Bon Voyage!

Off to the mountains with a bunch of teenagers! Be back in a week---if I survive. : )

Sugarhouse Park

Sugarhouse Park will always have a special place in our hearts. We used to meet there in high school because it was halfway from both of our houses. Then we lived right across the street from the park for our first two years married. Not only do the mountains provide a breathtaking backdrop but Sugarhouse Park has the best ice blocking hill ever!

I just picked up one of these ingenious little sporks to take with me on our overnight backpacking hike this Tuesday. It is a spoon, fork, and knife all in one! Mine is bright orange and the back of the package reads: "The Spork is perfect for your backpack, boat, picnic basket, lunchbox, purse, or briefcase." Fabulous I say!
($2.99 at Kirkhams Outdoor Store)

Flashback Friday

Jess, Haley, Laura, Elisha @ a Think Tank Concert

As most of you know I love to take pictures. Because of this habit I have hundreds, upon thousands, upon--I dare say--millions! of photos old and new. I have decided to bring some of the oldies out of the closet and into the blogging world to be featured each Friday. Hence, Flashback Friday has been born! (I got crazy busy yesterday so pretend today is Friday : )

Farmer's Market

The downtown farmer's market started Saturday and will run each Saturday from 8:00am-1:00pm until October. Exciting!

KUER had a pretty good segment on Radio West the other day regarding independent farmers in Utah. They had several local farmers on the show and also the owner of Liberty Heights Fresh, a great little produce stop right up the road from my house. The owner, Steven Rosenberg, made a valid comment...

"Many people don't think about the consequences of their economic transactions. People will follow low prices all the way off a cliff."

True dat! I know, I know, you may have to fork over several extra dollars for some of the fruits and veges at the farmer's market but you will get the satisfaction of knowing they are fresh, tasty, and most likely organic. Sometimes I overwhelm myself thinking about buying only organic, local, made in USA, biodegradable, phosphate free, green, clean, etc......and before you know it my head has popped off!! (OCD contributes to that) So if you ever begin to feel like nothing you do makes a difference so why not buy everything at Super Wal-Mart, take the advice I often tell myself: Start small--little changes here and there are great!

Several of the guests on the show were talking about how we have forgotton what fresh food tastes like, and we also don't even know how to cook it. I found a link to a great idea called the Slow Food Movement. Here is a quote from their site,

"Living the slow life with food as the focus is as rewarding as it is easy, and it can be done daily by each one of us. Ultimately, it is about pleasure and taste, knowledge and choice. Once we begin to take an interest in the enjoyment of food, and in finding out where our food comes from, we can begin to see the effects of these choices. When we shorten the distance—both literal and figurative—that our food travels to get to us, we are participating in the Slow Food movement. Slow Food is about coming together as a food community—connecting producers and co-producers, coming together on the farm, in the market, and at the table—to create and enjoy food that is good, clean and fair.

Slow Food is also simply about taking the time to slow down and to enjoy life with family and friends. Every day can be enriched by doing something slow - making pasta from scratch one night, seductively squeezing your own orange juice from the fresh fruit, lingering over a glass of wine and a slice of cheese - even deciding to eat lunch sitting down instead of standing up. For example, here in the Slow Food USA office, we take a moment to eat lunch together every day."

Cool huh?

Below are some tasty little radishes from our garden.

Jessica Times Two

One of my roommates from BYU-Idaho was in town yesterday and it was so fun to be able to hang out with her for a little while. Jessica is hilarious! From putting tin foil all over our living room (that we had to hitchhike to Honks to get), to running around the block in spandex with fake microphones I knew it was love at first sight! Here is a then and now....love you Jess!

My Wild Teenager

Fritz is definitely our wild child. Here he is chillin' on the roof of the neighbor's shed. Male teenage cat children and male teenage human children are a lot alike. For example- they like to climb things, they come home late, they eat a lot, they sleep a lot, they like to sniff females, etc.......but there is one word that mother of the human teen just can't enjoy: NEUTERED!

Box O' Cats

Last night when we went outside both of the boys were in their outside "bed." They may be brothers from another mother but they sure do love each other!