Brian and I bought a pop-up camper- and it has air conditioning!

We took it out on it’s maiden voyage this last weekend and had an absolute blast.  Some people say that using a camper isn’t camping, but in Brian’s words, “we found something to make the crappy parts of camping better”.  No more sweating in the sweltering heat, no more moist tents, no more air mattress.

It’s a hotel room on wheels!  It comes with a heater, a refrigerator (that runs on 12v, 115v, or propane), a nice external awning, and a sink that can run off of an internal 10 gallon tank or city water. Brian even hooked us up with the interwebs and TV! He also already has plans for a bunch of modifications (you know how he is), like a better faucet and built-in radio.

The model of the camper we bought is a 2009 Flagstaff 206 LTD.  We had to drive 5 hours to Walcott, Iowa to get the best deal (Brian found the deal online- the place was beating local dealers by thousands of dollars). We weren’t expecting to buy new, but after looking at a bunch of crappy 10 year old campers, still being sold for $3000 or more, we decided that the extra money for brand new was worth it.  It actually has a lot of great features that the older models don’t have, such as a five-piece canvas (if you create a tear, you can get that small section replaced versus the whole canvas) and an electric sink.

We already can’t wait to take it on some fun road trips.  We are of course taking it to Talladega, and we are heading up to Smithville this weekend, but I think we will be able to squeeze in a few more trips before the summer is over.

But wait, it has a heater, so the fun doesn’t have to stop when summer is over!

You can find a few more pics here.

Filed under: Everything Else, Vacation | 1 Comment »

Last Saturday, Brian and I had the pleasure of attending the Symphony on the Flint Hills with both of our mom’s.

What is Symphony in the Flint Hills you ask? Well, every year the Kansas City Symphony travels to a remote location in the Kansas Flint Hills to play a concert consisting of songs that invoke the spirit of the prairie. Every year the location is different, and this year it happened to be at the Doyle Land and Cattle Company near Cedar Point, which is about an hour west of Emporia.

We had a really great time. The weather was absolutely perfect. Besides getting to listen to the symphony, there were many other great activities to participate in such as informational talks, storytelling, guided nature walks, arts and crafts tents, and covered wagon rides.

To help invoke the wild west spirit, all of the workers were dressed up in traditional prairie outfits, as well as native American garb.

We arrived out at the ranch around 3 P.M. and were able to enjoy a nice hayride up to the location (it’s about a mile uphill from where we parked). For some reason I really wanted to ride on the covered wagon, so we waited in the long, but quickly moving line, and got to experience the bumpy ride of a horse-drawn covered wagon.

After the ride, we were all starving so we ate an early BBQ dinner provided by Bad ‘Ol Burns from Emporia. Once our bellies were full, we walked around a bit more, checked out the arts and crafts, and then had time for a drink before the symphony was scheduled to start.

At 6:45pm, we found our seats (we had staked them out as soon as we arrived, you can bring your own camping chair, or you can rent seats for $2) and the show began.

They played a few songs I was familiar with, and a few I was not, but they all were reminiscent of life on the prairie. Of course, they had to end the concert with the audience joining in and singing Home on the Range.

The show ended at 9 P.M. just as the sun was beginning to set. We had been warned that it would possibly take several hours to leave the event, so we hoofed it back to my mom’s car to try and escape before things got too bad. Luckily the traffic wasn’t bad at all, and we made it back to Emporia in good time, and then on to Kansas City.

It was a great evening, and it would be fun to do it again next year. It never hurts to have a little culture in our lives.

You can find all of our picture here.

Filed under: Everything Else | 2 Comments »

Brian and I took a trip to New York City last weekend to visit my brother, see Nine Inch Nails live for the last time, and check a few things off of our to-do list.  There is a lot to talk about, so I will just give you the big highlights of the trip.

Friday:
We ate the best pastrami sandwiches at Katz’s Deli (world-famous for their pastrami).  It was crazy crowded, but we managed to find a table and even got to talk to the owner!  But be forewarned- this place is very expensive- $26 for one sandwich, one order of fries and two waters. Did I mention that the Pastrami was amazing?

Next on our list of things to do was the Museum of Modern Art (or MoMA for really cool people).  Since it was pouring down rain (very unpleasant in a city where your mode of transportation is walking) we were not the only people that had the bright idea of heading inside for the afternoon, but we still got to enjoy many famous pieces of art by the likes of Dali, Picasso, Matisse and Pollock.

We took it easy the rest of the evening by eating Thai, frozen yogurt at Pinkberry and renting the movie Taken.

Saturday:
Before heading out to NJ for the NIN concert, we ate lunch at an all-you-can-eat sushi joint called Ichiumi (formerly Todai).  They had a ton of food to choose from, and the quality of sushi was just as good, if not better, than what you can get here in KC.  And for $20 each, it was an awesome deal.  We stuffed ourselves. Brian said he’d never eaten so much sushi in his entire life.

After lunch we picked up our car (a Hyundai Accent which was surprisingly nice for a cheap car) and began our adventure into NJ.  Driving out of the city wasn’t too bad.  There’s a little heavy traffic, but Brian said it was kind of fun to navigate.  I don’t believe he ever honked at anybody (to his disappointment I’m sure).

Never driven underwater before:

Our first sightseeing stop in NJ was a little town called Keasnburg with what was described as a “seedy boardwalk and amusement park, but in a good way”.  I guess that is how we would describe it too.  It was nice seeing the ocean for a bit and getting to look at some interesting “Neew Jersy” folk.

We drove on over to Highlands (another small ocean-front town) and ate dinner on the water at a place called The Clam Hut.  We didn’t eat any clams, but we ate massive fish sandwiches that sufficiently stuffed us before the concert.

After dinner we headed to the show at the PNC Bank Arts Amphitheater.  It was an interesting venue, with about twice as many people there as Starlight, which made for an awesome show.

Street Sweeper Social Club rocked us again, and Nine Inch Nails brought massive energy and excitement; they were even better than KC even though we had worse seats.  They played enough different songs to make it feel like a completely different concert.

Jane’s Addiction was very good again, and we finally got to see a completely topless Dave Navarro and Perry Ferrell.

On the way back into the city, we experienced what you think of when driving in Manhattan- an hour long traffic jam at 1 A.M.  Only in NY!

To end the night, my brother insisted that we come out and experience a night on the town, so we proceeded to drink way to much in a 2 hour time span, heading home for good at 4 A.M.

Sunday:
We woke up to another beautiful day, slightly hungover (really more tired than anything), and headed out for a 3-hour boat ride around the island of Manhattan on Circle Line Cruises.  I spaced out for most of the ride (the wind in my face can do that), but Brian learned a lot of interesting facts that he shared with my brother and I later in the evening.  The boat ride was a little long, but I would say it is totally worth the $34.

Next, we headed over to B and H Photo; this place never ceases to amaze me (you have to experience it in person).  We almost bought a monopod, but changed our minds at the last minute.

Afterwords, we met my brother back at his apartment and headed out to grab dinner at the Shake Shack and eat it at Central Park.  While at Shake Shack we saw A-Rod (Alex Rogriguez) who apparently takes taxis just like the rest of us (well, not Brian and I, we slum on the subway).

We ate dinner in a secluded area of Central Park and then walked around seeing things we had not seen yet- a giant fountain, a boat house, and ball parks.  We saw some other famous female actore, but we couldn’t remember her name, or what movies she was in.

Finally, we headed back towards my brother’s apartment and made one last stop at Pinkberry to get our frozen yogurt fix before calling it a night.

Monday:
We left the city at 9:30 and got back to KC at 2 P.M.

We already want to go back at least one more time.  We still need to see the Metropolitan Museum Art and we want to do one of those bus tours on a double-decker bus.  You can never run out of things to do in NYC!

Filed under: Everything Else, NIN, Vacation | No Comments »

• Rescue Me is great this season.
• I spent two hours in the pouring rain today with a massive steel spear, a hi-lift jack, and a hand trowel… trying to remove a fence post from my yard- it was exhilarating.
• People selling shit on Craiglist are a pain in the ass.
• New York in 3 days, I can’t wait to see Van Gogh’s Starry Night at the Moma.
• Nine Inch Nails in 4 days- I’m giddy.
• I want to be Tommy Gavin.
• I really need to start playing the lottery.
• I want a canoe.
• I’m getting a pop-up camper!
• Talladega is coming.
• Bacon-flavored Scotch… that would be good.

Filed under: Everything Else | 5 Comments »

On Wednesday Brian and I had third row, center seats at Starlight Amphitheater to see Street Sweeper Social Club (Tom Morello and Boots Riley), Nine Inch Nails, and Jane’s Addiction. We are now officially spoiled- it’s going to be hard to go to a concert again without getting the best seats possible. It almost felt like we were at a small venue because of how close we were, and because of it we were able to get some amazing photographs of all three bands (thanks to Trent Reznor’s badass camera/video policy).

click to enlarge any photo

The night started out at 7 P.M. with Street Sweeper Social Club. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but they really rocked. Boots Riley really makes you want to get up and dance, and Tom Morello is an awesome guitarist, at one time he even played with his face and the analog guitar plug. We will definitely be acquiring their CD when it comes out.

Next up at 7:45 P.M. was Nine Inch Nails. It seemed weird to me that they would play before Jane’s, but supposedly Trent did it out of respect. I think it is because Perry Ferrell is a prima donna little bitch. Anyways… NIN was awesome as usual. They played a lot of older songs, as well as newer songs. No Closer this time around, but Brian and I both got to hear our favorites- Burn and Physical (You’re So) respectively. I did get annoyed at one point during the concert when I noticed the two jerks in the front row not even nodding their heads to the music when Brian and I were going crazy screaming along to every song. All in all, I can’t wait to see them one more time (we’re going to the New Jersey show- 8th row), but it’s sad knowing that could be it… forever.

Nine Inch Nails Setlist:

Now I’m Nothing
Terrible Lie
Discipline
March of the Pigs
The Frail
The Wretched
Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
The Becoming
Burn
Gave Up
Echoplex
The Fragile
The Way Out Is Through
Wish
Survivalism
Physical
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole
Hurt

Jane’s Addiction closed out the show. I did not have high expectations going into their set because I have never really been a huge fan, but they were amazing! Perry Ferrell is a great showman- he kept standing on the rail getting close to the fans (at one point he even fell on his ass and kept on going) and then he started pouring wine from his bottle into people’s beer cups! He really works the stage and the crowd- he doesn’t use a microphone stand so he can move and shake his hips (which he did mighty finely). And as always, Dave Navarro is a total stud. He knows how to please the fans, as well as rock the guitar. I really can’t wait to see them again and see what Perry will wear next time.

Jane’s Addiction Setlist:

Three Days
Whores
Ain’t No Right
Pigs In Zen
Then She Did…
Mountain Song
Had A Dad
Been Caught Stealing
Ted, Just Admit It…
Ocean Size
Summertime Rolls
Stop!
Jane Says

In closing, it was so nice being able to bring a SLR camera to the show- I wish more concerts would allow that. Not only did we enjoy the show, but we got some excellent pics for memories!

P.S. You can see all of the picture we took in our gallery here.

Filed under: Everything Else, NIN | 1 Comment »

While I was busy working on the front landscaping, Brian was in the back finishing up the koi pond and surrounding landscaping.  He also ran electrical (for two different fountains pumps), installed landscape fabric and edging, trucked in 27 smelly and wet bags O’ mulch, and put up hangers (so I could hang a plant, bird feeder and wind chimes).

We’re still waiting to get some fish and water plants, but that will be happening in the next few weeks.

Brian’s favorite part:

All the pics here.

Filed under: Everything Else, Projects / Home Improvement | 6 Comments »

Landscaping before last weekend:

Now:

 
I finally have the front landscaping looking like I want it to!  Every single plant that was orignally put in by our homebuilder has found a new home- either still in the front, but in a different spot, or in the back around the deck.  I am so relieved that this project is completed!  I am not a landscape designer and I had a terrible time trying to figure out what plants would look better in the front, how big they would get when they were mature, what plants actually survive in pure clay soils, etc.  I even broke out the graphing paper and rulers!!

Here is what I planted:
One Maiden Grass
One Dwarf Burning Bush
One Dwarf Lilac
Four American Hollies
One China Boy Holly
Three Knock Out Roses (Red Shrub Roses)
Two Emerald ‘n Green Euonymus

Hopefully my design and plants look great when they mature.  I really wanted to make sure I would have some color as opposed to all green shrubs, that’s why I chose the Knock-Out roses and the lilac.  Maybe in a couple of years I will remember to post a picture of the mature plants so I can compare the growth.

Don’t get me started on all of my planters and hanging baskets…

Filed under: Everything Else | 4 Comments »

If you read our other blog MegaFireOnYourFace you may have seen a few pictures of what Brian and I (99% Brian) have been working on for the past couple of weekends.  We have been creating a water feature next to our patio, as well as a fenced-off outdoor storage area.

This has been a pretty fun project, and I think it will look really good next to our patio once all of the landscaping is completed.

The first step of the project was to mark off the future site of the pond and then dig a hole the shape of it.

The next step was to pour a layer of sand in the bottom of the hole so the liner has something to rest on and will help keep it’s shape (unlike rock-hard clay that can shift and potentially cause the plastic to crack).  Then you put the liner in and surround the lip with a layer of dirt so that when rocks are placed around the edge they are sitting on a mound of dirt, as opposed to the plastic lip of the pond (which would crack under the weight of the rocks).

Then you take a break and spend the weekend out at Kansas Speedway watching the truck races get rained out and the Indy Cars run while listening to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Talladega race on your headset.

Next we surrounded the liner with our stockpile of massive (and not so massive) red rocks we had been collecting since we’d moved into this house.

But this wasn’t quite the look we were going for.  The water feature really needed something…. and then Brian remembered Chris had found these really awesome looking black slate rocks in a creek near his house, so we went hunting for them last Sunday afternoon.  They were a little hard to find because the creek was running high and fast. Brian eventually crossed the river and found a ton of them (too bad they were on the other side of the river). Long story short, after Brian collected them and brought them back across the river we acted like pack mules and transported them back to the truck. The walk back was kind of insane, we were transporting a total of about 150 lbs of rocks on our backs and we couldn’t even stand up straight or we would fall backwards (a funny site for passer bys I’m sure). Ultimately we managed to score enough to work perfectly around the pond.  Here’s the current set-up:

Much better!  It’s going to look really good when it is surrounded by mulch and landscaping.

And we have to give a huge shout out to our friend Nate, who came up Saturday to help Brian dig the post holes for the storage area, pick up cement and 8 foot 4×4s, and move a large tree from the front to the back.  Thanks Nate!!  It got me out of doing all of the crappy manual labor so I could work on getting my flower pots populated.

Here is a view of Brian readying the fence posts for concrete (I did help with this part) and the tree.

Here comes the concrete!

Hopefully the weather stays nice this week so we can have a finished project by Mother’s Day!

Filed under: Everything Else | 3 Comments »

This post has been in the archives for a while waiting for a good time to be published.  I did make enchiladas today, but not beef.  I actually made sour cream chicken and cheese enchiladas, but I didn’t take any pictures, so they will not be blogged about this time.

Enchiladas are a great food to make if they are going to be reheated.  They make for a perfect Fun Friday Feast.  They also make tons of leftovers.   What’s also great about enchiladas is you can pretty much put anything you want in them.  Here is how I made mine a few weeks ago.

Easy Beef Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
2 cans enchilada sauce
16 oz. shredded cheddar cheese (any flavor will work)
small can diced green chiles
small can sliced black olives
10-20 sliced jalapenos, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
5-6 green onions, chopped
dash of cumin
dash of ground chili pepper
8 medium-sized flour tortillas

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9×13 baking pan.

Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Drain fat.  Add in 3/4 cup enchilada sauce, green chiles, olive, jalapenos, black beans, cumin and chili pepper.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Spoon filling into tortillas, about 1/2 cup per tortilla.  Sprinkle a little cheese into each tortilla.  Only use about half the cheese to sprinkle in the tortillas.  Place enchiladas into a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish.  Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on top and top with remaining cheese and chopped green onions.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until heated through.  Garnish with salsa and sour cream.

Filed under: Everything Else | 2 Comments »

This is another recipe from the Rachael Ray magazine.  I love her (and her recipes)!  This was another first use of an ingredient for me- puff pastry.  I had always ignored recipes with puff pastry in them because I was intimidated (there was absolutely no reason behind this), but not too long ago my friend Shanon tried it out on baked brie and she told me it was super easy to work with, so I was excited to try this recipe.  Again, Rachael Ray gave me a great Fun Friday Feast recipe.  I’ll have to try stuffing the puff pastry with all kinds of different ingredients.

Horseradish Beef Strudel

1 pound baking potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 pound ground beef
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, drained
Salt and pepper
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg, beaten with a splash of water

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a large saucepan, add the potatoes and enough salted water to cover.  Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.  Drain, then mash in a large bowl.
2.  Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 7 minutes; transfer to the mashed potatoes.  Add the beef to the skillet and cook, breaking it up, over medium-high heat until barely pink, about 5 minutes.  Stir the beef, sour cream and horseradish into the mashed potatoes and onion; season with salt and pepper.
3.  On a floured sheet of parchment paper, roll out one sheet puff pastry into an 11-by-15-inch rectangle.  Spread half the meat mixture in the center, covering two-thirds of the surface and leaving a 1-inch border along the long ends.  Fold in the borders on the long ends and, beginning from a short end, roll up to enclose.  Transfer seam side down to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet; brush with the beaten egg.  Repeat with the remaining ingredients.  Bake until golden-brown, about 30 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

Filed under: Cooking | No Comments »