Maple Syrup

Discoveries: Snow, smoke, sap, wood, buckets
Companions: Family

When hauling wood or eating pancakes, you can get a little messy. At least that's how I was after completing both of those tasks. During the Spring, my family makes maple syrup. Once the temperatures are above freezing during the day and below freezing during the night the sap starts to flow and that means maple syrup season has started. For the past four years, we have ventured out into the woods during Spring and tapped maple trees, collected sap, and cut wood. It's a lot of work, but it only lasts a few weeks at most.
First, we drill holes in the trees. The sap drains out of these holes, through hoses, and into buckets.

After collecting the sap, we boil it. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. The boiling process takes a very long time, but that is because there is a lot of water in the sap. To make the best of all that time, sometimes we'll roast hot dogs or marshmellows while we're out there. 

What better way to celebrate the end of maple syrup season than with a pancake breakfast? Have a good day and good breakfast everyone! Peace.

Morals: Do things yourself, go out and do some physical labor for once rather than sit inside on the couch all day. The fresh air, workout, and the taste of accomplishment once you're done is very rewarding.
Hint: Next time my adventure will come from my book of ideas.

Massage

Discoveries: CrossFit, running, massage, lotion, relaxation
Companions: Shelly, other couples

So like my last hint, I've been working out a lot more lately. When it comes to working out, and finding motivation to workout, it's good to have some variety. Doing the same workouts every week gets tedious, boring, and makes you lose motivation to continue. The variety that I add to my workouts are yoga and CrossFit. I do yoga about once per week to keep stretched out, have some time to relax, and because I just like doing yoga. CrossFit is about twice per week and is quick, different everytime, and intense. It's the perfect spice added to any workout. I have a blast doing CrossFit with my friends and get a great workout from it.

After all of this working out, I've needed some time to loosen up and relax. What better way to do so than with a massage? I went to a massage workshop today where I learned how to massage and got to be massaged. It was wonderful, very relaxing. The people were fun to work with and it was cool to learn about muscles and knots. I don't think that I could massage people for a living but it was nice to learn some of the basics for massage so I can try it on people I know. Now if only I could find someone to give me a nice shoulder massage once in a while...

Have a good day everyone! Peace.

Morals: Exercise makes you happier, but make sure to find time to relax.
Hint: My next adventure will be a bit messy.

Exploring

Discoveries: a castle, hobby shops, homemade jewlery, super awesome pop-ups
Companions: Alex

Today, Alex joined me on a trip to a nearby town. I love checking out small local shops, so that's exactly what we did. First, we explored two different hobby shops. The first one only had models; everything from cars to frankenstein. The second had a bit more variety. There were cards for several card games as well as tables for groups to come in to play games. It seemed like a nice place, but we kept exploring. We came along a shop that bragged about its handcrafted, American-made products from many Michigan artists. They had accesories that were very interesting. Some were made from silverware. I saw spoon handle rings and fork bracelets. I would share a picture of this unique jewlery but the cashier didn't want people to copy the artists' work. What I can share pictures of is the great book store. There were so many types of amazing pop-up books. Here, see for yourself:

Today's adventure was alright, but next time I want to find some cooler shops. By the way, I apologize for my lack of flowery vocabulary. This blog still needs some improvement, but practice makes perfect, right? Until next time, peace.

Morals: Support your local businesses!
Hint: Super heroes.

Road Trip to the Best Friend's House

Discoveries: Her new house, a baby, a dog
Companions: Shelby and her family

My hint from the last post had to do with this adventure because there were animals involved like I said! Shelby has a pet dog. I finally got to see her new house since she moved a couple years ago. We are busy people. Anyway, about this adventure! I went on a tour of the rolling hills, curving roads, and lovely town where she lives. We got to walk around town a bit and Shelby showed me an awesome toy store. Once inside, we were greeted by a lifesize toy giraffe. The store was packed with toys everywhere, even on an upper floor. There was everything from hats and sock monkies, to dolls and smurfs.

¡Olé!

I also got to spend a lot of time hanging out with Shelby's niece, JuleeAnne. She's adorable, I had fun hanging out with her.

One of the reasons Shelby thought it'd be a good weekend for me to come visit was to go dress shopping. I got to be a fashion critic as well as a fashion model. I found a fun pink dress.

 The mall we went to had a cool fountain that was perfect for picture taking so we took advantage of the opportunity (as well as making a wish by tossing a coin in the fountain).

 

After a long day of shopping we were hungry. Since I had never been to Buffalo Wild Wings, they decided to take me there. We had to wait a bit for our food so we took some funny pictures.

 

The wings were very good once they came. I will definitely go there to eat again.
I was glad to spend some time with my best friend over the weekend. I haven't gotten to just hang out with someone in a while. I miss being able to go over to her house and just sit around and talk. That's what best friends do. I am thankful that we still keep in touch even though she lives far away now. Well, that concludes this adventure. Get out in the world, people! Adventure awaits! Peace.

Morals: Go visit your friends! Try to keep in touch with people you don't see often. Call up some old friends that you haven't talked to in a while. Friends are a good thing to have around.
Hint: Going out on the town.