Dear Kula Diaries,
Last month, I had a lot of fun keeping track of some of my favorite things — so I decided I’d do the same thing this month! This is a very non-comprehensive and random list of things that have ‘struck my fancy’ over the last few weeks. I’ve also included some stories in the mix — so I hope that you enjoy reading those too. I guarantee you that you will never ever forget the term MILL BALL as long as you live. Consider this a fair warning — ha!
I’m so grateful for all of you — and I hope you enjoy this list as much as I enjoyed compiling it.
Without further adieu… let’s talk about some stuff that I liked this month!
1. A Crunch Wrap is the new breakfast sandwich
My sister bought me a panini press for Christmas last year, and I’ve recently been on a quest to semi-diversify my breakfast choices. This might seem like a simple task to most people, but you need to keep in mind that I am the type of person that can and will eat the exact same thing every single solitary day for years. I had been eating breakfast sandwiches every single day for nearly six months before I realized that… maybe… I should mix it up a bit. Right now, I’ve developed a ‘breakfast rotation’ — which is my way of eating different things, while still sticking to a routine that requires minimal thought and planning. Currently, the five options in the ‘rotation’ are: breakfast sandwich, cinnamon apple oatmeal with bacon and sausage, avocado toast with eggs, a veggie scramble, and… a crunch wrap. The crunch wrap is a heavenly delight, and every single time I eat one, I’m unable to finish the entire thing — which makes me decidedly disappointed in my commitment to be an intuitive eater. When I eat, I take intentional pauses to evaluate my satiety during the meal — and I’m always so bummed when I feel satisfied while eating a crunch wrap, because they are so unbelievably delicious. However, I’ve learned through intuitive eating that the easy mental response to this is, “Well, when I get hungry, I can just eat another one!”.
To make a crunch wrap, I use a MEGA tortilla — not just the large, burrito sized tortillas that you find in most grocery stores. The only store that sells this huge burrito tortilla in my area is Grocery Outlet.
To make crunch wrap, I cook 2 pieces of bacon and two pieces of small breakfast sausage links. I add one egg and egg whites to the mix and scramble everything together. I season the whole mixture with a combination of salt and AROMAT (which is the seasoning of the gods — mentioned in last month’s ‘things I liked’ post).
I shred a copious amount of Beecher’s Flagship cheese onto my giant tortilla shell, and then — the coup de grâce of the experience is this: DRIZZLE BREAKFAST SAUCE onto the cheese (more on this below)… and then pile on the scramble mixture.
Wrap up the tortilla … add a light brush of butter to both sides, and then set on the panini press at 375° for 6 minutes. If the crunch wrap starts bubbling a little bit, that’s normal — and it will be the best part of the whole thing, I promise.
After 6 minutes, take the crunch wrap off the press and let it cool for at least 5-10 minutes so that you don’t scald your mouth on it. Then, dig in… HEAVEN.
The breakfast sauce and the Aromat and the cheese and the egg do something to turn the tortilla into a symphony of breakfast goodness, and it brings me SO MUCH JOY when Aaron and I have our crunch wrap days.
Does anybody else have any favorite breakfast options? I’m trying to get more creative and more varied — so I’d love to hear them! I tend to err on the more savory side than sweet — and I like warm foods versus cold in the morning. Leave a note in the comments if you have any favorite breakfast foods!
2. Breakfast sauce — recipe undisclosed
I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned this here or not, but I’ve been working on perfecting a secret recipe for a sauce that is (in my opinion) the MOST PERFECT BREAKFAST SAUCE in human history. Keep in mind, that I cannot call this breakfast sauce, ‘breakfast sauce’ — because, sadly, somebody else has already trademarked that name (I looked). But… whether it becomes Breakfast Drizzle or Wake Up Sauce or The Best Sauce You Will Ever Use On Anything That You Typically Eat During the Meal We Call Breakfast … I think it’s pretty dang amazing.
Aaron and I went through a very deep hot sauce obsession about 2 years ago, and I love having some sort of a sauce or condiment to use at breakfast, but I don’t always want something as ‘abrasive’ as hot sauce… and I am not a huge ketchup fan in the morning. So, I have been using my sauce mixology skills to create something that is the perfect combination of sweet and savory … with a touch of salty garlic-ness. It’s SO SO good — and it’s the secret ingredient that makes my crunch wraps and scrambles pretty much out of this world.
I’ve recently been in touch with some sauce co-manufacturers to find out the process for getting this produced so that I can actually bring it to market. I have ZERO experience in the food industry — well … actually, that’s a lie. I was a hotdog girl for over a year, and I can serve a mean hot dog with sauerkraut. Also, I worked at a farmer’s market for a season and I made LOTS AND LOTS of sandwiches. As a kid, my sister and I operated our own ‘restaurant’ called The Grilled Cheese House, which was a ‘restaurant’ in our own kitchen where we made food for my mom. So, I guess I do have quite a bit of restaurant experience.
Here’s another fun story — once, I got a job for one night as a table bus-person at a very fancy-schmancy restaurant in the town of Wayne, Pennsylvania. Wayne is in a section of town called, ‘The Main Line’ — which is named after the rail line that runs from Philadelphia out into the Philadelphia Suburbs. This was the area where most of the very affluent folks moved when they left Philadelphia. At any rate, I had a friend whose husband was the Chef at a restaurant. This was the restaurant:
I worked for one night clearing tables and re-filling water. It was unbelievably stressful, and I spent the entire night in absolute awe of not only the price of the items on the menu (keep in mind, I was a very poor college student at the time) … but also how much we threw away. I reached my personal tolerance limit when I saw an entire peach crumble ala mode coming back into the kitchen, because somebody decided not to eat it. I managed to sneak it off the tray of items waiting to be dumped into the trash can… and I ate it. It was the best peach cobbler I’ve ever had, and I have no regrets.
I’ll keep you all updated on my breakfast sauce — fingers crossed, I’ll get this whole food thing figured out and have a real sauce someday very soon!
3. Homestead Two — the build continues
Homestead Two, our tiny meditation hut in the woods continues its process of coming to be. The most recent updates? It now has windows and a door! The next and final steps of the build will be to add the siding, roofing, and the interior walls and floor.
Even though it isn’t finished, I find myself continually drawn to the location on an almost daily basis to simply sit and do my meditation. Recently, I’ve felt very called to practice meditations that help me let go of unhelpful thoughts and brain activity, and I find that this spot elicits a peacefulness that is almost unmatched. It’s a secret little nook that is surrounded by trees, and it looks out on a beautiful babbling creek. I’m so excited to watch it continue to unfold — and hopefully it will be even closer to being finished next month.
That being said — I’ve experienced a lot of joy in the becoming process of this little hut. In fact, I can reflect back to the moment when we talked to our friend (who is building it for us), and he had used his hands to wildly demonstrate where he thought the ‘build site’ might be. At the time, I couldn’t even imagine it — it was a very steep hill, and the thought of a building being placed there seemed nearly impossible. Watching the trail evolve to walk down to the spot… and seeing the little house take shape has been a really beautiful process… and I am very much looking forward to the day when I get to spend the night in this magical little house in the woods!
4. Book: In The Woods by Tana French
I heard about Tana French from the Search Engine podcast (which, by the way, is a really great podcast … and I’ve basically listened to every single episode… highly recommend!).
Most of you know that I was a Railroad Police Officer prior to leaving my job to start Kula (that was a very long story made very short - ha!). As a former Law Enforcement person, I used to eat up anything that was related to True Crime, until I noticed something very odd: listening to true crime podcasts made me feel like absolute sh*t. There was a time in my life, when I didn’t flinch about stories of horrific murder and decapitation and cannibalism, but as I started to change my life to focus more and more on gratitude and appreciation, I started noticing that I felt really different when I started to think about and focus on things that did not match that vibe.
Remember what I said way back when at the very beginning of The Kula Diaries? What you focus on… is what you find. As such, I’m pretty intentional about not putting a bunch of garbage in my brain, because it does indeed affect my energy and subsequent life experience. The world just doesn’t look as bright and shiny after you read about a killer who made meatballs out of their victims. Amiright?
So, I’ll be honest here and say, that I watch very little of anything violent. This is not to pretend that these things do not happen in life — it is simply to protect my energetic bubble so that I can continue to produce and focus on creating and adding more love into the world around me. This is a thing that I can do to be a part of the solution… not a part of the problem.
But, I have to admit: I still love a good mystery. I mean, I just can’t help it sometimes. So, I made an exception for this Tana French book — it’s a story about a murder in Dublin, and I’ve really enjoyed it so far. It follows a detective who was part of an unsolved cold case — that is now linked to a more current murder that he is investigating (and subsequently hiding that link from his boss so that he doesn’t get pulled off the case). My rule for crime-related entertainment is as follows: it needs to be fictional and I need to determine whether or not I am getting emotionally involved in the story. If I’m able to read the story as a story, then it’s fair game. In this particular story, I’ve definitely been able to keep it in the fictional realm in my mind, and so I’ve enjoyed reading it as such, even though it does discuss the murder of a child (which, obviously, might not be a great topic for some of you to read about). Either way — the story is engaging and interesting, and I’ve been hook line n’ sinker for the entire experience, and I’m looking forward to checking out more of her books!
I’ve been making a point of reading some fiction books on a regular basis, because I read a lot of personal/spiritual development books. I think that there is so much value in reading a story for fun, instead of incorrectly believing that it’s ‘wrong’ to do something for pure entertainment purposes. It’s OK and amazing to just appreciate fun and interesting writing and storylines, and I’ve definitely been enjoying this one!
If you are interested in reading Tana French books, I’ve also learned that there is a ‘proper order’ to read them in, so I’m going to link that information right here.
5. Podcast: Just Say You’re Sorry (and a story about mill balls)
I recently binge listened to the Smoke Screen Podcast, Season Six: Just Say You’re Sorry. This is a semi-infuriating story about a false confession case that involves a cold case murder and a Texas Ranger with questionable interview tactics.
The podcast is really well made and very engaging, and as a former Law Enforcement Officer who took several classes on ‘interrogation techniques’ (but don’t worry, I never did anything even remotely similar to what is described in this podcast!) … I found the entire series to be completely fascinating. Also, it is downright wild that some of these techniques and ‘methods’ of gathering ‘evidence’ are even permitted. I found this podcast to be a bit of a head shaking experience, but also really interesting and insightful with its discussions around memory and how the human brain works. I know that I can sit here and reasonably say that I’d never falsely confess to a murder… but so did the guy in this story. I also appreciate that the podcast does look at how these alleged false confessions impact the victims’ family as well.
BTW — I once performed interviews in an investigation of mill ball theft from a railroad facility. What’s a mill ball? This is a photo that I found, but basically, it’s a really heavy metal ball that is used in the production process for concrete:
We had a facility in Seattle, where HUNDREDS of mill balls were stolen. Presumably, these balls were stolen by folks who wanted to turn them in to scrapyards in exchange for money. As a part of my investigation, I had to visit a bunch of metal recycling facilities in Seattle in order to interview the folks who worked there to find out if anybody had possibly brought in a significant quantity of mill balls.
One of the places that I went to was… and this is the best word I can find for it… very seedy. This place was not the type of place that you would want to go for fun. It was messy and, if I’m being honest, somewhat frightening. But, I had a job to do, so I showed up at the office one day and asked if I could ask them a few questions about my investigation. The men who worked there were pretty rough around the edges, but they were super nice and accommodating. “GET THE LADY A SEAT”, one of them shouted at his co-worker in a gruff voice. A dirt-covered employee quickly jumped out of his seat at a large computer monitor (which was facing away from me) and pulled out the desk chair for me in their filthy office so that I could sit down. As I sat down for our conversation, my eyes caught a glimpse of the computer monitor… and all of the words fell out of my mouth and onto the floor. Staring back at me from a gigantic flat screen computer monitor was a desktop image unlike anything that I had ever witnessed before — no, this was not a stunning image of the Morning Glory pool at Yellowstone National Park… nor was it a stunning image of a serene beach in Tahiti. Instead, it was a very high def photograph of hardcore porn. I coughed and tried to regain my composure, but I must have looked like I was clearly shaken. “Can I get you a water bottle?”, the owner kindly offered.
As I looked around the room at the employees, who were patiently waiting for me to begin my line of questioning, I could tell that it had not even occurred to them that I had been caught off guard by the hardcore porn desktop image. In fact, I legitimately don’t think that any of them even noticed that it was there. Many years prior to this moment, I was at a lighthouse that had a lighthouse keeper who lived on the island. When I asked him how he lived with the foghorn blaring, he looked at me with a surprised expression, “What foghorn?”. He was obviously kidding… but, after hearing it so often, he told me that he had managed to tune it out. This desktop image was like a lighthouse keeper living underneath a fog horn — the image had become such a part of the environment that nobody even remembered it was there. I had never personally witnessed ‘visual exclusion’ for boobs and a very explicit sex scene — but this, was, apparently what I was witnessing.
I shuffled my documents as if I were simply preparing myself for the impending seriousness of the interview, and I refocused my attention. “Mill balls,” I said as I confidently ignored the giant silicone breasts that were glowing on the screen to my right, “Have you seen any mill balls lately?”
P.S. I did end up finding a suspect, and she did confess to me. For the record, I never pressed charges against her. She was going through a really tough time in her life, and I helped her find some resources to get a job. I don’t know how she’s doing now, but I do think about her often.
6. Meditation: Joy Facilitator Amanda Lemay!
If you participate in our monthly Dance Experiment, then you know that we have Joy Facilitators who help lead our daily dance sessions. In the VERY BEGINNING of the Dance Experiment, the only Joy Facilitator was … me. This wasn’t great, because my feet started to fail about one month in and I ended up having to go on antibiotics for a toe infection (seriously).
So, I asked our members if any of them were interested in becoming Joy Facilitators to help lead sessions. Amanda was one of the first people who stepped up to the plate — and she was, in fact, the very first person other than me to lead a session for The Dance Experiment.
Amanda lives in a converted ambulance in Canada and she is an accomplished musician — both a singer and a player of many instruments (guitar, ukulele, etc…).
Recently, Amanda started her very own Insight Timer channel and has started posting her own guided meditations.
Let me just say this: I am VERY PICKY when it comes to meditations! I’ve been listening to Amanda’s meditations for the last few weeks, and they are — in a word — truly remarkable. Amanda has a voice that helps me really sink into the present moment and to feel comfortable and relaxed, exactly where I am. If you are on Insight Timer, I’d recommend that you should subscribe to Amanda’s channel and listen to her meditations (they are incredible) … and if you aren’t on Insight Timer… it’s COMPLETELY FREE, and it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. You can easily do a meditation every single day and even take free classes and courses that will help you find more presence.
In addition, The Musical Mountaineers even have their own Insight Timer channel, so if you want to hear some meditations that include our music (with Rose reading the meditation), you can find those there too!
I hope you LOVE Amanda’s meditations! I am SO unbelievably proud of her, and I think that you will enjoy them as much as I do!
7. Jasper the Cat: The Saga Continues
I’ve been sharing the nearly year-long saga of our feral cat, Jasper, here on The Kula Diaries. Jasper appeared to us last winter during a cold snap… and we’ve been feeding him ever since. The feral cat herd has grown to include two additional orange cats + an opossum, who all continue to visit our home regularly. Most recently, Fox — one of the orange cats — has decided that he wants to sit on the porch outside our bedroom window and stare at us creepily while we sleep. He’s a very non-subtle lurker, but he’s cute, so we allow it.
A few months ago, we decided that we wanted to try and trap Jasper — to see if he would want to become a part of our family. We don’t necessarily want him to live in our home permanently, but we would like our cat Cinder to become familiar with him, so she stops trying to find him and chase him.
We put a trap out on our front porch, and Jasper has been a genius about avoiding it — so we’ve been doing a very slow burn on this process by gently training him to go into the trap. We started by placing his favorite food (sardines) at the entrance to the trap, and over the past few months, we’ve moved the sardines further and further into the trap. Within the last few weeks, he has finally started walking all the way into the trap to get the sardines … however, we’ve also been gone from home quite a bit on a few personal trips, so we’ve opted not to activate the trap until we can be home for a significant period of time.
If we do catch Jasper, we have a large kennel set up for him (following the guidance of local cat experts) so that he could become acclimated to the house. This will give us a chance to see if there is any possibility that Jasper could become habituated to a different lifestyle (one that involves lots of treats and love). A few days ago, on my 4:30 AM walk, I saw Jasper in the road and he hid about 5 feet away from me while I walked by. I gently said hello to him, and he didn’t run away. I’ve noticed that he is becoming less and less skittish, so I’m hopeful that maybe Jasper will decide to spend at least a little bit of time with us — and maybe he will discover that he likes being a part of a loving home.
8. Going places and doing things
I am a self-proclaimed hermit. But this month, I have been REALLY TRYING TO MAKE AN EFFORT to be LESS of a hermit. This might not seem difficult to some people — or, maybe it is something that you struggle with too. Left to my own devices, I would stay at home with my husband and completely isolate myself from the world around me, other than going to work. I know that this is, ultimately, not the type of life that I want to lead, and so I have been going out of my way this past month to engage in things that I’d normally not do:
I asked Bonnie, one of our Joy Facilitators to lead our session on the first day of September so that I could hike with Rose for the anniversary of The Musical Mountaineers. Usually I’m very rigid about leading our sessions on the first of the month, because it requires a few extra e-mails to be sent out, but I realized that I could send the e-mails (without over-burdening anybody else) — and then still go do something fun. Bonnie did an amazing job (as always), and I got to put my gown on and play music in the mountains with one of my dearest friends.
I went motorcycle camping with a friend! I met Denice many years ago through Kula Cloth, and she has been a huge supporter from day one. Denice is the founder of an incredible non-profit called The Bronze Chapter. She has a resume that, quite honestly, intimidated me the first time I saw it: AIARE 1, ASA and US Sailing 101 Basic Keelboat Sailing, ASA 103 Basic Coastal Cruising, ASA 104 Bareboat Cruising, CPR, Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, Wilderness First Aid Instructor, Wilderness EMT, Leave No Trace Level 2 Instructor.
But guess what? Denice is the most amazing human — who also happens to ride a motorcycle. We’ve been trying to plan a motorcycle trip together for awhile now, and a few weeks ago — we made happen. We spent a glorious day riding down the Hood Canal, and we camped overnight at Lake Cushman. This was the first time I had ever carried a tent on my motorcycle before, and while a Ducati Monster is decidedly not your typical adventure bike… I’d like to think that a tent-hauling-street-bike is the most PNW-thing that I’ve done all year long.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff2fad0a4-357b-4f4c-a6a0-9dc82b5b1c72_4032x3024.jpeg)
I’m so grateful for my friendship with Denice, and I am equally inspired by her devotion to contribute to the outdoor experiences of multicultural and BIPOC families in the PNW. She is a remarkable human, and I feel very fortunate to have her as a friend.
Ok, friends — that’s my non-comprehensive list for September. Here’s the other truth that I didn’t include: there were SO MANY more things that I loved. There have been so many moments when I really allowed myself to feel a deep sense of gratitude for life on this planet. When I look around at the infinite abundance in my life, I feel profoundly honored that I get to do what I do and know who I know and see what I see. It’s a beautiful world — and that is the lens that I choose to look through. Not because there aren’t also simultaneously difficult things happening, but because it helps me find meaningful ways to contribute to the greater good in a productive ways. It is sometimes in the littlest things — the crunch wraps, the laughter, the and the silly stories of life that we are reminded of the good that we can always find, when we remember it is there.
I hope that you can take the time this month to look around you and notice all of the things that have brought you joy — and I hope, that as you see those things with your heart… you will continue to create more joy, everywhere you roam.
Sending you all so much love, friends — thank you for being here!
I love Tana French! One of the only authors that I own all of their books (though looking through the post you linked to, it appears I'm missing The Hunter).
Okay - you asked for savory and warm breakfast options… here’s what I can recommend! Almost every day for the last few years I have toasted sourdough bread with a little olive oil and a soft-boiled egg (cut in half) on top. When the local bakery is closed, I will use rye bread. If I have some leftover avocado I might also smash it on the toast. I tried Aromat on the egg (thanks to your August rec!) two weeks ago and decided it didn’t quite work for me… back to using salt and pepper (…Aromat has been working well with most things I’ve tried it with! Including fonio, a new grain for me).
Also - just found the audiobook for In the Woods and I’ve queued up the “Just Say You’re Sorry” podcast.
Excellent range of stories this week! :)