Exuberating Fantasticisms

2011-10-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

Lori and I did a cleanse diet recently. All we ate were fruits, vegetables, nuts, oats and brown rice. And we had to drink our weight in ounces of water everyday. We did the diet for a week and were really strict about it. It was actually pretty yummy. We bought a ton of different fruits and veggies and mostly ate those.

As the diet went along we got more and more creative with our food and meals. Like almonds and pecans are even more delicious toasted in the oven for a little bit. And brown rice takes 8 cups of water to one cup of rice to make it soft and chewy. Potato wedges baked with lots of salt and pepper and garlic powder are so yummy even Kurt will eat our healthy food.

Throughout the week Lori had lots of funny, weird, ridiculous things to say...

Day 2: "This is the best dinner we've had in two days!"

Day 3: "I think I'm slowly starving to death."
   "Should we eat crap stuff just for today?"
   "I'm just gonna lick this French fry."

Day 4: "I'm probably going to get high from this sauce."

Day 5: "Honey! You better jump on this bandwagon!"

Day 6: "Should we cheat just for today?!?"
   "Kurt ate my potato wedge when he can eat anything he wants in the world!"

Yellowstone Birthday Escape

2011-10-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

For my 30th birthday I wanted to do something big! I really wanted to spend a week in Florida with Kimberly, but my car had other plans for my vacation money. So I decided I wanted to go camping and geocaching in Yellowstone National Park for the weekend. I wanted Lori and Kurt and Brooklyn to come and they all agreed to. But when Kurt's parents found out we were going to be sleeping in a tent in bear country they said that Brooklyn wasn't allowed to go. I was bummed but at least we wouldn't have to worry about a little toddler the whole trip. Then Kurt decided he would stay home with Brooklyn since he doesn't like geocaching or hiking or walking or anything fun. I was bummed again but now we wouldn't have either baby slowing us down.

So Lori and I set off on a great adventure to ring in my 30's!

We took off on Friday night and planned to get to our campsite at Madison campground in time to set up camp in the daylight and then hang out by the fire and roast marshmallows. But we were almost to West Yellowstone when we passed this sign:

We immediately made a U-turn and headed to the rodeo for the night.

We were super excited for the spontaneous rodeo!

A storm moved in and we got soaking wet and almost blown away.

The rodeo clown asked me to participate in something down in the ring and I enthusiastically volunteered. I didn't know it was a dance competition until I was down there and in front of the crowd. I should have won! I danced way better than that little kid. But he won the stupid frisbee anyways.

We got to meet the awesome (and pretty cute) cowboys afterwards.

Lori and I slept in way too long on Saturday morning so we ate a quick breakfast and hopped in the car for a long day of power caching. I had planned and mapped out all the earth caches and virtual caches that we were going to get in Yellowstone. Actual physical geocaches can't be hid in national parks, so there are earth caches or virtual caches. To log the find you have to go to a specific location, landmark, geological feature, etc. and take a picture and/or answer some questions about the place or thing. It's all very educational, which may not sound fun but it is.

There is a buffalo lying on the ground behind us.

I loved climbing all over this pile of basalt ruins. I felt like a little kid.

It was way hotter than we thought it would be and we were sweating our boobs off running from cache to cache. So we found a river and changed into our swimsuits to play in it. I built a dam so we could sit in a pool of cool water. It was pretty much the greatest thing to happen to us.

Yellowstone Falls is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life.

This view was literally breathtaking. The colorful canyon, the falls, the sunset. Perfection.

I found a herd of about 19 buffalo and was so excited I took off running across the parking lot to get closer to them. Lori stayed behind and took pictures of me acting crazy.

Our campground did a presentation at night in the amphitheater. It was about all the fires in Yellowstone throughout its history. It was super interesting.

Lori and I made delicious fajitas for dinner and then roasted marshmallows. I made her try a graham cracker-less s'more. It's a marshmallow with 2 pieces of chocolate sandwiching it. YUM!

The next morning we started a lot earlier and first thing we see on our way to a geocache was a freakin' grizzly bear! We stood across the river and watched it for a half hour. We were close enough to see its fur move as it walked. It had just killed something and was carrying a big piece of it around and then went behind a tree to eat it. It was pretty dangerous of us to be so close so we finally got out of there.

The mud pots are one of my favorite things in the park. I can't really explain why though.

This fumarole is called Red Spouter and it really is a brilliant red in the middle.

A view of Upper Geyser Basin and the Old Faithful Lodge.

One of the last caches we got was at Old Faithful.

I had such an incredible weekend that I really didn't want to go home. I seriously wanted to stay in Yellowstone with Lori and go geocaching for another week or month or 3. Throughout our 2 day stay we saw 25 buffalo, 15 elk, 4 coyotes, 2 sandhill cranes, 2 black bears, 1 grizzly bear and 1 other geocacher. We found 41 of the 50 US states license plates, 5 of the 13 Canadian provinces and found 31 of the 55 geocaches in the park.

Snapshot of Idaho: American & Idaho Flags

2011-09-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

On September 11th I was driving around with a full tank of gas and nothing to do. I passed by this flag pole with the American and Idaho State flags with the sun lighting them up from behind. It was such a beautiful reminder of all that our country stands for and has been through.

Snapshot of Idaho: Windmills

2011-08-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

I've been slightly homesick lately so I love that there are a bunch of windmills up on the hills near my house. There are no where near the amount that are on the Altamont back home, but it's like a little piece of it for me to have.

Snapshot of Idaho: Weeds

2011-08-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

There are these giant dandelion weeds all over in southeast Idaho. By the side of the roads and in people's yards and in fields and everywhere! But especially in the vacant lots in the neighborhood I live in. They grow waist high and the flower heads are as big as my fist. And when the wind blows the seeds off the plant the air is saturated with little puffs that cling to your clothes and hair.

Adventures in Kayaking

2011-08-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

It started off as a nice and relaxing weekend camping at Greys River in Wyoming...

I went with my brother-in-law's family for their annual Larson Family Reunion.

We basically just pulled off the side of the road and pitched a tent. Well, all the other families had trailers, but Lori, Kurt, Brooklyn and I roughed it in a tent.

We had a blast all weekend. We had marshmallow gun wars, roasted Starbursts, had pinecone wars around the fire and then again at the river, watched the kids play in the creek, rode bikes and 4-wheelers. Lori, Cody and I even did a little geocaching and got eaten by mosquitos.

Oh yeah, and we went kayaking.

It was my very first time kayaking. I've been river rafting and tubing hundreds of times, but never kayaking. It was amazing. It was incredible. It was one of the scariest moments of my life...

I went down a couple times with Kurt's uncle Jeff on a short and mild, but fun, portion of the river. We were doing awesome paddling together. I loved the cold water and getting splashed in the rapids. It was too short of a trip for me. I wanted to be on the river all day. So I was especially disappointed when the four oldest guys took the kayaks out for a long trip from the top of the mountain back down to our campsite, and all the rest of us had to go to this gorgeous mountain lake and play.

We stayed at the lake for an hour or more and then decided to head back to camp and go see how the guys were doing. We weren't even close to camp when we saw the guys standing on the side of the road. We knew something was wrong so we stopped and jumped out of the trucks. Sure enough, one of the kayaks had crashed and Scott (Kurt's dad) and Dave (Kurt's uncle) had got dumped and banged up pretty good. Dave was alright but Scott had a dent in his shin and was bleeding and already bruising. He had hobbled along the side of the road, refusing to get back on the river, until we stopped for them.

As we were all standing around talking about what had happened Jeff asked if anyone wanted to continue kayaking with him. I immediately, and enthusiastically, volunteered. No one else would. Not even the other guys that had been on the river but not gotten hurt. I guess I should have realized that maybe they knew something I didn't. Lori and Kurt almost took the other kayak down with us but Scott told Kurt not to go, so they stayed behind.

Before Jeff and I got on the river we made sure I had all of the proper safety equipment. I tried on 3 different life jackets until one was tight enough and still comfortable enough to row in. Jeff adjusted my helmet until it fit perfectly. Then everyone said their last goodbyes (seriously) and left us to the river.

Jeff gave me a million pointers and scenarios before we actually got going. "I'm going to be the rudder and you are going to just paddle while I steer." "When I say 'full force' paddle as hard as you can. Don't stop paddling. No matter what." "Hang onto your oar if we spill. Cause if we get the kayak, but no oars, then we have to hike out with it." "If we spill then get to the shore as fast as you can." "We don't want to get dumped in the canyon that's up ahead because then we'll have to hike out of it." "If we get dumped then go down the river feet first to protect your head." "If we notice some major rapids up ahead we'll get out and climb up to check them out. And then decide if we want to continue or hike around that spot."

While he was giving me the Kayaking 101 lecture I was thinking: is this something I should be doing? And I felt good about it. I felt like it was okay for me to do. So with all that we got in the kayak and on the river.

Wyoming is absolutely gorgeous. I just sat there and marveled in the awesome scenery that surrounded us. The sun was setting and it casted the perfect glow on the river and the trees. We were having a blast and moving right along. We even practiced our rowing for the upcoming rapids. So when we came to the actual rapids and Jeff shouted, "full force!," I knew what to do and was confident. I paddled and paddled and paddled. My arms ached but I kept going and going. We were sailing through those waves and doing fine until all of the sudden we weren't.

Neither Jeff nor I saw it coming. One second we were in the kayak and on top of the river, and the next we were rolling underneath the waves. I rolled a couple times and then made my way to the surface. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't catch my breath. I was getting pulled down the river and pounded by the waves and battered by the rocks. I still had my oar in my hand and was attempting to swim with the other. Then I saw Jeff's oar float by me and grabbed for it. Then I had 2 oars in one hand and was still trying to swim like that. All of the sudden Jeff bumped into me from behind and I turned to look at him. I saw the look on his face and thought, oh no, we are going to die.

I immediately ditched the oars and tried to survive what was happening to me. I still couldn't breathe, I was still being pelted by the waves, I was still being hammered by the rocks. I seriously thought I was going to die. I couldn't swim. I was busy trying not to drown. I thought it was never going to end. Then all of the sudden there was a quick break in the rapids and I booked it for the shore. When I was able to get to the bank I reached for some bushes that were hanging into the water and held on for dear life. The water was still really swift there but shallow. I just laid there, face down in the water, holding onto the branches. I was alive. I looked up and saw Jeff on the other side of the river.

I finally got up out of the water because I knew Jeff would be worrying and wondering if I was alright. I was devastated. We were on completely different sides of the wide river with no way to get to each other. He was shouting and gesturing to me but I was in shock and couldn't comprehend what was going on. I knew we were out of immediate danger so I just let myself freak out for a second. I held up my hands for Jeff to wait a second and I put my head between my legs for a couple seconds and tried to catch my breath. What had just happened? My legs were bleeding, my arm was hurting, my hand was bleeding but I couldn't tell from where, my whole body hurt. I was seriously in shock.

After a couple seconds I stood up and let Jeff know I was okay. He said he was okay too. Then we set about the task of getting out of there. And when I say "there" I mean the canyon we weren't supposed to get dumped in. We couldn't really hear each other because the river was just wide enough and the river too loud. So we mostly used our hands to communicate. I was on the side of the road and the steepest side of the canyon. He asked if I was okay to climb up. I said yeah and tried to scale the mountain that was probably at a 60 degree angle while Jeff watched me with concern from the other side. I couldn't do it. I kept sliding down. I was dripping wet and my legs hurt so bad. So I walked upstream a little bit, where it was less steep, and tried again. No luck.

So Jeff called to me and motioned with his hands where to climb up and what direction to go. I found a fallen tree that I managed to scramble up to and then literally climbed up the tree that was leaning on the mountain. When I got to the top of the tree Jeff could see I was alright and so he started hiking downstream on his side. I proceeded to climb up by grabbing onto any tree or bush or plant that would hold my weight and pulling myself up. That was all the strength I had to do. I turned around a couple times to look back down into the canyon and knew that one wrong step and I would be right back in that river.

When I got to a point where the ground was starting to level out I stopped to sit on a rock to catch my breath that I still hadn't caught since falling into the river. After a minute I looked up and saw one of the 4-wheelers that Kurt's family had brought camping. I had sat down right by the road and didn't even know it. I got up and walked to the road and looked over to see Kurt's brother and uncle and aunt looking down into the canyon. I called to them while stumbling over. They rushed to me to check me out. I'm sure I looked like death. A second later Kurt and Lori come screeching up in the truck. As soon as I saw Lori I burst into tears. She ran to me and held me while I cried into her chest and said, "it was so bad," over and over.

I hadn't let myself cry up until that point. I knew that I was hurt and scared but I knew that I was all alone and no one else was going to help me. So what good would crying do? But when I finally had someone there who could help me and comfort me I let loose. At least for a minute. Then I became seriously concerned about Jeff and making sure he was okay. More of the family arrived and we followed Jeff down the river from across it. I refused to go back to camp until I knew for sure that Jeff was okay. But then I started to get worried that he was perfectly fine. No cuts or bruises or injuries. So I said that he better be hurt just a little bit or I would be mad.

Our kayak and one of the oars had been rescued so they used that to get across the river where it was a little mellower and pick up Jeff and take him back to camp. We met them at the river where they got out. Jeff and I went to each other and assessed the other's injuries. He was okay but he did have a couple scrapes and hurt his tailbone pretty bad. I was glad. Glad he was alive and well, and glad he wasn't completely unscathed from that ordeal.

Kurt's mom Debbie let me take a shower in their trailer so I could wash off all the blood and dirt. Then Lori cleaned and bandaged my legs and finger. I had a deep cut on my finger that might have needed stitches if all the skin hadn't been removed. I was still in shock. Freezing and shivering. So I got dressed in jeans and a thermal shirt and then wrapped myself in a blanket and stayed in the trailer for awhile. Jeff and his brother-in-law Kevin had driven back up the mountain to take some pictures of the river where we crashed. So he stopped by to show them to me. He also showed me pictures of the river downstream from where we got dumped. We were really lucky we got out where we did. Or else we really would have died. And I was lucky I got to shore where I did because there was a drop off on my side that would have killed me.

Everything that happened was pretty incredible. Kevin and his wife Becky had been at the top of the canyon watching us kayak down the river and saw the whole thing happen. They said that the kayak stayed in the rapid right where we got dumped out, and just stayed there spinning for a minute or more. Jeff and I were lucky to not get caught in that.

When they saw us spill Kevin took off on the 4-wheeler to head back to camp to tell everyone and get help. Lori and Kurt swear that Kevin showed up and shouted that we had crashed and to go to the river and look for bodies. Of course Lori started freaking out. They drove up to a spot on the river where some other people were camping and asked them for rope and to help. Lori cried to some guy that her sister was in the river and he was really sympathetic and sweet to her. They found the kayak and one of the oars there, but no bodies. That must have been when they raced up the mountain to where I was.

Jeff is a total dare devil, adrenaline junkie, thrill seeker, crazy dude. But he told me that if he doesn't feel good about doing something then he won't do it. Before we went down the river he said he felt good about going too. This accident really shook him up too. All of his family could tell. I could tell and I don't know Jeff that well. His mom said she was glad he got hurt because sometimes Jeff needs to be shaken up. Maybe this really was something we both just needed to go through.

Several times after this has happen Jeff has asked me how I got to the side of the river so fast. I think what Jeff is really saying to me is, I didn't know you were such a fast swimmer, and that makes me kind of proud. And thankful for all the swimming I've done in my life. Swimming lessons, boogie boarding and body surfing in the ocean, tubing and rafting in rivers and swimming in friends and neighbors pools.

The next day we all took it really easy. I hobbled around camp pretty good, but we mostly sat by the creek watching the kids play. Scott and I compared wounds. Jeff wouldn't compare with us because his was on his tailbone. Scott's looked way worse than mine. Even through all the healing his has been worse than mine.

Not to say that my injuries were minor. I got hurt really bad. One of my elbows was scratched and bruised, the other arm had big cuts on the back, there was a bruise on my side, the gash in my finger and then my legs. From toes to mid thigh I was banged up and bruised. I even took several days off of work because of the pain and swelling in my legs. Three days after the crash this is what my legs looked like.

Now all my bruises have disappeared but I still have lots of tenderness in certain areas. The gash in my shin is gross. Lori won't even look at it unless I make her. It is slightly infected but healing well. I'm pretty sure I'll have some lasting damage to my left knee. It just feels weird and hurts often. But other than all that I'm great! I loved kayaking. I don't regret going on that trip. I would go again even. With a better kayak and maybe if the river was lower. Jeff and I have over analyzed everything that happened and there was almost nothing we could have done to prevent what happened.

I'm going kayaking this weekend. In a calm lake but at least I'm getting back on the horse. Wish me luck!

Snapshot of Idaho: City of Idaho Falls Seal

2011-06-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Since I recently moved to a new city and state I have lots to explore and learn about my new surroundings. So I've decided to photograph things I see that interest or intrigue me and share them all with you.

This is the City of Idaho Falls seal. I tried to find out the meaning behind it but I couldn't and got bored.

I Scream!!!

2011-06-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

Last week was Farr Candy Company and Bonneville County's 100th birthday celebration. The whole city went downtown to help Farr's beat the world record for the most scoops of ice cream scooped in one hour. So Lori, Kurt, Brooklyn, Sky, Heidi, Autumn and I all went to help eat the ice cream. The record to beat was 3,000 and they definitely did that with 6,284 scoops!

Panorama of the downtown streets blocked off, and the line of people waiting for ice cream snaked all around it.

The group waiting for the hour to begin so we could get our scoop. Kurt and Sky work downtown so Kurt walked over as soon as he got off and got us a really good spot in line.

One of the old ice cream trucks owned by Farr's.

I don't know who was flown in by the helicopter, but they landed in the middle of the blocked off streets and a guy got out and gave a folded up American flag to the color guard that paraded around.

Everyone who was going to get ice cream had to get their hand stamped with a cute little ice cream cone stamp. Even Brooklyn and Autumn got their hands stamped.

I got everyone together for a group picture in front of the old Bonneville Hotel once we got our ice cream.

Lori got mint chocolate chip.

Kurt did too.

Sky got his and Autumn's cookies and cream. Heidi got huckleberry.

Autumn got a couple tastes.

Brooklyn sucked down a whole ice cream cone all by herself. She would scream if her dad tried to help her out by licking up the drips. She got all sticky and messy.

I got huckleberry. It was really good!

The Farr family collects a bunch of different vehicles. Classic cars and trucks, new cars and trucks, unusual cars and trucks. Here is me in front of a honest-to-goodness DeLorean. Only about 6,500 still exist today from the 9,000 built.

Here is a link to a short newscast about the ice cream celebration.

We Took The Scenic Route: Day 2

2011-05-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well, Rusty and I went for another drive today. This time all the way to Yosemite. So over the past two days we drove over 300 miles and 9 hours.

We stopped at this old, run down cemetery to find a geocache.

On our drive yesterday we sped by this old barn or store and stopped at it today to take some photos of the vintage sign and junk in the yard.

Lots of snow on the mountain still. Most of it brown though.

There was so much water in the river and coming from the waterfalls. This is Bridalveil Falls. You can see all the mist coming up from the bottom.

Rusty and me riding in the back of the shuttle bus, where all the cool kids hang out.

Half Dome and Rusty.

Lower Yosemite Falls and me.

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls.

The tiniest STOP sign I've ever seen.

View of the valley and Bridalveil Falls.

Me!

We Took The Scenic Route: Day 1

2011-05-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

Rusty and I went for a long drive out in the country this afternoon. It was a freakin' gorgeous day and he needed to drive a car he bought and fixed up before he could sell it. It was so awesome hanging out with one of my best friends, who I hardly get to spend time with. We both love going for scenic drives, listening and singing along to rad music, talking and reminiscing, and driving so fast with the windows rolled down that you can't even breathe.

I took a bunch of pictures of our trip on my phone with a tilt shift app I love.

A Week In SoCal

2011-05-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

My new niece Annie, Brittney and Job's daughter, was blessed at church a couple Sundays ago so I took some time off and went down to visit for about a week. My sister Lori and her daughter Brooklyn came also, my parents drove down, and my Grandma even flew in for it. It was a little half-family reunion.

Saturday afternoon we all went to the park and played and relaxed. It was 93 degrees and it felt awesome. Here is Grandma Palmer, Dad, Brittney, Lori, Annie and Job hanging out.

Mom played Ring-Around-The-Rosie with Brooklyn and Porter. Porter wanted to go a lot faster than Brooklyn so it made it quite difficult for Grandma to not get twisted in knots.

Job and Brittney sitting on the swings.

I love love love this picture of Porter playing baseball, his most favorite thing ever.

Lori just had to try her sunglasses on Annie and I just had to take pictures.

Lori and Brooklyn swinging.

My Grandma Palmer is so pretty. I love her.

Brooklyn stuck the dandelion in her mouth when she tried to blow it.

It was soooo sunny that this was Brooklyn's face almost the whole time we were at the park. I kept calling her a little gangster.

Later that night we went swimming at Job's parents' house. Well everyone except my parents went swimming. They held Annie the whole time.

We mostly sat in the hot tub. Here's the whole gang.

Brittney and Porter.

Lori and Brooklyn.

Sunday was Annie's baby blessing at church. Grandma Palmer made her dress and we took a few pictures of her in it.

Porter holding Annie.

Mommy and Annie.

The night before I painted Annie's toenails. Job insisted on the dark red nail polish. Everyone who noticed it commented on how cute it was.

My parents really wanted a photo of them with the grandkids. Annie was really the only one who cooperated. And that was because she was asleep.

Grandpa and Annie.

Grandma and Brooklyn.

Lori and Brooklyn relaxing in the hammock.

We played outside A LOT while I was there. Sometimes it was the only thing that would make the kids happy. Grandma and Porter played catch for a while on Monday.

Grandma would even run and chase the ball or try and beat Porter to it. He calls her "Grape" or "Grandma Grape" because he can't really pronounce "Great Grandma" the way it should be.

Brittney has a couple of these baby slings that she matches to whatever outfit she is wearing that day and then carries Annie around in it. And Annie just snuggles right up on Brittney's boobs and falls asleep. No matter where she is going or the craziness that is happening around her.

Super cute picture of Brooklyn running all over the yard with her tongue sticking out almost the whole time. She is such a goofball.

I found a gopher that kept popping its head in and out of a hole, so I showed it to the kids and everyone just stood and watched it for several minutes.

Later that day we went geocaching, or "treasure hunting" as the kids like to call it. Porter is my little treasure hunting buddy. Every time I go down to spend time with them I take him geocaching and he loves to get treasure from the caches. He gets so excited to show his mom the cool things he got.

The first geocache we found was THE PERFECT CACHE! It was larger and had tons of swag in it. But what made it so perfect was that it had the perfect items for each of the kids. A baseball for Porter and a Finding Nemo toy for Brooklyn. Those are their most favorite things! Lori and I were freaking out with excitement! Porter loved his new baseball but immediately lost it and so we had a new "geocache" to look for, the baseball. We found it though.

On Tuesday we had to take "Grandma Grape" to LAX for her flight home so we made a day of it in Los Angeles. We went to Griffith Park and drove around and played at a really cool park, we ate lunch and found a geocache, we went to the Los Angeles Farmers Market. It was an awesome and very exhausting day.

Brittney and Job wanted new family pictures that included Annie so we did a super quick photo session before the sun went down and the kids got too restless.

Lori wanted a few mommy/daughter photos but Brooklyn didn't want anything to do with Lori. She was way too busy playing. Here Lori tried to trick her into coming to mommy.

But Brooklyn took the rose and ran away.

Porter found a puddle left over from watering the grass and Brittney, being the coolest mom ever, encouraged him to play in it. He LOVED it!

Lori tried to encourage Brooklyn to play too but she just stood next to it looking at everyone like they had gone crazy. She is such a prissy girl.

Porter got soaked and then Brittney told him to come give me a hug. No way!

But he is just so cute I gave him a tiny hug.

Here are some random picture of people with Annie.

My dad holding Annie and trying to get the other grandkids' shoes on.

Me watching TV and holding Annie.

Brooklyn even got a turn holding her.

Brittney and Annie.

#319 of 365: Warmth

2011-04-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

Loving the warmer weather and the later daylight hours.

#318 of 365: Ruby Red

2011-04-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

I got my hair cut and colored today by the amazing Josh Davino again. I told him I wanted to go redder than last time and this is what he did. I LOVE IT!!! I love love love my red hair.

#317 of 365: Low Rider

2011-04-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

Beautiful, bike riding weather lately so I've gone out to take advantage of it. My bike is pretty much the coolest bike you've ever seen. Black and gold. Pegs on the front and back. Hot pink bike lock. Headlight and back light for safety. Big butt padded seat. Pure awesomeness.

#316 of 365: Spring Sunlight

2011-04-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

The grass was so pretty while the sun was setting this evening that I had to go lay in it.

Geocaching Wounds

2011-04-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

Last night I fell out of a tree.

I was climbing the tree to get to a geocache I had placed but needed to check on before it was published. I was maybe 4 or 5 feet off the ground and the piece of bark one of my feet was placed on broke off. It broke off just as I was moving my other foot to a higher foothold. My arms didn't have a good grip so I basically slid down the trunk of the tree. In the process I scraped up my knees, stomach, chest, the undersides of both of my arms, hands and my chin.

I was pretty shocked when I finally hit the ground. I picked myself and started to cry a little because the pain was pretty bad. I immediately stopped crying because I knew I was alone and still had to walk to my car and drive myself home. And crying wasn't going to help. When I got to my car I quickly used my flashlight to check my injuries. Just a little blood but nothing major.

So I drove home, walked in the door, and told my parents, "I fell out of a tree." The shock on their faces when they saw me and heard what I said was scary. My mom jumped up and took care of me, cleaned me and sanitized my wounds.

My arms and chin are the worst. In looks and in pain.

#315 of 365: Fearsome

2011-04-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

Making my eye look scary while playing around in Photoshop.

#314 of 365: Deep Pockets

2011-04-01T23:07:00.001-07:00

I bought this black skirt at the Goodwill because I fell in love with the fact that it has pockets. And today was the first really warm day of spring so I wore it to work.

#313 of 365: Pretty Childish

2011-03-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

At the party store we have a ton of little novelty items for kids, including a ton of silly rings. So I dressed my fingers all up in almost every different kind of ring I could find. A couple of my fingers started turning purple because the child size rings didn't fit my chubby fingers. My favorite ring is on the top of my left hand pointer finger, the googly eyes.

#312 of 365: Bonkers

2011-03-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

Just making a crazy face.

#311 of 365: Murder Mystery

2011-03-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

My coworker Monique helped me with this photo. She helped me set it up just right, she told me how to position my body and styled my hair and she drew the chalk outline. We even fooled another coworker into thinking that there had been a real murder in our parking lot.

#310 of 365: Blooper

2011-03-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

I took my camera to work again today and tried to take a few photos of myself in front of our big storage shed. I love how rusted and gross it looks and wanted to use it as a background. I used my shutter remote control to get take some of the photos. This shot is an outtake but I liked it just as much as some of the other photos. So here is a behind the scenes glimpse into my self portrait project.

#309 of 365: King Sized Comfort

2011-03-27T23:59:00.000-07:00

Last summer I needed a bed when I moved in with a friend. I found a king sized bed for super cheap so I jumped on it. Literally. I loved loved loved that bed. Sometimes nothing could make me leave it. But then I moved back in with my parents and there was no room for my big bed. So my best friend Rusty said he would gladly take it and babysit it for me. He lets me come over and spend time in it whenever I get the chance. Tonight I went over and hung out with Rusty and my bed. Ahhh...so comfortable.

#308 of 365: Party On Wayne

2011-03-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

I currently work part time at a party supply store. It can be fun. It can be crazy-making. Saturdays are super busy one minute and then completely dead the next. Here I am snapping a picture of me straightening up while we have a break in the craziness.

#307 of 365: Maximize

2011-03-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

Using a magnifying glass I found at work to take today's self portrait.

#306 of 365: Stumped

2011-03-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

These cool palm tree stumps are outside of my work so I thought they would make an awesome prop for a self portrait. I would love to take a group photo here with a person or two on each stump. Also, please notice my mega rad tshirt. I got it in the little boys section at Goodwill and it says "ZERO" on it.

#305 of 365: Dripping Wet

2011-03-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

I got soaked to the bone out in the rain this morning while playing with my 75-300mm lens and my shutter remote control.

#304 of 365: Crowning Moment

2011-03-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

Today was the first sunny day in weeks it seemed like. I love the rain and clouds but it was kind of nice to get a little sunshine for a bit.

#303 of 365: Scrap Metal

2011-03-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

My friend RJ works at a machine shop and has given me a bunch of their old, cool looking scraps. He knew I would get creative and turn them into jewelry. I got 2 of these "Y" shaped things from him so I added some bolts and screws and nuts and a chain. I gave one of the necklaces to my sister Lori and kept one for myself. They are very heavy and the screws can be a little sharp so these aren't really recommended for everyday wear. I tried wearing mine to work today but had to take it off cause it was getting in the way. Everyone who saw me while I was wearing it commented on it though. Most of them were weirded out and didn't really understand it. But I take that as a compliment actually.

P.S. My boobs look totally lopsided in this picture. It must be the angle of the photo. I just felt I needed to address that.

#302 of 365: Overdressed On The Overpass

2011-03-07T22:52:00.000-08:00

After work tonight I threw on all black and some fishnets and my awesome boots and hiked up the overpass with my camera. Luckily there weren't that many cars around because looking at these photos I took I look a little scandalous. I felt like a superhero though, with the tights and the boots. I'm gonna rock that look more often now.

#301 of 365: Rise & Shine

2011-03-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

This is what I look like in the morning, or afternoon, depending on when I get out of bed.

#300 of 365: 500th Find

2011-02-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

Tonight I found my 500th geocache! It is quite a milestone and I am super proud of myself. To commemorate that many finds my friend RJ gave me a geocoin. A geocoin is a small, usually metal, token that has a tracking code on it. You can then place the geocoin in a geocache and other cachers will pick it up and take it to another geocache and log that they placed it there. That way your geocoin can travel and you can track it and see where it goes. My new geocoin is so pretty I don't know if I'm going to be able to part with it though. The coin also came with a smaller pin that looks identical, so maybe I'll use that as my geocoin I send out into the caching world.

Valentine Cookies

2011-02-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting months to make sugar cookies for Valentine's Day. I wanted to make conversation heart cookies but put mean, evil, nasty sayings on them. So I made the dough, let it refrigerate, rolled out the dough, cut out the cookies, baked them, let them cool, frosted them...and then I was too tired and it was too late to write the sayings on them. All that work and I didn't even get to do what I originally set out to do. Oh well. The cookies were delicious! My coworkers ate half of them, my dad's coworkers ate a bunch, I gave some away and I pretty much ate the rest. Maybe next year I will get around to writing the sayings on them.

Christina's Shortlist

2011-02-11T23:43:00.000-08:00

1. Criminal Minds - This is my new favorite show. Basically I'm obsessed. I watch it every night I can. Usually sacrificing sleep to stay up and watch all the episodes that come on TV. I love everything about the show. The characters are likable and believable. The crimes are psychotic and smart. The whole show is just entertaining and addicting.

2. Reese's Big Cup - I ate one of these for the first time the other day when a friend gave me one. I already love Reese's peanut butter cups but this was incredible. It was like a whole cup of peanut butter in my mouth. And I LOVE peanut butter.

3. Nail Polish - I've been a little neurotic lately about my nail polish. I have to paint my fingernails at least once a week. I used to only paint them reds and pinks but now I'm experimenting and trying every cool color I can find. Blues, greens, yellows, purples, glitters, browns, oranges, everything.

4. Bruno Mars - I totally have a crush on this guy. He should be my boyfriend. Or at least make out with me. His voice is amazing and so is his music. I downloaded his album a couple weeks ago and love every song on it. But "Grenade" is definitely my favorite.

5. Purple - I'm going crazy for everything purple. Shirts, sweaters, tights, socks, shoes, nail polish, makeup, jewelry. Even balloons, hair, flowers, sunglasses, etc.

#299 of 365: Ni Hao, New Year

2011-02-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the Chinese New Year I grabbed some dinner at Panda Express tonight. Okay fine, it wasn't to celebrate anything special, I just love Panda Express so much. Especially the orange chicken and chow mein. Mmmmm!

#298 of 365: Hidden Treasures

2011-02-02T23:13:00.000-08:00

I found my 400th geocache tonight! Woo hoo! It was camouflaged as a pinecone and hanging in a tree. RJ was with me for my 200th, 300th and now my 400th finds. We're a great geocaching team.

#297 of 365: Ravishing

2011-01-31T20:28:00.000-08:00

Not to brag, but this is a pretty freakin' rad picture of me.

Scarlett Pepper and PetiteLune Cache the Coast

2011-01-30T20:59:00.000-08:00

I have really been craving geocaching and had Tuesday off so I asked Jacky if she would want to go on a caching road trip for the day. I planned out a route and a bunch of geocaches all along the way. We started caching near Muir Woods on Highway 1, just north of San Francisco, and took it all the way up to Sonoma Coast State Beach. The weather was perfect! Sunny and warm. We left behind all that fog and gloomy weather in the valley and drove up the coast with the windows rolled down and our sleeves rolled up. We were gone 12 hours, drove 330 miles and found 19 caches.

The beginning of our adventure...PetiteLune and Scarlett Pepper

The first cache we found. It was at the base of a tree in a park & ride lot.

We found a nano (the smallest size cache) under the 7 Eleven sign.

I loved all the unusual mail boxes lined up along the road.

We stopped to get an earthcache at the Muir Beach Overlook. To log the cache we had to answer several questions about the land around the overlook.

The gorgeous northern coast of California.

Me and Jacky at the overlook.

Jacky found a cache under this log along a trail off the road.

Signing the log from a cache just outside of a cemetery in Olema.

Jacky and me in front of the cemetery. Just before this picture I walked straight into a tree and scratched up the right side of my face, from my jaw line to my eye.

Olema is a really tiny and really cute town. We walked down the main street to get to this cache.

An ammo can hidden in front of a fellow geocacher's house.

This was near my favorite cache of the day. After parking we walked down a tiny trail that led to this rocky beach. There was an old wooden structure to the left and this weathered boat to the right. You can see a bit of a cute little house that juts out into the bay. The cache was hidden in a secret hideaway in some trees in the top right of the picture. The whole location was surreal.

This cache was hidden in the tangled roots of this fallen tree. It was near a beach that was scattered with hundreds of oyster shells.

Signing the log by the side of the road of a cache that was hidden in a hollow bolt.

Jacky with a camouflaged cache hanging in a tree.

We drove into Bodega Bay and found several caches. This one was called Hole in the Head because it was near a giant hole that was dug up for something or other.

This cache was really tricky. We searched forever it seemed like because I didn't want to give up. Jacky finally climbed up the side of the hill and found a giant bucket!

We dropped off a couple travel bugs and picked up a couple more at this cache.

Me with the travel bug Princess Marie that I dropped off. The travel bug I picked up was attached to a giant fishing lure.

There was a cache hidden in the lamp post skirt at the marina.

Posing for a picture of us by the marina.

It was incredible to get to drive right along the ocean while the sun was setting.

We then cut across on Highway 116 and stopped to get dinner at the Russian River Pub. We stopped there because there was a cache in the parking lot and because the restaurant had been on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and it looked really cool and yummy.

It was VERY yummy! I got the tri-tip sandwich and the best onion rings I've ever had in my life.

Here are all the items we collected from all the caches we got to trade items at.

It was a freaking awesome trip and I want to go again and get all the caches we didn't get to stop for and spend some more time in Bodega Bay.

#296 of 365: Look High & Low

2011-01-25T23:23:00.000-08:00

A little lost while looking for a geocache at Bodega Bay. But the area was beautiful so I didn't mind doing a little extra exploring.

#295 of 365: Sun Glow

2011-01-23T18:46:00.000-08:00

I love this hairstyle I saw on Martha Stewart's weddings website. It took 2 minutes to do, which was perfect because I was running late for church.

#294 of 365: Dirty Pretty Things

2011-01-22T22:58:00.000-08:00

I don't usually geocache in a skirt and heels but I was on my way home from a formal geocaching event and stopped to take a photo. You can hardly see the GPS hanging down by my leg and the travel bug in my hand.

#293 of 365: A Night In

2011-01-20T23:46:00.000-08:00

Comfy pants, warm socks, my favorite couch and Criminal Minds is how I've been spending my nights lately. And I look forward to it all day long.

#292 of 365: Splash Down

2011-01-19T20:07:00.000-08:00

The water had to be cold because the camera lens kept getting fogged up when the water was hot. Brrr!

#291 of 365: Sugar Lips

2011-01-18T23:07:00.000-08:00

Scouring the house for inspiration for a self portrait when I found a bottle of nonpareils. They kind of got everywhere while I was prepping for the photo.

#290 of 365: My Cup Of Tea

2011-01-17T23:53:00.000-08:00

Raspberry tea is my favorite.

#289 of 365: CMYK

2010-12-27T23:59:00.000-08:00

I saw a super cool commercial on TV that was bright and sunny and happy and had a bunch of CMYK dots on it. I tried to mimmic the commercial in photograph form. I made the dots in Illustrator and am really proud of myself for doing so, even though it is a very elementary task.

#288 of 365: Peek

2010-12-26T22:13:00.000-08:00

My new nail polish is called Laser.

#287 of 365: Make A Wish

2010-12-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting a wishbone necklace for quite awhile but never got one. Then today I was looking at one online along with some other jewelry. All of the sudden I was in the crafting mood. I got all my jewelry making stuff and look what I found...a wishbone pendant! I must have bought it along with some other pendants, never used it and forgot all about it. I was super excited and attached it to a chain and have been wearing it all day. I've already received compliments on it!

#286 of 365: Sweet Shack

2010-12-20T23:59:00.000-08:00

Another year of making candy houses. This year it was just my mom, dad and I. So we decorated only 4 houses instead of the usual 14 or more when the whole family is around. This is the house I decorated.

#285 of 365: Magenta

2010-12-18T23:05:00.000-08:00

I love playing with Photoshop. Almost as much as I love taking the actual photos.

#284 of 365: Submerged

2010-12-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

I love how distorted my face is under the ripples and bubbles.

#283 of 365: 'Stache

2010-12-15T21:17:00.000-08:00

Like my mustache?

#282 of 365: Snagged

2010-12-14T13:06:00.000-08:00

I ripped up a perfectly good pair of nylons just for this picture. Oh, and cut my leg.

#281 of 365: Deck The Halls

2010-12-13T21:52:00.000-08:00

My reflection in a Christmas ornament.

#280 of 365: Barbarousness

2010-12-12T23:59:00.000-08:00

This is one of my toe rings that I ALWAYS wear. Several years ago I named some of my silver jewelry after reading a certain book series. I named this toe ring "Barbarousness" and my other toe ring "Oscillational."

#279 of 365: Midas Touch

2010-12-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

I painted my face gold.

#278 of 365: My Heart In My Hands

2010-12-08T18:34:00.000-08:00

A little red marker to show my love to you all.

Another Head Injury

2010-12-07T18:25:00.000-08:00

I was back in my bedroom talking on the phone this afternoon when I heard my mom come back in the house from running some errands and yell "Christina!" I could tell from her voice that something was wrong. I ran into the kitchen, where she was and saw the bloody paper towels she was holding up to her forehead. I told my friend "Gotta go, bye" and hung up. My mom preceded to tell me she was getting the bags out of the back of the mini van when the hatch door fell down on her head. She made it to the door before dropping all her bags. She could feel the blood running down her face so she went to get some paper towels. I took one look at the gash on her forehead and said "We're going to the emergency room." I ran around the house grabbing her purse and glasses and our cell phones, some more paper towels, my flip flops, the van keys. My mom just laid on the floor while I was doing all this and unlocking the van and opening the doors. I then helped her up and got her in the van. I called my dad when we were on the road and told him what had happened. He made sure we were okay and told us to call him later. The whole trip I kept asking my mom all sorts of questions about what had happened and how she was feeling and to test her coherency.

We didn't have to wait long in the emergency room. When we got back in a room they had to clean out the flap with saline and then numb it and put in stitches and then clean and wrap it. I tried to hold her hand and be right by her the whole time but I started getting nauseous while they were doing the numbing and so had to sit down for a bit.

While the doctor was putting in the stitches I could tell they hadn't numbed her forehead enough because she would squeeze my hand harder. But other than that you couldn't tell that my mom was in any pain or that this whole experience wasn't pretty traumatic. My mom is a freaking rock. The doctor called her "stoic." So 8 tiny plastic surgery-type stitches later the flap was all sewed up.

The nurse had to wrap her head up like a wounded soldier. Another nurse walked in and called my mom "pretty" and we called her out on her lie and laughed.

Funny thing is that just over 6 years ago my mom fell from a ladder while getting boxes down from the attic and cut her forehead and the back of her head open. That time was way worse. She had a giant scar on her forehead before and this cut happened right over the previous one. As a family joke we have Brooksby Family Ladder Safety Awareness Day in November every year. Now the family joke will be Head Injury Awareness.

Oh and tomorrow is Brooksby Family Seatbelt Safety Awareness Day so remember your seatbelts kids!

#277 of 365: Fishnets & Heels

2010-12-07T14:37:00.000-08:00

The fishnet tights are mine. The red high heels are my moms.

#276 of 365: Family Tree

2010-12-06T21:27:00.000-08:00

Another year, another Christmas tree from Marty's Xmas Tree Lot.

#275 of 365: Drenched

2010-12-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

Rain soaked and all alone.

#274 of 365: Claws

2010-12-04T19:19:00.001-08:00

Kinda artistic shot of my hands on the wall.

#273 of 365: Blot

2010-12-03T23:28:00.001-08:00

Lipstick on tissue.

#272 of 365: Peacock Feather

2010-12-02T22:24:00.000-08:00

I love peacock feathers and have a bunch that have just been lying around my room. I remember seeing a photo like this a long time ago and decided to take my own version of it. I dedicate this photo to my friend Dina who shares my love of peacock feathers.

#271 of 365: Guilty Pleasure

2010-12-01T19:16:00.000-08:00

Sitting on the kitchen floor pretending to eat ice cream. I say pretending because my sister Lori and I have quit eating sweets for now. Kind of like a contest, kind of like a health kick. We're going to see who can last the longest without eating sweets. I used ice cream in the photo because it seems like a food someone might eat in the dark on the kitchen floor.

#270 of 365: Emotional

2010-11-30T12:37:00.000-08:00

Tears.

#269 of 365: Turtleneck

2010-11-29T20:09:00.000-08:00

Cold autumn days mean I get to wear warm turtleneck sweaters.

#268 of 365: Night Hike

2010-11-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

RJ and I went hiking down by the river tonight. We did some night photography, found a geocache, got attacked by a bat, centipede and a bunch of spiders, froze our faces and fingers off and talked a lot.

#267 of 365: Blonde, Brunette and a Redhead

2010-11-27T21:35:00.000-08:00

Two of my gorgeous sisters and me. Lori is the blonde, Brittney is the brunette and I am the redhead.

#266 of 365: Arches

2010-11-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

Dark eyes and careless hair.

#265 of 365: Little Man

2010-11-25T23:26:00.000-08:00

We went down by the river today to take some family pictures of my sister Brittney's family. Porter is now one and a half years old and such a little man. He has crazy amounts of energy and is always into everything. But he is so good and happy and I love love love to be around him.

Kissing in Rain

2010-11-24T22:42:00.000-08:00

Lori and Kurt are celebrating their 3 year anniversary and wanted couples pictures. More specifically they wanted pictures in the rain. Even more specifically Lori wanted pictures in the rain. Kurt would have rather been inside the house doing anything other than getting his picture taken. But Kurt loves Lori and so the following photo shoot happened.

It was freezing cold but Lori and Kurt were amazing and did whatever I told them to do. Take off their shoes, lay in the wet grass, sit in the mud, splash in the puddles, anything. Oh, they even let me spray them with the garden hose when the rain stopped.

#264 of 365: Backside

2010-11-24T21:40:00.000-08:00

The backside of me and the backside of the fireplace.

#263 of 365: Singing In The Rain

2010-11-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

Today I took Lori and Kurt out to take some pictures of them in the rain for their anniversary, which is actually tomorrow though. I will post some of those later. But I got a chance to take my self portrait while we were out.

#262 of 365: Nail Biter

2010-11-22T22:51:00.000-08:00

Biting on my newly painted fingernails.

#261 of 365: Cousin It

2010-11-21T23:04:00.000-08:00

This was my sister Lori's idea.

#260 of 365: Soulful

2010-11-20T21:56:00.000-08:00

Eyes are the windows to the soul.

#259 of 365: Under The Covers

2010-11-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

My big down comforter is one of my favorite things ever.

#258 of 365: On Your Porch

2010-11-18T21:57:00.000-08:00

I love the front door of my house. It is so worn and weathered and gorgeous.

#257 of 365: Light Bright

2010-11-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

My face is lit up by the light of my cell phone.

#256 of 365: Fields of Clovers

2010-11-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

Romantic-style portrait laying in the wet clovers.

#255 of 365: Night Rider

2010-11-15T19:31:00.000-08:00

Riding my bike out in front of my house tonight.

#254 of 365: File Down

2010-11-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

Relaxing on a Sunday evening and doing my fingernails.

#253 of 365: Street Fashion

2010-11-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

Quick shot in front of a neighbor's house. I often wonder what people think of me taking random photos of myself as they drive or walk by.

#252 of 365: Glitter and Pearls

2010-11-12T21:47:00.000-08:00

This was a totally fun photo to take.

#251 of 365: Orange Overkill

2010-11-11T23:59:00.000-08:00

Orange slices for eyes and weird post processing.

Awwww...

2010-11-10T17:13:00.000-08:00

I saw this old couple while I was walking down the bike path a couple days ago. I secretly snapped a picture of them with my phone. I even pretended there was something in my shoe so I could get the picture. It makes me happy to see people like this.

#250 of 365: In The Bag

2010-11-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

I've seen another photographer do this shot and loved it.

#249 of 365: Lucky Day

2010-11-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

About to read my fortune from a fortune cookie.

#248 of 365: Suds

2010-11-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

All lathered up in the shower.

I Wanna Be A Supermodel

2010-11-08T11:26:00.000-08:00

I took these pictures of my sister Lori back in April 2008 when her and her new husband were visiting California. My friend and I did Lori's hair and makeup all crazy and dressed her up like she was a contestant on America's Next Top Model. Lori is such a supermodel! She was awesome at posing and acting and taking directions and trying different things. I was super happy with the photos but never did anything with them. I mean, honestly, what do you do with these kind of photos when you're not really a supermodel? So they have sat on my computer and no one has seen them. Until now! I finally decided to edit and post some for Supermodel Lori's world premiere!

#247 of 365: Here Kitty Kitty

2010-11-07T15:12:00.000-08:00

Giving my cat Rascal some attention. I think he is so pretty. And I tell him everyday.

#246 of 365: Ripped Off

2010-11-06T18:45:00.001-07:00

This photo was inspired by one I saw that Kristen Stewart did in Interview Magazine.

#245 of 365: Footpath

2010-11-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

I was walking lazily down the bike path this afternoon and actually laid down to take this photo.

#244 of 365: Bottom Dwelling

2010-11-04T22:59:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've done any self portraits but I have been inspired recently by a friend and have decided to start doing them again and complete the 365 project. My creativity isn't up to my usual standards so I had a hard time with today's photo. I'm not totally happy with this photo because I think I could have done a better job but it's not totally horrible.

Future Valentine's Day Presents

2010-10-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

Found these online somewhere and loved them. So friends and family be warned, you'll probably be getting these as presents in February.

31 Things In 31 Days: Burn Stuff

2010-10-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

So I burned that entertainment coupon book that I got for free off craigslist. I BBQed it really. My mom had to help me light it because I was having the hardest time getting it to catch fire. Give me a pile of logs and I can start a fire but a tiny little book was too much for me.

31 Things In 31 Days: Go On a Picnic

2010-10-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

I made chicken salad sandwiches and my mom bought some Pringles and we took our friend with us to Caswell State Park and had a picnic. It's been really rainy and windy the past couple of days but today was gorgeous! We had a great time eating and talking and walking around the park.

31 Things In 31 Days: Eat Spam

2010-10-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

I don't remember the last time I ate Spam but I do remember that I didn't like it. So I thought I'd give it another try. I fried a couple slices, smeared some BBQ sauce on them and made a toasted cheese and Spam sandwich. It was actually pretty good.

31 Things In 31 Days: Finish Eye Collage

2010-10-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

Last April I started a collage made up entirely of eyes that I had cut out of magazines. Yes, it's taken me a year and a half to finally complete the project. I'm super happy that it is finally done. It's gorgeous and I'm in love with it.

Rusty came over one night and I made him help me. April 2009

In the middle of things. May 2009

Finishing up the last corner. October 2010

Totally done and hanging on my wall. The canvas is really big, 40x30 inches.