falltime music...maybe just falltime.

does anyone have falltime music? last year it was alexi murdoch for me, almost the whole time. i've been listening to Angus and Julia Stone some, but not a whole lot else. the backpacking trip got me a little into the falltime music. we didn't listen to any music, mostly just me singing "high on a mountain top" in my head the whole time, but it reminded me about rhythm in our lives (corny, i know).

falltime is different everywhere. northeast = full of color, southern utah = finally not so blasted hot, southeast idaho = the terror of winter getting closer and closer...etc., but things like back to school, sweaters, the closing of the great season of summer, and the intro to the holidays are the same all over. there's a wonderful, slow-almost, sadness kind of, but then you have halloween and then there's no more slowness--it's just a blur of scarves, hot cocoa, and holiday planning.

i love running in the fall. that would account for the lunch runs i'd do in the fall in the woods--15 minutes in, and bolting 15 minutes back so i have time to change and get to my physics class. it just smells good to run in the fall.

fall fashion is fantastic, also. this was funny.

i love the fall.

Backpacking!

I have been invited to an all girl's backpacking trip this weekend at Kings Peak in Utah! I'm going with a girl in our church and five of her friends, and it's going to be great! Here is the list of things to bring:

Individual Gear:

Headlight

Base layer (thermals)

*Lightweight jacket

Change of socks

Hiking shoes (something close toed and sturdy for the ascent)

Camp shoes (some type of sandal to let your feet air out)

Sleeping pad (thermarest)

Sleeping bag

Bowl

Spoon

*Toilet paper (biodegradable can be buried rather than packed out)

Toothbrush

Hand towel

Wash cloth

*Whistle

*Walkie talkies (If you have a set, bring both of them so we have backups when the battery dies, if you don’t have any, don’t worry about it)

*Poncho (disposable works great)

*Bear spray

*Lighter

*1 qt. Water bottle (i.e. Nalgene)

*2 qt. Camelbak bladder (on our ascent day, we will have to carry water most of the way, we won’t be able to refill anywhere.)

*Band Aids (5 or 6)

Daypack (we won’t carry our packs for the ascent, we will only carry daypacks)

*Emergency blanket

*carried in daypack

Group Gear

Tents (2 or 3 depending on how many come)

Stoves (3)

Fuel for stoves (we will split the cost of fuel)

Duct tape

Rope (to hang food from trees)

Sunscreen

Bug spray

Shovel

Striker

Collapsible water containers

Water filter (2)

Water purification drops

Toothpaste

Soap

Sanitizer

Pots (3 medium to big)

Med kit

For meals, we'll boil water for breakfast to put in oatmeal both mornings, do our own lunches, do our own snacks, and then have dinner together: Day 1: Refried beans, tortillas, string cheese Day 2: pasta roni, tuna packet

Info for hike:

Day 1: Park car by noon at base so we can get a good 5 hours of hiking in to get to the place we'll sleep and leave our big bags so we can just take our day packs up the peak.

Day 2: Hike 5 hours to peak (including a half mile of almost vertical the last bit), spend time there, hike back down to where our stuff is

Day 3: Hike 4 hours down (it'll take less to get down than it did to get up) and drive home!

Fun facts about Kings Peak:

Highest summit in Utah

26 miles of hiking (I've read 26 & 32, but 26 more often)

We'll park at 9,800 ft and climb to the summit at 13,528 ft.

There are lakes intermittently on the hike (cool!)

I've never been backpacking before and I'm REALLY excited about doing a legit backpacking trip! I've been wearing my hiking boots around a little to make sure I'm comfortable in them, and I've also been walking around with my pack a little heavier than it needs to be so when we really do go out I'll be somewhat used to it. Jordan's going to watch Porter for those 3 days, but he'll also be playing with the husband & kids who are also being left behind so I think they're going to have a blast (I think a four-wheeling trip has been discussed...)

Je suis de retour

After a long hiatus, the desire to write on here has returned.

Being a little farther North, it feels like Autumn here in Idaho, which has brought on the longing for warm food (includes pumpkin anything & hot chocolate).  I made Butternut Squash Soup a Wednesday, Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Thursday, and when we went camping last night, and I volunteered to make a dutch oven pumpkin dessert.  It was divine.  Here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Heaven in a Dutch Oven
1 large 29 oz can pumpkin
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups melted butter
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Mix together everything but the cake mix & 1 cup melted butter.
Pour into greased dutch oven.
Sprinkle cake mix on top of pumpkin concoction until fully covered.
Pour remaining 1 cup melted butter on top so all the cake mix has butter on it.
Place on top of hot coals, place ~14 coals on top of lid.

Notes:
Depending on how hot your coals are will determine how long it will take to cook.  It took us about an hour--keep checking it.
All the spices are just a rough approximation.  I always put more cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves because I loooove them.
I'm nervous that it won't be sweet enough, so that's why I put the white sugar, but you can put a whole cup of brown sugar if you want, or even a whole cup of white sugar if you don't like the denseness of molasses.

Happy Autumn August!





P.S. I have discontinued my Etsy shop, realizing I'm not a very good seamstress, and have begun to design patterns for the quilt shop Fresh Picked Fabrics (aka Cranberry Quiltworks), and I also do their weekly emails and write for their blog.  This therefore means that I've deleted the link list of shops where we were advertising together.  If you were on that list, sorry--you can take me off yours.  I might put up some pattern previews if anyone would be interested.