21 Day Summer Challenge Day 3

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Today's topic:

What do you think of when hear the word Summer!!

I'm a little late tonight, so I'll keep it short.  I think of blue skies, green grass, lemonade, home made ice cream, watermelon, grilling, fresh tomatoes from the garden, fireworks, and county fairs.

21 Day Summer Challenge Day 1

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Ok so I know I am out of order, but I barely saw the link up today, and the Saturday topic was much easier to write about, so I am going back and doing #1.


About Sarah

I am a thirty something lady who happens to be wife to Dustin, six years in October, and Mom to Austin, two and almost a half years.  I work for an Indian Tribe in northern Arizona as their Water Quality Specialist.  I am originally from Colorado and lived there the first 26 years of my life until Dustin brought me to the desert.  This place is really beautiful with vermilion cliffs all around and tons of hiking opportunities which I love.  We are in the middle of Grand Canyon North Rim, Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park.  We don't really fit in the community very well though, and we have no family close so we are more than ready to move on.  We are in the process of applying for jobs, but as everyone knows the market is very competitive at the moment.

I have many hobbies besides blogging, I love to sew, quilt, embroider, crochet, garden, can, cook, decorate cakes, scrapbooking and photography.  I am currently working on my son's quilt, which is taking me forever.  If you want to see photos of the pieces I have finished appliqueing you can click on the "quilts" label and it will take you to those posts.  My garden is growing pretty well now that we finally stopping having frosts at night, but I have not done a post about it yet, hopefully soon.

21 Day Summer Challenge Day 2

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Today is day 2 and here is the topic:

Summer.....Love it or Hate it?

I love summer!  We went swimming this morning, I look out my french doors and see pure green beauty in my garden, the flowers are blooming, I love to grill, ...what's not to love!  I also love summer thunderstorms, especially when lightning is off in the distance and you can watch it safely. 
 

The only thing I dislike about summer is the bugs, I hate the smell of deet, but hate mosquito bites even worse.  We don't have them here, but when we visit the midwest in the summer I also despies ticks and chiggars.

Flowers

I was on a short work trip to Flagstaff, AZ the past couple of days to attend a springs assessment training.  I will write more about it later, but for now I want to share pictures of the cacti I took while we were on a field trip to Montezuma Well.

First Camping Trip

We took Austin on his very first camping trip this weekend.  We tried last summer, but the trip failed miserably and we haven't gotten back since.  This past Friday through Saturday we held a Kid's Camp for the youth I work with at the tribe with the North Kaibab Forest where Dustin works which is the ancestral homeland for the tribe.  Since we were both involved with the camp we took Austin along and made it a family experience. 

Friday we picked up the kids in the morning and headed for the forest.  We had 13 Paiute kids participate, and the two daughters of Dustin's co-worker who headed up the camp efforts for the Forest Service.  All the kids besides Austin ranged in age from 4-15.  When we arrived they broke the kids into groups and we went to two of the learning stations, then lunch and then the other 4 stations.  The learning stations were Leave No Trace, Timber/Silviculture, Firefighting/Fire Management, Paiute Games and Traditions, Archaeology/Paleontology, and Geology.  Then we had some free time and then dinner.  After dinner we did a camp fire and smores.  After that we loaded up in the vans and drove to Jacob Lake (which is really just a wet meadow) where the Wildlife Department set up bat nets to try and catch one to show the kids.  Unfortunately they were unable to catch one, but the Biologist taught the kids about mammals and talked about what she does for the Forest Service.

On Saturday we took the kids on what they called a Service Learning Project, which really was more of a tour of timber management areas.  They compared areas that had been treated with areas that were way overgrown.  We also went to the area of the Warm Fire which was a massive wildfire in 2006 that burned at high intensity and wiped out a large area of vegetation.  We treated the kids to lunch at the Jacob Lake Inn.  Then we went to a place called Three Lakes where I did a brief water quality monitoring lesson.  By that point we were all pretty tired and the kids were at the point that they were tired of learning, so I made it short.  Then we headed home and had all the kids returned before 5:00pm. 

Austin did great, he was born to be outdoors!  He was so good around the older kids, and at night he slept way better than Dustin and I.  I definitely know that before we try to tent camp again we need to invest in a bigger air mattress since we put Austin in the middle and we both ended up half hanging off the sides around him.  We had great weather the whole time other than getting a little chilly at night.  I think the kids all had a great time.

Handy Mommy

It seems like recently a lot of stuff in our house has needed maintenance.  One of those projects was my water heater.  The main part of our house has a full size propane water heater, but the addition has a bathroom and it has it's own mini-electric water heater.  A couple of months ago the water started getting really abnormally hot.  Then it went cold.  I called the tech support line and they said it was probably the lower thermostat, but also recommended that since we live in AZ where there is hard water that we think about replacing the heating elements.  I went ahead and ordered the thermostat and elements.  Dustin went in and replaced the thermostat and the upper element.  He attempted to drain the tank to replace the lower element, but the drain faucet would not flow to empty the tank.  Also when he tried to pull the element out, with water gushing behind it, it appeared to bend out where it would not clear the hole.  We decided to just put it back together and leave well enough alone since the upper element that we  replaced was not too badly corroded. 

It still seemed to be flaky about temperature, and I noticed the lower element dripping, so I decided to attempt to drain it by allowing the water to pour out from behind the lower element.  It took forever since it is a 50 gallon tank and I had to use a baking pan to bail it out.  I had to use a bunch of towels to catch the water that I missed in the pan. Once I finally got it drained we got a better look at the element. It was VERY corroded and did fork out, which the replacement one did not.   I took a channel locks pliers and squeezed the element together and it bended easily.  I had to continue crimping it to get it out.  When it finally cleared the hole it was so corroded that the metal had disappeared in several places and the wires were exposed.  The corrosion must have caused it to fork out.

From the hole of the lower element we could look in and the whole bottom of the tank was full of calcium deposit flakes which is why the drain faucet would not flow.  It's crazy how hard the water is here.  If I had to go back I would have definitely invested in a water softener for this house when we bought it. 

Early Learning Center

Today was Austin's first day at the Kaibab Early Learning Center.  They said he did great and had fun.  When I left he was so into playing that he didn't even notice. 

The teachers were surprised because they had tacos for lunch and Austin really ate the chips and salsa.  He does seem to love foods that are mildly spicy, and devours the chips and salsa at our local Mexican restaurant.  When we were in Colorado we went to a Mexican restaurant and the salsa there was too hot though and he was not happy about it one bit. 

The potty training this weekend went about like I expected.  He doesn't seem too interested in going on the potty or toilet and doesn't mind the wet/dirty under pants.  I bought the Elmo potty training video on Itunes and we watched that and it seemed to increase his interest a little.  We will keep at it and hope he comes around.  Until then I see lot of laundry in my future!

New beginnings

So if you followed me over here, or if you are new I would like to welcome you!  You may be wondering about the name of my new blog, it's not this:

It's from when I was a kid and learned my name I would run my first name, Sarah, and middle name, Ann, together into Sarann.  Of course people associated it with Saran wrap and eventually my big brother started calling me Sarap.  So the title is Sarann-Rap since it is a rap (Slang . to talk or discuss, especially freely, openly, or volubly; chat. ) about my life.

Anyway, I wanted to strip off my full name from the previous blog and lay off all the visuals of my sweet pea, so I thought the name was fitting since I give a transparent (open; frank; candid:) view of my life in this blog.  And don't worry, I will still post pictures of my family, I just won't be deorating the sidebars up with all the visuals. 

Emotional

Wow, I totally set myself up to fall apart today. 

Today was Austin's last day at Nanny's Daycare.  He started going there back when he was 9 and a half months old.  They have been great to him and all of our friends' kids go there.  Until last Monday it was the only licensed daycare in our vicinity for 60+ miles, so it was an obvious choice for us.  The problem was I had to drive 7 miles north to drop him off, 7 miles back, literally passing my house and then to work which is 14 miles west of town.  So all that times 2 every day and my commute was an hour and a half over 56 miles. 

Last Monday my employer finally opened their child care facility which is called the Kaibab Tribal Learning Center (TLC).  Instead of just a daycare it is a learning environment for 2-5 year olds.  Since it is only 3 miles from my office, switching him there is going to save us time (50 minutes) and money ($4.50 in gas).  It was a tough decision because there was no bad blood with Nanny's, but it just makes sense to switch him.

So back to my emotional meltdown, today was his last day at Nanny's.  Before I dropped him off I stopped at the store and got two vases of flowers for the Nanny's and cookies for the kids.  I dropped him off with no problem.  When I was driving there to pick him up I was listening to the country music station and they played that Tim McGraw song "If you're reading this" in honor of Memorial Day.  I knew that I should have turned the channel because that song tears at my heart strings.  I left it though and of course got all emotional and teared up.  I finally hit the dial and turned the station and tried to compose myself.  When I got in the daycare though they were going on and on about how they will miss Austin and if we ever need them again to let them know.  Then Austin's little 4 year old girlfriend Mer looked at me and said in her most serious and grown up voice "Sarah, why are you taking Austin to another daycare?"  It broke my heart and the tears started flowing, I totally lost it.  I felt like such a sap for crying like that.  I think had I not listened to that song I would have been ok, but since I was already on the emotional roller coaster I set myself up for the plunge.

I hope that we are making the right decision in moving him to the TLC.  Part of the move involves attempting to potty train him.  The TLC does not have a diapering area set up, but the Director said he would take Austin and work on potty training him.  We are going to give it a go at home this weekend to get him ready.  We have not tried until now because I felt like at Nanny's they were always so busy with 16 kids and I feared that they would not have the time to devote to working with him, so it was easier to leave him in diapers rather then set him up for frustration.  So far at the TLC they have two other kids, one of which went to Nanny's with Austin, to share three teachers, so Austin will definitely have one-on-one attention there.

Aloha Friday

Aloha Friday is the day that they take it easy over at An Island Life and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too.   So I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and head over to An Island Life to link up. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!




My question is:

Do you use cruise control?

I am a cruise control addict and hate to get behind someone who is what I call a yo-yo driver.  You know, one second their flying and the next poking along at snail speed and back and forth.  It always seems like they go fast when you can pass, then slow down in no passing zones.  I don't get road rage though, I just try to pass as soon as I safely can. I always use cruise control and even will sometimes use it in town when there is not a lot of traffic.  I like maximizing my speed and keeping it in check so I don't get a ticket.

I thought about this question because I live in a highly popular area for tourists and this is the time of year you know they are here because I am always getting stuck behind them as they admire the red rock cliffs.

Ladies night

A week or so ago Dustin and I were watching TV and saw a commercial for the new movie "Bridesmaids".  I said it looked good and he suggested I get a few of the ladies from the area together and go watch it.  It's not super easy to catch a movie here, we have a one screen theater that shows movies that are 3-4 weeks old in town, and the next nearest theater is 60+ miles away.  I gave it some thought and since he offered I put together an invite for some of the ladies I know here. 

I had one, Carragh, respond back right away and she was way excited.  She is a mom of one of Austin's daycare buddies, and I've seen her a few times, but definitely didn't know her real well.  The response from there was luke-warm.  A lot of people had other plans, and even eventually Carragh said she would rather drive over in her own car so she could do some other errands.  Finally on Friday my good friend Molly, who's husband works with Dustin and her kids also go to daycare with Austin, called and said she was up for it, but had been hesitant to commit because her family had a bug all week.  So we decided that we would go over, do some shopping, then meet Carragh for dinner and the movie.

It was so fun!  I love Molly and we had a blast chatting for the 60+ mile drive over.  We found some great stuff when we went shopping.  We talked about where to go for dinner and she had never eaten at Texas Roadhouse, so we decided to see if Carragh was up for that, which she was and we had a great dinner there.  The waiter actually gave us the week night deal where you can get a whole meal for $7.99 because we were in just under the time of rapture, LOL, I mean 6:00pm.  You can't beat a steak meal for $8!  We each ordered a sirloin and each ordered it medium-rare.  When my steak came out I cut a piece and it was totally brown.  I cut a second piece and it was equally over-cooked.  The other ladies steaks were cooked perfectly.  I am usually not one to complain, but it was really over done, to the point of total disappointment, so I showed the waiter who apologized and took it back and brought me another one that was perfect.  When it came time for the check he totally comped the dinner part so all I had to pay for was my oh-so-delicious strawberry margarita! 

The movie was awesome!  We laughed and laughed.  I had heard it called an anti-chick flick so I wondered if it would be too raunchy, but it was the right amount of hilarious and still had a huge underlying love story for my sappy heart.  It was so nice to get out on the town and share fun times with other girls!

Another funny bit to this, I posted about how I enjoyed it on Facebook and one girl that I invited to go, but had other plans posted a response of "Your next movie should be Water For Elephants. It was SO good. Haven't read the book yet, but I'm sure it won't disappoint either."  Yeah right Miss Single with No Kids, like I just run out and watch movies at my leisure. This is seriously the second movie I have been to in a theater since Austin was born.  It's funny how you don't understand the complexities of scheduling these types of outings as a parent until you have kids.  And I guess for a lot of people it's not so challenging to get to a theater, and some people have family support locally to watch the kids more often, but we don't, this was a really rare and special event for me.  Sometimes I think it would be nice to have that freedom of spontaneity, but I really do love my life and would not change anything.  And thank goodness for Netflix, right?

In the end the three of us decided we should try to do it again every other month.  We shall see if we can pull it off again, but at least I have the fun memories to cherish.

Oh the crazy weather!

So as I mentioned in a previous post, I planted part of my garden last weekend.  I was watching the weather closely Monday-Wednesday as the forecast was predicting that the low each night would drop lower.  After Wednesday there was supposed to be a warming trend.  Every night I was watching my outside weather gauge and we never got below 41.  I wake up this morning and Dustin tells me "it frosted last night."  Sure enough I looked at the minimum on my weather gauge and it got down to 33 last night.  I went out to inspect my little seedlings and sure enough they had that glossy opaque look of frost death.  Luckily I still had the Burpee Aqua Shields around the two tomato plants that I planted back in April and they look fabulous.  So I'm out $14 and will have to re-do all that work.  I'm not sure if I should re-plant this weekend, or wait another week since there is a chance of rain all weekend.  I AM READY FOR SUMMER!

On a happier note since the California strawberries are in season now and readily available I bought a bunch the other day and made them into strawberry jam yesterday.  They were so fresh and perfectly ripe and the batch came out to the perfect consistency, and it is the prettiest deep pink color.  Last year I made some and did not read the directions through carefully and added the sugar at the wrong time in the process.  That batch turned out runny. But when I invert the jars I made yesterday it stays in place.  And I had a little leftover that would not fit into the jars I had prepared so I put it in a container in the fridge and had a PB&J for lunch and it was SO GOOD!