Getting Ready for Camp!

That's right...I'm headed to camp in August! It's a camp for blogger grown-ups called Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged!

I attended last year but only as a partial camper since I had conflicting events the same weekend.  This year the camp is going to be a sleep away camp for me since it is in another part of the state.  I'm pretty excited to visit someplace I have never been and meet with other bloggers.  This weekend I decided to do some prep work to get ready for camp.

My friend NWA Foodie is hosting a Foodie Friday add on to the camp.  I signed up for it after asking if a non-foodie blogger would be welcome! I mean as an athlete I eat food so that should count right?!?!  The Foodie program starts at noon on Friday and is going to be something fun to help me explore whether I want to incorporate more cooking or food info on my blog.  We're also going to learn some photography skills and prepare the appetizers for the opening party for the rest of the camp attendees.  

Well Saturday morning I picked up a huge box of tomatoes at the farmer's market for $5.  I was running low on salsa and my coach Mike begs for it so while produce is in season I thought I would make some more.  When I got the box home I got very overwhelmed by how many tomatoes I had actually bought.  In a strange coincidence of my mom calling right then I remembered that I had to head to Fayetteville for a haircut that day.  It would work out perfect to go to my mom's house and share the salsa making duty with her! 

Three batches of salsa in process!

Cooking in Gloria's Kitchen with my Mom!

Salsa making went quite well however I had a couple foodie fails.  I only wore one pair of gloves while working with the jalapenos and had burning hands afterwards for almost an hour.  The jalapenos were quite strong.  My next foodie fail was that I used a family secret recipe...something I could never share publicly.  My final foodie fail was that I forgot to take enough pictures...my mom had to remind me to take some so I never got pictures of some of the key steps in the recipe.  Oops! Good thing I gave myself plenty of time to practice being a foodie before camp. 

Secret time - my Mom set up this shot with the cookbook but what's funny is that we didn't use that cookbook for the salsa.  That's a secret family recipe! My mom used the cookbook for a peach jam that she made in the background!

On my way home from Fayetteville, I stopped at a local Western wear store to try on Boots!!! All of our camp attendees are receiving cowboy boots from a wonderful website run out of Arkansas called Country Outfitters.  I have never owned boots so I wanted to try them on first.  I have some very "strong" calves and was worried about finding a style that would accommodate my legs. 

Trying out different brands and styles of boots

Luckily I found the boots to be very comfortable and only a few pairs were tight on my calves.  I thought I would have a very hard time finding something to fit so this was exciting for me.  I enjoyed trying on the different brands and styles and think I was very entertaining to the other customers and workers there.  They kept offering to help me but I just told them it was my first time trying on boots so I was trying on lots of them! 

These were a favorite pair of Tony Lama's but stay tuned for the final choice!

I'll have more posts in the next few weeks as I get ready for camp including an upcoming post where I share more about Country Outfitters and the boots that I selected.  I was excited to go to camp even before the organizers announced that we would receive boots with our registration! We have a jig dancing lesson on the schedule and every Southern girl knows you need to dress the part for events like this!!! If you are in the Arkansas/Missouri area there is still plenty of time to register for the AWBU conference!