Monkey See, Monkey Do

Monkey See, Monkey Do...My Niece is turning 2!!! I can't believe how fast time flies; it seems like just a few months ago when I went up to the hospital waiting on the arrival of my niece, and now she is her own little person with a big personality. 

It has been my pleasure the past two years to get to design her birthday party invitations.  The invitation is a critical piece of the party; it is the first thing everyone will see and it sets the theme of the party.  With guidance from my sister on what she envisioned I was able to put together the first glimpse of Shelby Grace's second birthday party.

 

 

I think this little monkey will have a great second birthday party! 

 

 

 

Copper and Candy

I am apparently horrible at remembering to update my anniversary presents on my blog.  Yet  here I am again 3 months after my anniversary and just now posting this years gift. 

I originally thought this years gift would be easy, the seventh anniversary is the gift of copper or candy.  However, what was I really going to get Trevor?  Candy was too easy and I'm not too sure how much he would appreciate a vase with pennies glued on it or for that matter a roll of copper wire. However, that's when the light bulb went off...copper wire! 

SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY - COPPER

 

 Surround Sound and Wire

 

A few months back Trevor and I started talking about getting a new surround sound/receiver for our house.  We wanted to have more channels on it for the purpose of being able to have outdoor speakers as well.  This present wasn't my normal surprise. I had to tell Trevor that we were going to go shopping together for it because I have idea what makes one receiver better than another besides price.

 

 

 

Now to begin the hunt for something wool or bronze!

 





Pup-Cation 2.0

After last years trip to the Arkansas Ozarks with our hounds we decided to hold up the tradition of Pup-Cation with 2.0 in Colorado.  We made the fourteen hour road trip into Colorado to Winter Park in the Arapaho National Forest.

We ended up finding a great spot to camp in the Arapaho National Forest in Winter Park.  The place we found was off Vasquez Road, it was a great spot for dispersed camping, Vasquez Creek ran right through our campsite.

 

The creek was much to cold for Trevor and I, but the hounds loved it!  It was also a perfect creek to fill up our Nalgene bottles every morning with fresh water.

 

 

Our second day in Colorado we went hiking in the Indian Creek Wilderness and made our way up to Lake Columbine. It was a very serene beautiful place to just sit and relax, and of course let the dogs get a few laps in.

 

 

The third day we went with the dogs on another hike on Berthoud Pass to hike a sectional of the Continental Divide, which still had snow...in July!  The views from this hike where breathtaking.   Archie also had his first experience with snow, he was in love! Still no bear sightings on this trip, but we did see our fair share of Moose.

 

 

Oh the camping foods!  I love camping foods, there is something about cooking on an open flame and the smell of a campfire that I love so much.  These were a few of our foil pack recipes this camping trip. 

 

I love things cooked in foil!

Chicken, Broccoli, and Cheese; seasoned with a little salt and pepper

Turkey Patty, Carrots, and Potatoes; the turkey patty is seasoned with onion soup mix



                                        Foil Pack Breakfast - Ham, Potatoes, and Cheese

 

Until our next adventure...

 

 



 



 

My Honeysuckle Days

"Redesign is a death sentence...No it's not, it's a chance to have some fun!" If only I had a fruit roll up right now. So I might watch too many chick flicks!

After spending more time on my blog lately I began to realize it didn't feel like me.  What was Huckleberries and Heels anyways?  I'm not a big Mark Twain fan and blueberries are ok; however, if the 1990's Val Kilmer asked I would be his Huckleberry!  There I go again with the movie references.  Then the "Heels" part, I do appreciate a good pair of heels, I do own too many to count, and I'm always wearing them, but they don't define who I am.  So my question to myself became, what does define me?  That's still a question that I don't know how to answer but I started thinking how do I relate me as a person to my blog.  Well I have never defined my blog, it's not a fashion blog, it's not a decorating blog, and it's not a how to turn a paper clip and toilet paper roll into art blog either. My blog is just me, simple as that.

Then came the hard part, figuring out a new name! I stumbled upon this song and video by Jessi Alexander called Honeysuckle Sweet.

 

This song and video fit me to a "T."  I can't begin to imagine how many times day dreams take me back to Mulberry Drive eating the honeysuckle that grew in my back yard in the summer months as a kid.  Those are the times to cherish, the innocent sweet days of childhood.  Those are the days I want to create for myself as an adult, those Honeysuckle Days!

 

 



30 Before Thirty ENDS!

So I may not have completed all adventures in my 30 before Thirty list...oops!  Even so, this isn't going to stop me from completing them, thus the reason I now am working on my 30 before Thirty ENDS list! 

As for an update these are the few items I have completed and the ones I still have left to complete.

1. Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey
2. See a Bear in the wild - I am giving this a half strike since I technically did not see one!
3. Skydive
4. Leave a $100 tip to a deserving waiter/waitress
5. Take a dance class
6. Take an art class
7. Be brave...Go Dark!!!
8. Travel Internationally to somewhere that's not Canada (it's been 3 years)
9. Get a real Christmas Tree
10. Replace all IKEA furniture
11. Try 30 new foods - I only have two more foods to eat off my original list seen here
12. Go to a UT Football Game
13. Find a Fabulous LBD
14. Cook through a cookbook (Gluten is my Bitch: April Peveteaux)
15. Get a Palm Reading
16. Be able to do the splits again
17. Build a Bear!
18. Learn to drive a stick shift
19. Bake a cake
20. Write and mail 30 letters
21. Watch all 6 Star Wars in a row
22. Ride a Segway
23. Go Paintballing
24. Change the oil in my car
25. Skinny dip in the ocean
26. Go to an Opera
27. Sew a quilt - well finish it to be exact
28. Run a race
29. Blog my 30 Before 30 List, with pictures detailing each adventure
30. Celebrate my last night of my 20s in style!  - Or by jumping out of an airplane!

 

Amanda & April

By far my favorite thing that I have accomplished on my 30 Before Thirty list was cooking my way through a cookbook.  Who wouldn't want to make yummy healthy(ish) foods, while singing and dancing in the kitchen and drinking wine? I became very close with Elvis Costello many nights while cooking. 

I had originally anticipated cooking my way through The Healthy Gluten-Free Life by Tammy Credicott, but once I bought the cookbook mid December I came to the realization that there was no humanly possible way for me to cook 200 recipes in 180 days.  I began the hunt for a new, smaller cookbook that I wanted to cook through when I stumbled upon Gluten is My Bitch by April Peveteaux. 

I've been mostly gluten free and dairy free for a little over two years now.  When I read the description of Gluten is My Bitch I wondered "where was this when I stopped eating gluten?" Both humorous and informative this book is a must read for the gluten free and non-gluten free.  The recipes are all delicious and range from southern comfort food to paleo.   



Gluten Free Beignets

 

Gluten Free German Chocolate Cream Cheese Brownies

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

 



Of course I somehow managed to only take pictures of the baked goods. The recipes to these baked delights can all be found in the Gluten is My Bitch cookbook, which everyone should go buy, or I have linked to the Gluten is My Bitch blog for two of them.   Make sure to check out Gluten is My Bitch for other delicious gluten free recipes.

Maybe in true Julie & Julia fashion I will take on a Julia Child cookbook next, or maybe just wait for April's next book!

No Such Thing as a Perfectly Good Airplane!

How does one celebrate their thirtieth birthday?  They jump out of an airplane of course! Instead of going out with style as I originally wanted, I went out with bang...or jump!

This was probably the most exhilarating experience I have ever had.  I am at a loss for words on how to explain the experience, all in all it was the greatest and most liberating rush.  It wasn't quite the "roller coaster drop" feeling I thought it would be, it was more of supported float which gave me the sense of flight.  Here is that loss of words again.

I am extremely grateful that I have a great friend that went with me and got to experience this as well.  How many people do you know that would jump out of an airplane with you? So maybe we are a little crazy, but then again who isn't? If George Bush Sr. can do it at 90 years old than anyone can.  I may need to keep up the tradition as Bush has and jump every 5 years on our birthday hereafter, since we are kindred birthday spirits and all!

And just remember "there is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane!"