This Is A Post

Well, I think we can all fairly say that I have not done well with keeping up in the blog post department. I just have not been inspired to write lately, and I have to admit that the usual feelings of guilt and failure that often come when I consider my neglected blog have been strangely absent during these last months of non-blogdom. Which I actually think has been sort of good, because it means that I'm writing this right now because I want to, and not because I feel like I owe it to my blog to be a more conscientious master. I just feel like making words appear on the internets, and here they are.

While I have been a miserable blog host, I do like to think that I have been successful in other ways. For example:

In July, Joe had a birthday. I remembered this birthday, I gave him a present for it (I'm pretty sure), and he managed to add another year to his number count of time on this earth. In related news, he's 30 next year. Just thought I'd share that, I know he'd really love me to point it out. :)

In August, nothing remarkable happened. I guess we can pretend like Joe and I remembered that we started dating in August 2 years ago, but we didn't think of that. At least I didn't, until just now. While trying to think of something that happened in August.

In September, my mom had a birthday. I remembered it and gave her something that was probably less awesome than what my brother gave her. He has a ninja-type ability to bemoan his lack of present ideas (for anything--Christmas, birthdays, random other gift giving occasions) and then suddenly, when said "lame" present is opened, it's amazing and perfectly suited to whomever it was gifted. But the good news is, despite Spencer constantly showing me up in the world of gift giving, I think my mom still likes me and will continue to acknowledge me as her child. Success.

In October, we celebrated living in this house of ours for a year. Our celebration went something like this:
Me (on skype): Husband! We moved into our house a year ago!
Joe (also on skype, because he was at work): Yay!
We also successfully dressed up for Halloween, and both of our costumes were decided before the day of! I know! Joe was Tobias Funke of Arrested Development, and he ordered a blue body suit on Amazon. That takes some ahead-of-time thinking, you know? I was impressed. As for me, I dressed as Merida from Brave, which makes this the first Halloween in probably three years that I wore a costume that anyone recognized. I must admit that it was very strange indeed to have people come up to me (at our church party) and say "you're the girl from Brave!" without any hesitation or eyebrows raised in confusion. No one asked "who are you?" only to respond with a trailing off "oh....." when I answered that I was actually Kaylee from Firefly and I know it's hard to tell but it would be more obvious if I wasn'twearinggreenpantsfromthethriftstoremen'ssectionandohnevermindIcanseeIlostyouat"Kaylee". Never fear, though, next year I'll be back to the land of costume obscurity. I've got ideas already. (Who is this prepared person whose body I inhabit? Confused.)

November was, for me, the most interesting/successful month this year. Not only because it contains my almost-favorite holiday (...that's Thanksgiving...) but because a few days before November started I heard about National Novel Writing Month, referred to by those in the know as "NaNoWriMo." And despite not having prepared at all, and barely having any semblance of story, I decided I was going to try it. And it. was. HARD.
The goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel between Nov 1 and Dec 1. No problem, I thought. If nothing else I can just jot down a couple thousand words of garbage writing and call it a day (month). Not so. I was surprisingly dedicated to writing down quality stuff, while at the same time not focusing too much on what I wrote. Speed and solid writing, that was my vision for November. I wrote every single day (except for a couple around Thanksgiving) for at least an hour, but usually more like three or four. And on November 30th I typed my 50,035th word and "won"  NaNoWriMo. (You win if you pass 50,000 words. There were 42,000ish winners this year). I discovered that I actually do like writing, even when I have to do it all the time. I realized that I can write a novel-length amount of stuff and still find that story interesting. I learned that how you write a story can take a boring idea and make it compelling. And, probably most importantly, I know for sure now that I can be a writer, if I put in the time. So that's what I plan on doing.
And for those who are curious, my NaNo story is not yet finished, nor am I finished with it. I'll be writing it until it's done....probably another 50,000 words away. :)
(And Thanksgiving was a wonderful week spent up in Idaho with my Aunt and Uncle and my awesome cousins. We also saw Frozen which I highly recommend.)

And now it is December, which has been treating both me and my handsome hubby splendidly so far. We completed another project in the house -- putting up shelves around our wall-mounted t.v. -- and we've been enjoying the warm glow of the light on our cute little Christmas tree. I have purchased gifts for several people, and it's not even Christmas week. Small victories, I tell you.

And now I have blogged. Watch out, all. I'm unstoppable!
Except I'm going to stop this post. Right now.

Hi-Ho Kevin, Away!

Alright, it's about time I tell you about this great adventure we had when our awesome friends Geremy and Madeleine invited us to go on a day trip to Antelope Island. Have you heard of Antelope Island? I hadn't, but apparently a lot of people, especially outside of Utah, know about this place and even have it as a box to check on their list of adventures to do here. Huh.

It began as a kind of worrisome thing, since the projected temperatures for that day were over 100 degrees, aka human-puddle hot. But as we drove across the barren salty flats on a bridge straight out of a sci-fi western (it probably exists), complete with bleached bones, the temperatures were at a comforting 92 degrees and that eased our minds. The plan was to go out on an hour-long horseback ride, enjoy a picnic, and call it a day. So we came to terms with the fact that we'd probably be baked crispy and eaten alive (apparently a LOT of people have trouble with the bugs over there, as seen in reviews) and we tromped over to the barn land where the horses seemed to be.

This turned out to be completely fun. Probably the most fun I've had in a long time, even though when you break it down it was really just me sitting on a horse for an hour. But I have to tell you, the grin never left my face.

Oh, and here's some buffalo we saw driving in.

Insert prairie appropriate song here. 

And this rather mangy looking coyote.

Ok, back to horses. My horse was majestically named Kevin. Say hi, Kevin!

Kevin is not amused.

Kevin and I immediately became the best of friends. He stood perfectly still for me so I would not fall off the other side of him whilst trying to mount, and he even let me use saddlebags to hold all my water bottles, sunscreen, and camera. All the essentials of a true horsewoman ... cowgirl ... professional leisurely horse rider.

Joe got the horse everyone secretly wanted to ride. His name was Joe. The horse, not Joe. Although obviously Joe's name is Joe too. Joe was huge, tall, and beautiful. His mane stayed on one side of his neck, very properly. Don't be fooled by his look of disdain in this picture. He was a very nice Joe horse. Well, I guess he might have been a bit disdainful too, if we knew what he was thinking. I'm sure he knows he's the prettiest horse at the party.

Joe squared.

 Madeleine's horse was named Numbers, which was apparently a reference to the brand he has on his shoulder area (a lot less silly reason than the name sounded, right? I was expecting a cute story, and instead heard about his seared flesh. Ho hum). Geremy got a dappled grey (not really. I just like to say "dappled grey" for some reason. But it was dappled) named Scout.

This be Scout.

Alright. Picture overload, ahoy!

The ride was free-range, more or less, meaning that the horses didn't just train in on each other's back ends the whole time. We could roam around each other, walk side by side, speed up, slow down. Whatever we wanted that didn't get us thrown off. These horses are apparently used a lot by the LDS church in their historical movies, so they were super well trained and actually responded to us kicking and pulling the reins.

We were first taken nearish the lake to see a giant herd of buffalo that were just hanging out there. Our guide helpfully pointed out the ones that were trying to mate, and some goofy-looking ones trying to cool off by rolling around in the dust.

It was pretty cool to see that many buffalo (I think they're technically bison but let's be real here, buffalo is much more fun to type. And to say). At some point I apparently got a smudge right in the center of my lens so I apologize for the murky cloud in the middle of my picture.

Every picture I took of Joe looked good. Look at him! So savvy!

The group

 Couples shots!

Maddy was kind enough to lend me her sunnies. They are strange upon my face,
but I was really glad for them in the blinding sun.

 We took a break at a the water hole. Numbers was completely absurd. The other horses lapped up the water in a very dignified, horsey way, while Numbers dunked his entire face in and blew bubbles.

We then headed back to the barn.

One last shot of some Joe riding Joe action.

 If you too want to have a blast roaming around Antelope Island on the back of a potentially willful animal, we went through these guys. Our hour ride cost $50 per person, which seems pretty reasonable to me. Do it!

We were famished after horsing around, so we decided the lunching time was at hand. We'd actually brought a picnic lunch of sorts, but Madeleine suggested this bison burger joint that is on the island itself, so we went there. Burgers sounded better than soggy PB&J, weirdly enough. I didn't take pictures, because the place honestly looked a bit like a glorified rest stop, but the burgers were large and delicious.

After that it was so stinkin' hot that we decided to forgo any further sightseeing (despite my desperate wish to see a porcupine) and went to our friends apartment for some decompression time.

That was our adventure! It was so much fun, and not even that hot (on the horses. In full disclosure it was extremely toasty once we started walking around on foot after) and I didn't notice a single bug the entire time. We did apply the bug spray generously, though, so maybe it was just quality spray. I have to say I would definitely do this again.

It's Coming

Hello again! Just popping in to say that I'll be writing a new post sometime soon. There is no guarantee of this, of course, but I find that writing a post about how I'll soon be writing a post usually helps motivate me to actually do it. So you get this (sort of) post to read and I get a nagging reminder of my promises to write. Win-win?

Do you want to take a pop quiz about why I haven't written anything in the last two weeks? Let's!

Have I been:
A. Busy with work
B. Lazy
C. Forgetful
D. Uninspired
E. All of the above, except for A (let's be honest)

Hint: It's E.

I actually have some fun things to write about, and I even took pictures of the fun things so I could share them on here. Therefore, it will happen. It must happen. And in case the quiz above is giving the wrong impression, I do actually love both my awesome job (it's just that it's part time so I can't use it as an excuse for not writing) AND writing on this blog! I love it so much. Sometimes there's just a shlump, know what I mean? But never you fear, that shlump is soon to end.

'Til next time!

Suggestions of a Yard Sale Newbie

Last Saturday we had our first ever yard sale, which was obviously pretty exciting. It went pretty well, but I guess I must have been a bit optimistic about the amount of stuff one can sell and the number of people who want to buy stuff. Turns out, no one who comes really buys anything, and you sell almost nothing, especially if most of your stuff is over five dollars. Darn! However, I probably would have still done it even if I'd known. I always enjoy yard sales and I strangely had fun doing my own, despite my deluded expectations ;)

Here was our valiant attempt:

My friend Melanie is moving to Wisconsin next month, so she came too and sold a loooot of her own things. It helped having her there. Without her stuff our sale would have looked pretty sad. Kinda like it does in the photo above. (That's just our side of the sale.)

This is hers:

Note that she actually has people looking at her stuff.
They were very dedicated salespeople!

Anyway, if I ever have a yard sale again (it will happen, I mildly hoard) I will definitely be doing some things differently and I think these things would help me have more success.

More Signs. We (okay, I) made some awesome signs. I'm not even joking. You want to hire me to make your yard sale signs. They were that good. But we only put them on the corner right next to our house and on one other spot on the opposite side of the road from the drivers who would be facing it. Does that make sense? It was on the left side of the road, if you were a driver. So that was silly. I would definitely be a little more ambitious and put signs on major intersections even if they were several blocks away from our house. Dedicated yard-salers will see these and come no matter the distance.

Make Things Look Crowded. This sounds strange and kind of devious, but nonetheless I'm pretty sure I would smoosh all my stuff together in a way that looks really clustery. Toward the end of our sale, when things had seriously slowed down and it was only noon, Melanie's husband Kevin went out on the street to look at our display, and when he came running back he said this: "No wonder no one's coming, it looks like we have nothing left." The truth was we had almost everything left, we just set it up badly. I'd use more tables, put things in rows, line things up so they can be seen easily from the street, anything to show the "drive-by glancer" type that there is in fact a lot of stuff and they should probably come buy it immediately.

Price Things Crazy Low. People expect to be shocked and amazed at what they can get for pennies at a yard sale. I failed at this because, truthfully, I didn't care if my stuff sold or not. I am abnormally attached to my stuff, and secretly hoped that no one would want the things so I would have a reason to keep them for myself. So in reality, I wouldn't price things lower unless I really wanted/needed to get rid of stuff. Melanie, for example, is moving, so she really wanted to get rid of as many of her things as possible. And she did. She was selling stuff for way lower than necessary, and she and Kevin ended up making more money than we did. So my point is, if you want stuff to sell, make it ridiculously cheap. And if you REALLY want to get rid of stuff, pile it in a box that says "Free." It'll disappear, like magic.

Start Early and Settle In. We are lazy people who like to sleep in. So we started at 9. Even with that "late" start time we still got up at 7 and were working non-stop to set things up right until the last minute. Still, even with all the work and knowing I'd have a sleepless morning, I would start closer to 7. Our busiest time was for sure 8:30-9:30. Yes, half of our busiest time was before our sale had even officially begun. See what I mean? It's like people want to just buy cheap stuff and then get on with their day. Unthinkable.
That being said, I would also set a start time, and no end time. Well, maybe an end time like 6 pm. That's right. I would just set up and sit there as long as it takes, like it's my day job. If I really wanted to sell things, I would wait until there were literally no more people coming. That way, you might end at 2 (like we did), but you might have a random stream of people who thought 4 pm would be the perfect time to find that creepy ceramic bunny they never knew they wanted.

I might also sell lemonade for a couple quarters or something, cause we went to look at some yard sales recently and I will tell you I never wanted to buy something so much at a yard sale as that .25 lemonade.

There were some things that I think we did well, though:

For one, Joe put up a KSL ad, which I think probably brought in quite a few people. He made sure ours stuck out and was funny and welcoming, because there were SO MANY ads that even within 40 minutes ours had disappeared from the front page.

We also priced eeeeverything the night before, when we were still awake and happy. This made things so much easier the next day as we didn't have to decide on the spot how much we were willing to sell things for (although we did do some negotiating, as I think every yard saler should).

And we were selling radios and TVs, so Joe was brilliant and brought out an extension cord so we could blast the radio and play a movie on our TV, and anyone who wanted could test the electronics before they bought them. It was smart--ALL of our electronics sold--and it made our yard sale fun, because there was music and the Last Unicorn.

 Anyway, it was fun and a good experience generally, and we did make a good chunk of extra cash. I still have a few big items left that I'm planning on selling individually on KSL. Like this desk!

Handpainted by my own dear mother, it is a cute little child's desk that 
any young girl would love to have at her disposal!

 And this dresser:

Hand-stenciled by mom, and is a total flashback into my 10-year old room.

Those may or may not be two of the things I slightly overpriced due to my weird extreme attachment to things. But nevertheless I am actually selling them, so I guess if any wandering reader is dying to buy one or both, you definitely may! The dresser is 30 and the little desk is 20. For now :)

I have an adult-sized desk as well, and a jewelry box. Oh, and a ton of books by Mary Higgins Clark, John Grisham, and Agatha Christie. Just in case you really want some of my stuff. Let me know.

Perhaps these nuggets of wisdom will help one of you out in your yard sale adventures! Otherwise, I'm really impressed with you for reading a whole post about someone selling their unwanted junk, haha. Thanks!  

Pretty Rock Garden Markers

Well, craftiness has not been forthcoming for me lately, but today I finally decided to break down my creator's block and just make something. I have a pin on Pinterest of these really pretty rock garden markers. That seems easy enough, I thought to myself. So, I grabbed the bag of filthy rocks that I had collected from my cousin's yard a few weeks ago (which she kindly allowed me to have without even giving me any weird looks) and washed them off in preparation to make some super cute, cheap, easy garden markers. Turns out those little plastic tags that come with the plants don't have much staying power. Our garden has a nice little pile of identifying tags that have blown away in the wind. Sigh.

So with my freshly cleaned rocks waiting anxiously on my crafting table, I snatched up a newly purchased acrylic paint pen and got to work.

I have no pictures of the rocks before hand. You'll just have to use your super powers of imagination and envision a pile of ordinary rocks.

At first I thought I'd just grab my least favorite rock (yep, I had favorites) and just have a go for practice. It's a good thing I did, too, because my unfamiliarity with the paint pen thing led to a huge blob of white across the whole top of the rock...and down onto my desk. Good news, though! They are right about it being easy to clean up when wet. A damp paper towel got it off my desk and almost off the rock too. Once the initial flood of paint came out of the pen it worked quite easily, so I just practiced some swirly things and dots and got this:

Note the splotch of white from my spill. Bird poo chic, no?

Other than the blob smudge across the top it actually worked! For once my "this will be easy" thought turned out to be true. I went outside and made a list of the plants that actually still have markers and are thus identifiable. Since I am garden-ignorant, I couldn't figure out what the other things were so I only made markers for tomatoes and onions. To be honest, the only other thing we planted were peppers anyway. We're diverse here in the Galloway Garden. And here's the finished product. I love them! (Also, if you look at the pin I linked to you'll see I cheated and used some of her ideas. What can I say, they were lovely!)

This was my favorite rock. So flat and so smooth. Yeah baby!

I think this one ended up being my favorite after all was finished. I just like
all the different little decorations. It's fun and funky fresh. 

Another rock. This one was weirdly black on one side.
Rock mysteries--exciting stuff!

I really like how this one turned out. Sadly, my actual real-life
red onions are not doing as well.

The clan of rocks.

 These couldn't have taken me more than half an hour and they'll look so delightful in my garden. I'm planning on corralling Joe tonight so he can tell me what all his peppers are, and I'll make more for those too. Hooray for pretty things. :)

Bleeeeeuurrghhnn! (Bagpipe Noise)

There is one weekend during the summer that I approach with as much anticipation as Christmas. It is filled with the blaring drone of bagpipes and the alarming flapping of kilts in the breeze. There is homemade root beer, there are delicious fish and chips made by the most awesome Scottish couple ever ("And haeow many would ya like, darlin'?") (Scottish accents are hard to type). And, most importantly, there are the Wicked Tinkers.

It is Thanksgiving Point's Scottish Festival. And it is amazing.

Perhaps you do not know that I am a Scotophile. I love Scotland. I want to go there. I want to live there. I love the castles and the moors, the overcast skies and the green, green land. I love the accent and the redheads (and the non-redheads too!). I love the cottages and the COWS, oh the cows! The cutest cows on this planet! Look up highland cows. They'll be your new favorite animal. I love the food! Ok, that's kind of a joke. Haggis tastes like hamburger, if your hamburger has gritty pieces of animal organs in it. It's really not bad. But it's really not good either. And I don't know of other Scottish food, to be honest, (pretty sure the English have a solid claim to fish and chips) so I can't give a fair review. I love bagpipe music and the silly old games (caber tossing, for example) and the myths and history. You get it, I think. I love Scotland.

So you'll understand why I love this festival which by most standards might be considered dull and repetitive, as it's very similar from year to year. It doesn't matter. I love it every. single. time.

If you are unfamiliar with the festival, its main attractions are these:
Strength and agility athletic tests for the menfolk, of course. I almost never get the chance to watch these for some reason :(
Booths for many clans where you can learn about their history and find out if you are a descendant.
Booths and booths of stuff to buy! Jewelry, kilts, knives and swords, and ever so much more.
Bagpipe competitions by groups from around Utah (maybe even further? Have not investigated).
Stage performances of Irish dances, Celtic inspired bands and THE WICKED TINKERS
A pavilion full of foods to eat. Fish and chips, turkey legs, non-cultural food and, naturally, haggis. Yum!
There are also the opening ceremonies, which involve bagpipes and marching clans introducing themselves and their motto. There are also closing ceremonies which I've never witnessed but I bet they're similar.

This year Joe and I took the beasties and had a good time parading about while people commented about how huge Magnus is. We started with the opening ceremonies.

A marching clan

We met up with my cousin Kelsey, her husby Harrison, and their
beasts. Pilot is an Irish Wolfhound, so applicable!

Magnus enjoying a spot of shade

Clan MacGregor! Represent!

 After that was over we spent a while walking around the booths and enjoying the general ambiance.

Magnus was a big hit at the festival. He loved it.
Had to take a picture of the cute little fairy!

And I bought a ring from these guys. Just one of the many awesome booths with stuff for sale crammed on every surface. It's hectic and crowded and I love it. I always wonder how much of their stuff gets pocketed though. Hmm.

We had a delicious lunch of fish and chips, as is tradition. Sadly I did not get to see/talk to the awesome Scottish woman because I had dog duty, but Joe said she was there and that he was called "darlin'," so that'll do for me.

After lunch we had but minutes to get to the Wicked Tinkers show. They say that they play "tribal Scottish music" which is really the best way I can think of to describe it. Bagpipe, drums, and a didgeridoo. It's wonderful.

The blond man on the right is my fayvorit. His hair blows in the breeze. And as
Joe found out last year during a very windy Scottish fest, so does his kilt.

A sampling:

New drummer. They sometimes walk through the crowds
as they play and it's awesome.

The Wicked Tinkers!

And then Joe made my day by taking a picture of me with them! And I'm even standing next to Luxurious Blond-haired Man! (I should really figure out his name.)

It was a successful year of Scottish festivaling. If you are also a lover of all things Scottish, I highly recommend it. It's usually in the first week or two of June. There's also a Payson one that hasn't happened yet. Count me in! Cue music:

"I just can't get enough! I just can't get enough!"

Tara's Favorite Quick & Easy Meal

A recipe? From me? Shocking, it's true. I'm definitely not a cook/chef/baker (although I do make a mean chocolate chip cookie). And to be fair, this isn't even my recipe, it's just one that I found and loved and change from time to time depending on whether I have all the ingredients or not. So here's my favorite quick and super easy pasta (made quicker and easier!). You may have seen similar things like it on Pinterest; I know I have. And I drooled heartily at them all. This girl likes her pasta.
Since I don't remember what it's called, it shall be named....

Fresh Herb Pasta!

Ingredients needed:
(Keep in mind I made this for just me and measured nothing, so I didn't include any kind of useful amounts. Fortunately most of it is preference-based anyway)
--An amount of spaghetti (for one person I just took a small handful)
--water? (to boil the spaghetti...yeah. Just being thorough, here.)
--oil of choice (canola for moi)
--Parmesan cheese (freshly grated would probably be delicious, but I just use the ol' powdery stuff)
--red pepper flakes
--garlic (again, original recipe calls for a clove or two, but I was out and so used garlic salt. It works)
--herbs of choice! (my preferred combo is oregano, basil, and chives. mmm.)
--salt and pepper, if ya want.
--tomato (optional)

How is it Done?!?
First, bring water to a boil. Then, cook spaghetti!

My handful of spaghetti!

Boil, boil! Mwahah.

Meanwhile, as you patiently wait for your pasta to cook, cut up your fresh, delicious herbs. Or if your herbs are dried, I guess you could spend the time measuring our the amounts that you want, which would be significantly faster. I'm sorry, dried herb users, I don't have much else to occupy your spaghetti-boiling-time. I guess you'll just have to play this video and dance around your kitchen. Do it! I promise your day will be happier.

Actually, you should do that even if you had to chop herbs.

I got my fresh herbs from my recently made herb garden (yay!) which is simply blooming and oh-so-happy! I can't believe I've kept them all alive.

Basil

Chives

Oregano. Did you know that oregano is fuzzy? I didn't until I took this close-up
and now I'm vaguely creeped out. Don't worry, it's still scrumptious.

Now would also be a good time to cut up those fresh tomatoes. These are optional, so if tomatoes aren't really your thing, just leave em out.

I should also point out that if you're going to use actual garlic cloves--the more delicious way to do it, admittedly--then while your spaghetti cooks you would put the cut up clove(s), a bit of oil, and some red pepper flakes (to taste) in a little pan and heat it up until the garlic starts a-sizzlin'. You'll take this off the heat and then dump it over your drained, cooked spaghetti, add the rest of the ingredients and it is sooo good. So good.

Or if you're just using pantry stuff like me, you'll want to drain your spaghetti, douse it with some oil, and then dump in all these things, to taste: garlic salt, parmesan, herbs, red pepper flakes (leave this out if you prefer milder tastes, it gives the pasta a bit of a kick), herbs, salt & pepper if you want, and tomatoes. I like to wait until the last moment to add the tomatoes so they're still cool when I eat the dish. Delish!

The ingredients of choice.

In the end, you have this pretty pasta that you feel good about eating and, bonus, is also extra delectable!

It's seriously my favorite, I eat it for lunch at least twice a week. Yum. Let me know if you try it!