Adventures At Kanopolis State Park!

More photos from our trip to Kanopolis State Park a few weeks back. Per usual, it was a last-minute camping decision and although we failed to pack a camp-appropriate dinner (leftover Bei Wei that was unintentionally shared with a coyote or raccoon or something. At least I got my fork back.), we remembered to write down 10 or 15 Geocache coordinates.

Side story: The GPS is named Anthony after St. Anthony, patron saint of lost articles, because the GPS finds things. Clever. Also, I spend inordinate amounts of time losing my stuff and praying to St. Anthony to find it. He always does. He’s a champ.

Continuing.

Striking out to find the first Geocache.

We came across this nice little water crossing…

…that we realized we needed to cross.

We got a little damp. It was fun. The following Monday, I told several coworkers that, in the name of Geocaching, Dustin and I waded nearly up to our waists in a stream shared by a lot of horses. I think my coworkers came to the mutual decision that  it is good that I am Adventure Buddies with Dustin and not them.

First cache found!

We had to cross a lot of things, like a field of poison ivy and prickly bushes and who knows what else. Also this marsh. So marshin’ we went!

Marshin’ results.

The end.

Through My Headphones
*When I’m Gone (radio version) -Anna Kendrick
*Cheating -Jack Steadman

Kanopolis State Park And Police

Driving to Kanopolis State Park a few weeks ago.

Quick story:

In a fit to keep our Geocache find record at a clean 100%, Dustin and I found ourselves pawing through some very prickly bushes on some store’s property. Which, naturally, led someone to believe we were breaking into the shop (through the prickly bushes, of course), and the cops were called. The cop didn’t seem very impressed by our efforts and advised us to keep our hands out of our pockets. After determining we weren’t a terrible threat, he sat in his squad car, where he was joined by a second squad car, and the two proceeded to watch us destroy our perfect Geocache find record. We thought the entire incident was relatively funny, save not finding the cache.

Through My Headphones
*Drumming Song -Florence + The Machine

Making Dustin’s Car Look Awesome(r)

Camping trip to Kanopolis State Park with Dustin. We rolled in late (naturally) and figured we should make Dustin’s car look even more awesome than it naturally is.
One long exposure, one picnic table, a precariously balanced camera and a headlamp later, presto! Subaru WRX being awesome. We were pretty proud of ourselves.

Through My Headphones
*Blurred Lines -Robin Thicke ft. T.I. and Pharrell

And Then My Yurt Dream Was Potentially Dashed (Heartland Farm, Pt. 2)

More photos from last weekend’s Heartland Farm adventure!

Cheatgrass. Rumor has it that it got its name because it looks like wheat when it first comes up, leaving farmers feeling cheated when it’s not.

Visiting a neighbor’s alpacas. I think it’s Anna (l) and Gracie (r), but don’t quote me…

This frog (toad?) was not a fan of my camera. I had to do some sneaking to get this.

About two years ago, I stumbled into a yurt in the middle of Gustavus, Alaska. My life was instantly changed and thus grew my new life goal of Building A Yurt. Too bad I discovered Shana and Jared’s homebuilt straw bale house last week.

Their straw bale house near Great Bend. I forgot to ask if I could post photos of the inside, but I can assure you the inside is just as fantastic. Side note -Jared used to be an AmeriCorps member at Inter-Faith Ministries too. Small world.

Anyway, unfortunately this discovery led to a big dilemma. What if I need to build a straw bale house instead of a yurt?? Maybe I should build both a yurt AND a straw bale house???

Almost-Actual Conversation (because it’s been a week and I can’t remember it word-for-word)

Me: Oh hey Dustin how was Europe?
Dustin: Awesome!
Me: OK, well that’s fantastic. So-I’m-pretty-upset-right-now-because-I-thought-I-was-supposed-to-build-a-yurt-in-my-life-but-now-I’m-afraid-that-it’s-supposed-to-be-a-straw-bale-house-and-I’m-just-really-confused-right-now-about-what-I’m-doing-with-my-life-and-what-does-life-really-mean-and-do-you-see-what-I’m-saying?? WHAT. IF. I’M. NOT. SUPPOSED. TO. BUILD. A. YURT??

Somehow our friendship survived that car ride.

Also, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis -you’re so rad. Keep kicking them out.

Through My Headphones
*Same Love -Macklemore and Ryan Lewis ft. Mary

Excelling At Farm Fashion

Adventure to Heartland Farm! One thing I like about driving alone is the opportunity to stop whenever I want. I barreled right past this tractor along Hwy 56, decided it looked interesting, and U-turned.

Near Windom, KS, I believe.

Want to know a fun fact? I spend a lot of time packing whenever I travel.

Ha! What a lie. I totally take 15 minutes to sort of throw some stuff in a bag. This packing method applies to any travel plans, regardless of size. Camping? 15 minutes. 10 days in London? 15 minutes. Moving halfway across the country? 15 minutes.

Whatever.

I did have a pretty big dilemma though as I packed for Heartland, so I turned to Eleanor.

Actual Conversations:

Me: OK, serious question El. When I go to the farm tomorrow, should I WEAR my overalls or just BRING my overalls for when I’m in the garden?
Eleanor: Well Kat, I think you should probably BURN your overalls. But go ahead and do whatever makes you happy.

Three days later…

Me: I took your advice and burned my overalls. (pause) Haha yeah right! I’m totally wearing them right now.
Eleanor: I knew it! The instant I saw your last text I was like: LIES!

See how supportive my friends are of my fashion choices?

Tree climbing in my overalls. Farming like a champ in my overalls. That there is cheatgrass behind me. I now know these things thanks to the three hours I spent pulling it from the garden. It’s still winning.

Through My Headphones
*Shelter -The xx

Fostering Nash Kitty

About two weeks ago, Nash became my third foster kitty. Nash and I had lots of adventures in those two weeks, like the one where he sprinted outside into the night and I sprinted right after him. Or the one where the tornado sirens started up and we had a bit of a debacle getting into the basement.

Despite leaving behind three broken window blinds and a ripped shower curtain (I really needed a new one anyway), Nash is hands down my favorite foster kitty and it tugged my heart a little to bring him back to the Humane Society yesterday.

Typical scene: Nash debating between destroying what remains of my blinds (left) or climbing the screen door (right).

Being productive at work with… Oh, what a load of crock. We mostly just Photo Booth-ed.

Through My Headphones
*I’m Waiting For The Man -The Velvet Underground

Bedsheet Shirts, Secondhand Finds, And Missy Elliott

A while back I bought a couple of secondhand bedsheets for something like $2.00. And also a dress pattern for little girls, because I can’t read and thought it was for adults. Good news -it was only 99 cents. (I think this is a song lyric now? Thanks a lot Macklemore.)

I decided to make it anyway, and successfully sewed an offensively short dress that sort of fit me. Terrified that my clothing would bring even more clothing shame to my family (double plaid? holey pants?? offensively short dresses???), I quickly flipped the hem up a few inches and presto! An appropriately long shirt!

One day my neighbors are going to walk into the backyard as I photograph and judge me even more than they probably already do. I mean, I’d judge myself if I were neighbors with me. (In case you’re unaware, I’m terribly awkward in all social situations.)

Unfortunately the appropriately long shirt is too small, and thus I fear this might be the only time I wear it. (Free shirt anyone?)

Levitating. With loves!

I know what you’re thinking here: “Kat. Another jumping photo? No wonder your neighbors judge you.” Well, jumping photos are really, really fun. Judge away.

Also, it’s been an adventurous week.

During an unfortunate car ride, the tension knob on my sewing machine was bumped. Attempts to fix it myself failed and finally I gave up and went to Midwest Sewing/Vac aka #1 Best Friends. Three minutes and $5.00 later, the tension was perfect and I was even more in love with Midwest Sewing/Vac than before. I decided to do the mature thing and buy a case for my machine. This is what we call responsibility.

Kids, let me teach you a valuable lesson and its name is secondhand merchandise. A new case was $39.99, which, no matter how deep my love for Midwest Sewing/Vac was, I wasn’t going to pony over. Kids, are you paying attention? Good. When in situations like these, ask the following question:

Do you have anything secondhand? 

Secondhand is good for a variety of reasons. Let’s focus on the top three:

• There’s already enough stuff in this world. We don’t need to contribute more than necessary. Soapbox done.
• Cheap. Cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap.
• You get super cute things, like the adorable red sewing machine case below, for $10.00.

I’m so in love. So in love, I had to photograph it on two separate occasions (see photos above and below), plus send texts of it to everyone I knew. I just want to carry it everywhere, stop people on the street and demand they look at it.

Did you see the silver clasps? I plan to ask.
Yesyesyesyesyes.
How about the inside? Did. You. See. The. Inside??
It’s fantastic, really, just lovely.
Look at this handle. Have you seen anything more adorable?!

At this point, they’ll probably start begging meekly, saying something like, Please! We just want to keep walking! And maybe I’ll let them.

New foster kitty is settling in well. The foster kitties generally stay in the bathroom, and so, as new foster kitty was settling in on Night #1, a tree root lodged in a pipe caused water to back up and  flood my bathroom and part of my room. Needless to say, foster kitty had full access to every other room in my house as the maintenance guys tried to make sense of the pipe situation. In that time, foster kitty managed to destroy 1 set of blinds, and get fantastically tangled in a couple others. We’re on better terms now, although he is trying to climb the screen door as I sit on my porch and type this. (Fun fact: Neighbor’s internet works best on my porch…)

Today, I thought I heard some Missy Elliot sampling on the radio, but my car informed me it was Ice Cube. I can’t find the song (shame, it was good), but I’m craving some Missy. Missy, you always make my days better.

Through My Headphones
*Lose Control -Missy Elliot

It’s Not ArKANSAS

Impromptu trip to Arkansas with Dustin last week. In Wichita, we refer to the Arkansas River as the ArKANSAS River. We cut that out pretty quickly once we crossed the border.

Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas

Pinnacle Mountain. Rock scrambles! Views! Elevation! We were so excited! 

View from Pinnacle Mountain.

This beard happened and it was an excellent choice.

Devil’s Den State Park

We built this cairn. Clearly.

Through My Headphones
*Wildfire -Jeni

Creative Rush (May)

First Tuesday with CreativeRush.

Empire Theater Old Cowtown MuseumTroy R. Wells and Ed Baker

Kimlan sandwiches. Two words: Veggie Ham. Be still my heart.

Lately I haven’t had time to find much Through My Headphones music as I’ve really only been listening to The National. (Oh, and Selena Gomez’s new song, which is embarrassingly catchy. I hate that I admit this so freely.)

Here, have some Daft Punk.

Through My Headphones
*Get Lucky -Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams

Sewing With Ms Dee Dee And My $5 Dress

I started taking a sewing class back in February. The sewing class is taught by Ms Dee Dee, who barely, if even, comes up to my shoulder. This isn’t terribly surprising as I’m freakishly tall. I adore Ms Dee Dee.

The first few weeks of class went well -I whipped out a few skirts and a robe with little trouble. Sewing, I discovered, gets sort of expensive pretty quickly, so I buddied up with Goodwill and started purchasing materials there. Fabric for  42 cents a yard? Yes, please. 99 cent patterns? OK!

It was at Goodwill that I purchased some ’90s Vogue pattern. I bought it because of the word “EASY” stamped across the front and its $1.99 price tag. Bargain.

Aside from a little trouble with sizing (the pattern’s previous owner had the audacity to cut the it to her size), the dress went together well.

Then came the dreaded right sleeve. When it comes to personal projects, I have very little tolerance for instructions and, in my haste, incorrectly cut out  a side panel, which made everything all sorts wonky. (This is because I’m a very high “S” and a very low “C.” The DISC assessment I took at work told me so.)

The next three sewing classes were terrible. In fact, I signed up for a second session of classes solely so I could finish the dress.

Ms Dee Dee is a miracle worker though and worked her magic, so the dress is done now. I’m quite pleased with it and I refer to it as my $5 dress (which is sort of a lie because I couldn’t find a long enough second-hand zipper and new zippers are expensive). Goodwill fabric and pattern for the win.

New-old dress and new-new running shoes, which are pink. I’m surprised how much I enjoy them.

Through My Headphones
*Brother -The Organ