Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Love is... A Westwood birthday and a recipe

For the past three years we have had the blessed opportunity to go to the Westwood cabin for Ike's birthday. It is so much amazing fun, I cannot even begin to describe it. We always see the cutest animals and relax with books and eat the most delicious treats. Tinfoil dinners and s'mores are the recipes of summer.

Tyler and Isaac brought up their guns and went target shooting. They brought us back and attempted to teach us. Emma did great. 


Emma always plans the best little getaways. I am so lucky to have her as a friend.


Also on the home front, if you know me at all you know that I am OBSESSED with smells. I think I have spent hundreds on Glade plugins and candles to make my home smell good (and don't get me started on my collection of perfumes and body sprays). My poor, poor husband. Anyway, I found this recipe on Pinterest for DIY home scents. They were a breeze to make and your whole house smells divine. 

I started out with two basic scents that followed the recipe but came up with my own later on that I will list. You take basic mason jars. Totally empty, no extra treatment. Clean... obviously. 

 Slice your fruit (citrus works the best). 

Put the fruit in first and then add the spices. Fill your jar with water halfway to the top. You want to leave room at the top for the water to expand in the freezer.

 Put them in your freezer for a later date OR put them in a small pot and simmer for hours of sensory bliss. 

Recipes to try:
Lemon, rosemary, vanilla (pictured) (don't add vanilla until you're ready to boil)
Orange, cinnamon stick, cloves (pictured)
Evergreen
Lavender and vanilla (extract or bean)
Lime and Basil
Eucalyptus and mint
Orange and ginger

Here's the link for more exploring and better ideas 


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Love is... Season of LOVE


 We LOVE the rain here at the Morrow house. When it rained on Saturday, Jude and I went out and watched it. That evolved into playing in the puddles, which moved to the drain, which ended in the mud. It was a great time.


 This little buddy was scheduled for eye surgery tomorrow. While swimming in our pool earlier this year, he got something stuck in his eye. Conditions were perfect enough to make it require a surgical removal. I was getting really stressed about it and a bunch of other things were happening in our lives and then the Lord answered our prayers and the little speck was gone. We're so very grateful for healthy boys and answered prayers. 



 These screenshots have been sitting on my computer for a long time. I have been meaning to write about them, I just get a feeling of hysterical frustration every time I look at them. Long story short, it is about a woman who has a daughter that went to the movie "Warm Bodies" and decided to walk out. The reason she walked out is because of the people eating other people situation. She says, and I quote "Zombies are fake, but humans eating humans is not. North Koreans are being reported as eating their own".

Oh my................
     This is why I hate self righteous people. Props to that young girl for walking out of a movie. That is a hard thing to do.

No props to the woman who posted something so uneducated, racist, and bigoted.

BUT WAIT! There's more.

A friend comment on the status...
."Cannibalism is the reason we have mad cow disease. Why would anyone find that cute?"

Someone asked her to explain and this was her reply

"You shouldn't eat your own species. A pharmacist told me that mad cow disease started years ago in human cannibals and cows after cows ate an infected persons remains. It mutated and that is how cows got infected. She put it off as fact, but it could be a theory."

Sometimes. Well.... just sometimes.

Moral of the story. EDUCATE YOURSELVES. or more simply... Check yourself before you wreck you yourself.




Finally, on a super positive note, my cute friend JJ got married over the weekend to her girlfriend/now wife Ave. I have known JJ pretty well since pioneer trek way back in 2007. We then worked together and spent many a night laughing our way through some pretty crazy situations. I am so very happy for her!!!!





Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Love is... Montana is for lovers

A while ago I bought this beauty of a print for Whitney and James from one of my Etsy faves...
Purchase it here or look at her other stuff


Anyway, it perfectly sums up how we feel ALL of the time. Bigfork, Montana has become such an escape for us. We are IN LOVE! I recently ordered myself a bumper sticker that says "get lost" and it's a picture of the great state Montana. It fits us perfectly because our Montana theme song is "Let's Get Lost" by Bat for Lashes and Beck.

This years vacation came at the perfect time and I was itching to see Whitnasty and James asap. A year is too long. They are still in Peru building the temple in Trujillo and even though I am excited for them, I wish they were not so far away.

We started out our journey Tuesday night. We were heading to Rexburg, Idaho to get the first three hours out of the way. We stopped to stay the night with my college friend Emlen and her husband Conrad. They have a little boy who is a month older than Jude named Ronin. On the way there Jude got hooked up with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and some baby approved cheesy puffs.


 This little gentleman here is Ronin. He just melted my heart at every turn. 

Road trippin' necessities. 

The first thing we did was head to the Nelson Lakehouse. Jude got a special Finding Nemo life jacket just for the occasion.

As per tradition, we went to the ward 4th of July breakfast. They always shoot off a Civil War cannon and Jude has never really been a fan hence... the mad dad cudldle.



4th of July evening consists of the Nelson lakehouse for fireworks over the lake. It also consists of lakeside kisses and photo ops. 





Jude plugged his ears for the fireworks... but he still really enjoyed it. He cuddled with a puppy that someone brought as well, just to be safe. 


 This is my Brookies cinnamon roll. It is a Bigfork must. 


We also try to make time for the Mackenzie River Pizza place in Kalispell. 


We went for a boat ride on the river and we saw a Bald Eagle. A BALD EAGLE! It was my first and I was amazed. Jude kept saying tweet tweet. It was fun.





The next morning we went to Echo Lake Cafe. It is SOOOOO good. I always get the Veggie Eggs Benedict and eat it ALL. 







All in all we had a FANTASTIC time and are counting down the 360 days until our return.