Wednesday, October 9, 2013

The Airman Visits

So Bean3 joined the Air Force right out of high school and I am so proud of him :) Yes, many people wonder how a Woman Marine's son would be allowed to join the Air Force - well, 1) They make their own decisions and I support them when the do; 2) I am a Marine, my father Army, and his dad Navy - he said he didn't want to feel like he was choosing one of us over the other. My late cousin was Air Force so I feel it is a fine decision :)

So anyway, he is stationed so far from home! I saw him at his Basic Training graduation and I visited him the year after that. This is the first time he was home though to see all the little beans :) and he got to stay for three weeks!

Me and My Boy


So what did we do? We visited the grandparents, had 3 birthday parties, he picked up siblings from school, and we went to UGA for the LSU game which included the SportsCenter broadcast from UGA, the DawgWalk, and Tailgating with Rock-L! Since he had to leave a day early, his little brother Bean7 got to enjoy the Mizzou tickets :)

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Wizard of Oz Surprise Half Birthday Party

Last spring as I was planning Bean8's birthday party I find out that Bean3 is finally authorized for leave that fall. So we quietly let the idea of a party with friends die a peaceful death in order to plan a surprise party while Bean3 was here. Worked like a charm :)

I wrote a note to go in all of the invitations that explained why we were having a surprise half-birthday party and all the parents loved it :)

Invitation

Bean3 took Bean8 for a ride in his Jeep so the guests could arrive...
Awaiting Bean8's Arrival

SURPRISE!

I painted all the girls' nails...

Somewhere over the Rainbow is food....

A Rainbow Jello Birthday Cake

Melted Witch Punch

Rainbow Ice Cubes

Rainbow Marshmallows

Ruby Red Cake Pops

Lollipops from the Lollipop Guild

Rainbow Fruit and Star Wands :-/

Bean8 Painting with Colored Ice

Friend Painting Rocks

Friends Painting





Tuesday, October 1, 2013

UGA v LSU

What a day with Bean3 :) We went to UGA to spend the day. There was a broadcast of College Game Day from UGA that Christian wanted to watch, then of course there is the famous DawgWalk, and Tailgating! Between the broadcast and the Dawg Walk we did a little shopping and got something to eat. Then we stood in our little spot for over an hour waiting on it to start. It was worth it for Bean3 to see all the players from the front row ... especially after we saw the crowd that formed around us. It was a little sad to watch some people be rude and push their way to the front in front of families that had been waiting for an hour or more.







Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Caving


Oh my what an adventure!!! If we had only known a little bit more about what to expect we would have changed a few things....
As it is we headed to Raccoon Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee. When we arrived we found a great little BBQ joint and feasted like they instructed but careful not to drink too much since we would be in the cave for quite sometime without potties. If only we had known, which we do now, we would not have eaten but a very small meal much earlier and taken trail snacks to eat when we settled in for the night.

But wow!!! We overcame some serious issues - claustrophobia, vertigo, total darkness .... Yep, it was great!!
Apparently we did some 2 1\2 miles underground, practically crouched over, crawling or belly crawling almost the entire time. We squeezed through spots that were a mere 11-inches tall after belly crawling 180 feet, navigated the top of a ravine, waded through underground streams, and told stories of underground caves in total darkness while taking a breather for me to recover from a nauseating bout of vertigo!

If you look close you see Ashley to the left, some gear in blue in the middle, and David's head in between them .... That is a tight squeeze to be belly crawling for 180 feet and the only way out is 11 inches high!
Survived the Key Hole (the 11-inch space)
One of the many areas we had to crawl through
The ravine we had to traverse
We lived!







Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Molly Marine Monument Dedication

Quantico, Virginia, July 2013

I haven't been to Quantico since September 1997 when I graduated Small Systems Computer School. It felt like home! It was absolutely bone weary exhausting but it was so very worth it to be at the Molly Marine Monument Dedication with Generals Salinas, Mutter, and Reals, and of course, the ever motivating Dr. Brown!

I was a Molly Marine back in April 1997 after my platoon - Platoon 4010, November Company, 4th Battalion - voted me as their Molly. I wish I could have recorded General Salinas' description of becoming Molly of her platoon - it was so spot on, this description of the brusque way we Mollies are awarded this honor! At the time we don't have a real clue - until we see things like this letter my parents received. (It is toward the middle... You won't miss it.)

Being a Molly is a pretty big deal - a max of 52 women are awarded this each year. That's only if all the female platoon dates fall just right and a platoon forms every two weeks like clockwork without being interrupted by specific holidays in which no platoons form. To put this in perspective for every 2 female platoons around 24 much larger male platoons graduate. We females tend to have 40-45 per platoon graduate while male platoons have upwards of 60-80 graduate. So while about 2% of females are awarded this honor that makes us about .001% of the entire Corps!

I am so thankful that my wonderfully good friend, Rock-L, could accompany me on this trip! Not only did we attend a lovely 4th of July Neighborhood Bash at my godbrother's, watch 7 fireworks shows!, tour the Museum of the Marine Corps and Semper Fidelis park, but we visited all over Washington, D.C.!! When we got back to my godbrother's the last night we were there, we literally crawled into the tub and crawled out of the tub. Our feet and legs hurt so bad that we couldn't stand. In fact we went to bed without eating because our lower extremities won the "I hurt worse war" with our stomachs!!

This is Molly Marine!
 

Major General Angela Salinas - at that moment the highest ranking female officer in the Marine Corps prior to her retirement.


Lt. General Mutter - the first female to attain the rank of Lt Gen (3 stars)not only in the Marine Corps but in all of the Armed Forces. She was also the first female to command a Fleet Marine Force at flag level - 3d Force Service Support Group in Okinawa, Japan - and the first woman to attain the rank of Major General.

Bg. General Reals, the first female to attain the rank of General via the selection board in the Marine Corps. The late Bg. General Brewer was the very first female to attain the rank of General in the Marine Corps by promotion.

As I just discovered when looking up Lt Gen Mutter's command, my platoon is in Wikipedia as the first females to attend Marine Combat Training. What isn't mentioned is that we were the first (and according to several sources, only) platoon of women to hump (carry) all the weight the males did. Oohrah! How honored I feel to be among those great women listed on that great list of firsts for the Marine Corps ... so humbling.

Here is a photo of The Museum of the Marine Corps from across the parking lot. See the hill gently sloping down toward the US Flag? Molly stands right at the bottom of that hill, essentially greeting and bidding farewell all who visit the museum.



There are more beautiful pictures of the whole place but they will have to wait as only a portion are uploaded. I promise that I'm working on it all!

But until then let me leave you with the only place I visit each and every, single time I am in D.C. - The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall where I visit my dad's best friend, Sammy James. The rubbing of his name is from the very first time I visited in 1997. The photo of me in blue was taken by Rock-L.



Feel free to visit my dad's page .... Just click here

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Tallulah Gorge plus

A group of friends and I decided to go hiking at Tallulah Gorge as a part of the Canyon Climber's Club. This turned into 4 total hikes as we found 3 more little hikes to go on :) It helps that one of us had already hiked them! (And, no that wasn't me!)

Sorry for some of the sideways photos - I have yet to edit them :-\

Here are Rose and David at one of the lookouts...

Rock-L and David....

A snail on a moss covered stone at the 66 Steps Trail


The beautiful beginning of the 66 Steps Trailhead

Let's play "find the copperhead!"
This was one of two we ran across that day.
This was on the Trail at Warwoman Dell.

On the Trail at Warwoman Dell

Then we went over to Dick's Creek where we splashed around a bit to cool off before hitting the trail back home. This is where we saw our second copperhead - a juvenile this go 'round.
The second copperhead - hard to pick out if you don't already know where it is .... Beside the stick kind of in the crevice of the rock - we were wading in the water right here and all of our stuff is right above this little guy.

King of the Mountain!

So much fun!! I can't wait to finish the Canyon Climber's Club with this fun bunch :)

Saturday, May 11, 2013

School's Out!

Well, my school is :-D  After taking a week to get sick (like I always do when the semester ends) and recuperate, I'm back at it today!

I've got beans snapped (I did that while wallowing on the couch watching tv while I was sick) and ready to go into the pressure canner.  I have a box of Vidalia onions that are about to get sliced and dehydrated once the beans are in the canner.  Other than that I really need to focus on cleaning up this house from where I did nothing but sit on the couch all day for several days.

The one thing I did get accomplished while sick besides snapping beans was laundry.  I would put in a load, watch a tv show, put it in dryer, watch a tv show, get it out and fold it while watching a tv show, then put away and hang up items during the commercials of a tv show ... just round and round and round and round we go - until I have like two loads left to do in the whole house.

Included in focusing on cleaning is making some cleaners ... I'm either out or nearly out of almost everything.  This past month has been brutal on me between the end of the semester projects and finals to focus on, spring planting, kids end of the year activities, visiting the hospital every spare minute (my best friend, BestBean - since kindergarten - had an aneurysm), and just normal daily "have-to's" (like providing food to the masses) - I've let just about everything else go.  So making these cleaners that keep me sane is a must ... the only store bought cleaner I allowed in the house and was generally okay with was some petroleum-free laundry detergent - everything else has been stretched to its limit!

Alright, back to work!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Dehydration - Problems, Solutions, & More

For the past two weeks I have been slicing and dicing and dehydrating - amongst other things like pressuring canning, baking & freezing, making hygiene items, and herbal stuff.  I literally got up two Saturday mornings ago and started slicing eggplant to make a "fake bacon" - note to self, add salt to the marinade.  I started using a mandolin to get the perfect slices and I'm so glad I started using this consistently!!

Since then I've dehydrated celery, red bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, frozen strawberries, and apples coated with cinnamon sugar.  Onions will be next when the rest of the apples are complete.

I've decided to start storing my dehydrated produce in the various jars that we'd normally throw away.  Of course, I'm starting to make a lot of the stuff I buy from the store from scratch so this may not last too long.  I'll be happy to buy more canning jars for storing the dehydrated stuff or vacuum sealing it all - but for now, why waste the resources I have.

I had an issue with the trays on my dehydrator.  I have a round one that is obviously not an Excaliber.  But at the same time I do like this that MrBeans got me back in January - it doesn't get too hot and there is lots of air circulation.  So far, I'm very happy with the results.  It's an Oster brand - and I've kept the trays from my previous dehydrator that finally kicked the bucket last fall.  Because that is an issue with the new Oster - not enough trays.  There is also no flexible mats to put small things on or to make fruit leather.  So I've made some.  Now I do not have to spray my trays which was causing a problem - my fruits and veggies were a bit greasy.  That's okay for short-term storage but not for long-term ... and sometimes, things get stored for a long time here if they aren't used often.  I don't want my stuff going rancid - that's worse than it rotting on the counter after having gone through all the work to slice, dehydrate, and store.

So anyway, two birds one stone, as the saying goes with this little flexible mats.

I would love to get cross-stitch plastic but the store I was in didn't have any so I settled for those little silicon-type chopping mats.  I got 2 for $1 at the Dollar Store.  They aren't quite wide enough to cover the entire round tray BUT that's okay cause it's just a little bit and I think it helps with the air flow considering I have solid sheets versus screened trays.  So far everything is coming out wonderfully and I couldn't be happier with the performance --- well, I could use some more trays, that would make me happier!! :-D

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Valentine's Day Pancakes

I got up this morning and made special pancakes for my babies since tonight will be wild with stuff and last night I had class.  Of course, any time I decide to make pancakes for them it is special BUT these were extra special AND the leftovers are now in the freezer so that they can have pancakes for several mornings!

Now I'm no great pancake maker.  Never have been, never will be.  So please excuse the crudeness of my pancakes.  I also couldn't find my regular heart cookie cutter so I used my double heart and xo cutters instead.  As someone pointed out to me - each time I do something from pinterest, I make it my own by changing it up.  This is probably how it is meant to be because even when I have the right "equipment" I wind up not being able to find it when I go to make whatever it is - but then it turns up later when I need it for something else.  Personally, I believe these are little personal lessons to me.

Here are some little bits of love for my babies (yes, even when they are grown, they are my babies!)....
And at the end I played around with the last little bit of batter ....

 
So this turned into two things at once - a special breakfast for my children and some stock for my freezer grab-n-heat "meals" for the kiddos.  Two for one is usually pretty great!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Crossfit 90 Day Challenge - Day 16

Sorry I've been a slacker in keep up ... I'll just have to start up again with this one!

Day 16
2 rounds for time of:
100 Jump rope
50 Shoulder to overhead (shoulder press), 20 lbs
25 Knees to elbows

What I did: 6 minutes
While that seems great ... I slacked on the shoulder presses ... :-/
2 rounds of:
100 Jump rope ... Yes completed
50 Shoulder to overhead (shoulder press), 20 lbs .... 20 lbs but only 20 each round
25 Knees to elbows .... Yes completed - laying down because I couldn't get to the bar properly - laying down is harder for me as it works more ab muscles for me - knees to elbows done "correctly" are like candy to me so I pushed myself a little bit


I have weak arms - this is not news to me - but it still disappoints me every. single. time.

Gardening By the Week

I was just going through my book "Week by Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook" by Ron Kujawksi & Jennifer Kujawski.  I thought perhaps I'd share since I know a lot of people wonder how I manage my gardens on top of everything else.  This is pretty much how I do it.  Granted, I do have to deal with certain things like when My Honey will do some tasks but overall, this gets me through.

Now I'm in Zone 7 (whether A or B is up to the map I consult).  Technically the "last frost" for this area is slated for April 15th.  But I'll continue in the tradition of my Papa which is nothing goes in the ground before May 1st.  He has been the only one whose garden lived because he adhered to this despite his brothers-in-law planting April 16th, when a late frost swooped in and killed everything.  This year, May 1st will be tough with it being not only finals week but also Holy Week.... but I'll get it done one way or another!!

Anyway, this puts me at about 9 weeks before the average last frost.

This week I'll be attempting to get some eggplant, peppers, anise, and parsley seed sown indoors.  I don't grow summer savory, fennel, or chervil - though I should.  If you do, then get those seed started as well.

I'll be back later with the things I have already completed and still have yet to complete to be caught up.  I'm a little behind this year but I should be all caught up by the time the end of *my* spring break rolls around in a few weeks!!

Oil Pulling

So I've been giving this thing called oil pulling a try for close to three weeks now ... trying to get in the habit of doing it daily but hasn't quite worked out as well as all that YET!

Oil pulling is basically swishing around oil in your mouth first thing in the morning - before brushing your teeth or drinking anything.  Apparently, the oil - specifically sunflower or sesame - captures toxins within your mouth, going so far as to draw them from your gums and teeth.  When you finish swishing - for 15 - 20 minutes - the oil is whitish which means it is full of toxins.  One does not want to swallow this in any way, shape, or form.  Immediately after spitting out the oil one needs to brush their teeth, then go about their normal morning.

With oil pulling dental health is supposed to improve: teeth become whiter, breath fresher, eliminates bleeding gums, metabolism intensified, and a variety of maladies have been helped due to the detoxifying properties of oil pulling.  I was born with bad teeth that have only gotten worse even with great and careful oral hygiene care.  I'm hoping for help in this area just to help my teeth last longer.  And what's giving it a try going to hurt - my horrible gag reflex?

Here is a link for you to read more about oil pulling since I did just the barest of overview.

Anyway, the first two weeks I used coconut oil.  It's not one of the recommended oils but it's what I had as I didn't think I could handle the strong olive oil flavor.  I could not get even half a teaspoon to stay in my mouth without gagging beyond control.  I had read that the time that it takes to melt can be a bit much for some folks.  So I decided to melt a little in a spoon with warm water.  This helped greatly for me to get started.  Not ideal but if I could work up to the amount of oil AND get in the habit then whatever.

Finally I was able to buy some sesame oil.  I tried a spoonful and almost promptly spit it right back out as my gag reflex revolted immediately.  So the next morning I mixed the oil with warm water and that worked better.  At first I was barely making it 30 seconds.  This morning I made it to 5 min 38 seconds!!  I just have to be careful on the oil to water ratio ... the oil is ever increasing but by miniscule amounts.  Whatever gets me there!

So far there have been slight improvements but I don't know if it's that I'm paying closer attention or what.  So I'll wait before posting about those!

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Overnight, No-cook Oatmeal

Yum!  This was really good!  I'm so glad I found this recipe over at The Yummy Life!  She has several variations of Refrigerator Oatmeal but I tried the Cocoa Banana one since I knew, right off the top of my head that, I had all the ingredients - well I did use ground flax seed instead of chia seeds.  I cannot wait to try several of the other ones throughout the year as different fruit seasons come in and I'm able to pick fresh and freeze more for winter usage :)


These are my finished jars ready to go into the fridge!  I was slightly worried about how much cocoa was in them, but this morning evaporated all that worry like the sun shews away the fog! Yummy, yummy goodness :)

Of course, this lends itself into the fact that I don't buy a lot of dairy-free yogurt (or any yogurt for that matter) ... BUT I *really* want to make these a lot more often ... and wait until the kids get ahold of them - then I'll really be up the creek because there's no way I'll be able to make enough of them without paying an arm and a leg which makes it so not worth it :(
Soooooooo, I'll be starting my own yogurt tomorrow afternoon!  I've been wanting to for so long but have just been too lazy to do it.  This is my swift kick in the pants to get it going!  The Yummy Life has quite a few other recipes that call for yogurt as well that I want to try and therefore will make this yogurt-making adventure well worth the effort (even though I keep hearing how easy it is - it's just all about getting up and getting started!).

Breakfast Biscuits

So last night I had a little baking foray.  We're pretty tight on money with all the new taxes and medical insurance being taken out.  So instead of running off to the store to make sure I had breakfast foods for the children in the morning, I decided to make some more breakfast biscuits they have been loving on.  I have made some changes from the first time I made them...

One: Instead of using ground sausage (for which we have a ton in the freezer), I used bacon by request.... but sorry kiddos, the rest will be with sausage until we've made a heavy dent in our supply or come across a huge sale on bacon or someone doesn't pick up their bacon at the processor's - yeah, right.

Two: I used a pancake batter rather than biscuit batter. It was something the kids hinted at some time back that I thought I'd do differently this time around.  My Honey informed me he likes the biscuits so please make him some of those next time instead.

I have to deal with food allergies so for this I had to have a tin dedicated to Gluten-free biscuits and one dedicated to Dairy-free biscuits.  Here was my assembly set-up ... I seriously need more muffin pans!

To the Left is a big bowl of glutenfied batter and a small bowl of gluten-free pancake batter!  To the Right is a bag of dairy-free veggie shreds and a bag of reg cheddar shreds.  On the stove is a plate of bacon and a pan of eggs along with my tea pot and my muffin tins :-)

In assembling I do it slightly different than the blog post I referred to does it.  She uses canned biscuits.  If I get them on sale for 50 cents or less then I might get them as well - but I like making my own batters. 
So I put a Tablespoon or so (a dallop sounds more appropriate here ;-) ) on the bottom of each muffin tin.
I add in the fillings: break up the bacon in pieces, a scoop of eggs, a Tablespoon of shredded cheese .... anything else you want in here??  Caramelized onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, hashbrowns.... the possibilities are abounding.
Then dallop a bit more batter on top, sort of spreading it a little bit if needed.
Pop in the oven (same temp and time as regular biscuits).
Pull out of oven and let cool.
Pop out of muffin tins on to a cooling rack and start the next batch.
Repeat until out of ingredients :-)


Here they are: 33 regular biscuits; 8 dairy-free biscuits, and 7 gluten-free biscuits ... I ran out of gf mix so I made the regular mix stretch a bit to fill up the tins.
Once they've cooled completely, flash freeze them, and then put in LABELED freezer bags.

To flash freeze, place muffins on a cookie sheet that will fit on a shelf in the freezer, put in freezer and keep there until hard to the touch (not all that long).  Then immediately pop them into the freezer bags and back into the freezer.

We definitely have to label our baggies of muffins due to food allergies, but most people will need to label anyway with at minimum a date ... and if you make different varieties, then which varieties.  Some like to put heating instructions on the baggies as well.

Speaking of heating....
To reheat, just pop into the microwave and heat on high for 30 seconds at a time.  OR thaw a bit and pop into warmed oven for a few minutes (they could brown a bit more so you might not want to bake completely thoroughly if you are going to be warming in the oven).


The good news is, these little buggers are quite versitile!  I have a few more variations I'll be using of this recipe ... one is even like a mini-pot pie - yum!

Crossfit 90 Day Challenge - Day 7

Challenge Day 7
WOD:
For time:
20 Front squats, 40 lbs
30 Box jump, 18 inch box
40 Kettlebell swings, 15 lbs
50 Wall ball shots, 10 pound ball


What I did: 6:45
20 Front squats, 20 lbs
30 Box jump, 8 inch box
40 Kettlebell swings, 15 lbs
50 Wall ball shots, 5 dumbbell


Ouch!  I'm sore from the past couple of days and this just kept right on working those areas by default though not targetted.  Which is good in a way - I get nice and stretched out in those sore areas and the pain does subside faster.  Of course, if I get too wimped out I could rub on some Arnica Gel and really do away with the pain!  ;-)  But I like to feel my workouts until they interfer with my normal daily activities.

Got a long day of cooking and paperwork to do so I need to get at it!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Crossfit 90 Day Challenge - Day 6

Challenge Day 6:
As many rounds in 20 minutes of:
Run 400 meters
7 push-ups (I did knees)


What I did: 5 rounds!

I actually ran a mile in 12 minutes!!!!!!!!  Y'all read my post that included the 800 meter runs so you know what this means to me!!!  So 1 1/4 miles in 15 minutes!!!
Honestly when I ran that first quarter mile I wasn't sure I was going to keep going with today's WOD.  I mean it.  I was suffering - wheezing, burning in my legs - then I did the 7 push ups - girlie (until I strengthen my back - I refuse to hurt my back again just for pride in doing "boy" pushups) ---- oh and I hide in my garage so I have to walk to my garage to do the push ups - I refuse to do more than stretch or jog in front of my neighbors!  Then I told myself I could walk it or super slow jog it or whatever, next thing I know, I'm jogging again - and believe you me, it was a sssslllloooowwww jog.  I kept telling myself that I was running under 15 minute miles last week and that I really needed to at least get a mile in 15 minutes but I still couldn't run any faster without wheezing and wanting to quit so I just took it slow... did the push ups... got back out there and did it again.  I kept track of my running (anywhere from 2:32 to 3:00) and how long it took to go to garage, pushups, and get back out to cross the line signalling time to start jogging again ... I was astounded each round that I was running quarter miles in 3 or less minutes!

Sorry to go on and on and on about this but I'm still amazed and moved when I make such improvements - it's something else to be told you'll never walk without pain nor run again at all to running better than I ever dreamed was possible.  I'm literally just minutes away from Marine Corps standards!  I never dreamed I'd be this close.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Canning Meat for the First Time

I finally got to use my pressure canner!!  I canned 8 pintes of ground beef.  I was originally going to do our ground venison but then I saw that we had some older beef so I went with the older first.  MrBeans watched a youtube video with me and he really liked what he saw.  So when I slaved in the kitchen ;) to can all of this he was right proud and can't wait for me to do other stuff!

Here are photos of my foray with notes....

My 8 pounds of ground beef beginning to brown ...



Draining some of the meat....


Filling the jars....



Broth in with the meat....



Jar ready to go in the canner ....




Getting started in the canner ....



All finished ....



Not bad for my first batch ;)