“Rain Fall” Shower Head!

I was getting ready to work on my computer and so was going through some files and backing them up when I started browsing through all our video footage, and I found this clip from when we were trying to install a different kind of shower head. It was supposed to be really nice, like “rain fall”. It looked cool in the store, but it didn’t really work out at home.

I think this video is hilarious because I am so goofy, you really need to watch it.

Stress relief

I love baking.  I love the exactness of the measurements.  I love that if you follow the recipe the end result always turns out perfect and delicious.  I love how happy it makes people to eat homemade goodies.  I love how impressed my husband always is after I bake something .  I love everything about baking.  I don’t even mind cleaning up afterward.  I look forward to Sunday afternoons because that’s when I have time to bake.

For me, baking is relaxing and therapeutic.  This past week at work was a nightmare.  By Saturday I was both physically and emotionally spent and to top it all off, I came down with a cold.  I desperately needed some sort of stress relief, so I got off the couch and decided to try my hand at making calzones.  To my and Christophers delight, they turned out very tasty, but I wasn’t done yet!  I had a few apples and decided to make an apple pie.  I found a recipe that didn’t use a traditional pie crust and decided to give it a try.  I thought it was good, but that it didn’t compare with my moms apple pie.  Chris told me it was perfect.  I was just happy to have some sort of catharsis.  I felt accomplished, cleansed and refreshed.  Sometimes, a slice of hot apple pie fixes everything.  I love baking.

Baby quilt

I have completed my first quilt!  It’s a baby quilt that I made to give to a woman that I work with.  I think it turned out pretty cute and it was fun to make.  I did have  to call my mom a lot to get advice, and being the awesome woman that she is, she drove all the way to Flagstaff on Monday just to help me finish quilting even though she could only stay for a few hours.  Thanks Mom!  I couldn’t have done it without you! Quilting is fun!  Since most of my friends are pregnant right now, I’ll be making several more baby quilts I think.  Here are some pictures!

P.S.  I gave the quilt to the woman at work and she loved it

School and stuff

School has started for me. The first week was pretty smooth and my schedule is manageable. I’m really excited because it *should* be my second to last semester. If I stick to my current plan, I will graduate this coming May.

Some other sad news: our dinosaur eel “Smaug” died after fighting a parasite infection for a couple of weeks. He looked like he was going to make a recovery, so I put him back in the regular tank so that I could clean the quarantine tank, but within a few hours, he became seriously ill again and died. I’m surprised at how sad I am about it, he was definitely my favorite and the most intelligent of all our fish. He became used to seeing me and knew when I was going to feed him. I will get another one some day, but only when we have another fish tank or at least a bigger one. Our fish have grown over the past two years and our tank has become crowded, a factor that I am sure contributed to Smaug’s demise.

Last Friday I did another backpacking trip with Seth Haymore and Andrew Haymore, my old roommates. It was a lot of fun, but the trip sort of missed its objective. We packed into East Clear Creek, hoping to find some large swimming areas, but we were too far East and there wasn’t much to be found. We did camp next to some Native American hieroglyphs, which was really cool.

Oh, and lastly, I made a new song and it is, in my opinion once again, very good. I named it “Overkill” because this past week has been extremely busy and stressful, and I felt like there was too much going on. Listen to it on the music page!

Bye bye

Over the past week

During this past week, I have been on one quick backpacking trip, and one long day hike. One of my old roommates, Andrew Haymore, came to visit and per tradition, all we did was plan outdoor trips.

Our first trip was an overnighter about 6 miles into West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon. We camped in a spot Andrew knew of from a  previous trip, which was sheltered under a  vast overhang and had  five big chairs built out of large slabs of rock. The canyon was beautiful and we spent most of our time wading through slots and narrows.

Our second trip was a long day hike into West Clear Creek. Clear Creek is a large canyon East of Camp Verde which is full of deep pools perfect for swimming and cliff jumping. We didn’t have enough time to do another strenuous overnighter, but we did hike around 16 – 18 miles with swimming all in one day. While hiking along the river, I almost stepped on a Sonoran Whipsnake, which quickly climbed into the woody limbs of some bushes growing along the water. I managed to take some up close pictures as it was watching us. It was around five or six feet long and very large.

New Song

Yes, a new song, yet again. It’s called “I Tried, I Succeed”, listen to it on the music page in the playlist. It’s probably one of my best songs ever, so I suggest a listen.

Other than that, I have many videos of our pets to sort out and put up. I keep learning interesting things with the snake, mostly about crickets and their bizarre behavior. I have filmed them using teamwork to eat each other. Very strange. Also, we captured a Jerusalem Cricket at a friend’s house. Like the snake, it also crawled out from under the couch while we were watching a movie. It has been very fascinating to watch it dig into the sand. We also got a Gold Algae Eater for the fish tank. It’s very small, but also very interesting to watch. I love animals!

This Video Is Hilarious

Apron

I saw this really cute apron kit in Joann’s and decided that I had to have it.  I loved the vintage-y colors and fabric and I loved that it was a half apron.  So, when my 40% off coupon became valid I went right over and snatched one up. Today I sewed it.  It was very easy and a lot of fun.  I love my new apron, especially because it is double-sided. I really have TWO new aprons!

I’ve decided that I need a hobbie and I think sewing is what it’s gonna be.  My next project is going to be a paper piece quilt of the Saint George Temple!  I happened upon this website http://www.quiltatemple.com/index.htm while looking for a temple cross stitch pattern.  I’m really excited for it to get here.  After that, I’m thinking about making a quilt for our bed.  We’ll see.  Here are some pictures of my apron!

Drum Harem

I just made up a very interesting song with a variety of different drums. When I was finished, all I could think to call it was “Drum Harem”, haha. Listen to it on the music page.

Found This Picture From December

I was organizing some photos and I found this picture from December of last year (2008). It is a picture of our clock, which reads the indoor and outdoor temperatures.

It's seven degrees outside