Water was just... Falling out of the Sky!!!

"I'm singin' in the rain, just singin' in the rain, what a glorious feelin' I'm *clap* happy again!"

Happy Thursday! It's raining! What a blessing it is. Hopefully this helps with the fires.
I sure hope that everyone had a lovely Independence Day. I slept at the parade route with the Johnson family, and that was extremely fun! I also saw the hot air balloons take off, and then I watched the parade. My day was spent with my family, and we had a barbecue, and then went to watch the fireworks from the fantastic view of Westridge Elementary. It was a wonderful day. Oh, and PS. My sister in law is the best. :)
I've got a question: What do YOU do on a rainy day? Perhaps you sing in the rain, or dance, or curl up in a blanket with a good book, or watch a movie that makes you cry... Whatever it is you do, I'm sure it's fantastic. Want to know what I do? I make soup! And because I'm sure you're just DYING to know what the recipe of today's soup is, I will gladly give it to you. :)

Leafy Greens Soup with Zucchini

6 cups water
6 bouillon cubes
1/2 small white onion
1 zucchini
6-7 fresh basil leaves
2 sprigs of fresh parsley
1 can white beans
About 5 Kale leaves (one bundle from Macey's)
Pepper

Prepare the broth according to the package. Rough chop the onion and add to the boiling broth. After that's cooked for a couple of minutes, add your chopped zucchini. Turn down the heat and let that simmer for a few minutes. When the zucchini is pretty soft, but not quite ready, add your chopped herbs. Then drain and rinse your beans, and add them to the soup. Grind a bit of pepper into the pot. Last, rough chop your kale. If you don't like kale, you can use spinach. Spinach has a more mild flavor. It will look like a lot of kale, but once it heats up, it cooks down quite a bit. If you do use spinach, just eyeball it, but don't be afraid to use a lot, because it will cook down, too. After just a few seconds, the kale will turn a vibrant green color. It's gorgeous! Just let your soup continue to simmer for a few minutes, until your kale is ready. It should be tender, but not at all mushy. Serve and enjoy! :)


Yep, that's all I have. Have a wonderful day! :)

Love-Rachel

They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard!

Why, hello there! I sure hope everyone is doing well, and that you are all enjoying this week of upcoming festivities! I saw some pictures of the hot air balloons that got set loose this morning, and they looked beautiful.
Today's post is all about spending time with those you love, and about being out in nature! Yesterday I got invited to go hiking up Nebo Canyon, I think, with Spencer and Megan, and Megan's family. I was sooo excited! I LOVE hiking, and I hadn't been yet this year. I was also excited because Megan had told me that we would be venturing off of the trail at some point to go to a tiny little cabin that someone had built and very few people know the location of. Adventure!! :)
After I got home from work, Spencer came and picked me up, and we headed over to Megan's family's house in Payson. When we got there, we all got in the van and headed off to the canyon! A couple of Megan's siblings came with us, Kelsey, and Isaiah. Megan's mom had packed sandwiches and fruit and veggies and snacks for all of us. I tried an apricot and... I loved it! Who knew? It was about a 40 minute drive up the canyon to get to the trail head. Ah, what a beautiful drive it was. Megan gave us a very nice speech about aspens and conifers, and seeds that need to be cracked open by fire in order to grow, which lead to Spencer coming up with some great ideas for employment.
We finally arrived at the trail head, and off we went on our adventure! The first stretch was the hardest for me. It was steep right off the bat, and it seemed like it was never going to end. But after that first incline, I fell into a good rhythm, and then it wasn't so bad. I stuck to the front with Kelsey and Isaiah, and they taught me about Tigger Toes. Tigger Toes are flower heads that are black, and, in this family, are picked and thrown at each other. I learned quickly that at any moment you might be attacked, so you had to keep yourself alert and armed, prepared to defend yourself at a moment's notice.
We hiked and hiked, and enjoyed the beautiful outdoors, and also the slight temperature drop that this higher altitude provided. At one point, Megan pointed out that the stretch of trail we were on looked like a scene from Lord of the Rings. Spencer proceeded to deem himself Lord Aragorn, I, Pippin, and Megan, Frodo. We pressed on, not to Mordor, but to the elusive cabin.
After a while, we noticed that Spencer was smelling all of the trees. Are you confused? Yes, well, so were we. We asked him what he was doing. "I'm looking for the strawberry chocolate vanilla trees. One time, at scout camp, one of my leaders told me that there was a kind of tree that smelled like either strawberry, chocolate, or vanilla." ... Uh huh. Well, he didn't find one. The poor boy. I really thought he would... not really.
 As the sun was starting its slow descent, we finally found the point where we needed to venture off the trail. It was bizarre walking on the side of a mountain... I kept walking all slanty. I couldn't walk straight worth anything. We climbed over trees and rocks, and finally, we found it! The cabin! Inside there's a metal box, and inside that metal box is a notepad that you are supposed to sign. We all signed and wrote of our adventures of Lord of the Rings. We had gone really far ahead of Mom and Dad Curtis, so we waited for them and took some pictures and things. They caught up to us just as the sun was setting.
Isn't that beautiful? We hung out up there for a little bit, and then we started to head back. On our way back to the car we saw deer, squirrels, a kestrel, a few wood peckers, and lots of moths and butterflies. While we ventured back, Kelsey and I went ahead of everyone else and gather up all of the Tigger Toes we could find, and shoved them in our pockets. Along the trail we found a clump of bushes, and we laid on the ground behind them, with our ammunition loaded and at the ready. As Spencer and Megan came walking by, unawares, we jumped up with loud war cries and attacked. Yes, we're very mature. Ha ha, but it was fun. The moon was very bright, and full, and gorgeous.

When we were all back in the van, we traveled back down the mountain. On the way down, Megan and Kelsey and I sang girls camp songs and tried to teach the boys... It was quite the adventure.
When we got back to the house, Spencer drove me home. He was freaking out about all of the fireworks, and I recorded him screaming. So, if anyone wants to hear that, let me know. It's pretty entertaining.
Yep, so the moral of my story is, spend time with the ones you love. Do fun things, and get to know people better. It's fun, and you become really close. Also, spend time outside, for goodness sake! God made us this beautiful Earth! Why would we spend all of our time inside, and miss the beauty that's all around us? Yep, that's all I have. Have a lovely, sunny day, and apparently it's Shake Hands Day, so shake hands with everyone you know, and with someone you don't.
Love-
Rachel

PS. Please, tell me, that the following video looks like the best thing you could ever do. I am TOTALLY doing this!