by Amy | Aug 7, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure, The Art of the Kitchen
Tonight I am going to change your campfire world. Ready? Let me introduce you to s’more’s younger sister…The campfire cone.
I originally saw the idea here…and since I was in charge of bringing dessert for one night of our camping weekend, I thought it would be a perfect addition. Here’s the drill. You’ll need:
Waffle Cones * Mini Marshmallows * Chocolate Chips {or a mix of chocolate & peanut butter chips} * Banana* Aluminum Foil * A Camp Fire * Tongs
Here’s what you do. This is a DIY creation. So, name your own adventure. Put in what you like…and leave out what you don’t want. Layer in marshmallows, chips and fruit until your cone is full. Then wrap it up in foil. Place the wrapped cone in the embers around the fire {not on direct heat} or on a charcoal grill. Use the tongs to turn them every minute or so until everything is gooey and melted. This will take about 5 minutes. Be sure to turn them or else you’ll end up with a burned cone!
Have the wet wipes handy…this can get messy. But I promise it will be worth it. I’m so glad I stumbled across this tasty treat. I hope you enjoy!
Amy
by Amy | Aug 4, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure
Photo inside one of the Elroy-Sparta trail tunnels
If you are reading this…I may be dead. The possibility is there, but chances are I’m still kicking. While you read this, I’m off on a grand adventure with my favorites people in the world. My family.
We are biking the El Roy Sparta trail in Sparta, WI in honor of my daddy’s 60th birthday. We took off yesterday in a large RV. We being my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, cousin, my parents 3 month old puppy, my sister’s goofy labradoodle, and myself.
So…going back to my opening statement…I may have been offed by now.
I’ll be back on Monday to share all of the adventure’s finest points. My dad is a whiz with cast iron, so I’ll have some camp fire recipes to share with you for sure. Wish me luck. I’m sure this weekend will be filled with lots of laughs {and lots of wedgies from the bike seats.}
See you Monday!
Amy
by Amy | Aug 3, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure, The Art of Faith
I’ve had a great time being back home in Indiana. I’ve gotten to do so many things that I love about summer….but have not gotten to do for years and years. I’ve done the things I grew up doing. Things that just feel like summer.
Swimming and laying out by the pool at the house. Check. Drive the Jeep around town with the windows out. Check. Get blue moon soft serve at Dairy Fair. Check. Go to the Elkhart Fair. Check. Spend a day lounging around Weko Beach on Lake Michigan…double check.
Going to the beach is one of northern Indiana’s best summer traditions. Michigan’s coast is absolutely breath taking. And so are the cute little towns that lead to the beaches.
So we went and had a fab day.
When we returned home…this happened.
Yep. That’s me, water spilling out of my mouth, laughing in the street. My sister and our friend Courtney made me laugh so hard I fell to the ground. The water I had just sipped came out of my mouth and nose…and I just sat in the street laughing. Kind of pathetic, right? But seriously…wouldn’t it be great if every day had a moment like this. Do I look like a fool? Of course. Do I care? Heck, no.
Pure happiness and glee come along all too rarely. So when a moment strikes you…I say…to heck with it. Fall in the street and sit in a puddle of your own spit. Drool down the front of your dress. Moments like these don’t happen enough. When you are with people that can push your happy buttons, you should always let them.
Here’s a toast to summer and to happiness. I hope you find an abundance of both today.
Amy
PS…take a look at that photo one more time. See that big RV in the background? That’s my next adventure. A family camping trip in an RV. One child, five adults, and two dogs {one is only 3 months old} will be driving to Wisconsin tomorrow. Wish me luck.
by Amy | Aug 1, 2012 | Blog, The Art of the Kitchen
Summer is salad season. And, as I’ve been trying to eat more raw {produce washed, but uncooked or altered in any way}…this salad was a good find. I can only do so many spinach side salads before it gets old.
I saw a salad like this in an issue of Better Homes. I didn’t write it down though and was forced to make up my own version. So I did.
It’s light juicy and totally guilt-free.
For this big bowl that served as a side for about 8 of us I used:
- About 2 lbs {or 5 large} carrots
- 1.5 Cups of red grapes, halved
- 1 to 1.5 Tablespoons of chopped chives {green onion would work too}
Use a vegetable peeler to peel the carrots. Once the outer skin has been removed rinse the carrot off and begin to peel off “ribbons” into a salad bowl. Add the grapes and chives to the bowl.
In a small bowl, mix up the dressing:
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1.5 tsp ground ginger {more to taste}
- Freshly ground pepper {to taste}
Whisk the dressing together, then pour over the salad. Let it all sit for about 30 minutes before serving.
It’s good.
Amy
Linked Up at: Bowl Full of Lemons, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Homework, Vintage Wanna Bee, Hope Studios, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Sweet Anne, Coastal Charm, The Gunny Sack
by Amy | Jul 31, 2012 | Blog, Crafts, The Art of Projects
I’m a 10 year 4-H member. I’ve been to a lot of fairs in my day. Yet…I’ll be honest. I’ve never seen a better display of projects and crafts than that at the Elkhart County Fair. Seriously, there are great projects. I’m always inspired by what these student come up with.
Here is a selection of my favorites. I’ll start with my absolute favorite category: Recycling. In this category you enter things made of upcycled objects. Just take a look here.
I’ll start with my favorite. {Left} Bask in the beauty of this lamp. It’s made up of vintage books that have been glued together. Then a hole was drilled through the center and it was wired with a lamp kit. The shade has been decoupaged with book pages. Genius.
Remember those Golden Books? Check out this cute-as-a-button bird house. As far as I can tell…you could decoupage pages onto a pre-fab bird house. This one must have been custom made though, since the roof is made solely of the book. Take note of the little vintage clothes pin perch! I love it.
How about this bird feeder made of melted vinyl records? I think it could be a bit cuter…but boy do I adore this notion.
I’ve seen this before…but it doesn’t make me any less impressed. An old salvaged window, turned into a gorgeous end table.
I love being inspired.
Amy
by Amy | Jul 30, 2012 | Blog, The Art of Adventure, The Art of Gathering
There are two distinct schools of thought on what I’m about to show you. #1: This is awesome. #2: This is the lamest thing I’ve ever seen.
I, obviously go with #1. If you are more of #2 person, that’s fine. Just know that I’m a little lame sometimes.
In 2008 my lovely friend Courtney came up with a great idea. We love the Olympics, to celebrate, let’s host our own Olympics. A make up of events that are awful, exciting, and as close to the real thing as we can get on a $0 budget in Elkhart, IN.
And so it began. This weekend we celebrated the third Special Friends Olympics. Yes. That’s what we really call it. And…in case you are wondering…you too can host your own. We try to make it fall at any time during the games.
We start at 10 a.m. {ish) with a breakfast of champions. Then we put up the score board {table paper taped to my parent’s porch door} and start the games. {After the lighting of the *Tiki* Torch.} God bless my parents for putting up with kids who are probably too old to continue to participate and invent such shenanigans. But when it’s all said and done, it’s been a day of good clean fun.
This year we participated in the following events:
- The Hunger Games {target shooting with an air soft gun}
- Slippery Slide {a distance even on a 100 foot slip ‘n’ slide}
- A “Family Double Dare” inspired obstacle course {which included shot-put, hurdles, biking and sprinting}
- Drunk Stick {a crowd favorite…pick up a pool noodle, hold it above your head, look up and spin around 15 times as fast as you can. Then drop the noodle and jump over it. This event is judged on entertainment value, speed and accuracy. Seriously, try it.}
- A Foot Race
- Hot Box {a relay of sprints in winter attire}
- Blind Volley Ball {volley ball over the clothes line draped with sheets, so you can’t see where the ball is going to come from}
So there you have it. Now you know something even more weird about me than you ever thought possible. But don’t knock it until you try it. There are many haters out there…but we’ve never had a bad time at the SFO. And past participants always want to come back to the games.
I took the most medals for the women’s division of the SFO. I like to think I made the Team USA proud. But somehow I doubt I did. Check out more photos from the day in the gallery below.
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Happy Monday,
Amy
PS…Tomorrow I’m so excited to be sharing my favorite craft finds from the Elkhart County 4-H Fair! Check back.
by Amy | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog, The Art of the Moment
Here. Take a napkin. I know you are drooling.
I had a blast yesterday shooting this awesome trash the dress session at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair. If you haven’t been, you should go. It’s worth traveling cross country for.
And who is that stunning bride, you ask…That my dear friends is my one and only sister.
We had a great day, despite the rain and humidity. Stay tuned for a full spread coming soon!
Amy
by Amy | Jul 26, 2012 | Blog, Prayer, The Art of Faith
Yesterday I got a lesson in perspective. Frustrating situation or answered prayer. It’s all a matter of perspective. My answered prayers were a irritating situation to a lot of others. And it got me thinking that maybe when I’m frustrated and things are working out exactly how I’d have them…maybe those moments are actually an answer to someone else’s prayers.
Let me elaborate.
I was headed home to Elkhart, IN. {The best place in the world.} Flights from Minot are sooo expensive. So to save some cash, I decided to take the Amtrak train from Minot to Minneapolis. Then I’d take a plane from there to Chicago, where the fam would pick me up.
The train from Minot ran over night, so I figured I’d sleep all night and be ready to go in the morning when I arrived. Well…this is what really happened.
The train was due to depart at 9:25. However, it ran about 2 hours late to Minot and didn’t leave the station until midnight. The staff assured me that we would make up time over night and I’d arrive in Minneapolis a mere 24 minutes late.
So I boarded the crowded train. The car they told me I needed to stay in had a broken air conditioner. I took the only open pair of seats so I could curl up and go to sleep. Then it started.
The coughing.
Right in front of me sat an elderly woman and her husband. And bless their hearts, they had the worst sounding coughs I’ve ever heard in all my years. You know the sound. A juicy, geriatric, flemmy, cough-a-lung-up…hacking, cough. The kind of cough that makes your stomach turn. Without any air flow I felt like I was sealed up in a Ziploc baggie with them. I thought…”If only I could get to sleep, I’d probably be able to sleep through it…”
But getting to sleep was the problem. Right when I thought it had stopped and I was about to drift off…hack-cough-hack.
I must have fallen into a decent sleep at one point because when I woke up it was 6:52 a.m. and we were about to pull into a station. And just imagine my surprise when I discovered we were in Fargo, ND. Three stops past Minot. A depot we were supposed to have passed through at 3:10 a.m.
I flagged down the nearest staff member, who proceeded to tell me that we would be 4 hours late to Minneapolis.
Well bummer…because that means I’ll miss my flight.
After this I talked to the airline, who told me tickets to Chicago were all sold out. If I wanted to change my seat to a flight for the next day I’d be charged $138 to cancel, then the going rate of $240 for a new ticket. Holy crap.
So I got off the phone and called Derek, my mom {who called my dad} and I texted my Sis. We all set to praying that the plane would be delayed so I’d be able to make it.
I finally got to my destination at 10:50. The original flight was scheduled for 11:10.
As I got into the cab to head for the airport my Sis texted me…Flight 708 was now delayed until 12:40.
Prayers answered.
As the plane taxied to wait for the runway to clear the captain came over the speaker. He apologized for the delay…and told us that there had been a hold up early in the morning that had delayed them all day.
Now…was it our 7 a.m. prayers? Was it just a coincidence that we prayed early in the morning…and they’d also been delayed? I don’t know. But I do know that this hold up was an answer to my prayers. A lot of other people were frustrated, but I was relieved.
Bringing me back to my original point. Just some food for thought, next time you are irritated or frustrated in a public situation…remember that a situation that is boiling your blood, just may be answering someone’s prayer.
Just a thought.
Amy
PS–I cannot wait to show you what I was up to today! A trash the dress session at the county fair!! So fun. I’m going to upload photos right meow, so you all can have a little peek tomorrow.
