Days # 7 and 8: Camping Crafts!

Justin and I left on Monday, after a grueling test on his part and some grade a doddling on mine, to meet my parents, my aunt, and some family friends at El Capitan Canyon near Santa Barbara for some good ole' fashioned camping. We had a lot of fun and I took the opportunity to try out some camping pins!

The first, I pinned with this particular trip in mind and I was bursting to try it. There were 11 kids from 1 yr-16yrs on the trip and I figured if I bought 8 oranges that maybe some of them would want to try it. But on Tuesday night when I started getting the all the stuff together, without even getting around to asking, all 11...make that 10 (the one year old wasn't super interested) seemed to appear out of nowhere , as though they had apparated immediately upon smelling instant cake mix. They all had a fun time scooping out orange guts and waited anxiously for their cakes to finish cooking. I would say that this one was a success!

 Of course, they weren't super pretty but they tasted great and the kids loved them.

The next day, I worked on a "Sustainability" pin I have been hoping to try. I have pinned a ton of projects from the Boy Scouts Magazine, Boys Life website and this was the first time I tried to make one.

The Pizza-box Oven was a cinch to assemble, and Justin actually enjoyed helping me with this one. What I learned though, was that this solar oven takes A LONG TIME to cook anything in...an I am still not a hundred percent sure that the marshmallow I tried cooking wouldn't have cooked just as well sans foil/cardboard contraption.

I plan on making another one (Tip#1:  if you use your solar oven on the beach don't fall asleep and let it get soaked.) and trying it in Casa Grande, where there is sure to be plenty of sunlight and heat.

Life Uninhibited

Usually I attribute a lapse in posting to a break from reality. Up until now the gaps between my posts have been filled with visiting family, hitting the couch for a while, daydreaming. Not this time.

No, my latest absence from this blog was due to what I'll call an overdose of reality. Without giving details about someone else's life, I would like to share my feelings about where the world is going, now that we've seen a different side of it.

What I have learned from venturing out of the blissful bubble that is Justin's and my happy little life is that there are lots of people out there who make really bad choices.

As I contemplate what I have come to know these last few weeks; I am shocked, awed at the fact that I managed to get this far along in my life unscathed by the plague that is addiction, in one form or another. While I am sure there are those who feel completely o.k. with where they're at, I have seen what started out as "normal behavior" spiral into something much more sinister.

Where are we going world? To what end will this quibbling idea of morality bring us? How can we draw lines, expect people not to go to extremes, when young kids are being told that sex, drugs, pornography, are just a natural part of life. "Try it once, just for the experience, " they are told, "just know your limits." Newsflash world, pre-adolescents don't know their limits, CAN'T know their limits. Some say it's not within their psychological capacity ( Kegan) . These kids aren't maturing either, its like they get stuck in a terrible cycle , they can't move past the egoism of the teen years. If you ask me its an epidemic.

I know what you are thinking; I am prude, judgemental. No. I'm not. I have lived a great life, been sheltered from the harsh realities around me, but I am a good listener. I know that many of the people who have chosen such a lifestyle are good people. That's the saddest part. That these good people will never know what I know, never have what I have. A life uninhibited. The freedom to reach far beyong the mediocrity of this everyday life. The foresight to choose my own destiny. I'm not deluded, though you may not believe me, I am speaking from a level of experience that fewer and fewer people have today. Some might say I can't possibly know because I have so little personal experience with drugs, sex, and pornography. I'd argue that that lack of exposure lends to a broader perspective.

I am watching people waste away. I see people spend their best years chasing happiness, constantly running in the wrong direction. Life comes with problems, and I won't say my life is perfect, but I will say that I am free from the burdens of addiction, from the chains of the social expectations that come along with it. It's an incredible gift that I feel incredibly lucky to have.

P.S. I will start up the 30 day challenge again tomorrow. This week's theme will be "camping", since that's what I'll be doing ;)

In Which Beta Becomes A Challenge

Beta , modeling Day #6's project

I guess it's about time to take stock of how our "beta test" is going. Beta is almost five months old now and she has gone from 6 1/2 pounds to 13ish pounds since we got her. The first few weeks were hard because she whined all night unless we let her sleep on the bed. So we let her sleep on the bed...and secretly I totally loved it. Especially because she fulfilled a life long dream of having a dog literally sleep at the foot of the bed. I thought that raising a puppy would be filled with gruesome tests that would keep me occupied enough to dismiss that case of baby-on-the-brain that I've had off and on for the last little while; but our beta test is going wonderfully! She is such a little sweetheart as you can tell by her sweet face. She is low maintenance. She sleeps a lot so she doesn't get lonely or anxious if we leave the house during the day, and she is adoring, loyal, and loving as a dog could be. I love that she follows me up and down the stairs , no matter how frequently that is. She is pretty quiet, but she'll play if you get her toys out. My favorite thing though, is that she totally loves little kids. Whenever we walk past babies or have young toddlers over she goes nuts, she gets so happy and plays so gently and sweetly with them. It's a big reassurance for me because I am not a fan of getting rid of dogs when the going gets tough. I want Beta to be a part of our family for the rest of our life!

Now this all sounds ooey gooey and wonerful but see, Beta has presented me with a real problem. She has been so easy and brought so much joy that she has lead me straight back into that baby-craze! The thing is that I know that right at this moment isn't quite the right time yet, but I so want it to be... Of course Justin has an answer for everything. The other night, just before bed we lay there talking sweetly to eachother and I tried to convince ( yet again). "Justin I just want a baby so bad, I think we should just do it." I said , half-serious. " How could you Kels," he said " we have a baby!" and with that he plopped Beta right into my lap. I cuddled her and felt better, temporarily.

Now let's get to the challenge part. Today I took an easy way out. I looked for something that would be easy and involve Beta (so I could get two for one with this post) and found the most ridiculously awesome, simple way to make a dog sweater.

Here's the link to the site I pinned from. The idea was so simple that I didn't actually even read directions. I just followed the picture from the pin.

Day #5: Apple in Apples Pie

When they passed around a sign up at church to bring pie for father's day I knew exactly what I wanted to make. Once again, I was thrilled to find out that these too were rather simple to make. I'm sure if I were an over-achiever and had made the pie crust from scratch it would have been a much more painful process, but luckily for me my mom had bought a TON of premade pie crusts and all I had to do was some scooping, cutting, and sprinkling. I chose to bake mine as the first two blogs in the pinterest chain denote, however the original idea was to use the apples more like bowls than crust.Start that good old pinchain here.

 They were a lot of fun and I had a great time making a whole lot of pie with my mom and sisters. I even did the unthinkable ...shhhhhh I have to type this fast before Justin sees it. I made a lemon meringue pie for Justin. It's his favorite and he has been asking me to make one for him for ages. Besides the crust I made it all from scratch and if you can't tell I am extremely proud of myself. The little beauty is cooling off in the fridge as we speak. Hope he likes it!

Friday

As you may have noticed, I didn't take on a pinterest project yesterday. Basically Fridays are reader's choice days and that seemed like a pretty handy excuse when I got back late from the zoo and decided I was really tired. So there you have it , get on the ball readers!

Day #4: Father's Day Bacon and Eggs

Today brought the sweet joy of proving Marissa wrong. I pinned these candies months ago with the intent to make them for my Dad on Father's day. Promptly, I forgot that I had ever done such a thing. Luckily though, I decided to do this 30 day challenge in the nick of time!

So here they are, my special Father's day treats. I had help from my little sister Jill and little sister-in-law Melissa. (That's Jill in the tiara)

You make them exactly how you would think-- melt white chocolate chips and glob it on in fried egg shapes, stick a yellow M&M on one side and stick the two halves of a pretzel stick on the other side. The girls had a lot of fun making them. A word of warning though, chocolate burns! So if it's all melted and you think to yourself " Hmm I should put these in longer because it seems like they should be more liquidy than this" ... you are thinking wrong. If you can't see chocolate chip chunks then it is melted enough. Trust me.

Can't wait to load a bunch up into my Father's Day Gift Bag and give them to my Dad!

Day #3 : Mini Lasagnas

Last night my mom was in charge of the Mid-Month Meeting for our Relief Society. A little preface: Relief Society is the women's organization within my church, it was originally organized to give relief to those in need and still function today as an aid society for those within and without our church.

Anyway last night my mom helped organize the activity , which involved a potluck. It was the perfect opportunity to make the SUPER cute mini lasagna I pinned awhile back. I thought these would be fun for a couple reasons. 1) I have yet to work myself up to making a full fledged lasagna even though it's one of Justin's favorite meals 2) They are bite size and don't need utensils. 3) They involve wonton wrappers; which I just think is cool.

They were simple and easy and tasted great, and I got a few people asking me how I made them which was awesome because it was easy enough to tell them right then and there.

My original pin was from one blog, but I chose to follow the recipe she was inspired by because it seemed a little healthier. They were delicious!