Saturday, May 17, 2014

Geocaching in CA

After I finished soaking my teeth in whitening gel....and Michael got up...we decided to  hunt for geocaches. They were all  along Feather River; we had great hopes of finding a river. 

This reminds me of our trip to Ferry Falls/Beale Falls - a choice must be made - but who is right? LOL 

We followed Nolan and his GPS. This is the point when I refused to go further....I know there are snakes in these parts. No trinket in a water soaked band-aide container is worth meeting a snake on its home turf.  Michael agreed we should think about a snake kit if we are going to do much more of this. 

This was rather empty when we found it - so we filled it up. Note our wooden family coin - bottom middle - I need to remember where to order more. 

Arielle spent most of the day clapping her hands - she is sure that keeps snakes away. 

Arielle and I refused to crawl in to this one - Stacia isn't afraid of snakes. 

Michael preached a few months ago and mentioned perspectives...."A wonderful hike in nature" vs my view of some of his  "Forced marches." He shared going to the mall which HE considerst a "Forced March" and I consider a wonderful hike through nature. ::snort::  At this point....still no river...looks a lot like a desert to me....I couldn't resist, "Hey, Michael, this looks like trudging through the desert to ME." The kids helpfully began to sing Veggie Tale songs about wandering in the desert. He told us it was a really, "A wonderful opportunity to take a hike in nature and enjoy the possibility of seeing wildlife."  Perspective. It'll preach. ::snort::  We had fun...we did see a snake and two jack rabbits...

With guides and GPS' like this you can see why we have so many adventures. LOVE Nolan's eyes. 


WE FOUND A RIVER!!!!!!


Stacia was the only one with enough faith to bring a suit....

We also discovered a totally NEW area of Yuba City. There are some very nice neighborhoods in Yuba City. I wonder why everyone told us NOT to live in Yuba City or Marysville. Maybe they've only driven from base to Sam's. We found Shanghai Park - we will go back to - and a nice bike trail. If Stacia has her way we'll go find waters most afternoons. I understand, and while most the state is in school, this is a fairly sound plan. Things shouldn't be too crowded.

The shortest  mountain range in the world is behind those houses - or so we've been told. You can see the whole thing right there. Two of them are over 2000 feet tall which make them official mountains. 

The kids take turns choosing where we'll eat on Sunday. It has been Stacia's turn. Last week was Mother's Day and I wanted to grill at home. Tomorrow is a Chapel Fellowship - read potluck. We were all hot and tired and looking for an Air Conditioner....so we let Stacia pick our "dunch" location at around 3:00 p.m. She chose Chipotles....and discovered she really wanted to go to Mi Pubeletos....but now she knows.

Arielle got in driving time.

We got home around 4:00 and Michael has been finishing a sermon. I began baking for tomorrow. I've made a coffee cake and two dozen muffins. I'll make some hash brown casseroles and put them in the crock pot in the a.m.  I've toyed with finding a good tasting vegan hash brown casserole because I do miss them....but honestly haven't had time to do more than think about it. ::grin::  I'm taking toppings for the waffle bar as well - all this sugar in one place could give me a coma....strawberries, whipped cream, blackberry, boysenberry, maple and some other kind of syrups, peanut butter, butter, chocolate butter.....honey....It's going to be hard to be disciplined. ::wink::

I'm going to finish the night watching a movie with Stacia.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Teeth Whitening

The dentist in Misawa said he didn't need to polish my teeth as they weren't stained. The dentist here said the first thing he noticed about me was my "beautiful smile, but it is yellow." Well....now.... He wanted $500 for a super duper blaster whitening and then the bleach things every few months. This would be a life time service...except he knows I'm military and I won't be here for more than 2 treatments. ::snort::  He said home remedies won't work to the degree I need. I asked how much it would be to buy the trays from him and just fill them with bleach at home. He seriously told me that common bleach was not the same thing. ::snort:: 


I had noticed a couple of teeth  were yellowing and it was bothering me....but I'd never thought of doing anything about it....and at $500 I'm not likely to think of it much.  Of course, NOW I notice my whole family has yellow teeth - and many of YOU too - so I really think that this fixation of dentists in our local area for white teeth has to do with our proximity to Hollywood. ::snort:: 

Facebook friends shared all sorts of remedies. 


I tried oil pulling and gagged for hours afterwards. I still gag if I think of it. In fact, I've not been able to face coconut oil since that fateful morning. Google it if you've not heard of it - I really can't think about it much longer. I'm gagging. 

One friend noted we have the color teeth God wants us to have. I love the sentiment...except I note many change their hair color, shave their legs  - you know. I don't feel particularly vain if I want whiter teeth.

I brushed and swished with hydrogen peroxide and water. The first day I got too much and my mouth foamed "forever." The next few days were better...until I just couldn't face it another day....just couldn't. Not as bad as oil pulling but still kicked in the gag reflex. 

Finally I bought some Aqua fresh gel trays - just like the dentist uses. ::snort:: 

Day 1 and 2  - ugh....I CAN HANDLE THIS....but it's uncomfortable, the trays don't reach the top of my teeth are only half my teeth going to be white? I really don't like the gel taste....

Day 3 - I happened to have my glasses on and read the package as I opened today's trays...oh - there are  top and bottom trays. Who knew? And when you put them in right they DO cover all my top teeth...and they close so that the gel doesn't get all over your tongue and go down your throat..... I sat in the hot tub for 45 minutes and thought about a happy place. I'm training myself for upcoming dental work. I practiced breathing through my nose and not compulsively swallowing. 

No, I don't see any improvement but then I didn't do it right the first two days and I think I swallowed most the gel by the end of 45 minutes. Ugh.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...