How to Survive Northern Arizona

1. Wear chapstick. Or else.

2. Figure out what a kokopelli is.

3. Drink lots of water.

4. Wear sunscreen! You're closer to the sun!

5. Plan outings around the weather.

6. Watch for cliffs.

7. And elk, apparently. I didn't see any..

8. Befriend Rugers.

9. Don't underestimate the elevation.

10. Additionally news, it gets cold at night!

An Evaluation of the Southwest

1. The Dry Heat

Description: A hot heat without humidity. Unheard of to all Southerners.

My Experience: It hit me smack in the face after exiting the Phoenix airport.

Opinion: Not bad at once you get used to it.

2. Elevation

Description: It's higher than Texas.

My Experience: Once upon a time, Boyfriend took me on a driving tour of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Los Alamos roads are very curvy, and I was not used to them OR the LA elevation. Boyfriend begins to notice that I have been getting more and more quiet. "Are you okay?" He asks. "I feel a little squirrely," I respond. Then, when we were parked in the Smith's Grocery Store parking lot, I opened my door and threw up. Then, I immediately felt fine and we change parking spots. I still feel bad about that, because I really liked that grocery store.

Opinion: Definitely something to adapt to. Or hurl chunks.

3. The Chipmunks

Description: Small mammals who like potato chips.

My Experience: Boyfriend's Mom first introduced me to the chipmunks. We were fishing and the chipmunks came right up to us. One of the became enraptured by our bag of chips. We caught him with his little furry head in the bag and that was that. The whole fishing troupe spent the afternoon fighting against the chipmunks for our chip bag's honor.

Opinion: Fun.

4. Blue Jays

Description: Beautiful Blue Birds.

My Experience: At one point while fishing, a horde of Blue Jays surrounded me. They were obviously in love with me, but I couldn't let them go on when my emotions did not mirror theirs. I told them I was in a relationship... with my September issue of Martha Stewart Living.

Opinion: Nice birds.

5. Bald Eagles

Description: Giant bird. And the Nation's mascot.

My Experience: I got to see two adults and two baby Bald Eagles. One of the adults swiped a fish out of a lake right in front of me. At first I was a little mad, because I had my fishing line right where he caught the fish, but then I thought, "Dang! That was a Bald Eagle!"

Opinion: Awesome.

6. Mountains

Description: Large geographic features I am not familiar with.

My experience: Slept on one. Climbed around some. Fished by some. Drove through a ton. Looked at more.

Opinion: Just gorgeous.

7. Southwestern Mexican Food

Description: Not Tex-Mex

My Experience: Ordered a meal and ate all of it.

Opinion: More?!

8. Random Dinosaur Statues

Description: Statues of dinosaurs.

My Experience: Encountered several at rest stops.

Opinion: I love dinosaurs!

9. Rainbows

Description: You know, rainbows...

My Experience: I saw tons. Even double ones.

Opinion Excellent.

Summer Body Count

Miles traveled: 7,891

States visited: 3

Pep talks: tons

Trout caught: 5

Pictures taken: 900

Books read: 1

Hours in a car: 75

Great tan lines: 3

Free large Sonic drinks: 8

Moles removed: 2

Apartments moved: 1

Deer seen: 30

Elk seen: 0

Pieces of redone furniture: 6

Giant bruises received: 1

Seasons of The Office watched: 4

Good summer.

Excellent.

Today was my first day of real college.

And I wore a shirt with a dinosaur on it.

I think I'm ready to be an art teacher.

How To: Reupholster a Love Seat

1. Find an old love seat with a sturdy wooden frame. The uglier, the better.

2. Strip everything off. Take it off, Love Seat, take it off!

3. Start by covering the bottom most section.

4. Then, move to the armrests.

5. Next, cover the sides.

6. Now, very tightly, cover the back.

7. When everything is snug as a bug, cover the very back. Adding upholstery tacks along the back looks nice.

8. You don't have to this, but fabric stores carry a material to cover the bottom of furniture. It helps make the piece look finished and holds the fabric that was folded under the piece under there.

9. When covering the cushions, my sister taught me to trace around the cushion, including a seam allowance. So, measure and sew!

10. Now add accent pillows that don't match anything!

I have a plane.

A conversation between my friend Rachel and the little boy she is a nanny for.

Jacob: Rachel, Miss Julie has Ranger Danger, a Mustang and a plane right?

Rachel: No Bubba, she does not have a Mustang. Miss Emily does and she got on a plane, she doesn't have a plane.

Jacob: I think she does.

Who What?

Recently, I have discovered I am not, in fact, a city girl. For the longest time I thought I was a city girl. Why? Oh I don't know. It all began when I moved to the big city of Austin, and just decided that I would be a city girl. And that was that.

I like that everything is so accessible in city-like areas. I do not like being around all of the other humans. There are so many of them! I really like having multiple fabric stores around. I do not like not seeing woodland animals out and about. City living has its good points, but it also has its crowded points.

Bucept, I really like the outdoors. Ever since I seemed to have moved to the busier/ traffic-ier side of Austin, rural America has been looking mighty nice. Open fields? Animals? Yes! Yes!

Even more recently my adventurous side has been nurtured more than it usually is. The other day I agreed to camp out in the middle of the woods. Not in a marked campsite, but... the woods. Were there restrooms? No. Did I use the facilities in the woods? Yes. It was so liberating! And breezy! The next day I went fishing, and I caught a fish. Then I caught two more! That was my very first trout fishing experience. Fun times. When I arrived back in society what did I do? Ate a hamburger.

And so it was that I realized I should live where there are more trees than concrete.

Really the hamburger doesn't have anything to do with me not being a city girl, but I just wanted to share with my general public that I ate one. It's probably been 5 years since I've had a real honest to goodness hamburger. 5 years!

Straight Trippin'

Austin to Albuquerque

Albuquerque to Los Alamos

(can you see the rainbows?)

Los Alamos to the mountains

Los Alamos to Arizona

To Humboldt!

Sedona to Humboldt

Confession #18

Living on the third floor is totally worth it.

Les Peu à La Maison

Here is my little apartment! It's still a work in progress.

Oh no they didn't!

Is this not the cutest hoodie you have ever seen?

From

Stitch me up, Scotty

And so it was that this was the summer of bodily harm. Moles came to be. Bruises came to bruise. And oh the tired muscles!

But, I think all of those things are signs of an excellent summer. Sure, the moles that had to be removed were a sign that I probably got too much sun, but I cannot be concerned with some such things. (Ok, I really was worried about them, but now that they're gone I cannot be bothered with worry.) There were two of them, and they were troublesome. Dermatologist said, " I don't like these. I don't like them one bit." First, she went at them with a laser, but lo, the moles fought back. Those moles just came right back! And then came the scraper. What a dreadful thing. Sure, they numb the tar out of one's back, but they do not have a mute button on the scraper. Dermatologist scraped those moles right of, stitched me up, and says that she got them this time. I hope they're gone. Stitches are itchy, y'all! For your information: Doctors knot stitches 3-5 times and they do not trim the thread. I'm alarmed that they do not trim the thread tails, having been raised by a Home Economics teacher.

But the bruises! They remind me of my summer adventures! What fun you can have whilst getting bruises. I just happened to get a wonderful bruise on my leg while exiting a plane this summer. Then, the same leg was bashed into a piece of furniture! The leg was furious with me for a few minutes, but when it figured out that it could still function it went back to its walking/ running duties. Some of my best memories include a good bruise. When I got the bruise from the airplane, I was coming back from a trip to Arizona. The Grand Canyon State! When I bashed my leg on a piece of furniture, I was doing one of my favorite things, refinishing furniture. Yes! My all-time favorite bruise was one of my many, many softball bruises. That pitcher hit me so hard the stitches of the softball showed up on my leg. Did we win the game? Sure did!

Tired muscles are a signal of a job well done to me. I'm so thankful to be able to have tired muscles. To be able to go out and run, swim, ride horses, whatever is so great.

The picture has nothing to do with this post, but aren't those panties funny? For some reason sisterfriend and her roommates decided to buy them at Wal-Mart one evening. Ever since they have been passed around from birthday girl to birthday girl.

Confession #17

"WIIILSOOONN!"

It kills me every time.

Every time. Kills!

I'm such a sucker for personified inanimate objects. Why? I'll tell you why. It's because I naturally have a guilty conscience. As a small child I usually ate my vegetables, because my parents would tell me that the vegetables would "feel rejected" or "left out" if they weren't eaten. This ate away at my young heart, and things were eaten.

But Wilson, oh Wilson, is a different kind of heart break. He and Tom Hanks become so close in the movie. And then, Wilson just floats away! Hanks grew to rely on Wilson for conversations and input, and Wilson is just ripped from him! That whole scene makes me feel helpless. And I'm not even floating on a raft in the middle of an ocean!

I really should not be allowed to watch that movie.

Wait, what?

My Mom is a bandana-wearing hipster.

Danny hearts raccoons.

Give me a minute and I'll be right over with my house.

Think I should add rick-rack or some more lace? Tough call.

This, my friends, is the albino squirrel of the Allandale neighborhood of Austin.

Secret Recipe: Simple Sugar Cookies

Easy Sugar Cookies

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Mix dry and wet ingredients separately; Gradually mix all together.

3. Roll dough into 1" balls. Or roll dough out with a rolling pin about 1/4" thick and press with cookie cutters.

4. Bake 8-10 min.

Yum! These would also be good with icing...