C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G Song, it just might help if you sing along.

There was a time when Mr. Handsome and I were going to become avid campers.  We were going to tackle the challenge of becoming experts in the field of camping or camping in a field.  A pop-up camper or even a larger "hard-walled" camper was an investment we considered.  The Utah, The Matterhorn, The Cascade.... the options are endless.  We had dreams of camping with the kids, finding that perfect campsite next to a bubbling brook.  Campfires, smores, our own "glam"ping menus that we planned out ahead of time.  We could come up with great meals, perhaps author a cookbook of gourmet food that people could make while camping.   Well, it's not happening.  Not happening AT ALL.  We would be terrible campers.  We would like it for about 36 hours and then we would be ready to turn that "investment" right around and head home.

Instead of the great outdoors,  we are camping out in Mr. Handsome's parent's house.  It's kinda like a little vacation.  Funny how just a change of scenery can change your point of view.

The kitchen reno is underway.  Slowly but surely.  Slowly by design.  It's SSSSOOOO expensive and I do not do well handing out money left and right.  Also, because it's pricey, we are being extremely thoughtful with our choices.  It's out of nece$$ity.  Plus, who doesn't love to get the most out of their money?

I promised myself I would document the progress.  So as I promised..... here you go.  I sold our old cabinets on our local classified website.  The new owners of our old cabinets came and removed them.  And did it quite expertly..... thank goodness.  The granite came out in whole pieces.  Hallelulijah.  We will either attempt to use the pieces in bathrooms or will put them up for sale as well.

BEFORE:

CURRENT:

BEFORE:

CURRENT:

BEFORE:

CURRENT:

Next step?  Well, the new cabinetry is scheduled to be delivered.  The island (see it up there, in the corner of that picture, right there?)  needs to be removed and the refrigerator needs to find it's new home in the garage.  We have some tile to pick out for our backsplash and some appliances to order.  That heinous(!) wallpaper that was expertly painted over with textured paint,  needs to be removed.

After typing that last sentence, might I add......

1. Be careful where you choose to put wallpaper people.
2.  If you don't like existing wallpaper, take time to remove it properly.
3.  Seriously, textured paint?  Sorry Ralph Lauren, it was a bad idea.  BAD RALPH! VERY,VERY BAD!

In the meantime, we have a comfortable place to stay that doesn't involve pooping in the woods or washing our clothes in a bubbling brook.  We made microwave s'mores last night and I have to admit they were pretty good.  All in all, this investment is a much better choice for this crowd.

Just to prove that we aren't complete home bodies..... here are the kids enjoying some time in the great wide open.  We love nature.  It's just nice to come home to a snuggly bed.

Add "The Campfire Song" to my Life Soundtrack.

A Few of My Favorite Things..... go ahead just start singing it. I am.

Okay, I'm a fan of a lot of stuff.  Puppies, clean sheets, black olives, coupons.  But I have a couple things that are my favs.


1. KIDS ARTWORK!  It's the only artwork I own.  Not entirely true but it's a statement I use broadly.  I'm that person that has a rotating gallery of frames that showcase my kids' artwork.  In all seriousness, I love their art and I believe showing it off is good for everybody's self-esteem.


2.  BLANK NOTECARDS .  You can use those bad boys for any occasion.  Birthday? yes.  Graduation?  yep.  Congratulations on the new job?  you betcha.  Sorry to hear about the wart?  Absolutely!

3.  RUBBER CEMENT.  I'm almost positive I have mentioned this somewhere on this here little ol' blog but I'm too busy to research that.  It is the best bonding agent for paper and it's super fun to peel away. It just is.  

4.  HAND WRITTEN, SENT IN THE MAIL, THANK YOU NOTES.  While I spend a good amount of time on the computer with email, Facebook, Pinterest blah de blah blah, I still LOVE getting snail mail.  So, making my children write thank you notes is pretty much the reason for which I live.  I'm a task master for this.  It will make them better adults, I'm sure of it.

Elvis is a year older.  He's got some thank you notes to write!  I picked a piece of his artwork that makes me smile and made copies of it.  Slapped the copies on some blank notecards I had around the house with trusty rubber cement and we are 1/3 of the way there.

Experience has made me wiser.  I know that little people find this task, well, tedious!  So I try to ease their pain by taking care of the sentence structuring.  It's way more fun to fill in the interesting parts.  It makes the task quicker, less painful and something they aren't turned off to for life.

Elvis completed four thank you's in 15 minutes.  He's proud of his accomplishment.  The gift givers will be psyched to receive the thank you and I am proud of his work.

I know you can buy something similar at almost any big box store these days.  Don't bother.  Make your own from original artwork and about 5 minutes on the computer.  You can customize the inside to fit your child's personality.


Okay I'll get off my Emily Post soapbox.  Rock on people.

Pushing my buttons, so to speak

I've been trying to work some creativity into my daily life lately.  I easily fold 2 baskets of laundry a day, make a bunch of beds, contemplate 3 meals and 2 different snacks, push around a bunch of papers and waste at least an hour on Facebook daily.  I forget that taking the time to be creative is truly a psychological outlet for me.  Hence, the altar.

These little cuties are bracelets I've been making.  I have a button machine dedicated to making silly swimming buttons.  The kids decorate their swim backpacks with them and I've made a little money selling them at swim meets.  When I saw the bracelet concept in the button supply catalog (yep, there's a catalog of those kinds of things)  I couldn't resist trying it.  Super FUN!

I went throught some other catalogs I had around the house.  You probably have the same bunch, Garnet Hill, Pottery Barn, West Elm.  I found patterns that were appealing and got busy.  They are really cute and add a little punch to any outfit.  You know me and bracelets and the people who wear them.


Lookie there, money saved on therapy.

Vivir la vida al maximo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I have created this altar for a friend.  She proves to be an inspiration to me time and time again.  It has been a pleasure to try an art form that is outside of my heritage but definitely follows my

 "use what you have" philosophy.   It's my hope she loves it.

The theme revolves around tequila.  Tequila is one of the things that brings us together.  The vintage bottle in the middle is filled with the lovely gold goodness inspired by tequila, note the worm crawling out of the bottle.  The sides of the altar are wallpapered with "One Free Drink" tickets.  The skeletons represent our friends with sharp dress and angel wings.  It's a fun and different way to thank them for just being them.

Live life to the fullest!  Every day.  Seriously, every day!

The one where I use my noggin and don't go to Hell.

I have a list of to-dos that could wrap around my house about 30 times.  I cross one thing off and then add 5 things.  I know I'm not alone.  All of you out there deal with the same stuff.  I actually have become more lenient on myself.  A few years ago, if I didn't get a birthday present out in time, I was probably going to Hell.  Seriously, in my mind there was judging..... lots and lots of judging.

Well, that's where today's story begins, a birthday present.  And you thought it was where I was going to Hell, silly you.

My darling nephew is turning one year older TOMORROW.  Look what's sitting on my ironing board.  Yep, it's his present.  And guess what, I have to ship it.  Yep, it's gonna be late.  But, that isn't even the real story.  Look at that cool Skylander (as seen here) and then a stack of candy which any good Aunt would send, then look at that snazzy boyish, yet hip gift bag.  No licensed characters.  Just a great combo of turquoise and red.  Complimentary colors.  Yum.

Well one cannot have a gift bag full of Great Gift, if there isn't tissue paper to fluff it, stuff it and make you work for said gift.  It breaks gift wrapping rules in some universe.  My universe.

Solution?  Indeed.

I came home with the infamous Target plastic bags.  Apologies to my friends out there who remember to take their reusable bags into the store.  I am not one of you, I forget.  EVERY TIME.  I love that bullseye design.  It's just nice and graphic and WAIT! the colors are perfect for what I am doing.

Armed with my scissors, I cut up those bags and created my own pieces of "tissue paper."

NICE!  The remaining parts of the bag will go into the shipping box as packing material or will be recycled tomorrow curbside.

The package is stuffed, fluffed and ready for delivery.  The gift tag is obviously a paint swatch/color sample.  Turns out it works beautifully.

I cannot wait for his gift to arrive at his doorstep.  He won't care that there is "tissue" paper but I do.  Happy Birthday, Roman.  Don't eat all that candy in one sitting and welcome to the addiction that is Skylanders.  It's my way of torturing your Dad.

Remodel Step One. The hardest part of any journey is taking the first step.

Step One.  Or "the first financial decision" we must make.

Here's what we are looking out of currently.  French doors one side opens, the other is a fixed panel.  It opens directly into our kitchen table.  That's annoying.  To make it even MORE annoying, the wood blinds clank incessentantly.  No one can break into our house because of those damn blinds.  WAIT..... Call off the reno!

The window, oh the window.  It's seal has blown.  My running joke is that we have a pet pterydactol.  It seriously looks like a pre-historic bird took an enormous (which goes without saying I guess, those old birds were big) shit on my window.  It's been a fun joke, but at this point I'm just ashamed.  Ashamed.

We have over thought so many options here.  New window, sliding door?  Two sliding doors?  A terrace door and a slider?  Let's blow the whole thing out and put in a greenhouse (never really an option.)  Who knew you could talk about doors so much?  Who knew you could fall asleep and still talk about doors?

We believe we will go with a 12 foot slider.  It requires a little more engineering ($.)  But we are trying to make smart decisions for our current situation and then when we plan to sell, which might be tomorrow considering the number of children in my driveway today.  I've become that adult.  I just have.


So.... step one.  You've been warned.

Robert's Rules of Order, What's new and What's missing, It's all about Dog mama or perhaps dogma..

I personally would like to call this blog post to order.  The following are in attendance........ well, me.  That's something.   I have been attending a lot of meetings lately that require the use of Robert's Rules.  I'm a sorority girl ya' know.  I learned the "rules" when I was in college.  They make me feel comfortable, orderly, in charge.  I love being in charge.

The meetings have been mostly school district stuff.  At first, it scared me.  I felt intimidated.  Education is more than showing up and pulling out your crayons.  Of course, I know this.  However, the "business" side of education, public education, is most interesting.  So needless to say, I've heard some "moving" "seconding" and "holy shit man, you need to stop talking, let's put that on next month's agenda."  AMEN!
However, I have a whole new place to experience Robert.  I plan to hang with a friend of mine at some Utah Swimming Board meetings.  Just so I can feel like I'm in charge.  I plan to come up with some dooozzziiieees when Public Comment is encouraged.  Or at least stand up when that seems to be missing from the agenda.


What's new?  Seriously?  How have you all been?  I'm sorry I've been absent.  I get thinking about writing then I have to do laundry.  I find a picture I want to base a post on then I end up at the grocery store.  So here's the newest, new at our house.....

This is our "old" kitchen.  It is still intact.  While it appears really nice, it just doesn't function.

With the guidance of our builder,  we put our cabinets on our local classified website.  They sold.  Seriously?  They sold.  And, the buyer can wait.  So I am currently caring for these cabinets better than I cared for any of my newborn children.  Wiping them down the minute they have a mess on their face. Someone bumps into them, I hip-check them into the next room.  Damn it, we don't own these anymore, have some respect!

So my thought is, as I bring this blog to order in these next few weeks, I will be showing pictures of our kitchen re-do.  Lots of dust and plastic and maybe some carrerra marble or Kashmir white granite, cabinets and me holding my knees, rocking in the corner.

What's missing?  Besides my lack of inspiration for blog posts?  Well, something big.  She was big and beautiful and part of our family for 11 years.  She was ready.  We weren't but it wasn't about us.  Emma was the most wonderful English Mastiff friend a family could ask to love.  Love her, we did.

Foster mama, a nanny of sorts.

Here's our fabulous, crazy and totally loved Lola.  She believed Emma was her Mama.  Emma was her mama and gave her the best instruction and guidance any dog mama could give.  Another reason we are thankful for our Emma.


Hugs.