11.25.2013

I am a chicken when it comes to turkey.

I am a chicken when it comes to turkey or any raw meat for that matter.  True story...I think raw meat is disgusting.  While I am getting better and more domestic residing in the middle of no where...I still have to try real hard to suppress my gag reflex when it comes to preparing protein.

Believe it or not...I made my first turkey last thanksgiving and no one died.  E's sister and her 3 babes visited us in Battle Mountain for the holiday.

The Turkey
I did in fact get some help and encouragement.  Erin put her hands in the turkey to retrieve the nasty stuff in the bag. Everyone ate some and no one died.  I think it turned out rather tasty truthfully. Erica made the most delicious sweet potato muffins- I made them this year but I swear they were not as good as hers.
This is the only picture of us at the table.  No turkey just playing Scrabble.
Keep It Clean
We made soap, it was pretty fun to show them how to make a batch of soap.  They all seemed generally interested, so it made it fun.  We made a batch of Cinnamon Brown Sugar and Fresh Snow.

Exploring the Luxuries of Battle Mountain
I think it took all of 2 hours to have lunch at the Mexican restaurant, checkout the Desert Dollar and the "Boutique." They could hardly contain their excitement.

It wouldn't be a family affair without shooting a few guns.  We went out to a pit and did a little target shooting with the hand guns and .22.

Austin & Uncle E

Anissa & Uncle E
I'm only 365 days behind now…Crazy to think it's already been a year.

If you're reading this be sure to vote for Ethan as Stormy Kromer's 2014 Living Legend.




10.09.2013

Elk Hunting in Colorado

A guy from church, well call him- C, encouraged E to put in for a tag and invited him (and me to tag along) to hunt with his family in Gardner, CO. E drew a Colorado cow elk tag and we headed to Southern Colorado last November. It was a bit warm for hunting season, so as a tag along it made it quite enjoyable, but for E it didn't provide many opportunities. 

C's son, J, has been hunting the area for 10+ years and was familiar with the terrain. E is not much of a sitter...he's more of a spot and stalk kinda guy. So he put a few miles on during the week.



J, his two sons, E and myself walked a ridge line and got super-d-duper excited when we spotted a huge elk across the way.  We even went as far as getting in position.



Unfortunatley, everyone had cow tags and it was a big beautiful bull elk. False alarm. The elk itself was amazing and we stopped and watched it for awhile.

Loaf was guardian of the LoveShack during the day. You didn't think we'd leave him at home did you?




No elk were harvested, but an enjoyable time was had.

9.28.2013

California Dreaming

Schmoo is here in Battle Mountain visiting again : ).  Which makes me HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY. But it also makes me a bit concerned that I'm not keeping up with this blog.  I'm such a slacker.  I've decided to crank out this post in a never ending attempt to get to present day.

After my Schmoo and Dad left last August- I was having a hard time living in Battle Mountain.  The love being the fabulous love that he is decided that we were gonna skip town for my birthday and head to the coast.

The first night was so romantic {I wish I could type this in sarcasm font}.  E always does such a good job researching our destination, the route, fun stuff to do, unique places to stop and eat, places to stay, weighing camping and hotel options, etc.  Well, he selected a gem of a campsite let me tell you.  The good people of California are not being good stewards of their public lands.  We drove off the highway for what seemed like forever in the dark on dirt roads.  We arrived at BLM's- Blue Oaks Campground and this couple had a roaring fire going, their car stereo blasting and were loud and obnoxious most of the evening.  The fire pits were overflowing with burnt trash and there wasn't much separation between the sites which would have been fine had the other campers adhered to quiet hours. Seeing as it was so late and I was so tired I objected to E's suggestion to leave, "Um...no we didn't drive 500 miles off the path in the dark to turn around."  So we set up the tent and E being the paranoid Pamela that he can be had a harder time falling asleep than I did.

We awoke unharmed and to our amazement our neighbors were still up.  We packed up camp and headed to Clear Lake, CA in hopes of some coffee and breakfast pastries. I don't even remember what we ended up doing, I think we decided to press on to the coast.  

We continued on Highway 20 and made a quick stop in Boonville at Anderson Valley Brewery.


As we neared the coast the anticipation grew as this was Loaf's first visit to the ocean. We arrived near Manchester SP.




We drove south on Hwy 1 torward Bodega Bay and stopped to rest at a few overlooks.  Can you believe there is BLM along the coast?  Yeah me either.....I was like whaaaaat?  E you mean to tell me we have a chance to get the heck outta the high desert for some beautiful coastal views?  Heck yes! {PS...I am still waiting to get outta here.}  The love brought the Loaf and I to the Point Arena Lighthouse on  Stornetta Public Lands to instill some hope in our hearts.













California has beautiful state parks but unfortunately their state government sucks at budgeting. So the few places along the coast we had hoped to camp didn't come to fruition because they were closed. So we continued to head toward Lodi and seriously couldn't find a campsite so we opted for the Holiday Inn in Lodi.  It was fabulous because we got an opportunity to sleep in and shower before stopping in to see Barbara and head home.
It was a fabulous mini vacation and a great way to celebrate my birthday. We are off to CA tomorrow to celebrate this year's birthday and enjoy each other's company.

3.25.2013

Schmoo Baby's Summer Visit

So it's been awhile, I am fully aware.  I thought I'd pick up again as I have a lot to blog about and once I catch up to present day I figure I'll be able to convince E to take me on an exotic vacation to somewhere tropical for more blogging material. Yup, I'm dreaming- you're right.

I left you all with a post about my trip to Minnesota last summer and ended with wanting to share about the roadtrip with my Schmoo Baby.  I've created a Picaboo picture book for him, as I've created picture books from all of our vacations/summer getaways the past couple of years.  I had so much fun making looking at all the pictures from last summer and reading his journal entries.  He cracks me up, such a good sense of humor for a little dude!  This has been a LONG project for me, but I finally finished it and I can't wait to order, receive and send it off to Schmoo.

I had such a good time with Schmoo and look forward to a roadtrip of some sort this summer.  Although, he tells me he wants to take the shortcut to Nevada this time.  The only shortcut I know is an airplane and even then we have to drive between 3-6 hours to get to Battle Mountain.

I've been having a hard time with purpose and not being able to work in a profession that I've always aspired to be in, so finishing the scrapbook this past week probably wasn't the best idea.  I miss my Dad and my Schmoo entirely too much.  One day I will look back at my time in Battle Mountain and be like 'Oh' that's what God was wanting me to do during that season in my life.' Until then I am struggling to see the big picture.

~J