An Unfortunate Squirrel Story

Warning Animal Lovers: This post contains graphic images

Last night I went Stadium Singing with Sam. After the last hymn was sung we went back to my car. As I walked around to my side I noticed there was a squirrel next to my back tire. I found it odd that it didn't scamper away as soon as I got closer. I didn't want to run the risk of running it over when I backed out so I attempted to shoo it away with my foot. Oddly enough the squirrel was sluggish. The only running I was able to convince the squirrel to do was to run up on the top of my tire.

By this time Sam had already gotten into the car and was wondering who I was talking to, "Hey, you should get out out of there. I don't want to run you over. Little squirrel, I highly recommend you move. Away from my tire. Vamonos!" (It didn't respond to Spanish either). Keep in mind that Stadium Singing just got out and people were everywhere.

Sam came over to check out the situation and said she thought the squirrel would move out once I started moving. Once again hoping in vain that the noise from my engine would scare the squirrel away I started my car. No bueno. One last chance Squirrel! I started to back out and felt a little bump. Could have been a rock? Then switched to forward. We felt an even more noticable bump. Looking back I couldn't tell if I had hit it. So I drove around the parking lot and to pass by the scene again. At first there didn't appear to be any small inanimate bumps in the parking lot. Then I saw some people staring at an area, pointing and walking around. Dang. Yep, dead squirrel. Then Sam wanted to see it. So we had to go around once again. (That's not obvious at all!)

Here is what we found.

Poor little squirrel! Eh, oh well. Probably put it out of it's misery, right?

Oh Happy Wed Day

MARRIED!
Originally uploaded by Act of Kate

I went to Utah last Friday for my cousin Natalie's wedding. It was a tiring day. And I wasn't even the one getting married! I did get to take her pictures, which was a delight :) I posted a couple photos on my other blog (I think I got it linked right this time, Ty :) ) and more on flickr if any of you want to check 'em out (since most of you who visit my blog are related to us both :) )

Here is Ryan, taking pictures with his Holga. I love his picture taking pose! Can't wait to see how that roll of film turned out :)

Through the Window

window
Originally uploaded by Act of Kate

I'm sure those of you at the reception were wondering why the couple of the day was holding this pose for so long. I've got the answer. For me! I told them it was going to be a longer than usual exposer and to hold the pose. Thanks Nat and Justin :)

I started to work on these pictures today and wanted to share a tiny preview!

The Incredi-egg!

Last night for FHE my group colored Easter eggs. After they were decorated we had Egg Roll Wars where we set up blankets on the gym floor and the competitors got on either side and played "chicken" with their eggs. When the eggs were cracked, everyone had their refreshment! Great idea, huh?

We had asked a couple of different people to bring some hard boiled eggs. One of our chosen egg-boilers didn't have much luck when he was boiling the eggs. As Paul and I were checking them, we thought they sounded like they were still jiggly inside so we put them back on the stove to boil longer. Does that even work? It didn't for us. This made the egg wars that much more exciting because as they would collide with another egg, they wouldn't just crack, they would spit out a yucky egg-y mess!

I should have know my "My Incredi-egg" was one of the infected when it cracked when it barely got nicked. Yet it felt firm. As I started to roll "The Best Egg" in my hands to losen the egg shell from the egg, it EXPLODED!!!! ALL OVER!!! My hands (especially my hands) , my feet, my sweater, the floor. Yeah, It was pretty gross. A great follow up to when I put my hand in doggie doo doo a couple weeks ago. I'm on a roll!

Summon Your Eagle Powers!

My friend Paul and I threw a wrestling par-tay! We had nachos and tacos, made masks, laid mattresses for a wresting ring, gave prizes, and watched Nacho Libre. 

Making our luchador masks:

 Laura, Sam, and I 

*Ding Ding* Let the fighting begin!

Presidente Suprema vs. Estudiante del Infierno

Brybee vs.

El Prancing Rapido Rapido Estupido! (Travis)

La Fantasia del Chupacabra vs. Presidente Suprema

Puma vs. Estudiante del Infierno! 

Estudiante del Infierno vs. El Huracan Blanco

2nd place:

1st place

Now before you think there were only 8 people here, there were more people, but the opted to attended as spectators. They aren't pictured along with us luchadors.

Adventures in the Kitchen

I tried a couple of new techniques in the kitchen last weekend. After 2 pots, 4 knives, 3 spatulas, 3 ziploc bags, 2 wooden spoons, and a measuring cup, this is what I got:

Cute? Don't you think? (It does look better from a distance) From my last post, you know who Laura is and our love of a certain kryptonian. It's her birthday next week and since I'll be gone (YAY!) on her birthday :( I surprised her with a cake a week early. I might have just wanted to make the cake anyways...It was fitting for the night because it was Clark's birthday on that night's episode. Also, Clark's birthday is traditionally thought to be on February 29, and I made it on the 28 (Close as we can get this year). (I'm really not weird or fanatical. I promise) It was fitting. 

I think it turned out pretty good for my first themed cake. Anndrea make a cake for Lizza on her last birthday using Marshmallow fondant. I loved how smoothly it covers the cake. And I thought it the best method to get what I wanted. Despite horror fondant stories, it wasn't too hard work with. (Maybe because it's not real fondant?)

In my cake-vision the cake had two layers. It didn't happen. I didn't wait long enough to give the cake sufficient time to cool. Impatience. It ended up in a a couple of chunks on the cooling rack. Still eatible though! It was also supposed to have a regular icing layer called a "crumb layer". I tried it. Yet when I attempted to frost where I made the cuts, the frosting would stay on the spatula (spoonula?) and the cake was hitching a ride. 

Laura LOVED IT!!!

A couple things I learned. Put the food coloring in the fondant mixture right after it's taken off the stove. DON'T do it after it becomes hard. (In my defense, I'm a first timer. I didn't know the fondant would get that hard. ;) And, be prepared with gloves. Or this will happen:

I'm still "blue". (Bah hahaha)

Okay, one more picture and I'll be finished. (So I can go watch more Smallville ;)

Oh, and by the way in case you were wondering, I did load all of those dishes in the dishwasher. :)

Happy 100th

We (Laura and I) made it! To the 100th 'sode of Smallville. (Don't judge me, I'm sure you have your diligently watched shows too. You should share them in the comments. Please? :) It was a joyful and sad  experience all at the same time. Joyful because I LOVE Smallville, sad because one of my favorite characters died. Also because we watch them on DVD, we make them fit in our schedules rather than working our schedules around it. I realized that we are catching up to the current season pretty quickly. When that happens, no more watching them whenever we want. AND I'll have to wait ONE whole week to see the next 'sode. And no watching 2 (or three or four...shh, it's our secret) in a row. I have a couple ideas that reconcile me. The first is we can start all over again! :) The second, we can move onto Lois and Clark. Dean Cain's pretty cute too...

(Shake head back to present) Back on subject, Here are a couple pictures captured of the special event.

I know this next image may be a little confusing (It was L's idea :) We aren't kissing each other, we're kissing Clark. 

We even baked a cake! (That was my idea). Any little excuse is good enough for cake! (Under my jacket I'm wearing Space Ghost. Don't tell Clark. That's our secret too. I don't even know who Space Ghost is. I just really like that shirt. When I wear the shirt people (usually people I don't know) always come up to me and say, "I love that show!" Maybe I should look it up and see what it is someday.) Okay post over, now that I've blabbed on. Bad habit. It's my blog and I'll type all I want to. :) 

P.S. Thanks for sticking around. :)

Go for it!

In the afternoons I work as a receptionist in a medical office. Not so recently I received an unordinary call there. Here is a transcript similar to our conversation:

ME: Family Medical Center

GUY: Huh?....Hello?

M: Hi

G: Hey, I'm here at the market and they are having a great sale on canned food.

M: Oh?

G: Yeah, they have spagetti sauce, green beans, (yadda yadda yadda names off a bunch of food) Should I get some? It's a pretty good deal, right?

M: Yeah, it sounds great! You should get some.

G: Really?

M: Yes. Go for it!!

G: Okay, Thanks. Bye

M: You bet. Ba-Bye (I had thought about calling him sweetie or honey or another pet name, but was laughing too hard at this point)

Occasionally I wonder how things went down with his wife once he got home with all this stuff.

You may be thinking, "That was plain mean!" I felt a tad guilty. I took comfort in thinking that this guy doesn't recognize his wife's voice. Shame on him. He got what was coming to him. :) Not to mention it amused me for an afternoon! :)

Everybody else is doing it

And now I am too. Here's my google results for "Katie needs":

1. Katie needs HULA LESSONS! (Great! When do I start?)
2. Katie needs your help! (Ain't that the truth!)
3. Katie needs to work on her posture!
4. Katie needs Australia [I think I do! And Scotland, and Ireland, and India, and Africa and....might as well add Hawaii since I'll be taking those hula lessons)
5. Katie needs to be on her own (I'm on my own enough)
6. Katie needs a blog! (Another one?)
7. Katie needs you (Especially if you are a single, funny, not creepy handsome man!)
8. Katie needs to use the litter pan on her own (Uh...I don't think so)
9. Katie needs parenting classes! (whatever for?)
10. Katie needs...what? (See #7) (I really am kidding)

While I'm posting again, why doesn't anybody want my free giveways?! C'mon! Only one more lucky person!! :)

It's not Free! It's a Conspiracy!

I guess Meg's giveaway wasn't all that free. I get so excited about free stuff that I didn't really pay attention to the deal (Wouldn't be the first time). By wanting something free from her, I have to do a FREE giveaway myself. Hmmm..grumble grumble. Just Kidding. Okay, so here you have it!

The first THREE people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade GIFT from me during this year. When and what will be a SURPRISE. There's a small CATCH though... You need to post this on YOUR BLOG then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're IN. Remember, only the first three comments RECEIVE a GIFT.

Keep in mind, I'm making it. It won't be all that wonderful. But it's FREE! Just do it! Then again, it could be AWESOME and AMAZING! You know you want to. Comment away!

Check Out Meg's Blog

Here

She's giving stuff away. Need I say more? GO! :)

My Photo Website

There's finally something worth looking at! Heidi's awesome husband designed a logo for me and then put it on the web for me. Enjoy! :) If you have any comments or suggestions, let me know! I also can't forget to thank Tyler for getting me the domain name almost 2 years ago and all that he has done to help me with my website endeavors. Hurray for brothers!

Goin' Shootin'

And not in the usual sense I usually use the verb "shooting". When I go out photographing, I say shooting. One of my friends, Holly, thought I needed to be educated in "real" shooting. She offered to take me out, and I readily agreed!

Obviously, these pictures are from awhile ago (*cough* October *cough cough*). I was going to blog them, forgot, and then found them again today as I was looking through my pictures. Here you have it, my first experience with shooting guns.

My tutor and the gun owner, Holly:

She is so great! She took me out to a shooting range near the butte, taught me gun safety, explained each gun, then let me at it! Too bad at this point I can't remember what each gun was called.

I sat down first for this one:

She told me it had a kick. Not knowing what to expect, I sat down. I figured if I was already on my tushy, I couldn't be knocked there :)

After finding out it wasn't too bad, I decided I could stand up.

She also let me try her pistol. It ranked pretty high in my favorites. It was also the one I had the worst aim on.

Scouting

My dad asked me to take pictures at a scouting event last weekend:

It was a bit nippy.

I took Troop pictures of each troop as they rotated through stations. I was the only girl at Krupp that morning. It really is a shame that out of those 250 scouts there that day they were all old and married or 10 years younger and a foot shorter. Dang.

I was pretty amused by observing the boys working and talking through their tasks. Maybe I find it so funny because I didn't grow up going to scout camp. The task the boys were to perform at the station I was closest to was to build a fire to cook an egg for the Sr. Patrol leader to eat. Some of those boys ate some pretty raw eggs. Some Sr. Patrol Leaders were so dedicated that they were ready to crack the egg into their mouth when they weren't able to get their fire built up in time to cook the egg. Yuck ;p. Other troops were finished and cleaned up by seven minutes.

This boy got to eat a well-cooked egg.

At another station I was surprised to see the boys trying to start a match by chopping it with an axe. I never did see the match light up with flame. I wonder if this is an urban scout myth? ;)

Here is a totem pole right next to the t.p. Hahaha, I crack myself up. Well, I hope there was t.p. in there. I never had to go bad enough to get close enough to see.

A Wintery Wedding

Originally uploaded by Act of Kate

A couple posts ago I posted some picture's of Dan and Allison's engagement shoot. They were married 2 days after Christmas in the Rexburg temple. They liked their engagement photos so much, they had me back for their wedding! :) Allison was absolutely beautiful, even if she was freezing! This was a fun shoot as it snowed during the entire shoot! After enduring cold hands, runny noses and watery eyes, this is one of my favorites. (You only get one because I can't figure out how to get more than one photo over here in one blog from flickr...) Thanks again Dan and Allison!

Tagged - Seven Fun/Weird Things about Moi

A couple of days ago [months] Megan tagged me. I’m finally doing it. Yay me. It may not be fun, and they aren't that strange. But they're about me!

(1)Although I usually do like to receive voicemails, I’m a slacker when it comes to *checking* my voicemail. I sometimes have messages on my phone for a couple of days before I listen to them. Shame on me! (2) I’m a fan of Superman ever since I started watching Smallville. I love Clark Kent! (3) I have a police phobia. This could be credited to the time I was pulled over twice over a three day period. Or maybe it was the time two cops came after me at once. Either way, anytime I catch a flash of light out of my peripheral vision or a bright-lighted sign changes colors in my rearview mirror, I can't help taking quick apprehensive reconnaissance. (4) I read my daily dose of comics everyday, compliments of my dashboard widget. A couple of the daily usuals are Pickles, Garfield, Pearls Before Swine, Zits, and Dilbert.(5) I sing songs from old musicals in the shower (6) I don’t think text messaging gives me a good reason throw out punctuation, grammar, and spelling. (7) I love overcast and rainy days.

Are you still here? Now you can go research toast. I’m sure it’ll be much more interesting :)

I Love Halloween!

Last night I remembered how much I love All Hallows Eve. Samantha and I dressed up to attend a party. I borrowed Annj's muu muu from her mission and Sam used a cave woman costume I wore a couple years ago. I think we looked pretty cute! I even scooped up some ashes out of the fireplace for Sam to rub all over her body. I had to persuade her at first, but then she was rubbing the ashes on herself with just as much enthusiasm as me :)

I loved seeing all of the costumes around town! And I recommend reading up on the history of Halloween at history.com. Pretty cool stuff.

Onions and Sauce

I had the morning off last Friday. Not missing an opportunity to use my skills, Mom asked me to chop up some onions and celery for the spaghetti sauce she would make later that afternoon. And me, having a newfound love of chopping up vegetables since watching Rachael Ray agreed to do it for her. I tackled the onions first. I had to take a break four times. Ow! And putting a bowl of water nearby does not help (where did I hear that old wives tale? I probably heard a tip similar, couldn't remember it and put my own spin on it. A spin that didn't work...) My eyes just kept watering and stinging, I'd wiped them 3 times before I took this flattering and attractive picture of me. I'm sure if any of you have cut onions, you feel my pain. Know of a way to avoid this discomfort? Do share :)

And then the time when we got to mix everything together. I believe the recipe might be a little too much for the pot (See below). We got to eat the sauce of our labors on Sunday. Yum!

Boil boil, bubbalin' over

Zach and Anya

I got to take pictures of Zach and Anya this weekend. Zach just turned three this month and Anya celebrated her first birthday this month too. They are so cute!!

Meg and Anya

Zach was telling me he had an owie

It's...Monkeyman!!

It Makes Me Laugh

A couple of other times when I was glad I had a camera:

I went to Wal*Mart the day the Emma Smith movie came out. Another movie also came out that day and was displayed next to it. Talk about your black and white! (I'm mostly shooting in the dark here, I've never seen "Sex in the City". I'm just guessing from the title).

It's too little to read, but at the bottom of the Babylon movie advertisement it says, "Sex in the City : Absolute Perfection". Ha

Another day I was walking on campus and this bike was parked outside the library. I wonder how they get to the top to ride it... I don't think I could do it. 

And this one, it's just funny