Salmon Bake

Hello there!!!

Today was just AWESOME!!!

Wanna know why?!  Because today was my neighborhood's once a yearly SALMON BAKE!!!  It's super fun, we go over to the park and play games with the whole neighborhood.  It's like a giant picnic for over a hundred people!!!

It's something I look forward to every year even if I have to deal with a football coming at me every once and a while (I don't know how to play football).

But this year there was one thing I missed...  Our annual salmon toss!!!  It's like a balloon toss but instead of balloons we toss dead salmon.  Sure it stinks (literally) but it's so much fun that it's really hard to notice the smell of dead fish.  Normally afterwards we get to cook up the salmon and eat it.  But this year we didn't do it, I was quite (and still am a bit) sad about that.

Good thing they kept the crab test :D

The carb test is when one man "hypnotizes" a giant crab by rubbing his belly and then places the crab on his head.  It's really cool...  And weird (I love how this year he wore a superman t-shirt).

It's so much fun to be able to bond with my neighborhood even more and become even closer friends with everyone.  I can't wait for next year...  Hopefully next year we can play salmon toss.

Question of the day:
Is there something that your neighborhood does to bond and have fun?

Me:

Salmon Bake ^_^ (<- That's another type of smiley face!)

Update of Life, School Starting, and My New "Study Buddies"

YOLO my peeps!  How goes it?

I'm such a procrastinator!!!  I keep giving y'all empty promises and I feel TERRIBLE!!!  But do you wanna know why I've been a terrible blogger lately?  It's this torturous thing called life. You see, life has a nasty habit of getting in the way of my blogging.  School has just started, and I'm now in a small homeschooling group with my two best friends.  It's been fun but sooooo crazy!!!  And to top it off I've been trying to do stuff to keep this blog how it is (crafty, fun, and me) and not turn it into a boring education blog (that isn't me).  Yup, that's my lame excuse for not blogging.  But even though life is now insanely crazy, I'm having way more fun than I did last year (besides less blogging).

I didn't really know the two girls I homeschool with now, but after two days we've become like the best of friends.  We do almost everything together and have tons of things in common.  For instance, we all LOVE anime, drawing, and writing.  But another thing is that we each have our strengths in different areas, so if one of us is struggling with a subject, we can help each other according to what we're best at.

I'm also trying to learn French again but this time with my new buddies by my side :D
We're hoping to go to France sometime next year during the summer.  And then maybe going to Washington D.C. when we finish the history course.

I have high expectations for this year, and I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to update AT LEAST once a week.  And if I don't...  I give you permission to send the one-eyed one-horned flying-purple-people-eater after me.

PS:  My "study buddies" might show up quite a bit in my blog posts now that we never really leave each other's side.

Question of the Day:
How did you meet your best friend?

ME:
My first best friend I met when she was born.  We did tons together...  Until she moved :(

Sourdough Starter

GUESS WHAT EVERYONE?!

TO START OFF THE SCHOOL YEAR, MOM AND I ARE MAKING MORE BACTERIA!!!

MWEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you confused?  Here, let me explain, I have been wanting to make sourdough bread for quite some time now.  And sourdough starter is actually a bacteria...  Gross right?  But no worries, it's a good kind of bacteria like yogurt.  Ok, I think I'm just grossing you out now...

Now we just need to wait till 9:00 tonight to feed it.  Yup, it needs to be fed every 12 hours

...  It's like a little baby or kid...  Just it can't talk (awesome right?!)

Check in tomorrow for more randomly awesome blog posts by moi!

PS: So, I feel like an idiot, telling y'all that I'd get another post up about my month of July ummm...  It might happen but I don't know how to download the pictures from the camera I used.  So that'll have to wait...  Sorry...

Question of the day:

Did you miss me?  And how've you been?

Me:

Nope, I'm stuck with myself...

I've been great, though I miss blogging a TON!!!!

An Update Before Busness

WOWZERS!

It's been a while since I've posted!

These last few weeks have been just been filled with the lemons life gives you.  Well I've succeeded in making some sour lemonade, I'm hoping to make it sweeter by getting back into the groove of things and continue blogging about my abnormal life.

Anywho, this week I'm going to blog about what I have been doing for the past month.

So far I've:

Had a marvelous week at Girl's Camp

Visited St. George (Utah)

Toured Zion's National park

Saw two plays at the Tuacahn: Aladdin and my personal favorite, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

And two days later Mom and Dad left for a drive around Utah and this whole week has been filled to the brim with stuff.  One day was so busy that we were in the car for six hours!  Yeah, the kids weren't happy with that.

Question of the day:
What have you been doing for the past month?

Me:
Read the above...  AND tune in tomorrow for another funderful episode of Star Trek...  Hehe, just kidding, Heidi's Alli is the actual name.

Colonial Days (Orem, Utah)

On Saturday, my family and I went to a festival called Colonial Days to celebrate the Fourth of July.  It was super fun!  There were a lot of booths filled to the brim with stuff from when America first came to be.  Before America became its own country, we were a British Colony (well, technically 13 colonies). In one of the booths, you could try on the armor they had to wear back then.  It totally reminded me of the type of armor medieval knights would wear.  It was SUPER heavy and HOT!  The man there told a story of a soldier who actually melted in his armor.  Glad that wasn't me!!!

Next we learned a bit about the Mayflower and the perilous journey the Pilgrims made across the Atlantic Ocean to the promised land: America.  That boat was only 80 feet long and I think 20 feet across.  There were about 180 people on it.  So imagine living on the first floor of your house with 179 of your not-so-closest friends for 3 months, plus all their belongings, animals, food, etc.  AND they had to stay on the boat for another 3 months after landing at Plymouth because they landed in December.  Not quite a beautiful, balmy season...  I think they should have chosen a different time to sail.  They must have REALLY been in a VERY BIG HURRY to get out of England!

Next we went to the Haberdashery, a booth where you could try on colonial-style clothing that people wore back then.  Audrey had a blast trying the dresses on.  (So did I...)  They were pretty hot, and I didn't even have on the corset, petticoat, hoop skirt, or any of that extra stuff.  WHEW!!  I am so glad I live in this century!

After that we tried fresh bread and cookies from the bakery.  I had a sourdough roll (which was my favorite), hardtack (a special kind of bread the soldiers ate.  They call it hardtack because by the time the bread arrived at their camp, it was super hard, but since ours was fresh it was quite soft.), and a Frogger Joe, a type of molasses cookie that tasted a lot like a gingerbread cookie.  YUM!  The vendors used actual colonial recipes for all of their baked goods.  I want to learn how to make some!!!

Then, I joined a fake debate on whether or not we should dump the tea into the harbor.  It was really funny and fun.  We were assigned characters and lines so that the debate was quite heated, filled with cries of, "Hazzah!" and some other cry.  I have no idea what either meant, but it sure was fun to yell them!  In the end, I got to march with the other "patriots" and shoot imaginary people with my wooden gun and dump imaginary tea into an imaginary harbor.

I also got to go to a colonial school.  This might sound weird, but it was kind of fun, even though I was the oldest kid there by about 5 years...  I guess it was a one-room schoolhouse!  I got to re-learn my alphabet, how to count to 10, how to correctly write the letter "B" on my slate and solve some arithmetic problems.  I also learned that King George looks a lot like George Washington.  Must be the powdered wig, red coat, same pose... and same name!!!  Except the Washington part, but hey, who really cares about minor details...  

Unfortunately, I was quite a naughty student and wound up in the front of the classroom, sitting on a stool, and wearing a dunce hat.  Just kidding!  I was actually a model student but really wanted to sit in the dunce seat!

Question of the day:

Have you been to any fun festivals, carnivals, etc this year?  Are there any others that you'd like to do?

Me:

Yep, this one.  I'd really like to go to the Festival of Colors.

How to Fix Nasty Barbie Hair

How many of you have wanted to get rid of nasty My Little Pony or Barbie hair but didn't know how?

ME!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to the lovely site called Pinterest, I figured out the secret to make Barbie's hair pretty again.

YAY!!!

How to make your Barbie's hair pretty again:

Step one:  Fill a bowl with super hot water (hot chocolate hot).

Step two:  Place your Barbie's (or pony's) hair inside that bowl and let it soak for thirty seconds.

Step three:  Brush your Barbie's hair (starting from the bottom; it'll make brushing so much easier) with a small tooth comb (or a "Barbie brush") until all tangle monsters (or whatever you call them) are out.

As a last resort:  If you're stuck on a knot that just won't come out, then cut your Barbie's hair.  Yes, you heard me...  Or read me, cut the stupid Barbie hair.  It's not going to kill you if you give Barbie a trim...  Or a new look.

Step four:  Style your Barbie's renewed hair.  You'll be amazed at how much better it feels and looks.

Question of the day:

When was the first time you cut hair?

Me:

I was about four.  I was styling my cousin's long, thick, curly locks with a tiny round brush.  It kinda got stuck, so, being one to solve problems on my own, I cut it out.  Then I decided to cut a few other "chunks" out as well to make it symmetrical.  Long story short (eh-em, no pun intended), my Aunt Karen had to take her to a salon to "fix" my stylish creation.  Needless to say, it ended up getting cut about 1 inch long all around her head.  I don't think Aunt Karen liked me very much for a while after that...

Audrey's Birthday Party

OH MY GOSH!!!  AUDREY IS FOUR TODAY!!!

Like I said in my last post, I am in charge of Ballon animals and face paint.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures.  BUT, I was able to have some pictures taken of me in my clown costume.

Well...  Actually, I only have a picture of me (in my clown clothes and face paint) wearing Audrey's wig.

Here is a picture of the rainbow wig I was wearing.

Audrey got a lot of new barbies, clothes, and My Little Ponies.  One of her gifts (one of her absolute favorites) was all Brave stuff.  She got Merida's wig, dress, and even a Merida barbie doll with her horse Angus included.

 

The fun part is that she really does look like Merida a little bit.  If only she'd keep the wig on.

I felt like making this picture :D

My present for her is to take her to see Brave and then we're going to ride the carousel at Provo Beach Resort, It's going to be fun.

Question of the day:

Have you seen Brave yet?  If so, what did you think?  If not, do you want to?

Me:

YES!!!  I SAW BRAVE ON THE MIDNIGHT SHOWING!!!  It was so good...  But I did cry, It was quite heart warming.

Audrey's Birthday Cupcakes

OH MY GOSH!!!  TOMORROW IS AUDREY'S BIRTHDAY AND BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

Anyways, I'm super excited for tomorrow because I get to be the face painter and ballon animal person!!!  My dad wanted to hire professionals, but he later came to realize that I can do just as well as them (ballon animal wise).

Check it out!  It's Yoshi :)

I also got to make and decorate Audrey's cake...  Well, cupcakes...  Same thing basically just cupcakes are smaller.

I made sprinkle cupcakes, they have sprinkles both in the batter and on top of the cupcake.  They're super cute and easy to make, especially if you use the boxed cake batter...  What?  I was being lazy.

It was super fun to decorate the cupcakes AND this time I didn't use royal frosting which was a big relief.

Question of the day:
Do you like to face paint or make ballon animals?  Or do you just like to watch?

Me:
BOTH!!!

Healthy Eating 101

Thanks to my mother, I am going to try to eat even healthier...
Yeah...  Is that possible?

Mom here:  Yes Alli, it is.

*Back to me*

Darn.

Mom here:  cut out the daily treats... What treats you say?  Ummm... ice cream, leftover peanut butter cookies and muddy buddies...  Heeeheeeheeeee!!!!

So, how exactly does one go about eating healthier?

5 Tips for Becoming a Healthier Eater:

1. PORTION CONTROL!  How much is a portion?  Each person is different.  Most portions can be simply based off your hand.
Protein=your palm
Carb=your fist
Veggies=a nice, big handful
Fats=your thumbnail

2.  EAT SMART!  Make healthier versions of your favorite foods to maximize nutrition.
For breakfast, I love these fantastic healthy waffles:

For lunch, I love cottage cheese with chopped tomatoes or peaches or pineapple.  Or a super yummy salad.

For snacks, a yummy smoothie sure hits the spot.

For dinner, easy green chicken enchiladas is a winner.

3.  EAT OFTEN!  Eat small meals/snacks throughout the day.  Aim for 5-6 mini meals each day, keeping each one to 200-400 calories, depending on your weight, metabolism and activity level.

4.  CUT THE JUNK!  Cut out extra calories, i.e. sugary, fatty treats...  Bummer!!!

5.  PLAN A CHEAT!  Yes, you heard that right.  Allow a cheat day/meal/treat once a week.  That way you don't feel as completely deprived.  It gives you something to look forward to.


Question of the Day:
Who is with me?  Anyone want to join me on a quest to clean up the internal/intestinal/gastronomical insanity?

Audrey's Birthday Cake

THIS IS INSANICAL (I couldn't find a good enough word in the thesaurus so I made up my own)!!!  My sister Audrey is turning four in seven days!!!  Anyways, we celebrated her birthday on Sunday and guess who got to decorate the cake?!

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so proud of myself, I feel dramatic happy tears coming to my eyes.  I thought I did quite well speaking that Mom and Dad weren't home and I wanted to surprise Mom by having the cake decorated before she came home.  Ok, so maybe it wasn't completely done when Mom and Dad arrived but it was pretty close to being finished.  The cake was a Polly Pocket beach scene and the icing was royal (my little brother can't have any dairy and I wanted him to be able to eat some too), so it was kind of a pain to squirt the flowers on, but other than that it was super fun to make.

All of the props are all plastic; they are NOT fondant.  I'm not good with sculpting (something I hope to work on).

Question of the day:

Have you ever decorated a cake?  If so, what has been your favorite cake you've decorated?

Me:

DUH!!!  The Polly Pocket cake.

Exclusive Babbling From Me

Do you wanna know the worst way to wake up in the morning?  You jump out of bed ready to start a new day and have fun but then suddenly it feels like a thousand pound weight was dropped on your head and you claps on the ground in pain.  Then you find out that your throat kills and no matter what you do or how much water you drink it just gets worse.

That is about how my day started (and how it still is).  Let me tell you, IT SUCKS!!!  Not only does my throat kill but I feel like I'm gonna collapse eery time I attempt to stand up (and have quite a bit).  Plus, when I try to get my glass of water I feel like all the weight has gone to my head just from leaning a bit to the right from my place on the couch...  NOT PLEASANT!!!

As for what I've done today lets see:...

Watch part of a movie about the Founding Fathers for history...  CHECK

Sleep for more than three hours and wake up feeling even worse...  CHECK

Take a really hot "aroma therapy" bath for a bit more than an hour and fall asleep in it...  CHECK

Feel a bit better but still feel like I'm gonna collapse, and my throat still hurt...  CHECK

Waste away time watching a few episodes of My Little Ponies because I was that bored (at least they give you good friendship advice)...  CHECK

Study for an English Exam...  CHECK

Write a most needed blog update...  CHECK

Read a book and probably fall asleep again...  NOT YET

Things I've learned:

Ramen isn't good to eat when sick...  Apple sauce is

An "aroma therapy" bath helps a lot with feeling better

Don't listen to upbeat music when you feel like your head is going to explode...  It won't help with the headaches.

...  GREAT!!!  NOW I SOUND LIKE A DOCTOR!!!

Question of the day:

What was your day like?

Me:

Read the above...  OH!!!  I think I might have strep throat because a lot of my symptoms are for strep throat.

1-2-3 Peanut Butter Cookies

These are the world's best Peanut Butter Cookies!  

They are gluten free, dairy free and could be sugar free.

AND they are super simple and quick to make.

The best way to make them is with two little kidlets by your side.  

I recruited my little brother and sister to help me, and they had a BLAST helping me make these delectable, golden circles of heavenly goodness.

We actually made them while my mom was gone, and she was REALLY surprised to see us hovering over the mixing bowl, donning aprons, mixing spoons and giddy grins.

Yes, we are the A-TEAM!  And we are AWESOME!!!

1-2-3-Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar (or xylitol for a sugar free version)

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Beat the egg and sugar together until well mixed; stir in peanut butter.  

Roll into tablespoon-sized balls and place on a cookie sheet.

Now for my favorite part...

Press the tines of a fork horizontally across the ball to flatten slightly, then do it again vertically to create a criss-cross pattern.  (Audrey and Aiden always argued over who got to stamp the next cookie...)

Bake for 8-11 minutes but do not let them get brown in the oven.  Allow to cool on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack... or devouring...

Makes 18-36 cookies, depending on how big you make them.  Smaller cookies cook faster... and get eaten faster...  Not that we would know by personal experience, hehehehehe...

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite type of cookie?

Mine:

My peanut Butter Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Hershey Kiss Cookies...  The list is endless.