Am I A Nature Girl??

We went camping Memorial Weekend..

It called for 30% chance of rain and I just knew it was going to rain.. 

Only I was wrong it snowed the entire time..

We packed for it to be cold but not wet which was really dumb on our part but oh well cant run home when your like 150 miles away. 

It was literally the worst camping trip of my life.. We stayed in a tent..

We left Friday and it was okay not too cold and no moisture was to be seen.

We went to bed that night and kept waking up periodically because it sounded like it was raining on the tent. Boy where we wrong, once the sun came out Saturday it was obvious there was snow on top of our tent.. We got up and it snowed all day Saturday. We decided that night that if it was snowing when we got up the next morning we where going home because our doggies where ridiculously cold. 

Sunday rolled around and it was snowing still (so stupid) so we left..

I am happy we did because I was cold and Sam was cold he just sat there and cried and shook same with Baylee but not nearly as bad shes not that vocal. 

We didn't do anything fun just drove around in Tony's truck we mainly went out there to shoot guns but it was way to cold and no little animals where out to kill because even they knew it was too cold.  

So to answer the question of this blog I am a nature girl meaning I like to go camping just not in the snow so I am not going camping again on memorial weekend in a tent.

Ways Living In Nevada Changes you..

So I thought this would be a funny post because I have been noticing differences in myself after living in this state for a year and a half. I don't know how long this list will be but I am going to try to make it a long one!!

1. Seeing a BMW or Lexus infuriates you because you more than likely just got cut off by them.

2. The coolness of said "luxury" vehicles from above wears off because you finally realize there just an over priced version of some cheaper car. 

3. Limo's are no longer amazing or rare in seeing. Actually never have been in one I have no desire to get in one anymore.

4. Old classic car's also become not amazing anymore.. there still cool don't get me wrong but there every where down here.

5. I will never get used to there being a full liquor store in Safeway or Walmart or gas stations.

6. Seeing a prostitute I mean escort in a restaurant isn't nearly as disturbing as it used to be (I only know this because of over heard conversations, people really should use inside voices). 

7. I am positive I will always be out of style here because looking like Ke$ha at 8 am on a Monday morning in class isn't my style.

8. Casino's in grocery stores.. I will most likely never get used to.

9. The concept of living in the "desert" is a joke.. It snows more here than it ever did at home.

10. Nevada has a really stupid concept of building a road.. Put drains on the dam things where the heck is the water supposed to go when it pours?

11. Rude people are an every day occurrence.. Its actually made me be a little more vocal.. I mean every asshole needs a bitchy look and a "thank you" when they are being idiots in public.. I don't understand whats so hard about being pleasant or cordial. 

12. People literally go crazy here if you are from Nevada you know what I am talking about they come out in waves commit a bunch of crimes and then go back into hiding. 

Over all living here has given me a change in perspective I wouldn't say its a negative one its probably more for the better. I am not going to lie this place has grown on me but some things I don't think I will ever get used to. 

I hope someone found this funny because I catch myself having these thoughts and it makes me laugh on a daily basis. 

Banana Bread!!

There are very few things that I can cook that taste like my mom did it.. 

Banana Bread happens to be one of them..

 I love banana bread!!

I am not a huge banana fan they have to be partially green and the second I see a black spot on it I wont eat it. 

So we had some left over banana's and being bored I turned them into Banana bread..

Let me just start off with saying that this is a super easy recipe and I have made it a lot but where I am from has an elevation of 400 ft and where I currently live is at 4,500 ft so baking down here has been a challenge and today I finally figured out what I was doing wrong well not wrong just that I needed to do it differently. 

Before I decided to make a change I would take a tooth pick and poke the center of the loaf and it'd come out clean I would take it out of the oven and place on baking racks.. Then when eating it it would be gooey in the center. It was getting rather frustrating. 

So This recipe makes one loaf of banana bread and I split it into two pans and lowered the baking temperature.

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

3 tbsp. vegetable  oil

2 1/2 cup white flour

1 tsp. salt

3 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1 1/4 cup mashed banana's

You want to use black banana's not yellow

Heat oven to 350 or 325 depending on elevation or if its a dark or glass bread pan.

Mix together both sugars and vegetable oil in one bowl and set aside. 

Mix together flour, salt and baking powder in another bowl and set aside.

Get the milk measured out and the banana's mashed 

(tip use a paper plate, I never measure the amount of banana's out but 2 to 3 banana's do the trick)

What you are going to want to do is add small amount of milk to the sugar and mix, then add small amount of flour and mix, then add some mashed banana's and mix. You want to keep cycling through this until you have no more flour, milk or banana's left. Grease your bread pan and pour mixture into the pans. 

Bake for 55 to 70 minutes

Enjoy <3

The top image is all in one pan that loaf was gooey in the center!! 

This one is split into two pans and I am positive that it wont be gooey in the center. 

Road Trippin!!

Tony and I thought it would be a good idea to get out of Reno for the weekend. 

Seeing as I wouldn't have seen my mom till August when I am going home, we decided we'd meet up in Boise, Idaho. 

If I could make convince Tony to live in Boise I would but he thinks its too big.

We left early Friday morning and came back on Sunday.. We covered 880 miles and needless to say my butt hurt when I tried to sit down last night and eat dinner so I stood up (good thing I have a tall table :)

There is NOTHING between Nevada and Idaho so I took pictures to prove the point..

Tony and I had to entertain ourselves with some comedy channels thanks to xm radio and just chat. 

Tony is a man of few words so being trapped in the vehicle with me for 16 hours total he finally got bored enough to strike up some conversation.. either that or I had been talking his ear off and he finally decided to start talking. 

Friday we went out to dinner with my aunt, cousin and her fiancée and grandparents a long with my mom and step dad. 

Saturday we took the dogs to get groomed, went shopping at the mall (tony was not excited about shopping) and we went out to dinner with my brother and his wife. I got some pretty good stuff shopping new Coach purse, some capris for summer because I tend to hate wearing shorts well I don't like wearing short shorts you have to keep something to the imagination and a new pair of Nike's from the Nike outlet.. It was a productive day for myself :)

Sunday we got up and took the dogs to the dog park Nampa, Idaho has the BEST dog park ever I wish there was one similar to it here but theres not the dog parks down here suck. And we spent a long time in the car thanks to the snow we encountered majority of our way back.. 

Nothing in Nevada.. 

Still Nothing in nevada

Welcome to Oregon!! 

Oregon - Idaho Boarder you can see who takes better care of their roads.. 

At one point we were stuck due to construction.. It was not fun.. 

With my grandpa 

Idaho is full of my family history this monument has my great great great grandpa's name on it because he was the  first all in one sheriff, judge and something else for the area. The Caldwell Jail is also named after my great grandpa on the other side of my family. 

Anyone who knows me knows I have an obsession with coffee.. I like Starbucks don't get me wrong but there are other companies or small businesses that can make a better cup of coffee.. Unfortunately though Nevada only has Starbucks so when I go home I make sure I get a latte from my favorite locations. 

I so wish Moxie Java would move to Nevada...

On our way home.. This is right outside of Marsing, Idaho very small town but its full of vineyards and different fruit orchards. 

The stupid snow that slowed us down.. it rained and snowed pretty much all through Oregon and all through Idaho and in Nevada too. 

Sammy was not a happy camper he kept panting the entire way home.. He can only take being in the car for so long and then he gets antsy and wants out. I don't think he will be crying when I leave the house for awhile I am pretty sure he wont want to go any where with me. 

Drum Roll Please...

I've been wanting to get a new purse for awhile now and I finally got the guts up well sort of got the guts to part with some money so I could get a new one.. The one I had before was just brown weaved leather from a little boutique in Washington. It served its purpose but I was really tired of it.. 

The wallet I already had and wanted a purse to match it so I didn't have to spend more money and I found the perfect one :)

I hope all of you guys out there had good weekends!!

p.s.. A little birdy told me to tell you guys to help a friend out.. find out how here!!

http://www.braintumorcommunity.org/site/TR?px=2918484&fr_id=1665&pg=personal

Dont forget to add LanyeBug Designs to Facebook and order some flowers like the one from my photos.. It would also help Rachel out!!

Two Kisses for Maddy by Matt Logelin Review

My first day of my short summer vacation was full of me anticipating having the time to sit down and read a book I purchased last weekend. I intentionally didn't purchase the book when it was released because I knew I would neglect my homework and possibly not attend class if I bought it just to finish it. And even when I did purchase it I had two more finals left and gave it to Tony to hide from me so I would study and not read :)

This book is about Matt's reflection on the first year of his life without his wife.. Just after 27 hours of giving birth to their first child he was dealt with something he never imagined. While reading the book you are walking through the steps he went through of Maddy's first year, his first year in 12 yrs without his wife. I enjoyed every page of it. I definitely commend him for getting up on his feet and pushing himself for his daughter. I honestly don't know if I would have the strength to do something like that but I think we as humans are capable of more than we give ourselves credit for. 

Some how one day I stumbled upon Matt's blog and read it for what seemed hours on end. Its how I was introduced to his story, to his book being published and I anticipated the day when I would be able to read it.  He has an amazing way of writing and his blog centered around him raising his daughter without his wife. I honestly don't know what to say about this blog because you really just have to go look at it to truly understand what I am saying. The same can be said about his book, you really just have to find yourself time and some spare money and go buy it. 

I couldn't put this book down, I went and got my nails done.. Got a nice big Pepsi from Taco Bell and parked my butt on the couch. I read 257 pages in under 5 hours pretty impressive for someone who stops reading their text books the second they figure out its not necessary or within the first month of school. I even had a hard time convincing myself I needed to go eat dinner to stop reading. I have never felt so many different emotions during five hours I laughed, cried and felt every emotion in between.

I HIGHLY recommend this book.. There is a message in it one I am not sure Matt intended on having but was definitely there. After reading it, it makes you appreciate those in your life, the aspect of them that you might take for granted or not realize how much you loved until they are gone.  When Maddy is old enough I am sure she will cherish the book he took time to write and the blog he documented her first years of life with. She is one little girl that can quickly capture your heart by the images on his blog..

Matt's blog:

 http://www.mattlogelin.com/

Matt's book:

 http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Two-Kisses-for-Maddy/Matt-Logelin/e/9780446564304/?itm=2&USRI=two+kisses+for+maddy+a+memoir+of+loss+and+love

Seriously go pick yourself up a copy ASAP!!!

Summer has commenced!!

I took my last final today and it felt so good to be done with this semester!!

This semester has had its own unique challenges come with it.. Mainly with me thinking I found a major I wanted to stick with but yet changed because it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I wish I could say that I know for 110% without a doubt that Community Health Science is the degree for me but in reality its my last stop before I have to completely switch out of medical school which I seriously do not want to do. So unfortunately before I pay for fall semester I will be getting a taste of this new major this summer. I have only taken one summer off since I started school every summer after my senior year of high school and freshman year of college (I started college a year early during my senior year) has been filled with summer classes. One summer I took 21 credits, its was mental suicide and probably lessened my scholastic ability by a year because after that I was a crazy drained mush pile. 

I am really looking forward to this summer I already have some fun things planned out for myself and plan to take my camera along to update those of you who choose to follow me along my summer journey. The month of May holds some exciting adventures for me, last weekend on Mothers day Tony and I went and did a breast cancer walk with a friend who is a survivor and definitely a women I look up to. Then this weekend coming up we are headed to Boise so I can get out of Nevada and back to some normalcy.. Actually a better way of putting it would be getting back to some people I am used to being around and I honestly can say I have never been happier to go to Idaho in my life. Then Memorial Weekend we are going camping (I am not looking forward to this). People who have never lived or been to Nevada have this misconception that its warm and gets warm quick.. Thats a lie it snowed yesterday. Although we do have our nice days we are teased till after June with snow making an appearance. So I am thinking camping will equal me freezing my butt off. I start summer classes May 31st and go until July 8th, I turn 21 the 12th of July and then head home some where around August 1st. But go back to school on the 29th.. Typing all that out kind of depresses me cause I just realized I wont have much time off but if I give myself to much time off I tend to go a little crazy because I have nothing to do. 

So I have complied a book list.. A traveling list and I am going to take you all along with me.. As well as a personal goal of riding 20 miles on my bike I am half way there at 10 miles and climbing a mountain thats used for skiing here. Cant wait to tackle all of this with Tony :) 

My first book is Two kisses for Maddy by Matt Logelin 

http://www.mattlogelin.com/

I discovered this book through reading his blog and I highly recommend everyone check him out. 

Me, Tony and Mandy at the Breast Cancer walk May 8th..

If you're all for having awesome summer adventures go check out my previous blog

http://mandee746.blogspot.com/2011/05/rachel-sunshine-herron.html

and find out how you can help my friend out!! Or add Layniebugdesigns Melissa Blair to your Facebook, purchase some awesome flower's 10% of each purchase will help my friend out!!

Everyone needs a good flower collection to spice up their summer hair style's ;)

Rachel Sunshine Herron

My best friend in the entire world has a brain tumor..

Thats a pretty loaded statement - not only for me but for her.

There are days when I talk to Rachel and I can tell she doesn't feel good, her head often times kills her. 

But she keeps trucking on, she is a wife, mother of three, sister and VERY loved friend by many.

I have known Rachel for five years, she stands at 5'2 and couldn't weigh more than 125. Shes a little spit fire, and has a vivacious personality. Someone I go to when I need a boost or some encouraging words. 

When I found out Rachel had a brain tumor I was scared, scared for her and scared to loose her. But she has the best outlook on life, positive and uplifting she quickly changed my mind. Rachel is a fighter, and doesn't let herself get down very much if she does she doesn't make it a known fact. 

I remember the first day I met Rachel; the twins her oldest, where two and running around the house naked (sorry Rachel) she was chasing them. She quickly looked at me and said hi and then kept running. It wasn't to long after that, that I got a phone call from Rachel to watch the boys. Watching the boys started our friendship, I would watch them while she was at work or her and her husband wanted to go out. That turned into her husband having to watch them so we could go out to dinner. We would sit at our local Mexican restaurant for hours till they where closing. Just talking about whatever, besides Tony she knows all my deepest darkest secrets.

Her kids are another aspect to our relationship. I love them like they where my own. I watched them grow up and still continue to. I'd say after not living at home for three years, the only thing I miss is them their the only reason I cry when I leave home. That family is my own, in a very special way. 

Here are some words that Rachel posted on Facebook earlier today, she didn't let her tumor be a known fact to everyone she encountered but she is making a change to become an advocate for brain tumors as am I.

"I have made the decision to fully embrace the life I have been given.  I will not live in the shadows of the illness that has been cast upon me.  I am not a victim, I do not need sympathy, nor am I ‘sick’.  I am just an individual who is trying to make the best out of an otherwise less than thrilling situation.  I wear a smile on my face and feel happiness in every moment I have to walk this Earth.  However, I still find myself hiding behind a secret truth which has defined the way I choose to live my life.  I am stepping out of my natural bubble of comfort and taking a stand against brain tumors.  I have been battling a primary brain tumor for seven years.  I underwent brain surgery in 2008 in an attempt to remove the tumor but it has been proven to be just as stubborn as I am.  Today I step out of the shadows; I have accepted the fact that I will spend the remainder of my life fighting; fighting for awareness, fighting for a cure, and fighting for a longer future.  My friends, I ask for your support as I participate in the Portland Brain Tumor Walk on August 20, 2011.  I will be raising money for research, to support families who are currently coping with the effects of a brain tumor diagnosis, and advocate for change.  If you would like to make a donation please visit the link below, it will take you directly to my fundraising page.  Please feel free to forward the link to your friends and family and together we can help continue the research, support those who are affected by brain tumors and advocate for change.  Thank you my friends for your dedicated support, encouragement, and advocacy!

http://www.braintumorcommunity.org/site/TR/Events/BTW-OR?px=2918484&pg=personal&fr_id=1665

May is brain tumor awareness month!!  Post a grey ribbon as your profile picture during the month of May to help raise awareness of brain tumors

Love to all of you,

Rachel <3"

All that I am asking from my readers is a small donation to help her walk this August in the Portland Brain Tumor Walk. Donate what you can, a small donation will go a very long way. It's not the most publicized but by the time August rolls around I will have plastered it all over my blog for my friend. 

So it'd take 5 minutes to donate, I am donating, I can't walk with her but I will be raising money for her. 

Love ya Rach <3