July 13, 2015

Weekend Reflection | Just Let it Go

This last weekend was so low-key I almost didn’t think it was Summer 2015.  I have had so many amazing weekends this summer including:

Market to Market Iowa | Fitness Competitions | Memorial Day | Rockfest | Holstein’s Memorial Run | Tree Climbing and a Stumbled Upon Poker Run | Easton Poker Run | Testicle Festival and Jeep Shenanigans | Epic 3 Day Weekend that had to be broken up into not only this first recap but this second one too!

I almost wasn’t sure what to expect this weekend with not having a straight up crazy agenda.

I mean, I had things… but I didn’t have things.

I even took the opportunity to not use my camera phone so gosh darn much.  It’s nice to take a break from it and just rely on the memories sometimes.

Saturday

  • I hit up the gym by 7am for a quick leg session
  • On the road to Clarinda by 9am
  • 10:30 hair appointment by the Great and Wonderful Kayla
  • Quick visit with my mom and Dave
  • 1pm lunch and a few cocktails with Nicole and Kayla
  • A two hour mid-afternoon visit with my dad
    • Keith… BurrHead… The man that frustrates me almost as much as I love him

I sure do love him.

❤

Sometimes, I elude to “things” on my blog, but don’t actually elaborate.  There are times I want to write my heart out on certain subjects, but I don’t.   It’s been an embarrassing amount of time since I have stopped to see my father.  A few years embarrassing.    Life happens.  Life has happened.  There were “things” in this relationship that I have held on to that anger me.  Made me bitter and sad.

And that is just straight up stupid.

I really try not to hold grudges or live in the past.   I really don’t.   I make an effort to live in the now, the present and cherish all past, present and future experiences, no matter good, bad or indifferent.    It was HIGH time I let this whole “thing” go.

So, I stopped by.

And, boy am I ever so glad I did.

We talked.  About nothing really.   Just sat around to shoot the shit.  Walked around outside.  Played fetch with the dog.   Had a beer or two.

And you know what?

I left dad’s house feeling light.

        Happy.

                  Worry free.

Like I was 10 years old and just spent an epic day at an amusement park and was hyped up on cotton candy and soda, kinda happy.

🙂

Life is too short to hold grudges.   Let that shit go.   Forgive, forget and move the hell on.  You’ll thank yourself.

I am still thanking myself today.

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I stopped over to see my Aunt and Uncle after dad’s, since the whole side of the G family lives on the same road.   Good ol farm family living right there. 😉

 I always enjoy stopping to see them.   They are home to me.   I am always happy there.  Feel safe there.  Know that I am 110% loved there.

And they always try to feed me full of beer and food, so there’s that too.

 😉

Saturday ended up being straight up fabulous.

I took the Freedom Panels out of the Jeep before leaving C-town, cranked the music, breathed in all the good for my 90 mile drive home…

… And let the rest go.

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Cheers!

July 1, 2015

Almond Bark Rice Krispies

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Can we all collectively say mmmmmm….

I found on Pinterest (go figure) a recipe for chocolate covered Rice Krispie bites and was stoked to make and take to work.   And, like most recipes, I changed it up because it either A) didn’t work or B) I do what I want.

This one I changed for both reasons.  I wanted to use Almond Bark instead of white chocolate and it was just to thick to dunk them all.  So we went with the drizzle method and I’d say it was a pretty stellar idea.

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Ingredients

6 cups Rice Krispies

3 Tbsp. Butter

1 bag of Marshmallows (40 count regular size, not mini’s)

Sprinkles, cuz who doesn’t love sprinkles?

Almond Bark or White Chocolate

Directions

Melt butter and mallows together, add krispies.   Stir to cover completely, let cool for a bit.    Butter your finger tips and start forming little golf ball sized bites, or larger, depending on what you’re making them for.   Set on wax paper.   Melt chocolate and start drizzlin’.   Add your fun sprinkles and there ya have it!

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I also made a regular pan of krispies and added the drizzled almond bark and sprinkles to take up to Butterfield’s today.   Those boys gave me the hookup on my back tire repair.   Have I ever mentioned how much I like those guys?   Maybe a time or two… 😉

Go there.  Get your parts from them.   You won’t regret it.

And tell them the Pirtle’s sent ya.

🙂

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Cheers!

June 30, 2015

3 Day Weekend | Part 2

I definitely closed out June with a bang.  Part One found here.  And now for Part Two…

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Just like a real life Thelma and Louise <- link up to Miranda and Carrie Somethin’ Bad

Saturday

Woke up fairly early to get in a jog (a whole 2 miles y’all… careful now!) and was also able to get in a few errands while Clint changed my oil and air filter on the ol’ Harley.

My gosh he’s so good to me.  ❤

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11:30am: Tyree and I were off to the Bikers for Boobies run, benefiting women with breast cancer.  The organizers of this event always donate the poker run entry fees to women currently battling breast cancer.  Always feels good to donate money to a cause so worthy.

First stop – Victory Bar and Grill, Council Bluffs, IA

And so it begins…

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We met two new cool chicks, Terry and Tracy who rode along with us to stop two: Twisted Tail in BeeBee Town.

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And then this is where our plans derailed.   As we were leaving Bee Bee town headed to Loess Hills Harley Davidson (stop 3) I noticed my bike shimmying when I’d round the curves.  The first time I noticed it I thought it might just be the road.  Going into curve two I had to grip a little tighter to keep the front wheel straight.  I slowed up a bit and motioned for Tyree to come up next to me so I could ask if she was getting that feeling.  She wasn’t feeling anything out of the ordinary which lead me to believe there was something going on with my bike, but we continued on anyway.   Nothing I could do at that point and I still had control.  There happened to be a group of bikes in front of us that were riding slow, only going through corners about 50 mph.  On a normal day, I would find this highly annoying.  :/ Curves are FUN to lean into at a decent speed.  I think it honestly was a blessing in disguise this time.   It forced me to slow my roll.   Once in Council Bluffs while sitting at a stop sign, Tyree noticed my back tire was pretty low.

BINGO!

We rolled into a gas station and sure enough, found a nail.   I am very thankful the leak was slow and it didn’t go flat out on the road.  We all know how unfortunate of a situation that could have been.   And no, mom, the shimmying wasn’t terrible and I wasn’t in immediate danger.   Slowing up allowed for more control and she still had air in it… just not as much as it should.  All is good. 🙂

And this is, again, where  I proclaim again how awesome Clint is.   Gave him a call, he told me to hang tight and he’d be right over to plug the tire.

In the meantime…

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Anyone up for a game of “You’re on Candid Camera?”

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And then:

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He pulled the nail, plugged the hole and then so graciously followed us to Stop 3 at Loess Hills HD!

What a guy.

Side note: Ever wonder how girls get ready while out on motorcycles?   We use each others sunglasses.  Duh!

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Etsy for the win on these shirts.  Love that little slice of internet heaven.

❤

Before we left Loess Hills we made a quick check of the tire pressure and sadly found I was down 10lbs.   We made the decision to call it a day, filled the tire back up and headed to Omaha for a brief stop at the 21st Saloon for a few quick drinks.

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And then we swapped out wheels for the Jeep and it was on to Night Three of Country on the River!

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We had a blast dancing and singing along with Thomas Rhett and The Band Perry.

What an incredible ending to a three day run!

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Sunday

Clint and I are headed to Algona for the Freedom Rally over the 4th of July, so we used the morning to get our trailer out of storage and do a once over on all its belongings.   I don’t think we made it anywhere last year to camp, which means our tent and air mattress and everything else has been sealed for almost two years.   That is a little frightening.

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Lucky for us, there were no foul smells coming out of it which means it was sealed up tight.  Thank goodness!    The fun part of unpacking is finding things you totally forgot you had in there!  Like this cute little HD grill.

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We set up the tent to make sure we had all necessary parts:

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And the air mattress to ensure no holes:

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I volunteered to test it out. 😉  Rough day of work I tell ya.

After we had all the items tested, tore back down and packed back in the trailer, Clint took my back tire off so I could take it on up to Butterfield’s for a new inner tube.   Time to get that baby fixed!  The tire itself has life left to live, so we won’t be needing a new one of those quite yet.  Thank goodness!  That is definitely not in my budget right now.

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And this is where she sits… What a sad looking baby.

But, Clint is ready to rock ‘n roll!

algona ready

Super stoked for this Rally.   We haven’t been to a local rally since Conesville shut down a few years ago.  Completely bummed about that one.  I am sure Algona will make up for lost time! 🙂

Cheers to a fabulous week ahead!

June 29, 2015

Cauliflower and Kale Detox Salad

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My friend Ashley made the original version of this salad a few weeks ago and was kind enough to bring me a container of it.   I fell in love with the light, fresh taste and the overall health benefits this recipe packs.  Did you know cauliflower, kale, basil and lemons are known for their detoxifying capabilities?  After my weekend, this recipe was very appealing to me!

The original recipe can be found here courtesy of Blissful Basil.  

I altered the ingredients for a few reasons:

  1. Cost
    • Sun-dried tomatoes are pricey at my grocery store
  2. Availability
    • I looked in two grocery stores for Tahini and couldn’t find any.  Ashley told me where I could find it, but it’s about $8 a jar.   Since this only called for 1/4 cup I decided to just use olive oil.  Completely different tastes, but with the other ingredients in the dressing, I was confident the taste would be just fine.  
  3. Taste
    • I added slivered almonds and omitted hemp seeds and pepitas.   This also could fall under reason #2.

 

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Ingredients

For the Salad
  • 1 head of cauliflower, cut into pieces
  • 2 cups finely chopped kale
  • ⅔ cup chopped fresh tomatoes
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
  • ⅓ cup raw pine nuts
  • ¼ cup slivered almonds
For the Dressing
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ cup Olive Oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt (or to taste)
  • black pepper (to taste)

Instructions

1. Grate the cauliflower pieces in a food processor until riced. Transfer to bowl.

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2. Chop Kale by hand or in food processor.   Add to cauliflower.

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3. To bowl add tomatoes, basil, pine nuts and slivered almonds.

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4. Make the dressing by adding the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, water, sea salt, and black pepper to an airtight container and shake.Pour the dressing over the cauliflower mixture and toss to coat.  Let marinate for 10-15 minutes.

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5. Serve and refrigerate leftovers.

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