#5 - Catch a fish by myself

Numero cinco on my 30 x 30 list was to catch a fish by myself and I am pleased as punch to announce that I have accomplished this. Usually when I go fishing with Big T (oh Tom, that's your new nickname p.s.) I make him cast, then I hold the rod, then I catch one, reel it in, and then he gets it out of the water and unhooks it. So my goal was to do all the steps by myself and I did. It was back in August on our way back from girl's camp. We stopped at Jordanelle Reservoir and I caught a small-mouth bass. He helped me a little, but mostly I did it. Small-mouth bass are super fun to catch. Pound for pound, they are the hardest fighting fish around.

So, we didn't get a picture of my bass. But I needed a picture for the post, cause it turns out posts without pictures are boring. So, I stole a picture of Tom and his friend's bass. It's cool. It looked just like this....but WAY bigger. Trust me.

Pocket Post

Dear Suzie C.,
Thanks for saying you read my blog and that I should update it and that I have clever ideas. You are the best and I will pay you later.

Dear Wild Horses,
I've wanted to see you for a while now and I got to last week! I kind of wanted you to be running when I saw you...but seeing you standing out the field worked really well for me too. I can check that off my To Try Before I Die list.

Dear Lists,
I love making you and crossing stuff off of you. And writing notes to you....

Dear New Camera,
You are such a fabulous investment! I was a little wary about spending the money on you, but you've already paid yourself off. I have better self-esteem now. I am way better looking. And I think I can run faster. So thanks.

Dear Pinterest,
Thanks for being a time-waster that gives you a sense of accomplishment afterwards. Oh! I just spent a half an hour pinning, but I have 212 pins to show for it. Much more satisfying than watching T.V. or staring into space.

Dear Plans,
Like my lists, I really love having you in my life. But I also appreciate the lessons I'm constantly being taught about how to let you go and just go with the flow. Like a hippie (sans patchouli and hairy legs).

So wild. 

Granite Rocks!

I am so excited about this post! My high school (Granite - Home of the Mighty Farmers!) closed in 2009. I was so sad, but I understood enrollment was down. So now I am just so excited about what could potentially happen to it! South Salt Lake City wants to purchase the land and all the cool old buildings from Granite School District and turn it into a community center. I read about it in the paper today and I just want to tell everyone I know about it. Here is the website for more information.

http://graniterocks.org

There will be a vote to pass a $25 million bond to transform the school into the community center. I hope it passes. I am going to volunteer to help it pass. I think it would be such a neat thing for that area. So spread the word and all you Farmers reading this blog...let people know! We had such a great time there, it would be sad to see it turned into another strip mall with no character. Yuck.

Go it Granite!

Movie Trailer

We're making a movie with our new toy. Filming will take two years. For now, enjoy this teaser.

HP*

Yesterday was great day! We got back from camping, went to Tim's house to caulk and putty the crown molding, hurried and showered, and made our way to the Gateway to meet my sister and her husband to see Part II of Harry Potter. I was so excited about it! When those students hop on their brooms?!? Man! It's exciting! Seriously, when I think about Harry Potter, it's like every nerdy tendency inside of my body comes out to play. I want to dress up, draw lightning bolt scars on Tom's head, practice my spells...I almost booked tickets to Orlando to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

 I didn't end up going to any of those extremes, but I did get a little crafty. I thought it would be fun to have some treats during the movie, so I did a little research on the interweb and got some ideas for what I could sneak into the theater. I cam up with a simple brown paper bag full of treats mentioned throughout the books/movies! Here's what I did:

Front of the bag:

Butterbeer: IBC cream soda (I wanted Thomas Kemper's Vanilla Cream, but the store didn't have it)

Golden Snitches: Gold Lindor Truffles (I wanted Ferre Roche's, but again the store did not provide)

Pumpkin Pasties: Pumpkin chocolate chip, soft-top cookies

Jelly Slugs: Gummy worms

Licorice Wands: Licorice

Cockroach Clusters: A mix of PoppyCock and Cracker Jacks

All the goodies!

They were fun to snack on during the show. More fun for me to make I think. If anyone wants the tags I made for each of the snacks let me know, I'll send you the pdf so you can print them. I had such a great time and I thought the movie was great! Of course, they left a few things out, but I thought they wrapped it up nicely. I want to watch it again!

*HP is what my little nephew calls Harry Potter - he's cool like that.

#17 - Go Camping with Tom 7 Times

This weekend was camping trip #2 out of #7. Yes! Makin' progress.

Here's your proof. That's me AND a tent.

I made this goal because I felt like I had lost the desire to camp and be outside. The last few camping trips I'd been on were a big hassle. I was always freezing. I was setting my tent up at 2:00 am (after driving 5 hours in a squishy car). I was tired all day because I didn't sleep well. I got attacked by bugs. I was always forgetting my flashlight, water, or some other essential. They just weren't the funnest trips. I enjoyed the people I was with and the things I saw, but the actual camping was, um, how can I put this nicely?
Lame.

So, with Tom's help, I decided to make these camping trips easier on myself. First, Tom and I got me a new sleeping bag. A warm one. From Shopko. For $30.00. And it rocks my world. Seriously, I haven't been cold on either of the two trips this year. And I am always cold! Except for right now because my laptop is getting all hot on my legs and the fan is pointing the wrong way but I just woke up from a nap and I don't want to get up to move it.

Second, we are just camping for one to two nights at a time and we are throwing, literally stuffing, our gear into laundry baskets and getting in the car and driving somewhere nearby to set up camp. Not a big deal. We aren't unloading all the gear, we are just using the car as our storage unit and sleeping in the tent.

Third, we are going so simple on the food. We aren't packing a huge cooler full of eggs, sausage, and gourmet dutch oven ingredients. We just buy some bread and peanut butter and fruit and snacks and call it good. Maybe we'll stop on the way and eat at a yummy restaurant and use their restroom and brush our teeth with running water before we set up camp? Who knows? I'm just saying, we are going for simple.

*I'm moving the fan now, I'm going to die of heat stroke if I don't*

These changes I've made aren't rocket science, I am just writing them down so I will remember how fun camping can be! It doesn't have to be a huge ordeal. You don't have to go to some far off place or make gourmet meals every time to enjoy being outside. I'm glad I made time to go this weekend. If I hadn't I wouldn't have woken up to this.

There were at least 12 different birds flitting about, it was so great!

Or taken 50 pictures of these flowers.

Or eaten this giant donut for breakfast.Yes, that is a grapefruit.

And isn't that what life is all about? Taking time out of your mundane, busy schedule to enjoy this beautiful world, to stop and see the flowers, and to eat giant donuts? I am starting to think so.

Dear Lord

I saw this quote today and couldn't help adding it to a recent photo of mine and sharing it. Source.