An Adventure

Adventure

 So...adventure is the title post, but it's not much of one. Nothing crazy happened etc...

But here it is! 

On Sunday after church and after cleaning out the large and full to the brim church closet we headed home ate lunch and then decided we needed to hike, or boat, or go blueberry picking...so we decided to do all three. 

Yeah. We definitely got our workout in that day. We loaded up a backpack with a hydroflask and a bag of jerky, and blueberry pickers, changed into our work clothes, and went down to the lake. My brother and sister went in our silver canoe with the bags and my mom, dad, our dog Aspen, and I went in our green canoe with the motor because where we were headed was a bit of a distance. Unfortunately the motor died right away, even though it had been charged all night, and we had to paddle...but you know. So we settled for straight across the lake instead of diagonal towards the trestle. When we get to the shore, tie up and change into our sneakers, and Aspen rolls in a dead fish, we head up to the railroad tracks and then to the Grant Lake "trailhead". Very few people hike this trail so it's overgrown. (this is the same place where we got our Christmas tree last year...). It was a hard hike and it was hot (61 degrees and little shade) and it was almost a 2,000 foot incline. But it was beautiful, and we picked 25 cups of berries in less than two hours. Guys, those berry bushes. People who don't pick berries for the winter just can't appreciate it as much...but they were big, beautiful, sweet, juicy, and those branches were packed with them. It was easier picking than Troop Lake-if you can believe it. 

Our original plan was to go to the lake, but it was getting dark (we had started out at 4 pm) and so we just decided to turn around, eat, and pick. 

At the next nice shady and blueberry-y spot we ate our small quantity of jerky, drank water, and picked. I was so hungry that I probably ate over a cup of blueberries. 😬. Oh well...anyway it was a good four hours and 5 miles! Not including paddling. It was fun, but I was glad when we got to watch a movie and eat dinner. 

So there is our adventure not adventure! 

 So Sorry

I am sooooo sorry that I have not posted in FOREVER. 

Life has been so busy and with school starting as well as the normal craziness...

School has been so busy as well-I have so much more this year-obviously! 

But I will try to make it happen!

I'm also sorry that I have not posted those photos of the rearranged room (or taken them either) because of course it was all nice and perfect, I forgot to take photos and then it got a disaster. Plus, after I finally clean it up enough for pictures, I will be rearranging it again. I annoy myself sometimes too, guys. 

So Bonjour, Adios, Goodbye! 

 THE HAHA ELEMENT

WHAT DID THE BABY CORN SAY TO HIS MAMA CORN? 

HEY? WHERE'S POP CORN?  

 CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!

Can you believe we organized almost 1000 miles of roadtrip in less than five hours? 

Recently, we went to Fairbanks. It was a last minute trip. We were going to go to a Natural Horsemanship Class. Our one friend in Fairbanks supplied us her camper to use, and her friend let us borrow three horses for the class! The trainer for the class came to us in Salcha and we had four hours of 90 degree weather learning! It was terrific. 

But the crazy thing is...(and if you don't live in Alaska you probably won't understand the depth of this) we drove up on Monday and came back on Tuesday. 

It's true. We drove for 12 hrs on Monday, slept, went to the class on Tuesday then headed home. 

Sure, we didn't get home until 1 am. BUT...we were awesome. It was crazy! 

We also got to see horses both days. 

Because...we got to visit Molly (an Alaska Equine Rescue https://alaskaequinerescue.com horse we want to adopt) and then on Tuesday we worked with horses there! 

So, that's that. It was funny though. We turned on Maps to get out of Fairbanks and when we got on the highway out, Siri was like continue straight for 254 miles. (that was to get to Talkeetna by the way) 

So, yes. That's what happened. That's the craziness. Okay...bye! 

 THE HAHA ELEMENT

Why couldn't the pony sing  happy birthday to her friend? 

 Because she was a little horse. 

just some laughs

The Haha Element 😜😆😂 

I have started...(drumroll please) a joke section for my blog!!! 

I'm enthralled, are you? 

To be more precise I'm labeling this the "The Haha Element!) 

Or should I do: "The Haha Segment?" Let me know in the comments! 

In this section I will be doing riddles, corny jokes, cheesy jokes, beefy jokes, beany jokes, sour creamy jokes (oops, sorry, thought we were going with the nacho thing still;-) 

Anyway, I will be doing all kinds of jokes/other funny things SO if you like laughing read those. (or if you like groaning). 

A recent study shows that children laugh around 300 times a day! That's a lot of laughs. But adults only laugh around a puny seventeen times a day. That is not a lot. It's kinda sad too. 

But enough about that...let the laughter begin! 

Coming Soon

Don't worry! The pictures of my newly rearranged room are coming soon! Life has just been so busy and I'm working on a project right now...

 So, I did reveal my room on Tuesday. And then, I forgot to take pictures so I'm going to have to "ready" it again! 

I'm almost done with the project I'm working on right now so expect some pictures! Maybe. Actually, don't expect pictures but be surprised to see some soon sometime. ;-) 

Anyway...gotta get back to work., it's a beautiful sunny day and WAY to hot, but it's good for my project at least. 

By the way, Saturday is our chore day (extra ones not daily) and so I will be cleaning my room so I think I'll plan to take pictures then. 

Bye! 

 Word of the Day 

The word of the day is...

OPTIMISTIC 

Hopeful and confident about the future.  

Meghan was learning to be optimistic, even when she felt like everything seemed to be                                                      negative

Rearranging my Room!

I've been having a lot of trouble with these blog post titles, guys! I have no idea why, but it's annoying for sure. Okay, though, this doesn't sound fascinating, but it is...at least to me. ;-) 

I rearranged my room. Again. Actually, to be honest, I am in the process of rearranging=major things are moved and stuff is all over, not in the right places. 

If you don't know me, I love rearranging. It gives my bedroom such a great new look and feel and it feels so new, you know? But my bedroom that I got last year (I think?) is not perfect for rearranging. It is shaped like an L (did I already say this in a previous post?) only not quite like the shape or look of this L. The bathroom is right next to my room, but doesn't go all the way to the back of the house, leaving a pretty small gap between the outside wall and the outer bathroom wall. SO, my bedroom (which is about the size of a horse stall, literally, the measurements that online says.) So my room has that cute little "nook", that is a blessing and a curse. 

'Cause first of all, I LOVE that nook! And second of all, it makes my rearranging options a little limited. 

But no room layout can keep this girl down, folks. I constructed a majorly awesome plan and put into place.  

The furniture I have is: a Captain's bed, dresser (that I dislike), small desk, and a nightstand that I got for my birthday a while ago. 

My Captain's bed is great! I love it, it's got nice- okay, not exactly nice-storage. 

Here's the plan: my sister who's been wanting a desk forever, borrows my desk. I, who have been wanting my mattress on the floor but can't because then I'd have to sell my bedframe and I like going back to my bed sometimes etc etc...okay let me restart, now that you know the backstory, lol. 

Here's the plan: my sister gets the desk in her room temporarily, my bed frame moves into the nook but my mattress stays where it is. My everything else stays as well. I turned my bed frame into this kinda like "couch" with a thin mattress pad, rolled up blankets, and an extra pillow. Guys, throw pillows are way too expensive. Then I put a bin of my desk stuff and books in the corner of the bed frame and it looks great. So it's like a little study/reading nook! 

That's the plan. And...when it's all done there will be pictures! Oh, and one last little surprise...actually, I'll let you guess. Those who have seen this bedroom since 2012  you can guess what the change is when you see the pics. 

Thanks for bearing with me through this possibly boring, and quite obviously long post. Be back with pictures hopefully later today, maybe tomorrow. 

 EASY PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

Guys, seriously, these are super duper easy to make. I'm not kidding. And not only are they incredibly tasty, they are perfect bite sized treats, and great snacks for on the road. 

click here for link

All you need is 

4 Cups Chocolate Chips (I used semisweet) 

1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

3/4 Powdered Sugar

1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

Flaked Sea Salt (for garnish) 

I know, right?!?! So easy! 

All you have to do is

Prepare a mini muffin tin with paper liners. 

Melt chocolate* in a microwave safe bowl, make sure not to burn it! 

Using a metal teaspoon pour a teaspoon of melted chocolate into the bottom of the                 liners and partly spread up the sides of the liner. 

After all the tins are filled with the bottom layer of chocolate prepare your peanut butter             layer!

In a hand or stand mixer mix the cup of peanut butter with your powdered sugar. When                that is thoroughly incorporated add in the vanilla extract! 

Scoop some of the peanut butter filling into the paper liners so the paper liner is mostly             full. 

Then top the peanut butter with the remaining chocolate, sprinkle with the salt and stick         the muffin tin into the fridge to set completely! 

And there it is! Homemade peanut butter cups! 

Notes: 

*melting chocolate: if your chocolate seizes put it on a double boiler and set a small pot of water on to boil. Once the pot of water boils, add a teaspoon to the bowl of chocolate and mix with a spatula. Keep adding a teaspoon at a time till the chocolate is a good consistency! 

Top Ten Fun + Easy Boredom Busters!  

From the book 101 Kids Activities that are the Bestest, Funnest Ever! By Rachel Miller and Holly Homer, here's the link for the book so you can make all these insanely awesome things!

There are 4 sections in this book. I will be taking my favorite top ten from each section. This post is about the BOREDOM BUSTERS section. Not only have I taken my favorites (and I am an excellent judge of these things ;) these are also EASY (or at least mostly, ha!) So, without any further ado...wait, I actually have a little more ado. I totally and completely recommend this book! All righty! LET"S GO! Oh, and there was a tie for number nine. 

Top 10 Boredom Busters

1. Dry Erase Doodles-quick, easy and inexpensive to make, easy to make, and so, so fun! 

2. Sensory Bag Collection-great for long trips, stress reliever, and entertainment etc. For older kids help them design their own!

3. Baggie Maze-not only is this problem solving, it is fun! This is very easy to put in a bag for taking anywhere and everywhere.

4. Stuffed Animal Marionette-fun for everybody! Have the kids put on a show with all their stuffed animal marionettes.

5. Marshmallow Launcher-great party idea and game for your more "hard to please players". For a challenge, make a target to shoot at!

6. Sticky Note Pom pom Maze-so fun and easy to set up and take down!

7. Ping Pong Ball Run-great for your older kids! Have them help make or decorate the "run" as well! 

8. Grape Structures-there's so many variations for this entertaining, skill building game (e.g. one correct bible verse recited from memory=one grape and toothpick) and so much more! 

9. DIY Straw Building Set or Bouncing Balloons-Both of these are super cool and engaging for your more patient kids! 

10. Tin Can Drums-easy and quick to make and entertains for a long time. Have them invent other instruments as well! This is a great skill building and amusing game especially for your younger kids. 

So there you have it! Hope you enjoy these and soon I'll be posting the next top ten for the next section... CRAFTS!!!! 

 Flag Cake and Cupcakes

Did I really promise you a picture of the 4th of July dessert that I made? Yes, yes I did. Do I have one? Yes... Will I share it with you? Yes again! So here it is! Can you tell which one is my least favorite? Comment down below using row blank, number blank from the right. 

 GOODBYE 

It is with great regret and sadness, that I tell you (belated as it is) that Spike has died. I've been putting this off for a while (he died last Wednesday night). He most likely died because his goat milk and heavy whipping cream and clover weren't nutritious enough (rabbit milk is incredibly rich) and he wasn't keeping any weight. We buried him under a freshly planted little cherry tree. We miss him a lot, but we're glad he died loved and fed and warm instead of out in the woods alone somewhere.