Monday, December 28, 2009

Crafting weekend!

Halloween weekend became crafting weekend. Friday night Joe and I didn’t really have any plans so we settled on the idea of him playing video games (he really wanted to pass it this weekend) and I would do some mod podging. It was awesome. I set up the card table down by the TV and Joe settled in. I decided that I would also finish the vinyl board that I had received from the Stake Young Women’s presidency – at the Stake Training a couple weekends prior they had this little craft that I didn’t get to finish, plus I wanted to repaint it. So I tag teamed my crafts. I painted my board from brown to black (black matches our house better) and then mod podged my craft pumpkin while the paint was drying. I was able to complete both crafts that night, and it was actually really nice to just take it easy with Joe.
This is how they turned out.
P1040825 P1040827
I would like to create a card board bat on a piece of wire or pipe cleaner coiling out from the pumpkin to give it a little more oomph. I also want to paint the stem. I have a few more pumpkins I want to mod podge, but I didn’t realize how much paper it would require. I might need to rethink my strategy.
On Saturday I really wanted to finally finish my witch pumpkin project. While we were still living in Utah I had gone to my favorite decorating store and saw this pumpkin witch that the Tai Pan people had created, but wanted some large sum of money for. I decided that I would buy the three components and build it myself for cheaper. I did buy all the stuff but never got around to building it, I was always afraid of it for some reason. But this was the crafting weekend so I jumped in and took care of it. It actually was easier than I thought it was going to be. I just looped around a part of the  leaf stuff and then cut off each section and wrapped it around the initial loop. I think it turned out pretty well. I even used a little hot glue to keep the initial loop connected.
P1040829P1040822  P1040831
The witch just sits on a flat spot, think of a spot for a candle. The best part is I can use it for Thanksgiving too, I just need to swap the witch for a pilgrim or indian!
And on a food craft note, Joe and I made a Jell-O ghost
P1040904

Sunday, November 22, 2009

A little bit of Georgia

Over the fourth of July holiday weekend, Joe and I decided to go on some adventures and see what Georgia had to offer. On July 3rd we drove up to Cleveland which is the home of Babyland General Hospital: Home of the Cabbage Patch Kids! I had see billboards advertising Babyland, but didn’t really know what it was all about. But I know I love Cabbage Patch dolls, so I had to check it out. Luckily Joe is nice enough to indulge me.
When we finally got to the location, it was a little disappointing. On the website you see a huge Southern type plantation house, and I assumed we were going there, but if I would have looked closer, that’s the new hospital and isn’t done being built yet. So we ended up at the current location which was basically a converted house. I suppose that made it better for the experience of weird Georgia.
P1030133  P1030134
When you get inside you can check out some exciting photos of the Cabbage Patch Kids in action, like the mars kid and my favorite, the picture with Xavier Roberts, the creator of CPK.
P1030140P1030138
Once inside the hospital you start in the newborn section, and Joe looks thrilled to be there. Throughout the hospital you see different styles of CPK, they went through several versions before settling on what you can buy today.
P1030143
After walking through a few rooms of CPK’s doing things like going to school, you end up in a large room where there are piles of various CPK’s. I guess one interesting thing is that at of the CPK’s in the hospital are available for adoption.
P1030154
Of course there is a patch of CPK’s, but they are just the heads. It’s a little creepy, but while you are there it’s fun. Perhaps the most exciting part is when they have a “birth” of a CPK. Usually it will happen when someone creates a custom one, which I guess they can make that day. They go through the whole birthing process of doing an ultra sound and checking the status of the baby, then she pulls it out of the cabbage patch. It’s silly, but if I were to get a CPK I would like to see it born too :)
P1030156P1030178     
I was able to resist purchasing a CPK that day, but if we go to the new hospital, I don’t know if I could handle not getting one.
After the thrill of Cleveland, GA and Babyland we decided to just head over to Helen. We didn’t know what we were getting into. Driving through North Georgia was nice, it’s a little hilly so it makes for some nice scenery. On the way to Helen we ran into some traffic and couldn’t figure out why it was so bad. Once we got to Helen we realized that main street Helen is the same as the highway, so traffic gets jammed up pretty quickly.
Helen is an Alpine inspired resort town. They have  cutely designed buildings and it almost feels quaint, but then you realize you aren’t in the Alps, but in Georgia, with Georgia people.
P1030197P1030198
The big thing in the summer is tubing down the river. There were throngs of people clamoring to get on one of the various bus shuttles that would take them to the top so they could float down the river. It’s definitely a fun spot for a quick family get away, but it wasn’t smart we were there  over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
P1030191P1030189
On our way out I notice a wood sign painted with the words “model railroad ---->”. I thought Joe would feel better about seeing some model trains, so we stopped by. No one was visiting the train shop, so we were a little worried, maybe it wasn’t that exciting. We went inside and met the owner who was straight from Germany. He was super excited about his trains and said that Charlamane’s Kingdom was just inside the double doors, but we would have to pay $5 to get inside. We decided to go for it. And we were not disappointed! The place was huge! There were tons of things to look at and explore, and the details were fun to see. Unfortunately it needed some maintenance, some of the trains weren’t going and there were a few model trees down, but over all it was a fun thing to see. We probably spent close to an hour in there checking things out.
P1030201 P1030235  P1030257 P1030261P1030238 P1030291
Once we had our fill of model trains we decided to head over to Dahlonaga where there is a gold mine museum.
P1030308P1030295 P1030298 P1030304 
The museum was fine. They have you watch a little video that describes why Dahlonaga had a gold boom and how it affected Georgia. Then you can walk around and see a few items from the time, like the huge water cannons they came up with the break down the sides of the hills/mountains to get at the gold faster. Dahlonaga also has a cute little town center. It’s actually centered around the mine museum building, there are lots of cute antique shops and candy stores.
Overall our explorations of Georgia were fun. We saw some weird stuff and people, but that’s all part of the game. We enjoyed our drive and seeing new things. I highly recommend doing something similar in your area.

Exploring Georgia

Georgia Guidestones

While Annie was visiting we decided it was time to check out the Georgia Guidestones. We first learned about the Guidestones when my brother Ben sent me a link to an article in Wired. We thought it would be interesting to check out, and it wasn’t too far away, or so we thought! If you are interested in learning about the Guidestones, I recommend you read the article from Wired.
On our way to the Guidestones we had a little adventure. The wikipedia article gives the GPS coordinates to the stones, so we mapped our route from there through Google and ended up taking some very interesting roads. We passed by these awesome play places, I thought it was worth taking a picture of.
P1040457
One road we went down seemed very scary, it started out paved, but took us by a very scary looking house. It eventually turned unpaved, but we decided to continue anyway. We drove on that for maybe half a mile and then came to a break in the road where a small stream crossed the road, we were a little nervous to take the Jetta through it, but we kept on going. Eventually we made it back onto some paved roads and continued winding our way deeper into rural Georgia. It was a little scary, but then all of the sudden the Guidestones appeared.
P1040528
The Guidestones are located on the highest point in Elbert County. They are built in Elbert County because RC Christian decided that the granite there was the finest in the country. The stones were a mystery from the beginning, who commissioned them? where did the money come from? I didn’t really know what to expect, but when we got there I was really excited. We showed up and there was one other car there. I was actually surprised. They eventually left and we had about 30 minutes alone and then another car showed up. They said they just saw them from the road and wanted to see what it was.
The feeling at the Guidestones is weird. It’s so quiet since it’s surrounded by farmland and it’s just so bizarre, you almost feel like you should whisper.
Here is the plaque that describes a little bit of the story:
P1040459 P1040460
It indicates that “each of the four sides of the capstone features the statement of cautionary guidance to humankind translated into Babylonian Cuneiform, Classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Egyptian Hieroglyphics, to ‘Let Those Be Guidestones To Reason.’ The guidelines are carved into the eight faces of the four outer stones in English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian. In English, the guidelines specify the follow:
Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature     Guide reproduction wisely-improving fitness and diversity   Unite humanity with a living new language    Rule passion – Faith – Tradition – And all things with tempered reason    Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts    Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court    Avoid petty laws and useless officials    Balance personal  rights with social duties    Prize Truth – Beauty – Love – Seeking harmony with the infinite    Be not a cancer on the Earth – Leave room for nature – Leave room for nature
Unfortunately a few weeks before we went some jerks decided to throw some goo on the stones. It’s obviously not the first time they have been vandalized, but usually it’s just paint which can be washed off. This goo doesn’t come off very easily from granite.
Here are a bunch of pictures, but you can check out more in my Picasa album.

Georgia Guidestones

P1040477P1040469P1040466 P1040467  P1040470 P1040472 P1040473 P1040474 P1040476  P1040478 P1040479 P1040480 P1040481 P1040482 P1040483 P1040490P1040484 P1040488  P1040492