Sarita Shoemaker

Pretty Much Alone

My kitchen window view of Y Mountain (and my hood).

I’m out here on an island.

I get to choose how it feels and looks but the weather is cold, crisp and sunny (with chances for snow flurries). The view is what I get to decide: concrete and asphalt, extremely old buildings, rivers or mountains. The skies are normally filled with clouds of all sorts.

This is what I signed up for back in June 2017. The UNKNOWN expectations of my future. Letting it ride with the wind.

There is good and there is bad.

Out of every 100 people I meet there will be 98 Mormon believers and 2 “everything else” believers from Atheist to Zoroastrianism. This is according the Wiki page about Provo Utah.

Job Seeking has become unfun. I’m not Mormon and while they do NOT ask about my religious affiliation I don’t know the “language” at all. I feel like telling everyone I’ve got to get to Fireside tonight for the MTC Women’s Conference planning with my fellow Sisters. There are plenty of buzzwords there.

One person told me to BE CAREFUL in conversation if I ever wanted to get a job! That’s nearly impossible for me. I feel like I chat too much.

Anyway, interview after interview – rejected over and over. Oh and these days there is NO reply letting you know. They just cut the line and let you drift away in Wonder Wonder World.

I took myself off Facebook and Instagram again and am considering a full shut down and restart of this blog to make it more “Mormon-centric”. We did sign a lease and I’d like to get a job. I’m pretty sure this blog isn’t helping me at all.

I’ll just go get a donut.

Provo Bakery. Yep, they’ve been baking since before I was a twinkle in anyone’s eye.

THE GREAT MORMONS

I want to give a shout-out to a few people I’ve met that I think are Mormon. Not 100% sure… but unless I’m seeing some tats showing and hear a cuss word I’m gonna conclude they’re part of the 98%.

My Yoga Teacher Chenae. She is amazing. I have two classes a week with her. She told me we (Husband Unit and I) bring good energy to her class. She is so relaxed and Zen’y. Namaste. Clearly she shines good light out because I definitely feel it.

I say this because I was told (by a Mormon teacher) that the people that grew up here in Provo have a thing about them that would explain their feeling of altitude over the rest of mankind. Mormons outside of Provo have (on an absolute majority) been amazing, friendly, kind and fun to be around.

I have continued to go to all of my weight lifting classes because I actually felt like the teachers made me feel welcome.

The list of activities I participate in is growing: swimming, pilates, Zumba AND Zumba Gold and cycle. I’ve used the indoor track and love it too. Can’t remember if I missed anything. Each of the classes have amazing leaders/teachers.

So, thanks to Erin, Amy, Drew, Heather, Wendy, Kara, Gabby, Becky and Stacey.

More positive vibes to share:

The instructors for my weight lifting classes. One in particular is Lauren. She’s off the charts friendly and talks like she has had a life outside of Provo. Amy cracks us up with her dry humor and stories. Erin is a Mermaid – I firmly believe this because she is SO friendly and creative. Heather is one of the nicest and most accommodating people I’ve ever met – she is an Iron Woman (she should be making Pilates workout video she is so passionate about it) and STRONG. Wendy was subbing for another teacher when I met her and she did the nearly impossible: taking a room of uptight early-risers through an hour of torture (AND WE LIKED IT), Gabby was the most patient person trying to teach me how to swim (I’m getting better), Kara was the FIRST instructor I met and she had such a positive attitude I just wanted to be in her class again, I call Drew Mr. Pain because the class was WAY WAY WAY above my abilities and he pushed me to try my best and lastly the two cycle instructors Becky (LOVE her program) and Stacey. When class began Stacey put on the greatest music REAAAAL LOUD and shouted out, “NOT TODAY SATAN!!!!!” He was a riot and got the whole room jazzed up.

In retrospect I feel that any sort of commitment here requires some “skin in the game” and that needs to be “being a Mormon”. Without a doubt I’ll never be a Mormon (or join any other religion or cult-religion again).

OUR ANIMAL KIDS

Saved one spider, I’ve been feeding dozens of ducks oats every day and there are some magical looking birds (mom and dad I believe) roosting in our porch roof.

Zoey has some sort of rash-like situation happening. We battle it with medicine but sometimes it gets her (plus she doesn’t do much all day so has plenty of time to be bothered and scratch it). The donut has helped a lot. Clearly she seems to be loving it…NOT.

Kona has now sprouted wizardly grey hair on his paws. Is this the same as the curtains matching the carpet in the K9 world? (I firmly believe I have TWO readers not including Randy… we’ll see). He is still anxious to sniff and eat anything that isn’t made out of wood, metal or plastic. Walks along the Provo River are filled with food treasures.

Relaxing, sort of.

Expecting food for compliance.

Me and Piper shopping on Poshmark.

Note: Randy discovered that carrots would help Zoey. He ordered some dehydrated carrot powder or flakes (still hasn’t arrived) but in the meantime I discovered ALL of my carrots were pressure cooked in the InstantPot so he could give them to the dogs. Rather than, say for example, serve them 1T of dehydrated carrot he served them 4 cups. Poor Kona and his raw rear…and I guess Randy deserved the punches in the nose as those carrots moved through a chocolate lab(oratory) compressed gas release system or aka Dog Farts. Oh gawd.

Piper has been visiting the backyard more. I’m also growing cat grass myself (because none of the pet stores carry it here). We have a tiny farm in our cupboard and it’s working out great. She gets too fluffy and I cut her hair chasing her around the house with extremely sharp scissors.

We continue to feed them 3 times a day and the only difference I see is bigger poops, more poops and better begging techniques.

OUR HUMAN KIDS

Thought-provoking: I am rarely asked how Jordan and Claire are doing by anyone (family included now that my mom is dead). Morgan is often the topic of “kids”. Randy and I met on e-Harmony with two kids each. He with Amanda and Morgan and me with Jordan and Claire. All of our kids are different and incredible human beings. They share a lot of commonalities but truly are so different.

Recently a friend’s friend asked me how MY kids were doing. I never thought of a separation between all four of our kids. I’m proud of all of them.

Jordan

Schooling continues in Oregon. Engineering. Going well. Carrying A average in classes. Recently wrote a paper on The Congo which inspired a lot of great texts back and forth as he plowed through the history there. He continues to create artistically, read and rides his bike. He also keeps Randy and I appraised of great movie-night shows we can watch at home on Netflix or Plex. Have you seen Black Mirror yet?

Scared as sh** but not backing down now!

Claire

Working in Santa Barbara at NEXT Energy Technology and no, was not affected by the fires or flooding. She’s coming up on her one year anniversary! In all my 50 years I have met a lot of people that went to college for X and aren’t doing a job connected to X. Claire is actually working in the field she studied which rocks. Naomi Ginsberg would be proud of her (that was her professor at Berkeley). Recently she successfully jumped out of an airplane and I’m pretty sure she’ll be doing it again.

Morgan

We get to see Morgan regularly! Laundry here is WAY better than any other place (of course) and on Sunday we have all of her house mates over for a dinner. That has been so fun and these young ladies are amazing in so many ways. Right now she has a packed schedule: Anatomy, Ballet, First Aid & CPR, Book of Mormon and Creative Writing. She went to her first ballet (as a spectator) last week. I haven’t had a chance to ask her what she thought of it. For fun she and her house mates are trying to squeeze in things to do TOGETHER making fun memories that will last forever. I think that’s brilliant. She, Randy and I buzzed up to Ice Castles earlier this month and had a blast (then a hot chocolate on the way home).

I JOINED THE POSHMARK WORLD

The other day I bought a brand new cotton fluffy delicious robe on Poshmark. I donated mine before we left and it’s rather chilly to go from the shower to our bedroom…across the living room passing the big glass window. Randy says the neighbors are fine with it. It’s even PURPLE!

My friend Tracey has been able to quit her job and dive full time into RESELLING online. She has many different shops and stores. Reselling online is a fun way to find and share what’s in your own closet as well as treasure hunt for incredible things to resell.

This is a $1.5K skirt brand new (aka NWT, New With Tags).

I’m sticking with clothing, accessories and shoes. My “store” is called PITA THE BUTTON GIRL. I have about 2,000 people following me and today I have 78 “Listings”. Instead of working on my Posh Closet I’m writing this blog update.

I hit some GOLD while visiting Park City at a boutique which I am hoping will be a magical find for someone in need of a Louis Vuitton Denim Skirt. THANK YOU to The Sundance Film Festival and all of the fancy-schmancy celebrities that visit and leave their “worn once” apparel.

My gorgeous and fashion-forward Yugoslavian Princess friend Danijela has been coaching me through this world of high-end fashion.

As most of you know, I spent the last 12 years in running shoes, sports bras and workout pants…and 805 Boot Camp shirts! We’ll see how this all goes…it’s quite a task to open and keep a shop fresh and fun online!

If you are curious about Poshmark (or my Closet) and want to shop please use my “referral code” which is @saritapita and you get $5 in credit (I will too). Go here to see my official Closet.

In the meantime I am continuing my job seeking through LinkedIn, Indeed and Glassdoor.

WRITING. GETTING BETTER AT IT…I THINK

I am also taking an English Class and working on my writing skills.

So far it has been a great experience. We get topics to write about then spend the second half of the class discussing them.

I’d never read Kurt Vonnegut until now. Check out the short story Harrison Bergeron. Did you know Kurt Vonnegut only published 14 novels in his lifetime? I thought there were way more.

Right now Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is on deck.

Wanna know something completely ironic? Neil Gaiman wrote the introduction to the 60th Anniversary Edition of the book I borrowed from the Provo Public Library (WHICH IS AWESOME BY THE WAY). Neil has a sister named Claire. I named MY CLAIRE after Claire Gaiman, Neil’s sister. Claire and I were friends when I was returned to Los Angeles after escaping from the Sea Organization. She was one of the only people that I liked (enough to name my child after her!). Her husband was one of my most favorite guys too, Timmy Edwards. Or Tim Edwards if you are being picky. I called him Timmy. Reading the Forward brought back the memories of Claire and Timmy (and me and Jon, Claire’s dad) and I miss them both. The both have strong English accents (or they did in 1987-1988).

Me SWIMMING! I drew this on my iPad.

Provo River walk.

Park City

Just after a snow in our backyard.

Someone got this card..

Found this at The Elks!

I hope everyone is doing well.

Namaste.

POLLS – I LOVE THEM (you can even see the results too)

Wanderlust Adventure: ON HOLD

We’re NOT calling it QUITS at all. We are putting this plan on the back burner for now.

Why? If you are curious please read on. Otherwise to cut to the chase we are now living in Provo Utah at the bottom of some magnificent mountains and freezing our asses off. We will be starting from scratch on building our home again because we really did donate almost all that we had in our 5 bedroom home! I am excited about this, which is key to being happy.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

We LOVE this life. If it were possible and realistic we’d stay on the road roaming the planet. I think of all of the love and support we got at the start and all throughout and it makes me realize how lucky we have been to know so many sincerely good people.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE ANIMALS

You know I’m very passionate about animals: our pets sometimes get overlooked because I’m worrying about saving OTHER animals from harm or pain of any kind (spiders included).

This small breadbox of a home has three “major spaces” for us to “relax”.

The kitchen/dining room/office.
The den.
The bedroom.

Our dogs only get to relax in one space: the den. It’s got 4×4 feet of room (I’m being dramatic, it’s bigger but for a chocolate lab…it may as well be 4×4).

I complain about being forced to hear Kona licking his man-parts, gnawing his foot and Zoey also has a beauty regimen I’d love to not her and/or see. Have someone just lick their arm next to your ear and see how long you can stand it.

The fact is I can leave or go into the bedroom (or bathroom technically) or even put on headphones.

They can’t! They have two fluffy beds on the floor and that’s it.

We should have put more thought into these two love bugs before dragging them with us on this adventure. They are troopers for it and will be rewarded at our new house with a backyard the size of a football field and lots of spaces to move to whenever they want.

WEATHER. RANDY’S LOVE OF EXTREME WEATHER.

Since we were at Oh Ridge we got to experience snow STORMS, wind storms and rain with flooding.

That sort of became COLD.

Randy assured me we were “winterized”. I did not look up what this actually meant on purpose. We were hitting the 20’s on a regular basis (temps) and my memory of science, ice and all that complicated stuff was that at 32 or below things FREEZE. You cannot leave it out in the elements with fluids that normally freeze and expect that it wouldn’t freeze.

We began (well, Randy began) processes to survive the below freezing temps. We took ourselves off of the Full Hook Up water source, we put foam around the pipes, we bought foam puzzle-like flooring. It worked and we’ve never experienced a freeze that stopped us from being comfortable (or with running water).

Our plan was to scoot further across the USA but we waited too long to do it without hitting some REALLY cold weather.

TIME TO FIND A RENTAL (THAT WILL ACCEPT TWO DOGS AND A CAT)

Game ON!

What’s the name of that website you can find things on but you might be killed meeting up with the seller? Oh, ya, Craig’s List.

We began looking for places on Craig’s List. That’s just DUMB, right? Not this time!

First scan: 1010 total available (no stipulation on pets) of which 740 “accept dogs and cats”. I’d say HALF of all of these are scammers. Incredible that a human would be cool with scamming another human (and not expect it to backfire).

FOUND:

$900 3 BED 2 BA HOUSE IN PROVO. Bingo! I wrote the Seller and told him about our pets and gave him my number. He called and was SUPER cool. I made sure he knew about our pets too. His response, “hey I’ve got some friends with 4 cats, 1 dog, 2 birds, fish plus a hamster and they have the most impeccably clean house ever. People need to give pet owners a break.” I liked this guy even more. Plus, $900 for that much house was really good. What’s the catch? I wondered too…we would be sharing it with a couple that lived below us in the basement. Hmmmm…not so sure that would feel comfortable. Remember that Randy walks like Shrek? I could easily predict a tense relationship of people trying to be polite but getting bothered progressively by the lumbering footsteps of my non-ballerina Husband Unit.

So we had to pass on that place and continue the search.

Our quest to find a place has been awful.

The amount of homes, condos and apartment buildings currently being built in Provo, Orem, Springville, Spanish Fork, Heber and Park City is staggering.

There is so much construction happening in and around Provo we wondered WHY!? What’s the deal?

These places are in desperate need of tenants now and we wandered place to place looking.

IF they allowed pets there were extra fees you’d have to pay. One place wanted $1500 a month for a 2 bed BRAND NEW top floor apartment with washer/dryer, dishwasher, fridge, stove and microwave AS WELL you would pay $400 per pet (non-refundable) and $30 per pet extra on the rent. Utilities run $150 for most households…they aren’t included. You can have “basic” internet (required) for $10/month or get a decent internet for $100. You can’t shop around either – you are locked into what the Landlord brokered out (and likely gets a spiff for). OH and that’s not including $70 for the application ($35 each person living in the house over 18) and deposit $1500.

That experience pushed me to just want to ACCEPT FULL TIME BEING COLD AND JUST GO TO DENVER COLORADO continuing to live in our trailer.

OR we could move to Montana.

We got a very very very cool offer for employment in Montana as a Camp Host and we could live in a cabin there while managing. That sounded fun and exciting…we considered it. The place is called Flathead Lake and OMG it looks stunning! PLUS it’s right near Kalispell where the Temple Of OneThousand Buddahs is located! Randy and I visited while it was being built. It’s SO PEACEFUL. I highly recommend you visit Kalispell and experience this place.

MAKING THE FINAL DECISION

We really don’t want to be picky for a place to live. There were a few things we were HOPING for though:

A yard for the pets.
A bathtub.
Solid internet.
Two bedrooms at least (we want our kids to visit us!).
Be affordable.
Be in a safe neighborhood.

Most places have three of these six wishes.

There was one place that had five and we braced ourself when the landlord began to explain her pet policy. Again, it wasn’t negotiable and we completely understood.

Kona and Zoey were in the truck waiting while we were viewing the house.

The landlord was renting the house and would be living right next door. They were a nice husband and wife couple with a child and a dog (who was a wiggly lover named Hugo).

Ahhh…darn. The husband told us it would be totally ok to let Kona and Zoey out to visit while we looked over the place. Knowing Kona would hunt out any food…we declined to avoid the embarrassment. Mr Landlord insisted it would be completely cool. So, Randy opened the door to the truck and both dogs LEAPT then lunged to begin sniffing every blade of grass, bush, tree and rock in the backyard.

Hugo raced up to Zoey (who gave him one small sniff then carried on her quest to get pets from Mr and Mrs Landlord). Then he wiggled over to Kona who is one of the greatest dogs ever with other dogs (as most of you know). He’s so tolerant of any spastic movements or barking. Unfazed he continued to survey the backyard with Hugo bouncing all around him wanting to play. Then he launched into playing and it was obvious they were friends from “way back” having a great time zooming around the place. Zoey remained to be petted completely disinterested in the two boys being wild and crazy.

We wrapped up the visit telling them we’d likely not be able to afford their beautiful home thanking them for opening it up. They really did create a beautiful home. It was built in 1913 but had the modern feel and warmth to make you comfy.

Sadly we loaded everyone back into the truck and headed back to our breadbox.

A few days later on a walk with the dogs Randy got a text or phone call asking if we’d made any decision on housing from Hugo’s mom or dad. They wanted to waive all of the pet fees completely if we would be interested. OH YEAH WE SURE WERE INTERESTED!

We rushed home and crunched numbers. We do not have jobs yet and would need to figure that out soon enough. There are Help Wanted signs everywhere here (probably goes with the booming housing).

That’s when we decided YES. Let’s do it!

We move in 1 December. That should take us an hour (WE DON’T OWN ANYTHING!)

There are way more wonderful things about this house beyond our immediate wish list. I can’t wait to start again.

Soon I’ll be in a big kitchen putting together my Pippy’s Kitchen creations, we will be on google fiber, we live a stone’s throw from the Jordan River which has a 13 mile bike/running path right next to it (see my video snippet below if it will load). They have The Nest! This is something that Brenna Savage showed us ages ago and made Randy wish for almost daily.

After accepting we began looking for basic furniture. That’s when I found an incredible couch, daddy recliner, chair, table, rug and lamp for $400! It had been in one of those rooms that are like a parlor in the old days…but no one uses a parlor and they are really just for show. The lady (who lives in a fancy-schmancy part of town was redecorating her palace and pretty much giving it away.

So, there you have it!

We’re staying in Provo, near one of our daughters, near mountains and adventure and NEW DISCOVERIES.

I don’t know where I’ll work – but whatever it is I’m going to have fun I’m sure.

I’ve always wanted to be a waitress like Flo. My mom was a waitress at Friendly’s and I have dreamed of doing that myself. She appeared to be having fun at her job when we got to visit her.

Now we need to get me a beater of a car (at least).

Life is still too short to be worried or stressed out about the future.

We’ve got a new chapter to run with now and we’re going to do our best to continue to enjoy every single bit about it.

If you are a close friend and want our address, send me a private message.

LIFE IS JUST TOO SHORT AND YOUR LAST DAY IS TECHNICALLY UNKNOWN

Personally I fear my final days and spend too much time finding parallels in my life and health to my mom. She got cancer and didn’t tell anyone of her family (she did tell the church of scientology who programmed her for more of their auditing…having to pay for it of course because they AREN’T a f’ing church out there to actually HELP people). She died in 2008. We had to take her off life support – I had to be the one to make that decision and I wouldn’t wish that power on anyone. She was born in 1945. After I was out of the Sea Org (still in as a scientologist…as was my mom) I remember throwing her birthday parties. #50 was a giant one I created taking her out horseback riding (and she was sore for a month after), I bought her a house to live freely in and run her daycare business, I helped her pay her bills when I could, I went garage sailing with her and THANKFULLY she got to meet Randy and we had an epic vacation camping together. She died at 62 years YOUNG and didn’t get to have a good enough life. Now that I’m 50 I see that 62nd year approaching WAY too fast. It is partly why I pushed so hard to get out here on the planet and see/experience it with my own eyes, hands and feet.

This week I lost TWO dear people. Sinar Paxman and Steve Apostolof. I’m sick to my stomach that they didn’t get to accomplish things they wanted to accomplish before they died. I have no idea what those would be but I do know they worked hard and cared for their families like true warriors would. They did not deserve to die that young. I lost my friend Dave Liston too young! Randy’s mom Pat died too young! Amanda my daughter died WAY to young! I get angry about losing the GOOD people when there are people out there harming other people and living a large and what appears to be fulfilling life. Then I panic about my own life, my kids, my friends that are getting older and the health scares that are surfacing. I panic that they are on a path of happiness (for at least 51% of their days). From the deepest part of me I really hope so.

No matter what your day is: please please please try to put acts of love and kindness into it. Life is hard and there are so many ups and downs. Focus on the ups and fill your mind with good thoughts. Live life by YOUR terms, not the expectations of other people. That’s a big one. If you want to be an artist: BE IT!! It might mean you have to give up some luxuries right? Do what you need to do but keep your mind positive and filled with pleasantness.

I am not perfect on this at all. It’s something I am trying to practice and get better at. Maybe the practice is what is meant to be for me?

A VIDEO OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

The Provo Jordan River Parkway

50 Shades Of Grey (hair)

NOVEMBER 2017, SPRINGVILLE UTAH

Should I color my hair or let it go grey(er)?

I ask myself this question every time I look in the mirror.

Currently I’ve got more grey than I’ve ever had and I’m not covering it or masking it on purpose. I do wear ball caps and a headband but their jobs are to keep my hair out of my face and/or the sun out of my eyes.

Notably it does make me look older. I don’t have a lot of wrinkles on my face and I FEEL younger than 50.

LEAVING SIMI VALLEY

When I broke the news to my friend Mary (who happens to be my stylist) she was concerned about my hair! WHO would be the boss of my hair? I decided for financial reasons I would be the boss of my hair (and the hair of all of the family).

I didn’t know much about style and frankly I didn’t really CARE too much about it either. If my hair was growing, I was good with it. If it was in my face then I wanted to cut it off. ALL OF IT. Randy, on the other hand, wasn’t keen with me and my “just buzz it off” carefree attitude. Mary wouldn’t let me do it either. So, I agreed to not cut it…but I knew how much work was involved in “upkeep” and I just wasn’t interested in that nor would I have the resources (we were living on a mountain far from a trustworthy solution.)

I believe my last appointment was Week 2 of our last boot camp session #78. That would be the beginning of May (Mary? Want to confirm this?). That’s roughly 180 days.

So here I am, major WIZARD-GREY action happening (the photo above is not the latest…that’s in August 2017).

We are also in civilization again. The bustling city of Provo Utah.

People here seem to care about their appearance! CRAP.

Now I am with one foot on the “go grey” boat and the “girl you can wait to be 100% grey” boat.

We are also contemplating our next move: where where where do we want to go?

It’s nice enough here to stop for a while and consider getting a job (maybe I’ll finally get to be a waitress!). The previous towns: not so much.

Part of our plan to adventure became visiting places we might actually want to LIVE in. Should we stop here and live or should we carry onward into an unplanned and completely UNKNOWN path of living?

GETTING PRETTIER

I stopped wearing make-up and doing my hair.

In the past I thought it was remarkable how much time women spent (not me) on preparing for the day. If we were invited out to an event or party I KNEW I’d have to stand in front of the mirror and do SOMETHING. I really hated it because, well, I’m untrained (to begin with) and I also don’t really like looking in the mirror.

Since I turned 50 I think a little differently about my appearance.

Along our travels I’m meeting men and women “my age” and much older. I see how BEAUTIFUL they are immediately. Some are packed with creases and lines across their skin revealing they laugh and smile a lot, some have skin hanging from their chins, there are extremely thin women and extremely large. Why am I worried about what I look like? What other people see?

About a month ago I decided to start giving a little more of a shit about it! I put mascara on even when we weren’t going out to an event. Then I admitted to myself that I needed to do something with my hair! It’s getting pretty long. So I began to put time into curling it (using my buff) every other night.

IS IT OK TO TRY TO LOOK PRETTIER

Yes. It is ok to care about what you look like IN YOUR OPINION OF YOURSELF.

Like it or not, people judge you for all sorts of reasons. They compare you to themselves or to what they feel is “good”. This has varying levels too, I know.

Recently, and I don’t think it is going away any time soon, men (and women!) are being outed for sexual harassment and disgusting behavior toward another human. This is never “asked for” no matter how you dress or look. It’s disturbing HOW MANY new names are added to the lists every single day.

Soon we’ll need to just know who ISN’T on the freaking list! A Pledge Of Honesty or some sort of badge so we know who we can trust. I know I’ve never sexually assaulted any one so I’ll go first.

I SWEAR I HAVE NEVER SEXUALLY ASSAULTED ANOTHER HUMAN (OR ANIMAL!)

I have VERY OFTEN thought that women were dressing to scantily and revealing. I wondered WHY would they dress this way? Is it all about being sexy and trying to entice the opposite sex? I would say yeah, that might be on the agenda. But I’ve got to believe that is isn’t THE MAJORITY reason.

“If these women are so opposed to being hit on, why are they going to all that trouble to look so enticing? Men are just supposed to pretend they don’t notice?”

WHY DO WOMEN MAKE THEMSELVES ATTRACTIVE? GLAD YOU ASKED

Read this article and you’ll see a completely awesome point of view on this topic.

IN CLOSING

The way we see ourselves is important. Like it or not we judge other people by their appearance and behavior. Why not put a little effort into seeing the beauty you have and letting it show? Do it for the way it makes you feel inside (and maybe ask your Spouse what they like…I did and I always appreciate Randy’s honest answers – after all he looks at me more than anyone else on earth and it may as well be pleasant!)

DECEMBER UPDATE:

I did it. I finally got the nerve together to “do my hair”.

I still need to get a trim but overall I’m happy with the results. Thanks Mary!

Delicious Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Pumpkin Bread (Made In A Forest River Cherokee Trailer)

Perfect for a morning cup of tea or coffee. It’s sweet but not too sweet.

This is the bread that we got 3 slices out of before heading out on a run and to the gym for a workout during which time our chocolate lab Kona helped himself to the remainder. This bread was DELICIOUS. No kidding. I’ve got limited resources here (space constraints) and limited space in the oven.

ALSO: just a Pro-Tip from this Instant Pot girl… I created tons of pumpkin purée using my instant pot. It was too easy not to share. Simply wash, cut into pieces and IP for 15 minutes. Leave the skin on. Toss into a blender or food processor and ON LOW begin to puree it. You can use I t immediately (might wait for room temps) or freeze for later. We have been pouring it on top of our pet’s wet food (great health benefits for them too.). Here is a link to a great article about that

Baking in a trailer is TOUGH. The oven is a tiny thing with ONE line of burners directly down the center. This has been a challenge that has burned plenty of my creations. I think I’ve mastered it and we’re eating yummy baked goods again just like on Monticello with my giant convection oven! Note: you can choose gluten free or not.

Ingredients

Bread pan

1C Oat flour (gluten free)

3/4C Gluten Free Baking Flour

1t baking SODA

½ t baking POWDER

1/4 t salt

½ t nutmeg

¼ t ginger

½ t pumpkin spice

¾ C brown sugar

1 ¼ C pumpkin purée

¼ C coconut oil

½ banana, smashed

¼ c water

¼ c dried cranberries

⅓ c pumpkin pepitas (for the top)

Preheat Oven to 375

Prepare your loaf pan with either parchment, lightly greased and flour or use silicone baking dish (that is what I use)

Directions:

In a large bowl (if you have that option) combine Oat Flour to Brown Sugar. Whisk it until it is completely combined.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the pumpkin through the cranberries.

One cup at a time, blend the dry ingredients into the wet. Add the next cup once the first is completely blended. Continue until all the dry ingredients are in the smaller bowl.

The mix will be sticky, not runny.

Pour or spoon mixture into baking dish and spread with a spoon.

Evenly sprinkle pepitas on top of bread.

Place in oven on right side, top most shelf. Bake for 25 minutes.

Move to other side (DO NOT TURN…JUST SCOOT IT OVER) the bread and bake for another 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and set to cool (15 minutes). Turn oven off.

Place on a cutting board and take a pic before your family (especially Husband Unit) start carving and devouring it! 🙂

27 October 2017

Forest River Cherokee

Vegan

Vegetarian

Gluten-Free (optional)

Pet link: https://animalwellnessmagazine.com/the-power-of-pumpkin/

Rice, Quinoa and Veggies

This recipe is DELICIOUS.

Not only can you have a healthy meal, the lemon juice can be added to the lime juice (ooops I accidentally juiced my limes) and orange juice…of course you need to add a shot of birthday tequila (thanks Shonna) and Cointreau…on ice (no salt). Diane’s Puckery Margarita with fresh EVERYTHING…

Randy licked his plate and complimented me after stuffing his face.

STIR “fry” MEDLEY

25 Oct 2017

Barely any oils – just the vegan butter and after wrapping this up I’d say you only need half of the butter I used which makes it even healthier.

Red Quinoa, Brown Rice topped with: buttery lemon veggies saute onion, garlic, cherry tomato, green zucchini, kale and garbanzo beans. Added 1T basil (sweet) and 1/2t red chili peppers. 1T of fresh lemon juice and 2T vegan butter.

Y.U.M.

Ingredients

Cook ½ c red Quinoa

Cook 1 cup brown whole grain rice

Chop:

½ yellow onion

2 garlic cloves (slice like dimes as thin as you can)

2 cups of kale

10 red cherry tomato, halved

1 cup sliced zucchini (like halved quarters)

½ can of Bushes Garbanzo beans

1T sweet basil

1 t red chili pepper flakes

2T fresh squeezed lemon (I made a margarita with the remainder…thinking of you Diane!)

Cook rice as directed. Set aside and keep warm.

Cook red quinoa as directed. Set aside and keep warm.

In a giant skillet (or wok if you’re lucky) place 2T of vegan butter. Let it get shimmery hot then add garlic. After about a minute add ALL of the remaining vegetables and beans. Stir in the basil and pepper. Lastly, add the lemon juice! Let simmer.

Plate a scoop of rice, scoop of quinoa and two scoops of the skillet delight.

This was a BIG hit and SO easy too. Even in my tiny kitchen.

Review: Four Months Living In A Bread Box

YES, Randy is getting on my nerves (along with Kona, Zoey and Piper…well not Piper).
YES, we are over budget
NO, I have not touched anyone’s mat/weights or tents
Reality about our four months and the questions we field regularly.

The Top 8 Questions I’m Asked

I still cannot believe I’m technically considered a “FULL TIME RV’er”.

Just to quickly recap…because I’ve got new readers asking…I thought I’d hit a few FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).

Current Sitch: we are living in a 2017 Forest River Cherokee, 27’ with one slide out along with two dogs and a cat. We are earning minimum wage as a Camp Host (I think it is Minimum Wage) working up to 8 hours a day for a concessionaire contracted by the US Forest Service.

The Top 8 Questions are:

1) When did you start Full Time RV’ing?

2) How is it living in the small space with Randy 24/7?

3) What brought you to this life? Do you like it? Why are you doing it?

4) Where are the closest showers?

5) Do you have to clean toilets? What are your duties as a Camp Host?

6) What has been your biggest challenge?

7) How much do you spend monthly?

8) How long are you planning on doing this?

My Responses…

Normally standing out in the middle of a campground, at the kiosk or near our trailer

1) When did you start Full Time RV’ing?

Officially June 1st 2017. We began planning for this at least a year prior but could not tell anyone about it until we felt confident it was really something we could do both mentally and physically.

2) How is it living in the small space with Randy 24/7?

Not bad. You get to understand the full extent of getting older together. Bodies make sounds and smells which are exaggerated in a small space – BOTH of us and the pets too. Tonight, for example, I walked into the house to feed the pets and stepped in a pile of poop left by Zoey (who is currently pissed at us for…we are not sure) then cleaned the cat box (thankfully Zoey doesn’t eat cat turds). In that scenario we work together well! Now if one of us gets gas it’s a whole other story. There is only one person that can fart near you and you have to take it: your spouse.

I’ll add “how is it living in a small space with two dogs and a cat?” NOT EASY. There is one thing I cannot stand and that is the sound of Kona or Zoey gnawing on themselves accompanied with the scent of wet dog. I gag and I’m irritated completely unable to concentrate. Right now, this very moment as an example, it is 6:00am and Kona is right here with me licking his “man parts” and Zoey is stuffing her face and tongue in between her toes over and over and over and over…it is something she’s done for years. It’s a miracle I’ve written this far.

3) What brought you to this life? Do you like it? Why are you doing it?

LIFE IS TOO SHORT! You do not have control of your future no matter how much you think you do. We want to check out the planet together and originally intended to just go where the wind would take us. We both dialed into researching “how to live full time in an RV” which connected us to various blogs and social media sites. That’s where we discovered Heath and Alyssa Padgett’s Make Money And RV page on Facebook. There was a post from a senior executive for the concessionaire who posted a HELP WANTED PLEASE CONTACT ME and we did. He needed a super part-time couple to manage a camp site. We’d never ever done it before but thought we’d give it a shot and applied. We got the job and worked our butts off like we have at every job we’ve ever done. That got us a transfer to another camp site to finish out the season – and it doubled our hours. So, our plans to budget and manage our finances just got a boost and that has helped manage a few unpredicted issues.

Longer term answer: We have worked since the age of 14 and when we met (on E-Harmony) we prioritized making enough of a living to provide what we could for our 4 kids. In the past decade we have lost some of the most loving family and friends. Too young. Too soon. It began the process of “awakening”. What in the WORLD are we doing killing ourselves to make a living with no plan otherwise.

Since we both LOVE the outdoors We decided to leap untethered into a world we knew little about. It has been a process of accepting “what is will be” at least until we figure out how to change it.

4) Where are the closest showers?

There is a resort just outside of the campground. Pine City or Pine Town. They have showers for the public. Bring quarters and don’t bother if it is freezing out. Science is science and the pipes will be frozen. They have a store with basics you may need for camping comforts but it doesn’t open until 3pm I’m told. We stopped in to check it out and found them to be pretty unfriendly and unwelcoming…so we don’t recommend shopping there.

5) Do you have to clean toilets? What are your duties as a Camp Host?

Yes.

Wake up > do an “A” clean of restrooms (which is checking basics are there – toilet paper, toilets flush properly, floors swept).

Pick-Up the DAR report (Daily Arrivals and Departures) for our zone. Visit each site to make sure the ARRIVAL sites are ready: no trash, fire pit cleaned out, tables washed, bear box clear and grounds raked.

Checkout time is NOON but people begin leaving earlier so we visit those empty sites and do an ARRIVAL process (then they’ll be ready and available for a Walk-Up).

Clean Restrooms “B” which is cleaning doors, walls, toilets and replenishing any basics like TP or trash liners…sweep if necessary.

Run notes, registrations, Arrival Placards, messages from kiosk to Campground hosts.

Sell firewood.

Manage Kiosk Opening and/or Closing (there is a set process and procedure to get the place ready to check guests in and out. Kiosk also includes answering any and all questions about the area of June lake: where to hike, getting to beach, where can dogs walk freely, where is the best fishing, laundry, showers, history of the area, why is there smoke in the sky (controlled burning has begun), how far is the June Loop, where is _________ (insert other campground in area), how much for this or that, what time is checkout, where can I park my extra car, are there full hook-ups, could I walk to the town of June, where is the marina (there are two), when do you close, when did you open, why do you charge $10 for the dump, who is in charge of your campground…and many more. I’ve learned TONS about this area (which makes me love it even more).

Final “A” clean of restrooms.

Be on-call 24/7 during the night for any/all of the above kiosk questions PLUS be prepared to handle drunk, belligerent and disrespectful guests bothering other guests or violating the Rules And Regulations. We have been woken at 4am all the way to 2am. Sleep with warm clothes on and a flashlight nearby just in case!

6) What has been your biggest challenge?

This is a tough one.

At Lake George we did not have internet and only spotty cell. We also did not have a stable leader to go to with questions about how to do our jobs or the rules and regulations for our campground. We had never been camp hosts before and the training we got was 15 minutes standing at the driveway in front of our trailer just prior to opening the site a quick once-over of how to write a Registration and how much things cost…and that we have to clean the restrooms 3x per day. The management was in a weird changeover and it was a hostile environment. Dog-eat-dog and we became a target because “we thought we knew how to do it better, eh!?!”. Thankfully we connected up with other hosts who gave us guidance that seemed to be in harmony with the Upper Echelons of the company. We got a lot of rave reviews from our guests and no complaints that we are aware of. We knew we would be able to manage 3 hours a day plus keep our other priorities in check (health, family, pet time). Living right on site meant we were “on” every moment we were there and we learned the only way we could really be “off duty” would be if we left the place altogether…which we did. 3 hours a day was more like 4 or 5 when you include all of the Information Center and Bear Management tasks we had to be responsible for. I made some really great friends at the US Forest Service and the workers that would visit every day often gave me tips on the laws, rules, regulations and expectations. We also became very good friends with Law Enforcement, Fire Department, Search and Rescue plus workers from other independent and private campgrounds within Mammoth.

At Oh! Ridge our biggest challenge became NO TIME to do anything but work. We were always hurrying to get our jobs finished and keep a high standard. There are lots of mini-Campgrounds within Oh! Ridge, I’ll try to name them off in order of the number of sites (which I believe there are 175 sites total): Bear, Duck, Squirrel, Rabbit, Coyote, Gull (those were what we took care of) then Owl, Fish and Deer.

We went from a 3 hour a day to a 6-8 hour a day overnight. On the one hand it was nice to be active and busy but on the other hand we had to scramble to get meals, exercise the pets (and ourselves), do laundry and keep the rig cleaned and maintained. Our “Off Duty” days were Monday and Tuesday which was a blessing for grocery shopping, postal needs and such. When we returned on Wednesday we were covering for the couple that managed Owl, Fish and Deer. We were EXHAUSTED on Wednesday and Thursday every week. We began working at Oh! Ridge on 9-11-17 which is not even a month (as of this writing). It took this long to figure out good systems that were efficient and productive with the tools we had to work with. Ha!

Overall: These challenges were not very upsetting. The Oh! Ridge experience was like a dessert compared to Lake George as far as management. The Site Manager (Karen) is a bad-ass-getter-done type of leader which is EXCELLENT for me. She met with us every day! We knew we were working on her priorities and as a team (with Sherri, Dick, Loretta and Steve) we kept Oh! Ridge humming.

7) How much do you spend monthly?

$2,500 approximately. We had unplanned animal expenses that were not cheap. Our “rent” is included in our compensation as Camp Hosts (water and power). We have to buy propane. Food here is out the roof expensive – dining out is a joke plus the quality of the food here pretty disappointing. Here, by the way, is June Lake. In Mammoth there are better choices for dining but the prices are 25-40% HIGHER than Simi Valley California (eastern Ventura County). We pay for fuel for the truck and have bills we still carry with us.

8) How long are you planning on doing this?

We plan to finish the season as needed by Karen then have an open calendar to decide what is next. Being a Camp Host for us has been a very good experience overall. We did not know what to expect so when things got hairy we sort of figured that must be “normal”. We did not let stress or the craziness that was here before we got here invade our lives. We worked hard and kept our integrity in to give more than what we got in pay and benefits.

At the end of the Lake George season we attended our Company Appreciation Luncheon where we were asked to fill in applications to return and pick our top three requested locations. We’ll see if we are asked to return. Between Lake George and getting asked to go to Oh! Ridge we wrote letters to Upper Management letting them know what we’d experienced. We have yet to hear back (and we actually hope to). That will determine whether or not we return to this particular company or work for another. THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT COMPANIES TO WORK CAMP FOR and we’ve got a list of possible places across the USA.