the only thing to fear...

...is being more than two feet off the ground. And having to find a way to get down.

Yep, I'm terrified of heights - even tiny ones. It's not the going up; it's the looking/coming down that gets me. I can stand on a desk in my classroom, and I have to hold on to something to climb down. It makes me a bit nauseous to climb a ladder for any task. I don't like looking over the edge of anything. Several years ago, Lovey and I stopped by Petite Jean Mountain to have a quick look. He hopped around on those rocks like a mountain goat. I crawled out a tiny way on a ledge for him to snap a quick picture, and he had to come out and get me - I was frozen in my tracks. So imagine my family's surprise when I suggested that we do some ziplining during our camping trip this year.

It's something I've always wanted to do. And this year just a few miles down the road from our campground there is a new place to do it. Rowdy Adventures is just off the interstate at the Okalona exit. Because there were fifteen in our group, we got a small discount on our ticket prices. There are 14 lines - it takes about two hours to complete all of them.

We had no idea what to expect before going. We pulled up to a large parking lot in front of a big cabin and some sort of wooden structure backed by the interstate on one side and woods on the other.

After signing our lives away, we paid our fees and went out to prepare for our adventure. My sister and her oldest daughter came to see us off. They took a few pictures while we "trained" for the real lines. After that no cameras were allowed.

Harnesses, helmets, and gloves were lined up waiting for us outside. The guides got a hint of what was to come right away. We had lots of discussion during this stage of the adventure. I'm sure they were already arguing over who had to take us on the course. Right away, we had to have some bigger helmets - we are some big headed people.

And no one really listened when the guides were giving directions of how to get into the harness. We are a hands-on do it our way kind of family.

We also do things in our own time. The guides were telling us to grab harnesses and helmets, but we were reading the rules, talking to each other, and making jokes about heads not fitting in the helmets.

It was nice that they gave me the same harness as the younger girls, but my but is MUCH bigger than theirs, and I quickly sent the guy in to find me a bigger harness.

The getting harnessed and helmeted was not a quick process. We laugh a lot. We talk a lot.

And there was lots of discussion of where to place parts in the harness. Brandon and Dusty had us all cracking up.

Can you tell we are family? No one plans to dress alike - it just happens.

The girls' discussions were about where to put the ponytail in the helmet.

Once we were all harnessed up, the guides tried to put us into two groups. They did the 1,2,1,2 count-off technique.

They counted, and we just stood there looking at them.

Their system was flawed. It separated mommas from babies, husbands from wives, and boyfriends from girlfriends. We quickly arranged our own two groups, and then they put us back together for a group picture.

Then it was the top of the wall and a training zip line. This is the point where my family thought I might turn around. And believe me, I thought about it.

From the moment I left that top step, I clung to a wire. The two's had to go to the far end of the platform which meant me moving on down.

That platform was crowded with all 15 of us and several guides up there. But I was so consumed with looking down and across to the other platform that I didn't even have time to consider the crowd - that would have really bothered me had I thought about it at the time.

We did listen a bit more when the guides were discussing the actual zipping rules.

I don't know exactly when, but my group let the guides know that I was scared of heights. The guides were careful to make certain that I was okay with each and every slide.  But they didn't check on me nearly as much as my group did. My group was the young couples - Dusty and Leah, Brandon and Laura, and Luke and Emily.

After everyone had a quick training zip, we were ready for the actual course. Melissia, Brooke, baby Eli,  and the cameras headed back to camp. It was a short walk to our first line.

Just like the training slide, the leaving the platform was the hard part. I loved the ride. The landings were always interesting, but they didn't bother me. I just had work up enough nerve to go off that edge.

 One guide was on the take-off platform and one guide was on the landing platform. The guides hooked us to the cable and caught us at the end, hooking us to the tree if we were off of the ground.

before my training zip

I never felt unsafe. I was scared of the edges. I was nervous on the platforms. But I knew I was safe.

From the beginning, the guides would run and jump off of the platforms. The brave souls in our groups did some of that running and jumping too. Not me, I crept to the edge of each platform, sat in my harness, and pushed myself away from the edge.Sometimes I even had to scoonch myself to the edge. I never felt rushed by the "push you off" guide. And the "catching" guide always checked that I was okay when I reached the landing platform.

There were ground to ground zips, ground to tree zips, tree to tree zips, and tree to ground zips. Some zips were really long. Some were really fast. Some were really high. And after pushing away from the platform, all were fun.

I had my own little cheering section. With each line, there was someone encouraging me at take off and someone high-fiving me at the landing. Dusty, Leah, and Brandon spent a big part of their day checking on me. I'm not going to lie - there was a tear or two shed.  About middle ways of the lines, we zipped to a tree platform, climbed a ladder even higher into the tree, and made a short zip into  another tree. Nineteen people zipping onto a tree platform, climbing a ladder, zipping twenty feet to another platform, and zipping away from that tree. It was scary. The damn ladder was the worst part. I hate climbing a ladder on the ground, and climbing one in a treetop is truly pushing my limits. but again, the guides were constantly reassuring me, checking that I was okay, and offering to help me up the ladder. I got a tad bit dizzy going up, but I knew that I was attached and wasn't going to fall. The platform at the top of the ladder was tiny. TINY! And it was in the top of the tree, so it swayed with each take off and landing. Dusty wrapped his arms around me and held me close to the tree - and we were always connected to the tree with a safety line.

By the last few lines several people were zipping upside down. Needless to say, it wasn't me. But I did get brave enough to step of the last two platforms - not run and jump, just step without sitting and scooting. On the long line across the river, I got turned around and couldn't get turned back. Just as I was turning, I realized that I might hit the platform sideways and let myself turn backwards instead. I heard the guide yelling, and it took me a second to realize what he was saying, "Feet up! Feet up!" Just then one shoe went flying and one calf smacked into the platform. I think Leah actually reached me before the catching guide did, both of them asking if I was okay and lifting me back to my feet. It was a glancing blow and not too painful. I was fine. And thankfully, Laynie's shoe didn't end up in the river (Abby wore my shoes, and I borrowed a pair of Laynie's). The last line was a quick ride back across the river onto a sandy shore. I made it on my feet.

Along the way there were little signs with sayings, several about conquering fears. There was one that I really liked. Leah and Laura both said, "That should be the title of your blog post." And I can't remember what it was. For a short time, I left my fear of heights behind me. I'm not sure that I'm ready to climb any ladders, but I am ready to go back for more ziplining.

Some things you might want to know if you go:
*Wear closed toe shoes.
*Long gym shorts might be more comfortable even if it is above 100.
*No phones or cameras on the ziplines.
*Rowdy Adventures provides three water breaks during the 14 lines. You will be ready for the water when you reach a waterbreak.
*If possible, go with a group. I wouldn't want to do it with strangers.
*There is quite a bit of walking between some of the lines.

on the road again

#girlstrip! woohoo!

If just planning and anticipation are any indication, this year's annual girls only camping trip will be one for the record books. We were scheduled to leave tomorrow, but we decided to start the fun a day early and are pulling out in just a few hours. It's really cloudy here right now and may be raining at the lake, but we should meet the clouds heading south as we travel north.

When we decided yesterday that we would leave a day early, I had to kick it in gear. On my other camping trips I don't do too much at-home prep, but for the girls trip I do. We like to make the meals as delicious and as easy as possible. So I made chicken salad, washed and prepped all the vegetables for grilling and omelets, prepared the broccoli salad and dressing so that it just has to be tossed together, and packed the ice chest. Friday I did most of my clothes packing. Now I just have to load a few things in the truck, hook up to my little pop-up, and pull out.

We've left the husbands two fridges full of yummy food for grilling. They may eat better than us - but I doubt it.

I stumbled out of bed in a fog this morning. As I got ready for my run, my eyes weren't focusing correctly, and I didn't notice that my c25k was set for a repeat of w3d1 instead of w3d3. It's exactly the same run, so times don't matter - but I want it to say that I completed w3d3. I felt pretty good while running. And was even thinking bring on w4d1 (which is my nemesis). I guess I jinxed myself by being just a bit too cocky. Because believe me, w4d1 is going to kick my ass! But now I have a dilemma: re-run w3d3 with the app so that it is marked complete or skip it and go on to w4d1. I'm mentally ready for week 4, I've pumped myself up for week 4, I've planned to begin week 4 on Wednesday. But I think not having week 3 completed (even though I did run the three days) will possibly drive me nuts. I could do w3d3 tomorrow but then I'll need to not run s4d1 until Thursday. this is just throwing my entire schedule off.

I'm hoping that I have enough cell service to get in a post from my phone on Wednesday; otherwise it'll be the weekend before I'm back.

bring on summer

and camping season!

Late yesterday afternoon, Jus and I returned from a fantastic weekend of camping with family and friends. It was four days filled with fun, sun, water, and delicious food. Food is a very important part of our camping trips. I think we started planning our menu on mother's day, or maybe even earlier. We eat sandwiches for lunch, but breakfast and supper are big productions. When we are eating supper, we discuss what we'll be eating for breakfast the next morning, and when we are eating breakfast, we discuss what we'll be eating for supper that night. It's a never ending circle - a very tasty circle.

leah cracked and stirred eggs for omelets monday morning and she helped to fry the fish saturday night

At each meal we cooked for about 20 people, sometimes more. And when cooking for that many people, it takes A LOT OF FOOD.  See that tray of empty egg shells? We cooked all of those, got some from the neighbors who were heading home, and sent Spanky to the store to buy some more - and that was just for omelets on Monday morning. It also takes everyone working together.

The kids waiting patiently for their omelets to be cooked. But they also hauled trash, watched the dogs, pushed the baby, and made trips back and forth to fetch things from one camper or another.

Supper menus included grilled hamburgers and hotdogs on Friday night, a fish fry Saturday night, and smoked ribs and chicken with grilled deer kabobs on Sunday night. Breakfasts were filled with bacon, sausage, hot links, biscuits, pancakes, and eggs. It is somewhat of a tradition that we have omelets on the last morning. It takes a bit of slicing, dicing, and crumbling - but oh the yumminess!

Mike and Jen handled the griddles and man did they do it up right!

Everyone gets to choose his/her fixin's. Some want meat and cheese only. Some want the works.

this is john's - he told jen to throw it all on there - and she did

This year's omelet bar had bacon, sausage, hamburger, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, jalapenos, and cheese. Some people topped theirs with salsa. Heaven in a skillet I tell ya!

Here's mine. Jen added a garnish to pretty it up for the picture. That was the BEST omelet. No omelet at home can ever taste as good as these. And this type of breakfast is why we changed out of flip flops and hit the road for a long walk every morning. Between morning walks, walking the dogs throughout the day, and time in the water, I easily kept my commitment for the #4realfitnesschallenge.

If you have never camped, I say grab a tent, pack your ice chest, and drag your family to the nearest park ASAP. Our kids love it - the oldest "kid" brought her baby this year

he doesn't want me - he wants my phone!

And this little man loved it. He was passed from Momma to Daddy to GeGe to Grandad to aunt to uncle to cousin and back around again. He was pulled in his wagon, pushed in his car or stroller, and just carried around. We splashed with him, we played ball with him, and we did whatever he found entertaining. I'm betting that this morning he is wondering where everyone is and why we all aren't just out his window waiting to play.

Today I'm doing the laundry and packing it all right back because I'm leaving in a few days to go on another camping trip. This time girls only - no husbands or kids allowed.

sweet summertime

It's here! It's finally here! Summer 2012. School is over and the living is easy. Or at least that's what I'm hoping.

I have such big plans for this summer. Oh, no grand travels, no big house remodels - but big plans nevertheless.

While my house will not be freshly painted at the end of the summer, I am planning a remodel - of me. I've been working on fitness for a while now. Just not consistently. I have lost a few pounds, but I want more. And this summer I'm doing it. This morning, on my first morning of summer break, I got up and completed week 2 day 2 of my c25k program. Yay for me! And I'm committing to join Jasmine and Heather in their 4 real fitness challenge as a way to start my summer workout plan.

One of my favorite things about summer is reading. I can stay up late to read every night if I want. I can read in the mornings as I drink my coffee. I can read before my afternoon nap. The schedule is wide open. A few days ago my UPS man delivered several new "teacher" books. And this morning I came across this list. Where to begin, where to begin?

I've got several crafty projects lined up and waiting. My niece asked me the other day about a t-shirt dress that I promised to put together. It's coming Abby, I promise. Just last weekend, I picked up some cute fabric to make me a purse.

But first on my agenda - THE LAKE! I'm packing up today and heading out first thing tomorrow morning. My brother is a principal, my sister is a pre-k teacher, my niece is a speech therapist, and we are a family of tired, stressed, overworked educators. We also have several tired, overworked students who are ready to hit the water. In the last few days there have been several calls and texts about the menu for the weekend. Lake food is high on our priority list. We don't mess around when it comes to cooking at the lake. There will be grilling. There will be smoking. There will be frying. Brother and I will batter and fry just about anything. But I will work off those calories walking the dogs, swimming out to my island floatie, and trekking back and forth to the bath house.

I'll try to post an update from the my phone this weekend, but service at the lake is very iffy. And sometimes I just get so busy having fun that I forget all about posting. Gotta go pack my books, my sunscreen, and my tennis shoes. Whatever your plans, stay safe and enjoy your weekend.

my favorite buy of the weekend

Yesterday my friend, Carrie, and I went thrifting. We hit a few estate sales. A few yard sales. And a few hobby shops. I was so tired when I got home that I didn't even unload my truck. So I didn't take any pictures. So I couldn't show y'all my favorite buy of the day.

Here it is. Can you guess what it is? I'm telling you; I'm in love.

When I found it, there were two other ladies ogling it. I felt just a bit sorry for them because I knew right away they wouldn't be taking this box home.

It's an enamelware camping/tailgating/picnicing set.  And I love it.

A 12 place set neatly packed in this handy crate. And they look brand, spanking new. And I love them.

I can't wait to be at the lake, drinking coffee out of this mug in the morning. And 11 of you are welcome to join me.  But someone better bring another pot because these mugs are huge. Did I say that I love these?

A good ending to a great Monday

Well, the crew is slowly rolling in. Right now, this moment is one of my favorite things about camping. We just finished a simple but extremely yummy dinner, Cousin Chan and neighbor Alec are between campsites playing a variety of outdoor games, Alec's dad is sitting nearby watching the boys, and his mom just returned from a run. Friends across are finishing their dinner. It's quiet evening. And I love it. My brother and his family are finally finished with baseball and on their way. There have been several texts and calls to confirm the impending arrival.

Today we lounged on floaties in a secluded little cove. A few passing waves gave us the occasional wave action. Carolyn just told me that I've got my lake raccoon eyes started. Every year my tan gets all jacked up from sunglasses. I have white circles around my eyes and my nose gets very brown. Imagine a jack o'lantern nose. I do sunscreen, but it still happens.

Tonight's dinner included stuffed mushrooms. They were very simple and oh so tasty. I browner a pound of sausage with 1/2 red onion and 3 garlic cloves. Mixed this with softened cream cheese, one can of green chilis, a bit of oregano, Greek seasoning and salt and pepper. Then stuffed several medium portebello mushrooms. I planned to grill them, but it was just so hot and we didn't have anything else to grill, so I cooked them in the electric skillet with the lid on.

Now to do some dishes. Haven't really done any since I got here on Thursday.

A quiet morning

Because I'm at the lake, I'm blogging from my phone. Please ignore all typing errors.

This trip is so different from years past. Because of baby-waiting, wedding planning, new jobs, and softball and baseball tournaments, our normal routines have been disturbed, no - thrown out the window. My brother and his family are watching his son in all-stars this weekend, my sister is watching her youngest daughter in a softball tournament and awaiting her first grandchild, and a few of the kids have new jobs which keep them from packing up and coming on. I cooked breakfast for three this morning. Just three. That doesn't happen often; it's usually more like 15.

Baby Jus and cousin Chan are at the swimming hole now. They changed in and out of trunks about twenty times yesterday. I think I'll really count today. This is currently. Their second trip. But I think he first time they just went to throw the football and didn't dress for swimming. Boys are strange. When I put my suit on, I'm in it for the day. I can't stand changing into a wet suit.

I've been reading. Lucy and Jacob are sleeping off their morning walk. I was tempted to nap also but decided to save my napping for the floatie this afternoon. I think it's time to put on a suit and head that way.

Cooking on the Camping Trip

Ahhhh, the lake life. Relaxing. Soaking up the sun. Time to unwind. The biggest worry being did I cover everything that needed to be covered with sunscreen. But the most conversation about what to cook next. When I am at home, I like to cook - but get so tired of making decisions about WHAT to cook. Maybe that's why I like the lake so much. There is conversation about the menu for each meal. We decide one thing, then everyone adds to the menu with items from their stash. When I'm camping with family, we really have some great meals. We plan very little before we go. Everyone just brings what he/she has, and we mix and match our menus. For the girl's trip, there was a little more planning; they try to know what each person is bringing so that there is variety without too much duplication. A good idea for a short trip.

Each morning we had bacon or sausage, fried eggs, and biscuits. We cooked the meat and eggs in an electric skillet. Most of the time when camping with my family, we use the electric skillet to cook the biscuits. Turn it on very low temp and flip the biscuits about halfway through cooking time. They turn out just right.

But Liz has a toaster oven, and for our small group, it was just the right size to bake the biscuits. Whop biscuits are really good for camping breakfasts. Just whop 'em, pop 'em in to cook, and by the time everything else is done they are ready.

I made a chicken salad before I left home and packed it in the cooler. This made for an easy lunch each day.

I'm all about easy for supper too. One night we had pork loin, baked beans, salad, and bread. Yummy.

Liz put the beans in the crock pot that morning. Notice the liner? After supper she just tossed the liner and no cleaning a dirty crock pot! At lunch I put the pork loin in the rotisserie and let in turn all afternoon. My sister and I both have rotisserie ovens - they are great for camping. Just like the commercial says, "Set it; and forget it!"

Just before we ate, I mixed up a strawberry salad. Spring mix greens, sliced strawberries, yellow grape tomatoes, a red onion, feta cheese, and a vinagrette (I had almonds to go in too, but left them at my camper and was too lazy to walk back and get them).

We had friends come for supper that night. And Belle brought some great bread. These cheesy jalapeno rolls were my fav. And we heated the bread in Liz's toaster oven.

For our supper on the last night, everyone brought steaks. We grilled them on the fire. I packed a potato casserole from a local market, and brought some veggies to grill. Liz had some garlic bread to heat on the grill too.



I just pulled up a chair and did the grilling sitting down.

How 'bout that camping hair? Fresh out of the shower, trying to let it dry before pulling it up. And here is another camping tip - go sleeveless. It's amazing how much cooler you are with no sleeves.

Do you camp? What do you cook? Share some ideas.

Water Water Everywhere

I'm just back from my girls only camping trip. New camping area, new lake, new friends - and it was a great time. I have camped on this lake before, but it has been many years ago and not in this area. The camp sites were easy to find. I had a beautiful site with a great view of the sunrise each morning. Lucy and I got up early each morning and went for a walk, so I got to enjoy the great view everyday.

Our spring weather has been crazy. In my part of the state we are experiencing a drought, but in other parts of the state severe flooding has been disastrous. Many campsites have been flooded. We camped at Old Highway 25. The campground is divided into several circles. We camped in G circle - it was the only one open. And some sites in this circle were still under water. Because of this we were not able to get adjoining sites. The bath house closest to us was closed because of the high water. A little inconvenient, but definitely not enough to ruin the trip. We designated one site as the cook area, everything sort of took off from there. Most of our time was spent in the water. That was what was most important to us so right away we got the island and floaties ready.

While I got my camper set up, Dora put air in one floating island. But the girls quickly decided that island just wouldn't do - not when everyone knew there was a bigger one still in the box just sitting there waiting to be inflated. So Liz and Dora got to work.

Notice the one island already floating in the water? Just wouldn't work. Bigger is always better.



Liz had a battle with the sun shade. It took all of us to get it on correctly. Of course, no one read the instructions.



We did finally get things in the correct place, then hauled the island out into the lake, tied it to a tree, and we were set for the week. We then just used the smaller floaties to get from the bank to the island and back.

When we weren't floating, we relaxed at the camp site. I was the only person not a nurse; at times I had nothing to contribute to the conversation. But we did occasionally discuss current books and movies. And of course, we discussed husbands and kids.

Meals also allowed time for conversation. I did a lot of the cooking, but I am happy to say, very little cleaning afterwards. We were a pretty good team.

And now comes unpacking. Isn't that always the worst part of any trip? 

What's your favorite camping meal? Have any secrets/hints to make unpacking less tedious?