Rewinding

Here's a preview of our life the last two months in reverse order-ish.

I decided to create a Grinch costume.

The idea stemmed from a conversation with a co-worker and our work Christmas party.

I didn't have much time but I was determined.

I found this fabric online which turned out to be perfect!

After ten days we had this!

Dan is a Sgt. at work and is amazing!

The kids loved him and secretly I think he loved it.

The makeup was perfect in person. In the photos it was a bit dark.

Our family Christmas photo.

The party was a blast . . . until the cops showed up!

Then we received a great gift of the Wonder Wash!

It really works!

It's a portable hand clothes washer.

During Thanksgiving I decided to make homemade cranberry sauce.

It was super easy and pretty tasty.

I was stirring the berries as they were popping.

Jake's arial view of the rolls, gravy, vegetables, cranberries, potatoes, and pie.

Jake and his dad went to the WSU vs. Arizona game.

Good thing WSU won this one.

Apparently a good enough game to storm the field.

For Thanksgiving fun gifts I made turkeys.

Glue on the eyes.

Glue face on to Tootsie Pop.

Attach fake maple leaves.

Cut out nose and gobbles.

Glue them all together.

Repeat.

I ripped this idea off Pinterest. I liked mine multi colors.

And I turned 30!

It's been super busy and a ton of fun!

I got these cool flowers!

And a package filled with gifts that I couldn't wait to open until I got home.

Then I got more gifts after work!

Yes, the Princess Bride was on my list this year!

I wanted to make this cake, which I got.

I also ripped this idea off of Pinterest.

I replaced the M&M's with Reeses.

Delish.

And now we're back to my last post.

We've been really busy some how.

And it's been really fun.

I just wish it would snow already!

ten years ago

It was 10 years ago today I was saying goodbye to my teens. I was living in the green house in Reno, Nevada and having the time of my life. Ten years ago today I made a list of things I had already learned before I turned 20. I won't list all 46 of them but here are a few:

2) Everyone is happier in a clean house.

4) Be friends with everyone - who really cares who is "cool".

7) Don't kiss your best guy friend - it's just weird.

9) Mom always says, "You get what you pay for."

12) Don't cry and run at the same time - it just doesn't work. You can only do one or the other.

15) Date everyone.

19) Learn something from every relationship.

23) Trials aren't bad.

24) Don't do or say anything that you wish you could take back but say enough that you won't regret not saying anything at all.

27) Never wait around for a boy to call.

36) It's actually possible to be friends with an old boy friend. Who cares if it didn't work out.

37) Road trips are fun - NEVER pass them up.

39) Sometimes boys are better friends than boyfriends.

44) Your best friend really is your worst enemy - they know all!

Clearly you can tell my life was centered around boys!

I'll be 30 tomorrow, I'm living with my best friend, and I'm still having the time of my life! As I began my next list of "what I learned by 29" I noticed it went from dating to marriage. Over the last ten years I've seen friends date, marry, split up, divorce, babies being born, some sticking it out, some fight, a partner passes away, couples laughing, some crying . . . you name it. And surprisingly many of my "what I learned by 19" still applied. So to keep the tradition alive here are some of my "what I learned by 29".

1) Families that pray together stay together.

5) I broke rule #7 from "what I learned by 19" - I didn't just kiss my best guy friend but I married him.

7) Right now I'm the perfect parent. Ask me anything.

12) Spouse bashing is totally wrong and inappropriate all the time.

18) You are never too old to go camping!

23) When you're twenty something people tell you "you're so young and just don't know yet". I can't wait to be 30! Then I'll know something.

29) It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got.

31) Sometimes things just don't make sense.

So long 20's. You treated me well.

October Recap

It started out pretty relaxed. Just lounged around.

Then we went to a pretty awesome corn maze!

Potato Jake

And Joe Vandal Em

My friend, Liz, came with us to the corn maze.

Jake and I at the entrance.

It took us about 45 minutes to make our way through.

We got lost probably about 15 times.

We really found the perfect pumpkin this year!

This was my first attempt at cupcake hamburgers.

Thank you Pinterest.

It was fun but I know where to tweak things now for next time.

Brownies in the middle and colored icing on top!

Not the best picture but at this point I was super tired.

Next time I'll use a bigger circle cookie cutter for the burger.

It wouldn't be fall if there wasn't some apple picking!

These apples are delicious!

So much so we turned more than 10 lbs. into applesauce!

I went over to Liz's house and we made the applesauce super old fashioned.

We cut the apples, boiled them, mashed them, then reboiled, and then canned it.

Of course another "quick" project turned into about 5 hours of fun.

And no picture of a finished product to share because I was that tired.

We did manage to watch Ann of Green Gables, Ever After, and Princess Bride to ease the pain of watching apples break down.

Now we're full swing into November!!

Three Month Recap

I have a new addiction. Pinterest. It's not too terribly bad because I only "pin" things I could do (except for some of the things in my "for the home" board). I've committed to try as many "pins" as possible. My first adventure was this tie rug. I watched the tutorial and it seemed pretty easy. The lady said it should take 1-2 bath towels and 2 hours. Even better.

Well any project I start never seems quick and easy. Ask my mom. She's still waiting for this great idea I had for a Mother's Day gift two years ago.

So we went the the store and bought the rug thing for about $3. I had two really old sheet sized bath towels and at least 4 hours before I went to work. I started cutting the bath towel and realized this was going to take WAY more then 4 hours and my two SHEET sized towels were not going to cut it. Plus after all the cutting I walked away with a blister.

A week later (I spent a little bit each day), 2 sheet towels, one bath towel, and one hand towel later I have a nice bath rug. Another thing the tutorial lady failed to mention is that it's extremely messy to cut towel! We still have towel flakes in our bathroom.

And you're probably thinking "nice grey box". I was running out of used towels that I didn't want to cut up. This only left me with a grey hand towel from my college days. Hey it worked.

It's really nice and fluffy!

I'm not giving up on my Pinterest ideas yet!

I added another notch in my sewing resume. I successfully altered a bridesmaid's dress for a coworker. Surprisingly it wasn't too difficult!

Then we went camping at Dworshak State Park. It was a blast!! And Jake was able to fish!

As Jake was chopping up some wood his hatchet came loose. As a last hurrah he threw it at the tree.

And believe it or not it stuck on the first try!!! We thought it was cool!

We burned the handle of the hatchet and then put on a new handle when we got home! Yep we recycled.

This is another tent of ours that fits us and the dogs! They love it because the sides are screens and they can look out.

We've been fishing on the Snake River. In the spring the hills are green and it's quite the sight.

And it's that time of year again. College Football.

This game we beat Idaho State Bengals 64-21. It's always nice to go to a game when your team wins!

And then there was this game. WSU vs. UNLV. Jake sported his Cougar shirt. I wore my Rebels shirt. It would have been so much more entertaining if the game was a little big closer. Okay a lot closer. The final score was 59-7! Yeah. As we were walking out UNLV finally scored! That was probably the most exciting moment in the entire game! It's not so fun when your team only scores once!

We also attended a birthday party. Oh and a pow wow!! It was pretty interesting. We even spotted an indian wearing a cowboy hat. haha I thought it was so funny. Well school started, which means college kids are drinking and work at the PD is extremely busy. And I think I under estimated how busy and tired I would be so my friend and I bailed on the Muddy Buddy.

Halloween is around the corner and we are pretty excited!!

Peach Harvest 2011

This last weekend we went down to the Tri-cities to help with the yearly peach harvest.

I love it. Jake bares it.

Here are some peaches waiting to be skinned and sliced.

(Yes that one at the top has been picked a bit by the birds)

This was our production line. A peeler, a slicer, and a bagger!

After mixing in the Fruit Fresh and some sugar they get bagged.

A close up of scrumptiousness.

Final stage - bagged and frozen!

July Birthday Boys

(Brandon, Jacob, and John)

Chatting after dinner and dessert

(Brandon and Katie)

A nice self portrait of Jimmy and I.

Jimmy and Jacob

John and Sally

(This seems to be the best picture I have of the two. Next time I'll try not to snap the picture in mid conversation.)

It was a nice get away. A nice break from the daily grind. A nice visit with the family.

Next adventure: maybe some more camping, the start of school, or the Muddy Buddy.

We'll see.