago, I remembered seeing that you can grow another pineapple plant by just using the leaves of an eaten pineapple, so we decided to give it a shot. We mostly got our info from this website and this video. Hopefully we will see some growth soon, and I won't kill it like I do most plants. I'll try and keep you updated!

UPDATE 1/11/12: We've tried this with several different pineapples now. It is not as easy as the tutorials make it look. Or maybe we just have black thumbs at our house. Either way, it looks like growing a pineapple plant is not in the cards for us.

Thanksgiving/Autumn Decorations

2011-11-19T15:30:00.001-07:00

I've had this table runner for quite a few years now. Red seems to work well for a lot of holidays, but it wrinkles very easily. The gold charger was originally Pier 1, but I found it at Savers. Unfortunately Savers put the price tag on the front of the plate, and the gold leafing peeled off with it, so its uses are fairly limited. I grabbed the pinecones on a camping trip last year and they have come in handy. I just found the little glass pumpkin on clearance at Jo-Ann for $3!

These lived in my office at my last job for a long time. They were all originally from Tai Pan.

I changed out my lanterns & poufs for fall color. I want to make some yarn spheres out of balloons so I have some more options to play with.

I made this wreath this year - I didn't realize that the wreath was so oblong until I got it on my door. The felt stars also aren't sitting the way I want them to. At least it will work for this year even if I end up modifying it or starting over.

They are pretty colors though!

My tree is also providing some pretty color. I keep meaning to pick these berries and dry them so I can use them in other projects, or just put them in a jar.

Halloween Party

2011-11-03T00:00:00.000-06:00

The whole crew: Toga Mike, Dorothy Liz, Riddler Carl, Waldo Aaron, Devil Heidi, Doctor Matt, Cow Damage, Pirate Booty Adam, T-Shirt Brian, Footballer Kristen, Pikachu Linnea, Ash Jae, Go Go Megan, Pirate Alex, 80s Sonya, Pirate Noel, Monster Hunter Me, Cowboy Pat, Betty Laura, Barney Mike, Fred Brent, Wilma Megan, Zombie Jesus Jim, Footballer Ashlee (hiding in the pic, but you can see her head in the one below), and Sonya's friend (forgot her name, sorry!)

We had tons of good food (which I forgot to take a picture of), friends, and fun. I spent basically the whole next day recovering, but it was totally worth it. Somehow, we got pictures of most the attendees, but none of our whole costumes! Kind of a bummer.

Halloween Decor

2011-11-02T00:00:00.000-06:00

Yarn spiderweb

Fall lanterns & poms

Castle walls

Complete with hanging skeletons

Sleeping bats

And flying bats

Devil cow

Bloody glasses and lightning ball

Lights, feather wreath, streamers, fog

October Book List

2011-11-01T10:35:00.003-06:00

Envy by JR Ward - 454 pages
Changes by Jim Butcher - 438 pages
Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre - 312 pages
Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris - 274 pages

TOTAL - 4 Books - 1,478 pages

Roller Derby

2011-10-18T00:00:00.000-06:00

I first heard about roller derby when I was at a concert a few years ago. Some of the Salt City Derby Girls were there trying to recruit members, and invited me to come try out. I didn't, because Salt Lake is a bit too far to drive on a regular basis, but it sounded like fun. A little while later I heard that Ogden had a league called the Junction City Roller Dolls. It still sounded interesting, but I never got around to going to a game until this last weekend.

I have to admit that it wasn't quite as exciting as I thought it would be. After hearing about it and watching the movie Whip It, I thought it would be a bit more aggressive. It was also a little hard to follow at times, but we still had fun.

At this point I don't think I could actually compete on a team because of my bad knees, but it did kind of make me want to get some skates for fun and exercise. Plus then I could still dress up in adorable outfits like theirs and get away with it.

Chiles Galore

2011-10-16T18:52:00.000-06:00

While we were at Lake Powell last month, we stopped at the Walmart in Page. I noticed that they had an entire case of green chiles for only $10.00! I bought one the night before we came home because I never ever seen them sold by the case up here, and they would certainly cost more than that.

I decided to just cut them up and freeze them because I didn't have time to do anything else after getting home from our trip. I ended up with 6 big freezer bags full plus some to stick in the fridge. I think I will be good for a long while.

With the fresh ones I made stuffed peppers from this recipe. They turned out really good! Some of the chiles were a bit hotter than others, but they all got eaten.

September Book List

2011-10-04T19:38:00.001-06:00

Wither by Lauren DeStefano - 358 pages
Turn Coat by Jim Butcher - 418 pages
Downpour by Kat Richardson - 354 pages
An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris - 280 pages
Grimspace by Ann Aguirre - 312 pages
Kitty's Greatest Hits by Carrie Vaughn - 318 pages

TOTAL - 6 Books - 2,040 pages

Big Surprise

2011-09-13T00:00:00.001-06:00

The trip home from Lake Powell was fairly uneventful and we made it home in good time. When we got home we decided that the unpacking would wait a day; after all, that's why we came home on Saturday instead of Sunday. We grabbed the necessaries for the evening and headed inside. When I got to my bedroom door, it was closed, which was weird because we always leave it open for the cats. Then I saw a sign taped to the door telling me that both Pat and I had to go in the room together because there was a surprise inside from my parents, with help from my sister.

My mom had been working on a new quilt for us because the one she made for our wedding was falling apart, and I new she was close to finishing with it, so I thought that would probably be inside, but I didn't know what my dad and sister would need to do to help with that, but all I had to do to find out was open the door. Now, to show you what I left my room looking like, here are some pictures:

And this is what it looked like when I opened the door:

I was just blown away. Everything was perfect, and put together better than I could ever do on my own. Our quilt came out amazing, and all the pillows she made to go with it were just right. The brightly colored vases and plates matched beautifully. The blue wall was just the right touch to make things stand out. The painted furniture was just the right style, and the chandelier was gorgeous. I really love the jewelry holder, which I'm assuming my sister made since she has one just like it. And I have curtains now!

It was such a great surprise and I wasn't expecting any of it. Pat knew they were doing something because he had to make sure they had a way into the house, but he didn't give me any clue. This is to be my birthday and Christmas present this year, but I can't think of anything better. It really made my day better after it started out so disappointingly.

Thank you Mom, Dad and Kait! You guys are the best family anyone could ask for!

Lake Powell Continued

2011-09-12T00:00:00.002-06:00

Pat doing his good deed and cleaning trash off the beach.

We stopped at ate lunch at this restaurant on the water at Antelope Point Marina. Really good!

This ragtag bunch of ducks came by to beg for scraps off our table.

We did the short hike out to horseshoe bend on the Colorado below the dam.

We stopped at the dam visitor center. They are watering the grass down below.

Friday morning we went into town to play their disc golf course. We just started playing and this was the first course we used our own discs on (we had been borrowing from friends). The rocks were really hard on them, the course was confusing, and there was broken glass everywhere. Not ideal.

Friday night a killer storm blew over! It was really pretty just before the storm hit, and of course we didn't have the camera with us. We got back to shore pronto and played games in the trailer while we waited for it to pass.

We had lots of sunshine and good food, played lots of games, and did a lot of relaxing. It was a really great week. I can't wait to go back again!

Lake Powell

2011-09-11T15:57:00.001-06:00

Our week long vacation was a great getaway. It started out a little rocky, with a flat tire on the way down, but turned out to be very beautiful and relaxing. This is the first week long vacation we have taken in almost two years, and we needed it. We stayed on the beach at Lone Rock, which is very close to Wahweap Marina in Page, AZ, with my in-laws. They got there a few days early, which was fortunate because it filled up quickly as Labor Day weekend approached.

Their RV had a beachfront parking spot, and we pitched our tent right behind it. There was a little channel on the side that was deep and perfect for boat parking, and the beach out front stayed shallow for a long way and was perfect for playing in the water.

Home sweet home

View from the front yard

View down the beach

We did a lot of relaxing. We only ended up wakeboarding once. We spent several days out on the water exploring canyons and swimming in fun spots.

Checking the map for our destination

One of the beautiful sunsets we got

Giant dog pile in the boat!

Really have to watch for those rocks in the middle of the lake

The dogs had a lot of fun. We really tired them out swimming, chasing lizards and crows, and playing with the neighbors' dogs. They'll probably sleep for a week!

To be continued...

August Book List

2011-09-02T00:00:00.004-06:00

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong - 359 pages
Kitty's Big Trouble by Carrie Vaughn - 307 pages
Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole - 417 pages
Something Deadly this Way Comes by Kim Harrison - 245 pages
Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong - 325 pages
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater - 308 pages
Hunt the Moon by Karen Chance - 419 pages

TOTAL - 7 Books - 2,460 pages

I finally started catching up on my giant pile of books waiting to be read. Hopefully I can continue the trend and actually be caught up with library books soon. At least until more new books come out anyway. I'm in the middle of so many different series now that a new book comes out at least once or twice per month.

Park City Ghost Tour

2011-08-31T00:00:00.000-06:00

I was browsing KSL deals a few weeks ago and saw that they had half price tickets for a walking tour of Park City with ghost stories. Since we loved our walking tour of Denver so much, especially since it had lots of ghost stories, I decided to get some. Last Friday night we went up for our tour. It was a really fun evening!

We got to hear a lot of local history, as well as see some of the most historical spots in the city. I wish we could have gone in some of the buildings though. While we were on the tour it didn't really seem very spooky, but one story in particular creeped me out a little while I was trying to go to sleep that night.

I liked the tour guide in Denver better, but I think he had been doing it years longer that this guy. You could tell that the people running the tour are putting lots of work into their research which is really neat. I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a fun evening a little ways from home.

Friends Weekend at Yuba

2011-08-29T00:00:00.003-06:00

We spent a longer weekend at Yuba this year also. I was a slacker and did not take very many pictures. We invited as many people as we could to come down for the weekend, or even just for the day. Five people came down with us on Friday, and four more came down for the day on Saturday.

We had a really good time floating around, swimming, soaking in the sunshine, and playing on the boat. My parents babysat the dogs for us, and it was really nice not having to worry about them the whole time.

I did get a picture of this little (three foot) snake friend that tried to join our party. I was walking up to camp from the boat all blurry-eyed after waking up from a nap, and I just about stepped on him. Luckily it's not anything poisonous, but we shooed him on his way as soon as possible.

The other picture I got before my camera battery died was of our friend Alex, who finally got up on a wakeboard for the first time! Once he figure out the getting up part, he did pretty good.

The second night we were there a great big storm blew over. It was super windy for several hours. We had to hole up in the tent and play card games while we waited it out. It finally died down and we were able to go out and fix ourselves some dinner.

It was a good thing our friends and we have invested in quality tents, because they make all the difference in that kind of storm. We were in our friends' Springbar and it had no problem, but our other friend's little Coleman broke. Every single thing was covered in sand. When we went to bed every single boat-in camp spot was full, but when we went out the next morning there were only three (out of twenty) of us who had lasted the night, all with better tents. I felt bad for the people whose trips were cut short; that is always miserable.

All in all it was a great trip and we were really glad so many friends could come, but we were still missing the ones who couldn't make it.

Windy Surprise

2011-08-27T11:55:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago we spent a short weekend at Yuba State Park. We had a really nice time, but on the way home Pat listened to a voicemail one of our neighbors left us saying that we had a bunch of wind the night before and it blew in our garage door. When we got home, this is what we found:

It actually blew the garage door out, as you can see. Pat got the garage door kicked back inside with the help of a neighbor, and we were able to open it far enough to get the Jeep out of the garage.

We managed to leave the house without closing the door to the backyard and must have had some killer wind. It also made our barbeque grill do a bit of a backflip.

Luckily all the damage was covered by our homeowner's insurance, and we were able to get it fixed quickly. The reason the back door was open in the first place is because that's how we let the dogs out since we don't have a back door directly from the house. To avoid having this happen in the future, we also bought a dog door to install in the garage so that we won't be leaving the back door open anymore. It will be better for security also I imagine.

We're just glad the damage wasn't any worse, and that it was all easily fixed.

July Book List

2011-08-06T09:01:00.000-06:00

Mercy Burns by Keri Arthur - 320 pages
Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton - 320 pages
Heartless by Gail Carriger - 374 pages
Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews - 308 pages

TOTAL - 4 Books - 1,322 pages

Long Weekend

2011-07-31T16:38:00.000-06:00

I had the day off on July 25th because of Pioneer Day. Pat has a few more vacation days than me this year, and our friends have flexible schedules, so we decided to also take off the Friday before and go camping. We decided to go to the eastern Uintahs, just because we hadn't been there before. It was a long drive out to Vernal, then up the mountain to find a camping spot.

The established campgrounds were full to bursting, but we just kept heading up the mountain until we were past all the other people. We found an awesome spot next to a stream that was a ways off the main trail. We decided to just relax all weekend and stay in camp.

We exerted ourselves for fun when we wanted to though - the first full day there we built this dam across the stream and made a nice little pool. The water was about ankle deep when we started, but was almost to my knees by the end of the day.

Camp! Plus Noel and Alex, our partners in crime.

View across the stream from camp. We had a few cows wander by, but they gave the dogs a wide berth.

It got pretty chilly at night. Damage had to wear his jacket.

This is Damage's best friend, Smalls. He's still officially a puppy, and he wore Damage right out.

Zoe was so focused on hunting that she ignored all the bugs. Her poor little face was all bumpy and misshapen.

We spotted this guy across the meadow but we still aren't sure what he was. Beaver? Badger?

And Pat decided to try and find more and more interesting places to pee all weekend.

We had a great, very relaxing time. It was nice to get away and not be busy for once. Not that I generally mind being busy, but we probably haven't been that laid back while camping for years.

June Book List

2011-07-02T07:54:00.000-06:00

Enemy Games by Marcella Burnard - 346 pages
Mercy Blade by Faith Hunter - 305 pages
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris - 325 pages
Small Favor by Jim Butcher - 420 pages
Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris - 295 pages

TOTAL - 5 Books - 1,691 pages

I was so excited to finally get to read the next Sookie Stackhouse book. It was really enjoyable; much better than the last one. I am also really enjoying the other Charlaine Harris series about Harper Connelly. I'm getting further and further on the Dresden files series and pretty soon I'm going to be all caught up. I won't know what to do with myself then!

Sugar-Filled Family Night

2011-06-09T00:00:00.000-06:00

It was our turn to host family night for June. I thought hard about an activity we could do that would be fun, and I decided we should frost sugar cookies!

The night started with dinner: french dip, corn on the cob and fruit salad. It was all very tasty. Then we looked at some photos while we let dinner settle. A bit later we broke out the frosting and went to town.

And look at all our beautiful creations!

Our Tree is Finally a Home

2011-06-06T21:32:00.000-06:00

It's been several years since we planted it, but this spring our scarlet hawthorn finally has a resident, hopefully with more to come!

Memorial Day in Moab

2011-06-02T23:49:00.000-06:00

At the last minute we decided to go to Moab for the weekend. We wanted to see Pat's grandpa because we don't get the chance very often, and it didn't hurt that we would be escaping some nasty weather too. We decided to take the jeep just in case we got a chance to hit a trail, but we really didn't think we would be able to. We would be staying with Pat's aunt and uncle, who own the ice business in town. As you can imagine, there is a large demand for ice on Memorial Day weekend, so we didn't expect to see much of them.

We left bright and early Saturday morning and arrived at about 11. There wasn't anyone at the house, so we went down and found Grandpa in his trailer. He took us over to the ice plant for a tour because we hadn't seen the new buildings yet. Afterwards, he drove us down to the Arts Festival that was at the city park that weekend. We had a nice afternoon checking out the booths and enjoying ribbon fries with nacho cheese and homemade ice cream - a very nutritious lunch. I found a couple of things to bring home with me - a silk scarf died with all natural dyes, and a ceramic hummingbird glazed with super bright colors that will be right at home in my kitchen. I will have to post pics later.

After we were done in town we headed back to the house and planned on spending the afternoon relaxing in the warmth. Shortly after we got there, one of Pat's cousin's friends who was also visiting for the weekend popped his head in the house and invited us to go hit a trail with him and some of his friends that afternoon. We were excited to get to go out, so we got ready right away and tagged along with the group. The trail we did is named Steel Bender, and now for lots of pictures:

The whole group starting out.

Choosing the best path.

The biggest obstacle on the trail. Most of the guys took a couple of tries to get up,

but Pat crawled right up without even squeaking a tire.

Our traffic director.

Just headed down the trail.

Coming off a fin.

The next day was almost a repeat. Hung out at the house in the morning, and hit another trail in the afternoon. This time it was just us and our new-found friends in a Rhino they borrowed from Pat's cousin. This day we did Kane's Creek Canyon. It was made even more enjoyable because our weather was sunny and mid 80s, and back home it was cold and snowy!

The first challenge on the trail. This wasn't very hard, but it was a bit nerve-wracking

because you are on an angle leaning towards a steep 60 foot drop.

Coming down another steep section, only to have to go up the other side.

This was probably the toughest section of trail, only because there were large boulders

on both sides and the Jeep almost didn't fit down the middle. At one point our rear

fender was resting on the rock to the left, but we made it through without any damage.

Once the trail finally drops down to the bottom of the canyon, you follow the creek

for several miles, and cross it dozens of times.

Cooling off toes in the clean, clear water.

A lot of the trail was going straight up the creek.

It was so pretty and green, especially compared to most of the Moab scenery.

Our new trail buddies - Greg & Karen. Amazingly enough, they live about 10 minutes from our house.

Aren't we so cute? This was a nice shady overhang in the rock.

Beautiful view of the creek as we start to climb back out of the canyon.

Around this spot we did manage to tag our steering stabilizer shock on a rock just

enough to dent it and pop the seal, so all the fluid leaked out. One part to replace...

One more stop to play in the water and see this cute little waterfall hiding behind a boulder.

The waterfall is in the hole to the left. I climbed down it just for fun.

One more steep climb. I was walking it so I could spot if needed.

Really cool half-tunnel of rock. This little creek was much bigger sometime in the past.

One more big obstacle, just for fun. We could have gone around, but where's the challenge in that?

View from the other side. It was a tall one! He did eventually make it up.

Sometimes our longer wheelbase helps, but in this case it made it more difficult.

That night Pat's aunt cooked us the most amazing ribs for our Memorial Day BBQ. There were several salads and corn on the cob to go with. We all stuffed ourselves and then sat outside and talked until bedtime. It really was a fantastic weekend. We're planning to try and make it back in the fall when the relatives might have a bit more free time to join us.

After all that fun, problems were bound to crop up. We started home Monday morning and things were looking just fine. We stopped to say goodbye to everyone and made one stop in town to get new trail stickers to add to the collection on the side of the jeep. Then we stopped in Green River for gas and overheard some other travelers talking about the traffic in Utah County. Apparently the freeway was completely stopped due to holiday traffic and reduced lanes from construction. I was a little worried about that anyway, so when we heard them talking we decided to try a detour. There is a dirt road that leaves Hwy 6 and heads north over the mountain to Strawberry Reservoir. We knew it existed but had never been on it. We didn't know if it would be open or not, but we decided to check it out. We had plenty of time, so ever if we had to turn around we decided it would be a fun side adventure.

The first section of road was paved, all the way until the strawberry turnoff. At the turnoff there was a sign saying that the road was closed due to snow. We looked at the mountains and they were relatively free of snow. We wondered if they just hadn't sent someone up to check it for a while, so we decided to keep going and see what we could see. Besides, the jeep can go through more snow than your average vehicle, and we have the winch to help us out if we need it. We went for quite a ways without seeing any snow on the road at all. Then we passed a couple tiny patches that probably melted within a few days. Then we found the five foot tall snow drift that was blocking almost the entire road. There was a truck parked at the edge of the snow, and footprints headed away from it. No other sign of the occupants at all.

We stopped the jeep and got out for a bit to let the dogs run and see if there was any way we could get around the snow. We finally decided that we were going to have to turn back. We got in the jeep and went to start it, and nothing. Pat checked the battery and it was showing totally dead. We have no idea how that happened since we hadn't had any issues, and it had started without any problems at least three times already that day. We were parked on a hill, so Pat decided to try and pop the clutch to get it started. It was going to be a bit tricky because it would have to be in reverse, but it was worth a shot.

Just as we were about to give it a shot, Damage started making pukey noises in the back of the jeep. I jumped out and got him out in time for him to puke up a huge ball of grass. Stupid dog. I swear he thinks he's a cow.

We finally got situated and got the jeep rolling. Pat tried to pop the clutch three times without success. After that we were at the bottom of the hill and there was nowhere else to go. My map showed that we were probably only a mile from the top of the mountain and I figured we were likely to get cell signal there. Just before we decided to get moving, it started snowing on us. Lots of giant, hard, almost hail-like snow. And one of the jeep's windows was stuck down halfway so it was blowing right in. Pat got a blanket thrown over the door so that we didn't get the interior soaked, and we settled in to wait for the snow to die down a bit.

Just as the snow was slowing, the occupants of the truck came around the corner. We were able to get a jump from them, and the jeep started just fine. We were finally able to head down the mountain and continue our journey home. When we got down to Spanish Fork we took Hwy 89 until we found an auto parts store. We stopped in and Pat grabbed a guy to test our battery and alternator. As we were waiting, Damage started hoarking again, so I hurried and got him out of the jeep and let him puke on the rocks next to the parking lot as the friendly employee gave me a funky look. Sorry, dude. Better than in my car. The battery and alternator tested just fine, so we still have no idea what caused it to randomly die on us.

Since we finally had cell signal I checked traffic and discovered that the freeway was moving just fine now, so we headed that direction. A few blocks down the road there was a very nasty odor emanating from the rear of the jeep. We pulled into a parking lot to investigate and discovered that Damage had diarreahhed all over the place. It was one side of the jeep to the other. Luckily we had let Zoe up into the back seat earlier because he was hogging all the room, so she stayed clean. There wasn't really much we could do - nowhere to stop and try to clean it, so we rolled down our windows and turned up the heater. It was a miserable drive back on the freeway with the cold and the wind and the stench.

We finally arrived home hours after we were planning to, and immediately got to work cleaning out the jeep. Luckily the carpet in Wranglers comes out completely and pretty easily, and is fairly easy to wash. The subwoofer was not so lucky. It was bad enough we had to spray into the box, which then ruined the paper cone speaker. Just one more thing to add to the list I guess. Damage got a bath of his own on the front lawn with chilly water from the hose. He usually gets a bath in the tub with nice warm water, and he did not like the cold one bit. Too bad dude! No way do you get to come in the house covered in poop.

After everything was clean we got to take a shower ourselves, then fall into a stupor in front of the TV. Sometimes things are just too perfect and karma has to even it out. Here's hoping that we don't have a drive quite that bad again.

May Book List

2011-06-01T00:00:00.021-06:00

This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost - 357 pages
Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher - 404 pages
Steel by Carrie Vaughn - 287 pages
Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris - 293 pages
White Night by Jim Butcher - 404 pages
Lover Unleashed by JR Ward - 489 pages

TOTAL - 6 Books - 2,234 pages

Steel and This Side of the Grave were just okay. They weren't bad enough to stop reading, but they aren't anything I would recommend, which is a shame.

The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher keeps getting better and better. It won't be long before I'm caught up and have to wait a year or more to get the next book.

I really love the Southern Vampire books by Charlaine Harris, so I thought I would try her other series. It was really good too! Not quite as addictive, but I definitely want to continue the series.

The big read of the month was Lover Unleashed. It's been out for over a month but I didn't get on the library's waiting list soon enough and it has taken way too long to be my turn. It was such a great book! Of all the paranormal romance series out there, this one is my favorite. I like how over time the books have shifted from majorly focusing on one couple to including a bit of info for all the characters, though I am starting to miss the characters we got to know first. They haven't had much of a storyline in the last few installments.

Mother's Day

2011-05-15T22:01:00.002-06:00

I was so proud of myself this year. I actually made Mother's Day presents for my mom and mom-in-law. For my MIL I made a couple of pillow covers. I had actually planned on doing this project last year, but I couldn't find the right fabrics and then I procrastinated and things just took too long. This year I got it done on schedule.

The flower pillow was super quick and easy, but the ship pillow with a border gave me a few issues. I understand all the basics of piecing from watching my mom quilt while I was growing up, but since I don't sew very often it isn't second nature to me. I ended up with some fabric miscalculations, some measuring miscalculations, and had hubby help me out by ripping some seams out (twice). It all turned out okay in the end though and they both turned out looking good.

My mom loves everything wooly, so I started with these felted wool balls I found on Etsy. I just loved the colors, and that each one was unique.

I glued a bunch to a ping pong ball to make a bigger ball she can throw in a bowl or sit on a shelf.

And then I strung a whole bunch on a string to make a garland she can hang however she wants.

It turned out looking pretty good! Some of the colors are a bit brighter than she usually has in her house, but hopefully they will blend in okay.

Burton Family Trip

2011-05-03T00:00:00.004-06:00

My dad's family went on a Burton Boys trip almost every year since I was little, usually camping in Southern Utah. There were a few years missed due to scheduling conflicts and/or illness, and then my grandpa passed away a year and a half ago and that hit everyone pretty hard. This year my dad decided that we needed to get the tradition going again and planned a trip.

I decided that the trip was not just for boys anymore and joined in, even though I was the only girl to do so. I'm pretty used to being around just boys - for some reason I end up being the only girl fairly often. Sadly a lot of people that were planning to go couldn't make it because of work and other conflicts, but we ended up with my dad, two uncles, my brother, Pat and me. It was great to get to spend some time with everyone, but especially my uncle who was visiting from New York. We don't get to see him very often anymore.

We went down by Hite Marina on Lake Powell. There is one dirt road that takes off of UT-95 between the Dirty Devil River and the Colorado River and heads North. We took that road and went about nine miles until we found a place to set up camp.

This first day we drove out to an overlook of the Maze area of Canyonlands National Park. It was a longer drive than we were expecting and took all day to drive there and back. I've never been in the Maze, but my dad has and even he didn't realize just how huge it was. Twisty, winding canyons went on for as far as the eye could see. It looked like a fantastic place to spend a week exploring with a pack on your back.

We took our group shot at the overlook. A pretty good-looking bunch if I do say so myself.

When we woke up on day two, it was pouring. We used most of our gas on the first day, so we decided to go get gas while it was raining anyway. On our way back to the main road it started raining even harder than it had been, and hailing too. There were rivers and streams popping up out of nowhere, and hundreds of waterfalls coming down the cliffs. Whole sections of road turned into riverbed, but luckily nothing we couldn't just drive through.

We didn't realize that Hite Marina (about 10 miles away) still had gas pumps open, so we ended up driving 50 miles back to Hanksville to fill up. It wasn't a total loss since we finally got to see some sunshine. On our way back to camp the rain had mostly tapered off, but we spotted this huge waterfall across the gorge from us.

And when we got back to camp there was a mini-waterfall just up the wash.

After lunch the sun came out, so we decided to take the opportunity to explore the ravine a ways below camp. It was pretty easy to find a path down, and once at the bottom it was a nice flat riverbed. There was still a small stream running through it from the morning's rain, so we stripped off our shoes and had some fun.

Just upstream a ways the stream was pouring over a giant boulder that had gotten wedged in a crack, so we turned around and headed downstream. It went for a mile or so when we suddenly came upon a 50 foot waterfall that went into an even deeper section of canyon. We turned around at that point and headed back to camp. The dogs make me nervous around cliffs like that.

The stream was so muddy from the runoff that is stained our feet red.

Luckily there was a smaller stream coming down a side canyon with mostly clear water so that we could wash off.

It started to rain on our hike back to camp, so we got some rain protection set up as fast as we could, and got dinner going. We spent a lot of time wearing ponchos and lots of layers of clothing.

On our third and last full day we decided to go for a hike on the Sundance Trail. We had to drive a little way to get to the trailhead since it was on the other side of the Colorado. The trail is pretty easy for the first couple of miles, then it turns straight down a canyon wall to reach the bottom of the canyon. You basically had to scramble over boulders the entire way down. It dropped 1100 feet in a mile. There was no possible way the dogs could do that section, so we let my dad and brother continue on (my uncles had gone on a drive to another destination) and we turned back.

Once back we used our couple of free hours to drive further out of the road and see what we could see. The answer? Not much, but it did get higher in altitude and more forested. Still very pretty scenery. We got back to the trailhead to wait for the boys to return, and not three minutes later they reach the top of the trail. Perfect timing!

Even though it was very rainy and not as warm as we were hoping for, we still had a fantastic time. I can't wait to get out and do more camping this summer.

April Book List

2011-05-01T16:32:00.000-06:00

So this is really pathetic, but I only read two books this month. In my defense, one of them was over 800 pages on its own, but it's still only half as much as I read in a normal month. I guess I must have been busy. I did have quite the stressful week at work, and then we went camping for almost a week and I didn't get a chance to read much during those times.

A Rush of Wings by Adrian Phoenix - 399 pages
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin - 806 pages
TOTAL - 2 Books - 1,205 pages

I wanted to read A Game of Thrones because of the HBO show that started this month, but I haven't been into really long fantasies for a while so I kept putting it off. I finally started it and it really sucked me in, but I still had to return it to the library before I was done with it. I ended up downloading it and reading it on our Nook Color. Using the Nook for reading is okay, but I still prefer a real book. It is perfect for comic books and graphic novels though.

Spring Decor

2011-04-05T00:00:00.000-06:00

As you could probably tell, I was very excited to decorate for Valentine's Day this year. I haven't really been excited about decorating since then, so my red, pink and white stayed up until this weekend. I finally decided that since it's April, I probably ought to change it up. Luckily, that was easy to do! I decided to leave up all my tissue paper poofs and switch my paper lanterns from red to turquoise. Instant transformation to springtime!

I do think that I need to add some green and/or yellow also.

I also brought out my cute purple flower in a book vase that my mom made for me, and the yellow and green spring-y looking birds that my sister painted and gave me.

Now I just want something on my front door. There are so many ideas out there in blogland that I don't know where to start or what to choose.

March Book List

2011-04-03T00:00:00.000-06:00

Speaking of books, I just realized I hadn't posted this yet. I had a bit more time for reading this month, and hopefully that keep up because I now have quite a pile to get through, plus all the new releases I have on hold at the library.

I have to say that this month's books were some of the best I've read in a while. The series' from Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs and J.F. Lewis just keep getting better. Enemy Within is the first scifi romance book I've read and I have to say that I like the idea, but there wasn't quite enough romance for it to fit in that category.

Enemy Within by Marcella Burnard - 342 pages
The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card - 378 pages
Dead Beat by Jim Butcher - 513 pages
Blood Cross by Faith Hunter - 321 pages
River Marked by Patricia Briggs - 326 pages
Pale Demon by Kim Harrison - 439 pages
Crossed by J.F. Lewis - 405 pages

TOTAL - 7 Books - 2,384 pages

New Books

2011-04-02T14:15:00.001-06:00

I just traded in my whole Robert Jordan collection and my Christmas gift certificate and got a whole new bunch of lovely books. I'm so excited! The kitties seem quite interested as well.

Our Saturday

2011-03-20T22:04:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago I was looking around the internet trying to find cheap things to do, and I discovered that the Utah Museum of Fine Arts has a free day every third Saturday. Last week was the day, so hubby and I trekked down to Salt Lake. We aren't usually museum type people, but it was still fun. These were Pat's favorites:

And these were my favorites:

After the museum we drove around the Avenues. We just haven't spend much time there, and I love looking at old houses. Then we went down to Gateway and ate dinner at Z'Tejas. I had shredded beef rellenos and their signature mojitos and they were delish. Then we had an hour or so to kill at the mall, where I wandered around stores like Anthropologie, Forever 21, and Urban Outfitters that we don't have up north. I didn't find anything to buy though.

Finally it was time to go to our concert - the other reason we were in SLC that day. We finally got to see Lady Gaga! I bought tickets ten months ago and it has taken forever to get here. Scissor Sisters opened and they are an awesome band I discovered a year or so ago. They played my favorite song, Any Which Way, which was so much fun. Then we had to wait an hour for Lady Gaga to come on, which was irritating, but at least she put on a good show once it finally started. I am a big fan of it actually being a show, not just a concert. I was also impressed with the message she tried to put across: believe in yourself, love yourself, and accept other for who they are too.

All in all it was a great day, especially since we have been low on funds and haven't had a chance to get out much lately.

First Hike

2011-03-14T20:47:00.001-06:00

The weather has been showing us some wonderful glimpses of Spring lately. On Saturday we decided that it was time to hit the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for our first hike of the year. Yes, there is still lots of snow, but it wasn't too bad. Our neighbor, her sister, and her dog joined us for the adventure.

The view behind:

The view ahead:

The view of us girls struggling to make it up the hill:

And finally, the view of the dogs trying to cool off:

The dogs had tons of fun getting to be wild for a bit. They chased each other all over the mountain. They did get baths when we got home though. Mud and horse manure does not make for clean pups.

February Book List

2011-03-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

Alien Tango by Gini Koch - 428 pages
Skinwalker by Faith Hunter - 320 pages
Pegasus by Robin McKinley - 404 pages
Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning - 594 pages
Bloodshot by Cherie Priest - 359 pages

TOTAL - 5 Books - 2,105 Pages

I had been impatiently waiting for Shadowfever for over a year. It is the last book in one of my favorite series, and it was so much fun. I will miss reading about the characters, but hopefully the author has something equally amazing in the works.

I also really loved Pegasus. I have been a bit burned out by YA fiction lately, but Robin McKinley has been a favorite for a long time so I picked it up. I am so glad I did! The story sucked me right it. She usually only writes stand alone novels, so that's what I was expecting here, but it is definitely to-be-continued.

I liked Cherie Priest's Bloodshot much better than her steampunk series, The Clockwork Century. I just seemed to care more about the main character. I will be waiting for the next book in this series.

My library just barely got in Skinwalker, the first book in the Jane Yellowrock series. I have heard good things, so I was excited to try it out. The story got a bit dull for me in a few spots, but overall was a fun Urban Fantasy adventure.

And last, but not least, were the crazy shenanigans in Alien Tango. I have heard that this series is laugh-out-loud funny, but it doesn't stick me that way for the most part. It is fun to see what the author comes up with, but it requires much suspension of disbelief on my part.

Game Night

2011-02-27T16:07:00.001-07:00

We have started hosting a game night at our house almost every Saturday night. It has been tons of fun, and we've had a great time hanging out with friends both old and new.

We've come to enjoy playing games that are a little off the beaten path. Last night we started with Killer Bunnies. In the middle of the game, our table looked like this:

Yes, there is a lot going on, but it is pretty easy to get the hang of it after you play a game or two. The gist is that you try to keep your bunnies alive while collecting carrots and killing off everyone else's bunnies. The game pretty much always gets heated, and someone usually gets offended by someone else killing their bunny.

The best part, though, is how you win. One of the carrots is randomly selected as the winner, so no matter how you play, the winner is completely up in the air. The game is all for the fun of it!

Midway Ice Castles

2011-02-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one who hasn't heard about these? Or are they a well-kept secret? I totally want to check them out!

Brent's Ice Castle

Reading Dilemma

2011-02-19T00:00:00.003-07:00

My library shelf is full, all the books are due fairly soon, and I can't renew most of them because other people have holds. I hate it when this happens!

Pat's Birthday - Year 29!

2011-02-17T21:39:00.001-07:00

Only one more year and it's a new decade... it's like we're getting old! We had lots of fun for his birthday this year. Saturday we had a party with friends, Sunday we had dinner with his parents, Monday was just for us, and Wednesday we had dinner with my family. He was actually really surprised by his present from me this year. I got one of his favorite photos that he has taken printed on canvas wrapped around a nice thick frame.

It's kind of like a present for me too because now I get to decorate around it! We hung it on the wall next to the front door after taking down the stick wreath that was only there to take up wall space. It's hard to tell in this picture, but it's a large 20x30 inch print so it really stands out.

Red, Pink & White

2011-02-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

This project has made the biggest impact, but was so easy. I used some of the red lanterns I bought for my sister's baby shower and added tissue paper flowers in pink and white. The biggest issue was getting the ladder in the house so I could reach the ceiling.

More Valentine Decor

2011-02-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more projects I've been working on. First, I made a pillow! I bought the love birds fabric last year because it was too cute to pass up, but I didn't ever decide what to do with it until now. I made it an envelope style pillow case so that I can take the cover off and it will use less storage space, plus I can use the pillow form for other holidays too! I cut out a felt heart and stitched it on with a blanket stitch. It was my first real attempt at applique and it wasn't as bad as I thought. The stitches are a little uneven, but at least they're pretty symmetrical left to right.

Next up is my little side table display. (I really want a console table by my entry for this kind of stuff. Maybe I'll get lucky at a thrift store one day.) I pretty much grabbed all the red hardback books out of my bookshelf to use for stacking. The book of the left with the lovey couple is the back of Little Women. Then I added a candlestick with a giant diamond on top.

The XO I bought at Joann, but decoupaged the scrapbook paper on myself (first time with Mod Podge too!)

I made the framed art myself also. I just took two pages out of an old paperback book, and added cut out cardstock heart. Easy peasy!

Next up, a whole row of prints. I made two of the book/heart pages, so there's another one of those. The rest are all printouts I found on various blogs. I attached them all to a piece of ribbon.

Whew! That was a lot. Still a few more to come!

Happy Chinese New Year!

2011-02-05T18:41:00.028-07:00

Thursday we decided to celebrate by making Chinese food from scratch. We have tried it before, without much success, but we have learned a lot about cooking since then and figured we would give it another go. Happily, everything turned out fantastic!

Sadly, I forgot to take pictures. So I am borrowing the pics from Allrecipes, where I got the recipes from in the first place. Click on a photo and it will take to the recipe page. We made:

Kung Pao Chicken

Chicken Fried Rice

Egg Rolls

Fortune Cookies

(well, more like fortune pancakes, but they still tasted good)

Everything was delicious and we ate way too much. After dinner we celebrated by lighting fireworks (since it's one of the four times per year fireworks are legal).

It took a really long time to cook everything since we didn't really know what we were doing, but it should be much easier next time. I think we may have a new tradition here. Did you do anything fun?

Valentine Yarn Wreath

2011-02-04T18:30:00.001-07:00

I have been working on several projects for Valentine's Day. I was going to make one giant post out of them, but some are taking longer to finish than I planned. I decided I will just share them as I get them done and get photos taken.

I've seen lots of yarn wreaths around blogland and I think they are so cute, I had to make my own! This was also my first time making felt flowers, and they were way easier than I was expecting.

Pretty cute, right? I feel so much more crafty than usual lately. It must be because I can finally get to my stuff now that the spare room is clean.

Vases

2011-02-02T19:00:00.001-07:00

Remember the vases I had on the shelf above my stairs? Maybe this will refresh your memory:

Well, I finally figured out something to do with them. I reused the paper pinwheels that I made for my sister's baby shower. I think they look really cute!

It's nice to have a bit of color down there.

January Book List

2011-02-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Leviathan by Scott Westerfield - 434 pages
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer - 178 pages
Behemoth by Scott Westerfield - 481 pages
Blood Rites by Jim Butcher - 372 pages
The Broken Kingdoms by NK Jemisin - 384 pages
Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch - 389 pages

TOTAL - 6 Books - 2,238 pages

The Broken Kingdoms was my favorite book of the month. This series sucks you in and doesn't let you go.

Special Grandma

2011-01-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

Patrick's Grandma Belle passed away a couple of weeks ago. It's hard having her gone, but I know it was best for her. We were asked to put together a photo memorial for the funeral, so we spent a lot of time going through her old photo albums.

She was a beautiful lady. She is smiling in pretty much every picture, and always looks like she's having a good time. In fact, we noticed quite a few similarities to our own photos - boating, camping, and partying seem to be the main themes. She is wearing a bikini a lot!

I'm sad that I didn't think to go through them while she was there to give me the stories behind them all, but I still feel closer to her for having seen them. There are lots of great images, but my favorite of them all is this one:

I can tell how much they loved each other, and it makes me want to make sure that we will have the same thing in our lives. I'm sad that Grandpa Bud passed away so young and that I never got to meet him.

It makes it easier knowing how much she loved us, and wanted us to be happy. She tended to spoil us in every way she could. Pat complained all the time that she liked me better than him! I'm very glad that we got a few extra weeks after her seizure, as hard as they were for her and us.

Book List - November, December, and 2010 Totals

2011-01-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize until today that I never posted my November book list. Of course that's a good thing because it means I can post about more today then the two books I managed to read in December. It has just been a really crazy month. Jim was in town for two weekends of the month, and the other two were full of birthday and Christmas festivities, plus we've been spending a lot of time visiting Grandma Belle. Weekends seem to be the time I catch up on everything, and I just haven't had any weekend time to spare.

After work we've been doing the bare minimum to keep our house livable, and trying to relax a little. We've become slightly addicted to the show How I Met Your Mother. We just started watching it a few weeks ago, and we finished season five this morning. We have half of season six to watch and then we are caught up with what is currently airing. I'm not sure how we will manage having to wait for the show to air since we have become used to watching about six episodes per day. At least we might get our butts off the couch and do something.

Anyway, back on topic, here's the books I read in November:

On the Edge by Ilona Andrews - 309 pages
Intrigues by Mercedes Lackey - 328 pages
Dreadnought by Cherie Priest - 400 pages
Dark Desires After Dusk by Kresley Cole - 368 pages

TOTAL - 4 books - 1,405 pages

December:

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - 850 pages
Midnight Brunch by Marta Acosta - 327 pages

TOTAL - 2 books - 1,177 pages

2010 TOTALS:
75 Books (Average of 1 book every 4.87 days)
26,885 Pages (Average of 74 pages per day)

I read 38% less this year than I did last year by page count. That seems like quite a drop, but it does seem like I have been much busier this year compared to last year. It also seems like I have been spending more of my free time watching TV, playing games, and reading blogs. Maybe that will change this year, maybe not. I guess we will see what the year brings.

My Talented Family

2010-12-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

Three of my family members gave me handmade gifts this year, and they are some of my favorite presents ever!

For my birthday my sister made this very cute zippered pouch:

And then for Christmas my brother made me a letter C to add to my collection. He designed, cut, welded and painted it himself.

And my mom made a whole bunch of adorable pillows. The flower pillow is my absolute favorite!

All these mean so much more to me since I know they spent so much time on them. Thank you all!

My Birthday

2010-12-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

My birthday was last weekend. I am now 28! I got to do fun stuff all weekend. Saturday morning while out doing some normal grocery/pet food shopping, Pat stopped at a game store and I got to pick out a new game for my party that evening.

Pat made beef stew with home-baked bread (from the freezer) for dinner, and his parents and Brent & Megan came over. Dinner was delicious, and Megan made some awesome giant red velvet cupcakes for dessert. Pat's parents gave me $50 to add to my $100 RC Willey gift card so that I can buy the Kinect that I want (just as soon as they get one in).

After dinner Pat's parents left to let us kids play, so we broke out my new game: Pirate's Cove. It is made by the same people as Ticket to Ride, which is a game we really love, and the game store owner said that they guarantee you will like it or you can get your money back. It was quite complicated to start from scratch and figure out what we were doing.

By the time we got everything set up, my brother and Liz & Aaron had showed up, so we decided to take a break and play Rock Band instead so we could switch out and everyone could play. Liz & Aaron had to leave early because of work, so after they left we started playing Pirate's Cove. We finally got the (basic) hang of it, and had a good time while we were at it.

By the time the game was over it was pretty late, so Brent & Megan headed home too. Since it was so late, I decided to make a run to Wal-Mart while it was mostly empty. I had been looking for some light green shatterproof ornaments and hadn't been able to find them anywhere else. They did have some, so maybe I will finally get around to putting up a Christmas tree...

Sunday morning (after sleeping in a while) we went up the the hospital to visit Grandma Belle and meet Pat's parents. After the hospital we went to TGI Fridays for lunch, and then went shopping. They wanted to get us stuff for Christmas, and stuff from Grandma Belle for my birthday. It was lots of fun having a girl to shop with while the boys sat and waited and carried out bags. Plus spending someone else's money is always more fun!

We ended our afternoon with one more trip to the hospital to show Grandma what she bought for me. Then we had to get home and let the pups out before heading to my parents' house for dinner.

We had a usual Sunday dinner at my parents': roast beef, veggies, rolls, and LOTS of mashed potatoes with gravy (the best part). After dinner we played chickenfoot, which we apparently hadn't taught my family before.

Then we took a little break to eat dessert and open presents! My sister made me crepes for dessert, by my request. They were delicious.

Then it was present time. I had already seen a few presents because my mom made me try on some shirts so she knew they fit. I also picked out a hat while I was shopping with her at Gardner Village. But, she also gave me a Fiesta brand tablecloth that perfectly matches my kitchen (bright stripes), and some ceramic pie weights for baking pie crust shells. I am excited to try them out.

My sister gave me an adorable little zippered pouch that she made herself! I was so proud. Plus some cute little birds that she painted yellow and green instead of the boring black they were to begin with.

The only downside to the entire weekend is that I started to get a cold Saturday night. My throat started hurting, and then Sunday it got worse and my nose got stuffy. Monday (when I am writing this) my throat was better, but I left work after half a day because I was so miserable. I've been sneezing and sniffling all day. I've been taking medicine, but I don't think it is helping very much. It stinks not being able to give Grandma a kiss or play with my nephew. Hopefully it will be a fast one and will be gone before this weekend.

Sickness aside, I really enjoyed my birthday weekend this year!

Persimmons

2010-12-15T00:00:00.026-07:00

In a Bountiful Basket I got a few weeks ago they gave us about half a dozen persimmons. I had never eaten one before, and had to look up what they even were. When they came, they were quite hard, but I put them in my kitchen window for a while and they softened up. When I finally ate one, I was in heaven. It was delicious!

The next time I ordered a Basket, they had an option to purchase an entire case of persimmons, so I did! I found all sort of great recipes to try with them. Cookies, bread, cake, pie, smoothies, you name it. I did eat one of them hard, and decided that they are much better when soft.

The first recipe I tried was a persimmon pie for early Thanksgiving (the Saturday before because my grandma was leaving on a cruise). It turned out pretty good. The flavor was nice, but they were still a bit too crunchy for my taste.

Second was a persimmon birthday cake for my sister-in-law's birthday. It was very dense, but still tasty, with cream cheese frosting. It uses a puree of the fruit, not chunks. My niece came over and helped me decorate.

I still have most of the case that I need to get canned or frozen, but they are all still good and hard and seem to be lasting. Hopefully I will have a little free time soon.

Grandma Belle

2010-12-13T17:05:00.003-07:00

Joey & Carl (Pat's parents) with Grandma Belle (Joey's mom):

Sorry for being gone so long. It has gotten a little crazy around our house lately.

On Thanksgiving morning Pat's grandma had a seizure that was pretty serious, so we've been spending some quality time at the hospital. Luckily she was staying at Stef's (Pat's sister) house so that there was someone there to call the ambulance, or we would have lost her. She normally lives by herself.

They had to put her on a ventilator in order for her to breathe. She was in a deep coma for a day or so, then was awake enough that she was able to wink at us and squeeze our hands. It was pretty scary to see her like that.

Pat's parents drove all the way up from Yuma, AZ in one day to be with her. Once everyone was here, the decision was made to take out her breathing tube so that she could actually talk to us and tell us what she wanted. Once the tube was out, she started breathing just fine on her own and didn't need it anymore.

The doctors did lots of test and scans, and determined that she has a cancerous brain tumor. She elected to have brain surgery to try and remove the tumor. It took them several days to get the equipment to the hospital for the surgery. In the meantime, they discharged her from the hospital and sent her back to Stef's house for a few days.

She won't be able to live on her own ever again, and she is not very happy about it. There is a nice new assisted living facility near Stef's house, so she got a room all set up there and had a chance to get used to it for a few days before going back to the hospital for the surgery.

When they did the surgery, they determined that the cancer had spread enough that they would not be able to remove it, but it did seem to relieve the pressure on her brain a bit. They said no chemo for her, but that radiation is an option if she wants to look into it. She hasn't decided anything yet. She is just trying to get strong enough to leave the hospital again.

Her memory seems to be the thing most affected by the tumor, but in mostly minor ways (like not remembering a certain word). We thought we were going to lose her right after Thanksgiving, so we are very grateful that we get some more time with her, however long that might be.

We love you Grandma!

Friday Photo

2010-11-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

I found this on Pat's camera from a couple of weeks ago. I just really love the way it came out!

2010 Annual Pumpkin Shoot

2010-11-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

We had a much bigger turn out for the pumpkin shoot this year than we usually get. It made for tons of fun though! Even though we had to wade through thick, slippery mud. It was also freezing cold, but we all made it through somehow.

It was really good to get out shooting. We don't get to very often anymore because the price of ammo has gone up so much. We really appreciate all the friends & family who drove up clear from Salt Lake to come with us. Hopefully we can do more together sometime!

We stopped at The Pie on the way home for some lunch. Pat and Brent ran in in socks since their shoes were all muddy.

(PS. I still feel embarrassed about screwing up Justin's name. Sorry. Again. :/ )

Jezebel is a Cross Dresser!

2010-11-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago were in Salt Lake helping Pat's grandma out with a few things around the house. We were in the Jeep on our way to Lowe's when somebody rear-ended us. There was a lot more damage to her little Rav-4 than our Jeep, but she did completely mangle the tire carrier and mess up the rear bumper a bit.

Since we wanted to upgrade those parts eventually anyway, we figured that now was the time. We took it to the insurance's body shop and got an estimate, which the insurance sent us a check for right away. We did a lot of research online and finally found a set of parts that would work for us, that was also in our price range.

After doing a bit more digging online, we found the same parts at another site for quite a bit cheaper. Then I found a coupon code for 15% off, and then we found out that the manufacturer was offering a rebate. With all the discounts we had quite a bit of money left over, so we decided to buy a matching front bumper too! We ended up putting only $140 towards the whole purchase out of our own pockets.

It took about three weeks for the parts to actually get delivered. Pat and my brother spent one night getting everything put together, and now it looks great! Here's Jezebel with her new manly accessories:

Nice and tough looking now, right? Really, they will be much nicer all around for our four-wheeling adventures. Plus having the weight of the tire off the gate and on the frame will help with things rattling. Now we just need to get out and use them!

New Blog Venture

2010-11-09T21:57:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to do a lot to expand my wardrobe lately. Not just buying new things, but trying to mix up the items I already own to be a little more creative. I used to just throw on slacks and a sweater and call myself fit for the office, but that has gotten a bit dull.

I started a new blog to track all of my outfits, more for myself than anybody else. Hopefully I can also learn from the experience, and see in my photos which shapes and colors work for me and which don't. However, the fashion blogging community is huge and I think it would be fun to interact with a few other like-minded souls now and again.

I know that a lot of people won't care, or don't have time to look, and that is totally okay with me. But, if you are interested in seeing what I come up with, come check it out! I would love to see what you guys come up with too, if you are up to the challenge.

New Office

2010-11-04T11:53:00.006-06:00

Here are some photos of my new office. I don't really think the decorations I had in my old office are going to match, so I need to figure out something else. Guess I will be searching my house for things that will work, and searching online for (cheap) ideas. If anybody has seen something cute, please let me know!

October Book List

2010-11-02T00:00:00.000-06:00

In October I was on waiting lists at the library for about a dozen books. They all came in at the same time, and several were only two week lends. I managed to stuff in a lot of reading, but there are still many more books I have to fit in this month as well.

Changeless by Gail Carriger - 374 pages
Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews - 310 pages
Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews - 349 pages
Blameless by Gail Carriger - 355 pages
Death Masks by Jim Butcher - 374 pages
Masques by Patricia Briggs - 294 pages
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvanter - 390 pages
Linger by Maggie Stiefvanter - 360 pages
Crave by JR Ward - 454 pages

TOTAL - 9 books - 3,260 pages

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:27:00.000-06:00

We attended one party at a friend's house, and had our annual party this year as well. They were both tons of fun! We thought about wearing different costumes for each, but weren't ambitious enough to get around to it.

Yummy food: cheddar beer fondue (with bread, apples, and pretzels fr dipping), chocolate covered pretzels, and white chocolate popcorn

Jae as Black Widow

Bunny Megan , Ugly Betty Megan, and 80's nerd Ashlee (sans prom dress)

School Girl Me and Naughty Professor Patrick

The whole party at Jae's house.

Change

2010-10-25T17:55:00.000-06:00

I am starting a new job tomorrow. It scares me. A lot. I have been with the same company for four years now - the longest I have ever stayed at a job.

Many changes have happened over the years at my job. My boss was laid off. Our company was bought out by a giant corporation. Laws and rules became more strict. Our company started requiring that we take days off without pay (or by using our vacation time).

The market has slowly declined in that time. Since my job is rather directly tied to real estate, it has affected me a lot, and business has slowed. The company has generally provided a marketer to help us grow our business, but as budgets got tight, we were left without. I haven't gotten business from new clients for many months.

I was contacted by some great people at a competing company hoping to steal me away to grow their business in my area. I really didn't want to leave my friends and coworkers. I've gotten to know almost everyone in the company and they are all wonderful people. However, I felt like I was not been given the help I needed to grow, and if things were stagnant, soon there would be nothing left at all.

I feel blessed because people have recruited me for the last three jobs I have had. It makes me feel like people value me and my skills. I do try to do the best I can with what I have been given, especially because all I have is a high school education, though I hope to change that in the future.

I have enjoyed talking to the people at my new company because they are so positive and energetic. I hope that it is what I need to start loving my job again, instead of just trying to make it through.

I hope that this was the right decision; that it will lead me to the future I want to make. I am constantly worried about our future. How can we start a family when so much is uncertain? Have we wasted the last eight years of our lives? Should we sell everything and start over? Is that even possible?

I hope I can find the answers soon.

October Family Night

2010-10-13T00:00:00.000-06:00

My mom and dad were in charge of family night this month. They got the idea from my cousin (thanks Melissa!) to play games from the TV show "Minute to Win It". We didn't have a lot of time that day, but we had dinner and got three different games in.

First up, we had to try and roll a ping pong ball down a measuring tape and into a shot glass. You had to try and get 3 balls in a minute - one from each of 5, 6 and 7 feet. We didn't have any shot glasses, so we used other smallish glasses from the kitchen instead. Even then, only Paige was able to get a single ball in.

Second, we had to try and keep three balloons in the air at the same time for a minute. I'm not sure who ended up winning this one, but it was pretty entertaining and made for the best pictures I think.

And third, we had to put a cookie on our forehead and move it to our mouth using only our facial muscles. Pat beat us all at this one - I think it took him about 3 seconds!

It was lots of fun, and the best part is that there are lots more Minute to Win It games to try next time! Next month it is my turn to plan, so hopefully I can come up with something good.

Camping Close to Home

2010-10-11T00:00:00.001-06:00

Last weekend the weather was still nice and warm so we decided to fit in one more camping trip. Usually when we go camping we head off somewhere that's at least a few hours from home, but this time we decided to see what was close by. We got on the road and decided to see what was up in Monte Cristo. What we found was a nice relaxing spot almost to ourselves with perfect weather and beautiful fall colors.

We were slowly looking for a camp spot, just taking random dirt roads to see where they went. We were driving Jezebel the Jeep with Oliver the trailer following behind with all our gear. We ended up on a smaller trail - one that I think is mostly used by ATVs. It wasn't a problem until we took one turn that lead to a dead end. We had to back up a ways to find a spot to turn around, and then the only spot we could find wasn't really big enough to turn the trailer around in. We ended up very crooked and had to unhook Oliver and cut down a tree in order to get Jezebel turned around, then hook back up facing the other direction. It took a little while, but wasn't really a problem.

We finally found a great place to set up camp. It was almost to the end of a dead end road so it wasn't busy, and had plenty of shade. It was big enough that we could have fit several more people with us.

We had a very relaxing afternoon, then took one more drive around the area. We came to a trail that took us up to the top of a peak. There were beautiful views in every direction. You could even see Bear Lake!

Later, just as dusk was falling, we heard a large animal making some noises. There was a small pond just down the hill from us so we thought that's where the noise was coming from. Then Pat turned around to see a bull moose walking up the road next to our camp. We got the dogs in the Jeep (I can just see Zoe trying to heard a moose...) and broke out the cameras. It was too dark to get any great pictures, but you can at least tell what it is.

The next day we packed up camp and hit the road again. We didn't want to go straight back home, so we decided to take the long way so that we could see Logan Canyon, which usually has spectacular fall color. We circled around through Woodruff and Randolph, and entered Laketown at the south end of Bear Lake where we stopped to eat lunch From there we took more dirt roads through the mountains. On our way up Temple Canyon, Pat spotted this old snowmobile that had been abandoned in a pond.

And here's a section of road we drove through that just makes me feel all warm & fuzzy. It was another beautiful day!

We drove past Old Ephraim's Grave, which was hopping busy. For those who don't know, Old Ephraim is a local legend of a grizzly bear, both huge and intelligent, who harried the sheep farmers in the area for many years.

We continued down to Logan Canyon, where we stopped to play in the river for a while before heading home from our adventure.

Girls Shopping Day

2010-10-09T00:00:00.000-06:00

My grandma came out to visit to see the new grandbaby and stayed for a week and a half. While she was here I had a day off of work, so my grandma, my mom and I went down to SLC to do some shopping. We stopped at a fabric store where I found the perfect print for covering the seats of the chairs I bought for my kitchen. Hopefully I will be able to get to that project soon.

We also spent some time at a thrift store. My mom and I both found really cute skirts (hers brand new from Anthropology, mine from a designer for Target collection), but both were too small. :( We did each find a few other things to make the trip worthwhile. They had their Halloween costumes out, and I found brand new really cheap tights so I bought a pair in six different colors. I can't wait to start wearing them with my experimental fashions.

Our last stop was at Gardner Village, which took all the rest of the day. We had lunch at Archibald's - the three of us split one sandwich so that we had room for carrot cake for dessert. :) They already had all the witches up. It was weird wandering in the 85 degree heat in the middle of all the fall decor - we felt out of place.

My favorite witch was the hula hoop champion:

We had to stop for a sample of fudge, of course. I tried the pumpkin chocolate chip and it was delicious as always! Just look at these two kids in a candy store:

There were some very cute Halloween headbands for sale. I really wanted one that was kind of flapper-looking. It had two great big silver glittery feathers and a giant black spider. Unfortunately it was also $20 and I could bring myself to spend that much. Maybe I will try to make one of my own. Here's another cute one I tried on:

The bakery had the best decoration of all, a giant cake! With pumpkins for decorations no less! I loved it.

All in all we had a really nice time together. We all found a couple of treasures to bring home so it was a very successful trip.

Last Lake Day

2010-10-07T21:45:00.000-06:00

A couple of weekends ago we had our last day at the lake for this summer. It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time relaxing with our friends. I was dubbed the manliest person there (in a good way!) because I wakeboarded a LOT.

While we were there the boys decided to make some sand angels.

I already can't wait until next year...

September Book List

2010-10-05T21:21:00.000-06:00

Chimera by Rob Thurman - 337 pages
Happy Hour at Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta - 360 pages
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu - 233 pages
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collin - 390 pages
The Grimrose Path by Rob Thurman - 320 pages

TOTAL - 5 books - 1,640 pages

It felt like I got a lot more reading done this month than last, but I must have been busier doing other things than I thought because my page count is much lower than I expected it to be. My favorite book of the month was Mockingjay. It is the third and final book of the Hunger Games trilogy, and the entire series was fantastic.

My biggest disappointment was How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. It got rave reviews, but I just couldn't get into the story. I almost gave up halfway through; and I should have, because it didn't get any more interesting to me.

Crochet

2010-09-26T13:16:00.000-06:00

I recently took a class at Jo-Ann to learn how to crochet. I wanted to learn because I've been seeing so many cute amigurumi creatures like these from Cutiful Creations that I gave my sister at her baby shower.

I heard about a website called Ravelry which is apparently a must-use site if you are either a crocheter or a knitter. I signed up for an account, and it is a really great site. Lots of free patterns and photos of completed projects. The only problem is that now I have dozens of adorable things I want to make. I had absolutely no idea how much you can do with crocheting. Guess I better get to practicing more!

Here are just a few of the fabulous things I found:

I love these haxagonal shapes.

Who knew potholders and coasters could be so cute?

Pretty colors, and fun designs.

Lots of cute things for little boys.

And even one for big boys.

I don't know where to start first!

My New Nephew

2010-09-21T11:37:00.001-06:00

Please head over to my sister's blog and check out my adorable nephew:

Kait & Kyle

Embellished Shirt

2010-09-16T10:17:00.000-06:00

When I was in Park City a few months ago for my grandma's birthday I found some shirts on clearance at the Old Navy outlet store for $2 each. My cousins and I bought a few to embellish under my mom's tutelage. We had another family get-together last weekend and worked on them some more. I finally got my first one finished up and here she is!

We bought two shirts of each color so we could use one to cut up for the flowery shapes. I have blue and purple shirts to do next and I think I will try different shapes just for fun. Hopefully they turn out as well as this one.

August Book List

2010-09-03T00:00:00.001-06:00

So I was quite the slacker when it came to getting book read in August. I only got four books read all month!

Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow - 323 pages
Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong - 309 pages
Labyrinth by Kat Richardson - 350 pages
Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost - 361 pages

TOTAL - 4 books - 1,343 pages

Projects Off My Checklist

2010-09-01T00:00:00.000-06:00

I finally got around to finishing several of the half-finished projects sitting around my house (with Pat's help of course).

I got the picture he gave me for our anniversary put in its frame. I haven't decided where to hang it yet. I have one more reading themed print to get in a frame, and I even have the frame already, but it is an odd size and I haven't gotten around to getting a custom mat made for it.

We also finally got an enlargement made of our sunset silhouette photo, framed it and hung it on the wall. The goldeny-yellow matches my living room perfectly!

A while ago my grandma gave my my grandpa's old sombrero to hang in my Mexican themed kitchen. We finally got that hung up as well.

I decided to show you this photo to hopefully get some input. I have a lot of really cute glass vases that are all different shapes left over from my sister's baby shower. I put them on the shelf you see as you are going down my stairs. I can't decide if I like them or not - they kinda just blend into the background and you can't see their detail. They are also pretty short looking on that VERY tall wall. (There is a missing vase in this photo - it is currently performing it's primary duty of holding flowers on my kitchen table.)

Last, but not least, is my jewelry board. I started the project a while ago and just got it finished up. I took an old bulletin board that had been gathering dust and spray painted it black. Then I cut my fabric to size and used spray adhesive to stick it on. We cut some chain to drape across the board to hang earrings on, and just used push pins for everything else. I was hoping to have some room to expand, but I filled up the whole thing!

I found these pretty push pins from Vividhome on Etsy that I would have rather used, but they were a bit out of my price range for the amount I would have needed to buy. I thought about trying to make my own, but I have zero experience and the startup supplies would have been too cost prohibitive anyway.

I have a few bracelets that are too big to attach to my board. I am trying to decide what to do with them. Maybe I will put some larger hooks to the sides of the board. Thoughts?

While I was taking pictures in my bathroom I decided to show you the way I organize all my hair tools. I wanted a wall mounted holder of some sort to keep them off the counter and out of the way, but the professional hairdresser ones were all quite pricey, and the only other ones I could find were cheap plastic. Then, I found this magazine rack for cheap on Amazon, and voila!

One last thing to share in the bathroom. After I bought the fabric for my jewelry board, I found this hex sign on Etsy and had to get it. (Thanks for the intro to hex signs Mom!) The yellow is a bit brighter, but it's close enough to work for me. It is pretty small - about eight inches in diameter - so I need to find a few things to go around it to fill up my wall.

Whew! I'm exhausted all over again. There are still plenty of projects waiting for me at my house, but at least I got a few out of the way.

Denver in a Weekend

2010-08-29T17:47:00.002-06:00

Sorry it has been so long since I put up a blog post. I guess I just lost my bloggy mojo for a while. In fact, I am going to tell you about this trip we took, but I didn't take a single photo so I am going to borrow a few from cyberspace.

Pat's work offered to pay us good mileage to drive to Denver, pick up a trailer, and bring it back. We jumped at the chance for a paid mini-vaca. We left on a Friday after work and drive to Grand Junction for the night. We arrived pretty late and went straight to bed.

Saturday morning we needed to hit the road, but since we needed to eat breakfast anyway we decided to find a cafe in old downtown Grand Junction because we had heard it was very cute.

We found our way down there and the first thing you notice is that there are dozen of large sculptures up and down the street. This guy was my favorite:

We found a cute bakery/cafe to eat at and just ordered some pastries so it was quick. They had an outdoor seating area so we headed out to enjoy the beautiful morning weather. We probably wasted too much time eating because it was so nice, but we did still need to get to Denver so we packed up and hit the road again.

The drive was beautiful. I'm sure I have been on that road before, but I must not remember most of it because it felt new. I could spend a lot of time playing in those mountains I think. As we drove through Vail there was a bike ride/race going on. We saw hundreds of bikers all headed up to Vail Pass. It takes quite a while to get there while driving, and it is very steep. I can only imagine how hard it would be to bike - crazy people.

We finally got into Denver, and since our hotel was on the way into town we stopped there first. We walked in and the place was pretty dumpy looking. The pool was right next to the reception desk and made the whole area smell like chlorine. We went up to our room and it smelled like cigarette smoke. Bleh! We went downstairs and cancelled our stay. I jumped online on my phone and made reservations at a different hotel that ended up being closer to downtown and was almost brand new.

By this point, we had to get downtown quick because we had signed up for a walking tour of downtown Denver. It ended up being our favorite part of the whole trip. Our guide was a really nice old history professor for one of the local colleges. We ended up walking several miles, and it took about four hours, but we did have several breaks to sit down and eat in some air conditioning. (Two appetizer stops were included in the tour.) We learned about how Denver was founded, what happened to the major people in Denver's history, and heard plenty of ghost stories. Here are some places we saw:

Larimer Square

The Cruise Room inside The Oxford Hotel

Union Station

After our tour we decided to stay in the area since we had already paid for parking. We walked the 16th street mall, which was great for people-watching.

After that it was getting kinda late and our feet were pretty sore so we headed to the new hotel. After getting settled in Pat started to not feel very well. We hadn't really had dinner because our appetizers were quite filling, and he decided that some real food would be good. We headed back out into the great unknown to try and find some food. By this time it was late enough that a lot of places were closed. The only really open looking places we saw were Hooter's and Shotgun Willie's (a strip club). Thank goodness we finally found an Applebee's,even though it's not usually our favorite, and got some food. It had been another long day, so we headed back to go to bed.

We were tired enough that we slept in too late the next day and missed our chance to go do anything Sunday morning. We did go to Crepes n Crepes for an awesome breakfast though. That afternoon we had tickets to a matinee showing of Beauty and the Beast at Denver's Center for Performing Arts. This was just at a small theater in the round, not one of their giant theaters, but it was the only show going on while we were in town.

We got to the theater and were waiting for the doors to open. We were slightly amazed at all the people with handicaps that we saw: several people in wheelchairs, two with seeing eye dogs, several more with canes, etc. We wondered if it might be a special showing where they got a discount or something. After we got into our seats I started reading through the program. It turned out that the acting troupe putting on the show, Phamaly, was comprised wholly of disabled actors. To be honest, at this point I was a little upset. I mean, I paid $39 a ticket and nowhere up to this point was there any mention of disabled actors. But I had already paid the money, so we stayed for the show. It turned out pretty good. Much better than I was expecting, really. All the leads did a fantastic job. There were a few supporting characters whose singing wasn't quite up to par, but it worked well overall. Not quite worth my $39 per ticket, but you live and you learn I guess.

After the show, since again, we had already paid for parking, we headed back to 16th street to find us some dinner. We ate at Red Rock Brewery and had some really great food. Our waiter ever brought me a free mini glass of beer, which I drank. Pat was so proud because beer is REALLY not my thing.

After dinner we decided we should go pick up the trailer that we had come out for. It was about 20 minutes north of town. When we got there we discovered that we didn't have the right size of ball for our hitch. Pat had a small leak to clean up inside the trailer, so while he worked on that I set out to find a ball. Being late on a Sunday pretty much everything nearby was closed. Using my phone I found a Super Walmart just across the highway and headed that direction. The streets were so confusing that I ended up turning around 3 or 4 times on my way there. Then when I was finally close, I still had to hunt for the store, which was clear at the back of a large shopping complex. I have never seen such a well-hidden Walmart in my life. I got there, got the ball (which was the last one in the store), and headed back to Pat. We got everything hitched up and went back to the hotel for our last night.

We were really having a great time and didn't want to leave, so we decided to do one last thing before we got on the road. We headed over to the zoo. It was SO much better than Hogle. Everything seemed much nicer and more open. Plus we got to feed some Lorikeets. They come in so many pretty colors! And neither of us got pooped on, thank goodness.

After the zoo, we picked the trailer up from the hotel and got on the road. It was a long boring ride home through Wyoming. We ended up getting back at about midnight.

My favorite part of the trip besides the tour was the food. We ate so much good food, and the weather was so nice that we ate most of it outside. It made me want to actually finish our backyard and put in a patio. Eating outside just feels better for some reason.

As much fun as we had, everything we didn't get to do makes me want to go back. Red Rocks Amphitheater, a show at a big theater at the Performing Arts Center, the Art Museum, Science & History Museum, Aquarium, and a tour of the brewery are all on our list of things to do. Luckily it is close enough to be doable one day.

July Book List

2010-08-04T22:05:00.000-06:00

Bullett by Laurell K. Hamilton - 356 pages
Soulless by Gail Carriger - 357 pages
Awaken Me Darkly by Gena Showalter - 358 pages
Early to Death, Early to Rise by Kim Harrison - 228 pages
Kitty Goes to War by Carrie Vaughn - 334 pages
Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn - 299 pages
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - 414 pages

TOTAL - 7 Books - 2,346 pages

Soulless was my favorite book from last month. It was an awesome mashup of historical, steampunk, paranormal, action, and romance. Most of my favorite things! Best of all, it leaves room for plenty more fun in the future.

Fun & Funky Cake

2010-07-24T00:00:00.000-06:00

My cousin's wife asked me to make a cake for her sister's birthday. She sent me a photo of the cake they wanted it based on, and let me go at it. I think it turned out just adorable!

Garden Baby Shower

2010-07-21T20:27:00.000-06:00

Last weekend my mom and I hosted a baby shower for my sister. She is having a boy, so I decided to use red and turquoise for the decorations.

Everybody in blogland has such great ideas, and I grabbed a few ideas to use myself from a couple of different bloggers.

I started with the invitations. My mom found the cute idea for these at The Pleated Poppy.

Next were these fun pinwheels from All the Small Things that I found via Little Miss Momma. I love how they added a pop of color to the green background.

Also at Little Miss Momma, I saw that she had a large banner that matched our invitations perfectly, so I made one of those as well.

I made red velvet cupcakes with turquoise cream cheese frosting to display on my new cake stands.

My dad helped me hang lanterns from the trees. It had been a while since I went tree climbing - both the trees and I had grown a bit.

I couldn't find a tablecloth that was the color of turquoise I wanted, so I bought a plain white one and painted on turquoise polka dots. I used a red table runner that I already had.

The finishing touch was fresh red gerbera daisies placed in mismatched clear vases (from the thrift store of course) filled with turquoise water, and placed around the patio.

And don't forget the guest of honor!

A great big thank you to everyone that came! We had a fabulous time, and Kait got many, many needed things for baby Tyce.

Cake Stands

2010-07-11T13:04:00.000-06:00

I wanted some cake stands to use at the baby shower I am planning for my sister. I looked all over the place and found a few, mostly ranging from $20-$25. Since I wanted 3, those were a bit out of my price range. I looked online and found a few 3 piece sets in that same price range, but about half the reviews said that they arrived broken into a thousand little pieces and I didn't want to chance it.

Pat took me to look around at Tai Pan for one, and they had a few that were still too expensive. Then we had a brilliant idea. We'd make our own! We found some white platters for $4 each, and then found a few other white dishes of various sizes and shapes to make stands out of.

The total of everything cost just over $22.00. Then we made a stop at Lowe's and spent an additional $5.00 on epoxy. So for a total of about $27.00, I got my three cake stands. I think they turned out great!

Three of My Favorite Things

2010-07-08T00:00:00.013-06:00

Books, cats, and the color red... what's not to love? I just discovered an awesome little used bookstore in Clearfield. It's called:

The shop was very well organized, had lots of selection, and helpful employees. I bought a few books while I was there, even though I never buy books! The library just doesn't carry everything. There are a lot of books I would like to own that they had. I will have to dig through my bookshelf for books to turn in so it will be cheaper next time.

June Book List

2010-07-05T21:47:00.000-06:00

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris - 311 pages

Lover Mine by JR Ward - 512 pages

Moon Sworn by Keri Arthur - 395 pages

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin - 398 pages

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews - 260 pages

Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey - 702 pages

TOTAL - 6 books - 2,578 pages

Tattoos

2010-06-27T17:31:00.000-06:00

For our 8th anniversary last week we decided to get tattoos to commemorate. I decided on stars - one for every year. I will probably add on to it eventually also.

Pat decided on a mobius strip that symbolizes infinity.

Pat's was based on a drawing by M.C. Escher, but the artist changed it up a bit.

Escalante Trip

2010-06-08T22:54:00.001-06:00

Over Memorial Day we planned a trip to Escalante to hike some slot canyons with my dad and our friend Brent. We drove down Hole-In-The-Rock Road, which was 60 miles of pure washboard hell. We camped by Sooner rocks.

It wasn’t shady, but it met our needs just fine, and we weren’t crammed in with a bunch of other people.

Patrick and Brent enjoyed the view from on top of the rock next to camp with a few beers.

My dad went out searching for good photo sites and ended up slipping on a rock and catching himself with his hand in the middle of a cactus. Pat spent a good hour tweezing needles out of his hand, and we still couldn’t get them all.

The next morning we set out to do the hikes we came for: Peek-A-Boo Gulch, Spooky Gulch, and Brimstone Gulch; all slot canyons off of Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch. We hiked down the mountain into Dry Fork, and got ready to start the first canyon, Peek-A-Boo.

Both Peek-A-Boo and Spooky were amazing to hike through. The rock formations are incredible.

Spooky gets a bit tighter. I was touching front and back. Pat had to breath out completely so that he could fit through. We had to hold our backpacks the whole time.

After we finished those canyons, we set off towards Brimstone. We kept going and going… we never did find it exactly. The GPS said we were in the right area, but we kept getting further away from the trailhead, and our water supplies were dwindling so we headed back. We will have to try again another time.

We headed back to camp and rested for a little bit. Then we continued down the road to Hole-In-The-Rock. This is where some pioneers cut a road to get down to the bottom of the canyon. It is incredibly steep. I can’t even imagine trying to take wagons and livestock down – it was hard enough just walking.

It was all worth it when we finally got to the bottom though. We got a fantastic break swimming in Lake Powell and washing off some grime so we weren’t so smelly.

It looks so inviting from above!

I was really not looking forward to the climb back up the trail, but amazingly enough it was easier to climb than it had been to go down. A family from a boat had made the hike up to the top and we got them to take a photo (as we were all being blinded by the sun).

The entire desert was gorgeous while we were down there. It was springtime, and there were flowers everywhere you looked.

And we got a stunning sunset.

We all slept really well that night.

The next day we packed up camp so that we could move a little closer to home. We went back out Hole-In-The-Rock Road, stopping at Devil’s Garden on the way. It is filled with hoodoos similar to the Goblins, but huge! They were lots of fun to climb on.

I found this pretty little bird nest inside the rock.

We spent our last night at Calf Creek. There is a very popular hike up the canyon to a spectacular waterfall that leaves right out of the campground. Here is a view of the lush canyon from above – you can see this from the Hog’s Back section of road between Boulder and Escalante.

The road itself is pretty amazing. You are driving on a ridge with cliffs down to canyons on either side of you. Worth going to see even if you don’t want to hike in the area.

Anyway, we set off on our hike, which also went past evidence of past occupation. There were a couple of granaries like the one we saw in Capital Reef, plus these pictographs that were clear across the canyon. I think the figures would be quite a bit taller than a person, but it’s hard to tell from so far away.

We finally made it to the end of the trail and were rewarded with this beautiful view, plus the cool air blowing off the water.

The air was enough to cool off my dad and I, but the boys just had to jump in the water. It was awfully cold!

All in all it was a wonderful trip. I love the desert more every time we visit. Next time you all should come along!

May Book List

2010-06-02T00:00:00.006-06:00

Seems like we had a busy month and I didn't get as much reading time as I would have liked. I'd better step it up for June though because I have LOTS of books that need to get back to the library ASAP.

Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong - 339 pages
A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton - 468 pages
Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews - 260 pages
Burned by PC Cast & Kristin Cast - 323 pages
The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong - 391 pages

TOTAL - 5 books - 1,781 pages

Happy reading everyone!

Family Night - Geocaching

2010-06-01T00:00:00.000-06:00

Our monthly family night this month consisted of geocaching around town. My mom has wanted to go for ages, but can never convince the rest of us that it sounds like fun. Well, this time she was in charge, so off we went. I don't think that the urban caches were quite as exciting to find as some remote ones would be, but we had a pretty good time trying to figure out the basics.

We found a killdeer nest in the middle of the road. As soon as she saw us, the momma bird flew down to the road then acted injured to try and lead us away from the nest. It was pretty interesting to watch.

First Lake Trip

2010-05-30T00:00:00.000-06:00

We had a day off during the week so we thought we would take the boat to the lake and make sure everything was in working order for the summer. We went up to Pineview, as usual, and had a really nice morning driving around the lake. The weather was perfect when the sun was out, but a little chilly when it hid behind the clouds.

There were only a couple other boats on the lake, full of fishermen. The water was as calm and smooth as could be. It made me wish I had brought my wetsuit so I could hop on my wakeboard. We did get a nice tour of the whole lake, which is much bigger than it usually seems when full of people. There was also plenty of wildlife around. Mostly birds, but we did see a red fox run by without stopping to let me get a photo.

Renaissance Festival & Fantasy Faire

2010-05-27T21:19:00.000-06:00

A few weekends ago we got the chance to go to our local renaissance festival. We had never been to one before. We didn't dress up, but next time we definitely will because it looked like so much fun! We saw all kinds of costumes: lords & ladies, gypsies, pirates, peasants, faeries, elves, even a geisha. No, I don't know how that fit in either... and I didn't even think to take a picture of any of them!

There were many booths full of amazing artists. My favorite was 2nd Skin Leather, made by a couple of local Ogdenites. Their craftmanship was amazing! I would love to own one of their masks, but sadly they were all way out of my price range. Here are a couple of my favorites from their website:

I did get a couple of things: a stained glass flower, and a couple of flower hair clips.

We did meet a few interesting characters, like the guy that challenged us to a game of Ye Olde Block Tower:

And the one that threw Pat in the stocks until he sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" loud enough for the ladies across the way to hear him:

There was also lots of yummy food to eat, almost like the county fair. We had some authentic brewed beverages (choice of Sarsparilla, Honey Root Beer, Birch Beer, or Cream Soda), and some shish kebob skewers for lunch. Sadly, they were sold out of turkey legs. For dessert was handmade chocolates, made by a pair of ladies who looked like they really enjoyed eating what they made. My favorite was the maple flavored, but Pat liked the peanut butter cups.

We were there on the last day the fair was open, and things seemed to be winding down a bit. Next year we will have to go a little earlier so we can get the full experience!

Grandma's 80th Birthday

2010-05-10T21:25:00.001-06:00

For the grand occasion, my aunt Tara rented a condo in Park City Thursday-Sunday and invited all the girls in the family up. We had a fantastic time shopping, eating lots of good food, and playing games into the wee hours. We decided we needed to have a girls' weekend more often!

We bought her a princess crown to wear:

And sang happy birthday at Loco Lizard:

And here's everyone who came:

L to R: Aunt Tara, Aunt Gwen, Cousin Crista, Cousin Melissa, Mom Gayle, Grandma Moana, Me, Cousin Kelli, and Aunt Cathy

I hope I look as good as my grandma when I turn 80!

Capitol Reef - Day 3

2010-05-07T00:00:00.000-06:00

Today we FINALLY got to go to Cathedral Valley. Most of the road there was in BLM land still. It looked like we were in similar country as the San Rafael Swell. We stopped in the BLM land so Pat could walk for a bit, and investingate the hills that were shimmering in the light. the sand was interspersed with ribbons of rock that we thought were crystal, but later found out were gypsum, a type of salt. I gathered up a couple of pieces of gypsum, and one of the a pitted black lava rocks that sprinkled the landscape, and brought them home with me. I've collected rocks from quite a few places we've gone to put in my flower bed.

Then we entered the park again - no more collecting rocks! Our first stop was the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon. They are the largest cathedrals in the valley, though slightly separate from the rest. They were huge! And so far away from anything besides flat ground. Very beautiful.

Temple of the Moon - look how tiny I am in the photo:

I loved this little spire on the side:

Temple of the Sun - way bigger than Temple of the Moon, but you can't tell since I'm further back:

Also in that area was Glass Mountain, an entire hill formed almost solely of gypsum. The different pieces were put together every which way, and they caught the sun a lot:

Next stop on the list was the Gypsum Sinkhole. It was much bigger than we were expecting:

Then we got to drive through the main part of Cathedral Valley. It was absolutely stunning. Then we climbed up out of the valley and found the campground that we planned on staying at the entire time, and of course it was deserted. We sat there and ate lunch. Then we drove out to the Cathedral Valley overlook:

While in this area, looking at how beautiful the surroundings were, I decided that it would be awesome if I could turn my yard at home into a desert. Just plant some Utah Junipers, Pinyon Pines, Sagebrush, and a few cacti, add some sand & rocks, and I'd be set! No watering and minimal yardwork. The neighbors might hate me, but it's got to be better that the backyard full of weeds that I currently have.

It was getting pretty late in the day, and we still needed to get home, so we hit the trail again and tried to avoid too many stops. We could probably spend a week in that one small area and still not have time to see everything we wanted to. I did have to stop to take a picture of this balancing rock though:

And then we stopped at the lower desert overlook. We were really glad we did! It was beautiful again:

Also, there was a stripe of white in the rock around the area. In that white section by us the rocks had formed to look like the goblins in Goblin Valley. So cool!

One more quick stop was made at the Bentonite hills. The landscape was just too eerie. And so colorful too!

That was our last stop before we hit the highway again. On out way back through the park we did stop at one turnoff to look at a waterfall. We had driven past it a couple of times but we were always in a hurry or it was too dark to stop. The Fremont river that flows through the canyon goes through a section of slickrock, and has carved out a very narrow channel up above, before plummeting down the hill. Very pretty!

I would have to say we had more setbacks than usual on this trip, but we remained in good spirits for the most part. I am so grateful we live where we do, so that we are able to see this gorgeous country only few hours away. I would love to move down south one day so that I can be closer to it all. I am also grateful that my parents took me camping to these kinds of places when I was growing up, and helped instill my spirit of adventure. I hope that the next time we go on an adventure that we can have some friends and family join us. You are always welcome!

Capitol Reef - Day 2

2010-05-05T00:00:00.107-06:00

When we woke up that morning, it was pretty late. By the time we had some breakfast, cleaned up, and reorganized all our camp stuff, it was almost 11:00. There was a scenic drive heading south from the campground that I wanted to explore. I didn't really plan on taking the trailer with us, but 11:00 was checkout time and we weren't planning on coming back. Then I found that there was a dirt road that kept heading southwest where the scenic drive ended, so we decided to take that and make a loop from there south to Boulder, east over the Burr trail and back north through the park.

The scenic drive was almost completely paved, and very easy to travel so that tourists can take their motorhomes and compact cars. Still very pretty. There are some abandoned uranium mines that are now home to bats:

I really liked this little tree by the side of the road:

We ate lunch at at pavilion up a canyon that was the start of a hike. It was busy! There were a ton of foreigners driving around in their rented RVs:

After lunch we hit the trail. We stopped a little way out to let the dogs play since we finally weren't surrounded by a ton of people:

We could just see the distant snowy mountains peeking through:

The trail got a bit rougher than expected, but Oliver (the trailer) was a champ and didn't have any problems:

As we started to climb out of the valley we were in, there was a fantastic view:

Then we climbed to the other side of the ridge and there was another fantastic view. Notice the little arch in the cliff. I really loved that ridge of rocks that looks like the plates on a stegasaurus:

The trail was much easier from here on. At one point we drove through a wash that was just a beautiful green grassy spot in the middle of the desert:

The road kept climbing as it went on, the desert turned into pine forest, and we started to get back into some snow. Pat was getting a little worried that we were headed the wrong direction. I'm always the navigator and I knew we were going the right way. Plus, I was driving at the time so I just kept going. The roads here were obviously well used, and were even plowed a bit even though they were dirt. We finally hit the highway and headed south.

Down in the valley it was a balmy 62 degrees and the had the tops off the Jeep. It got a little cooler as we climbed the mountain, and eventually we hit the road's summit at 9600 feet. There was a 4 foot high wall of snow at the side of the road. It was a bit chilly by this point, probably in the low 50s, but we knew we were headed back down again so we just toughed it out. We stopped at a viewpoint that looked out over where we were headed. Gorgeous! The air was a little hazy though:

We finally got down to Boulder - not much there, so we headed on up the Burr Trail. That was very pretty red rock cliffs and since it was nice and warm again it had us wishing for Lake Powell.

A little way after the road went back into the park, there was a section of switchbacks to get us back down to the valley floor. Whoever first looked at that mountainside and decided to put a road there was insane! It was SO steep. I didn't get a very good shot, but this is looking down from the top:

This whole day had taken quite a bit longer than we had anticipated, so we decided to camp at the other primitive campspot in the park, which was on our road. We got there and found out it was full. The road left the park and entered BLM land, so we thought that maybe we could find somewhere to camp there. There was a small section of privatley owned land too. As we drove through their fields were full of deer:

There was a turkey running around too!

We got to the BLM land and it was empty, flat, desolate and really windy. The main campground wasn't too far away, so we decided we would stay the night there again. We finally arrived only to find that it was full too! We didn't have time or gas to make it all the way into Cathedral Valley, so we decided to head to town, get gas, and see if we could find a campground up there to stay at.

Most of the campgrounds were specifically for RVs and wanted to charge us an arm and a leg. We finally found one that had tent sites that were fairly reasonable and decided to stay there . The office was closed for the night so the manager told us to just settle up in the morning. We got out to use the restroom before setting up camp, and it was so cold and windy there I changed my mind and we left. I decided I'd rather spend the night in the back of the Jeep again down in the valley where it was warm.

It was pretty late at this point, so we stopped and the only open restaurant in town to eat some dinner. It was actually really tasty! (Of course, that might also have been because we were really hungry.)

We drove all the way though the park again and entered the BLM land on the other side. We finally found a specified parking pullout the went a little way away from the road and parked to camp there, just sleeping in the Jeep again. In the morning we could read the sign that was in the parking lot, telling us that if we had followed the nearby dirt road for 1/4 mile, there was a camping spot. Oh, well.