Presenting: The Squishables with News Updates!

Lily: Hi everyone! I'm SUPER excited to be here today with the original Squishable Trio updating you all on what's going on!

Julius: Oh great just what I need: someone that's overly excitable. Hey, wait. Where's Aloalo?

Peanut Butter: Julius, will you please be nice? Lily is very excited to be a part of our growing family. Aloalo happened to be a bit too big to take back from Maine. He was originally supposed to be shipped to Holly but right now he's hanging out with Holly's fiance in the Midwest.

J: Of course HE gets a vacation.

Yulysta: Julius, come on now. You have to lighten up. You just seem to get more and more agitated as time goes on. Relax, will you?

J: Sorry. It's just been a crazy time, you know? Traveling everywhere, growing Squishable family... it's not as easy for me as it is for you guys. Not a big fan of change all the time.

L: I totally understand what you're talking about. I mean, new places, new people, new plans... It's a lot for anyone! I'm a pretty happy girl so nothing really bothers me but I accept you for who you are Julius.

J:  Thanks.

PB: Moving on! So there has been a lot of activity lately. As you all have probably assumed or heard from the grapevine we are all safe back in Western New York, well, all except Aloalo, who's not here with us at the moment.

L: I heard that Aloalo might not go to our next adventure! That's awful!

Y: Well here's the problem: Holly loves us all but Aloalo is, well, he's rather large. Holly's decided that if she is unable to find a way to stow him on the plane that he will give "News From the Homefront" when we do blog postings. We'll connect with him in another way.

L: I don't want to spoil the surprise but you didn't mention the best part! The ADVENTURE part!

PB: Easy, Lily. We'll tell everyone. But first we want to keep everyone up to date on what's been going on recently first.

L: Aww.

PB: Holly's been keeping herself busy with volunteering, babysitting, and planning for her trip in January.

Y: Holly's volunteering with refugees and cats but not at the same time. Two different places.

J: That'd be weird. Although refugee cats do make sense...

Y: Almost.

PB: Holly's also had the opportunity to head up to Canada with her friend Justin for his first experience at a Whole Foods grocery store.

J: Not to be cynical or anything, but why did she go to Canada to go to a grocery store that we have here in the U.S.?

Y: Actually Julius, if we were to stay in the U.S. the closest Whole Foods to where we are is in Ohio. But that is actually almost four hours away whereas the one in Canada is an hour and a half away.

J: Hour and a half without dealing with the border patrol people maybe.

PB: Oh come on you know they're there for our safety.

J: Uh-huh.

L: Guys? The new trip??

PB: We're getting there, don't worry. Holly also did a couple of crafty projects, including a needlepoint and two little cross-stitches. She also completely organized all of her things and bought a brand new travel game: Qwirkle!

Y: Holly will have her needlepoint framed and will start to work on her fiance's Christmas gift soon, but she is truly ecstatic about her new Qwirkle game. She also has travel Scrabble and travel Rummikub to bring around with her.

L: Fun facts time! Rummikub was invented in the 1930's. Scrabble was invented in 1948. Qwirkle was invented in 2011. Qwirkle has been associated with being a combination of both Scrabble and Qwirkle. Although Holly finds it more like dominoes. (Thanks Wikipedia for awesome trivia!)

PB: I think we can tell everyone about the trip now. What do you think, Yulysta?

Y: Should we leave it up to Julius?

PB, L, J: NO!

Y: It was a joke guys, just a joke.

PB: I think I'll let Lily tell everyone the specifics since she's so excited, but I'll give the background information first. Holly has mentioned looking up places in Costa Rica, specifically organic farms. She finally heard from someone, but it's not exactly an organic farm. She went through an interview process and she got offered the position from the end of January until the middle of May. Okay Lily, I can see you bouncing with excitement. Go on and tell everyone.

L: It's a BUTTERFLY CONSERVATORY! They also do RAINFOREST RESTORATION! They're really close to a volcano and hot springs and they get regular earthquakes and it's tropical and there won't be snow and I'm probably more excited than Holly is to be going!

Y: Holly's been busily preparing. She bought hiking boots, a Spanish dictionary, a rain jacket, a waterproof flashlight... she's been really getting her things together. She's even bought her plane ticket.

J: I'm just afraid I'll melt. Or an earthquake will cause us all to be trapped in a building. Or lava will flow and cause mass destruction!

L: Did you know that volcanic soil is one of the most fertile soils on Earth? I learned from the movie "The Incredibles!"

Y: You know what Lily? I'm really glad you're here. You add a bit of spark to our family.

PB: I agree. Nice to have you aboard. I wish Aloalo could have joined us, but I'm sure he's enjoying his vacation.

J: Wish I could enjoy his vacation...

Y: Do you really hate being around us that much?

J: No, just cranky. Kinda tired.

L: It's past his bedtime! We gotta get him all wrapped up in a blankey!

Y: How cute.

J: Shut up.

PB: Alright, alright. We'll head to bed soon, it is kind of late. Sorry about the lack of pictures this time around folks. It's been a rough past week or so. But we're very excited to continue with our travel blog. Holly will be going to the Midwest after Thanksgiving and she might even bring Aloalo back with her!

Y: Thanksgiving is also coming up, plus Holly will be going to see The Nutcracker with her grandparents like she does every year. She loves it.

J: We're not going to the Midwest with Holly are we? I'm not sure I could handle it. I need a break from the traveling.

L: I wanna go!

PB: We'll have to wait and see. For now though, let's say good night! We'll write again soon.

L: Yes, good night everyone! It was nice being here today! Thanks for reading!

J: I hope everyone gets some rest... it's a vital part of life.

Y: Curl up in your favorite blanket tonight! Good night!

Time is a Funny Thing

*NOTE: This blog post was started about two weeks ago or so. Below will document my last few weeks in Maine and expect a Squishables blog post next time!

Time. One of the few abstract yet fixed concepts in the world. One day you will be thinking: "I can't wait until [insert event here]." The next day you will say to yourself: "I can't believe it's over already." Time can only go one way (time travel, not yet invented) and the past cannot be altered or changed. People live in fear of the future, people live in regret of the past, but very few people consider the present. Our actions today are a result of yesterday and will influence tomorrow. While I wouldn't go as far as the comic below, I do suggest that people do something spontaneous and exciting today. Do something harmless yet uplifting. Take a minute to think about your options.

So there is yet another new addition to the Squishable collection! She is a red panda and her name is Lily. She is a gift from my friend Justin and it sadly took me a very long time to think of a suitable name for her. She is rather excitable and is very much looking forward to speaking with you all. As of right now, the Squishable group's name is the Squishable Quintet because there are five members. If I get more the group title will be the Squishable Bunch. But check out the new group picture!

There has been quite a lot of activity lately! I made it to rock climbing with my fiance and two of our friends. The BIG Adventure Center in Bethel, ME is a whole lot of fun! We spent a while rock climbing, then we did the first half of the mini golf course, then we did two rounds of laser tag, then we finished the golf course... and we ended the evening with a Thai dinner! So much fun! It was my fiance's very first experience rock climbing and he had a wonderful time.

Me at the top!

Mini golf!

We also made it to the Fryeburg Fair which was very interesting. My fiance and I went the day it opened and it was raining a bit. We walked around for a while, enjoying the fair atmosphere. We were able to go through the animal stalls and see all the different animals, ranging from horses to sheep, plus we got to watch cows getting milked and learn the process behind that. Of course, there was a gourmet food house, plus a craft house. There were people's artworks and foods getting judged plus we were able to buy, if we had wanted to, locally made products ranging from honey and beeswax to handmade wooded clipboards. But by far my favorite area was the Sugarhouse. Full of maple goodies (organic!), I walked away with some maple sugar candies, a one pound tub of maple cream, and a whole bag of maple sugar cotton candy... which was gone in about 10 minutes between me and my fiance. Definitely a fun day.

Piggies!

Aside from me making homemade pierogis, which I followed Allrecipe's version of (expect I only made the sauerkraut ones), I decided to go back to my childhood for a few minutes and make homemade stove-top hot chocolate from scratch. For those of you who have never done it, shame on you! It takes almost no time at all and it tastes way better than store bought and microwaved. I based my recipe below on About.com's recipe.

Pierogis! This ended up being a mess. I should never have laid them on top of each other... they ended up getting stuck together!

Holly's Homemade Hot Chocolate!

(serves 2)

My pot of hot chocolate!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of cocoa powder (or a serviceable equivalent of unsweetened chocolate)

2 tablespoons of sugar (honey, agave, or maple cream would work well)

pinch of salt

1/2 of a vanilla bean (1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract would work too)

2 1/2 cups of milk

1 cinnamon stick (or 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon)

Directions:

1) Split the vanilla bean in half, scrape the insides and place all, including the insides in a medium pot. Add all of the other ingredients to the pot. Wisk well together and keep wisking over medium-high heat. Heat until hot chocolate darkens and it is brought almost to a simmer.

2) Take off of heat, pluck out cinnamon stick and vanilla bean, pour in two mugs and enjoy! (Topping with homemade whipped cream is optional, but recommended.)

My fiance and I also went on a hike up a nearby hill/small mountain/butte named Sabbatus to get a great view and look at the beautiful autumn colors. We saw a falcon and I climbed a beautiful tree. The view was amazing.

The view from the top of Sabbatus.

The autumn colors there are amazing.

Last but not least I brought some people to a local private-style airport and got to see little planes! I took two pictures while I was there and have shown one below.

Tiny airplane! I want to learn how to fly or at least ride in one and jump out with a parachute! (Or I guess just riding in one would be fun...)

That's it for now! Expect an interesting Squishables post next time!