When you wear steel-toe boots for 12 hours...they hurt your feet. Driving through the country is awesome...unless it's raining so hard that even your wipers on their fastest speed can't keep up. Taking pictures of yourself with a state sign in the background is really cool....especially if you've never been in that state before. Passing a sign that says "Center of the Nation - 28 miles," is pretty rad. Driving on highways that only contain one way there, and one way back, is purty neat..unless it's raining hard, as noted above. And finally...those signs on the side of the road that have a picture of a deer, then it says "For Next 5 Miles," is pretty pointless....when the sign is repeated every five miles.
(copyright held by this website for this photo...I'm borrowing it cause the wifi at the oilsite is slooooooowwwww so I can't upload my own photos)
So the actual update on my life is...while I'm still a Betty Crocker, I am also officially, an oilfield worker. Mind you, the actual work (what little I've done of it) is in a trailer onsite at an oil rig, so luckily, my job will be (mostly) indoors, in a heated trailer, operating computers that run surveys and logs and tell me how "my" tools are doing in the drill string. Lotsa words that I'm only now getting to know and/or love. :) My job title is "Associate Field Professional - MWD."
MWD stands for Measurement While Drilling...or as the roughnecks like to say "Movie Watching Dude." And yeah, so far, I've watched a few movies. :) But only because at the site I'm currently at, we haven't been able to start drilling yet.
As of right now, I'm based in Casper, Wyoming, but I'm at my first rig site in North Dakota. I'm actually in the southern part of North Dakota, and either tomorrow or the next day, I'm being sent to Williston, North Dakota, which is about 5 hours from where I'm at. I'm looking forward to experiencing an actual rig where we can drill. My husband and babies are still in San Diego, and once I finish at the next rig, I'm looking forward to flying back out there and helping my husband pack up the U-Haul and then driving our butts out to Casper! I've already rented a pretty cool house in what's called the "Big Tree," area of Casper. It's in an awesome neighborhood, with great schools. I hope Cash really likes his preschool. I'm going to try to get him into St. Anthony's Tri-Parish school. This of course, is all predicated on me being able to leave the oilrig in time to get back for my babies baptism on June 19th! Wish me luck!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Thinking of Wyoming
As many of you know (or not), I went to college in Wyoming. I had never been to Wyoming, much less any of the states around it like Colorado, Utah or Montana. But still, I wanted to study with a certain anthropology professor, and he worked out of the University of Wyoming. So I said, that's it, I'm transferring to UW. And I did. My dad and I towed my car packed full to the gills, and meandered (reality check: we really drove as fast as one can towing a car!) our way through New Mexico, up through Colorado and stayed the night with my aunt and uncle in northern Colorado. From there, we drove up over the pass and directly into Laramie.
It was one of the most fun experiences of my life, and to this day, I've always wished I could move back. Well, it appears that there might be an opportunity for me to do that now. With of course, my husband and children! So cross your fingers that I get called for an interview...and of course, that I ace it!
Hubs and I have spent numerous hours talking about the subject of our moving, into the ground. We've listed pros and cons and what would be the benefits and the negatives of such a move. Ultimately, we've decided that if we're going to do this, there is no time better than the present. Both of our children are under age four, so they're not enrolled in elementary school, yet they've both been in daycare, so are sort of used to strangers taking care of them. The best part that I can see is that my son would actually have a chance to bond with his daddy, because dad would be able to stay at home with both children. That kind of thing is not something one can look lightly upon. Time just moves so fast, and if we can get the opportunity for one of us to stay home and be truly involved in our children's lives, then why not?
On another note, here are a couple of beautiful pictures of Wyoming...and yes, camping and the wonderful fishing this state offers is high on my list of wants!
It was one of the most fun experiences of my life, and to this day, I've always wished I could move back. Well, it appears that there might be an opportunity for me to do that now. With of course, my husband and children! So cross your fingers that I get called for an interview...and of course, that I ace it!
Hubs and I have spent numerous hours talking about the subject of our moving, into the ground. We've listed pros and cons and what would be the benefits and the negatives of such a move. Ultimately, we've decided that if we're going to do this, there is no time better than the present. Both of our children are under age four, so they're not enrolled in elementary school, yet they've both been in daycare, so are sort of used to strangers taking care of them. The best part that I can see is that my son would actually have a chance to bond with his daddy, because dad would be able to stay at home with both children. That kind of thing is not something one can look lightly upon. Time just moves so fast, and if we can get the opportunity for one of us to stay home and be truly involved in our children's lives, then why not?
On another note, here are a couple of beautiful pictures of Wyoming...and yes, camping and the wonderful fishing this state offers is high on my list of wants!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
RIP Chickens
O.M.G. Yes, I just wrote OMG. Our poor chickens have been decimated by two evil-hearted raccoons. Okay, I say evil-hearted, but in reality I know they are just trying to survive. They found a flock of chickens and they viewed them as relatively easy prey. Considering the majority of our chickens have one wing clipped, then I guess I could agree. But the truth is, I am really upset about this turn of events.
For one, I've enjoyed having our chickens, especially the Black Star ones that we've had since they were a day old. They've moved with us from Vista to El Cajon, and now they only reached the age of three and they have been killed. So yes, I'm bummed about that. Second of all, we only have two chickens left! And this means basically, no eggs for the foreseeable future.
My husband is going to work on building a new coop, utilizing the materials from the old one. So now, I don't know whether to ask our neighbor if she wants to hold onto our two chickens (so this way hubs can get started soonest on rebuilding a new, enclosed coop) or if I should just go ahead and purchase some ammonia and spray it around our current coop. Any thoughts?
RIP little chickens!
For one, I've enjoyed having our chickens, especially the Black Star ones that we've had since they were a day old. They've moved with us from Vista to El Cajon, and now they only reached the age of three and they have been killed. So yes, I'm bummed about that. Second of all, we only have two chickens left! And this means basically, no eggs for the foreseeable future.
My husband is going to work on building a new coop, utilizing the materials from the old one. So now, I don't know whether to ask our neighbor if she wants to hold onto our two chickens (so this way hubs can get started soonest on rebuilding a new, enclosed coop) or if I should just go ahead and purchase some ammonia and spray it around our current coop. Any thoughts?
RIP little chickens!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Getting back to basics...starting with my coffee!
Mmmm...coffee. Like many other mom's, I am a coffee drinker. Ironic, cause before my first child was born, I wasn't big into coffee. If I did drink coffee, it was the fluffy, chocolate flavored mochas and that was it. Now, honestly, I'd feel like I'd die without at least one cup a day.
Once I started drinking & making coffee at home, I always used liquid vanilla creamer. For one, I didn't trust the powdered stuff, no idea why. Then...I read the ingredients in a bottle of Coffee-Mate liquid vanilla creamer and it read like this "water, sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil, casenate" etc. I don't even think actual milk was in this - just a milk derivitive! YUCK! Not even to mention that the sugar-free version has corn syrup solids - Holy crap!
So now, I've moved over to regular ol' half and half, making sure the ingredients list just says cream and milk. That's it. BTW, Target's skim half and half does NOT read just milk & cream, as an FYI. Sure, it's less sweet than the vanilla creamer, but when I had some coffee over Christmas Eve at my parents (they only have the creamer) and I took a taste of it, my mom looked at my face (apparently I grimaced) and she said what's wrong? I just told her I am so used to half and half now, that the creamer tastes violently sweet...and it was the sugar-free version, too!
My point is, I'm trying to get myself and my family back to the basics. Trying to cook more whole foods, more whole grains, using pastry wheat flour when I bake, etc. So, why not start with my coffee? That's one of the best things about the morning anyway!
Once I started drinking & making coffee at home, I always used liquid vanilla creamer. For one, I didn't trust the powdered stuff, no idea why. Then...I read the ingredients in a bottle of Coffee-Mate liquid vanilla creamer and it read like this "water, sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil, casenate" etc. I don't even think actual milk was in this - just a milk derivitive! YUCK! Not even to mention that the sugar-free version has corn syrup solids - Holy crap!
So now, I've moved over to regular ol' half and half, making sure the ingredients list just says cream and milk. That's it. BTW, Target's skim half and half does NOT read just milk & cream, as an FYI. Sure, it's less sweet than the vanilla creamer, but when I had some coffee over Christmas Eve at my parents (they only have the creamer) and I took a taste of it, my mom looked at my face (apparently I grimaced) and she said what's wrong? I just told her I am so used to half and half now, that the creamer tastes violently sweet...and it was the sugar-free version, too!
My point is, I'm trying to get myself and my family back to the basics. Trying to cook more whole foods, more whole grains, using pastry wheat flour when I bake, etc. So, why not start with my coffee? That's one of the best things about the morning anyway!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Baby food...
Some background first...even though I have two children, with my first, I just went on my merry way. I utilized only disposible diapers, didn't breastfeed and bought baby food (not even organic baby food, oh the horror!) from the grocery store. Yes, that was a little bit of sarcasm re: the organic stuff. I'm all for organic, but I also have my inner scrooge where sometimes, I am just too damn cheap to pay for certain things that are organic. Apples, yes...bananas, no.
Since we've had our son, we've purchased a house with a 1/3 of an acre and now both my husband and I have been trying our hands at urban homesteading. We have ten laying hens, had a rabbit, have barrels for collecting rainwater, have a compost pile, and usually have an organic garden going. This philosophy has kind of turned me a little hippyish...not like dirty hippy-style, but rather a let's save-the-earth and start-in-our-own-backyard style.
Now that we've had our daughter, I did breastfeed for the first three months while I was on maternity leave; I did (and do) use cloth diapers and now I've had my first experiment with making baby food. I did some research, and found this website Wholesome Baby Food. After comparing several sites, this one definitely won out in the easy to use factor as far as recipes and great suggestions by age. Right now Lily is a little over 6 months, so I am using the 6 - 8 months of age as a reference. I decided to start with cereal about 3 weeks ago, and I purchased the Gerber organic oatmeal to start her off with. I know some people out there only grind their own brown rice, but really? I choose not to make the time for that...besides, I use coupons and got two boxes for only .50 apiece. Beat that!
Anyway, I decided to make sweet potatoes as my first try for baby food. I remember that Cash LOVED this stuff. I used a mini food processor my mom gave me a few years ago, a spoon, three baked sweet potatoes and a small scraper.
The last photo is an ice cube tray that I got at Target for $1.99. I know I could've gone to a dollar store, but jeez, it was only 2 bucks!
Also, I'm in the process of making yogurt in our crockpot. although this is the first time I've ever tried it. I followed a recipe at Homemade Yogurt in a crockpot.
Here is the first step...
This was the photo from yesterday. I got the yogurt out of the oven (oven wasn't on, but the crock was just sitting in there) and it actually looked like yogurt! I poured it into two jars via funnel that I had washed & santized in our dishwasher a few months ago and it looks good so far. Haven't tried it yet, but am looking forward to it!
Hope everyone has a lovely evening!
Since we've had our son, we've purchased a house with a 1/3 of an acre and now both my husband and I have been trying our hands at urban homesteading. We have ten laying hens, had a rabbit, have barrels for collecting rainwater, have a compost pile, and usually have an organic garden going. This philosophy has kind of turned me a little hippyish...not like dirty hippy-style, but rather a let's save-the-earth and start-in-our-own-backyard style.
Now that we've had our daughter, I did breastfeed for the first three months while I was on maternity leave; I did (and do) use cloth diapers and now I've had my first experiment with making baby food. I did some research, and found this website Wholesome Baby Food. After comparing several sites, this one definitely won out in the easy to use factor as far as recipes and great suggestions by age. Right now Lily is a little over 6 months, so I am using the 6 - 8 months of age as a reference. I decided to start with cereal about 3 weeks ago, and I purchased the Gerber organic oatmeal to start her off with. I know some people out there only grind their own brown rice, but really? I choose not to make the time for that...besides, I use coupons and got two boxes for only .50 apiece. Beat that!
Anyway, I decided to make sweet potatoes as my first try for baby food. I remember that Cash LOVED this stuff. I used a mini food processor my mom gave me a few years ago, a spoon, three baked sweet potatoes and a small scraper.
The last photo is an ice cube tray that I got at Target for $1.99. I know I could've gone to a dollar store, but jeez, it was only 2 bucks!
Also, I'm in the process of making yogurt in our crockpot. although this is the first time I've ever tried it. I followed a recipe at Homemade Yogurt in a crockpot.
Here is the first step...
This was the photo from yesterday. I got the yogurt out of the oven (oven wasn't on, but the crock was just sitting in there) and it actually looked like yogurt! I poured it into two jars via funnel that I had washed & santized in our dishwasher a few months ago and it looks good so far. Haven't tried it yet, but am looking forward to it!
Hope everyone has a lovely evening!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Fritz the rabbit....RIP
Well, this past weekend, I'm running errands (Post Office, groceries, etc.) with baby Lily. Cash has stayed the night at my parents house. Well, I called my husband to check in on him and to be really honest, make sure he was up for the day. :) The hubs works a really odd schedule. I asked him to make sure the chickens were fed, and we hung up. Well...about five minutes later, I received a phone call from him, telling me that Fritz had died. Actually, that he was murdered, if one can apply that adjective to a pet.
Apparently, something was hunting, and it got into the chicken coop area where we keep our chickens. Fritz had his own little hutch in there as well. Hubs is speculating that it was a raccoon. A raccoon?!?! A raccoon could butcher a mostly-defenseless little rabbit? I had no idea, but I felt bad for Fritz, cause from what I was told, he was not a pretty sight. All of poor Fritz was promptly buried by my husband, next to our previous rabbit, Stu. Thank God for my husband, who in all his glory takes care of his family, with both the good parts and the bad parts.
So Fritz, may you rest in peace and be forever hopping around in bunny heaven.
Apparently, something was hunting, and it got into the chicken coop area where we keep our chickens. Fritz had his own little hutch in there as well. Hubs is speculating that it was a raccoon. A raccoon?!?! A raccoon could butcher a mostly-defenseless little rabbit? I had no idea, but I felt bad for Fritz, cause from what I was told, he was not a pretty sight. All of poor Fritz was promptly buried by my husband, next to our previous rabbit, Stu. Thank God for my husband, who in all his glory takes care of his family, with both the good parts and the bad parts.
So Fritz, may you rest in peace and be forever hopping around in bunny heaven.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Cloth diapers
These are some pics of my baby girl wearing her cute lil' Happy Heiny cloth diapers. So many mom's just use disposable diapers because it's easier. Right now, I still buy disposable's to take to my kids daycare, but honestly, these are easy-peasy to use. The Happy Heiny Lily is wearing in the following pics are from a local store near me called Baby Frenzy. I like these personally, because I love the Hawaiian-style of these with the hibiscus and considering Hawaii is where I grew up. Plus, she just looks so damn cute!
This one is the mini-size, specifically for little babies - although, at 14 pounds, I don't think she's a little baby anymore! Once they start trying to eat their feet through their socks, it's all over.
This one is the mini-size, specifically for little babies - although, at 14 pounds, I don't think she's a little baby anymore! Once they start trying to eat their feet through their socks, it's all over.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)