Surfwise- A Documentary

I recently rented Surfwise from the library. It was such an interesting documentary. I love the random topics that documentaries cover and this one is totally out there.

A successful doctor (successful at work but not in his personal relationships) decides to leave his high paying job behind to do what makes him happy, and that is to surf. Along the way, he got married and had 9 kids!

This family didn't live in a conventional home but instead lived in an RV, traveling around North America surfing everywhere they could. Of course there were some major issues with 11 people living in an RV and with 9 kids growing up in an RV.

For a glimpse at a truly unique situation check out this documentary!

Taco Ring and Cheerio Treats!

Do you ever get a craving for the food you ate as a kid? Yesterday I couldn’t get the Pampered Chef Taco Ring my mom used to make out of my head! After thinking about the taco ring, another treat she used to make often for my brother and I came to mind, cheerio treats. I decided to solve the problem and make both items for dinner.

I used my baking stone to make the Taco Ring, you can find the recipe here (I cut the recipe in half). I would show you a picture of the one I made but, Matt and I were so hungry that we ate it all before I could take a picture.

When I was a kid, I used to cover my taco ring in sour cream. Now I use Greek Yogurt instead because it totally tastes the same and is way healthier for you! I also added some salsa on top, so good!

Now for the cheerio treats, I bought a box of Joe’s O’s at Trader Joe’s (Trader Joe's version of Cheerios) for Matt’s breakfast but he didn’t like them so I used a lot of them to make the Cheerio Treats, I guess I should call them, Joe’s O’s Treats. These turned out not so pretty…

However, they taste awesome and I can’t get enough. Here is how I made them-

½ cup of peanut butter

½ cup of marshmallows

2 ½ cups of Joe’s O’s

Handful of chocolate chips

I melted the peanut butter and marshmallows together on the stovetop which turned into a big gooey ball. I kept going and tried to stir in the cheerios but it totally didn’t work out. It is suppose to be like Rice Krispy Treats but as you can see it is more like a few blobs of pb marshmallow with cheerios and chocolate. But, like I said, it tastes great. I wouldn’t recommend copying the above recipe. If I make them successfully I’ll post a successful recipe.

What are some of your favorite things to eat and remember your childhood?

Mission Trip to Joplin

I grew up going on lots of mission trips around the U.S. to help with hurricane clean up, tornado clean up, building projects, working in warehouses, cooking meals, and the list goes on.

I've known for a while now that mission trips do more for me and my soul than for the project and people I am working for. While the work I've done on trips is appreciated, the fruits of that labor may not last but the impact of going on each trip absolutely does last.

Two Saturdays ago, Matt, my dad, and I went to Joplin, MO to help out for the weekend. We went in not really knowing what task we would work on. I thought we might do a little demo or clean up but instead we ended up working in the kitchen!

I'm used to getting dirty and exhausted from physical labor on most mission trips so this task was very different than what all three of us were used to.

The church we slept at over the weekend was converted into a shelter for all the volunteers coming down to Joplin and that weekend there were about 100 people coming and going. We were in charge of making lunch for all of the volunteers that came in looking for a meal so we set to work around 9 am. Lunch was scheduled to go from about 11-1. There were tons of frozen pizzas and some left over fajitas from dinner the night before. We began strategizing how we would cook enough pizza and keep everything hot for our hungry volunteers. By the time lunch was over, we were running the kitchen like pros and felt really satisfied with the work we had done.

Next we went outside to a warehouse where tornado victims could come and shop for food and goods that they needed (the warehouse was full of donations so everything was free).

It was about 102 degrees that afternoon so it was rough being out in the heat for the afternoon.

After working at the warehouse for the day, we were done. We were tired and had worked hard all day. The great feeling of a good days work filled the whole crew.

The next morning we made an awesome breakfast for about 50-60 people consisting of pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, biscuits, bacon, and sauteed veggies! We got up about 5:45 am and served breakfast until 9 am.

The thing about all of this wonderful work we did is, that anybody could have done the work that we did that weekend. If I hadn't been there, the only person that would have missed out would have been me.

The work I did was important and much appreciated but the one who benefited most from arriving in Joplin for the weekend was me because I got to serve and work toward a greater purpose.

We Bought an Airstream!

Our something BIG is a beautiful 31 foot 1976 Airstream Sovereign!

Matt and I are so excited about our Airstream! The plan is to gut it and renovate it to fit our style!

We have been wanting a big project to work on since about September of 2010. A lot of things came to mind that we could work on. As we spent many cold winter nights in front of our computers, we stumbled across the world of Airstreams and our dream to own one and pimp it out was born!

We have been scouring Craigslist and Ebay for a few months looking for our Airstream and about 2 weeks ago, found just the right one! We had a list of criteria and this one fit everything we were looking for-

Center Bath/rear bedroom
Good bones (no major dents or issues with the frame that we couldn't fix)
31 footer ideally made in the 1970's
Working A/C was a plus
No broken Windows
A working fridge was a plus
3 awnings still in good shape was a major plus
towable!
well cared for by the previous owners
and the price was right!

We traveled to Carlock, Illinois to pick her up this weekend and enjoyed camping at Sangchris Lake State Park on Saturday night.

We towed her home nice and slow on Sunday with no issues, thank the Lord.

If you are interested in the renovation process we are going to launch a blog all about our Airstream renovation soon. I'll post the link once we have it up and running!

We have already experienced the excitement that surrounds the Airstream community! People that own an Airstream are so proud and excited about their rig. At the state park, we met another guy that had purchased his 1975 Airstream 2 months ago. We showed him around our rig and he showed us his. We were so excited to compare Airstreams and get ideas from one another.

On the journey home on Sunday, we drove by 3 other Airstreams on the highway. Each one waved and flashed their lights at us to show us some Airstream love.

Matt and I keep saying to each other, I can't believe we actually did it! We talked for months about wanting an Airstream, have been in several, and had even started planning how we would re-do ours.

It feels really good to follow through with our dream plans and make them a reality.