How To Tie A Sledge Knot

This is all original material inspired by watching Man vs. Wild and figuring out the details the show left vague. I do not make any claim about the origins or authenticity of this knot or its name but I made it and it works.

The applicable words of Bear Grylls from his Alaska Episode are included (as nearly as I transcribed them) in the quotations below:

"And to tie off, I'm using a sledge knot. You won't find how to tie a sledge knot in any book or manual but its used by dogsledders as a really efficient self-tightening knot that will never come undone."

"You take a bight around the rope, ..."

(The line going over my index finger is the end of the rope that will be pulled to tighten it and the loop hanging off my hand is what would be around the load being tightened.)

"...you go around itself once, ...."

"...twice, ..."

"... three times, ..." (And yes, he says three times but he does what looks like four times to the rest of us.)

"...just go through the last two loops, ..."

(This is just a different angle of the same stage just above it, I wanted to make sure that the viewer could see what was done.)

"...over the first, and back down the hole."

(The knot is tightened by pulling the end you just fed through the loop (it has the silver tape on it in the picture) and the part of the loop on the left in the picture.)

This is the front of the knot ready to use.

This is the back side of the knot, still oriented with the loop hanging down as in the pictures above.

This is the whole picture: you would tighten it by pulling on the long free end. **PLEASE NOTE: WARNING: THIS KNOT MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE TO LOOSEN WITHOUT CUTTING THE ROPE. MISUSE MAY RESULT IN DAMAGE, INJURY, OR DEATH.**

I have very strong hands and at first I could pull loose the knot I made by pulling the loop open but after I tightened the knot (see the third picture above this one) further it held very tight and would not come loose under the force I could exert. I could, however, still make the loop bigger by holding the knot in one hand with the loop hanging down and the other two lines going over the top of my hand and pulling the correct side of the loop downward (aka pulling the rope straight through the knot instead of at a right angle (i.e. the picture above has the rope entering the knot after making a right angle turn).

Sleep Training?

So my son is now almost 4 months old. He's super cute and cuddly...but still doesn't always sleep the way I want him to.

I have mixed feelings about sleep training. On the one hand I REALLY want to sleep--and some nights I do; he can sleep through the night, he just doesn't most of the time. On the other hand I don't really like the idea of "training" my poor little boy for selfish reasons. I also want him to be able to sleep on his own-a skill he will really need. I've heard of kids 7 years old and still unable to fall asleep without help calming down.

When it comes down to it I think I could go with a no-cry method. I can't stand letting him cry. I mean there's a reason it gives me a stomach ache right?

So right now the method is nursing him to sleep--which a lot of people don't like. I've read all kinds of objections to that online. The only really objection I have is that it doesn't really make him sleep through the night. He actually seems to sleep longer when he falls asleep in his crib. Also, it means that every time he wakes up I'm up for about 20 min feeding him and making sure he is asleep enough that when I move him back to the crib he doesn't wake up.

So I'm researching the no-cry method. So far I've found some commentaries on the Pantley method but haven't actually found any of the real tricks. All I've learned is to put him on a predictable night time schedule--do the same things every night before putting him down. Now just to figure out what time is a good bed time....

I'll keep ya updated as I find more information on this subject

Love to win!!

So you already know I love free stuff! It's even better if the free stuff is BIG and I won it through a sweepstakes. Now I've only actually won anything once, I think. It was a Pirates of the Caribbean shirt, decal, and hat I think. I had entered to win a jet-ski but was ecstatic about the 2nd prize stuff! Especially since I had forgotten all about entering!

So I found a sweepstakes online I thought I would tell y'all about--it's hosted by musicSHOP.

The coolest thing about this sweepstakes is the prize changes every week! and it's going until 12/14.

Now you do have to make an account if you don't already have one, but that's super easy and simple. And it pulls it up for you when you click to enter the sweepstakes.

I don't yet know if you have to re-enter every week but I imagine so. But seriously, it doesn't take that long to go to the website once a week.

And while you're there you might just find some music you want to buy for someone for Christmas. They have a nifty search engine--You can choose artist, genre, etc just like with every other online store. But they also give you price ranges you can pick from. I choose to look at Josh Groban with prices $10.00 and below. More results than I thought!!

The coolest thing about this site is their musicSHOP Player (look in the mid-upper right hand corner).  It gives you a taste of loads of songs, and you can skip through them to find one you like before you buy! I'm likeing it!!

Dairy Allergy

So I am allergic to dairy. At first it's like... man! no cheese! But that's really only the beginning... we'll get to that in a second.

I lived with a dairy allergy for years before actually knowing that I had it. Being allergic to dairy doesn't mean you break out into hives, or your throat swells up and you're in the hospital. It means headaches, and not breathing well. Because, if you are allergic than your body simply makes too much mucus in your sinuses when you eat dairy. This leads to a sinus headache for me. For others it may just be a stuffy nose, some to the point that they feel they cannot breathe.

Now being allergic to dairy is very different than being lactose intolerant. When you are lactose intolerant your body does not have the right enzymes, or enough of them, to properly digest the lactose in milk. This causes stomach aches and most often gas. Being allergic means your body doesn't like the specific proteins in dairy, and reacts to them. This means that lactaid and lactose free milk is no use for those allergic.

Dairy allergy is most common in younger children, and they usually grow out of it. But that's not true for everyone. I actually grew into it--around high school. I didn't know what it was because my headaches tend to feed into other things. I'll get a sinus headache that will make my shoulders and jaw tense up, and then it's a sinus and tension headache--but I only thought it was a tension headache so I never thought there was anything wrong with my sinuses.

Now how to test if you are allergic to dairy. You must first cleanse your body of all dairy, then have a lot in one sitting (ie a milkshake!) and see what happens. To cleanse your body of the dairy you simply do not have dairy for 2 weeks straight. I say simply but most do not realize what that entails. You cannot have milk, cheese, ice cream (or cream of any kind), most cakes, most chocolates, or anything containing any kind of dairy. You will need to read the labels on all the foods you eat avoiding anything that has whey, or cream, etc.
Then if after eating your massive milkshake you develop a headache, or stuffy nose, etc. you will know you are allergic to dairy. If you wish to avoid that headache, etc you will need to be careful what you eat from then on in.

I have gotten to the point that I can have small amounts of dairy--like chocolate chip cookies--on rare occasions, but I'll pay the price if I overdo it, so I've learned to be careful.

I hope you do not have a dairy allergy, as it is very annoying in a culture revolving around milk--but if you do, just know it is managable.

Free Things!

So I love free stuff! Free samples, junk others are giving away, junk mail even! I love to receive mail so I don't mind signing up for junk mail if it means I'll get something good once and awhile. I thought about setting up a free stuff blog but I'd only be copying stuff from my favorite free sites so I think I'll just post those sites here.



Walmart.com
http://absurdlycool.com/
http://www.freestuffheadquarters.com/page/3/?gclid=CNKL0rnk0ZYCFRsRagoda2Wu3A
teenfreeway.com
http://www.freemania.net/samples



And there are loads more...I just can't list them all.

A Re-Introduction

Aloha!

It's been awhile (like more than 2 years) since I last posted on this blog. At that time I had just returned from my internship in China and was finishing up my college degree. That was also the semester I first met my now husband of almost 2 years. Needless to say I was busy and blogging wasn't at the top of my list. Blogging has recently come closer to the top of my list--not because I have any more time (really I have less since I like sleep more these days) but because I needed an outlet for my thoughts.

A quick look into who I am. I graduated from BYUH in Psychology and Theatre. I still work for them long distance mostly completing the research projects I had started when I still resided on the island. I now live in Provo with my husband (who is a gunsmith) and my chubby adorable 3 month old son. Other than the part time long distance job with BYUH I am a stay at home mom and I love to find creative ways to stay healthy, happy, and hopefully eventually rich--or at least long term financially stable. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am a conservative who likes Glenn Beck. I love to sing and swing dance (though there isn't much time for that these days). And try to be an overall optimistic person.

The thoughts that will fill this particular blog might be somewhat random, but I hope still useful. I will be writing about the things I learn from what is happening in my life. It won't contain much, if any of my "personal life" so to speak. Though I will probably give brief introductions into each post that gives a glimpse as to why that topic has been on my mind.

Expect to see posts on: child development (as my son grows), emergency preparedness (a hobby/passion of mine), security, evolutionary psychology (my job), religion, and some politics. For information on food storage and my favorite recipes, see my other blog --Healthy Eating. I might mention posts in that blog when discussing emergency preparedness since food is a large factor in that.

As a last note of ...caution I guess... since this is a hobby and outlet of mine and I do not have much time. There may be spelling and grammar errors. Hopefully not so many that you can't understand the point. But I don't have time to re-read and edit my posts. Sorry :)

a picture from China

Walking home from the most American store we know
Hot and tired but happy to be home
Caffeine for the working blonde
Busting thru the door
Hello Dolly blaring
Drop the bags, dance the song, sing off key
Life is good

I thought this was cool.

I hope you like this video. I thought it was pretty rad.

Back again..

I swear...I keep trying to come back to bloggin and it just doesn't seem to be working.
Well, I've been in china for 2 months, I could blame it on that...blogger didn't seem to work but really that's just excuses.
Soon I will have a page dedicated to my china pictures. I'll be sure to post that :)

I really don't have anything exciting to say. It's 7am and I've been awake for an hour and a half at least, almost 2 hours. I plan on making that a permanent thing. Maybe I'll drop a few pounds or at least tone up a bit.

Back again...

so I have not only not been bloggin but I haven't been home for it seems like forever. This morning...which was hour wise actually yesterday...this morning i was sittin' in the Narita, Tokyo Airport for about 7 hours. I traveled with the Mongolian whille our professor did his homework. :) I don't like being back in real life. I just need to finish this stupid term....then back to China. the annoying part is that's 3 weeks or so.

so finals are here

Ok i might try to start bloggin again. It's just one of those things that fell off the important list while it got crazy... which it hasn't really calmed down yet. I need to write one more paper. bleh! but hey, i'm alive. and i don't actauly have anything to say, and i haven't been to anyone else's blogs for awhile. so how's everyone's life going?

yes the world is flat

and i have officially fall off of it.
sorry, life is crazy..but we won sife reginonals, that should make me happy but really just kinda stresses me out. a recuiter wants to give us some projects before nationals. bleck! i don't know what i'm doing.

funny signs

Can chewing keep your roomie awake?

So I'm thinking about whether my chewing is keeping my roomie awake tonight. I have a habit of sometimes just not wanting to sleep. On these nights I usually have something that just...not really unsettles my mind...just gets it going to the worst scenario and I don't like sleeping like that so I play on my computer until I can't keep my eyes open and pay for it the next day. The only problem, ok maybe not the only problem but a problem with this is that I usually like to munch on things this late at night, I mean it's been hours since I had dinner! Tonight my snacks have been rice cakes-those crunchy ones that taste like caramel corn, and chips, which I actually don't really like without cream cheese or some sort of dip. But anywho I'm sitting here with my headphones in, munching away, giving myself a nice little stomach-ache, and I start thinking, "I wonder how loud my chewing is..." To me it sounds super loud but my ears are right by my mouth and my roomie's ears are about 10 feet away. Does the sound travel that far" Is it loud enough to keep her up? Should I just stop eating past midnight?
These are very important questions that I think I know the answer to when it's not around one am, maybe by two I'll have them figured out.

Am I wise now?

So I had my wisdom teeth pulled on Tuesday morning, and I've decided it's the most effective diet I've ever heard of. It's soo much trouble to eat right now that I just don't, plus my choices are fairly limited...I can have warm pudding (I finally put the last two in the fridge tonight), soup as long as I don't try to eat any of the noodles or veggies, V8 is a good choice, and, of course, yogurt.

But really that's not the most exciting part about these wisdom teeth. See, me and mum together scared the dentist enough that he called me when he went home that night.

So I go under the IV sedation because, I really don't want to remember them drilling into my mouth, cutting my teeth into small pieces and taking them out and then sewing the holes shut. (I honestly don't know how they did it, I have a small mouth.) So, as I'm coming out of the sedation I'm muttering up a storm, I thought I was at home in my sister's part of the house, then in Hawaii with Justin, I even talked about my oldest brother Ben.
So mum is just sittin' there pattin my head trying to get me to wake up. After a bit I can hold my eyes open for about 10-15 seconds I figure. And then the exciting part.
See mum always wanted to be a nurse, but on the day the class went to see the cadaver she decided she wouldn't make such a great nurse, and skipped class.
So she's gettin a little wousy watching me. She knows this, she's passed out before so she puts her head between her knees, she was already sitting down. I look over and open my eyes just long enough to see her roll to the floor.
So, I'm still incredibly drugged, she's on the floor, and I start screaming bloody murder in the best my-lips-are-still-numb voice I can muster. When the doctor and nurse finally got there (they took awhile cause they're used to people screaming) I was half way out of the chair, which is hard to do and a little dangerous when you can't even lift your own head, and mum was on the floor.
She's fine. Just a bump on the head but Dad has now decided that the next medical thing any of us kids have to do, he's going and leaving Mum at home.

Guilty...

This is a very odd feeling. I feel guilty that I am done with my finals before my best friend. I feel even worse knowing that mine were WAY easier than his. At a few points in the semester I felt like this was a hard one. But this week would've been a lot worse if it had. I had it easy. I had one hard class and the rest I kinda just slid by doing what I wanted and cruisin'.
And now I'm stressin' over HIS finals. I can't do anything about it and it's driving me mad! I do what I can, ya know encouraging words, food, hugs. I may even be entertaining his family at his graduation banquet, without him...
I hope he's in the test by now...I hope he does good...

"Well, what can ya do?"
"I can worry!"

Late Night Quizzes...

..:::What type of girl are you??:::..(with pics and 15results!)
brought to you by Quizilla



Which Lunar Souls character are you?


Which Barbie are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

A new view on mooching...

So i told one of my friends today that i need to stop mooching off of her. (she's constantly taking me to lunch these days. can ya guess who it is?) Her response was:
"This isn't mooching. Think of it like this, I enjoy cooking for you but I really suck at it. Plus it's just cheaper to buy you chili and rice."

When i repeated that to the group later in the meal they couldn't stop laughing. They like to feed me ice cream.

Look mommy! I'm growing up!!

That's totally what I feel like. I'm 20 yr old now. I should be more mature. I should know more. I should know by now how to get answers better, well, i think i figured out again how I get my answers. It just proves how social i really am.
Life is good. After an insane weekend of constant people and no sleep and spending money and hoping I don't smell cause I hadn't even been home in...roughly 20 hours. Even in all the confuzion my mind is trying to sort out I still feel good. I can thrive during the remainder of this semester.

Anywho, my mum knows me well, she got me "Lord of the Beans." It's a VeggieTales based on Lord of the Rings! YES!! My friends know me well too, they kidnapped me to the beach and gave me "Madagascar" I love the Lemars!!! the King of the Lemars is my hero. ok not really but he's still awesome. I also got a guitar pic necklace to replace the turtle I lost. As I said, Life is good.

Many Faces of Justin

Ok so I just thought this was funny and decided it needed to be posted for all you who know this crazy little kid we call "benson boi"...