Axe Throwing!

I have to start off by saying that I am as exactly bad at axe throwing as I thought I would be. This is is okay, it was still so much fun!

As everyone knows, I am a huge fan of trying new things. For Christmas, some of my girlfriends suggested that we do dinner and axe throwing instead of gifts. I was like that sounds amazing.

We started off with Mexican and due to both mine and Husband's bad timing had to rush a bit to make it to our 7pm time. We went to Blue Ridge Axe Throwing, signed some waivers and then it was time.

They put on a lane together, taught us how to throw the different axes, First double handed over the head and then one-handed. Then just let us have it while giving us some tips, pointers, and just answering any random questions.

One of my questions was why is there mulch on the floor and do they need to buy more or do all the splinters make their own. The mulch is there for less bounce back when people like myself throw and miss sticking the target. IT stops the slide. They had some mulch to start off but now it pretty much makes it's own. How fun? I really put that mulch to the test.

After a while of us all throwing and going back and forth we went to some games. I successfully lost in the first round each time. I had hope for Husband. He has hand-eye coordination that I lack, heft, experience with axes though not in this capacity, but it was all for naught. My girlfriends kicked butt, took names, and only really competed against themselves.

Way to go ladies!

I still had a blast, would be happy to do it again, and the hour just FLEW by. Unlike my axe that wobbled and hit the ground.

Has anyone else tried axe throwing? What did you think? I know that I will not be pissing off these ladies when they are in arm's length of axes, that is for sure!

Enjoy my failure below!

Fox in a Microwave

Honestly, I'm keeping this post really short. I don't have a lot of videos but I cannot get over how much this one makes me laugh.

Earlier this week I spent the night at a friend's house watching her two wee ones.

The summary of those few days ist that everyone was alive when I left and the kiddos made it to school and their activities on time. Win.

The first night I was putting the wee ones to bed through I laughed my head off. Their oldest was like can you please warm up my stuffed fox for me in the microwave? I was a little confused but sure enough, the tag on the fox listed out the times to be zapped so I said okay.

While I walked to the kitchen he called out to me to make sure I put the fox on the plate because the microwave had foodstuff in it.

Now that I type that I feel like I could have skipped the plate if I would have just cleaned the microwave, but alas I had not.

So I take this fox, put it on a dinner plate face up and his libs are sprawling all over the place. I punched in 90 seconds and hit start. The fox gets about one-quarter of rotation in before I'm worried that he's limbs are touching things outside of the plate.

I pop the door open, rearrange him to be butt in the air face down all the limbs neatly tucked under and resume the heating of this fox. I am giggling the whole time. I cannot stop this like straight-up hits my funny bone and I don't know why.

The microwave dings, I pull the fox out and while still on the plate carry him to the room to be served up to his owner.

Hoping for a repeat performance the second night I remembered to grab my phone. This time the fox owner puts the fox on the plate himself in a seated position and then together we press start.

I laugh both the boys laugh and I then after the microwave dings everyone is sent to bed.

I keep thinking about this fox over and over again throughout the day and laugh. I keep showing this video to people and they first are shocked that a stuffed animal lover such as myself could do that, after reassuring them it is safe for this particular animal they too start to laugh.

I hope this little video brings you as much joy as it does me. Happy Sunday!

Cooking with ShanShan: Peanut Butter and Jelly Crackers

Today with Cooking with ShanShan I  am going to tell you how to make this quick and easy snack that can be eaten for any meal or just as a snack. The best part about this recipe is that it just takes 3 ingredients!

Like most cooking blogs I'm going to tell a short story before I give the list of ingredients and instructions.

In all seriousness, this snack does remind me of childhood. I would say specifically in Michigan. If we are going back to Michigan then it must have been one of the few snacks I could make or my mom would let us make. It brings back the memory of sitting down, making a ton of these little guys, spreading evenly on a plate or stacking them in a gooey tower before eating them all up.

If I am searching threw my very foggy memory I would say I was eating soup, something like chicken noodle with these tiny sandwiches. The other memory is just of me eating these while probably watching TV on some afternoon.

I think these would be a perfect school snack but I'm not picturing that in my mind's eye. Mostly weekend chilling. I also picture eating these both with and without siblings.

I could be wrong about all of those fuzzy memories. I feel like I'll have to text my siblings and see if my memory matches theirs.

The end location of where you consume these tiny little delectable delights does not matter. What does matter is that they are not keto or carb-free friendly they are delicious. If you have not had one in a while I highly recommend you stop reading this post right now and go make yourself a few.

Now onto the recipe section of this blog:

Ingredients:
Peanut Butter for your choice, I prefer smooth
Jelly of your choice, I prefer grape
Saltines your brank of choice these were Kroger brand

Steps:
1. Open up the package of saltines and count the number of pairs you would like to eat
2. Spread the peanut butter on half of your stack of crackers
3. Spread the jelly on the other stack of crackers
4. Pair the crackers together and enjoy

Time:
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes

Nutrition:
Probably not the best but it is yummy. I really just don't want to do the math but felt obligated to put this label.

Do you have a favorite snack like this? If so what is it? Please leave a comment below!

Walking On The Farm

Christmas 2019 was a very pleasurable day. It started with the early hour gift-giving at Husband's folk's house and then we wandered down to his grandparent's house for breakfast and present opening with the rest of his family. 

This year was a bit sad because Husband had to work, but when you're in public service these types of things happen.

After all the festivities I wandered back to the in-law's house for a nap. I told Teach I would take him for a walk and planned to do it before my nap but I was just..so....tired I couldn't fulfill my promise.  I had to nap first. He was not pleased so didn't allow me much of a nap, but still, I had enough sleep to be a functional person again.

While everyone else napped and chilled out Teach and I went to the farm.

Now, I feel like I probably talked about the farm before, but if not that is a shame. It is in a lot of pictures for sure. This is the farm where Husband proposed to me and we celebrate the Fourth of July each year. It brings us wood, and stories, and his family with pasture for the beef cattle they raise. 

Teach LOVES, the farm. It is where we let him off leash allow him to be a dog. To run and chase pretty much anything he wants. He drinks out of streams, pees on the tallest blades of grass, and slightly terrorizes the cows. He mostly does herd them together, but sometimes he tries to bother a calf and momma cow is NOT happy. We can, most of the time, call him off the cows, without causing too much stress. However, he listens to Husband when he is in full working dog mode, better than me.

The farm is where Teach and I walked. I followed the fence line for a part of the field I'd never really wondered much. In one part wandering, I came across our old truck that was totaled due to ice on the road, a steep hill, and a phone pole stopping it. I think that happened in 2018. I went up to the truck and forgot how badly it had been damaged. It made me very grateful that no one was hurt but sad we lost it. It was a good truck. 

In another part of this field is where we buried our cat Moomba. It was nice to take a moment and think about that silly, wonderful, best cat ever, that graced our lives for too short of time but made such a lasting impression. 

I didn't take pictures of all the items Teach and I saw like tires, lots and lots of tires, some old appliances, random bits of metal, huge rocks, wooden crates of rocks, broken car, random bones and all things nature. 

As part of the same field but in a different section, I was excited to stumble upon where they actually put the dead animals. It is a farm and not all animals make it. I don't know if all farms have a "this is where the dead animal bodies go" but this farm does. It was a cooler day and in winter there were no smells, but Teach and I did see a very large amount of bones and some dead deer. 

Look closely at the image below of the deer and you can see where the eyes have been eaten out. Also, I find it just interesting to see the head left alone and the rest is gone. I get it, less meat on the skull but still, kind of cool. Also, when I was walking away there was just this random deer leg hanging out by itself up the hill from the body. It kind of reminded me of the leg from the goat in the first Jurassic Park movie. 

Side note the first movie is the best the rest are entertaining but the books are amazing! 

After wandering for about an hour I started to go back to the car. Teach was starting to do the run and stop and sit for a minute so I knew he was getting tired which was the whole point of this walk. 

Since he had done such a great job of not rolling in any piles of poo or other unknown fluids up until this point in time it meant he had to roll in something that caused his hair to mat together. Why would we want to go to the farm and not have to take some kind of bath? This being a known issue I gave him a spot bath outside with some super cold water. After 4 years you would think Teach would associate poo rolling equals bath but so far that is still not the case. Teach might not learn but I have. I try to always bring dog shampoo and towels with me when we head to the farm.

I love the farm. Not only is it pretty and filled with random items, history, crackling power lines, and tires, but it just fills you with fresh air, very little cell service and the ability to just be. 

Does anyone else wander around farms? If so, do you see some of these same things? Let me know with a comment below!