Crush a Can, Save a Sloth

September 27 was Crush a Can Day.

I learned from Hogle Zoo's Instagram page the "correct" way to crush a can. 

I also learned from them that recycling helps to save sloth habitats.

So...

Crush a Can

Save a Sloth

But only if you recycle it as well.

Family Movie at the Library

I went to Orem Reads: Romance Con by myself. I took the kids to another event for Orem Reads. September 26 was National Family Day. We went to watch a family movie at the Orem Library- The Princess Bride. Still my favorite movie. It was fun to watch it on a big screen. 

While we waited for them to open the doors to the auditorium, Jet got some of his energy out running around the storytelling wing of the library. He was only a little wiggly at the beginning of the movie before he decided to fall asleep and slept through the rest of the movie.

It was a nice bonding activity with family.

That day was also National Pancake Day and Johnny Appleseed Day so we had pancakes and apple cider at home.

When we got back from the library, my sister reminded my mom, my other sister, and me that Jupiter was the closest it had been to Earth in 69 years. She also told us we could see some of its moons. My sisters, my mom, and I all went outside to look at it from our different locations and were texting back and forth about it. I had several of my immediate family members come out to look at it as well as some of the neighbors (came to look at it, my immediate family didn't come out to look at the neighbors).

That was a nice "family" activity, too.

Daughters Day

September 25 was National Daughters Day.

I love my daughter. I love her talents, her creativity, her similar hobbies (birding is great with this girl), her kindness, her intelligence, her gospel discussions with us. I love her in our family. I love her in so many ways I can't list them all.

It was also Shel Silverstein's birthday so I made sure to wear my bow earrings.

Romance Con

Orem Library is holding events for Orem Reads. The theme of it this time is Romance.

Their kickoff event was an all day Romance Con with panels and presentations from several artists/authors.

I'm a fan of "clean" romance so it was nice to be able to go for a few hours to hear from and meet some authors of books I would actually read.

It was like when I went to hear from Sarah M. Eden the beginning of September at the Provo Library.

I even made a new friend at Romance Con. Author Kate Condie also grew up in Oregon so she and I spent some time chatting about "back home." It was fun to hear her use the term "the coast" when some other people would use the term "the beach." Western Oregonians know what I'm talking about. And her books are clean.

The keynote speaker was Josi Kilpack. She shared some great words of wisdom about how to find and hold on to what makes us better, not just in our writing, but in our lives as well. I took some good notes.

I'm glad I went to this event. I learned some pretty cool things.

 

Ladies' Night

It's been a few years since Girls' Night with my group of friends from my old ward/neighborhood. Some I've seen since then for different reasons. Jeremy and Jet recently ran into one with her daughter at Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. But it's been a while since we ladies gathered as a group to spend time together.

Recently one friend invited us to Ladies' Night at her house to decorate potion bottles for Halloween decorations.

That was fun. 

We had fun creating but we also had fun socializing. So much socializing

When I got home, Jr. Jr. was still up (too late), and when he saw what I brought home, he started analyzing my "potions" and going into detail about the differences between potions and elixirs and what different materials would make different things look like. That kid is quite a thinker.

Now let me share two of the things I love about Girls' Night with these friends:

1. It's not always the same group. A few of us have been there from the beginning going to most of the activities. Some friends have moved away too far to just drive back for a night. Some people have joined and have become a permanent part of the "group." I love that whether someone comes for one night or for ten, they are welcome. 

2. It's a safe space. We've had some discussions that have gotten pretty deep. There's been vulnerability shown. Honestly, there's also a lot of light discussions. There is definitely a lot of laughing. But it's not a place to start gossip or continue gossip. We can talk about things without worrying about it being blabbed elsewhere. I love that it can be comfortable with these friends even if I haven't seen them in a few years.

I LOVE GIRLS' NIGHT/LADIES' NIGHT!

I Survived Shelftember!

I survived Shelftember! 

We ended up saving quite a bit of money on groceries for September thanks to this challenge. Yay! Here are a few other things I didn't talk about it before:

 

I mentioned this before but I found a recipe I like and it bears repeating because I'm going to make it a lot. Mexican rice from shelfcooking.com. It's another of those easy recipes that makes for a quick side dish. 

One day, I threw together homemade refried beans (because I'm not a fan of the taste of store bought refried beans so I always make my own from pinto beans with seasonings) on corn tortillas with corn and Mexican rice on the side (or wrapped up in the tortillas with the beans). Quick shelf cooking meal perfect for Shelftember. And it made for good leftovers.

 

We had taco soup in the freezer that needed to be eaten up. Shelftember is a great excuse for that.

 

And of course free food/snacks is always a great way to save money. Nichole got some of The Food Nanny's Kracklin' Kamut from one of her teachers. She was nice to share with us.

Since it's Fall now, I made apple crisp. So good. The only things I picked up at the store for this in September were apples. The rest of the ingredients I had on hand, including the ice cream on top.

Sometimes Spanish Rice and shredded pork or chicken on corn tortillas make a great quick lunch.

I finished off the month with a quick trip to the store where I spent only a few dollars on apples. The dinner I tried to make that night was failing tragically until I threw everything into a casserole dish and finished it up in the oven. While waiting for it, I had a tortilla with peanut butter. Sigh.

But that's okay. Not every meal turns out perfectly.

Huh?

You know? Sometimes I use a whole block, a whole 8 ounces, of cream cheese. Sometimes, like when I make alfredo sauce, I only use some of it. I don't even use half. I use 3 ounces for alfredo sauce.

So what do you do when you take the cream cheese out of the box and there are no lines on the package to see how much 3 ounces is?

You make your own lines. Sharpie to the rescue.

Because dividing in half, and half again, and half again is so much easier than guessing what 3/8 of a block is without guidelines.