Animal Sanctuary and the UP house.

For the past couple of weeks Francesco has been volunteering at the Ching Animal Sanctuary in Herriman. He wanted me to go with him on one of his next visits because he knew I would love being around all the animals. Well, he was right. I do love animals after all.

I helped him fill up the animal's water bowls and despite leaving smelling like a cows butt and having mud and who knows what else all over my pants, I loved it!

I have since been trying to convince Francesco that we need to live out in the middle of no where so we can have plenty of land to be able to have as many animals as we would like (for my pleasure), some of which would be laying hens, and then we could possibly adopt Donald and Daisy (pictures to follow), as well as have an extensive year-round garden (have you seen this "Winter Harvest at Yale's Greenhouse" video? http://youtu.be/IV7sfAwSjQQ ). Anyway, I'm not making progress on that front.

Daisy (Mama) and Donald (baby). They were incredibly sweet! They loved getting petted and scratched. You know how cats and dogs will sometimes bow their head down a little and then raise themselves up a bit so you will pet their head? These two did that!

I forgot this guys name but this is how he sometimes sleeps, facing the building like he is in a time-out. 

This little guy apparently wanted attention. He approached me and also loved getting petted and his back scratched. He even leaned into me with his eyes closed while I scratched his back. I left the sanctuary loving goats. 

On the way home we stopped by to see the house that was built to resemble the house from Disney's UP.  Crazy color scheme but it was pretty cool! 

Friends in Provo

On Monday, we headed down to Provo for the day. We met up with old friends...

and new (to me) friends for lunch.

We were very excited about these mountain friends.

We stopped by the DI and I walked out with these amazing old school friends. I loved this series as a kid. 

"Claudia's not sure she wants to find out who's on the other end of the line."
Claudia and the Phantom Phone Call

There were 131 titles in the original "The Babysitters Club" series (I'm not talking BSC specials, BSC mysteries, etc...). Costco currently has the full set for $200 with a new cover design (lame). 

I've decided I want to see if I can collect the full original series just by hitting up the DI and other thrift stores.  13 down 118 to go.  I wonder if my Mom has my old copies somewhere. She loves holding onto things.  

Some people collect things like cameras, stamps, or even maps. I guess I now collect a 1980's children book series. haha.  

Estate Sale Finds

Francesco went solo to an estate sale about week or so ago. He saw these two awesome vintage bags and picked them up for me. What a thoughtful husband. I really liked them and I put them aside without inspecting them. 

I asked him how much he paid for the great finds and he said $32 (with taxes) for both. I was expecting him to say 20 bucks for both, assuming they were a generic vintage brand. My reaction was, "Wow! kind of pricey." Francesco said he saw them and really liked them for me and wanted to get them anyway.

Well a few days went by and I finally got around to inspecting them. As it turns out they are vintage Coach bags! Needless to say, that was a very nice surprise. Unbeknownst to me, Francesco saw they were Coach and made sure to jump on the bags. After finding that out, $32 for both turned out to be a real bargain after all! 

Hurray for estate sale finds!....and thoughtful husbands!

Dog Lake, my first real hike.

(I will again be posting a link to Francesco's post about this same hike. Blogging faux pas? Eh, I don't care. )

Not long after moving to SLC we went for a hike. It was a hike I would consider as being my first real hike. I always lived 10 mins from the beach so hiking in the California mountains, about an hr away, was never anything we did---ever.

I did go to 6th grade camp and I guess we went on a "hike" once, but that doesn't count because we didn't hike up anything. It was more like a leisurely stroll through the forest. Come to think of it, it's very possible we could have walked a big circle around the camp and just hadn't known it. Hmm! Oh well. What I remember most about that hike was smelling the bark of a tree that smelled exactly like pink bubble gum. My 6th grade mind thought that was the most brilliant creation ever.

Now, a small confession about my first real hike---it was actually my second attempt to hiking this trail. Those of you familiar with this trail might think that I must be a total whimp. Only sometimes. The first time around I wasn't accustomed to the altitude which left me feeling extremely light headed and wanting to puke. So, that mission was aborted (I just finish reading a book on space and I still have astronaut lingo on the brain).

Here's the link to Francesco's post about our hike:

http://fattonelloutah.blogspot.com/2012/01/dog-lake-lake-for-canines-humans-alike.html#comment-form

My comments about his post:
(1) Yes, the Aspen tree leaves totally remind me of confetti. Specifically the confetti that the Disneyland Main St Parade used to toss onto everyone.

(2) When we reached Dog Lake what I said exactly was, "Will you take a picture of me as evidence of my first and last hike?" I was only 80% kidding. I was peckish before starting the hike but the plan was to have lunch at the lake so I hiked up hungry...not a good idea when you are the type to get cranky when not fed. 

No bubble gum trees up here. 

Estate Sale Finds

We went to our first estate sale the other day. We picked up a few things. Francesco found the wool hat pictured. The beautiful chair we picked up for $20 is my absolute favorite! The cushion isn't even lumpy or sagging. It's like it hadn't been used. I'm going to look into re-upholstering it. If the seat cushion didn't have a tear in it we would just leave it as is. 

Have you ever been to an estate sale? 

I didn't know what to expect when we went. I thought everything that was for sale would be in one main room. I didn't expect for it be a whole house rummaging situation---basement, bedrooms, and closets included. It felt weird to do that especially when I thought of how I was potentially rummaging through someones home who was recently deceased. 

Are all estate sales a whole house rummaging experience?

Despite having had funny feelings about rummaging a strangers home, I would do it again. There are some great things to be found and given a new home.

Sunday Dinner

I don't know about you but I never feel liking cooking on Sundays. I always want quick meals that don't involve too much chopping and babysitting. More often than not we have pasta because it is so easy to whip up a red sauce and cook pasta.  

Today I decided I wanted something different. I wanted something really hearty and something that tasted like I had slaved all day in the kitchen over. Enter the crock pot. 

We were recently gifted a crock pot and I had yet to take it for a spin. I flipped through our, "Vegan Slow Cooker" cookbook to find a recipe. I landed on the Mix and Match Jambalaya recipe. I didn't have Cajun Seasoning so I made my own. 

I loved how the seasoning layers looked in the jar just before shaking it. 

*Cajun Seasoning: 

1/4 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons salt

2 Tablespoons cayenne pepper

1 Tablespoon ground white pepper

1 Tablespoon ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon Paprika

1 Tablespoon Onion Powder

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

I threw all the ingredients into the crock pot and added a couple of my own (peas, broccoli rabe, and quinoa) then followed that up with a nice Sunday nap. 

The Result: 

The crock pot is my new friend. 

Dinner was a winner.  It took me back to our trip to New Orleans last October. 

Hope you had a great Sunday!

*cajun seasoning recipe (i cut it in half) : http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cajun-spice-seasoning-mix-in-a-jar/detail.aspx .  

I hike now.

Instead of writing my own post about my recent hike up Grandeur Peak with Francesco, I'm just going to post the link to his post about it. Lazy? or resourceful?

http://fattonelloutah.blogspot.com/2012/01/grandeur-peak-is-grand-er-indeed.html

Found:

Carrot top bottom.

Aaannd We're back.

It's a new year and I thought it was time to start a new blog, mostly because my old blog was linked to my old email account which proved to be a nuisance. So I leave that behind in 2011 and will start out fresh. I'll definitely hopefully be more motivated to post now. 


Today, I wish you a very Happy New Year!