I tumble for ya

Hola to all of my comrades! I hope your week is starting you off right with a light brain and a happy heart. I keep thinking it's Sunday. For the past two mornings I have woken up to (in my head) woo hoo it's Sunday,  but no, it's not...not that it really matters what day it is where we are. Bob & Miss Cherry popped in this morning on their a.m. walk and half of the conversation was about what day it actually was!! I guess you can say that we could have bigger problems, haha. They invited us over for dinner on Thursday, I told Miss Cherry how I wanted to buy some Quinoa for the first time and she said she had some and would teach me how to cook it, so we will be having chicken and a Quinoa dish. I'm pretty excited about it, but I think Bob could pass, haha. Their visit is as exciting as this week has been so far. We had a "visit" from a guy in a Ranger truck, not sure if he was an actual Ranger or just an intern doing 'the dirty work'. He parked up on this stone about 75 meters from our site. He got some boots on and grabbed some things out of the truck and started walking directly to us. He was real nice as he passed by and the only thing he said to me was (I was outside of the van), "You guys sure are tucked up in here" and he just kept walking. As he walked he just disappeared into the forest and then exactly an hour later (yes, I timed him) he was trudging through the bushes on the other side of where he entered, up by his truck. He took his outside layer of pants off, his shoes off, got in the truck and left. That was on the 26th. Hopefully he'll be quiet about us being up here, we love it here, the worst they could do is ask us to leave...we'll see.

[caption id="attachment_340" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I got you, I got you on Candid Camera![/caption]

Mostly on the 27th I sat and 'played' with my stones and did some more decorating for The Lulu Lounge. What better place for my stones than in my outdoor Yoga studio!? I spent some time picking the stones that would work best for the space...haha okay they would all work. I just love them all, so I went through each piece deciding which piece should go where and so on. It's a sweet little spot, I love The Lulu Lounge.

[caption id="attachment_343" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Studio with a view[/caption]

 I have been doing Yoga about 3-4 times a week now and I'll tell you I'm not as limber as I used to be.....okay, now you can laugh. For the people that know me, I've never been a limber pup, but I am trying to fix that. I wasn't a dancer, I was a swimmer. I want to be a healthy healthy girl and I will be able to do a split by 50...gotta give myself plenty of time here haha The other morning I did a good 40 minutes but had to go 'inside' because it was just too darn cold....it was like 6 a.m. so the sun hadn't come up yet, probably 45 degrees or so. I got back in bed with J' & Bug and ended up falling back asleep for a good two hours, nice & warm with my babies. God, I love our lives! Let's see the next day I worked on my nails. I worked on those suckers for a really long time and didn't do anything with my hands for a good 20 minutes after they were (supposed to be) dry. I can't even remember what I did now, but I scraped them all to hell, so now my two index nails are all jacked. I have yet to fix them but they still bother me, grrr. So I haven't taken a pic of them yet, but here's one of what clean hands look like, tada....

[caption id="attachment_344" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Clean, but not for long[/caption]

Savannah decided that she didn't want to lay on the stupid dirt anymore, so she made herself a little chaise lounge, take a look...

[caption id="attachment_345" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Instant Cuteness[/caption]

After the rest of my nails were actually dry I thought it would be best if we cooked the ribs we got last week...plus I really love ribs, tee hee. I cooked the ribs on the grill, cooked some wild rice and added a piece of whole wheat bread. Oh, oh, oh, I made me some tea too, goji berry & a bag of regular decaf tea. I was super stoked for this dinner baby!

[caption id="attachment_346" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Can you believe I am cooking?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_347" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Holy goodness in my mouth![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_348" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Dinner & a movie![/caption]

New Day: July 29th

Savannah is just the cutest lil monster ever. We have this camo sheet covering some bags that we don't want in the van, to keep them out of direct sunlight. Savannah is smart enough to know if she pulls it off of the bags, there will be enough room for her to lay on it so she doesn't have to lay in the dirt. I watched her take the sheet in her mouth and pull it, but she would pull it, go lay down, get up pull it again until she had just the right amount of sheet to lay on. Thank goodness she doesn't have opposable thumbs or we would be screwed.

[caption id="attachment_352" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Smarter than some people[/caption]

Savannah and I have been going on longer than usual walks around 4:30-5:00 p.m. You're going to laugh but I can only go to a certain point until I don't know where I am anymore. I am not about to get lost out here. I try to follow the road or the tracks from our vehicle but I just can't seem to go past this certain point because I have no sense of direction, so I walk and take pictures and Nana sticks her nose in places they shouldn't be. Yep, she's always giving me a slight heart attack. I saw these hoof prints the other day and realized they were cow tracks (or however you say it). Bob said they (the cows) get dropped off and they work their way back down the mountain where they get picked up in the fall. Crazy but true. We heard them pretty close to camp a few days back and when we went on our walk this is what we saw...

[caption id="attachment_353" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Mooove on over[/caption]

There are tons of these hoof marks all over this area, it's cool. I wish I could have seen one though, I love Cows. I have two things on my bucket list dealing with Cows: 1- I would like to ride one, I'm fine with just sitting on it for a few minutes & 2- I want to milk one. I don't care how disgusting it is, I don't want to drink it, I just want to milk it. I don't really know why but these have been on my 'bucket list' since high school. Anyway, we walked down a bit farther than usual and I started getting all creeped out, I did bring the bear spray but I always feel like I'm getting stalked by another animal, so we turned back.

[caption id="attachment_354" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Armed & Dangerous[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_355" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Parts of our beautiful home[/caption]

I found out that Savannah really does love me...somewhere deep down...way deep down, haha. I wear my flip flops everywhere (it actually kind of drives J' mad because I don't wear closed-toed shoes when we go walking...sorry once a Florida girl, always a Florida girl) anyway we were walking back to camp and were walking down one of the granite boulders that are everywhere, along with pine needles. I slipped and fell, I was more stunned than anything and I had dropped Savannah's leash when I fell. Instead of her running back to camp or anywhere else, she ran back to me and started sniffing me and putting her head in between my arms and legs, checking to see if I was okay. I sat there for a couple of minutes and she sat right down beside me and didn't move until I was ready to go again. I knew she had it in her...I found her out! haha

[caption id="attachment_357" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Don't fight our love Savannah![/caption]

Other than all of this fun we're having I've been reading about supplements for like 4 (maybe 5) days straight...hence no posts. Along with my new groovy 'diet' (I've gotta find a better word than that) I have to start taking some supplements so I've been researching and reading like a mad woman. I feel like I'm in school again. It's pretty cool though, I'm learning a lot about the body and what we should actually be taking in on a day to day. Let me tell you how nasty the average Americans' diet is...or maybe I shouldn't! I just want to be the best I can be, I'm tired of feeling 'bogged' down all the time just because of what I'm putting in (or not putting into) my body.

[caption id="attachment_358" align="aligncenter" width="300"] It's MY turn[/caption]

It's about to change though. Little by little day by day I will make me feel great, okay! See what I did there...I'm a poet and didn't even know it. And that's where I stop. Have an amazing day, I'm gonna go hit the hay. That was the last one I swear!

PEACE

 

 

Happy (2nd) Sweet Sixteen to Me!

Today I get to celebrate my second Sixteenth birthday! No, I didn't get a car but I did get a sweet little celebration...J' is so good to me! We made a day out of going into Shaver Lake, we had to do a little bit of shopping anyway so it was perfect. We started out by taking showers in our Solar shower, it always feels good to be clean and that thing does a pretty good job.

[caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Just wanted to see what I looked like[/caption]

When we got down to Shaver Lake we decided we would stop in for a quick bite at that awesome pizza joint. We got a mini Hawaiian pizza and a drink for only $5.29 (or something like that), pretty cheap for amazing pie! They always seem to be hella busy and today was no exception, they were slammed. We received our pizza within about 15-20 minutes, not too bad and sooo worth the wait!

[caption id="attachment_313" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Busy little place[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_314" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Hungry birthday girl[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_315" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I never get my (entire) way on pizza, but today it was all about the Hawaiian! Woo Hoo!![/caption]

After we filled our birthday bellies we headed down to Shaver Lake. It's a beautiful lake as far as the eye can see with huge granite boulders to climb on or look at or play on and around.

I told J' we should definitely come down here for a day, it's free and available so why not! Savannah chased ducks and swam a little in the water, she's afraid of the "waves" (the bigger ripples from the boats and wind). She was so funny, she would get in the water and the 'wave' would come and she'd jump back on shore like a jumping bean...she's a silly girl.

[caption id="attachment_317" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Chasing the poor duck[/caption]

I took pictures and pretty much had my head down looking for pretty stones, rocks or anything else I could find. I'm a little scavenger! Oh and I tripped on the only pine cone on the entire beach...it can happen anywhere ya'll! I found a bell, a couple of pretty rocks and a small piece of Quartz (and lots of glass, that I ended up putting in my pocket to throw away later).

[caption id="attachment_319" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Soaking wet & filthy, that's my girl![/caption]

Oh, we (mostly me pointing them out, haha) found pictures in the clouds. Remember when you were young? Did you ever lay in your yard or anywhere else in the world and make pictures out of the clouds...well I did and I did today as well. I found a heart...just for me on my birthday, a dolphin, a sparrow and a whale or mermaid tail...I'll say mermaid because they're a favorite of mine.

[caption id="attachment_321" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Heart and Dolphin (the sky not the clouds)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_322" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sparrow (I think that's what they're called)[/caption]

It was pretty hot at the lake, so you know what that means....Ice Cream!! We huffed back up the hot sandy hill to the van and went to the Bakery.

[caption id="attachment_323" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Workin' my way up to Ice Cream![/caption]

When we drove back into town, we saw this awesome bus that we saw a few days back. This thing is totally Retro and so very radical, I think we both would drive the hell out of that thing if it were ours. Take a look...

[caption id="attachment_324" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Enough room?[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_325" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Awww, yeah son![/caption]

We finally made it to the Bakery to get our ice cream on. This little town of Shaver Lake is poppin' I tell ya. There are people everywhere, it's better than Fresno though! Everyone up here is just chill, it's probably because they are here to get away from everything, so they're just nice. We got our ice cream; I got mint chocolate chip and J' got his chocolate, both in big waffle cones and just one scoop was juuuusst right.

[caption id="attachment_326" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Get in my belly![/caption]

After ice cream, we hopped across the street to the market and picked up a few items we were out of and some dinner items as well, we invited Bob & Miss Cherry over for dinner. We ended up going to two markets because they didn't have some stuff we wanted at one and Miss Cherry asked for food for her lil baby, Tony and we had to get that at the other market. The bill always seems to shock us every time we go to the markets here, it's just plain ridiculous what they charge.

[caption id="attachment_327" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Yep, we're in America alright[/caption]

Once we got 'home' we put our stuff away and just hung out until it was time for dinner. Bob & Miss Cherry came over around 5:00, we made burgers and had some potato salad. Tonight would be the last night that I could go all out on food, for tomorrow I have a lifestyle change with my diet. So bring on the food!! Like I said, we had burgers and potato salad and then you may have already guessed it but do you know what Miss Cherry did? No, not cookies....a cake...a chocolate cake. Oh boy, my self control just went out the window...but it's okay tonight! Right...please.

[caption id="attachment_329" align="aligncenter" width="300"] 2 candles for my 2nd Sweet 16![/caption]

The cake was delicious as delicious can be. You know what else Miss Cherry did? She made me stuff! Pretty stuff too! She made a beautiful Amethyst and Pearl bracelet with matching earrings...just for lil ole me. She is so thoughtful and awesome, I'm so glad she came into my life

...and Bob too...he helped by licking the bowl when the cake was made! hahaha Awesome Bob, so awesome!

[caption id="attachment_330" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I got a present![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_331" align="aligncenter" width="300"] She's so sweet...and talented! Thank you Miss Cherry!![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_332" align="aligncenter" width="300"] ...and everyone sang to me![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_333" align="aligncenter" width="300"] I'm a ballerina princess...yes I am![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_334" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Homer is pretty excited about this whole thing![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_335" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Group hug! Thanks for making my day more awesome!![/caption]

I thank everyone who made my day pretty darn special even though we already celebrated (yep, my babaa' loves me). I stuffed my gut and then gorged on cake later that night 'til I was sick (I know, I know)...but that was it for this girl. Tomorrow is a new day and will be full of healthier choices. I'm excited about the changes, it's going to take some time and some work but I can be really dedicated when I put my mind to it...and who can't stand to be a bit healthier, eh???

To fresher and healthier tomorrows...

PEACE

 

 

What did we ever do without the Internet??

I know you've missed me and I've missed you, sorry I haven't been posting. My apologies. I actually have been posting just on My Documents due to us having no internet signal at all! Yes, it certainly has sucked...I don't want you to think I've forgotten about you or that our journey has ended or anything else you're crazy little mind thought up...NO, I did not just call you crazy, sorry. I have been up to something else, as you may have noticed by now...I changed the blog over to my very own site! It's been exciting, nerve-racking, irritating, fun, frustrating and lots of other things, and it still is an ongoing learning process. There are many things I don't know how to do that the hubs has been helping me with and lots of stuff I'm learning to do on my own. I'm actually pretty darn proud of what I've accomplished in the past couple of days (when I did have internet and yes, still not posting...I was enthralled, okay!). I hope you guys like it too, after all that was one of the main reasons I jumped over here, was to be easier on you guys...so I hope it is. This is definitely still a work in progress but if you have any suggestions or anything I should add, Please, Please let me know...Thank you!! When we woke up to no internet, I have been sitting here catching up on posts and other things, so you have much to read (or already have) ...So here we are again! The night of the 23rd, that would be yesterday, I tried to make the potatoes and onions we made the other night but actually had a little bit more structure to it this time. I diced the potatoes and onions and put them in foil first (last time they were cooked halfway through then he put everything in the foil)

[caption id="attachment_290" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Aww yeah buddy[/caption]

and seasoned them with salt, pepper and a little bit of butter, then some cajun for him and Mediteranean Sea Salt for me ~ made them into a little pocket and threw them on the grill.

[caption id="attachment_291" align="aligncenter" width="300"] His & Hers[/caption]

I put the chicken on~ little bit of butter, cajun for him, Med. Sea Salt for me, about halfway into the pockets being on. I cooked the pockets for 35 minutes and everything turned out just perfect! Everything was cooked all the way through, everything was moist, everything was delicious...it was awesome! I'm no cook, but it's kind of fun when the food turns out!

[caption id="attachment_292" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Come to mama'[/caption]

It was pretty filling too, so that made us both happy. One large potato, one regular sized yellow onion and a piece of chicken (one for each) = a great and easy meal anyone can cook...believe me! haha
Today, July 24th has been full of absolutely nothing. Internet is down. J' can't work, I can't catch up on any posts, work on the new blog site or play Bingo on Facebook! haha Don't judge! OH, I did however transform part of our campsite into a Yoga Studio though!!! I am super pysched about it! This is how it all started...
We had our main rug/mat that goes in the "cabin" of Joon Van out on the big rock out here. I had taken it out to shake it and it just ended up staying out there. J' had been using it to do some push-ups and I had been using it as a Yoga mat. J' likes it in the van (and so do I) because it's nicer on our knees and feet (remember you cannot stand up in our van). J' put it back in the van, leaving me with no way to Yoga. I did not do Yoga for a couple of days then we got the solar...these solar panels are pretty big which means...yes you smarty pants, big boxes. Not only did these panels have big boxes they also had big pieces of styrofoam inside!! When I saw everything lying there after the install, a lightbulb went off...or on, whatever. I asked J' to not break them down anymore than he already had, I was going to use them. This morning when I woke up, I needed to do Yoga so I got the box, two pieces of styrofoam and the tape and for a flat place I scavenged, I found one just on the other side of our camp...perfect!! I laid it out a couple of different ways but went with the first way I had it laid. I taped the cardboard to the styrofoam so I wouldn't trip myself up (you know this happens) and ran out of clear tape just right before I was finished so I got a piece of gorilla tape and finished her off.

[caption id="attachment_293" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Work in Progress[/caption]

After the taping process, it still didn't look finished to me, so I grabbed the fitted camo sheet and wrapped it around the cardboard...It fit just right! I put some rocks around the edges to push it down because it was popping up a bit...didn't want to trip.

[caption id="attachment_297" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Serenity Now[/caption]

I sat down to start my stretches when it dawned on me, I need a koozy for my water bottle. My water always sits in the sun and bakes, by the time I want a drink it's pretty warm...yucky. I dug a hole, put my water bottle inside of it, then started stacking rocks in a circle around it until the whole thing was pretty much in a hole....I made a rock koozy!

[caption id="attachment_299" align="aligncenter" width="300"] View from above[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_300" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Prehistoric Koozy[/caption]

So it's a pretty sweet little set up I made myself, I call it Lulu Lounge! haha Pretty sweet. I did get a little bit of Yoga done but I started too late and by the time I was 15 minutes in, I was starving... no energy. I went back over to camp and had my first white peach...and it was sooo yummy!

[caption id="attachment_301" align="aligncenter" width="300"] ZaZa the succulent peach[/caption]

The rest of the day was hit (very little hit) & miss with the internet. J' didn't get any work done, although he did get some of his audio book listened to. I was able to catch up on all of my posts...again I apologize (I had to catch up on 6-7 posts). We took a walk over to visit Bob & Miss Cherry, it's about a good 10 minute walk. We also wanted to see if they were having internet problems, making sure it wasn't just us...they were having the same problems, good (in a way). We also wanted to invite them over for dinner tomorrow night, I mean it is my birthday, so there's total cause for celebration! I think J' and I are going into Shaver Lake and we're going to restock on some things but also just spend the day together (like really together) and enjoy ourselves, then dinner in the evening. I feel like my birthday has already come and gone but who doesn't like to celebrate? And after all it is my Sweet (second) Sixteen!
PEACE

Happy Sunday!

Sorry to say, but you will probably have to wait a day or two more for an actual post. We got our solar in!!!!! It's in the process of being installed, buttoned up and working...and my computer is running off the power from a couple of days ago and with this crap battery, I probably won't have long tonight before it goes out. I wanted ya'll to know, though, that our power/energy problem is fixed. I think you will be excited right alongside us for our new solar and batteries...it's pretty exciting stuff man! I am also changing some things with my blog, but don't worry everything should be just fine...we won't lose each other, I promise! Also, we went grocery shopping and I have a whole other "lifestyle" I'm starting. It should be interesting for me, er us...okay mostly him, but he's always been one to stand by my side, so.....

Alright until (hopefully) tomorrow, when I have more juice and I can sit down and think about the last time I wrote, we shall meet again.

Until, then Have a Hippy kinda Sunday Funday ya'll!!

PEACE

Pure Energy (sing it)

Hooray, Hooray, our solar is in, Hooray! Not much to run down but this is what's going on inside (& outside) of Joon Van for Solar now. Remember we had those 3 GoalZero batteries that we thought we're the shiznit?? Well, we still have the batteries but they are no longer hooked up to our system. For those of you that don't read this daily, here's a little reminder: We had 3 GoalZero batteries that were 30 AH (Amp Hours) each = 90 AH all together. We had one GoalZero solar panel = 27 watts. If you remember we "returned" all of our GoalZero stuff, really just the solar panel and a cable (that daisy chained two batteries together). They returned most of our money to us but we could not send back the batteries, due to a $500,000 fine to the company. We still have all working batteries and 2 cables, we returned the solar panel. Now that we're all caught up to speed...our new system is much stronger, it's crazy. We purchased 2 new batteries they are LifeLine batteries.

[caption id="attachment_279" align="aligncenter" width="225"] They both fit perfectly behind the driver's seat[/caption]

Each battery= 220ah 6v, making that 220ah 12v when wired in series or 110ah of usable energy!! And we have 2 massive solar panels that sit on-top of Joon Van that are 140 watt panels= 280 watts for both.

[caption id="attachment_280" align="aligncenter" width="225"] One panel (showing)[/caption]

I know ya'll can do the math, I'm just making it easier for you, that's all. Also installed was a breaker box in case there is a short in the system and a Solar controller, this controls the power of the solar panels to the batteries (charges the batteries without ruining them). Then when everything was hooked up J' wired Joon Vans' stereo to run on the solar as well. So now we can turn on the (van) stereo anytime we want, we can run it 100% of the time without turning the key...as well as the TV and the laptops.

[caption id="attachment_281" align="aligncenter" width="225"] The breaker & controller (top left-ish)[/caption]

I think you might have guessed it by now, but yes we now have unlimited power and we're hella stoked about it. It's so sunny out here, where we are, that we get sun (and lots of it) from pretty much sun up to sun down...the trees do shade it a bit, but it's pretty good for the forest! I put another thank you out to Bob for helping us, installing with J' and giving your two sense and keeping my sanity! The rest of the day was pretty much enjoying our new system. J' also tightened a lot of stuff up so there's barely any cords now...hallelujah! I don't hate much, but I hated those damn cords, ugh! We were both on our own for dinner...I couldn't tell you what he had, but I had an avocado, one of my juicy maters with saltine crackers.

I thought it was quite delish actually, but I love me some fruits and veggies (wait is avocado a fruit or a veggie, it has the seed/nut inside....?) I hope you had a groovy day and you're getting energy somehow, someway whether it be from the sun, Mother Earth or music. I hope to see you tomorrow, different time, same place...maybe...

PEACE