Going Wild at the Weidner Center!

A while back I "splurged" and bought 2 tickets to a show at the local performing arts center in Green Bay  (Weidner Center).  I did this without consulting Tim, which is something neither of us do.  The tickets were $45 a piece and I wanted to surprise Tim with the show that I decided to go to.  Well, I had the hardest time keeping the secret, even only 4 hours into it!  I couldn't stand it, so I played the guessing game with Tim and made him narrow it down for himself.  He figured it out eventually since this is an unlikely thing to see at a performing arts center.  Well, if you've seen the picture below, you've probably already figured it out.  We went to see Jack Hanna!!!  

I'm sure that I've been watching his show since a young kid and being that both Tim and I love nature and animals, what a perfect show!  Well, it was great!  Prior to the show we briefly 

met Jack, which was not something we expected.  In the picture Jack and Tim and talking and I'm trying hard to look good for the camera.  Haha!   Our seats were in the 5th row, so we had a great view.   Jack's show was entertaining as well as a learning experience.  Of course there were lots of parents with their kids, but I don't think the kids could have gotten nearly as much out of the show as an adult. Not to mention....$45 for a 3 year old to sit and eat cherrios and fuss the whole time except for when there was an animal on stage?!  Dang! Between showing some very cool animals including two-toed sloth, albino wallaby, python and cheetah, Jack showed his favorite clips from some of his shows, talked about wildlife conservation, and showed a video of him with his wife and 2 daughters coming upon a family of mountain gorillas (very endangered).    He also showed a blooper reel, including an episode with David Letterman where Jack was milking a goat and squirted the milk all over Letterman's pants.  It was a good show, and worth the$45 per ticket splurge!  Jack has two shows on TV, Jack Hanna's Animal Adventure's and Jack Hanna's Into the Wild....shows that are meant for educating kids, but is equally as good for adults!   -L

Are you registered? Now you don't have to be!

Hello everyone! Prior to today visitors would have to sign up and log in to leave comments on the blog. It seems that maybe this has turned people away from leaving comments. The comment function is now open to all visitors of the site. We hope that you will leave yours. Thanks as always for visiting!! -L

Canning Pic's

Here are pictures from our canning experience so far!

Huge stock pot of cut up tomatoes!  All these make....

6 pints of yummy tangy tomato sauce!

Dehydrating Apple Slices.  First we had to peel them all and then we sliced them.  

Here they are soaking in lemon juice and then getting loaded onto the dehydrator.

All the peels from the apples!

  

Canning Tomatoes

We now have 8 jars of home canned tomato sauce. This year was our first attempt at canning, and I have to say that so far it has gone really well! We decided to can for a few reasons. 1.) Saves money. We'll probably get another 8 jars once the tomatoes are done ripenening. So let's just say that in the store a jar of sauce costs around $2.50 (or even more expensive if you buy organic). If we get 16 jars, that's a savings of $40. Doesn't sounds like a lot, but the more you can, the more you save! 2.) Convenience. So many times we wonder what to make for dinner that isn't going to be a lot of work after a long day. Now, we can pop open a jar and have "fresh" tomato sauce for pasta, pizza, etc. 3.) Organic! Who knows what's in some of the stuff you buy at the store. Preservatives. Pesticides. When you are putting your own tomatoes into the sauce, you know exactly what you are putting in. Just plain 'ol yummy tomatoes! 4.) Local. Imagine the amount of energy it takes to get a jar of Ragu on the shelf at the store? First the tomatoes have to be picked, then transported to the Ragu factory (energy). Then, they have to go through an entire huge process to be made with machines, etc. (energy). The sauce has to be put into jars with more machines, and then the jars have to be labeled (more energy). The labels were made from trees which were cut down, shipped, processed, printed on with ink (chemicals) and then have to be stuck with some sort of glue onto the jar (energy, resources). Then the jars of sauce have to be driven around the country to get to their destination. More energy. You get my point. Our tomatoes grew from a packet a seeds that cost $1.50. They grew from water, sun, and nutrients in the dirt. The energy it took to make them was physical labor on our part and a bit of stovetop time. And, after we use the sauce, we get to save the jar and reuse it! What an efficent process! Maybe I'm a geek, but that get's me excited.

Tonight, we try Apple Butter. More updates to come...and pictures too!

-L

About books!

Tim and I love books!  We enjoy reading both fiction and nonfiction and our book shelves show this.  I have to admit to even having some what of an addiction to buying books.  I look at the amount of books we have an wonder how I will ever get through them all?! (maybe winter?)  I do have to say however, that we are "smart" book shoppers.  Rarely do I spend full price on a book, or even CLOSE to the cover price!  Most of the books we have (including best sellers from favorite authors) are hardcovers and cost a mere 99 cents!  Now when you read a book that you didn't really like, you can't feel guilty about spending the money on it.  You can't really go wrong since the book only cost a dollar!  Here is where I get to make a plug for the place that we get the majority of our books from.  :)  Goodwill.  Have you visited your local Goodwill lately?  We are so lucky to have a Goodwill down the road (in Darboy) that has a "GoodBooks" department.  It's like a small bookstore in there!  You can find anything from cook books, to travel guides, to kids books, to best sellers.  The majority of the books are at least 1/2 price from the cover price.  They have both hardcover and paperback.  Where you'll find me is in the clearance section.  In the clearance section - all paperbacks are 49 cents, all hardcovers are 99 cents.  Fiction to nonfiction, best sellers to obscure.  I have seen plenty of really stupid books in that section, but if you just spend some time, you can find a variety that may fit the type of book you like to read.  So, before you go and buy a book online or spend full price at a store like Barnes and Noble...try Goodwill!  By purchasing, you are recycling a book that someone else didn't want AND giving money to an organization that helps your community!  Oh, and you walk away with a something to read!  It's a great thing all around!

Your brain on happiness!

Have you ever had to do something that you were just dreading? You say things to yourself like "this is going to be horrible" or "I wish I didn't have to." Then as it turns out, it was a horrible as you suspected? I can be blamed of this type of behavior or thoughts just as much as the next person. I have often enjoyed learning about human psychology and I recently stumbled across an interesting article about the placebo effect. "Your Brain Is A Pharmacy" at utne.com brings up the idea that you will believe what you are told, and therefore react appropriately. In a study Utne references, participants were given two glasses of wine. The glasses had the same wine in them. The drinkers were told that one glass had a more expensive wine than in the other glass. The wine that the participants were told was more expensive taste better to them. Are you surprised? We really are very complex as humans, but yet it is so simple to talk yourself or be persuaded into believing something is a certain way. Do you think you could change the way you feel just by how you think?