Randomness

I like that music helps me stay on task when I have something unpleasant to do. Like 4 days worth of dishes.

I like texting my sister.

I do NOT like the smell of sour milk. Or rotten salsa.

I do not like that sometimes I am short-tempered and impatient with the people I love best.

I wish I had the desire to go dig up my front flower bed and get it ready for a new round of colorful blooms.

I like that with a storm blowing in, the pollen seems to have blown away. This is good because today is the first day this week I haven't wanted to remove my face.

I like that since I don't really feel like cooking, I can have popcorn for dinner and I am just fine with that.

You know how I wondered once how someone can tear off little pieces of toilet paper and let them fall to the floor of the bathroom and not notice? Seventy-seven times in a row?

It turns out that I am not the only one who found that a little annoying. I laughed when I saw the sign.

Around

This evening I decided to find a new perspective on things I see every day.

Yes, I had strawberries for dinner.

And some chips.

I like my visiting teachers. They came to see me tonight.

Books are a big thing with me.

These are the scriptures my parents gave me when I was baptized. And a recipe for cookies I have made often enough recently that putting it away seems silly. No-bake cookies anyone?

I love cookbooks.

It was nice outside.

That's my bike.

Action shot.

The two-toned fence caught my eye, and I liked the roses peeking over the top.

I was not as big a fan of the flagpole.

I like that I can ride just a few blocks from my house and it looks like this.

My camera doesn't do so good at depth of field. Most point-and-shoot cameras don't. But every now and then, it does give me a foreground and a background.

I love the light on this one.

I really never get tired of seeing these mountains.

Typical

I love my mom for a million different reasons. (I know it was just Father's Day, but bear with me here.) My mom is an experimenter. In her kitchen recipes were used more as a guideline than strict rules to be obeyed. This brought us lots of good things - artichokes, asparagas, sour cream noodle bake, and many, many other dishes. Because of her I have no fear when it comes to conquring new recipes or unknown fruits and vegitables. On the other hand, I can't say that I am a fan of oatmeal pancakes or lemon bars with a whole-wheat crust. You gotta have a few failures to figure out what works and what doesn't. But I know trying the less-than-yummy stuff builds character!! I have lots and lots and lots of characther...

Yesterday was Father's Day, and my dad asked for sloppy joes for dinner. Ok! Easy. But then my sis decided to get a little creative in the kitchen. And following a recipe is for suckas...

The experiment started out as caramel pecan cinnamon rolls. (Thank you Food Network for making us crave evil food.) Only without the cinnamon rolls. We were going to do this gluten-free and the pizza crust the night before had not been a hit. So we decided to go with caramel pecan upside down cake. But why not take it one step further and make it caramel pecan PUMPKIN cake! So that is what happened. And I am pleased to tell you it turned out fabulous. I would show you a picture but it would just be a brown mess. With a white blob on top, because pretty much everything is better with whipped cream. Cake, ice cream, pumpkin caramel pecan cake, yogurt, fruit, cottage cheese, sloppy joes...ok, not the last one.

This experiment? Supreme success.

Matchy, Matchy

Today I decided there are a few things that go together and some that don't. These things don't.

My eyes and pollen. Pollen: we need a divorce. I cite irreconcilable differences. And you don't get visitation rights.
Guys and v-neck tee shirts. Not a good profile. Honest.
Guys and capris. Please stick to shorts or pants. I just get confused when I see this length on someone with broad shoulders.
Purses and rodents. Especially purses shaped like rodents. I saw one of these today. The zipper went across the butt of the rat and the woman was swinging it by the tail. I can't make this kind of stuff up.

Here is one that does.

Ice cream and popcorn. This makes the perfect FFY dinner. (Fend For Yourself...bet you didn't know that. I just learned it last night!) Try it some time. You'll like it.

Wicked Witch of the West

Once upon a time, I decided to get something fun. 

(PRETEND THERE IS A PHOTO HERE.)

It looks a little like this. And last night I changed the flat front tire all by myself. Which is more impressive since there is this generator that runs the front headlight. And some kind of internal breaking mechanism. And I had to figure out how to get it all unhooked and undone and disconnected. There was a little head-scratching. And a couple of failed attempts at the bolts before I succeeded in getting them off. And the amazing thing is it all still worked when I put it back together!

I kinda like my bike.

NZ - One Year Ago

It has been one year since I embarked on my first international trip. Three lessons learned, not in any particular order of importance.

1. Jet lag sucks. And it is pretty much impossible to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time no matter how long your flight is.
2. There is something called airplane smell. I am sorry for all you frequent travelers. You really do stink when you get off the plane.
3. I loved it.

The Undie Fence was one of the first sights coming out of the Christchurch airport.We need one of these.

After crashing for a couple of hours, we went to the beach while we waited for my mom to get on a plane that DIDN'T pop a wheel on take-off. Oh, that would be lesson #4 - stick together when you are traveling in a group. Otherwise you don't know when someone gets stranded on the other side of the ocean.

I know you are thinking that we ought to be models. You ain't seen nothin' yet...

Sometimes we have to talk each other into being in photographs. When that doesn't work, just drag the reluctant party into the frame.

Sometimes no coercion is needed. We laughed for days at this photo. Really.

The next day we picked up my mom and headed down to Queenstown. By the leasurely route. The nice thing about having no specific destination is you can stop wherever you want. This was a gorgeous overlook before we headed into a mountain range. So naturally we did a little posing in front of the beautiful scenery, Westaway style.

Funny.

When we got to Queenstown it was dark. We rejected several inns that didn't pass inspection, and finally found one that was nice. This glowing thing floated high in the air. Total UFO moment.

We went up there the next day. It turns out the views were pretty spectacular. So what do you do when you are on a perfectly good mountain?

Get stuck on the lift.

Or make fun of people who do.

What else can you do on a perfectly good mountain? Strap on a parachute and jump off. Mom is the brave one. She started the trend.

Naturally the rest of us decided to follow.

Oddly enough, my mom never asked us the question growing up, "If all the other kids jumped off a bridge, would you?"

We took things a little tamer the next day and got in a bus for a 6 hour ride - one way. Because there were stops along the way for tourists (like us) to see the sights. Sheep sheering sheds. Say that 15 times fast. With a Kiwi accent. I dare you.

Ok, so maybe I didn't figure out until AFTER I took this photo that I had my camera on "sunset" mode. But I think it gives kind of a cool look. I wasn't sad.

Destination: Milford Sound. One of two sounds in the southwest part of the south island. Accessable only by a really long bus ride or a helecopter flight. Maybe we could have taken the helecopter ride, but then we would have missed out on our bus driver pointing out the sheep sheering sheds.

Did I mention that June is the beginning of winter in New Zealand? We bundled up.

And teased my mother. It is kind of a favorite family past-time. Which got us a finger wag.

I don't know what to say about this except I think my sis is awesome.

Don't ever underestimate how much fun it is to throw rocks in a body of water. Who needs big fancy toys when you have rocks and something that will go *splash*?

Please observe that the sign says "Do NOT feed the kia."

We are not always good at following directions.

We got to the glaciers a little too late to see them properly so we found a place to hole up for the night. This totally counts as a hostel experience for those who feel like that is something they want to do in life. (*Ahem* see the lady on the right who jumped off a mountain.)

Luckily the glaciers were still there the next morning.

Perhaps my skills with the auto-timer on my camera were not...

Aw, precious. Not as in "my precious" with a creepy golum voice. What can I say. I handed my mom my camera.

I am more likely to take one that looks like this.

If you are not supposed to touch, how close can you get and still follow the letter of the law? Veeeeeeeeeery close!

Coolest sign of the whole trip. How often do you see death by ice flow, rock fall, tidal wave, or falling glacier depicted in a sign? I looked and looked, but never found a book called Death In New Zealand. If anyone ever comes across it, please let me know.

The picture tilts a little because we are in the Southern hemisphere. Honest. It isn't because my camera was sitting on a tilted rock. That just doesn't make any sense. The Southern hemisphere thing does. Look at a globe next time you see one. It is totally tilting! I would not make this stuff up.

Ok. I take it back. We don't really have to be convinced to be in photos. Just don't expect any normal faces. Or poses.

Rest in peace, Christchurch cathedral. I'm glad you were standing when we were there.

Bottom line? It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Glad it happened in my lifetime.