Girls Traveling

things i never thought i'd fight about

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

farmer and i have been having some disagreements lately. i think that's to be expected when building a house together in the first years of marriage. and what with me being a girl and all, i tend to take these disagreements as personal attacks on my intelligence, style, decision-making abilities, etc.

doesn't he realize my word is law? well it is.

here are some examples of our more epic discussions, which have nothing to do with house-building:

1. naming our future baby roger which i wrote about here.

moral? don't name your baby something because it's funny.

2. buying toilet paper at costco - so we were driving along and i informed farmer that we hadn't purchased toilet paper in over a year. i was SO impressed that our costco purchase lasted that long! he expressed that it was ridiculous to be excited about toilet paper. i proceeded to insist that this was something to brag about because he's not the one going to the store every other week buying toilet paper...and that sh*t is expensive (pun intended). i have no idea what the price comparison is between a regular store and costco, but buying in bulk allows me to bypass that part of the store on a weekly basis. totally worth it.

moral? buy your TP in bulk.

3. does your special someone have a sharing problem? mine does. when it comes to sweets (particularly ice cream) my farmer is in "survival of the fittest" mode. i'm pretty sure he would double chicken wing me, sit on my back, and take a bowl of ice cream right out of my hands if it was the last bowl. or, even if i just want a little, bitty bite of his sweet-something he cringes at the idea of sharing. granted, my farmer does need the calories and i could stand to go without, but seriously? share! so the other night, he set out the ice cream to soften. he proceeded to grab some caramel, chocolate, and whipped cream. i thought, "awww, so sweet! he's going to make us sundaes!" i was excited. he finished scooping, sat down in front of the tv and proceeded to eat his entire bowl. "no big deal," i thought, "i'll just scoop my own." however, the ice cream was gone. finished. scraped clean. i should have known better. i played classic passive-aggressive. i was mad. farmer didn't understand why i was upset. he still doesn't understand. he said that if i wanted some, why didn't i just ask? well farmer, i didn't ask because i didn't know you ate it all.

moral? share.

moral moral? perspective. i guess if these are our major fights we're going to be just fine.

sunday fun day - GOALS REPORT

Sunday, February 26, 2012

this one time...i milked a goat. i really did.

good day people. the sun is finally shining. this is a major improvement from the 50 mph winds yesterday that shook the single-wide and rattled the windows. and let me just tell you, windows rattling at 3 am has got to be the most annoying sound ever. EVER.

goals report:

1. so my first goal stated that i was going to finish wiring our basement in the new house. I FULLY TRIED TO DO THIS...but we ran out of outlets. so there are still about 10 boxes to finish and a few light switches. i did order all the plate and canned light covers...can you say expensive? yes. now, as i was wiring yesterday i thought, "basic wiring is really pretty simple." it's mostly just repetitive. if you know a few rules you could do lots of diy projects. maybe rewiring a vintage light? i smell my first video tutorial!

2. i was also supposed to document a healthy meal i prepared for my farmer. and while i didn't document anything, i DID make a delicious soup. unfortunately, i still haven't figured out portioning so i made enough to feed us for three days. lunch and dinner. i certainly won't be making that soup for a while. that soup got real old REAL quick.

3. the third goal was to not buy anything clothing related. FAIL. i set myself up for disaster with this one. you see, i have these old ski pants. they are kind of a rusty-brown color. i like them and all, but i've had them for almost six years. i was ready for an upgrade. and upgrade i shall! i found some glorious teal-colored patagonia ski pants that were nearly 50% off on a glorious site called steep and cheap. basically, it's a site that has one outdoorsy-type product at a time that is usually 50% off or more until it sells out. go ahead, i challenge you to not be tempted by their fantastic deals.

4. i pulled a 50% on my final goal of getting dressed in real clothes every day. 'nuff said.

NEW GOALS! YAY!

1. i was ridiculously lazy this week. i only ran twice and did quite a lot of sitting. so this week i will be doing one active thing each day. running, sit-ups/push-ups, jillian's 30 shred, you get the point. let's get physical.

2. i'm going to work on the house every single night this week after work. i keep getting sad that we're not moved in yet, but i have zero right to feel that way. i have been a lazy daisy. this week i shall be recommitted. this is also a great excuse to not cook. it's frozen casserole week!

3. final goal or else i'm going to feel like an overachiever. i used to a be a bit of a hard-core salad eater. then, after our wedding a year and a half ago i boycotted greens altogether. seriously, i used to eat pretty much only salad (with no dressing) and popcorn. a very balanced diet. you could almost see my back ribs in my wedding dress and i. was. proud. well, it's time to bring veggies back into circulation. i'm going to eat something green every day. gag. HIP HIP for healthy!

alrighty kids. i hope you have a fab week and set some goals for yourself. i'm off to do some online shopping.

wedding in sun valley

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

get ready for a photo dump.

we were at a glorious sun valley wedding celebrating two GLORIOUS people this president's day weekend. we ate, danced, laughed, drank, and stuffed our faces (actually, i stuffed my face) until our hearts were bursting. seriously, during one of the songs i started having chest pains. you can't eat THAT much starch and red meat and not have negative side effects.

so, as stated in a previous post, my farmer was asked to be a groomsmen by one of his good friends, will, from their hometown: population 500. super teeny-tiny. and because farmer is awesome, i'm awesome by association and was able to participate in the wedding events. fabulous.

we arrived in sun valley and naturally busted out the skis. my farmer is a bit of a gear-hoarder and bought tele-skis on a whim. if you're not familiar with tele skiing it's basically downhill skiing but your heel is not anchored to the ski and you lunge your way down the mountain. doesn't sound like fun to me. but farmer and the groom decided sun valley was a great place to practice.

russell with the bride and groom.

saturday was the rehearsal/dinner, and as previously stated, it was amazing. there is something to be said for a wedding when you love love love the couple getting married. and while the food/beverage was delicious, you can't help but be overwhelmed with love when you see a great group of people rally around a couple you're so happy for. i'm not normally an emotional person. some say i'm a little dead inside. but these two had me all choked up. enough emotion, the food was fab - we started with fondue, moved on to some rock star brussels sprouts, gourmet mac and cheese, followed by the main course where you had a choice between grilled salmon over mashed potatoes or fancy ribs with a side of blue cheese grits. OMG. and while my farmer was distracted by his red wine i ate both our plates. dessert wasn't half bad either. some sort of coconut cake with buttercream frosting and this delicious chocolate torte thingy. moving on...

here are the boys all dressed up, ready to do their duty:

that's my hottie on the far right. the groom wore his grandpa's tux. he was lookin' fine.

and then i stopped taking HORRIBLE pictures with my phone and got ready:

aren't the gloves the perfect accessory? they were a spot-on match for my satin dress.

the wedding was dressed to the nines. candles everywhere:

the bride and groom were married in front of that glorious stone fireplace. the sun had just set so there was a beautiful glow all around them. stunning.

after the ceremony we were surrounded by food from all the different states the couple had lived, including our great state of idaho where they eventually met:

unfortunately, i only snapped a shot of the shrimp and grits because i mowed the mini red potatoes, steak, and pizza down before i thought to take more mediocre phone pictures.

but i did snap a shot of these adorable cakepops! they were molded to look like idaho potatoes. how cute! (and delicious.)

have a looky-lou at the dessert behind the cakepops. those are mini cakes that i swear must have had crack in them. i was addicted. and on the other side of those were mini georgia pecan pies. also laced with drugs. that's the only excuse i have for shoving two in my face at a time. i have a bit of a sugar problem.

before i passed out from a sugar coma i snapped this shot with my farmer. no people, i didn't marry a 12 year old:

as a request from the bride, my farmer was required to make several announcements over the microphone wearing her ostrich shrug. it would appear he's not upset about it and quite enjoyed the attention:

this shot is of all the boys my farmer grew up with. i'm not sure what was in the water during the 80's, but it apparently was a breeding ground for successful, good-looking men:

the water also must have had magical dance powers in it because i've never seen a group of boys...errr...men dance harder. and while i have about 20 horrible pictures of them dancing, these were the best to share. groom in the air:

bride in the air:

and at the end of the night, they lit these lanterns. basically it had wax with a wick attached to a paper lantern. the heat from the flame would eventually make the lantern fly away. and while this was beautiful against the backdrop of a starry sky, i'm not sure how safe it was to let a bunch of drunk people handle paper and a lighter:

and here are a few snaps i stole directly from the bride's facebook page. the photography team was two bird studio and they rocked.

they are in snow boots! cute!

the bride looking far better in her ostrich shrug than my farmer.

the group swing dancing. that's me on the right getting flipped.
yes, i have been dropped on my head before.

you can bet i'll be sharing more photos from two bird studio once i can get my hot, little hands on them.

happy hump day, y'all.

we're at a wedding

Sunday, February 19, 2012

the sun valley/ketchum/stanley area

hola amigos y amigas! i'm currently in sun valley with some of the most fantastic people in the world. ever. really. they are just that great. (good adjectives, karli.)

so, as i've mentioned before, my farmer is pretty fantastic. this makes me fantastic by association. people love the man. farmer was asked to be a groomsmen in a wedding in sun valley. that wedding is taking place TONIGHT. it's in this BEAUTIFUL lodge with exposed beams, tall ceilings, and a gi-normous stone fireplace. stunning, really. what it comes down to is the bride has some AMAZING style. fancy is the word. and her groom to be? he's wonderful.

so farmer is a groomsmen and i'm cool by association. we've established this. we've been wined and dined and spoiled and pampered and i can't even believe it's my life. the bride and groom know how to celebrate. the best part? they are a perfect match.

oh love. i'm in love with love. but enough about love...

let's celebrate my GOALS from last sunday!

1. crunches: i said i was going to do 2000 last week. verdict? WIN!!! i did 2200. talk about overachievement. it had nothing to do with the guilt i felt when i drank the cheese from our fondu dish.

2. running: the goal was to run 3 miles a day which would have equaled 15 for the week. i ended up running 22.25 miles this past week! i couldn't even believe it. it had nothing to do with the guilt i felt when i shoved an entire costco muffin in my face exclaiming, "WHAT? I'M STARVING."

3. push-ups: people. it's amazing how quickly your body will adapt if you're consistent. the first day i did 50 boy push-ups i thought i was going to die. my chubby arms would quiver as i lowered my body to the floor and shake violently on the way back up. but by day five i could do 15 boy push-ups in a row. i know that's not that impressive to you, but to me? i'm proud. in total i did 305 push-ups this week. the goal was 250. i'd call that a WIN!

4. FAIL: i didn't make dinner one single time this week. le sigh. we were busy! what with all the running and boy push-ups. i did eat a giant bowl of honey nut cheerios on thursday. okay, i ate two bowls. it was delicious. i don't know what farmer ate. i'll try again next week.

to make this post even longer...NEW GOALS!

1. i'm going to finish wiring the basement at our new house so it will be ready for carpet and floor trim. (is that what it's called?) in addition, i'm going to order the covers for our canned lights and all the switch/outlet plates. i've been dreading this for months.

2. document one healthy meal i've prepared for my farmer.

3. don't buy anything clothing-related. (seriously? i'm depressed already.)

4. get dressed in real clothes everyday. i've kind of slipped back into some bad habits. my dress code has consisted of yoga, stretchy, pajama pants and t-shirts for the past few weeks. can you say, "turn on?" i can't believe my farmer doesn't look at me with contempt.

adios y'all. i can't wait to show you pictures of the wedding tonight!

hobby for my farmer

Thursday, February 16, 2012

my farmer has a summertime hobby. it's not the most conducive hobby seeing how it takes place during farming season, but we're kind of in whitewater kayaking heaven here in idaho, so it would be silly to not take advantage of the outdoor offerings in our backyard. word? word.

this is not my farmer. i don't know who it is, but i'm scared for him.
he is certainly not supposed be going into this rapid sideways.

meanwhile...back on the farm...

i've been asking, begging, threatening my farmer to do a guest post for awhile now. the man is funny and i think you would all enjoy what he has to say. but, he's consistently refused until this weekend. he came bursting through the single-wide front door exclaiming, "I WANT TO DO A GUEST POST! check your e-mail."

farmer had sent me a video promoting a whitewater kayaking race taking place on the north fork of the payette river. that's approximately 45 minutes north of the big city. beautiful rivers. beautiful country.

after diving further into said "guest post" farmer didn't so much want to "guest post" as he wanted me to just post the video because he thinks it's so rad. and it is. what makes it even more rad is that MY FARMER kayaks the section of river in the video below. can you even believe it?!?! granted, he kayaks that river during lower flows...much lower. but it's still quite impressive.

i get the nervous sweats when he ventures out on his kayaking shenanigans, but when makes it home safely it's like a soldier returning from war. totally hot. me like.

farmer and me geared up and ready for the river

a poem for my farmer

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

a valentine for my valentine -

you, my best friend...
are the rock to my roll
you are the keeper of my soul
and if i had to choose
you i'd never lose
because you are the shimmy to my shake
my heart you can take
hold it forever if you can
i am your BIGGEST fan
because you are the butter to my bread
my cheeks you blush red
when you're in the room
you make my heart go ba-boom

very valentine

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

i like to put out fits together that i would never in a million years wear, but if i saw it on someone else i would like it and instantly be jealous. then i'd probably talk bad about her. that's how i deal with my lack of creativity and confidence. don't judge.

side note - normally one wouldn't think of shorts/socks in mid february, but since idaho has been hitting just shy of 60 degrees, you could probably get away with it.

sunday fun day is BACK

Sunday, February 12, 2012

confession: i've been quite relaxed when it came time to set my sunday goals for the past few weeks. i would think about it quite often throughout the week and have ideas of grandeur...only to quickly be distracted by the latest episode of teen mom 2.

but now that i'm focused this sunday morning, sipping on my 1 part coffee 1 part chocolate-caramel creamer and watching gangs of new york (perfect sunday viewing??) i'm inspired for a new round of goals.

1. remember a few weeks ago when i said i was going to do 5000 crunches? and then i didn't do it. then i said was going to do 3000 crunches? and i DID IT! well, this week i only have until thursday to complete all my goals (we're going to a wedding in sun valley. we're going to ski our buns off). so i'm going to adjust my goals to be completed in five days. i will do 2000 crunches.

2. i will run at least three miles and do at least 50 boy push-ups a day. (i did 10 boy push-ups yesterday and i'm sore. that's ridiculous.)

3. i will make dinner twice. once again, popcorn may not be considered dinner.

4. farmer suggested only watching one hour of television a day. i laughed in his face. bahahahahaha.

alrighty, i'm off to pound out my miles on the treadmill...then off to a mustache bash with glorious GLORIOUS cakepops. get. in. my. mouth.

MO to the VATION: motivation

Saturday, February 11, 2012

people. i'm convinced that the night santa comes in and leaves all my presents he also creeply stands by my bed and sucks all motivation from my body and soul.

who's with me on this?

he replaces it with an unnatural want/need/desire for all things wonderful - chocolate, liqueur, chocolate in my liqueur, liqueur in my chocolate, rich foods, creamy foods, warm foods, sweatpants, sweatshirts, leggings, baggy shirts, uggs, wool socks, christmas movies, popcorn while watching christmas movies, a lack of desire to go outside...you get the picture. basically it left me looking like this for the entire month of january:

pardon the blur

coincidentally, my farmer went missing most of january. interesting.

since when are sweatpants and a top-knot NOT sexy?

do you have motivation? tell me what motivates you. this girl needs NEEDS your secret to motivation.

so you're getting married...

Thursday, February 09, 2012

weddings seem to be in serious planning mode as of late. and i dig it.

there was a very brief period in my life when i wasn't utterly obsessed OBSESSED with weddings and planning and dreaming and helping and dressing up and eating the cake and drinking the drink.

i. love. it. ALL.

i was so obsessed in fact, once in college my roommate and i borrowed an engagement ring and went to two different bridal shops (sported said ring), acted as eachothers maids of honor and tried on dresses. best. day. ever. (well...at the time.)

the obsession continued when i was bored one day and stumbled into target. i blacked out and immerged in the parking lot with a pretty binder, page protector sleeves. and three wedding magazines. i wasn't even dating anyone, people. it was a sickness.

i had to buy these supplies because pinterest wasn't around yet.

this story becomes more unfortunate when said binder and magazines were found months and months later by my then boyfriend, now my farmer. oh, the humiliation. he told his friends. more humiliaton. they made endless fun of me. but i guess i had the last laugh...i married him!

(insert evil laughter here - muahahahaha!)

in honor of wedding planning season, here are 10 snippits i learned from my wedding:

negotiate with your vendors. as it turns out, they want your business. plus there are always little things they can tweak to make whatever you're buying less expensive. one less light here, five fewer flowers there. trust me...you won't miss it.
whether you hire a videographer or have a friend with a camera - FILM YOUR WEDDING. this will illicit tears during playback 97% of the time. (don't check my math on that.) film the ceremony, film the first dance, film the bouquet/garter toss, film the cake feed. just sayin'.
when walking down the aisle, remember to keep your bouquet low and centered. your pictures will thank you. nobody wants to see flowers under your chin. remind your b-maids.
on a budget? strongarm your friends and family into helping with the prep. if they love you, they'll love helping. you'll also save some mula.
nervous the day of? nothing a bottle of champagne can't fix. skip the wine glass and go straight to a water bottle or sippy cup. you don't want spills on your dress. also, a dance party with your b-maids and best gals will get rid of some of that nervous energy.
arrange a driver for post-wedding transportation. this driver should know exactly where he's taking you and should also be sober. which leads us to #7...
make sure your groom or you check-in to your wedding night location prior to arrival your wedding night. trust me on this one. trust. this is a story for another day.
do not do push-ups in your wedding dress on the beer-soaked dance floor.
if your dad does a keg stand, you should do a keg stand. trust.
pay for someone to clean up your wedding. your headache will thank you.

i starve my farmer

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

it's that time again! our monthly edition of "bell cooks!" that's because i cook once a month. i decided to be an overachiever and get this cooking thing out of the way early.

this beloved recipe comes via miss amanda mays via the pioneer woman. the woman has it goin' on. it's a delish recipe and farmer-approved. my farmer ate half of the entire dish in one sitting. this may or MAY be because i starve him for the remainder of the month.

CHICKEN SPAGHETTI

just give that little title a click and it will take you to the printable recipe card!

first, the cast of characters:

2 cups cooked chicken (i bought a chicken from costco and diced up the breast...yum!)
3 cups dry spaghetti, broken into two inch pieces (whole wheat)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cups finely diced green pepper
1/4 cups finely diced onion
2 cups chicken broth
dashy-dashes of seasoned salt (i was liberal with this...love me some salt)
salt and pepper to taste

items i left out:

1 additional cup of sharp cheddar cheese (that's a lot of cheese!)
1 jar diced pimentos, drained (i live in the middle of nowhere)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (have you ever measured 1/8? it's nonexistent.)

my next step was dicing the onion and green pepper. according to the recipe they are supposed to be finely diced. well, finely diced to me means you're probably going to cut your finger off. so we'll say my peps and onions were moreso cubed, unfortunately. also, i used closer to 2/3 cup of onion. we love onion.

you're also supposed to grate three cups of sharp cheddar. i only grated two. this was a happy mistake because i didn't realize there was supposed to be three cups until just now...two days later. so one cup went into the mixture and one cup was sprinkled on top. still delish and a total calorie saver.

the next super satisfying step is to break a bunch of spaghetti into two inch pieces. i say satisfying because snapping all those little noodles feels good. i'm a freak. after you've snappy-snapped them, toss them into your two cups of chickn broth. you'll cook the noodles until al dente. yeah, we're speaking italian now. al dente means (in my world) a noodle that is not floppy, still firm, but cooked enough to be a little soft. does that make any sense? google it.

action shot!

while the noodles are cookin', combine your ingredientses (RHONJ!) in a bowl...you'll also put the noodles in there. when it came time to add the noodles, i didn't know whether to add the broth they were cooked in or drain it out...so i added it. i felt like it couldn't hurt the process. the only downside was that the final casserol was extra creamy...not soupy...but definitely couldn't be cut into squares like a lasagna.

you're going to stir everything together until it looks like poop. seriously...vomit. YUMMY YUM YUM YUM.

mmm...doesn't that look good? try it. really, it does taste good. i was pretty hungry at this point so i sampled and sampled some more. after i poured it into the casserol dish, i licked this bowl. i'm a freak.

now pour it into your casserol dish and sprinkle your reserved cheese on top!

and it will come out of your 350 degree oven lookin' like this...or probably better:

(i think it's the cream of mushroom that gives it that unappetizing taupe color. if it weren't for all that glorious cheese this dish would look totally disgusting.)

now, i must say i was pretty pleased with the results. the dish was delish and i was showered with affection from my farmer. he LOVES when i cook...you would think i would do it more. interesting. anyway, the results are in and this meal is a win. get cookin'.

house update: cabinets

Monday, February 06, 2012

people...things are happening. we had a mini house-hiatus when we decided to go to mccall and denver, but we are back. we worked our fannies off this weekend on our kitchen cabinets. and by "we" i mean my farmer. i helped a pinch.

people...they. are. glorious. i. love. them.

we had two cabinets hung and i said to my farmer, "in these two cabinets we already have more storage than we do in the single-wide." i guess that means no more storing our canned goods on the floor in the corner of our kitchen. (we're classy like that.)

i wonder if you're asking, "why don't they just have less of a stockpile of canned goods?" well people, when you live 45 minutes away from anything that mildly resembles a market, you have to shop at costco.

you may also be asking, "i thought she didn't cook?" this is mildly accurate...but a girl still needs to have food stuffs in the "pantry" (on the floor). i'm not a heathen.

anyway, people...here is what our house is lookin' like to date!