New Blog Title

Okay so we have a new Blog Title. Partly because I am no longer blonde, thanks Marco :p. and also because I felt my last title put too much forcus on me and not enough on we. so there ya go. The Costumes part of the title is obvious, the Customs well first is sounded cool and second; Marco and I joined a medieval group this month and we are learning LOTS of stuff about the middle ages which will be communicated via our blog. Sorry if we confused ya:)

Experiments

The last week has been kind of fun at our house. It all started when we went to Wal-Mart about 3 weeks ago and bought a planter for this summer. Rachel and decided that we wanted to have some fresh veggies, but we weren't sure if we would be able to keep them alive. We decided on having lettuce. It is easy to maintain and with moisture beads in the bottom of the planter, its okay if we forget to water them. Last week it was in the 70s and looking like spring had finally come to Idaho. So, I got everything together and we planted our lettuce.

This is the right side of the planter. It is being held to our banister by fishing line. The wind would have blown it away if I hadn't tied it down.

Here is the left side of the planter.

The reason that I had to take two different pictures is due the fact that there is a garbage bag held on by duct tape completely surrounding the planter. Here is a direct quote from Weather Bug on my phone about the forecast for Pocatello today: Mostly cloudy. Scattered snow showers and rain showers in the evening...the n scattered snow showers after midnight. Windy. Snow accumulation around 1 inch. Lows 27 to 34. Southwest winds 20 to 30 mph. Gusts up to 40 mph in the evening. areal coverage of precipitation 50 percent. We are supposed to have a combination of rain and snow through this weekend and into next week. Finals are next week. It still looks like winter.

This was taken from our kitchen window around 6pm. The bright dot is the sun. It was trying to snow.

Another fun thing we did was dye Rachel's hair. After having to spray white hair spray in her hair every night for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (still don't have pix from that yet) she was kind of tired of her blonde beat up hair. So its red. I ended up dyeing it because Rach kept crossing wires with a friend who she wanted to do it. I have never before tried to dye anyone's hair and I REALLY enjoyed myself! :D So, here is Experiment 2: Rachel as a redhead.

The last interesting experiment came tonight during dinner. Rachel made some dough and taco meat mixed with refried beans. We were going to have Navajo Tacos. She put some shortening on the stove to melt and heat up. The fumes nearly did us in. I had to open the windows and wave a damp cloth in the air to force the smoke to dissipate. We don't have a hooded oven so no fan. :( While the oil was heating I took half of the dough and pounded out hand-sized parts for scones. Rachel dipped them into the oil and watched them boil!! Yay! Below is the result of said cooking:

What you see is very brown very well done outside and a doughy inside. The oil was too hot. Rach told me that the last time her family had tried scones without a home fryer the oil was too cold and they ended up being grease sponges. The verdict: both ways are ewwwwwwww grooooooossssss!!!!!!!!

AMTA Idaho State Convention

Last weekend Rachel and I went to Twin Falls for the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) Idaho State Convention. We went together since I went to Montana with Rach in February. I had classes Friday and Saturday from 8-5 with a one hour lunch break. It came out to 16 total continuing education units. (CEUs) I need 48 total CEUs in a four year period to maintain my AMTA accreditation.

It was SOOOOOO nice to have bodywork done!!!! It has been over a year since I have had a massage. In the massage world, going two weeks without one is considered a no-no. Needless to say the women in my class were very shocked and not at all surprised when they discovered how tight I was when deep work needed to be done. We learned how to relax the neck and shoulders by going deep into the muscle tissue. I had no problem with the shoulder. It was tight, but it felt wonderful!! However, I have serious neck issues. I don't like having the front of my neck touched. It doesn't bother me to have my neck muscles worked on, but if anything goes near my windpipe or throat, I start wanting to panic. Thats what happened while I was the test "body". We each practiced three different times on three different people each step of what we were learning. It made it so it cemented into our brains and hands. Hands mean a lot in massage. They are the "backbone" of the industry. I have learned to "see" with my hands when they are in a body. My mind was able to take and store the information while my hands felt and experienced what that information meant. Thats as good as I can explain it. Sorry if I am unable to do better. Please feel free to comment if what I have said doesn't work very well.

While I was in class, Rachel was able to relax and unwind at the hotel. She didn't have anything besdies homework to occupy her thoughts. Although the first night we were there she said that she missed our cats. :) I was giving her a pedicure while winding down from having my neck worked and she couldn't stop thinking how the cats could possibly get into things that I was using on her nails and that it needed to be kept cleaner then what it was. It was cute. I chuckled at her. :)

It was a very interesting and educational weekend for the both of us. It was good to get out of town and away from the stress of work along with finals. We had a great time just being together.

MCRS

Last weekend we went up to Soda Springs for a Renaissance Fair put on by the Medieval Chivalry Reenactment Society or MCRS. We had a blast!! At first I didn't know if I was going to like it, but after meeting the small group, seeing children ages 1 year to teens, and seeing how open everyone was, made it worthwhile. It was started by a group that was tried of all the drunkenness that goes along with the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) in this area. The time frame that this group picked was 500-1500 AD. We were instantly welcomed and asked to help. I was asked if I wanted to participate in the fighting event and had two experienced members give me lessons. Everyone we met wore smiles. They also worked together to get the Masons Lodge looking like it could be a medieval court. Rachel made both of our costumes.

Rachel in front of the car before we head out.


Marco learning how to fight with a duct tape broadsword.

After the fight was over there was a ball and a feast. We didn't stay for the ball since Rach had to be back in town by 5 for "Threepenny Opera." The dances that were done at the ball were learned before the fighting began. I found out that not only could I hear in the music where the changes in foot placement were, but I could follow along without any real thought process. I couldn't count the times I had to go over and over a dance for Show Choir in high school. Yay!! A style of dancing Marco can do!! Lunch that was served was period. It cost money though so we brought our own period lunch. We are excited for June 11 when we will go to Green Canyon area north of Rexburg for a 3 day camp trip with the group. :) The group also does twice a week fighter practice for those who are interested. One is in Pocatello and the other in Blackfoot. I haven't done anything like this since high school. I am very excited for the camaraderie that this group offers. It will be good for both of us.