Best BLT Part II

So you have tossed you bacon in the oven and now you wait a bit before starting on everything else. I ate an orange.

Here is everything else you need. Salad (I use the stuff in a bag), tomato, avocado, pesto and mayo!

Lest you are offended at mayo, look it has omega 3 in it. I feel better already. For some reason my tomato and avocado pictures did not load. But I am sure that you can figure out how to cut up a tomato and avocado. You must use the avocado! MUST MUST MUST!

Oh, and if you have frozen pesto on hand from before you realized that it is cheaper to buy the stuff at Costco, then pull that out as well.

Put a buttered slice of bread down, then the pesto on the other side.

Then put the tomatoes and bacon on.

DO NOT FORGET THE AVOCADO!!!

Oh, I guess some healthy stuff. And top with a slice of bread with mayo on the inside and butter on the outside.

Now tell me that doesn't look great.

Part 1 of the best BLT ever!

Through trial and error (and a lot of taste testing), I have discovered the secret to the best BLT ever. This is part one, but is also it's own recipe to great bacon. Let's make bacon! And no turkey bacon allowed. First crank that oven up to 400 degrees and place your bacon on a cooling rack over a baking sheet. I place foil on the baking sheet to catch the grease, foil makes for easier cleanup.


Place the sheet, rack and bacon in the oven. (If not using for a BLT, set timer for 15 min, take out, drizzle maple syrup on bacon and place back in oven for 3 to 5 min). However, we are using this for BLTs so no syrup. Just bake for 17 to 20 min.

Ohhhh, look at the pretty bacon. Sometimes I take a paper towel and wipe the fat bubbles off. This is a great way to cook bacon for several reasons.

One: you can do other things while you cook your bacon. Two: The bacon isn't cooked in grease and isn't as bad for you (maybe).

And I may or may not have eaten some bacon while making BLTs.

Ten Commandments

Mr. M and I drove up to Eureka the other day (well, OK about 2 months ago). There really isn't a lot going on in Eureka even though the name implies otherwise. But we did get to add another photo to our ten commandment collection.


This one is steel, in front of a church.

So Sorry

to have disappeared for so long. My crazy job is sucking the life out of me. However, dum de de dum, I have purchased photoshop elements and am hoping to learn how to use the crazy thing to post cool pictures. Does anyone know of any websites out there devoted to use of photoshop elements instead of photoshop (the expensive one). Thank you Internet for all the wisdom you provide.

Speaking of which, the Internet is an amazing thing. In college, my roommate were debating if hamsters can have diabetes. We googled it and yes they can. We loved google and were on the verge of asking them to put together an e-mail program when lo and behold, one appeared! It was a very happy day for us, but stressful as well. You see we had real options about what our e-mail accounts would be without adding crazy numbers at the end. We could pick whatever we wanted. The pressure was on. It had to be creative, but one that could stand the test of time, and yet represent us. I settled on my favorite coffee drink at the time, and it has served me well, although I get a strange look from time to time. Don't worry, I don't use it for business use. So thank you Internet for changing my life (mostly) for the better. I can't imagine being in Montana without it.

More sleep

Sign I have been on call to much:

I got out my toothbrush, then pulled my deodorant stick out of my drawer and pulled the lid off before I realized it wasn't what I really wanted.

Empty

To borrow a title from Dooce, but I couldn't think of a more fitting title. In early January I found out I was pregnant. We were very excited. As a nurse I have stats on miscarriages running through the back of my head, but as we approached 8 weeks, I felt that we had made it through the last 2 months and we were so excited and started to tell people.

I had my first doctor's appointment at 10 weeks. So far I had some uncomfortable symptoms of pregnancy, but nothing to miserable and I was excited to be nearing the end of my first trimester. We had started looking around at cribs and making plans. We would have a September baby and a 3 month old at Christmas. It would be my parent's first grandchild and Mr. M's mother's 15th.

Mr. M. came with me to my appointment. I knew at 10 weeks we should hear a heartbeat and we were excited to hear it together. The doctor couldn't find a heartbeat with the Doppler, but that is not unusual, so we went over to have an ultrasound. There is no heartbeat. It appears that the baby stopped developing at 6 weeks, but my body still thought I was pregnant. I choose to induce a miscarriage this weekend. And now it feels so empty.

It is empty, but not without hope. I am still so blessed. I have a wonderful husband, I have supportive friends and family. Both my husband and me have secure jobs, we have a church where we are engaged in and comfort in a sovereign God who knows our pain.

Our church building

Our church building is a classic building that is peaceful both inside and out. It looks better in the summer, but the snow lends it its own charm. Sorry for all the pictures, bear with me as I am playing with my new camera.

New Camera

For Christmas I was given a Nikon D60 as a gift from my wonderful husband. Here are some of pictures I have taken. I am still learning. These pictures did not load in the order I wanted them to, but I am to tired to figure out why.

Some winter berries in the neighborhood around my church.

More summer thoughts

This summer, Mr M and I went on a medium (but very uphill hike) where I whined about so much uphill. But I am really glad that we went.

For starters, I have a picture of Mr. M with a good smile.

And once we got uphill a ways, it was a wonderful view (I bet that lake is frozen now).

And we finally reached the grand waterfall (that is an icicle now)

where Mr. M refilled his water bottle. I do not approve of drinking untreated water myself, but he wanted to risk giardia.

As we were resting, a little visitor came our way,

and marched right up to our backpack. Hmmm, I think people have been feeding him.

Other things to do in summer...

Since I am trying to focus my mind on warmer times and not on the -8 F weather, shall we look at some pictures from a happier time? Mr. M's mum and niece came to visit this summer.

Look! I am wearing shorts! Shorts! And Mr. M's mum is wearing carpis. How I long for those days.

We hiked a trail that leads to a lake (original I know, but worth the effort). As you get closer, the view teases you from behind the trees.

Then you sit on the edge of the lake and check out the driftwood. And the million dollar view.

Your husband decides to take pictures of you staring at mountain walls.

And you attempt to get a picture of your husband where he is somewhat smiling. And then you see it just as you are getting ready to leave. Something you have heard about, but never seen.

A bear!

Which is fortunately far away, but makes it difficult to get a good picture due to the safe distance between me and the black bear.

Warm thoughts

So I am updating. So much has happened in my little life, I am not totally without excuse. Since my last post I have moved, a relative died, visited Dallas, visited Austin, and worked a bunch of hours.

And right now it is about -8 degrees. But let's not think about that. Turn up the heat and pretend we are somewhere else or some other time perhaps. Like say summer. Say that you were to come visit me in say Sept, like my friend R.

We could go to Glacier, which is only about half an hour from my house.

We could see baby deer and take this picture to prove how close we are. Hi, R! (I know that it is a fawn, but baby deer is so much more fun to say.)

This is really cool, another deer (not the baby mama) came over and the the baby deer got in a submissive position. I am still not quite sure what that is all about.

Are you ready for your closeup little one with sweet spots?

Here is the baby deer with the baby mama. Stay warm you two!

This just in...

The Missouri flooded in June. Yes for those of you that did not know that. For those of you who live in a cave and don't watch the news or check it online, I have pictures of the flood in Kansas.

In Attichison Kansas there is this cute park by the river.

Except the park was flooding.

This is really a huge tree floating down the river.

Oh, look a bridge that goes across the river.

Here is the kicker. See the train tracks that appear to be only 6 inches above that water? I am not talking about the upper set. The low ones! Trains were still crossing on that bridge! This did freak me out a bit, but I wasn't on the trains so I just went back the my hotel.

Way back in June...

I was in my friend S F's wedding. Hence the reason I had posted prairie pictures a few months ago. I was driving across Kansas to be in her wedding. S and I have been friends since we met in eighth grade. She moved a couple of years after we met, but we have always managed to maintain our friendship. (Even after A&M beat Nebraska our freshman years, ending Nebraska's 3 year winning streak. But, hey, I barely remember that day.)

Here we are all grown up the day before.

Here is S opening all the tacky things that every bride needs that bridesmaids supply.

She got really good at bossing us bridesmaids around.

Probably because we needed bossen. If she wasn't watching us, we were running off to Sonic to enjoy cherry limeades. It was a warm day. I don't have any actual pictures of the wedding because it is generally frowned upon for bridesmaids to snap pictures during the ceremony, but it was quite lovely, I assure you.

Ah, ha, a picture of the groom! Might I add that he made the groom's cake, that beautiful chocolate thing at the bottom of the picture. What a guy!

That's my mom and me looking good in black.

More wedding fun...

but then we got cold and warmed ourselves by the hand dryer in the bathroom. See we needed more bossing around.

Ahem, I would like to thank Mrs. S for choosing black bridesmaids dresses, because I looked quite nice in this one. And S's dress rocked! (Because we all know that that's what a wedding is all about.)

Well, then again, maybe it does have something to do with true love and all that jazz. Congrats to my friend S. You make a beautiful bride and wife.

Friends

I have been lucky enough to have 2 dear friends come visit me the last 2 weeks. Rachel L came out for a few days and then Mrs. Juicebox made an appearance. It was so fun to have them here. We hiked, watched HGTV, ate deserts, ate some more, read books and had great conversation. I miss them dearly. Sigh. I managed not to cry when I put Mrs. Juicebox on the plane this afternoon, so to reward myself, I bought a kitchen aid stand mixer in Empire Red. I still might cry, maybe I will make some bread instead.

And now I am on call all weekend. Please, Lord, don't let the pager go nuts.

Very belated...

Way back in May, Mr M and I packed up our things and moved across town. We are now farther away from our jobs and no longer have a garage, but we do have 3 important things:

1) No more mold. I knew we had mold, but I had no idea how bad it was until we moved and I found it everywhere! I have not been sick since we moved.

2) No more navy blue carpet that everything shows up on. I never thought I would be so happy to live around beige in my whole life.

3) We have a dishwasher! Now when our friends come over they ask us how it is living the high life with a dishwasher, and I have to say, "Life is good!"

Here are some belated pictures of our new place:

Starting by the front door, here is our dining area that is also part of the kitchen.

Here is the kitchen, note the dishwasher!
Here is our comfy living room. I have no idea why I did not fix the pillows before taking pictures.
Don't you like our wedding pictures all up in a row? I love them. So does Mrs. Juicebox, she kept looking at them when she was here.
Our blue bathroom.
Our room.
Our garage sale dresser we spent a weekend painting. It really brightens up a room.
We now have a guest bathroom. I may have overdone the white. But if anyone visits, you don't have to share with us!
Last, but not least, is the guest bedroom for those of you who want to plan a vacation up our way. It has a Serta mattress and I am assured by several people that it is a very comfortable bed.

Driving across Kansas

I was recently in a wedding in Kansas, and I drove from Dallas across Eastern Kansas and most of the flint hills. I was reminded why I like the prairie. It feels like home.

I think I have figured out a way to describe the difference between the Rockies and the prairie. See where I live is surrounded by harsh mountains of rock and trees that are pointed with pointy leaves. The environment is strong like a man and designed for self defense.
But the prairie is like a woman, her soft grass invites you to run, and her trees invite you to climb. She doesn't restrict your view of the sky or feel the need to surround you. Though she has a temper that appears during tornado season.
She invites you to play and wander. There are few thorns or sharp plants.
And you feel that if you could run fast enough at sunset you might reach the sun. It's not blocked by a mountain.

Exop II

You didn't think I was done with all my expo education did you? I learned a lot more. I learned that logging sports is a collegiate sport. Funny, I don't remember my college having that sport. Long distance track, yes. Logging sports, no.

Anyway, there is the two man saw. Go boys, go!

The one man saw. Go Boy, go!

The ax throw.

This guy isn't bad. I want him on my side next time I have to throw axes at bad guys.

OK, this is interesting, you start below where they are standing, run around the log, run up the log, balance on the log while starting your chain saw and saw the log you are standing on. Safety glasses anyone?

Next is a demonstration, because this is too dangerous to do at the college level. First, you chop a small hole. Oh, and this guy is on ESPN for his excellence in logging sports. (I am NOT kidding).

You stick a stick in it, get up on it,
chop another one, repeat twice.
Oh, and don't forget the just saw through a log with a chain saw competition.
Last, but not least, is the chop through a log with an ax. They gave this guy a special ax head because he is graduating
Don't you feel more educated now that you too are a part of the family forestry expo?

Expo, Expo

Last month I went the the Family Forestry Expo. What?!?!?! You haven't heard of the Family Forestry EXPO?!?!?! Just to prove that I am not making this up, I took a picture of the sign:

See, it does to exist. One of the things to watch at the Family Forestry Expo is how modern day logging is done. I had no idea. First, this red machine just cuts the log and then picks it up,

and lays it gently on the ground. Really, you couldn't even hear it drop.

Then, this yellow machine comes and hauls away a group of logs.

And takes them to this machine that picks up a log at one end and strips the log of branches as it goes through to the other end.

The logs are organized by size so that all the logs in one pile will go to one place to be cut the same size .

And that is what I learned at the Family Forestry Expo.

My shoes!

When my little brother really got the walking thing down, my parents bought him his first pair of shoes. He was so excited to finally be a big boy and wear shoes. (We didn't have a lot of money and my parents weren't going to buy shoes for a non-walker.) That night as he lay in bed, my parent's heard him exclaim to himself, "My shoes! My shoes! My shoes!"



And that is what I felt like when I got my new shoes. I needed some for work and I just thought these were too cute. I got a black and brown pair, and here is one of each.

The best part is the stitching on the heel and side.
Very comfortable with good arch support.
And even the bottoms of the shoes are cute.

More 10 C's!

I know that you can all barely wait for the next instalment of creative ways to display the 10 C's, so here is another one for your viewing pleasure. Good news is that my new job requires lots of driving, so I will be finding some more specimens for you all.

Adventures in moving

So Mr. M and I decided that we were tired of living in a moldy apartment with navy blue carpet and a neighbor who likes to drink a lot. So we moved last weekend. As soon as it is presentable, I will post pictures. But the real point of my story took place yesterday. Yesterday I was placing some platters and such on top of my cabinets above the fridge and I looked over and saw this:



That would be a gun laying on the cabinets of my new apartment. So I called Mr. M and said,

Me: "Honey, do we own a gun I don't know about?

Mr. M: "Ha, that's me hiding guns from you!"

Me: "No, really do we own a rifle?"

Mr. M: "Of course not, why are you asking?"

Me: "Well, I just found a gun on top of the fridge."

Mr. M: "Riiiiiight."

Me: "No, really I am for real"

Mr. M: "You are really for real?"

Me: "Yes"

I then decided to call my landlady and left a message on her phone.

Me: "Hi, this is D from apt X, ummmm I found a gun on top of my fridge. I haven't touched it, and I am not really quite sure what to do with it. Perhaps the last tenet would want it back? Call me back and let me know what you think."

Then I thought, "Hey, my brother is in the army the more I look at this thing, the more plastic I see, I will call him and ask if it is a real gun."

Me: "Brother, hey I found a gun on top of my fridge, but a lot of it is plastic, do you think it is a real gun?"

Army Brother: "Oh yeah, it could be a real gun, my expensive pistol has lots of plastic on it. Take a picture of it and send it to me. Just don't point it at anything."

Me: "Umm, I don't think I am going to touch it."

Army Brother: "Hey I am at R's house seeing her new baby, do you want to talk to her?

Me: "OK"

R: "Hi, how are you?"

Me: "Fine, I just found a gun on top of my fridge."

Mr. M later came home and determined that it is an air gun, and by brother wrote me back and told me the model of the gun. My landlady picked it up today, so I don't have to worry about it any more.

Loose Ends

Sorry to take so long to write a new post. Life is just busy. So wrapping up some loose ends:

1) When I said I would vote for Clinton in a previous post, I was referring to the primary held that day in Texas. I was not talking about the general election. Which by the way, if I had wanted to vote in the Republican primary here in Montana, but I could not. Why? Because only elected officials and precinct captains could vote in the Republican caucus. That's right, only about 2,000 people in this state were allowed to determine the Republican delegates from this state. Where is the ACLU when you actually need them?

2) Andrea wrote a great comment about health insurance. I was really tired and not making a lot of sense that day, but she said most of what I think. What I really think is that we should all carry just disaster insurance. Example: insurance only kicks in after you shell out three grand or so for the year. This would bring a lot of pricing down because people would ask how much things cost. When was the last time you went to the doctor and asked how much a straight up visit would cost?

3) I will be starting a new job soon. It doesn't make a big difference for this site, since I don't really write about my job, but for those of you who know me in real life, I will be working for hospice. I am really excited and a little nervous to be starting a very different way of being a nurse.

Back to our ...

regularly scheduled silliness. Here are some more 10 commandment signs for your viewing pleasure.

This is on the front of a church.

In a random field. Isn't that a nice barn?

Not quite sure where this one is, Jana took it.

Don't forget the billboards.

And another billboard. I stopped taking pictures of billboards because there are so many of them.

If I still lived in Texas...

I would go cast my vote for Hillary today (I can't believe I wrote that). But you can vote for whomever you want. But for your reading enjoyment, here, here and here is why I am not a fan of Obama. (Not that I am crazy about Hillary, I just think that she might not send our county into as bad of a recession.)

Just a dip

To appease Mrs. J, I am posting a few thoughts about national health care and such. But just this one time. I promise not to make a habit of it. Any by the way, feel free to disagree with me. Many intelligent and caring people fall on both sides of this issue. But no name calling, please.

This is simply to say that I think a national health care system is a horrible idea. I am not saying that we have a great system, but putting the government in charge is not the answer. Anything that the government tries to do, can be done much better most of the time by someone else. Anytime the government has tried to help make something affordable it makes it worse (anyone heard of gas lines in the 70's? Anyone noticed that college tuition went through the roof when student loans were so easy to get? The money pit that is the public school system? Tariffs on sugar so that our food will have corn syrup from that American farmer and we are now all fat?)

Just some thoughts:

1) One of my nursing instructors explained that when she had researched British health care, the government did not pay for kidney dialysis after the age of 50. So you turn 50, you have a big party and 2 weeks later you are dead. The government decides how valuable your life is. I have been to dialysis centers in the U. S., 90% of the people I saw are on dialysis because they are drug users, did not control their blood pressure, or did not control their diabetes. But someone (the federal government) pays for their dialysis. I don't see how having nationalized health care would make it better.

2)Our local paper ran an article the other day talking about the huge number of Canadian babies being born in the U.S. because the Canadian hospitals are full. So Canada ships laboring mothers to the U.S. If Canada could not use the American system as a back up, they would be in trouble.

3) Studies have been done that show that people who have good health insurance in the U.S. overuse the system.

4)People in the British heath care system are often on waiting lists for months to have surgery or see a doctor. When was the last time that you heard of someone in the U.S. being placed on a waiting list for care? (It happens, but it is rare and often involves the government paying for the care.) Or check out this Canadian lady's experience.

5) Click here, here and here for some interesting articles.