Fry Bread

Last night April Sanchez and her mom came to my house to teach our little skills group how to make real navajo fry bread. Sorry I don't have any pics; I was having so much fun that I forgot to take some. Apparently the first thing in making good fry bread is to have the right kind of flour. They had us get bluebird flour and you know what, it does feel different. I have never felt flour so fine and soft. Make sure to mix the dry ingredients together. Then you add the water the right way which means making a well in the center and then slowly adding flour from the sides o the well with your hand. After this, you add the remaining flour by pulling it in from the sides of the bowl towards the center as you rotate the bowl. They said this is like life in that we should bring all things evenly into our hearts and that if you don't turn the bowl its like becoming too focused on one area of your life and becoming out of balance. Keep kneading it until it gets smooth (I don't know what you would call the consistency). They were telling us that how your heart is will be reflected in how the dough turns out. If you are angry or stressed while making it, the dough will be hard, but if you're happy, then the dough will turn out perfect. Let is sit for 30 minutes, at least, in an air tight bag. We watched part of a bollywood film while we waited for our dough and got so wrapped up in the movie that our dough sat for an hour. After it has had a chance to sit, tear off a golf ball size piece and knead that in your hands for a little bit. Flatten out the edges first then the center. The way they flattened the center involves flopping it over your hands as you also rotate it towards you. I wasn't very good at that part. Before putting it in the pan, you have to tear a tiny hole in the middle which keeps the dough from rising in the middle while its frying. Then you just fry it up and put what you want on the top. I happened to have three different types of honey, so we were trying them out and deciding what the differences were. The honey from alaska was the sweetest, the second came from a guy at wintercount with his own beehives. jacob decided that one would be good in tea. the third was from the local co-op and its desert wildflower honey which was my favorite because it wasn't too sweet but had lots of flavor. The dough will keep for a couple days if you make sure to store it in an air tight bag.

My House

So most of you who read my blog already know that almost two weeks ago I put an offer in on a house. I had been looking for over two months and was beginning to feel really discouraged that I would never find one that suited me. Well this one came up in an email and it looked wonderful in the pictures (of course I have learned that pictures do not give the whole story) so I called Nancy, the realtor, and we went over to see it around 3:30pm on a Thurs. It was so cute. The first thing I was happy about was it was not in an HOA and the neighborhood looked nice. I did not want to live in a place where someone was telling me what I could and could not do with my house, plus I think HOA neighborhoods look a little sterile unless its really expensive homes. The second thing was that the living room/family room/kitchen were all relatively open to each other so if friends come over we could visit plus it will be great for skills nights to have the bigger space. Marilyn also pointed out that if I'm cooking in the kitchen I can still watch the tv. Third was the kitchen had been redone and it was beautiful with tile countertops and a decorative backsplash and brand new appliances. The master bedroom has a cute bay window, which I am always partial too, and the master bath had been partially redone. There are two other bedrooms one of which I am going to make into a project room. I am so excited for it! It will be wonderful to have my sewing machine, inkle loom and various other tools already out and ready to go rather than having to set them up every time I want to make something. Plus being able to have a good size work table instead of the floor will be great. The front yard is desert landscaping which I wanted for easier maintainance but the backyard is a complete blank slate. I don't really know exactly what I want to do with it other than have an orange tree, lemon tree, lilac bush and a veggie garden.

I really did like the place. Now keep in mind that I was heading to the Trail the next day and I asked Nancy if she thought it was going to go off the market during the week I'd be gone. She wasn't entirely sure but she thought the chances were good. So I had quite the decision to make and those of you who know me, know I don't like to make big decisions quickly, plus Marilyn had gone out of town that morning and she'd been my buddy who I would bounce things off of. On the drive home I kept thinking about it and by the time Nancy dropped me off I told her to make an offer.

Well that started a roller coaster. The seller was totally willing on negotiating that night which I wasn't expecting but turned out to be a huge blessing. After a little back and forth we agreed upon $113,000 and I had signed the contract at 9:30 pm. During those hours I had a full on panic attack and had to call many family members to remind myself why I was doing this and that I had made the right decision. I couldn't believe it had happened so quickly. It was a good thing though; I wouldn't have to be wondering while I was on the Trail whether or not my offer had been accepted. Even though it had gone under contract, I still was a little distracted at work wondering how the home inspection would go and if there were major things wrong with the place which kept giving me anxiety. In order to keep my anxiety down and to help me get excited for this new development in my life, I made stirring spoons and a spatula while I was sitting around camp. They are made out of catclaw and I love the red heartwood. It felt good to carve something so beautiful that I can use in my new place. I put the regular sized spoon in the picture just for size comparison.

Now that I have had a couple weeks to get used to the idea, the home inspection is all done and the mortgage thing is on its way, I am excited about my new home. I'm thinking of colors that I want to paint the walls, how to hang the art and arrange the furniture. I've begun looking for a fridge and a washer and a dryer. During the home inspection, I began to organize the kitchen in my head. I've always talked about "when I have a place of my own" and now that its actually coming true its hard to wrap my head around it.

Barnhardt Trail

Its been a while since I went on a hike with the hiking group. Most of them wanted to go to the Paralta Trail in the Superstitions. For Sam and I it would have been our fourth time this season so we did our own hike and convinced Shane to come along. We went into the Mazatzal Wilderness and hiked to a seasonal waterfall. (The Mazatzal mountains run between the Verde River and the Beeline highway that heads to Payson.) We were up pretty high in elevation, I'm guessing around 6,000 feet, and it was a little chilly, the air temp never got above 65. In fact there was still snow on the peaks above the waterfall. We hiked the side of a canyon that overlooked the creek which gave us spectacular views of both the canyon and the surrounding country. When we got high enough, you could see the Mogollon Rim heading out east and I could roughly pick out the summer time area for Anasazi. The wild flowers were just starting to make an appearance and the trees were beginning to leaf out.

The best part about the hike was not seeing the waterfall or the surrounding country but the conversation that took place on the way back down. We talked about the gospel, physics, space and higher mathematics and how they are connected. We talked about the amazing potential of people and the actual power of thought. This conversation didn't end when we reached the car or when we had our usual Dairy Queen stop. In fact we sat and talked for three hours at DQ. I loved every minute; it was just what I was needing that day. I wish I'd had a tape recorder with me to remember exactly what was said because it made my mind stretch in so many ways and made the gospel and the love of christ and God that much more real to me.

We found this amazing patch of wild miner's lettuce along the trail. It was the biggest wild lettuce I had ever seen in AZ so of course we had to stop and graze for a bit.

We were up so high that we got into the ponderosa pines. I always get happy when I see them because they remind me of Tahoe and I love the vanilla/butterscotch smell.

FHE can be dangerous or maybe I'm just a klutz

So I did a stupid thing Monday night at FHE. The activity was the classic iron rod blindfold obstacle course. I was wearing my new vibram fivefinger shoes ( I would put a picture of what they look like on here becaues I love them but I can't get them on at the moment) and wouldn't you know it, I managed to find the leg of a chair with one of my toes. Its been quite some time since I've jammed a knuckle and this one is a doozy. I spent the rest of the evening lying on the couch with an ice pack on it. Now I have it taped to the toe next to it and limp around everywhere I go. I still plan on going to the Trail friday and I hope they don't put me with a potential run risk. I can just see it now: the YW heading down the road with me limping behind, telling him I won't force him to stop but could he slow down so I can keep up. This will be an interesting weekend trying to hike with my pack and not being able to bend my toe without crazy pain.