Man Camp

Turned out to be anything but Man Camp.  In fact, I believe there were more females than males this year.  Let's count....me, lisa, tami, shauna, natalie heidi, emily (18 months), and grandma compared to dad, derek, jeff, dave, and seth (8).  yup.  females win.

Anyway, we just returned from a weekend jont to lago powell.  It was amazing.  Water skiing on water that I have never come close to touching until now.  Did i mention that was in the main channel?  We did some awesome hiking and exploring.  (esp. in Dave's Crack.  If my crack was that awesome I'd let people climb up and walk thru it too).  Lots of skiing and surfing.  Great eats.  (I ate spaghetti.  I know, you're minds are blown).  Falling asleep at 9 pm because we packed 4 days worth of fun into a day and a half.  Quick trip.  Awesome trip.  

We didn't take many pictures.  But the ones we did take are priceless.

Ha ha....dad forgot his sunglasses, so he's wearing mine.

We brought a friend for Seth (8).  Derek is not almost 25, he's 6.  This is him sneaking up on Seth.

Lisa on a hike

A Day of Firsts

So remember how I said I was becoming more domesticated???

Yup.  I made a turkey and a pie (fresh peach pie) for the first time yesterday for Mum's birthday.  Just cuz I don't eat meat or sugar doesn't mean I can't cook it.

For the Beauty of the Earth

As many of you may know, I have an interesting diet compared to the greater majority of my fellow American citizens.  Instead of cashing in for a burger, fries and diet coke (trying to watch my figure).  I mix black beans, with fat free cottage cheese, spinach, and salsa (when it's available) and call it delicious.

If you think I am odd, I am ok with that.  I eat this way because I like to.  I began my quest of healthful eating just over two years ago after a severe OD on sugar (namely fun dips).  Ever since, I have been sugar free as much as possible.  To add to my eating regime, I have become a vegetarian as of nearly 4 months.  The family has stopped nagging.  I get my protein and iron and omega 3's.  I take vitamins and calcium.  But recently I have made a discovery.

Disclaimer No. 1: If you have a sensitive stomach, you may wish to refrain from reading this post any farther.

My power smoothies.  Believe or not.  But i have begun to get tired of eating salad two meals a day.  It is loosing its pizzaz when i can only afford simple ingredients, and dislike salad dressings and fancy candied nuts.  However yesterday I decided why not just blend it all, it all goes to the same place anyway.  So I did, and the discovery may not be the tastiest thing.  But it is palatable and sticks with me for hours on end.

INGREDIENTS:
-1/3-1/2 c. fat free plain yogurt
-big handful of spinach
-handful of baby carrots (more than you'd expect.  Makes it kinda grainy but that's ok.  We're not going for kick back in the sun smoothie here)
-1 celery stick (i think i'm going to omit this.  did it once with and once without and i like it best without)
-2 scoop fulls of expanded chia seed (nutrients of eating salmon, spinach, and human growth hormone!  great for us veggies)
-sprinkling of wheat germ
-small slosh of odwalla's superfood drink
-1 small apple (i used jonagold)

BLEND!!!!!!

drink this slowly for lunch accompanied by a serving of almonds and i was set until dinner.  easily.

If you threw up reading that.  I am truly sorry.  As I said, I'm not going for kicking back in the sun smoothie, that is what the Peace Tree in Moab is for.

Domesticating

So we are becoming more domesticated.

Not only do we have an herb garden overflowing with the delicious scents and tastes of Dill, Thyme, Oregano, Basil, and Chives, we're actually using them.

We use them fresh of course and they are most lovely.
We stick them in our dehydrator, still lovely.
But those things are easy to do.  This is where I have stepped it up in becoming domesticated.

Today I cut a lot of herb.  Mum and I separated them apart and found out thyme and oregano air dry very well.  This is what happened.

Hava Supai

We just returned from Hava Supai.  We figured out on the way down that this was my 10th trip down there.  Two years back (just after we had gone) there was a HUGE flash flood that forced a dam above the canyon to break.  It is completely different.  But still beautiful.

1. The campgrounds are now a good four feet higher due to the amount of sediment brought in by the flood.  

2. Hava Su Falls is now Hava Su Fall.  It is one fall, shorter, the travertine pools are gone, but they have sandbagged a lot hoping the travertine will build up again.  Luckily for us, travertine is probably one of the fastest growing minerals around.

3. All the pools are really shallow.  You can walk straight up to both Hava Su and Mooney Falls.  Which makes it fun to try and charge into them but then you just get blasted backward by their incredible force.  Luckily for us, the chains to Moony held their own.

4. The river diverted and now meanders its way back and forth through the campgrounds.  (We probably got the best campsite, one of the only ones left that has shade all day.  And our little "Bath tub".  We had a little pool in the river that was about waist deep with a picnic table in it.  That is where Mom spent most of her time).

5. Navajo Falls is gone.  The river diverted into the little stream you used to have to cross to get to Navajo.  

6. However, 2 new falls replaced Navajo.  Rock Falls and New Navajo Falls.  Rock Falls is probably 50 ft. wide and 35 ft. high and the only place you can jump.  You can jump right off the top of the fall from anywhere.  It is sweet as.

7. My dad jumped off Rock Falls!

8. New Navajo lives up to its name.  It literally looks like something out of Jurassic Park.

9. My cooking was a hit with our group and the campers we shared with.  

       Day 1 Dinner - Dutch Oven Pizza

       Day 2 Breakfast - Blueberry Pancakes

                  Lunch - Nothing special.  On hikes.

                  Dinner - Fajitas.  Delicious!

      Day 3 Breakfast - Mountain Man Breakfast (hashbrowns, sausage, eggs, and cheese in D.O.)

                 Lunch - River Wraps (big BIG hit)

                 Dinner - Dutch Oven Enchiladas.  Biggest hit by far!

10. We did early morning yoga with Derek's mom (she and Corbin came).  It made the body feel good.

11. Beaver Falls is exactly the same.  Just no jumping.  The rope swing is still there but pretty shallow, champagne pool is still there just not as deep.  And it is a little bit more difficult to get below Beaver because you can't jump, but it's doable.

12. We had a small group.  Only 5 of us had been there before: me, dad, mom, mark, and debbie hancock.  It was fun though.  Good times per usual.

13. New Bathrooms!  Raised up high.  Composting bathrooms.  Well ventilated.  Lit at night.  And you dump a scoop full of wood chips in after you go to help turn your poop into a humus-like soil.  mmmm....that sure makes me crave humus now.  I think i'll bring pita chips next time....

14. The water is warmer!  Hooray!  Cuz that was some dang cold water.

But the best part I think is that the Natives now only let 1/3 the amount of people into Hava Supai.  Which is nice because it was so over crowded.  They also raised the price to come in.  Because of these two things it is a LOT cleaner because a. not as many people are coming in and out and b. it is more expensive so if you wanna go, you are more likely to care about it.  Also the Natives have really cleaned up the place and the village so they aren't setting an ex. of littering.  And they just take better care of it.  A Native who came down and did some song and dances for the campers told us the flood came because Mother Earth was angry because they weren't taking care of the land.  Now they are.  

Thank you Mother Earth!

New Job

So it has taken me a bit longer than Derek to find a job.  I was probably hard on the hunt for 3 weeks to a month.  But just last week I interviewed and got a job.  HOORAY!!!

I work at a place called Christus St. Joseph Villa.  It is a big place for the elderly.  They have short-term and long-term care, assisted living, recovery, pt, ot, etc.  There is also randomly an IHC sleep disorder clinic attached to it.  Anyway, all that set aside, I work at a little adjunct to Christus called the Marian Center.  It is a 12 bed, acute stay (and i mean acute.  like 2 weeks), psychiatric center for ages 55+.  I really like it.  I have never wanted to work with the elderly, but I cannot help but love the people there.  They are so great and by providing them with opportunities for recreation, i give them something to look forward to in their life.  Because without me, they sit around and do nothing all day.  And that is not fun and not healthy.