Bowling night

I mentioned in a previous post how the bowling alley here has $.99 games and shoes. Last night we went with our friends Leslie and Martin, their kids and Martin's sister that's living with them. But, before they got there, Ethan and I decided to play a few arcade games. I'm a huge fan of Skee Ball so that's what I spent my dollar on. It was fun!

Leslie making her walk back to the bench.

Leslie and Martin's little boy calvin. He was so entranced that the white on his shirt was glowing because of the black lights. He's seriously adorable.

Calvin and Martin's sister Lucia

Leslie and Martin with their new little one Corina. She so precious. And she has the cutest little smile!

This was the first and only time Ethan beat me in bowling. I guess it had to happen sooner or later, but I won't let it happen again. Luckily, we can still take a picture together.

We finished the night off with Kari Ann's, which is an Italian ice and custard place. We sat and enjoyed each other's company for a bit and then headed home. We love having a couple that we get along with so well here and that we enjoy hanging with. 

Stromboli

I'm kind of a fan of any type of pizza: Round square, calzone, Stromboli. I love it. I decided to try a new recipe and we loved it! Technically this recipe was called a "calzone roll" but realistically it's a Stromboli. The link to the website is here.

Recipe:

Ingredients

2 loaves frozen bread dough, thawed
1/2 pound sliced ham (I used pepperoni)
1/2 pound sliced hard salami
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup jarred marinara sauce

Directions
1. Roll each loaf of dough into a rectangle about 8 inches by 12 inches.
2. Layer ham (pepperoni) and salami down the center of each rolled loaf lengthwise
3. Top meats with 1 cup shredded mozzarella for each roll.
4. Fold short ends of each loaf in about 1/2 inch and seal. Roll from the long sides and pinch well to seal the entire loaf. You should have 2 long rolls.
5. Bake, seam side down on a greased baking sheet  in a 375 degree F oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.*
6. Cut each roll into 8 slices after letting them cool for a few minutes and serve with marinara for dipping.

*I've found that the inside was a bit doughy even after cooking for the full time. I read on another website that slicing four or five vents crosswise all the way down to the filling helps let out steam and cooks more thoroughly.

Enjoy!

Writing to write

Sometimes I feel like I am purely writing to write. I have no idea who reads this or, for that matter, if anyone really reads this. I got to thinking about all of the bloggers out there and especially the ones that I read daily. When they don't post everyday I feel like I'm missing out (sounds stalker-ish, but most definitely is not).

When I read other blogs, I think to myself, "We would totally be friends" or "I wish I was as strong as her." I then think to myself, "Does my writing affect anyone?" Am I changing anyone for good (Wicked anyone?) I know for certain that there are blogs I read that make me feel like I'm doing something right, or help me realize when I'm not living up to my potential.

I'm sure anyone who reads this is probably a member of my family or random people who stumble upon it for one reason or another and I'm ok with that. Because one thing I realized is that, in all reality, this blog is for me. This is my journal. This is what my children, and my children's children will read (I plan on making a yearly book of my blog. Thanks for the idea Kara!)

That's why I write. That's why, most days, I'm just writing to write. I want my family to know who I was, what I did, who I loved and even the normal everyday things in my life. I have realized what seems like small and uninteresting, to others, tell so many stories. I love that.

This blog is my journal. And as mundane as it may be, it's mine.

One year sneak peak

Here's a little peek at one of the pictures Brennan took for us. She wanted to take full advantage of scenery at Lake Powell, and she wanted us to be the models. It worked out well because now we have some pictures to commemorate our one year anniversary. I can't wait to see the rest!

Back to school

While we were on our trip to Lake Powell, I had some amazing conversations with Brennan. We talked about how she had a business idea that she was really wanting start pushing forward. She had so many ideas and it was so fun to see her so excited. 

One night, while everyone was asleep we stayed up and talked under the amazing sky. We talked about dreams and aspirations, fears and disappointments. We talked about everything. I mentioned to her how much I really wanted to get into design because it's something I enjoy playing around with. I loved my classes I took at school and I've since done a couple things, but I opened up about why I haven't pursued it. 

I don't want people to think I'm just another person who bought the programs and told myself I was a designer and I don't have the confidence to really put my name out there on my work. I would say my work is average, maybe decent. 

That's why I want to go back to school. I don't plan on doing a complete bachelor degree, I just want to take a few classes that I feel will give me the confidence boost and a bit more know-how to really try and do something for myself. I sit at a job that I don't feel very valuable and then I go home and work on different designs I like and feel proud of myself. 

I'm hoping that everything will work out and that classes will be available if I do, in fact, pursue this goal of mine. I'm just ready to start doing something I really enjoy!

Sunday photo

Proof that we do in fact own real clothes after being on a lake for a week.  

Lake Powell- Final

A couple days into our trip there was another boat that anchored up near us. Brennan's dad could tell they needed a little help, so a few of the boys headed over. They ran into a problem when they find out there were from France and didn't speak English very well. Luckily, Brennan's mom lived in Paris for a while and was able to communicate with them. They had a couple of girls the same age as the girls on our boat and they had an amazing time hanging out. They even had a great missionary opportunity. Hopefully something they talked about stuck!

One of the things that I didn't get any pictures of, because I never went, was fishing. The boys were up every morning and gone for hours. They would come back do the occasional fishing throughout the day, and then go back out in the evening. This was one of the fish that was caught by Brennan's brother Mitch. He named him Baxter. He carried that thing around for a good 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately, when he put Baxter back into the wild, he didn't make it. He was a good fish. 

Another thing we did almost everyday that I don't have a single picture of is finding crawdads and literally hand feeding them to the bass. Brennan's parents bought each of their kids a pair of goggles and fins. Luckily, Ethan decided to bring his goggles and fins as well. They were well used and was probably one of the highlights for everyone. Mitch, Drake (Brennan's other brother), and Jordan (Mitch's friend) were the best at catching the crawdads. At one point I think they had over 15. We decided to use them as bait for the bass. We fed a couple of them and then before we knew it we were being swarmed! 

My first time with the fins and goggles (after the boys had been feeding the bass) I was swimming underwater with Brennan trying to find the fish. The water was a little murky, so we didn't have a long range of vision. I was swimming away when all of a sudden I come face-to-face with a decent sized bass opening and closing it's mouth at me. I'm hoping you are envisioning how it happened.  It scared the heck out of me and I screamed underwater. I swam up to the top and found Brennan laughing at me. She was underwater with me and heard me scream. I eventually warmed up to the idea of being that close to the fish, and I eventually hand-fed the bass myself!

The last full day we were there we went out on the boat again. Ethan wanted to slalom. The boat was having a hard time getting him up, and Doug, Brennan's dad, started giving him a hard time. He asked me how much he weighed and when I told him he would not believe me. He asked how tall he was and his still didn't believe me. He bet his boat on it, but unfortunately, we didn't shake on it. So, when we did get a picture of him standing on a scale and it reading the exact weight we told him, we didn't get the boat. Dang it!

In true Brennan fashion.

We finished off the night with pictures of the group we were with. The boys: Ethan, Austin, Doug, Mitch, Jordan & Drake

The girls: Me, Brennan, Kristin, Lainey May, Alex (Brennan's Sister), Marisa (Alex's friend)

Best friends

Work it.

One of my favorite little girls.

We had the most amazing time and we could be more grateful for this amazing family inviting us and treating us as if we were their own. We can't wait to have the opportunity to go back, and from the sounds of it, it looks like it might happen again next year!

Lake Powell Part Two

Our second afternoon we had a little bit of a crazy storm come in and cause a little havoc. It started off as these crazy clouds and then the lighting came. The wind picked up and the sand started stirring up. We tied down everything that could fly away and closed up the boat. It passed over fairly quickly and without any damage. 

Earlier in the day, all of the boys had gone clam hunting. They came back with quite a few of them and decided to pry them open with heat. I had never opened one before, but evidently, when you open them, they spit water at you. It kind of their last defense I suppose. So as the flame rose the spitting started, causing the fire to sizzle a bit. It was fun. 

And of course, a little fire isn't as cool as a big fire! There were a few huge tumbleweeds in the area that Ethan decided to throw into the fire. It heated up real quick (which I loved because I was a tad chilled!). 

 Look how cute that pyro is playing with the fire.

To go along with many other things I've never done/tried, was jumping off higher areas into the water. In this case it was the boat. Once I actually jumped I realized it really wasn't as high as I thought it would be, but it was high enough. Hopefully that will help ease me into jumping off higher things such as a bridge or cliffs in the future! And in true Kaytlin fashion, I plugged my nose.

 Then there was Ethan who decided to back flip off like it was no big deal.

He landed it perfectly contrary to what the picture above would make you think. My second jump I decided to skip the nose plugging but unfortunately covered my face with my arm. Picture fail.

Because our anniversary was coming up, Brennan decided to take some anniversary pictures. This is just one of MANY we took.

The next morning was the Walker double tubing tradition. Most of the pictures were completely unflattering faces, but there were a few that were presentable.

 We did indeed end up on top of their tube twice.

What is this? Just another picture that makes my heart flutter. 

The scenery, as I said before, was completely breathtaking. We decided to take full advantage of the beauty. These people are honestly more like family than friends and we wouldn't have it any other way!

These two are best buddies and Brennan and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Another beautiful sunset on the lake.

Love this face!

The next day was another round of water fun. We pulled out the knee board and the wakeboard and hit the wake.

 This next series is what I like to call an epic fail.

 Look! No hands!

Love her!

It was another amazing day on the lake, no surprise. I don't know how many times Ethan and I said how much we want a boat and become "boat people."