Goodbye, Round Mountain!

I'd like to say Round Mountain was the best place I've ever lived. In fact, that's only a third of the truth, because three towns hold dear to my heart. During the two years in Round Mountain, I made friends whom I'll never forget. When we moved to Ely, NV, it made me love them even more. Ely (pronounced Ee-lee,) was...an interesting town. To say the least. But still, it was a stop along our road, and so it merits a mention, however small.

Ely was the next town on our list because Round Mountain was, well, tiny. It was decided (not unanimously,) that we needed room to grow; room to live.
I say the decision wasn't made unanimously. Don't get me wrong; we support every decision my dad makes. This one was just a little more difficult to accept. As I think I mentioned before, we didn't have any friends in the previous places we'd lived. The Idaho girl clan and the Round Mountain family were the only real friends we had ever had, besides the church family in Missouri, and our relatives. So as you can imagine, it was hard to leave. We keep in touch with our RM friends even today, but that doesn't change that we were saddened by the move.

Continuing on, I think that Ely needs a chance to be appreciated. I disliked the town, yes, but the rental house we resided in for that time is ranked one of my favorites. Partially because I had a bedroom to myself.   ;-)   There was so much land with that house! That's where my brothers and dad got into dirt bikes. Later they got me a fourwheeler so I could join in. But that's another story.
The Ely rental trailer house was bigger than the  trailers in Round Mountain. It was a double wide, which meant it was twice the width, which meant more room, which meant happy family. Add the house to the five acre lot it was on, and you've got a rather nice house. To be honest, though, there were only a couple little memories made in that house. Most of them include dirt bikes. Some of the best memories were at Hotel Nevada, a local restaurant/hotel and casino.

Needless to say, we never went into the casino bit, but the restaurant, we found out, was really rather tasty. Let me rephrase that. The restaurant served good food.   ;-)
Some of the memories are playing in the yard. We often pretended that we were pioneers on the Nevada plains, trying to settle in and build a town. One memory is of our Thanksgiving turkey flying up as my dad went down. He slipped on the kitchen tile because he hadn't taken his wet flip flops off. He ended up twisting his knee. Oddly enough, I thought to save the turkey from the floor before helping Dad.   :-D
I'll never forget the day we moved away, though. It was early, like five AM, and it was a big step. We had no more need to live in Ely. Well, I guess I should revisit WHY exactly we were moving. Why do we ever move? Dad's work. He found a copper mine in Morenci, Arizona and decided that it was a better place than Ely. We didn't move to Morenci, though. We moved to Safford. Safford, Arizona is roughly 45 minutes away from Morenci. Dad moved us to Safford because it had better housing, better churches, and better stores, and decided that he would drive to work in Morenci. There is a van available for the employees of the mine, and it picks the Safford employees up and drives them to work every day so as not to use personal vehicles' fuel.

The size comparison with Safford and Morenci is a bit like Salmon, Idaho and Ely, Nevada. Morenci isn't quite so big as Ely in population, but it has bigger buildings, and bigger company name buildings at that. Safford, on the other hand, has a Walmart, a Home Depot, a Safeway, and several other big-name stores.

I'm afraid that Safford is full of blogging content. Which means that this post is to be continued. There are only two more moves left to go in my story.
Until the next time!

We Know It's Spring When...

There's one thing that has made its way onto our annual agenda for March: a trip to Las Vegas. What's in Vegas, you ask? Well, I'll answer that question with a story.
My dad is always looking for new things to have fun with. Whether it be a used dirt bike, an old Bronco in need of a spruce-up, or a trip to Mount Rushmore, he always finds something. One spring, in 2010, he found the website to a monster truck show that we used to watch on TV. When we had TV.    ;-)
Well, in short, he ended up buying tickets to go see the show in real life. And so we did. And that was nearly the most fun spring I've ever had in my whole life.
Monster Jam, as the show is called, is a group of trucks and drivers getting together yearly in order to compete in freestyle and racing for the World Champion title. We went in 2010 and 2011, skipped 2012 and 2013, and went back in 2014. As you may guess, we went this year as well.    :-D    We didn't attempt a pattern; it simply happened like this.

One day, my mom's friend e-mailed her saying that she had booked resort rooms at The Grandview in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, long story short, they couldn't make it down there, so she actually offered the rooms to us. And that was the beginning of our Grandview obsessions. Between the convenience of the full kitchen and the various outdoor pools to choose from, we booked Grandview whenever we could when we went to Vegas. Plus, did I mention the hotel/casino across the street from there? It offered restaurants, bowling, movies, and an arcade all within walking distance. Lots of times our routine was swim, eat, theater, milkshake.

Ah, yes, Grandview is the life.   ;-)
But I stray from the subject. Back to Monster Jam.

We just got back from this year's show, and let me tell you, it was near perfect. We even got to meet some friends and go with them. Granted, it was hot outside.   :-P   But the show was after sunset, so that was a good relief after walking around the stadium grounds getting autographs.

And that is Monster Jam.   :-)

Hopefully we'll get to go next year. My brother has already started saving his change and extra bills. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he likes going.   ;-)

Mountain Gal

Guest Post by Miss Fandom

Hey y'all! This is my first blog post so please, feel free to let me know how I did. Thank you to Mountain Gal for letting me try this out! Hmm what should you call me? Well if she is Mountain Gal you can call me Miss Fandom. :) Sorry more importantly to the subject I would like to address, because there seems to be some controversy over it. Please know these are general notes and are not made by rule.

Introverts And Extroverts

These are two completely different human personality theories, and both have behavioral differences. They are both completely normal traits to have, but everyone's is different. The terms and studies for these psychological traits were made popular by Carl Jung. Let's see how you can tell the difference between an introvert and an extrovert.

Introverts are the shy and reserved people. They don't like large groups, and would prefer to have one-on-one conversations.  Usually they do not like to be the center of attention and find it embarassing. They will most likely be awkward and shy the first time meeting someone, but after a while they will relax and start to come out of their shell. They also would prefer to be alone rather than with someone. Introverts are generally more creative, imaginative, and thoughtful. Something a lot of people really don't know is that introverts can hang out in public, but as soon as they get home they need to be alone to recharge their energy. Without it, they will feel drained and most likely be moody.

Extroverts are the energetic and lovable balls of energy. They are the definition of a social butterfly or a people person, and will usually drop anything to hang out with someone. As the soul of any party, an extrovert is simply a must for any social event. They will most likely start a conversation first, and will quickly want to get to know you even if you just met. They are very talkitive, and would take any chance they could to say hello. Usually they will find it easy to start a connection with new people. They need to be around people mostly at all times in order to feel comfortable, and gain energy. Extroverts are generally more demanding, and will do almost anything to be the center of attention.

Misunderstandings Between the Two

Extroverts would usually describe introverts as moody 'party-poopers' or 'a stick in the mud'. Vice-versa, introverts usually describe extroverts as super clingy or obnoxious. These stereotypes are often really not the case, but are so well believed, that not many of these two personalities are friends. And introverts are absolutely not antisocial. They just prefer to be surrounded by close friends they know. They will indeed feel lonely if they are around strangers. So they can be as energetic as extroverts if they are around the right people.

Extroverts will be happy to talk about themselves including their personal problems to friends. To introverts it is one of the things they like to keep hidden, and would only tell a select few they deem trustworthy. Often times you will see these two personalities in couples, as they compliment each other well. One brings the other 'out of their shell' but won't always get them to come out and play. While the other 'settles them down' but doesn't restrict them too much or they will feel unwanted.


So there you have it. The difference between the two, and their characteristics. No one should ever judge a book by its cover. Did you like it? I hope so. Well it's getting late and I need my beauty sleep too. Till next time lovely readers.
~Miss Fandom

From Idaho to Nevada

Fast forward a bit to mid/late 2011, and we are moving yet again. I don't remember much about this move, which is why there is a small gap in the story, but I do remember the house we moved into. It was actually two houses on a plot of land just on the outskirts of Salmon. My great-great-great Aunt (we call her Tex) had decided to move nearer family. She is my dad's mother's aunt, and she's our oldest living relation on my dad's side. Hi, Aunt Tex!   :-)
She had her own little adventure moving from Seattle, Washington to Salmon, Idaho, and she purchased the property we lived on. The grounds included:
A large greenhouse,
A smaller, slightly underground greenhouse,
A main house,
A guest house with a carport around back,
A chicken coop complete with 13 chickens,
An orchard,
A large garden,
A fenced yard (which we called the play yard), and:
Extra land for livestock or other uses. We also had about three creeks surrounding the property. All in all, we had about 7 acres to run around on.   ;-)  My job was to take care of the chickens. I fed them, gathered the eggs, and got them into the routine of gathering in the coop for nightfall.
Most of our chickens were gradually accepting of this new routine, but there were some rebels. A rooster named Cocky, a rooster named Eddie, and a rooster named Chocolate. I guess that's the reason why Chocolate got dragged off by a fox.   ;-)

We lived in the Baker house for almost 18 months. Or very close to 1½ years, at least. There's not much more to say about Idaho. Eventually, in May 2012, my dad decided to follow the work. There was virtually nowhere in town to work that would have supported our family, and as I said before, we had moved away from the Ranch. And so, Dad looked into mining.
That was the beginning of my teenage life. We went on a road trip down to Round Mountain, Nevada to check it out, Dad liked the job, and we moved. Just like that. I'm sorry to be blunt, but after awhile, moving becomes so. I started to think that moving that much was normal and that I would never have friends. Because from the Pahsimeroi Ranch house to Round Mountain, I had none. My pen pals and letters were my company. Shout out to HM, Noodle, and AB! They were but a few keeping me sane. I'm not sure I can say the same today about HM, however.   :-D
The move to Nevada was long and tiresome. We didn't need to go house hunting this go around, because the mine that Dad started work for provided trailer homes for employees. Fancy they were not, but it was a roof over our heads and a floor under our feet. No matter that the floor was not on the ground.

Round Mountain got quite a bit of library visits while we lived there. And I am unsurprised. Did you know that it is the only four-star library in all of Nevada? I loved it there. It was a nice alternative to staying home in the trailer park without a yard to go and play in. The library was our favorite stop until we met a family in town in February of 2013. My dad worked with their dad, and their dad invited us over for dinner one night. That started a whole friendship between their girls and little boy and us. It was so nice to have real friends at last. In fact, they are taking the spotlight in the next post. Stay tuned!

The Move To Strange Lands: Part 2

While still residing in the Foothill House in May, Idaho, three things happened that were not mentioned in my previous post(s). One, we traveled to Missouri in the latter half of October of 2009 to visit family and attend (I say 'attend'...it was more like 'crash') my cousin's wedding. Two, we gained a family member from Wyoming. Three, my grandma came to live with us in Idaho.   :-)
Now, number One is pretty much it. What I just typed explains the story background. However, I'm gonna add a little more detail input for the non-background.   ;-)   It all started on a beautiful, sunny day.
My mom, my siblings and I were driven to and dropped off at my grandma's house in Missouri by my dad in late October. I will skip the visiting parts and head straight to where the going gets good.   ;-)  My dad had to continue work, so he drove back to Idaho by himself. We were in Missouri for a full three weeks without him. We were all busy with the upcoming wedding. Entrar numero Dos. Passing through Wyoming on the way back to MO to get us, Dad picked up Nellie, a sweet little Australian Shepherd/Border Collie pup. Her owners were friends of Mom's and couldn't keep her, you see, and so they contacted my mom and we took her.   :-)  When Dad finally arrived at my grandma's house, Nellie was flooded with attention. Everything was so exciting! I remember she jumped around in the truck bed so much that she hit the cab overhead.   :-D
Unfortunately, my little brother was sick, so he barely met Nellie until we were on the road and he could see her in the back. My dad had to stay with him at my grandma's house while the rest of us went to the wedding. We went home to Idaho soon after that.
Nellie has been with us for almost six years now. That means she is turning six or seven herself, so she has a good deal of experience with our family.  :-)

Well, now number Three.

My dad's mom is a survivor. She's definitely not unworthy of a little shoutout right now. Hi, GP!   :-)
After the 2009 holidays, in the summer of 2010, my grandma decided to move out of Missouri. And so, my dad drove up there yet again, and helped her pack up. She moved over to Idaho with us, living on our Pahsimeroi property in our old camper trailer. Might I just add, GP loves animals. Give her a dog or a cat and some food and drop her in the desert, and she'd probably feed the animal before herself if they couldn't fend for themself. She is just very generous.   :-)
My grandma lived with us for about a year, hanging out in her trailer and coming out to play every so often. Eventually, however, this coming bit was enevitable...

...Because now we get into the part of the story where we get tired of living an hour's drive away from town. Challis, Idaho was twenty minutes away from our little ranch house, but it was considerably smaller than Salmon. And so, we found a house for rent at the mid-way point between the ranch and Salmon, and we moved in early 2011. That house, I was a little less fond of compared to previous ones. Sure, it was huge, with an extra apartment on the second floor and rooms for everyone, but something about it didn't seem as welcoming. I can't explain it.
But we did have fun during the period that we lived there. Deer often visited our apricot trees in the backyard, and we got to chase them off to save our fruits.

You can't make apricot jam without the main ingredient!   ;-)

Retreating up the foothills

Another fun thing that the house was inclined to hosting was a little something we call "Mouse Hunting". Our mouse infestation in that house was nearly inconceivable. There were mice everywhere. And the longer they lived with us, the bolder they got.
Eventually, we found that their main hole was a missing stone in the fireplace, and it became a game of 'Who's Watching Who'.

My dad used to stand by the fireplace until a mouse peeped out, and then he'd hit it with the fire poker. It was hilarious.   :-D   But then, maybe you needed to be there to think that was funny. My family is easily amused. It's still up for debate as to whether that's a good thing or not.   ;-)

And that's where I'll leave you 'til next time.

The Move To Strange Lands

My dad looked into this possibility for more than a year. After the tornado, he kinda had enough of big storms and was tired of living in coordination with the weather's plans. And so, when my mom made friends with the wife of a rancher in Idaho, that sparked the thought of moving in my dad's brain. Turns out, the family in contact with us owned a grass fed beef business, and they were low on ranch hands. My dad qualified.   ;-)
So the decision was made, and though I don't remember much during the packing process, I do remember Idaho clearly. When we got to May, Idaho in April of 2008, our lives were completely changed. We had to live in our fifth-wheel at a trailer park for I-don't-know-how-long. But we survived. The park owners were very nice, and became friends with my parents straight away. There was also a play area on the park grounds, and so that brightened up our stay. But eventually my dad's boss suggested that we move into the house on their property, and so we did. That was a fun time for me, because they had seven girls and no brothers, which meant there were no awkward occasions. We played together almost daily, in the afternoons following the homeschooling schedule. I remember my favorite game.
The two girls closest to my age of nine liked movies. The younger sister owned a camera, and so the older sister and I would move around their dolls and act out scenarios. We even made teepees and campsites like in our life.   :-)
My dad worked on the range, we lived on the ranch. Until, a year later, we felt it was time to expand our boundaries. Fortunately, we found an old house at the end of the road across from the ranch. Unfortunately for me, though, that meant no more playdates.   :-\
We bought the house for a good price and moved in straight away. I liked it there. We had a huge garden, a front yard, a mountain view, and we were about five minutes away from my dad's work.

Life continued as usual. I remember one day my dad drove my sister and me to the ranch and we got permission to pick out a kitten for ourselves. I knew exactly what I wanted. A "boy calico kitty". I did find one, but alas, he ran off before I could catch him. My sister, meanwhile, was looking at a little heap of black fur in a cardboard box. She laughed, and it caught my attention. There was a little black kitten laying on top of his sister, napping. We both immediately fell in love and Sazy took the male, I took the female. She was small and weak, they were both fully black, and mine had pale green eyes. Sazy's had amber. I named my kitten Misty and her brother was named Moonshine.

Take into consideration that my sister was six at the time, and she took his name to mean "Shiny Moon".   ;-)

There are a lot of pieces to the Idaho puzzle. This post will contain the timeline of three living situations and the things that occurred during them.
Later in the same year as our kittens found their home, we visited the animal shelter for my brother's birthday and rescued a puppy.   :-)   He was one year at the time, a part German Shepherd, part Blue Heeler mix. I am so thankful that the name he was given at the shelter was in English. The lady that signed him over to us called him by a German name, and in my mind I was freaking out a bit. But when he didn't respond to it, she tried his other name. Trooper. That one stuck. And so, we gained a little Trooper around the premises.   :-)  He didn't grow much from when we first got him. Maybe in muscles. But not much in size. He was the perfect run-around-and-play-with dog, because he couldn't knock anyone over.   :-)

Until the next housing events take place, this post is through. I would also like to formally apologize for the delay in the story. My device was experiencing some technical difficulties for several days.   :-\  That being said, later!
Love,
Mountain Gal

Life After Disaster

After the tornado, my life was a bit...shall we say, "Challenging". My family of five moved in with my Mom's parents and we lived there for about 8 months.
After assessing the damage done by the storm, our new house was built on a ridge overlooking a big holler that divided our land from our neighbor's. Every once in awhile we'd get cattle from the neighbor's land wandering on over to our side, but all in all, we had our own space, and it was pretty private.
My dad started construction immediately, as he is the type to enjoy privacy and space. He decided he wanted our house done right, and although the plans for it were larger than our previous home, he built our two story, two bedroom log house with his own hands. He had help from my brother, and he also borrowed several machines from said neighbor.
Not much else is to be said, except to say that my dad worked for hours daily on our new house, until we needed a vacation from everyday things. That was my first visit to New Mexico.   :-)
I don't remember much from that trip, except that there was a store with suncatchers, horse bridles, saddles, and other artistic and animal gadgets hanging around. I liked that store. There was so much to look at and see for a four year old.   :-)
On the way back, I remember going to an amusement park in Colorado. It was called The North Pole. There was a whole shop with old and fragile porcelain dolls, a tall slide painted like a candy cane, a carousel, a mini roller coaster, and a "Santa" sleigh for picture taking. I even got my cheek painted. My painting of choice was a pair of ballet slippers.   ;-)

Life resumed as before when we got home. Eventually and finally, our house was finished, and we moved in in the beginning of 2004. I love our house still, although it has since been sold and added onto. We did own it for six years, though, and it had seen many a wear and tear while we lived there. It was a good home.
My baby brother, the final child, was born in 2005. I always thought he was lucky not to have been in the tornado. Although, he was involved in a lot of tornado warnings. The radio or TV would go off with a blare and we would all grab a blanket and dash behind Dad to the underground storm shelter.
It was a claustrophobic nightmare, first of all. No one in our family would fit in there if we tried now. We are just too big. It basically was a concrete box just under the surface of the Earth, with two air tubes sticking up through the ceiling so we could breathe. Most times a warning would sound, we would have to be prepared for an all night stay, and so my dad built wooden shelves against the wall behind the ladder. There we stocked imperishable foods such as granola bars, canned beans, canned soups, and little jars of nuts.
Every time we got into the storm shelter, the thought that when we came up our house would be wrecked was in my mind. Thankfully it never happened. But it still scared the cowfuzz out of me.

Little fact about me: I say that word a lot, it is a word we say instead of cursing around here, and most people think I'm insane. Sorry if you do, it's just how I am.   :-)
And that's how I'll leave you.

Later!
Mountain Gal

Lindsey Stirling

I am going to take a break before continuing my tornado story. It's not that it's sad; it's just that I honestly don't know how to put my experiences and memories into words. I need something to refresh my mind. What makes me happy? What helps me to relax?
Lindsey Stirling.
She is an amazing violinist that travels the world making music videos and playing for others. But that's not all she does. She has made it a Lindsey Stirling signature to dance and play at the same time. She calls it plancing, and she's become quite popular, if I'm not mistaken.
I got introduced to Lindsey's music by my friend last year and now I love it. All of it. But then, I've always been a sucker for violin.   :-)
I actually have wanted a violin for years, since I was like, ten. My mom said that if I learn to play my keyboard, she will help me get a violin. I honestly love music and musical instruments, but it will be kind of hard to teach myself keyboard. I have the books and everything, but I think reading sheet music is only learned with practice.
And anyway, I do have Irish ancestry. That's why I like the violin so much.   ;-)

My favorite piece by Lindsey Stirling is probably Roundtable Rival. I just like the combination. As I have mentioned, I was a cowgirl in Idaho.   ;-)

Lindsey also did a Lord Of The Rings medley on her YouTube channel. I love that one, because I love The Lord Of The Rings.    :-)

If you go check her out, let me know. I absolutely love her music and would love to get someone else hooked on it!   :-)

♥,
Mountain Gal

Way Back When

This is a post about my past. Part of me wishes that I had stayed in one place, but another part of me is glad that we haven't.
I love travel. I get excited when we get up early to drive to...well, anywhere besides our current residence.   ;-)   Unless it's the dentist's office or the bank. Those are no-brainers.

I'm going very far back today. Probably as far back as my first home. I don't have any pictures, but this post will be long enough as it is.   ;-)
I was born in Missouri in 1999, the last year of the nineteen-hundreds. I think that's kind of special. I mean, if I live to be one hundred and one, I could see three centuries.   8-O   Now that would be cool.
I was raised on a large farm in Missouri. My dad had built a cozy little house on the property when he and my mom got married, and they were finishing it up when I came along. It was almost completely done, with only a few things needing updates or fixing, when, 14 months later, my brother was born, and we all lived happily ever after. NOT. Here comes another baby.
We lived in that house for three and ¾ of a year, and my baby sister was born a month away from my fourth birthday. She was three weeks old when it happened. On May eleventh, 2003, our lives were changed. I'm still debating on whether it was a good change or not, because I can guess what would've happened had it not occurred. We probably would not have moved, and I would have lived there for the rest of my life. Would I have liked that? I don't know. If I were raised in a situation where our life was set in one place, never moving, it wouldn't have been a setback not to travel. But because I've had all the experiences, I feel a need to travel.
Anyway, what happened is that we were on the hit list for a tornado. A big tornado. The National Weather Service told us that it was graded an F3, but in reality it was an F4. The research on the path of our tornado was not fully executed, and therefore our fresh example of its destruction was not investigated. In other words, they didn't look into it enough, and it should have been graded an F4.
Well, amazingly, because of God's help, we were all OK. My dad saw the tornado warning on the TV, and swiftly issued a "take cover" order. I had no idea what was going on, except that I knew it was bad, whatever it was. Little kids take their cues on their parents, and because mine were riled and scared, I naturally became scared as well. My mom was a good comfort, though, because she immediately hugged me and changed her attitude. I calmed down, but braced myself for the unknown, and boy, did it come.
My mom was sitting in the bathtub, legs in front of her. My little brother (two at the time) was on her left near the wall, my sister was in her car seat at Mom's feet, and my dad set me on Mom's right. He barely had time to grab a mattress, put it over himself, and huddle beside the tub before it hit. It was over within seconds. I have no idea how long it lasted, but one second I was sitting in the bathtub with my family, the next second I was lying facedown trying to draw a breath. I later realized that my mom was laying on top of me. My brother was trying desperately to claw his way out from under the house, and Mom was trying to hold onto him. Eventually he got out, and Mom scooted off of the top of me. My dad had been flown away by the wind, and though I didn't know that then, I now imagine him using the mattress as a parachute.   ;-)
In the end, we all got out from under the house, we were all okay, and our neighbors let us stay with them until my grandparents came to take us to their place. My dad's mother and grandparents lived on the property with us, and I later found out that my great grandma had been struck on the back with a board and was rushed to the hospital, but everyone else seemed fine.

Well, that is all but a few details of my tornado story, and yes, it is all truthful. On a happier note, my blog has been up for a month now, so happy anniversary, blog.   :-)

'Til next time,
Mountain Gal

Sculpey!

As aforementioned in my first blog post, I like crafting. I like all kinds of crafting. So when we moved to a town with a Walmart in the vicinity, I went straight for the craft aisle as soon as we were settled in the new house. Guess what? The first few times, I didn't see much. My mind was focused on the crafts that I had done before (duct tape crafts, painting, sewing,) and what I knew I liked (the duct tape crafts and the sewing). So about the tenth time we went (which took around three weeks), I looked...and saw something new. Sculpey Oven Bake clay. It wasn't modeling clay. It wasn't air drying clay. It was Oven Bake clay. I thought that was pretty neat. But guess what again? I didn't get any. I figured, "Why should I spend my money on clay that I don't know what to do with?" And so I waited. And we left.
A couple days later, I remember looking at pictures of dragons on Pinterest (I love dragons, did you know? I should do a post about them), and I saw a little picture of clay model dragons. They were comical-- not the big, fierce ones I imagine in my absent thoughts. They were little, colorful baby dragons with big eyes and a tiny marble between their legs.

I remember thinking, "Those are so cute!" And I remembered the clay I had seen at Walmart.
Well, as soon as we went back to Walmart I grabbed about four colors of Sculpey clay. They are only 95¢ apiece here in Arizona, but I don't know about elsewhere.

So when I got back home, I attempted to imitate the baby dragons I saw. I didn't do too well.

And after a while, I just gave up. I took a break. I was defeated. Whatever you prefer to call it.    :-P
But I continued later, and I've been doing things with clay for about three months now.   :-)

I also made several charms and bought some little chains to make necklaces.

O-rings and eye pins are completely necessary when it comes to clay charms. Thankfully,  I can get them here pretty cheap; about half the price that I could in previous towns we've lived in.
I do have a minor problem with my clay projects, though. No matter where I shape them, no matter how careful I am, the clay always gets dirty. Like, just little dust particles that fall in the air. They completely cover the little clay pieces. And so I have resorted to using paint markers to cover the tiny specks. I just paint over the clay after it's been baked. That usually finishes it up.   ;-)

Hopefully I'll be able to correct that problem soon. Maybe I need rubber gloves. Or, even better, a sterilized room. Like that's gonna happen.   ;-)

Leaving with a smile,
Mountain Gal

Sick Days

All right, it has been awhile since my last post and I felt that it was time for another. Ugh. I'm so sorry I had to say that. I really should keep something interesting up more often.   :-\

Starting out, I'd like to say that my family has been sick this past week with a little cold. It's pretty much gone through everyone but me and my sister. Currently my dad is fighting it off, but it's slow going. These days off work might not be very eventful.   :-P

I'm gonna take this opportunity to talk about how our family system works when members get sick. If it's Mom, then the house usually gets a late start on chores, but the chores get done anyway. If it's Dad, everything is mostly normal...Except for the snoring. The snoring and growling is pretty bad.   ;-)
If all the kids get sick, it's just horrible. I mean, really. Mom and Dad do all the chores, there is always a pot of homemade soup simmering on the stovetop, and most usually there will be a movie on.   ;-)   We rarely all get sick simultaneously; however, there have been several accounts that I can remember. Most of the time it's only the little kids that are down, though.

Medicine distribution around here is usually just as often as needed, but in some cases Mom will have those of us who are not sick make a Flu Blaster tea. I love tea.   :-)   I need to make a tea post.   ;-)

Anyway, not much else happens when there is sickness in the house. Maybe I should add something interesting to the story, but it wouldn't be realistic. Sickness just isn't fun. At all.
And that's all there is to say about that.   :-)

Love,
Mountain Gal

The Battle of the Five Armies

I am so sad that I watched that movie, and yet, I loved it immensely. If you want to watch it, I suggest you bring a tissue. I held my tears back and I needed a tissue. But maybe I'm just an overdramatic Tolkien lover.
I can't stop thinking about it. My sister, mother, and I watched it last night in the movie theater, and I stayed to watch the credits. I was in shock. I cannot and will not give anything away, but it was so good I want to tell you something! Arrgh. Just go watch it.   ;-)

So that was what we did last night. The girls of the family, anyway. The guys just messed around.   ;-)   I could tell that they would rather watch an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie or look at dirt bikes for sale. Whatever boys do, they avoid emotion, I've found.

I had another something happen besides the movie date last night. On Saturday I purchased my very own pair of heels. They are three inches tall (Gasp!), so that was an ENOURMOUS change for me. I am used to minimalistic footwear. This is my first pair of non-thin sole shoes since I was a cowgirl in ldaho.   :-O   I wore them to church yesterday, and didn't fall once. I made sure that they had good traction on the bottom and a wide heel. I hate spaghetti-thin heels. And they're loud.   ;-)
Now, Noodle, before you panic that I'm changing my outlook on shoe types, this is probably just a phase for my teenage years. The shoes I got were slightly expensive (IMO), and I am not growing any more than the shoe size I am now. Therefore, if I work on keeping them nice, they will last for years. At least three, I'm betting. I keep my things nice.
So, yes, I now own a pair of three inch heels, but I am saving them for special occasions, I am not leaving them on for multiple hours at a time (except last night, but I was sitting in the theater, not walking), and I am making sure that they will last 'til I'm an adult. I feel like if I'm careful, they were a good expenditure for my money.   :-)

That is all.   :-)
My recommendation to you, readers, is to watch The Battle of the Five Armies. As soon as possible. It was well worth the ticket price for me.   :-D

'Til next time,
Mountain Gal

This Week's Summary

It's time for an update!
Well, Dad's off work, and youth group went great last night, and those are the two biggest happenings this year. Last youth group was a blast, as well. As I predicted, the White Elephant gift exchange was very fun, and I left feeling happy, as usual.   :-)   I also left with York mint minis, a chocolate bar, and a gag gift. That was hilarious, by the way. I received a package of Depends as a joke.   ;-)

All is well here in Arizona, and the temperature is at its lowest for 2015 in the daytime. Why is it that January is always colder than December? We have not gotten any more snow since the exciting dusting I wrote about. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, I love snow and the many things that you can do with it. On the other, it's nice to be able to cast away winter coats for a whole winter.   :-)   I'm sure that a lot of my friends wish they had my winter. I could call some out by memory, in fact.
But there are also gals that love snow like me. In fact, almost more than summer.   ;-)

Here is an exciting subject: I painted my fingernails yesterday!! And yes, that is exciting. For me, at least. I go through phases of not wanting any nail polish sometimes, but I gave in and put on a coat of coral.

My friend Noodle knows what I'm talking about. Her family uses nail polish differently, though. You can read about that on her blog, Too Hick To Be Square.

I know that I'm probably rambling by now, but there are two more things I have on my mind. One is that, like a seven year old, I am excited about my new shirts.

LOL. The other is that I am excited because The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies is in the local theater! I'm not sure when I'll get to see it, but hopefully it will be soon! I'm partially nervous about it. The last one ends (Spoiler Alert!) with Smaug flying down into Laketown, so, uh...Yeah. I can guess the events that occur next. I have never read The Hobbit all the way through (Yes, I know, that's a surprise to my close friends because I've never wanted to admit that, especially now that I talk about the movies like I know the book), but that's only because, honestly, folks, we move a lot. I PROMISE I will work on picking it up from the library this year.
No, actually, I'll do better. This month. OK? OK.   ;-)

And now, my readers, it's time to end this post. The next one will be quicker than nine days, I assure you. But this one pretty much sums up my whole of January 2015 so far. I can't complain!   :-)  Signing off 'til next time,
Mountain Gal   <3

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope everyone is having a great day so far! Needless to say, I slept in a bit this morning because I stayed up so late.
But I have some more exciting news. This post will be a birthday post as well.
My cousin had a healthy baby early this morning, and I'm so excited for her! I am positive she will be a good mother.  ♥

We normally have nothing going on for New Year, and this year will probably not be any different. We chill out, watch movies, play games, and generally be a family. Except this year my dad has to work. So anything is possible today! I have no idea what is going to happen.   :-)
In fact, there is a Mythbusters marathon playing on TV right now, so that's the start of our festivities.

Who else has a New Year Resolution? I am going to become more confident in myself.
Sure, I talk great when it goes to a webpage, but I need a confidence boost. This year, I'm going to be bold. Daring. Confident! I'm going to work on my happiness as well. My gratitude. And most importantly, I am resolving to be a better listener. I lose my patience quickly. *guilty*

Believe it or not, I have more exciting news. Everyone knows that Arizona is one of the warmest states, right? I'm pleased to let you know that we got snow last night.   :-D   Yep! It is already 70% melted, but it's snow! It beats the fake soap bubble snow we found people making in November.   ;-)   (Yes, that is true.)

I will sign off now and start my new year. Hope everyone has a good time!
Mountain Gal