Cool Cultures

This week we are studying the cool cultures of the American Indians!  When it is your group's turn to write a blog, be sure to write about your tribe's culture, including language, religion, customs, mythology, music, and art.

Water cycle

Now that you understand how the water cycle works, please post a blog asking three questions about it.  When you write your questions, please think about the following:
-What is evaporation?
-How does water become rain?
-Why is it called a "cycle?"

After you have posted your THREE questions, look over your classmate's posts and answer their questions.

Ecosystem blog

Hey guys!  I'm glad you made it this far!  Today I want you to tell me what you learned about ecosystems, but I want you to write from the perspective of someone who lives in an ecosystem you learned about today.

Think about these key terms when you write your short story (3 paragraphs please!):
Consumer
Producer
energy cycle

How to make a dog love you in 4 easy steps.

1.

2.

3. 

4. 

Way to go!

Fairy Tales Blog

 

Dear class,
Reflecting on what you learned about Fairy Tales this week, please answer the following questions in 3 sentences or more:

1. Why is it important to understand the way a story is put together (think about the different characteristics of a story)? 
2. What benefits do fairy tales provide readers (think about themes/morals/conflict & resolutions)? 
3. Why do you think fairy tales are so popular based on your reading?

Note:
Be sure to use spell checker before submitting your blog. If you still have time after writing your response, please comment on your classmates' blog posts. 

Another post about cats.

Can't pull off bangs.

   This has been a pretty eventful week for cats.  First, I finally got to meet a Maine coon!  Her name is Cleo and I think I can say we are friends

   The experience was pretty much everything I ever dreamed it could be.  So much petting.  

Yar!!

    As some of you know, Miles the cat has herpes in his right eye.  I've been treating him for months, without any real results.  I decided today is the day I man up, and make him an eye patch.
   For some reason, while I made it, I truly thought he would keep it on.

    In other news, Michael and I are preparing to leave for Tokyo tomorrow.  I hope to find lots of cute things to blog about while I'm there!

Can telephones be cool again? Please?

    I bought a MagicJack (an embarrassingly named device that hooks your phone line up to your internet) last month just so I could use this adorable telephone.  I bought it when I was about 14 and cell phones were still pretty uncommon.  I remember BEGGING my dad to let me get it so I could put it in my hope chest and one day use it in my household.  

    It's been really nice.  For one thing the calls are very clear, and sometimes (every month) when I can't pay my cell phone bill  I go a few days without service.  With the MagicJack people can still get in touch with me, and in the mean time, I have a cute, useful, little phone area.  

   Check out the peach-colored rose!  They grow in bunches in my front yard.  The picture of the Flapper is my great... aunt... cousin?  Yeah, no.  I just found the image online and had to display it in my house!  

Why do people do terrible things to animals who trust them?

Cupcake apron

    I've been following this diet for 2 weeks and lost 18 pounds!  To show off my weight loss, I thought I would model this super cute apron I made for Anime Salt Lake this year.
  It's meant to go with a Pinkie Pie (from My little pony) cosplay, but it's really cute to wear around the kitchen too.
    The design is something I made on my own without a pattern, but it's still pretty easy to make.  

---------------Instructions below------------------- 
Warning:  I've inexplicably forgotten pretty much all sewing terminology during this post.

    The bodice is mostly gestimation.  Measure across your chest and cut a rectangle to the length and width necessary, with about an additional 1 or 2 inches.  I think I cut the bodice too wide, and it makes my bossom seem very... overwhelming.  The length should come to about 3 inches above the naval.  To make it fit properly, add darts on the side where your boobs go.
    I make ruffles by cutting long strips and folding them in half so the wrong side is on the outside.  Sew the edges together.  You'll have a long tube, so turn it inside-out and iron it flat.  Pleat the strip along the bodice, straps, and skirt as seen in the picture.

     For the skirt, use the fabric to measure out the length between the sides of your hips, then DOUBLE it!  The skirt is very gathered, so you'll need a lot of cloth.  Cut out a rectangle that goes from 3 inches above your naval to about mid-thigh, and round the lower corners so it comes up at the edge.  Pleat or gather the skirt so it matches the width of the bodice.

    The neck strap needs to go from the bottom of the bodice, to the back of the neck and have plenty of length left to tie.  The waist strap is to be sewn across your waist to cover the seam where the bodice and skirt meet and should be long enough to tie behind your back.

Add rick rack trim where it will look cute.

Inside kitties

   Hello again!  I feel I left off on kind of a bleak note last time, so today I want to talk about sunshine!  I'm trying to love Salt Lake even though I don't plan on living here forever, and one of the things I love the most about it is how sunny it is.  Walking down my street it's so bright, everything is grainy and reminds me of a film from the 70's.  
   For unspecified reasons, my cats are no longer allowed outside.  I wanted to find a way to let them enjoy the sun but remain indoors, so I created this: 

    It's just a little table next to my window sill, but it provides a great place for my kitties to work on their tan.    

Not so cute.

    Things have gotten a little messy lately.  For one thing, I had an explosion of sales earlier this month that I'm finally getting on top of.  I have four commissions left, and a bunch of random ponies I'm making to sell at the Brony meet up later this month.
     On top of that, our house is having major land lady drama right now.  She's given everyone except Michael and I eviction notices because they have animals.  One of the apartments doesn't have animals, and it seems like she could just have the other apartment pay a pet deposit since we definitely have animals.  It's pretty ballsy to get a dog without asking your landlady first, but their dog is a German shepherd (rather an a pit bull or something), there haven't been any complaints, and he isn't destructive.
    I don't think she's completely wrong for being upset, but she is behaving rather psychotically during this process.  She had her boyfriend shut off one apartment's central cooling system "because they don't pay electricity," but utilities are included as part of our rent.  Not to mention it's been about 90 degrees all weekend.
    Her boyfriend keeps coming over and watching the house and he's made some really weird comments to us, like he is trying to get us to give him information or incriminate ourselves.  It's all quite stressful.
    Other stressers include trying to appeal an E I received last semester, and finding images for my dad's wwebsite.

Check out my rad MS Paint skillz.

  On a happier note, today Michael and I are having an Air conditioner party!

Not a great housewife

    I have a confession:  I am not a great housewife.

  I don't have a real job right now and most of the money I contribute to my household comes from my etsy store.  Being a married woman in Utah, I have a lot of guilt about my messy house and lack of outside job.  I enjoy housework (except dishes), but can't seem to maintain a state of cleanliness for more than a few hours.  

    Several blogs I read explain different methods of housekeeping, but none of them address my specific problems.  For one, (two to come in a separate entry!) my kitchen is the worst room to keep clean because I use it constantly.  I love cooking and am trying to do it more, but every time I do, I have to pull everything out and it makes a huge mess.         

    Baking basically becomes like the part of an infomercial where they are trying to show you how impossible it is to do tasks you thought you did every day, but it turns out you need a knife created by ancient Japanese blacksmiths, forged in the fires of Mordor, just to slice a tomato. 

    What I'm trying to get at, is I found a way to organize the ingredients I use most, while keeping them handy, out of the way, and most importantly, cute!  

   As you can see below, I've stored the ingredients I use the most in glass containers.  They are clearly labeled on my favorite scrap booking paper and have ribbons tied around them.  Notice the green polka dot liner on my shelves.  

I won the Mason Jennings poster when I went to see him live.

    I'm pretty proud of how convenient cooking is now.  It's also much easier to keep my kitchen clean, aside room those darn dishes.  

kitty cat christmas eve

  This is a blog about cute things, so obviously I'm going to post pictures of cats.  From back to front, these are Gilly, Weezer, and Miles.  I love how in every frame Miles becomes increasingly more sassy. 

  Today they were having a forced cuddle (meaning I put them in this arrangement and coaxed them into staying by means of lavishly petting them) on our guest bed and were cooperative enough that I could photograph it.  Enjoy!

Supernatural Cafe is not a supernatural themed cafe.

    My neighbors told me a pet adoption clinic had opened in the shopping center near our house, so of course Michael and I had to check it out.
    Before we left, I wanted to see what other new stores there were, and on the website I found a Pagan gift store called A little bit of Magik, and a restaurant called Cafe Supernatural.  The name suggested (and any reasonable person would assume) it was a cafe where aliens, espers and time travelers gathered to meet and have an amazing time.  I was sold, we had to make a day of rediscovering Trolley Square.  
    Visiting animal shelters is an excellent cheap date because you can play with cats as long as you want for FREE.  This is a room full of adorable kittens and it can keep you and your special someone occupied for hours, and it meets all the criteria for an excellent date.  
    Afterward we popped by A little bit of Magik.  The store itself was pretty cool with lots of steampunk jewelry, but the best part was the ultra-cute storefront.  
    Finally it was time to go to the cafe.  Michael and I rushed to what was sure to be the most incredible dining experience of all time.  
  Our expectations were still high when we saw the sign written on an orange slice.  We became dubious when the waitress didn't greet us in Klingon.  Hope was gone when we read the menu and saw they only served raw food (rather than freeze-dried space ice cream).  That's right, it was a health food cafe.  

We still had a great time!

Total cost of date: Less than $6.50
    

Red cardigans

  My favorite outfit right now is this spaghetti string sundress and cardigan ensemble.  There is something so darling about red cardigans.  I purchased this one at Old Navy earlier this year (at half price!).  I was looking for a button up with little white buttons, but couldn't seem to find one despite all my thrifting.  
  The sun dress is cream with a lace bodice, also from Old Navy.  It isn't very flattering, and like most dresses from Old Navy, it comes off kind of boxy.  
 Topped off with a red bow and my favorite pair of red velvet shoes, this outfit is perfect for any occasion when you need cute.

Teeny tiny itsy bitsy eensy weensy

 After being married for five years, it's hard to come up with dates that serve a meaningful purpose.  We could just go out to eat and see a movie, but at restaurants we tend to talk about the food and the atmosphere, and at movies you can't talk at all.  In my opinion, a date should be fun, engaging, help you learn more about the opposite party, and should probably end  in sex.  With these goals in mind, I try to plan at least one special date a month.  

   Last month I ran into this video on the internaut and became enamored.  Tiny cheeseburgers!!  After more time than I care to admit searching for them, I finally found a site to purchase the cheeseburger kits and they are surprisingly affordable.  You can purchase your own here.  

   Anyway, they arrived in about two weeks and then the fun began.

  We made ramen with candy gyoza (left) too!  It was incredible how much the minifood actually tasted the way it was supposed to, even if it was a really gross version.  What's more adorable than tiny edible food?

    My adorable husband pretending to eat tiny food!

Total cost of date: Approximately $12

Zoe!

  Today I met the coolest person. Her name was Zoe and I met her in the toy aisle of DI (Deseret Industries for those of you not from Utah (which is essentially good will, or value land)) where we were admiring the enormous amount of Beanie Baby ™  skunks they had on sale. I'm pretty sure they were multiplying in the heap they were shoved in, because there was seemingly no end to the Beanie Babies™ in the pile.
  I really could go on about the skunks-without-end phenomena I experienced, but I disgress.
  After throwing several at husband Michael and bossy-friend Victor, a little girl told me that if I wanted to, I could have ALL of the skunks.  What a concept.  MILLIONS of skunks.  Unfortunately Victor overheard and told me I could not buy them all. =(

  Coolest thing ever, Zoe (that's who Zoe is, by the way) looked Victor straight in the eye and told him he can't tell me what to do, and if I wanted the skunks, I could get them.  

  Victor is a very tall and hairy man who regularly intimidates me, so this girl was my hero!  She gave me advice on how to stand up for myself in the future (just say "you aren't the boss of me").  In the end, we decided we would each adopt one skunk; I would name mine Zoe after her, and she would name hers Magdalena, after me.  

  After a few tender moments where our new skunks said their goodbye's and promised to never forget each other, Zoe's father came to get her so we could check out.

  Now I have an awesome toy skunk, but what to do with her?  

Strawberries

  I love reading other people's blogs because it makes life seem so beautiful.  Sometimes I feel jealous and wonder where I went wrong because I'm not surrounded by hazy close ups of strawberries cupped in dainty  hands like other women seem to be.  Maybe I'm simply not one of the lucky ones, or perhaps any life can seem lovely if viewed only a few snapshots at a time.