Aguirre Springs Hike

This week we went for a hike at Aguirre Springs.  We've been there a lot but have never ever come close to completing the Pine Trail Hike.  Mostly, it was because the boys were too little to do it.  So Tuesday morning, I asked the kids if they felt they could complete a 4.2 mile hike.  They all agreed they could.  They had no idea what they signed up for.

 

Maddie packed stuff to collect moss...including charcoal and a mister.

It was so hot.  I mean I sweat like I've never sweat before.  We lost the trail and had to do a lot of climbing but it was fun. 

The beginning when the children were happy.

The view from 6, 830 feet up.  

And our family photo at the top. Thank god this photo was blurry and my face was shaded.  My face was so red from the heat.  It wasn't pretty.  The children look half alive...and they were only half alive at this point.    

All joking aside, I'm glad we did this. It was fun and it was hard.  It was a really beautiful hike too.  I can see us doing this again.  It's really fun to have these adventures with the kids.  I'm really enjoying them as they get older.  They are funny and get our stupid jokes.  Plus, they sign up for this stuff ha.

Freedom and Creativity!

It's so weird that I have a million words that are ready to come out on this blog because for the last two years there has been nothing.  Moving to a new job was really hard.  It really suffocated me.  It suffocated who I am and all of my creativity.  There was so much pressure on me to just even keep my job. Seriously, I was almost cut this year with the budget.  I was the third person in line out of the two that got cut before me.  I'm so glad I made the choice to start up my photography again because I really think it helps me to be...well me.  I am really so happy.  I feel renewed and ready to go. I'm excited to share photos and crafty stuff.

Summer Update/Around Here

Hey everyone!  I thought I'd give you all a summer update.  I will post a complete bullet point update at the end of summer but I figure I should just touch base for now.  Summer is slipping away at a rapid pace...insert crying jag.

So far this summer, I've been really busy.  I'm restarting my photography business.  I've spent a lot of time building my portfolio and website.  I will share it as soon as I'm happy with it.  I hoping for a fall debut.  Its been really nice to have so much support from past clients and people in general that just want to help out....free photos.  I've learned a lot and I'm really happy about that.

The kids are fighting...I'm sure you picked that up from a previous post.  But I'm telling you it is like level 10 fighting.  In fact, I went on a shoot today and my friend was late.  I really enjoyed the peace and quiet as I waited for her and her kids to arrive.  I almost wanted to tell Erik they were an hour late so I didn't have to go home but alas we had last minute dinner plans with his family.

Oddly, my dogs are shedding like crazy.  I'm not sure what brought this on because it's never happened.  I'm constantly running the vacuum.  It's not that much fun.  Speaking of cleaning, we cleaned out the ENTIRE garage.  It took us five days.  It was absolute insanity.  I can't tell you my kitchen table is clean at the moment because I'm trying to jam an entire office into three cabinets.  It's not really going that well.

Okay, so I got all of that off my chest so I'll share some pictures now to make this post more lively.

No makeup selfie...but I did the unthinkable.  I cut my own bangs.  They don't look too shabby.

 Spent a ton of money for each kid to have their own room.  Yet, they apparently don't want their own rooms.

 Didn't buy popsicles so the kids made some out of water.  This was a surprising win.

 Took the kids to Sakura Grill.  They love that place.  It was a lot of fun.

 This hideous frog tried to kill me.  You can see the evil glint in his eye.

Cooking a brisket

 I'm loving having fresh flowers in the house.

 Chile from my garden

Erik takes his wood seriously.  That's what she said hahahaha (sorry too much Office watching)

 JoJo has taken up coffee drinking this summer.

Maddie's millionth terrarium. He has an obsession with them.  He buys all of the plants and makes them.  

Let's Be Serious: Instant Pot Talk

What is this?  Two posts in one week?  I actually have more planned.  I promise I'm not sick. Ha.  Anyway, I wanted to talk to about this lovely invention called the Instant Pot.

I first heard about the Instant Pot from a blogger. I honestly don't remember which one.  She recommended it because it was awesome apparently. I was really skeptical at first.  I mean this cooker has a cult following.  People take this thing to the park to prepare meals.  Some people hoard them like cats.  I was also a bit skeptical because it's a pressure cooker and I do recall the time ours exploded and beans were everywhere.  In fact, there are still beans under the paint on the ceiling.

And if I'm honest here, I didn't even buy this thing.  Erik did because he was ashamed of our old crockpot.  He didn't want to take it to school when we needed it for movie night.  It took a bit of learning to figure out how to use it, but it's so worth it!  I use my Instant Pot at least twice a week.  I use it for rice, chicken, soups, anything really.  I actually made a one pot meatloaf and mashed potatoes that the kids loved.  I can make pulled pork that falls apart in an hour.  The meat is never ever dry.  Cleanup is simple.  I just put the stainless steel pot in the dishwasher.  The only thing I can say that's bad about the Instant Pot is that its not the best at slow cooking.  I think the crockpot is much better suited for that even if it is 16 years old and the handles are broken off.  

I highly recommend this thing.  It makes meal prep so easy and so fast.  Oh and there are tons of recipes out there you can try! 

Happy 4th of July

Just popping in with a few pics of the boys.  We aren't doing much today as Erik is working.  It really takes the joy out of the holidays..ha.  Anyhow, I just took a few pictures of the boys and thought I'd share.

 This photo took a lot of yelling and screaming on my part.  They look much sweeter than they actually are.

Happy 4th!  Hope you are having a fun and safe time with your family and friends!