Bitterroot Mama by the Numbers - And Farewell

This forget-me-not finally bloomed, after almost 2 years of living in my windowsill.
The point here is obviously to forget-me-not.
And that living in my windowsill may not be the best environment for anyone, including plants.

If this were the last day of school, I'd be all nervous about getting everyone to sign my yearbook. Luckily, we don't have to post our dorky pictures anymore -- although that hasn't stopped me or anyone else from plastering their faces all over the internet.

Doing my part to add lots of blackmail
pictures to the world wide web.

It's the last day of June and the last day of Bitterroot Mama. (It's OK. You can cry if you want to.) I'm married to a number cruncher and it's starting to rub off, so I thought I'd share a few stats about the blog with you. Here it goes...

My short journey into
the world of amigurumi

17,989 total pageviews

1,099 visits through http://www.wearethatfamily.com/ 's Work for Me Wednesday feature

745 comments (approximately half are mine)

375 posts

202 visits to the ever-popular Grace Kelly Scarf Tutorial page 

176 pageviews from people in the Netherlands

111 visits to the First Annual Picky Person Gift Giving Guide (unfortunately, there will never be a second annual guide)

80 pageviews from people in China

50 fantastic followers

Before I saw this, I wasn't hungry.
Weird that I am now, huh?

21 visits from people searching for "sad memoirs"

14 pathetic attempts at making crafts

$2.39 - total blog earnings through Google Adsense

AND
1 red velvet cupcake

Thanks for following along with me as I turned into a crunchy Montana mom. I'm proud of this blog and all of the great writing practice it's been. I've enjoyed the friendships I've made and nurtured on this site. I've learned from you, and I hope you learned something from me as well. All of the pages will stay up, so you can reminisce as you please, but this is really the end. No more posts.

You have my permission not to follow me via Google Friend Connect anymore, but please say "Hi" whenever you see me in person.

Love,
Bitterroot Mama
(Bitterroot Mama needs awhile to stop referring to herself in the third person. She will get over it someday.)

Why I'm Ending This Blog

In order to explain the demise of Bitterroot Mama, I'd like to turn to three Christian music artists for a little help (and to date my coming-of-age to the 1990s, when music was music and life seemed simpler, though much more vague).

"Lines of My Earth" by the now defunct Sixpence None the Richer:

"And we in the habit of saying the same things all over again,
For the money we shall make.
This is the last song [blog post] that I'll write
'Til you tell me otherwise.
And it's because I just don't feel it."

Is it just me or are lots of blogs out there just mouthpieces for small or large corporations? It takes time to keep up a blog (how I know!) and bloggers want to be compensated with money or credit or samples or cool giveaways, but it seems that too many blogs are just propaganda. I guess I'm not willing to go that far. (Or I'm really good at hiding from the PR people, one or the other.)

"Adding to the Noise" by Switchfoot (whom I met one time after a concert and lived near the town where I spent my formative musical years. Confession to Switchfoot: I said I'd never wash my hands after shaking yours after that concert but I did. Do you know how many pieces of raw meat I've touched since then? Good. I knew you'd understand.): 

"If we're adding to the noise
turn off this song
If we're adding to the noise
turn off your stereo, radio, video ohh..."

Are you ever distracted by the internet? Say, checking your email 25 times a day or following over 50 blogs because they follow you and you just HAVE to follow them back? Oh wait. Maybe that's me. As much as I enjoy writing on this blog and following certain blogs (you know who you are), it's too much of a time commitment. Instead of becoming a hyper-networked gal, I glory in the fact that I don't have a Facebook account, I've never Twittered, I'm not LinkedIn, and I don't even know how Farmville works. I'm not using that whole living in Montana thing as an excuse not to get started on these online networks...actually I am.

"Seize the Day" by Carolyn Arends, an under-appreciated musical artist and author from Canada:

"Seize the day, seize whatever you can
'Cause life slips away just like hourglass sand...."

"You can do what you will with the days you are given
I'm trying to spend mine on the business of living."

By living, I mean spending more time with my family, actually weeding my garden, trying out new recipes, enjoying friendships, playing the piano, exercising, reading books (you know I can't resist!), and writing for markets that actually pay.


I hope you can now have a few more minutes of your day to do something meaningful. If you want to know how I'm doing (or are dying to know how quickly I'm killing my garden), just give me a call (if we're buds like that) or drop me an email. I'd be happy to talk with you. Or lip-sync old school DC Talk songs with you -- because that's still really, really cool.

Your Favorite Books - Speak Now!

Over the course of this blog, I've shared thoughts and/or reviews on 105 books. (In the beginning, I used to blog about more than one book in a Book Worm post.) It's kind of sad to think that I won't be writing book reviews here anymore. I may just have to post them to Amazon.com instead.

I've read 51 books in 2011, despite my desire to slow down. One just keeps leading to another and another. So, in an effort not to run out of interesting books to read, please share some of your favorites in the comments. I want to hear your favorite overall books, your favorite non-fiction, favorite beach reads, etc.

What are my favorites you ask? (I'm pretending you're reading this and asking that.)

I can't really choose. Don't make me! I still love the Yada Yada Prayer Group series by Neta Jackson. I still love Lauren F. Winner's books. I still love the Wingfeather Saga (On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, North!, or Be Eaten). I love so many books, it's hard to stop at just one. But I will because this last Book Worm post is almost done. (Now I'm trying not to cry.)

Cheesy Crockpot Enchiladas

If you're one of those people who stick up their noses at anything made with cream of chicken soup, just go back to making your own organic roux and feeling smug. For the rest of you who need a potluck pleaser, I have just the thing. Of course, there's no picture because I actually took this to a potluck this week and the people there ate it all. Pity. No leftovers for me. Anyway, this is a quick and easy recipe my mom passed on to me.

Cheesy Crockpot Enchiladas
(serves 4-6)
3 cans cream of chicken soup
1 (medium) can evaporated milk
2 c. cooked, shredded chicken
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. chili powder
15 oz. bag of tortilla chips
2 cups Mexican blend cheese, shredded

1. Mix together cream of chicken soups and evaporated milk in a stockpot. Add spices. Heat until bubbling and thickened. Add chicken and mix well.
2. Layer crushed chips, soup mix, and cheese a couple of times, ending with cheese.
3. Heat on medium for 2 hours, or until the cheese is melted.

Note: I personally think this would look cool with blue tortilla chips. You could serve it with salsa on the side for a patriotic meal.

Wedding Cheesecakes

As I mentioned, this past weekend my sister got married. It was a casual affair, so I begged to make the cake. Of course, my sister doesn't like cake; she wanted a cheesecake. I made a big one and a teeny one and transported it in the car for 7 hours, which apparently didn't hurt the flavor because this is what the photographer said about it:

"This makes me want to be a better person."

I'm not quite sure what that means, but I don't think he liked cheesecake before that day. Of course, the scrumptious toppings may have had something to do with it. I made a caramel topping from this epicurious recipe and strawberry topping from allrecipes.com. In retrospect, I wish I had cut the strawberries up a bit thinner for the sauce. And the flowers on the cheesecake are fake, but they did the trick. Unfortunately, I don't have a cheesecake recipe to share with you, but I'll give you a different recipe tomorrow. Keep on reading...the blog's not over yet.

Guest Posting Today

Check out my guest post on bulk spices today at Small Steps on Our Journey!

Are you happy now?

A week ago, as I was chasing the baby around the library, The Geography of Bliss jumped off the shelf into my arms. Not literally of course. That would be the baby jumping down the stairs for "clap hands" time (story hour). But the subtitle of the book intrigued me: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World. I immediately connected because (A) I am a grump. (B) I thought that perhaps there was something to this and I should start looking at real estate online.

Eric Weiner traveled first to the Netherlands on this search for happiness and searched through the World Happiness Database (WDH). From that information and his own intuition, he planned an itinerary that included Switzerland, Bhutan, Qatar, Iceland, Moldova (for unhappiness), Thailand, Great Britain, India, and the USA. At times profound, at times profane, and at most times hilarious, he provides a window into the things that make people happy. From the WDH, he learned that happy people are most likely to be:

• extroverted
• optimistic
• married
• Republican
• religious
• college graduates (but people with advanced degrees are not as happy)
• active sexually
• busy
• wealthy (but only marginally happier than poor people)

From his travels, he learned that this was only part of the equation. Largely homogeneous societies like Iceland and Switzerland are happy, but so are the racially diverse, less uptight people in the Netherlands. Marginally happy Qatar has plenty of money, but no defining culture. Extremely unhappy Moldova has hardly any money and no culture. Thais regard over-thinking as suspicious and tend to be very happy. Bhutan measures its Gross National Happiness with statistics.

I found much to contemplate in this book. For as long as I've lived in Montana, I've never really felt at home. I've wondered if moving somewhere else would make me happier. What Weiner learned, and I felt was true also, was that there are some things more important than happiness. If you're religious, then pleasing God would mean more than your own happiness. The Guri-ji whose ashram he attended in India told him that love is more important than happiness. And a man from Bhutan told him that "Happiness is one hundred percent relational." Having close relationships (and a good book) means more than the particular address where I live. No matter where I go, friends and family will support me more than the earth's crust. This reminds me of a verse from 1 Corinthians 13: "So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love" (The Message). There. I just saved you a trip around the world and a call to a realtor. You can thank me later. (PG-13, recommended)