blogging – kristilynk

Lake Day

I love water. The ocean, the river, a pool, a hot tub – or is it a spa? Are all hot tubs spas? Are all spas hot tubs? – I love water.

I don’t love the lake. I mean, they’re beautiful, because its water but…to me, it feels… germy. Especially in Arizona. Its HOT, the water is just floating around, not really going anywhere. Kinda gross if you really focus on it.

With that said, I am trying to get past this. So, me and my friend and our mens met up at Lake Pleasant in AZ., the mens sat at the restaurant, on the water , had drinks and snacks while me and the friend putzd around on the lake with our paddle boards.

Rule #1 carrier your blow up paddle board down to the dock.

Rule#2 get comfy and don’t complain, it’s going to take about 5 minutes to blow up the board.

Rule#3 don’t be afraid to ask for help getting into your board from the dock.

There was some shade, thankfully, it was still hot 🥵

Once

On the water it was my bliss 😍 even though I did forget sunblock!

Glorious Utah

Sunday afternoon NFL means to me, doing some laundry, getting ready for the work week and becoming side-tracked by looking at old photos.

In looking at said old photos I realized that I have not shared some superb exploring!

A lot of months ago, 7 months to be exact, Jason and I took a little 3 day trip up to our neighboring state of Utah. I am not sure what took me so long to make this short hour and 10 minute flight from Phoenix, this place is beautiful and this is how I felt the entire time.

Free and peaceful.

Being this adventure was 7 months ago, I will not be able to give you specific details but know this….If you go, rent a van and camp or bring your own camper van. We stayed in hotels and drove around a stupid Dodge Charger, this was the only disappointment. I requested a tiny little compact car, the rental place was out of them so they gave me – what they thought – was an upgrade. The whole purpose for me ordering a tiny little compact car is because we are time little compact people and I do not feel comfortable driving anything bigger than my Jetta. Rant over. 🙂

So, yeah, basically, I don’t really remember the details to write an amazing blog about it but I bet these photos will convince you to GO!

Our first stop: Kanarra Falls (Thank goodness I took a photo otherwise there is no way I would have remembered this).

Kanarra Falls is a slot canyon and requires a permit of 12.00 per person. There are four points to this hike totaling almost 2 miles to the end (round trip 4 miles) Prepare to get wet, we only hiked up to point 2 and were hiking through water up to my knees. Going beyond point 2, I probably would have had to swim (take into account I am only 5’2″ so my knees, may well be your ankles) 😀 . It was April, the water was cold, I was not going to go there and neither was Jason.

Next stop…ZION! This place is WOW. You must get to the park early if you want to find a spot to park. We were lucky and ended up parking in the lot where the buses shuttle you to each of the trails throughout the day. There were a few trails closed and one that I was way to chicken to try. Angels Landing. You guys…click on the link (tip, the word Angels Landing is pink, click on it) and watch this video. Would YOU do this trail? I’m getting anxiety just thinking about it again, also a little regret because how badass would it be to conquer this fear in such a magical place?

A little snacky poo after our wanderings.

Sadly, I did not bring my DSLR and sadly I did not take as many photos as I should have but i encourage you to visit, take many more photos, document and also google pictures of Zion to give you ideas of photos you may want to have as a part of your own adventure collection.

Last stop, Snow Canyon. I wanted to go here because I thought it was where that canyoneer guy cut off his arm. It was not, he did that in Blue John Canyon. Whatever, it was still beautiful. See?

Looks like a cow-pie.

Moral of this story…visit Utah. We will return. 🙂

Puff Pastry..

My friend and fellow blogger, Kim, shared with me another blog which we now both follow. I love to “hate” this girl..she’s like Barbie…the *&tch* has everything… I put “hate” in quotes because I don’t hate her..Its a jealousy thing..

She’s all about the traveling, cooking, dining and fashion but in a humble not so pretentious manner.. and to top it off..I’m pretty sure she gets paid to do all of this through her blog..wha???

Anyway, I will not bore you with my mental issues…today anyway 🙂

This back story has a point..FOOD! Rosie turned Kim and I onto this delight!

Now I will just tell you up front. Mine did not turn out as pretty as hers OR Kims’ for that matter…

First issue..I had to to find out, what is Boursin cheese? Turns out..it’s just like Rondele soft cheese but you get less and pay more 🙂 Kim says its better but my memory is just not that good. Maybe, if I had them side by side I would be able to taste the diff but from my memory (my memory…not sayin’ much) .. it tasted the same.

Found it and bought it!

Second issue..where the heck am I to find puff pastry? I don’t even know what that is. I thought it was the pillsbury dough boy stuff that comes in a pop can..Again, I had to use the phone a friend option..

Found it! It was hiding in the frozen pie section.

The mayo has nothing to do with this recipe so please just ignore… 😉

Third issue: Really Bashas?? You don’t carry Heirloom Tomotoes?? I had to go to Sprout’s ~ why is it that non of the grocery stores carrier EVERYTHING we need? It never fails. For those of you who say..Wal-Mart does..I say NO..you do not buy produce at Wal-Mart..

After a long day at work, long drive home, two grocery store trips I finally got home and started in on putting dinner together.

It only took about 30 minutes for the puff pastry sheet to thaw out. I kept busy prepping the kitchen and then cutting up romaine lettuce, purple onion, cucumbers and tomatoes for a salad.

Yes, it took me 30 minutes.

Once it was thawed, I spread the Boursin (not really that easy so be careful not to tear the pastry sheet)

Pre-heat oven to 420

Cut tomatoes

Put them on top of the cheese on top of the puff sheet and don’t forget the fresh basil!

Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and just a teeny sprinkle of sea salt.

Pop it into the oven for 20-25 minutes ~ Now…For me, I think 420 at 20-25 minutes was too much.. Look..my edges are not pretty:

It may be that I used tin foil instead of parchment paper so the tin made it cook hotter?

In any event..it was REALLY good! The husband loved it too!! WINNING!

To write..or not to write..

Five-thirty in the morning, semi sleeping actually envisioning myself sweeping sections of the floors downstairs and then mopping them. On a Sunday? This is a little ridiculous but I got out of bed, made coffee and plopped myself in front of the television. I found myself watching a program on PBS called the “GED Connection” todays topic was on writing. I became inspired and here it is an hour and fifteen minutes and a giant cup of coffee later and I am still on the couch…wanting to write.

One of the points made in this program that I hope to never forget is…If you have something in mind – get it out – don’t worry about grammar, don’t worry about how you’re going to start, don’t worry about complete sentences. Too many times writers confuse their roll in the creative process of writing with that of the editor. Of course you cannot publish a story or book full of run on sentences or a grammatical nightmare but you can get the complete product down on “paper” and edited it later. The sad part is ther have been many times I have had something in my head that I wanted to get out – I would sit at the computer and start writing only to quit fifteen minutes later because I couldn’t come up with the perfect introduction.

From here on out, I am making a promise to myself and will make a conscience effort to spit out my thoughts as they form in my head. It may be difficult for my readers out there, I warn you. Expressing myself tends be a bit more difficult when there are SOOOO many random thoughts bouncing around in my head!