3.31.2012

Day 6: Rock Out to a New Beat

31 Days of Adventure Day 6
Rock Out to a New Beat

The Adventurers enjoying some new kid friendly tunes at the Fairy Tale Ball.

"Break out of your regular playlist and listen to new music today. Check out your local venues and go see a new band. Change your Pandora station to something you've never heard of. Listen to an opera in its entirety." - daily email prompt

During my work time on Friday I listened to...

... some YouTube videos from the band So Long Forgotten, because they are from Decauter, Illinois. They were okay. I'm not going to add them into my top five bands.
... a couple different Hard Rock/Metal iTune Radio stations, because I thought I would be appalled by what I would hear. I wasn't. Rage Against the Machine's song Bulls On Parade was the first song to play. I forgot how much I LOVE that song!
... a couple different Electronica iTune Radio stations. What does that name even mean? I found myself knowing the words to some of the songs, but nothing stood out as repulsive or amazing.
... a couple different Eclectic iTune Radio stations. A whole lot of music in different languages. Kinda good to work to when you are trying to think.


And then last night Jarrod, Cadence & I went to the Fairy Tale Ball: A Knight to Remember at the Urbana Free Library where daddy & daughter learned some new dance moves.


And mommy & daughter made up their own.




3.30.2012

Day 5: Cook Up Something New

31 Days of Adventure Day 5
Cook Up Something New

"For today's adventure, try a new food." - email prompt

1. Make a two tier strawberry & chocolate cake for our Small Group treat.
*My sister, Becky, got all the baking genes. She actually made this cake up!

2. Make Cauliflower, Spinach, & Potato Stir-Fry with Coconut Milk for dinner.
*I've never had serrano chiles or unsweetened coconut milk that were in the recipe.

Cadence after chocolate beater #2.

The Cake! Pretty good for a first time cake decorator if you ask me.

Cadence all sugared up on the extra frosting.

Cadence decided she wanted to help with tonight's complicated meal.

The two serrano chiles all chopped up.

All the ingredients together. When I fried the chilies they singed my sinuses!


Dinner is served.
Needless-to-say the dish was spicy. Well, it was actually more spicy in the air than on your tongue. Our entire small group showed up shortly after Cadence & I were done eating (she had a peanut butter sandwich) & all started coughing when they entered. The fried chilies were stuck in the air to share! We opened the windows to air the place out. And then ate the strawberry chocolate cake. Yum!

3.28.2012

Day 4: Stretch Your Brain

31 Days of Adventure Day 4
Stretch Your Brain

"For today's adventure, learn something new."

I always take pictures of pretty flowers having no clue what they are named. Today I decided to ask an expert from Jarrod's office what was in my Morning Meeting pics. Thanks Jonathan Hicks!

He also hooked me up with this link to "a nice online field guide of sorts that will help with any of the woodland flowers you identify in the next month or so."

http://dnr.state.il.us/education/habitatposter/wildflwr.htm

Happy Flower Hunting!

Wood Violet

Buttercup

Spring Beauties

Day 3: Remap Your Route

31 Days of Adventure Day 3
Remap Your Route

"For your daily adventure today, consider a different means of transportation to work (or school) — Can you bike? Walk? Take a bus or carpool? Or, if you can’t do that, take a different (maybe more scenic) route and see what you discover" - daily prompt

I've never taken a city bus. Neither has Cadence. Together we got on our first city bus, transferred to another & made it to Jarrod for lunch. A bouquet of dandelions even made the trip from the corner of Washington & Prospect to Daddy in Huff Hall.

After lunch we successfully made it home. This adventure pushed me far out of my conform zone. So much so that I joined Cadence for an hour in a half nap when we got home.


Walking to the bus stop on Prospect & Washington
Picking Daddy's bouquet

Ta da!

The Adventure Girls!

The Grey. Our first city bus!
An excited little girl.

Mommy & Cadence

Holding onto Daddy's flowers

Inside the Blue

Time to go home

We had to sit on the seats that saw out the big doors






3.27.2012

Day 2: Pause

31 Days of Adventure Day 2
Pause & notice the littlest things. 

"Today's adventure invites you to pause and notice the littlest things: The way the light comes in the window. The rise and fall of your chest as you breath (or maybe the breath of whoever else is in the room). The patterns made by the trees." - daily email prompt

I try to take a picture of Cadence everyday. I then send it to Jarrod at work. It is our way to slow her childhood down. The attached photo is from last week. Our little magnolia pedal playing among all the real pedals. 

Funny thing is on the day I was prompted to pause & notice the little things I didn't take a picture. Too busy working. However, just like the photos seem to slow down our little girl's childhood taking note of the little things during my work time did the same thing. Below is the stream-of-consciousness of things I noticed during my morning work time & lunch:

cadence & keeshena running upstairs
clicking of fingers
old photos
sound of drill
small sawdust from drill holes - fairy dust
turning hangers into wood - creek
twisting medal wire to create hanger
birds chirping

cadence's giggle
sound of a zipper - zip!
sound of wound up metal hitting the floor - spring!
cramping in stomach when i bend over too far
duct tape schnibbles
the cuteness of daughter & father banter
cadence's hugs
cadence kissing the baby
cadence's grip when she doesn't want me to leave
the smell of my tea
the feeling of my tea mug
stickiness of spray adhesive
cool crisp March air
smoothness of paper
weird smell of our basement


 

3.26.2012

Day 1: Take a Photo

31 Days of Adventure
Official Day 1
Take a photo of something familiar from a new angle.

The day we bought our 2007 Nissan Xterra we named it KYT. The license plates we transferred to our new rough & tough truck were 529-KYT. We bought KYT to transport us on an adventure of a lifetime: Project 2007.

Today our life is different from that free spirited year of 2007 is many ways. But not in the most important one: each day is an adventure. The sense of Adventure that we adopted from that year has never left the Scheunemann family.

Yesterday, as it says above, I was challenged to take a photo of something familiar from a new angle. At first this didn't seem like much of a challenge since my camera is a faithful friend. But then I decided why not take a photo of our Adventure Vehicle, KYT. Now, to figure out what a new angle is you need to know what photos you have already taken. I give to you the life of KYT through photos:

On the shores of Lake Winneabago. Ready for Project 2007.

First attempt at packing the truck for Project 2007

Road West.

Applying our first sticker.

Bison crossing in Canada.

Xterra Office.
Seward, Alaska
Traffic jam in Alaska. Not a bad place to be stuck.

Dirt road to Kennecott, Alaska

The Scheunemanns inside KYT.

Road to Kennecott, Alaska.

Haines Hwy, Alaska.

Ferry ride to Bellingham, Washington.

"Jarrod! Look up you need to remember this bridge!" Road back from California.

Stickers collected on Project 2007.

In Yellowstone with a Rental instead of the broke Excursion.
Pit Stop in Ohio to visit family.
Tunes for the way back to Wisconsin.

Cody in the backseat.

Rockin' the drivers seat.

Getting ready for Destination: Maine. Summer of 2009

Destination: Maine. Bringing along the kid gear.

Campground in Maine.

Auntie Leslie, Auntie Sara & six month old Cadence.

Cadence's toys.

Our newest Adventurer!
New Hampshire.

Saying goodbye to the Corolla. (Second crashed car from the right)

Ready for take off in the Tetons. 2010.

Cadence's Big Adventure in the Tetons & Yellowstone.

Towel Rack.

The baby gear's IN!

So's the tired baby.

I took note that we didn't have any photos of the top of KYT. So, yesterday this 6 month pregnant chic climbed up on a ladder while Jarrod & Cadence assisted:



Jarrod took photos with my iPhone of the shinanagins: