Year: 2016

5th Anniversary “Road Trip”

Anna Blankenheim Family, Vacation , , , ,

Yes, I know it’s been forever. Life has been busy, and blogging has been at the bottom of the list.

Each year, in lieu of gifts for each other, Mike and I go on an adventure to celebrate our anniversary. We like the idea of having an experience together as a reminder of why we got married and why we stay married. We still kinda like each other.

This year was no different – we drove down to Springville where our good friends Chris and Kassie live. We spent the night at Kassie’s family’s ranch – a working roping ranch. It was so much fun to watch the cowboys (and girls!) practice their team roping – so different than the cow work we do! The adventure this year was to spend a few days at their cabin in the woods… like REALLY in the woods. In fact, there are three ways to get there: horseback, hiking, or helicopter. The boys chose to hike in (10 miles!) and since that long of a hike and riding are out of the question, I got to take my first ever helicopter ride with Kassie.

The chopper landed at the ranch and before I even had time to get nervous, we were in the air!img_1624

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Our pilot was amazing and talked me through everything. The cool thing about helicopters is that you don’t feel a lot of the pressure that you do on planes (you know, that roller coaster feeling in your belly). Instead, it’s just kind of like floating.

About 20 minutes later, we landed at 9,000 feet at the cabin and got to work setting everything up. The boys showed up a few hours later. The cabin has running water (plumbed from a nearby stream) and a generator to provide electricity. We used the various fireplaces to keep warm. It was so much fun to literally be out in the middle of nowhere!

The first full day there we went on a hike as a group. I was a little nervous about my knee, but it held out really well. I used trekking poles and took it nice and slow. We ended up at these beautiful lakes where we hung out, ate lunch, and watched a storm roll in.

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Almost every day we would do some sort of outdoors activity in the morning, come home for lunch, and nap in the afternoon. It was so relaxing!

On one of the last days there, Kassie and I decided to go stream fishing – something I’d never done! My daddy would be proud – I baited my own hook (worms), handled the fish I caught (four golden trout), and even cleaned one I couldn’t save when Kassie decided to eat it! It was so peaceful and beautiful out on the stream! We were proud of ourselves on our girls fishing trip!

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This was such a wonderful trip! There was so much time to just hang out and it was amazing to be where there was no phone, no cell service, no internet!

In Memorium: Father George Thomas

Anna Blankenheim Death, Family

Yesterday the world lost a really cool guy – Father George Thomas. He’s been a friend of the Blankenheim family for years and a regular at our family barbecues, holidays, and events. Mike and I were blessed to have him marry us back in 2011.

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He was a wonderful man who gave his life to the church, serving as a priest for over 60 years. His little whistle always caught your attention. He had a great sense of humor and loved to just hang out.

Father George, you will be missed – thank you for everything! Requiem aeternam.

ACL Surgery: Four Months Post Op

Anna Blankenheim Health , , , ,

This coming Friday is officially the four month (16 weeks) post-surgery mark for me. At yesterday’s physical therapy session, I was cleared to run. Still no horseback riding (there’s too much of a chance of that twisting motion and/or an uncontrolled movement), but I’m happy with expanding my activities!

I ran today with my sister. We’ve got a little pond at work that has a soft track around it… We started doing a couple laps and ended up doing a mile, with one lap being walked. It was a great start and as the day went on, my knee actually felt looser than it has in a long time (good loose, not missing-the-ACL-loose). I am still having some pain – partially because my IT band and patellar tendon are tight and are pulling my kneecap to the left. Tonight I need to foam roll until I can’t take it and then ice a bit.

Here’s what my knee looks like now. It’s healing up rather nicely! There are 3 “holes” (top right and then two towards the bottom) as well as the larger scar where the hamstring tendon was harvested from. Ignore the white scratch… I was just itchy.

I’m really pleased with my recovery so far!

Chicken Wonton Tacos

Anna Blankenheim Cooking, Recipes , ,

Last night I tried a new recipe that I found on Allrecipes.com… chicken wonton tacos. They were absolutely amazing! They’re tiny, so if you have them for dinner, be prepared to eat like eight of them. They’re great as the main dish or would be awesome appetizers!

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Ingredients

1/3 head of red cabbage, sliced and chopped

4 small carrots, peeled and grated

1/4 cup coleslaw dressing

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 pound ground chicken

1/4 cup stir fry sauce

14 wonton wrappers

Directions

Mix cabbage, carrots, coleslaw dressing, vinegar, soy sauce, and teriyaki together in a bowl; refrigerate until flavors blend, 1 hour to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Heat sesame oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir ground chicken in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Add stir-fry sauce, cover skillet, reduce heat to low, and simmer.

Form wonton wrappers into taco shapes and arrange between the cups of an inverted muffin tin.

Bake in the preheated oven until firm and lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons chicken mixture into each wonton taco shell and top with slaw.

 

RAK #8: Kimberly Morris

Anna Blankenheim Death, Random Acts of Kindness, Tragedies , , , ,

This is the eighth of 49 random acts of kindness (RAKs) that I’m doing to honor the victims of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting. Hopefully each small act puts a little bit of happiness back out in the world!

This one I did at work – I found a vending machine far away from my own desk (where people would recognize my writing) and taped enough money to it to get something to drink. This RAK is in honor of Kimberly Morris, who was a bouncer at the club. She was known as a tough girl, but one who filled a room when she entered it. Rest in peace, Kimberly.

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RAK #7: Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz

Anna Blankenheim Death, Random Acts of Kindness, Tragedies , , , , ,

This is the seventh of 49 random acts of kindness (RAKs) that I’m doing to honor the victims of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting. Hopefully each small act puts a little bit of happiness back out in the world!
I did this RAK while out to dinner with my parents – we saw a family with five adorable little kids and I decided to pick up their tab. This RAK is in honor of Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, also known as “Ommy” and who was 22 years old. He was known for making people laugh and always bringing joy to the room. Rest in peace, Ommy.

RAK #6: Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera

Anna Blankenheim Death, Random Acts of Kindness, Tragedies , , , ,

This is the sixth of 49 random acts of kindness (RAKs) that I’m doing to honor the victims of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting. Hopefully each small act puts a little bit of happiness back out in the world!
For this RAK I donated to one of our local Little Leagues – they were running a fireworks stand to raise money and someone broke in overnight and stole almost $12,000 worth of fireworks.

This RAK is in honor of Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, who was 36 years old and married. He was known as a goofball who loved to dance and was working two jobs to get by. Rest in peace, Eric!

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Doggy DNA Testing

Anna Blankenheim Critters , ,

Soooo… I DNA tested my dogs. Yes, I’m THAT girl. Let me start with how each of these hooligans came into my life.

 

I picked Shadow. I had just bought my first house and was a single twenty-something living alone. My parents came over, we went to the pound and started looking around. When I walked past his kennel, I knew. As it turned out, Shadow had a rough start in life. He was found tied to a tire, with bad water, and when he came home he had Giardia (a parasite that causes diarrhea). He was two years old and I was in love. The pound had told me that he was a lab mix of some sort… perhaps with some sort of pittie breed in him. He’s now 11 years old.

Happy 10th Birthday Shadow!

Brady, on the other hand, picked me. He showed up at the ranch one day and over a period of time slowly moved in. He would stay the night and then started bringing his toys over. He got along really well with the other seven dogs at the ranch. One more, though, was not really an option. One day I had gone over to the ranch to visit and went to leave… as I was pulling down the driveway, I saw a blur of dust in the field behind me in my rear view mirror. I stopped to get out and send him back up, when he jumped in my car. We chatted with his owner, who agreed to give him up, and the rest is history. He was definitely a lab, but with something else mixed in… turns out he was a pound puppy before his prior owner.

Meet Brady!

I thought it would be fun to DNA test both of them and try to figure out what they’re mixed with. Here are the results:

Shadow: 62.5% Labrador Retriever, 12.5% German Shepherd, 12.5% Rottweiler, 12.5% unknown

Brady: 62.5% Labrador Retriever, 12.5% Border Collie, 12.5% Shetland Sheep Dog, 12.5% unknown

While you may look at both of them and just think they’re labs, I find the results both fascinating and telling. Brady is easier to see – he’s definitely got the lab body, but the lighter eyes and longer muzzle of the border collie (and the fur length). In Shadow, while I don’t see it outright, the rottweiler is definitely in there – in the set of the ears and the shorter muzzle.

I used the Wisdom Panel kits (on Amazon) and it was totally a blast! It also tests them for genetic predisposition to drug resistance/allergy, which was kind of cool too!

Brady’s New Friends

Anna Blankenheim Critters , , ,

Today I headed over to my parents house with Brady to introduce him to their two pups, Tucker, the lab and Gracie, the golden retriever. They literally had the best time three dogs could have… they raced around the yard, swam, and chased each other.

The boys swimming:

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My sweet boy swimming:

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Brady got a little tired and decided to chill out for a while:

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He was very good about sharing his toys too!

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I took a couple videos too… I haven’t seen Brady do much swimming in a pool, but he clearly knows what he’s doing! In fact, no matter where he was, when I said “jump” he dove into the pool!

Finally, every good day has to end with a little treat on the way home. For me, it was a number 2 with no onions and a Diet Coke. For Brady, it was a no-salt hamburger patty. Life is good!

Bullet Journaling: My First Attempt

Anna Blankenheim Organization , , ,

You may or may not know that I have a slight planner obsession. Yes, I’m talking pen and paper planner. I’ve tried “going digital” several times over the years, but there’s just something about writing out my plans that I love. I absolutely love my Erin Condren Life Planner, which I’ve been using for the last few years. I even have a separate Instagram account set up for my planning snapshots.

Recently, however, I’ve been intrigued by the bullet journal craze. What’s a bullet journal, you ask? The creator of the system, Ryder Carroll, defines it as follows:

“The Bullet Journal is a customizable and forgiving organization system. It can be your to-do list, sketchbook, notebook, and diary, but most likely, it will be all of the above. It will teach you to do more with less.”

Of course, I googled it. What comes up will blow your mind… it’s so much more than just a bulleted list (but it can be just that if that’s what you want it to be!).

I decided to dive right in and see what bullet journaling was all about… I ordered my sunshine yellow dot grid Leuchtturm 1917 notebook on Amazon (tip: these suckers are HOT! If you decide to get one, Amazon seems to be the place to go as most retail outlets and some of the online ones are sold out). I chose the Leuchtturm over the Moleskine after reading a bunch of reviews that said that the Moleskine ghosted (you can see the show of the writing on the next page) or bled through more often. I’m really happy with my choice… the paper quality is amazing! The dot grid version was also essential… it’s basically graph paper, but without the connecting lines (just a dot in each of the four quarters). It allows you to write as if you had a line (straight line writing for those of us who have OCD!)  and to draw.

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Here’s the premise of the bullet journaling system – use the least amount of effort so that it does not become a chore. Which is going to completely contradict when I show you what I actually did in mine. But that’s ok, because the idea is that you can be crazy into it one week and “slack off” the next. The other appealing part to me is that you can change your weekly (or daily) layout as often as you want. Don’t like how you organized yourself this week? Turn the page to a blank page and make it different for next week! The possibilities are endless!

The whole system starts with the future log… essentially, it’s your calendar for the next 6 months. This is the place that you come to write everything down. Dentist appointment in December? Circle the date and write it down. You’ll have a chance to create monthly calendars, so this space doesn’t have to be anything fancy. In fact, your monthly calendar doesn’t have to be fancy either – lots of people just write the dates down the side and put the appointments on the corresponding line. I enjoy a good monthly calendar, so I drew mine out and added some goal tracking.

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After that, you can basically do whatever you want! I started with a page that I labelled “July memories” where I’ll draw, write, etc to remember things that happened in July. I followed that up with a page called “Books to Read”. I stole an idea from basically everyone who has a bullet journal and drew a somewhat cute little bookcase with the names of books I want to read on the little books. I’ll color them in once I’m done with them.

I followed that up with another calendar. Why you ask? Well, there’s a bunch of folks who do a monthly doodle “challenge” – the idea is that they give a prompt and you draw something in each day’s box. Drawing has never been my forte, but I like the idea of working on it!

Finally, I dove into my weekly spreads. This is where the rubber meets the road in the bullet journal. Again, the idea is that it has to be functional for you… if it’s not, change it!

Here’s one of the different weekly layouts that I will be experimenting with over the month of July:

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For those who freak out when everything is not perfectly in order, there is an indexing system at the front that you use to identify where your calendars, weekly logs, collections, etc are so you can always flip the correct page. I’m still having a hard time with that (thus I did the next 4 weeks layout), but am going to give it the college try in August. There are so many other things you can do in the bullet journal – actual journaling, meal planning, drawing or sketching, and more!

I haven’t bought my 2017 planner yet (even though Erin Condren launched in early June) and I might hold off even longer… I am very much enjoying the creativity and flexibility of the bullet journal!