Wordless Wednesday

because it made me laugh

Today's storypeople made me laugh out loud:


There are 7 levels of hell, she said, & I think one of them is reserved for people who bring jello salads to every potluck they go to.




Have a great day!

Wordless Wednesday

source

water

I am so grateful for water. I know we are so privileged to have access to clean water here in the US and I value it so much.  Saturday afternoon we came home to a note letting us know that our  water would be shut of because of the construction behind our house. So Saturday night we made sure we had several containers filled in case we needed them Monday. Of course, from their asterisk they gave themselves an exception by letting us know it may be on Tuesday that it's turned off. Monday came and went and we still had water, but today we've got the hand sanitizer out and will be eating out tonight- I just don't think I can cook dinner without having water to wash my hands, etc. 
Construction is not my best friend. You never think how much you need water until you don't have it. It's always fun pouring water into the toilet to be able to flush....

fasting

image

I'm thinking of having a fast from Facebook, Pinterest and looking at blogs for some time.  I wonder if I would do more with my time if I eliminated these things.

I just need to be prepared to get my butt in gear to actually focus on all the things on my to-do list.  Otherwise I'm pretty sure I will be good at finding other things to waste my time on.

guess what...

we did last night?

no, we didn't pick out carpet (although we have been doing some carpet shopping lately).

Can you guess?

Our awesome friends are leaving us and moving out of Logan.  It seems like we have had to say goodbye to so many good friends lately.  James and Sarah are wonderful and have helped us out so much.  We have learned a lot from them and admire them in so many ways.

So we thought it only fitting that we boost their confidence by going bowling with them.  We discovered that Sarah is a professional bowler on the side and gets a strike or spare almost every time.  Owen was cute and happy (as long as I wasn't holding him) and we really enjoyed our time.
Afterward we enjoyed some Aggie ice cream because it is always on the list of things to do before leaving Logan.  We love you guys and need to make sure that we still see you even though Logan seems so far away from Salt Lake. :)

feeling the need

I've been really feeling the need to continue my education and get a master's degree in something that can give me a career I want.  The only problem is that so many of the careers I want seem so far out of reach. (home blogger, professional organizer, magically becoming amazing at quilting, etc and making $ off it, etc.)

I've tried to make a list of programs that I am interested in and could actually see myself doing.  I'm open to suggestions.  If any of you happen to have a perfect career plan for me, let me know ;)

Here's what I have come up with

-Master in Library Science  to become a librarian
-Master in Instructional Technology and Learning Services - write online classes, help with web design, etc.   I don't know what I would actually do with this degree, but the coursework sounds interesting to me: DVD Design and Production, Instructional Graphic Production, Digital Video Capture and Production, etc.
-Graphic Design
-Interior Design - if I did this I would get a Certified Professional Organizer certification. (although if any of you saw my house right now you would definitely give me a big no on this one)
-MBA - the only thing with this is that I feel it would be a great "title" to have but don't have a specific goal  with where I want to go with it.

My problem with making a decision:  a) uncertainty often paralyzes me.  b) I don't have the confidence that I will be good at any of these things.  (which happens to be the reason that I have never been able to make a decision- I am now amazing at any one thing) c) finding the time and $ to do this.

I'm still waiting for that amazing ball of light to appear and point me in the direction I should go. But, since I know it's not coming (otherwise I would have known by now), I figured I would ask for your advice.
or maybe I should do something crazy like become a lion tamer. :)

wordless Wednesday

coupons

Buying a house makes you really, really poor. Especially buying one that needs work.  But, it has also taught me so much and helps me be optimistic for the future.
Lately, I have really been working on so many of my homemaking skills- cooking, making our house a home, etc.   And along with it,  I am trying hard to spend less and save more. It always sounds so simple and yet it isn't.  Part of my attempt to save money has been using coupons.  I promise I'm not turning into one of those crazy coupon ladies, but if I can save money and stock up on things I use, then I think it's great.
The success has been average for me.  I have found that some of the items on coupons are not items I would normally purchase- so why purchase them just because they are a good deal?  Thanks to some helpful advice from a friend, I found that Walgreens here in Logan has some of the best deals- usually on toiletries-  the only problem is that if you aren't there on Sunday or Monday morning, it's gone.
Have any of you ever used coupons?  How has it worked for you?

I will tell you one awesome deal this week that is unrelated to coupons:
Each day (M-F) all Chick-fil-a locations are giving away some free food if you go between 2-5pm. Yesterday we got free dinner and Wednesday it's free nuggets.  And, since we just happen to love Chick-fil-a,  we may be going there everyday this week.

August 12of12

This is very late. I was so bummed when I realized that I missed it this month and forgot to take pictures while we were camping. Thankfully, I realized that the pictures my mother-in-law let me have from her camera from the 12th capture what were doing last weekend.

We went to Yuba lake and camped, played on the boat and on the wave runners. It was my kind of camping- with water and toilets.  Thank goodness for my in-law's fifth wheel too- we had a kitchen and bed also.

wordless wednesday

facebook fun

I don't normally do the whole copy status and post thing on Facebook, but I had to today when I saw this status:

Women are born angels. When someone breaks our wings we simply continue to fly...on a broomstick. Be warned. We are flexible like that.


And this photo my sister-in-law posted today totally cracked me up too. 

I hope you laugh today. :)

the UP house

Pioneer day weekend we were watching my sister's 8 kids and decided to take them to the UP house in Herriman. 

If you haven't heard of it, some builders got permission from Disney and decided to do this special project and make it exactly like the house from the movie.  It's in the Utah Parade of Homes, but we went there the week before so only got to see the outside. 

It was fun to see the bright, colorful house in the middle of a neighborhood that is all...brown.  

And it made it even more fun to go with these kiddos. 

(at least with the ones who wanted to get out of the car)

Transformation part 4

the shed.
We definitely purchased a project with this house. The back yard is all weeds.  Since it is the lowest in the neighborhood, water tends to pool there and we also have a small pond-type thing.  Unfortunately, we  probably won't be able to redo the yard until next summer, but we did need to get rid of the shed there.
It would have been really nice if whomever built the shed actually finished it.  Unfortunately, they didn't so the wood was rotting (or close to it) and the shed was unstable.
The previous people who lived here were painters, so the shed was full of paint.  Thankfully, the dump told us we could bring all of the paint in (even though the website says one 5 gallon bucket per person per day)

We decided to tackle the shed since it was a free Saturday and we still have my father-in-law's trailer from when we moved.  James was so kind to come over and help us also, and the weather cooperated and stayed cloudy so it wasn't too hot.

These guys are so strong.  ;)
You can see the progression below.

Transformation part 3

our spare bedroom.  The house has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, but since it's just us for now and I work from home, one of the rooms will be an office and the other my craft room.  That leaves the other as a guest bedroom, which works out great since we don't have too many guests here.  One day it will be a nursery (hopefully) and I thought it would be fun to do stripes on one of the walls.

Since the whole house was boring tan, we painted the entire room white and then added the stripes one at a time. You can see the process:

What do you think? We only did one of the walls because I didn't want it to be busy.  Now every time I walk by it makes me smile. To be honest, I never pictured myself painting my walls bold colors so it's funny to me that I have done so.  Buying a house and picking paint colors has been a big exercise for me.  I have pushed myself to be brave, ignore my fears that I may hate it in a few years and do what I like for now.  I don't want my fear of being too crazy keep me in something that is plain and boring that I don't love.

Transformation : Part 1 and 2

I already showed you transformation 1- our office. Since we shoved everything in there to do the next room, I don't have a final picture, but will post one soon.


I don't think I ever showed you transformation 2:  our kitchen.  It's still a work in progress and no where close to my inspiration, but I like it.
My inspiration:

  My cabinets will be pained white as soon as we are moved into all of the other rooms. :) The white cabinets will help bring in more light and provide more of a contrast with the blue.

I was really worried when I first thought about painting the ceiling blue, but after getting advice from a friend who is a great interior designer, and knowing that I have a lot of light coming into the space, I decided to go for it. 

left:( before) with the boring tan right: (after) with gray walls and blue ceiling

Stay tuned for Transformation part 3 tomorrow.

sweets

since it's summertime and pinterest shows such tempting pictures, I figured I would post some.

cake batter blondies

rice krispy ice cream cones

neapolitan popsicles

bite size bananas

chocolate chip cheesecake dip

Yum. Maybe one of these days I will have to try them...

wordless Wednesday