Mt. McLoughlin

(I just found this old post that I wrote and never published. Oops! So here it is, about a month or more late.)

Kory & I went camping and hiking this weekend because I had a furlough day Friday and that meant and extra day off for the two of us. Kory always has Fridays off, but because I work Friday and he works Sunday, we don't usually have time to get out of town for the weekend. Kory has wanted to climb Mt. McLoughlin since we moved to Oregon, so we decided to finally make it happen. It is the highest peak in Southern Oregon at 9,495 ft and it is probably best that I had no idea how difficult it was going to be, or I might have never started.

We drove to FourMile Lake (which is at the base of McLoughlin) on Thursday evening when we both got off work. I had read online that the campsites were right on the edge of the lake and had incredible views. We didn't arrive until it was just getting dark and all of the lake-side camp sites were full so we just drove around until we found an empty site and made our camp there. Had we read the sign better we would have known that we were in a horse camp...a fact we learned the hard way when, in the middle of the night, a couple horses (that sounded like they were in the tent with us!) started neighing as loud as possible and...I want to say they scared us, but that doesn't adequately describe how terrifying it was...at least for me.

Friday morning, we woke up early (again, thanks to the horses) and got packed up so we could head to the mountain and our plan was to move to an actual tent campsite that night and leave the horses behind. We started up the mountain 3 or 4 times but kept remembering something really important that we had forgot in the car like sunscreen/hiking poles/mosquito repellant, which delayed our start quite a bit. Pretty soon after we started hiking, I could tell the altitude was really getting to me. It felt like I couldn't catch my breath, even though we weren't up very high and the incline wasn't too steep. Long story short, that never got better and I spent the entire hike up feeling VERY out of breath and wondering how I had so grossly overestimated my fitness level. Kory was doing awesome and kept having to wait for me every few minutes. At times I felt nauseous and like I could pass out, other times I was sure I was going to throw up on the trail, and sometimes I felt like I weighed about 300 pounds and hadn't worked out in my entire life. 

I'm still not for sure what the problem was, but I know that too little water, altitude and heat all had to be contributing factors. I will spare you the gross details, but let's just say my tummy didn't adjust well to something on this trip and I got very sick close to the top of the mountain. I know I'm not making this sound like much fun so far, and to be honest, that's how I felt for a lot of the hike up. I should also mention that there was a lot of smoke in the air because of fires in Northern California and Southern Oregon. When we FINALLY reached the top, there was absolutely no view because of all the smoke. It was quite disappointing.

I was about ready to die when we were eating our lunch at the top and I realized we still had hours of climbing back down this mountain. I tried singing the "Like a good neighbor..." jingle, but not even that worked.

Our trip down was, of course, much easier, but my left knee was killing me every step I took and my toes were hitting the front of my shoe and rubbing blisters there, so it was painful to go down also. I've got to say, this wasn't the most fun adventure I've ever been on, but I really am glad I went. It was great to spend time with Kory, particularly in a tough situation, because I think it brought us closer together. Anytime your husband has to go in search of leaves to help you clean up a "situation", you know you've found true love. Plus, there is a huge feeling of accomplishment when you conquer a huge mountain and burn over 3500 calories in an 8 hour hike!

Fear not, we went to Olive Garden afterwards and ate back every one of those delicious calories :) We were pretty gross though...I was trying to wash off in the bathroom sink at OG and definitely got some dirty looks. One bite of those breadsticks made it all worth it though!

We also ended up coming home a night early when we were out of water and in pain and extremely tired by Friday evening. Saturday morning we were really glad we made that decision because our legs were SO sore and we thoroughly enjoyed a day recovering and being lazy. It will probably be a little while before we take on a huge mountain again...I need a while to forget how ridiculously hard this hike was for me!

Mid-August Update

It's about time for an update to cover what's been going on over the past few weeks.

1.) We had a Car Wash Fundraiser a couple weeks ago and it was incredibly successful! I had never heard of a car wash quite like this before, but it worked really well for us. We have 3 services on Sunday morning, and we did a valet service (with adults driving) so people could drop off their keys with us and we would wash their car while they were in the service and it was back in their parking spot squeaky clean when they got out. People could also drive their car through in-between services if they wanted. We ended up making over $1,000 in about 4.5 hours!

2.) My wedding ring saga continues...and my disgust for Samuels Jewelers continues to grow! So, as of May, I had lost 5 diamonds from my wedding ring in under 18 months. The last time I took it into the store, I was talking to the Store Supervisor about this and telling her how frustrated I was that I had to drive 2-3 hours to a store or pay to ship the ring to get it fixed. She said I could call the Customer Service Line and they would send me a postage-paid box or envelope and I could send the ring in for free and get it repaired and they'd send it back for free. I lost another diamond (#6!) while putting away laundry one night and promptly called the Customer Service Line the next morning. The lady I spoke to could not find any record of us purchasing any jewelry or insurance plans from Samuels and she spent about 10 minutes trying to convince me I must have bought it somewhere else and I was just confused.

I am 1,000% sure I have an insurance policy with them as I have already used it SO many times! She was finally able to locate some information in the system for Kory and asked me to mail in a copy of my receipts to prove we bought a ring and insurance from Samuels and then they will start the process of adding our records to their system. I found the business card for the District Manager in with the paperwork from when Kory purchased the ring, so I decided to give him a call. I left a voicemail for him, and in his message he promises to return all calls, yet I never heard back from him. So, now I don't really know where I stand. I'll probably try to call Customer Service again this week because I sent in the paperwork a couple weeks ago now. I wish it were something less important to me, but because it's my wedding ring, I will continue this fight.

3.) I'm doing pretty well on my New Years Goals...though they have changed a little bit throughout the year. My initial goals involved learning to sew, reading 12 books, and getting back into crocheting. I've sewn several things this year, am on book #6 (got a little behind on this one) and re-learned a few basic crochet stitches. After moving into our house, I kind of decided that instead of focusing on crocheting, I was going to learn how to garden. It's been really fun even though many of my flowers and veggies haven't survived. Here are a few pictures of what is growing in my garden right now:

Green Beans just came in this week.

Zucchini has been my best crop by far.

It will be a while longer before the cucumbers are ready.

The strawberries are just as delicious as they look!

Pinterest Reviews #2

Now we're moving on to craft projects and other great ideas I've tried from Pinterest. In the interest of full disclosure, I want to make sure you know I'm copying these pictures straight from their original websites. I did not take those food pictures...though I wish I was that skilled!

Project: Homemade Makeup Remover Wipes

Link: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/09/if-youve-read-my-blog-lately.html

Verdict: Disappointing. While they worked great at first, they were moldy after just 5 days. 

Best part: Very cost effective. I did the math and it came out to $0.006 per wipe once you have the container and coconut oil (which I did).

Advice: Add a couple drops of essential oils to make the wipes smell a little bit better. 

Next time: I am not sure I'll make these again due to the mold issue. I assume it stems from living in such a wet place. Maybe it would be better for those of you in the desert. 

Project: Cloth Diaper Burp Cloths

Link: http://www.petitelemon.com/blog/2011/03/28/how-to-make-a-burp-cloth/

Verdict: Cute and easy! I plan to make several more of these this Fall.

Best part: You don't need advanced sewing skills to make these. Perfectly straight lines aren't even necessary!

Advice: Use a zig-zag stitch to attach the fabric to the diaper. This will help it last through future washes.

Next time: I'll do a better job measuring and cutting the fabric so it fits better. 

Project: Shoe Organizer for Cleaning Products

Link: No real link, just a picture I saw online. 

Verdict: Cheap fix and extremely easy to put up.

Best part: All your cleaning supplies are in one spot and aren't taking up any cabinet space.

Advice: When filled with cleaners, open door carefully as the hanger will bang up against the door a little if you open it too quickly.

Next time: I will arrange cleaners by type or use instead of just randomly throwing them in an open spot.

Project: Soft and Silky Legs

Link: http://glutenfreenavywife.blogspot.com/2012/01/softest-silkiest-legs.html

Verdict: Incredible! I must do this more often.

Best part: I already had all the ingredients in my fridge/pantry.

Advice: I think you should do this in the shower versus the bath so you don't have all this stuff (and hair!) floating in the bath water with you. 

Next time: I will make a larger portion of this so I can store it and use it on a regular basis.

Have you made any great Pinterest finds recently? 

Pinterest Reviews

Since I have actually tried quite a few things I've pinned on Pinterest now, I thought I'd blog and review the recipes, crafts, and projects I've attempted so you can learn from my experience (both good and bad).

Recipe: Tomato, Basil, and Cheddar Soup.
Link: http://morefruitplease.net/2012/04/23/tomato-basil-and-cheddar-soup/

Verdict: Yummy!! Will definitely make again. Easy, yet delicious.

Best part: Uses greek yogurt instead of cream and, therefore, is much healthier.

Advice: Plan other recipes to use the rest of your greek yogurt so it won't go bad like mine did.

Next time: I will serve with some bread instead of just crackers. 

Recipe: Mini Caprese Salad Bites

Link: http://www.livingeventfully.com/2012/02/mini-caprese-salad-bites.html

Verdict: Two thumbs up! I could probably eat a whole plate of these myself.

Best part: Looks kind of fancy, even though it uses string cheese (i.e.: not fancy at all).

Advice: Buy the cherry tomatoes from Costco because they're much larger and hold more.

Next time: I will cut the string cheese into smaller pieces so it fits into the tomato better.

Project: Re-grow Green Onions

Link: http://homemadeserenity.blogspot.com/2011/03/putting-food-by-beef-onions-and-vanilla.html

Verdict: Works like a charm! I use this on a regular basis.

Best part: It saves money since the only expense is a tiny glass of water (costs pennies at most).

Advice: Change the water every 2 days and rinse the roots off to prevent a strong onion smell.

Next time: Nothing to change. 

Recipe: Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon-Garlic Green Beans

Link: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pan-roasted-chicken-lemon-garlic-green-beans-10000000780291/index.html

Verdict: Whoa! WAY WAY WAY too lemony. I followed the recipe exactly and we could barely even eat because the lemon was SO over-powering. 

Best part: Using only one pan saves on dirty dishes. 

Advice: Use SIGNIFICANTLY less lemon than the recipe calls for, I'm serious.

Next time: There probably won't be a next time, honestly. This dish is probably ruined for us, sadly.

Recipe: Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Link: http://www.thesweetslife.com/2011/08/cheesecake-stuffed-strawberries.html

Verdict: Decadent! These won me major bonus points at the office potluck.

Best part: They make a great finger food and you can have several without feeling guilty.

Advice: Don't make them much ahead of time, if possible. My got kind of soggy overnight. Also, a strawberry huller saves a ton of time!

Next time: I will make them closer to eating time and keep more at home for Kory and me :)

Recipe: Pioneer Woman Key Lime Pie

Link: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/03/happy-pi-day/

Verdict: You can't go wrong with PW. This pie was out of this world AMAZING!!

Best part: Everything is made from scratch and the time investment is so worth it.

Advice: If you hand-whip the cream, you'll burn enough calories to justify eating the whole pie in one setting. Or at least that was my excuse.

Next time: I will add more butter to my crust so the graham crackers aren't so crumbly. (The recipe is probably right, but my butter boiled over in the microwave and so I had a smaller amount mixed in.)

Recipe: Lasagna Roll Ups

Link: http://cookingclassy.blogspot.com/2012/02/lasagna-roll-ups.html

Verdict: Delicious! This even beats Stouffer's, which is pretty difficult in my opinion. 

Best part: Individual servings make for excellent lunches during the work week.

Advice: Don't spoon too much meat sauce into the lasagna noodles so you'll have enough left over to cover the top. 

Next time: I will add fresh herbs from my garden.

I hope you can find some menu inspiration from this post! Next up, I'll review some of the cleaning and craft projects I've tried from Pinterest. 

4th of July

Our 4th was pretty laid back and involved quite a bit of food and lots of friends - my kind of holiday! After sleeping in a bit, I went berry picking with my friend, Florence. We got some sweet cherries and raspberries. I'm telling you, fresh raspberries are so crazy delicious...it rivals a lot of candy in my opinion.  

Florence and her husband, Edgar, stayed for lunch with us and we grilled steaks and ate way too much for it to only be lunchtime. After lunch, we (Florence and I) finished making the Pioneer Woman's Key Lime Pie. Guys, this is seriously incredible pie! I made everything from scratch for the first time...made the graham cracker crust, hand whipped the cream, zested the limes, etc. It was SO worth the time spent. Sadly, this pie went very quickly and is already gone. I have a sneaking suspicion I will be making it again very soon.

Yes, the whipped cream to pie ratio is correct. 

After a nap for Kory and dishwashing/kitchen cleaning for me (I think I got the short end of the stick!), we headed to what is known as the Happy Fun House for a BBQ/4th of July party. Thanks to Pinterest, I tried a new recipe for Mini Caprese Salad Bites. They turned out really well and weren't very difficult to make. Thankfully, Florence helped me hollow out the cherry tomatoes, which was the most time intensive part of the process.

There was badminton, bocce ball, croquet, a pie eating contest, s'mores, fireworks and lots of really yummy food at their party. The Happy Fun House lived up to its name once again. 

Oh yeah, and there was face painting. For probably the first time ever, I remembered to wash my face and not smear this paint all over my pillow case. That is a really good thing since we now have white sheets/pillow cases.

We intended to go to the park for the city fireworks, but were having too much fun playing with smaller fireworks in the street with our friends and didn't make it back for the big show. I came home and went straight to bed since I had to be at work early this morning. Sadly for me, everyone else in our neighborhood was just getting the party started and continued shooting fireworks (or was it bazookas??) off until almost 1:00 a.m. 

It was hard for me to remember that it was Thursday today as I kept talking about stuff we did yesterday (Wednesday) as something that happened "over the weekend". I could really get used to only working two days at a time, however!

Pantry Organization

I was perusing one of my favorite blogs yesterday evening and read a post about organizing the pantry. Before we continue, I must first give you a short back story.

When we moved into our house, we had incredible help...we're talking like 20-25 people who washed dishes, set up beds, hung clothes in the closet and put food in the pantry. The problem (and blessing) was that I didn't put anything away in my kitchen and therefore, didn't know where anything was located.

We are still in the process of finding what drawer or cabinet works best to hold everything, but the pantry remained untouched. Compounding the problem was the fact that the pantry is very tall and deep. I realize that doesn't sound like a problem, unless you are a short gal like me who also has short arms.

We do have a step stool that used to be kept in the pantry for such reasons...but it has temporarily disappeared. Anyhow, looking at this blog finally motivated me to do something about it and I stayed up way too late getting everything in the right spot.

Now, I hesitate to link the original blog here because it will make mine look bad in comparison...so I will not show you her makeover until you have seen mine first :)

If I were a really good blogger, I would have taken before pictures, but I am not...so just imagine a messy pantry with all my baking items on the top shelf well out of my reach.

Here was the plan:
1) Place frequently used items on the shelves I can easily reach.
2) Arrange like items together so I can find them quickly (baking, canned goods, breakfast foods, etc.)
3) Make use of containers we already own. AKA, spend no $$.
4) Keep it simple so it will be easy for Kory and I both to use it and keep it organized. (No alphabetized canned veggies)

I am really pleased with the way it turned out. You will notice the pantry isn't super full. Part of that is because we have been trying to buy less groceries recently and eat more of what we already have stored away. It is also because I tossed several bags of chip crumbs and a couple containers past their expiration date.

I was thrilled to find the perfect containers around our house for this project. This bowl contains snacks and was a garage sale find from our church in Myrtle Creek.

I bought these mason jars off Craigslist a couple weeks ago for crazy cheap. I am planning to use them everywhere I can..so far in the garden and pantry.

This basket was part of a gift basket I won at a friend's baby shower. It was a Starbucks basket, which was funny since I don't like coffee at all. I ended up re-gifting the coffee and mug for a friend's birthday, but held onto the basket because I knew it would come in handy someday.

This bottom shelf is usually home to the step stool. I guess I better go find that now while I am thinking about it.

Finally, as promised, the original blog that inspired me. I don't really have any desire to be as organized as Jen as I think it is a little over the top personally, but it motivated me enough to get off my bum and do something, so I call that a success.

Impromptu Camping Trip

Someday, if and when we have kids, it will be awesome and we will love being parents. Until that time, we will enjoy the freedom to make last minute decisions to leave town and go hiking and camping.

We headed out to the North Umpqua Trail when I got off work Friday evening. The entire trail is 79 miles long and follows the North Umpqua River and a few lakes. We hiked about 12 miles round trip and my legs are feeling it now!

In the future, if we are in much better shape, we'd love to take a week or so and do the whole trail. For now, we'll stick with shorter trips, which is easy because they have broken the trail down into segments for shorter day hikes with campgrounds in between.

It rained, but only at night while we were sleeping. It was sunny and about 70 degrees while we hiked. Perfect!