tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12400111907376403322024-03-12T21:59:09.315-06:00Joe & the Gingertarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-78338932444798674292015-01-15T17:19:00.000-07:002015-01-15T17:19:32.193-07:00I'm Not Really Sure About ThisSo I made the bizarre and spontaneous choice of moving my blog to Wordpress. I have never used Wordpress for more than just typing things into a box and hitting "publish" for work, so I'm finding the customization etc. rather difficult. But I think I will end up preferring it in the end, as many seem to do. This blog as it is will still stay up but the new posts will all be over there. If my brain has the dumb for too long and can't figure anything out, I'll probably be back, but in the meantime join me at {{ <a href="https://joeandtheginger.wordpress.com/">joeandtheginger.wordpress.com</a><span style="text-align: center;"> }}</span><br />
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It's where the party's at. But only once every couple of months when I remember to do it. ;) </div>
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#jokes.</div>
tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-49100830903966549342015-01-15T14:27:00.000-07:002015-01-15T14:28:01.525-07:00OndineThese are from <i>Ondine </i>by Benjamin Lacombe. I don't know anything about this book (except that I would probably read and love it) but the art... THE ART.<br />
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Amazing, right?tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-65098011047628444122015-01-06T13:08:00.000-07:002015-01-06T13:08:51.576-07:00The Big 100, or Admitting Self-SabotageWelcome to Blog Post #100!<br />
<br />I've realized lately (again) that I have this terrible habit of avoiding the things I really want to do in favor of doing really boring, tedious things. By the end of the day I often wish I could go back and redo the last several hours so that my day could be fulfilling instead of wasteful.<br />
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I want to write a book. Well, to be more accurate, I want to write a lot of books, but since I've yet to even finish a single first draft my goals are a little more narrow at the moment. Every single day--seriously, every day--I think, "I should work on my book, or a book, or a short story, or any kind of creative writing." I think that, and then instead I look at various social medias and the zillion links I find there. For hours. Hours that could be spent writing. It's awkward to even admit that, but that is what much of my day looks like on a pretty constant basis. Not so great for an aspiring author.<br />
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This blog falls under the same kind of thing. I enjoy blogging and want to be consistent with it, but every time I think, "hey, I should write a post," I decide to do something else much less entertaining instead. Lately it's been the same with books I want to read, movies I want to watch, activities I want to do. And the silly thing is I waste all this time watching and reading about <i>other </i>people's lives, people I admire and want to imitate, and I wonder how I can be like them. And one thing I'm pretty sure all those people <i>don't</i> do is waste all their time doing things they don't even enjoy.<br />
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So, in keeping with the spirit of the new year, I've made a goal. Just one. I know a lot of people aren't fans of New Year's resolutions, but I say any attempt to better yourself is worth trying (even if you <i>could</i> technically start any day of the year). My goal has actually been in place for a month or so, but since I haven't been following through with it I am starting fresh.<br />
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I work part time, usually three days a week. On each of those three days I work about six hours, which means a lot of free time even with work. It also means I have four other days where what I spend my time doing is entirely up to me. So my goal, my one major goal, is that I write for at least an hour each day that I don't work, and to write anything at all---even just one word---on the days I do work. Mostly this should be on books, but short stories, new ideas, blog posts, or any other kind of writing that I choose to do counts as well. I'm hoping to do a lot more than an hour, but....small steps. I'm hoping that with this goal I can get to my major goal for this year (so I guess I have more than one? Ehhh...they combine. ONE GIANT WRITING GOAL!) which is to finish two complete first drafts. Totally doable!<br />
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Admitting that I'm failing (currently) at the one thing I've always wanted to do is awful. Thinking about the fact that I've never finished anything I've worked on is not encouraging. I want to get to that finished first draft, I want to put in the work to make this life-dream of mine come true. One draft, then a revision. Then a dozen more revisions, and then a book. One book. If I can get there because of what I'm trying to do this year, it will be worth it. If I don't get there, it will still be worth it because I'd be doing something I enjoy, something that makes me excited instead of glassy-eyed.<br />
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So to myself, and to anyone else who needs it, I say: Stop wasting time. Spend it doing the things that make you happy and fulfilled. Get off of Facebook and Twitter. You don't need to know about the 9 New Ways To Use Cauliflower. You don't even like cauliflower that much. You don't need to check out 13 Movie Mistakes You Never Noticed. Stop that, stop right now. Hands off the mouse.<br />
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Step away. Cook. Hike. Run. Play. Read. Write. Then keep writing.tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-51595179288556993392014-09-25T10:46:00.002-06:002014-09-25T10:46:26.535-06:00As We Left ItTomorrow is the day we depart our humble abode and move to Springville. We have packed (a little) and procrastinated (a lot) but I managed to get some pictures of all the rooms in the house, tidied and decorated, before the great packing mess began. This is one of those posts that is more for my benefit than anything else...actually, I guess they are all like that. Oh well! It's fun for me to see the changes we've made in the two years we've been here, and all the things that made it ours.<br />
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I'm getting really excited about moving. It's sad to leave this house that we love but Joe and I both kind of like changing things up and doing something new. Tonight is the packing frenzy, then cleaning and moving tomorrow! Onward!tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-70713126163172412622014-09-09T21:17:00.001-06:002014-09-09T21:17:52.750-06:00The AnnouncementThere is an announcement I must make, and it has nothing to do with babies. So don't freak out.<br />
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Joe's parents have been given a delightful opportunity to move to the east coast (!) so Joe's dad can work at the University of Connecticut and they will have a lovely house in a beautiful area and there will be so many TREES and I am a little bit jealous of that. It will be a change to get used to since Joe and I see them quite frequently here. We're sad to see them go but how exciting for them! Connecticut!<br />
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A side result of them moving is that they will be leaving the house in which they currently live. Since they plan on moving back west after retirement, they are not necessarily looking to sell their house and <i>so...</i><br />
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Yep. We've collectively decided that the best option for everyone would be for Joe and I to take over their house in Springville for the next several years, which is very generous of them and a great opportunity for us. It's pretty exciting in almost every aspect.<br />
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The sad part, of course, is that we'll be moving <i>out</i> of our current little blue house, which we both adore to pieces. We've worked really hard to infuse this tiny house with the Essence of Us and the timing is both sad and satisfactory. We've just finished updating the very last room that didn't feel like "us" but we will also be officially out of the house on exactly our two year Housiversary. That has a certain poetic rightness to it, don't you think?<br />
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We have permission to paint and decorate, so we will have a new adventure in making the house that Joe lived in during high school and college into the house that Joe and Tara live in together. Weird, and fun! We will find the Essence of Us wherever we go.<br />
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The happy part in the blue house saga is that it's staying in the family. My brother (and favorite sibling) Spencer will be moving in, which is really relieving for me because I know he loves this house almost as much as I do (maybe as much? ...Maybe more??) and he will take great care of it. He loves to garden and I have great hopes that he will do lovely things with the garden and yard, much better things than Joe and I (who are not always on top of yard work) have been able to do. This makes leaving the little blue house so much easier! Spencer will be closer and I'll be able to see the house again often (haha. That sounds so silly. I just love this house!)<br />
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Anyway that's the announcement. We're moving out at the end of this month, so only a couple more weeks to go! I am eventually going to clean the whole house and take pictures of every room as they are now. It's fun (for me, at least) to see how it's all come together since we moved in two years ago. Hopefully we'll have as much fun with the rest of the places we call home in the future. :)<br />
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I'm kind of jumping the gun here but I'm really excited for fall, probably thanks to the colder, rainy August we've been having. Either way I've been thinking obsessively about a wreath I want to make with bright fall colors but I haven't gotten around to getting the stuff to make it yet. I did find one creative outlet in a little spot of the house. Behold, the majesty of the chalkboard wall:<br />
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...which is a quote from someone I didn't mention and which I also altered to suit my own nefarious needs (the quote actually says October eves, not autumn. I just didn't want to wait until October. Or Autumn, obviously, but we'll just pretend). My splendiferous cousin Kelsey got me chalk markers which is why I could make pretty, colorful leaves. The white is also the marker, it looks much sharper and takes a lot less effort to use than chalk. I love them.<br />
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And now I go to eat sour patch watermelon candy and write blog posts for my awesome job. Wreath shopping tonight? I think yes.tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-86234523907801367632014-08-21T11:52:00.000-06:002014-08-28T14:22:11.480-06:00The Ramble to End All RamblesI used to be a somewhat introspective blogger, didn't I? I just read through a lot of the older posts and their stream of consciousness ramblings and wondered why I seem to only write about dogs and house things anymore.<br />
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It's possibly because I don't ever leave my house? Haha. Really though. I sit at this computer A LOT.<br />
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So today I'm going to write a post that has nothing to do with dogs <i>or </i>houses. I can do it!<br />
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Yesterday I dropped my phone. This isn't anything new; historically, I have been absolutely awful at keeping my phones in good shape. But yesterday was the first time in the history of Tara phone-dom that I cracked a screen. It's kind of cool looking, though, because for some reason it cracked in a way that left three almost identical arcs over the buttons at the bottom of the phone when they're lit up. I realize that doesn't make any sense, but just trust me--it was a pretty cool looking coincidence. Even if it does mean my phone screen is cracked. Sigh.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TsljafubSzY/U_YwhfKvkoI/AAAAAAAABVk/xyuUR9MwY1o/s1600/IMG_3694-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TsljafubSzY/U_YwhfKvkoI/AAAAAAAABVk/xyuUR9MwY1o/s1600/IMG_3694-001.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pure artistry.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'd probably be more distressed about this if I hadn't already been planning on buying a new phone soon. I'm trying to lose 32 pounds (never mind how arbitrarily specific that sounds) and a new phone is my reward for losing the first twelve. (I've lost ten already, so 2 more until a new phone! ah!) I know weight loss isn't the important thing in being fit and healthy, it's just a general guideline for me that keeps me exercising and eating well. So far it's been really helpful :)<br />
<br />
One of my besties, Melanie, is in town from Wisconsin for the rest of the month! This is super exciting as she's had a baby and I'll get to meet him for the first time.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0dI52lNyWCM/U_YvsEL1SGI/AAAAAAAABVY/MUM6CcN18d0/s1600/IMG_3691-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0dI52lNyWCM/U_YvsEL1SGI/AAAAAAAABVY/MUM6CcN18d0/s1600/IMG_3691-001.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I took this picture of my fake Ikea plant while taking pictures of my<br />
phone because I found this never-used setting and wanted to use it.<br />
Adding here for visual interest, not out of any pretense of relevance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Probably the biggest non-house, non-dog thing that I've been working on is trying to become an actual writer. I know I've mentioned doing that for years, but this year it's feeling like I'm really working to make it happen. I've almost finished the first draft of an actual novel--a whole, entire novel--which I have never done before. I have also started about 6 other stories and I have some good ideas stewing that I want to sit on for a while before tackling them. I adore writing, but it is so hard to do it consistently. Authors have forever said that the thing to do to become a writer is just write, and it's harder than it sounds! It's almost always a matter of sitting down and writing even when you're uninspired, or don't want to, or don't feel like it, and the words that come out are absolutely terrible. But then you go back, and fix them, and change them, and rearrange them and suddenly you get a paragraph that makes your heart smile. Sometimes I get goosebumps when I make a sentence that conveys exactly what I mean. It feels so weird to say that, because they are just words that I wrote down from my brain. But whatever, it's a cool thing. I'm so determined to make this happen (my being a writer, that is) and to someday, one day, publish a book I've written. I know I can do it. I just have to break through my natural habit of laziness and make sure I put in the time.<br />
<br />
It rained this morning and I had an appointment, so I LEFT THE HOUSE and it was amazing. The mountains look so mysterious and imposing when they're misty and shrouded in the pre-sunrise shadows.<br />
<br />
Here's a thing: one part I miss about working outside the house is seeing clouds all the time. This sounds ridiculous, because obviously my house has windows and, yes, even doors. I could easily look out at the sky or possibly (gasp) even go into the backyard and see clouds there. But I think it was sort of coming upon the big, fluffy clouds by surprise that I enjoyed. I would be going about some menial task...like driving...and suddenly, I'd notice them. And they would be white and happy and such a pretty addition to the sky and driving wouldn't be so tedious anymore.<br />
It's kind of funny how hurtling over very hard ground at 70 mph in a metal box has become tedious. <br />
<br />
Welp, I wanted to be rambly and I feel like I nailed it. I have more exciting updates to share but those will just have to wait their turn. Suspense!tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-51911180510833211832014-07-25T13:33:00.000-06:002014-08-28T14:22:27.751-06:00Birthday and Sundry!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
On Tuesday Joe turned</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KqDHgsQDWxk/U9KnFUyIeoI/AAAAAAAABUo/sqrQfZh3CJU/s1600/IMG_3666-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KqDHgsQDWxk/U9KnFUyIeoI/AAAAAAAABUo/sqrQfZh3CJU/s1600/IMG_3666-001.JPG" height="440" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
(30 exclamation marks)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Yep. 30. He so old.<br />
<br />
I am ashamed to say that I didn't take any pictures of the things we did. Much of the day was pretty uneventful, so I'll use that as my excuse. He went to work in the morning, and as soon as he left I jumped up to work all day on his super duper present so that it would be a surprise. Want to see it? Want to??<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-COGk7P21UJE/U9Kne3uKKOI/AAAAAAAABVA/WiS0AbnSInQ/s1600/IMG_3673-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-COGk7P21UJE/U9Kne3uKKOI/AAAAAAAABVA/WiS0AbnSInQ/s1600/IMG_3673-001.JPG" height="569" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Tah-dah! Okay, I know it doesn't look like much. This is one of those moments where I regret not having taken a before picture. But this is the interior of the "shanty," as we fondly call the garage/shed building in our back/side yard. And it was a devastating mess. The tools on the pegboard were in a giant, horrific pile on the workbench, mixed in with trash and spare wood and sawdust and other scraps. It was scary. So with the help of my lovely mother, I cleaned it all out, built a shelf for the workbench, installed the peg board and organized all the craziness into a delightful tool area. It took a loooong time but I think he likes it. I know I do. Such pride.<br />
....sometimes, I just walk out there and gaze upon it.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KghfLCICh3w/U9KnGTdz7MI/AAAAAAAABUw/7cqDBCLbkYI/s1600/IMG_3676-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KghfLCICh3w/U9KnGTdz7MI/AAAAAAAABUw/7cqDBCLbkYI/s1600/IMG_3676-001.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
Sigh. So beautiful.<br />
<br />
When he came home from work my brother was here with those giant balloons. Together we walked him out to the shanty (which my brother had sneakily decorated with a GIGANTIC red bow moments before) and revealed the work area. Joe was duly impressed. Then the three of us left to dinner at Happy Sumo with his parents and mine (which was basically his birthday party, and which I documented not a whit) and the parents gave Joe their gifts. Mom's included some additions to my tool-y land present:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0kIvlgIE8DY/U9KnHByao4I/AAAAAAAABU4/ob36LRsFZPA/s1600/IMG_3679-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0kIvlgIE8DY/U9KnHByao4I/AAAAAAAABU4/ob36LRsFZPA/s1600/IMG_3679-001.JPG" height="400" width="256" /></a></div>
<br />
Joe loves pink.<br />
<br />
Just kidding. It was the only color left. But...he also is okay with pink.<br />
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After dinner Spencer came back home with us to plaaayyy... THIS.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HXwxlKkOAaQ/U9KnfHA8QUI/AAAAAAAABU8/yPU1xcPT3Ig/s1600/IMG_3670-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HXwxlKkOAaQ/U9KnfHA8QUI/AAAAAAAABU8/yPU1xcPT3Ig/s1600/IMG_3670-001.JPG" height="400" width="306" /></a></div>
<br />
Which was Spencer's present to Joe. It's a Star Wars roll playing adventure! I probably shouldn't even show you this for fear of discovery. But there it is....WE ARE NERDS. Yes, even Joe. I'm sure this is a staggering revelation (ha...ha........) He loves Star Wars and we have already spent over 6 hours playing this game. We both love it. Good job, Spencer.<br />
<br />
We spent the entire evening/night on his birth date playing that game until waaaayyy too late for a group of working folk, and that was that! We were going to have a celebration with friends but we might end up being too lazy (?? to have fun? Yeah...) I think he enjoyed himself that day and he is, of course, entirely unfazed by his unbelievable oldness.<br />
<br />
In other more minor news, I have some updated pictures from around the house. Cause it's been SO LONG since the last ones. Mwahaha.<br />
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Here's my lovely office again. I guess I just like to show it off.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yb3SOb2ad8E/U9KmNjSNPUI/AAAAAAAABT4/8OrIhR3vvK4/s1600/IMG_3653-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yb3SOb2ad8E/U9KmNjSNPUI/AAAAAAAABT4/8OrIhR3vvK4/s1600/IMG_3653-001.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
But I hid the cords under my desk (yay!) and we moved the ottoman from the living room in here (under the window) becauuuuuse....<br />
<br />
New tables!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zQZq2KFfFW8/U9KmTLTY16I/AAAAAAAABUM/5vhbRLtATBs/s1600/IMG_3658-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zQZq2KFfFW8/U9KmTLTY16I/AAAAAAAABUM/5vhbRLtATBs/s1600/IMG_3658-001.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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My cousin Kate was selling her matching coffee and sofa tables that I have loved since I first saw them. I actually planned on staining/painting the last coffee table we had in here to mimic the style (though I ended up staining the top and painting the legs, rather than the other way around, because it was a lot easier). And I really liked our old table, but the color was slightly wrong, the table top was a bit small for our liking and it was sort of wiggly (though we could have fixed that. We just didn't.) So when she told me she was going to put hers up on KSL but was waiting to see if I wanted them first I was super excited. And I took them, obviously. And I love them.<br />
<br />
We moved the rug out of there, which is a weird change. I didn't like it with the tables for some reason. I don't really like having just plain wood floors either, but it was bugging me so much to have the rug so I'll just have to deal with it...<i>somehow. </i>(dramatic voice)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tjyWB8g5Llo/U9KmTGtvNbI/AAAAAAAABUU/09s5lGE6Ulw/s1600/IMG_3660-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tjyWB8g5Llo/U9KmTGtvNbI/AAAAAAAABUU/09s5lGE6Ulw/s1600/IMG_3660-001.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dogs approve. Or they don't care. I'm gonna go with the latter.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The sofa table replaced the ottoman in front of the window. Sawyer's favorite sleepy spot is gone (although he still uses it in the office). The only sad part about this is that we no longer pull into the driveway and see his sickeningly adorable face resting on the windowsill, watching us.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cLVjRoQseL8/U9KmUDAwqmI/AAAAAAAABUg/jXAoZglElbQ/s1600/IMG_3665-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cLVjRoQseL8/U9KmUDAwqmI/AAAAAAAABUg/jXAoZglElbQ/s1600/IMG_3665-001.JPG" height="308" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's getting to the point where we've changed things up in this room so much that I can't tell if we're making it better or worse. But I love the tables, and I love the floor, and everything else I also love. So I guess we're doing okay. :)<br />
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And that's that in Gallowaylandia. Birthdays, shanties, nerd confessions and tables. I do so love our silly little life :)tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-45733460006502680942014-07-06T23:01:00.000-06:002014-08-28T14:22:48.040-06:00Office SpaceA momentous thing (for us) happened over the last week. A glorious, wondrous, delightful thing. It involves our office. And paint. And floors. But let me begin...(cue dramatic voice)...at the BEGINNING.<br />
<br />
I'm sure you all remember every detail of our cozy little shared office room, but in case you didn't, here is the heavily filtered version of things before all my wall decor started falling off, WHICH, by the way, I don't understand. The tape method is usually so secure.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j_-sqqCvzw8/U7ofTt3FvbI/AAAAAAAABRA/lRfDiwsbeZo/s1600/596.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j_-sqqCvzw8/U7ofTt3FvbI/AAAAAAAABRA/lRfDiwsbeZo/s1600/596.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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I didn't really mind my corner, actually. It was kind of crazy but it was warm and crafty. However, most of the stuff on the walls was there because I didn't have anywhere else to put it. That wall was my junk drawer. The majority of the art was meaningless stuff that I'd printed out to fill up empty spaces. It was all nice, but it wasn't what I wished of my writing/playing/relaxing space.<br />
<br />
Joe has a desk in there too, but we do not speak of it.<br />
<br />
Another key factor to this room was that it was the only one left with orange-brown-peach paint. The walls, ceiling and sometimes the baseboards in our living room, bedroom and hallway had all been that weird peach. We didn't mind at first, but over time we began to loathe it more and more. The office started to fill me with inexplicable, squinty-eyed fury.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pFsxqH854aM/U7oiGbykP8I/AAAAAAAABTc/Ml6cwMzNfG4/s1600/tumblr_mc0lrxCqCe1qca8w2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pFsxqH854aM/U7oiGbykP8I/AAAAAAAABTc/Ml6cwMzNfG4/s1600/tumblr_mc0lrxCqCe1qca8w2.gif" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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So we finally got off our lazy bums and changed it!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D1bbnX-BEUk/U7offXscjWI/AAAAAAAABRQ/EIlLDAe6v1w/s1600/IMG_3605-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D1bbnX-BEUk/U7offXscjWI/AAAAAAAABRQ/EIlLDAe6v1w/s1600/IMG_3605-001.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">preparing for the paint</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9qRrSq2x1CI/U7offY-ErXI/AAAAAAAABRM/xYnE3Gokggk/s1600/IMG_3607-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9qRrSq2x1CI/U7offY-ErXI/AAAAAAAABRM/xYnE3Gokggk/s1600/IMG_3607-001.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this is the more accurate example of the peach paint</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Around the time that we moved the furniture to the middle of the room and covered half of it in drop cloths, we decided, "Hey, why not rip out the carpet in hopes that there are hardwood floors underneath?" It had worked in the living room, which is a good enough reason to suspect it would work everywhere else.<br />
<br />
Directly under the carpet was this magic:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-atFRPicZX0I/U7offa3GLJI/AAAAAAAABRI/IuKjHBtayjc/s1600/IMG_3612-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-atFRPicZX0I/U7offa3GLJI/AAAAAAAABRI/IuKjHBtayjc/s1600/IMG_3612-001.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OCY6mvNwdWI/U7ofgXVfrSI/AAAAAAAABRo/82rwkWdKVEk/s1600/IMG_3613-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OCY6mvNwdWI/U7ofgXVfrSI/AAAAAAAABRo/82rwkWdKVEk/s1600/IMG_3613-001.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GAZE UPON THE WONDER</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Which I swear to you I actually considered for about two seconds before realizing that was the worst idea in the world.<br />
<br />
We got a bit worried thinking that this was it. This was the floor, and we'd destroyed the carpet and now we'd have to live with clown vomit linoleum because we're poor and hasty.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1l88hmpSJrA/U7ofgTbJhPI/AAAAAAAABRc/HZbbtoQu_QE/s1600/IMG_3614-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1l88hmpSJrA/U7ofgTbJhPI/AAAAAAAABRc/HZbbtoQu_QE/s1600/IMG_3614-001.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
But it turned out not to be linoleum at all. It was some weird, thick carpet underlay stuff that was conveniently rip-able. And in fact....<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GQejub7nPo8/U7ofgqhTeNI/AAAAAAAABRg/aKzVSuxeRyc/s1600/IMG_3615-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GQejub7nPo8/U7ofgqhTeNI/AAAAAAAABRg/aKzVSuxeRyc/s1600/IMG_3615-001.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
Underneath it lay dusty hardwood flooring! Unfinished and in remarkably good shape, mostly.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frdC5yPXWL0/U7ofhCvntaI/AAAAAAAABRs/TWV686Tixzc/s1600/IMG_3616-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frdC5yPXWL0/U7ofhCvntaI/AAAAAAAABRs/TWV686Tixzc/s1600/IMG_3616-001.JPG" height="400" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">VICTORY</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There was a little bit of water damage under the window, which you can kind of see in the next picture, but I think it's pretty shallow and we should be able to get it fixed up whenever we finish the floors in the future. Other than that we were really pleased with what was hiding under the beautiful multi-colored monstrosity.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8-mpw36MXPA/U7ofhaA62eI/AAAAAAAABRw/LDnOlO5KMA0/s1600/IMG_3619-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8-mpw36MXPA/U7ofhaA62eI/AAAAAAAABRw/LDnOlO5KMA0/s1600/IMG_3619-001.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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You can kind of see, too, that someone once stained the edges around the room. With actual wood stain, on purpose. Still trying to understand why.<br />
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With the carpet taken care of, we resumed painting the room. Just white. Lovely, bright, boring white.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qhV-wsWO3Tk/U7ofhzbU0WI/AAAAAAAABR8/NcTj7I5rU3E/s1600/IMG_3625-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qhV-wsWO3Tk/U7ofhzbU0WI/AAAAAAAABR8/NcTj7I5rU3E/s1600/IMG_3625-001.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">second coat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The last of the peach IN THE WHOLE HOUSE. It's a mark of how glad I was to be rid of it that I remembered to take a picture of the occasion.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BBDxSdnpGLM/U7ofhuMV7TI/AAAAAAAABR0/OM2_mXZuy9I/s1600/IMG_3624-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BBDxSdnpGLM/U7ofhuMV7TI/AAAAAAAABR0/OM2_mXZuy9I/s1600/IMG_3624-001.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's the office put back together the next morning! Bright and happy.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With special guest, angsty Buffy Summers! </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gus loves the new wood floors. </td></tr>
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And last Thursday I figured out my art and got it all hung up. The top right painting is a place filler, but everything else was picked out because I loved it or it makes me happy (except the bulletin board. That's just convenient.)<br />
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And Joe hung his own art on his side, so there's proof that he uses this room too.<br />
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I love it in here now, especially during the day when the sun streams in. </div>
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So... did I make it worse? Anyone think the peach was better? I'm so happy with the changes, it feels a lot more purposeful and interesting to me now. The reduced clutter on the walls is helpful too. I'm going to do something to hide the cords behind my desk but other than that and some organization of craft stuff on the wall behind my desk, this room is all set. I'm so glad we finally put in the effort to get this done!tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-29650285879568187122014-05-28T10:13:00.001-06:002014-08-28T14:23:11.251-06:00State of the YardSo a few weeks have passed in warm-weathered bliss. The sun has been shining, the garden has been planted, and the grass has been growing! I confess that my trust in the grass seed was minimal at best so I didn't take before and after pictures, thinking they'd be more like before-and-still-before pictures. But seeing the yard now...I wish I'd done it.<br />
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I did take a few pictures from mostly the same angles as in the A-door-able post---wherein some of the patchy, sad grass can be seen---in an attempt to show off our re-energized lawn. Let us bask.<br />
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Before...<br />
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After!</div>
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The lattice is preventing Magnus from jumping over the gate. I don't know why he only jumps out there, but we've found if that's blocked off he doesn't try to escape. So we'll probably make a half moon shape with some new slats to add height, just to the gate, and hopefully that will take care of the jail-breaking.<br />
We also started to paint the fence and are loving the white picket look :) Now to get on painting the rest of it...<br />
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The grass, though! (happy sighs)<br />
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Here's our plum tree corner. Joe was a man-beast and cut all the super thick ivy out of the tree so while it looks sparser now, the tree is much happier now that it's able to breathe. And it will be easier to collect the plums.<br />
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Before...<br />
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After!</div>
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And the grass! (homeowner swoons)<br />
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We planted a garden as well. I don't know what my problem is, but I was similarly cynical about this growing as I was about the grass. I guess years of killing every house plant I've ever had has done its work on my plant-related optimism.<br />
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Here's a before....<br />
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And after. It grew despite all my doubts. </div>
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The big leafy ones in the middle-leftish are my lovely broccoli and brussels sprouts. There are also tomatoes along the far left edge, and onions and potatoes on the far right. The ones in the middle-right that look like weeds are Joe's peppers. He loves him some peppers.<br />
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We also have a little strawberry patch and a couple blueberry bushes that aren't in the pictures. They are doing super well and are so adorable to me.<br />
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And that's all the before/after fun I've got. But just in case you've got a real "thing" for grass, I included other pictures of our improving yard. It's not perfect yet, but oh, it's so beautiful compared to a few months ago :)<br />
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Hammock Corner :<br />
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Arbor...still waiting for that to grow in. I think it took some damage from dog chewing last year. Hopefully it soldiers through!<br />
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This part of the yard was one of the worst. The area on the right of the picture is next to our patio and it was almost entirely dirt. And there's a ring around that tree-bush that is nothing but newly grown grass. The change is so crazy.<br />
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And one for the road. :)<br />
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tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-41385623304177845952014-05-13T22:53:00.002-06:002014-08-28T14:23:26.314-06:00Room UpdateShort post. Got some curtains and summer bed trimmings... so we updated our bedroom. It's also been painted and pictures have been hung! And the furniture was moved around a bit...<br />
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And so it shall stay for now. I find it soft and welcoming and honestly don't know what else to do to it for the moment.<br />
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And that's all! Soon I'll put up pictures of our backyard since it's been growing in, and our garden. It's so green and gorgeous! And if anything of actual excitement happens, that may also be reported. It remains to be seeeen. Mystery. Intrigue. That is what we thrive on here.<br />
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<br />tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-52005975493596119812014-04-04T12:34:00.001-06:002014-05-28T09:35:23.722-06:00A-door-able Springtime!Get it?! Because there will be doors in this post. Ha!<br />
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Winter was a doldrumy time around the Galloway household. Something about the dull grey skies, the lack of greenery, and having to wear sweaters even when sunshine occasionally exists makes the thought of doing any kind of project really unappealing. But spring's been peeking her pretty little head around the corner, so Joe and I went on a kind of mad dash of projects over the last few weeks. We were building, sanding, measuring fiends!<br />
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And now is the time when I show off all we have done.<br />
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First, our back door used to not be a door. We had one in our kitchen that closed off the laundry/cat room, but the door that led outside was just a storm door that didn't keep in much warmth or...security. So last summer (fall? ehhn) we found a guy selling cool older doors on KSL, and one of them happened to look almost identical to the one in our kitchen. The only difference was that the window was a little bigger. BUMMER.<br />
Just kidding. That's a totally awesome problem to have. I love light!<br />
So we bought the door and brought it home and got all gung-ho to change it out...and then it sat in our shanty for months and months. And more months. Untiiiillll....<br />
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Joe got to know his circular saw! That doorway in incredibly wonky, which is to say none of the corners are square. So he had a great time cutting down the sides and ends of the door, holding it up, realizing it didn't fit, doing it all again with new measurements, finding this side or that was still too long....<br />
I should say he had a great time at first. But after the fourth or fifth time remeasuring and re-slicing-off-a-tiny-sliver-of-door he would have probably been okay with just being done.<br />
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And while <i>he</i> was doing that, <i>I </i>was doing....this!<br />
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Our original living room coffee table was taken for free from our neighbor's curb. Literally, the house next door. You can only understand how shamefully cheap that feels when you do it yourself, hoping all along that they aren't watching you drag their old, crayon-marked beast into your front door.<br />
It was a great table but it had never been properly finished, so every time we "cleaned" it we'd take off the dust and what appeared to be several layers of the paint. It was also much bulkier than I would have liked. So when we found this table on...you guessed it...KSL, we snatched it up and I immediately took it outside for a sanding. The original wood stain was an okay color but it was covered in paint splotches and scratches and just really needed to be refinished.<br />
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I sanded it down to the bare wood on the top for staining, but just did a light sanding on the legs as I planned on painting those.<br />
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Also I cheated and didn't touch the bottom of the top piece at all. And then painted all over that sucker around the legs. So the bottom is ugly. Just don't look.<br />
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And here's the finished table in our living room! It's the same height and 3 inches longer than our last table, but a good 5 inches less wide. I was surprised by how much wimpier it looked when we first made the switch but it's grown on me. </div>
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Huh. Lots of pattern going on in that room, Tara. </div>
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Our next project was to replace the console under our TV with something a little more substantial to fill out the wall. I took pictures of this process....somewhere....</div>
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But I don't know where they are. So instead you get the finished product and you can imagine that we just magicked it there like Harry and Ginny would have. Or Ron and Hermione, if you're more in that camp. </div>
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Oh man. I love it. </div>
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And THEN...we built a fence. A REAL ONE! We needed a better garden fence to keep Magnus out, so that we could grow more than peppers and tomatoes this year and hopefully avoid any further chicken casualties. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It also safely corrals our yard junk.</td></tr>
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And then we thought, hey, a yard that looked nice would be lovely. So we built a dog run too, to keep the dogs from tearing any more holes in our once picturesque backyard. Fortunately our yard was a decent enough size that we were able to give them a fairly roomy dog run and still have a lot of backyard left over. And we still let them out daily to get their zoomies out, so they're suffering no loss. Not that they feel that way....</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dear diary. The fence continues to vex me. The authorities persist in taunting me with<br />
their lack of response to my incredibly sad puppy face. This is my 800th attempt<br />
to reach them by squeezing through the wooden slats, to no avail. I will not give up. </td></tr>
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I almost cropped out the nasty, nasty looking yard, but I figured it would be a good example of why we made the run. The rest of the yard is worse. But we shall make it beautiful this summer! BEAUTIFUL!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We do not understand this undue cruelty. We are betrayed.</td></tr>
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We are so pleased with how adorable it is, especially in the corner by the plum tree where it meets the garden. So quaint! I can't wait until the leaves all come in and it is fresh and summery. And the fence will be painted white, so that'll be extra domestic. </div>
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Aaaaand the last project, which we completed just last weekend, are these dog doors that lead from the house, into the shanty, and thence to the dog run. This way they can get out whenever they want and it is SO NICE. Dog doors for gigantic dogs (ahem, Magnus) are really expensive, so Joe just built some of his own using 2x4s and plastic sheets that are normally used for the mats under your office chairs. It worked out really well and the dogs picked up on it immediately, so we're very pleased.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the house into the shanty...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BbrfkcA7RMA/Uz745-hV1EI/AAAAAAAABOY/res_ihk5rAk/s1600/IMG_3569-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BbrfkcA7RMA/Uz745-hV1EI/AAAAAAAABOY/res_ihk5rAk/s1600/IMG_3569-001.JPG" height="490" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and from the shanty to the yard!</td></tr>
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We put a trim frame on the dog door inside the house, and will paint it and make it look nice. We tried to do a similar thing in the shanty, as you can see from the photo above, but we had a somewhat disastrous experience with the wood glue and then ran out of trim. So that was fun. Now it looks really special but...who cares! It functions.<br />
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Next on the list is planting the garden, putting in bushes and flowers in the front and back yards, and painting the office and rehanging all the pictures in a gallery wall above my desk. We'd also like to do something about the carpet in there, but there's a weirdly colorful linoleum or something underneath so it might take some creativity. Other projects in the "maybe soon" list are painting the concrete floor in the laundry room, painting the kitchen cabinets and walls, building a kitchen table, and putting shelves in our shelf-less office closet. So basically we could just keep going forever. But we love doing it and it's always so nice to sit and admire our hard work afterward :)<br />
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In some last minute, unrelated news, I am working on a couple of books right now. As in writing them. It is really fun and exciting to finally be working on the thing that I've always wanted to do. I get a little discouraged sometimes, wondering why I took so long to try it and feeling a bit behind, but after seeing what I can accomplish I feel pretty confident that I will only improve and will learn all the tricks to becoming a bonafide author. And I'm telling you because that's what I do to keep myself accountable. If any of my work is someday on bookstore shelves (or e-reader shelves, as the case may be) then you can look back at this as the moment I decided I would make it happen. So you should probably feel pretty special about that ;)<br />
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Here's a quote!<br />
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"<i>Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort."</i></div>
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Franklin D. Roosevelt. </div>
<br />tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-7431636918513176172014-03-27T16:27:00.002-06:002014-03-28T13:20:16.943-06:00Clean ResponsiblyAbout a week ago I realized that as an "adult" it would be in my interests to make my house presentable to guests and wanderers-in. I never really had any kind of cleaning schedule, figuring that we would just clean as we go. Which is silly really. When did I ever do that growing up? Never.<br />
...Well, I would do it once my room got past being livable. When I couldn't walk on my actual floor, I cleaned.<br />
Sometimes.<br />
<br />
But I started to feel like the house was always dirty, even if it looked clean, presumably because I didn't regularly dust, vacuum, mop, or clean the trim/baseboards/cupboards/counters. And we have dogs. So that's gross, right? You're telling yourself that's really gross, aren't you. In your head. I know it is. I KNOW.<br />
<br />
Which is why Joe and I had a little family council in which we decided once and for all that we needed to make ourselves a chore chart. Ya know, like parents make for their kids. Because we are children. We conveniently have five rooms in our house -- one for each day of the week -- and Saturday is the special day that gets everything else. Laundry, dog "present" pick up, yard work, gardening....and so on. Sundays I just water the house plants. Gotta have time for Downton Abbey, guys.<br />
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I also decided to try some make-at-home, DIY, whatever you want to label it cleaners. And for some reason, just the presence of something new to clean with made me REALLY excited to clean. I ordered microfiber rags and spray bottles online and was frowny-faced every day that I checked the porch to find they hadn't come yet. But come they did, and I made a few starter cleaners to stretch out my DIY cleaner muscles.<br />
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One was a wood polishing cleaner, like a Pledge/Endust equivalent, which is made with castile soap, water, vinegar and lemon essential oils. Should I share the recipe? I'll share.<br />
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It's the "Wood Cleaner" Recipe on this handy little picture here, which I got from <a href="http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/">IHeart Organizing</a>. Her blog is great for little (and some big) ideas about how to make your house tidy AND pretty. And she obviously has several great cleaner recipes, as you can see. According to her blog, she has tried a lot of different recipes over the years and these are her ultimate favorites.<br />
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So wood cleaner = 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1 tsp castile soap, 4 drops essential oil.<br />
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I also made the "Cleaner with Purpose" which is just a delightfully Tara-approved way of saying all-purpose cleaner. (1/2 tsp dish soap, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 tbsp white vinegar, 2 cups water, 3 drops essential oil)<br />
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With these handy recipes spray-bottled up as my weapons, I attacked the house, kindly, with cleanliness. And so far I really like the cleaners. They smell nice and they clean, so I'm pretty content. For a few days it was super clean, and we followed our chore chart religiously. It's slipped over the last few days but we still tidy the room of the day and try to leave any rooms looking presentable when we go out of them.<br />
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This isn't really an exciting post, but it's something I've been doing lately and would like to maintain. Thus, if I put it on the internet I will probably do better, right? ....Right?<br />
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We've been working on lots of fun projects lately but I'll write about those another time. Aaaalways keep 'em wanting. And oh how you want to read about my baseboards and pillows.<br />
You do.<br />
<br />tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-46560374826542240152014-03-10T23:06:00.001-06:002014-08-28T14:23:48.679-06:00RecentnessesUpdate in five lines because it's late and I should be in bed...<br />
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1.We went to NYC, Scotland and Ireland. Dreamy!<br />
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2. I bought and built (with Joe's help) a new, wonderful, beautiful computer.<br />
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3. The coffee table has been replaced by a $15 KSL find, refinished to loveliness (in my opinion of course.) Also we have a new back door that's actually a door thanks to Handy Husband.<br />
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4. My job is still jealousy-inducing fantastic. Joe got a raise so we're sporting happy faces.<br />
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5. I'm attempting to do this green cleaning business. Updates to come?<br />
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I'll expound later, most likely.....eventually....<br />
Something about Spring and sunshine and not wearing sweatshirts every day makes things like blogging seem more appealing. Also house projects, of which we have many! So here's to future posts that aren't decades away.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I AM THE LAMB OF SPRING! WATCH ME SPRING!</td></tr>
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<br />tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-15434429949691035922013-12-17T17:39:00.002-07:002014-08-28T14:24:26.160-06:00This Is A PostWell, I think we can all fairly say that I have not done well with keeping up in the blog post department. I just have not been inspired to write lately, and I have to admit that the usual feelings of guilt and failure that often come when I consider my neglected blog have been strangely absent during these last months of non-blogdom. Which I actually think has been sort of good, because it means that I'm writing this right now because I want to, and not because I feel like I owe it to my blog to be a more conscientious master. I just feel like making words appear on the internets, and here they are.<br />
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While I have been a miserable blog host, I do like to think that I have been successful in other ways. For example:<br />
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In July, Joe had a birthday. I remembered this birthday, I gave him a present for it (I'm pretty sure), and he managed to add another year to his number count of time on this earth. In related news, he's 30 next year. Just thought I'd share that, I know he'd really love me to point it out. :)<br />
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In August, nothing remarkable happened. I guess we can pretend like Joe and I remembered that we started dating in August 2 years ago, but we didn't think of that. At least I didn't, until just now. While trying to think of something that happened in August.<br />
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In September, my mom had a birthday. I remembered it and gave her something that was probably less awesome than what my brother gave her. He has a ninja-type ability to bemoan his lack of present ideas (for anything--Christmas, birthdays, random other gift giving occasions) and then suddenly, when said "lame" present is opened, it's amazing and perfectly suited to whomever it was gifted. But the good news is, despite Spencer constantly showing me up in the world of gift giving, I think my mom still likes me and will continue to acknowledge me as her child. Success.<br />
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In October, we celebrated living in this house of ours for a year. Our celebration went something like this:<br />
<b>Me (on skype)</b>: Husband! We moved into our house a year ago!<br />
<b>Joe (also on skype, because he was at work)</b>: Yay!<br />
We also successfully dressed up for Halloween, and both of our costumes were decided <i>before</i> the day of! I know! Joe was Tobias Funke of Arrested Development, and he ordered a blue body suit on Amazon. That takes some ahead-of-time thinking, you know? I was impressed. As for me, I dressed as Merida from Brave, which makes this the first Halloween in probably three years that I wore a costume that anyone recognized. I must admit that it was very strange indeed to have people come up to me (at our church party) and say "you're the girl from Brave!" without any hesitation or eyebrows raised in confusion. No one asked "who are you?" only to respond with a trailing off "oh....." when I answered that I was actually Kaylee from Firefly and I know it's hard to tell but it would be more obvious if I wasn'twearinggreenpantsfromthethriftstoremen'ssectionandohnevermindIcanseeIlostyouat"Kaylee". Never fear, though, next year I'll be back to the land of costume obscurity. I've got ideas already. (Who is this prepared person whose body I inhabit? Confused.)<br />
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November was, for me, the most interesting/successful month this year. Not only because it contains my almost-favorite holiday (...that's Thanksgiving...) but because a few days before November started I heard about National Novel Writing Month, referred to by those in the know as "NaNoWriMo." And despite not having prepared at all, and barely having any semblance of story, I decided I was going to try it. And it. was. HARD.<br />
The goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel between Nov 1 and Dec 1. No problem, I thought. If nothing else I can just jot down a couple thousand words of garbage writing and call it a day (month). Not so. I was surprisingly dedicated to writing down quality stuff, while at the same time not focusing too much on what I wrote. Speed <i>and</i> solid writing, that was my vision for November. I wrote every single day (except for a couple around Thanksgiving) for at least an hour, but usually more like three or four. And on November 30th I typed my 50,035th word and "won" NaNoWriMo. (You win if you pass 50,000 words. There were 42,000ish winners this year). I discovered that I actually <i>do</i> like writing, even when I have to do it all the time. I realized that I can write a novel-length amount of stuff and still find that story interesting. I learned that <i>how </i>you write a story can take a boring idea and make it compelling. And, probably most importantly, I know for sure now that I <i>can</i> be a writer, if I put in the time. So that's what I plan on doing.<br />
And for those who are curious, my NaNo story is not yet finished, nor am I finished with it. I'll be writing it until it's done....probably another 50,000 words away. :)<br />
(And Thanksgiving was a wonderful week spent up in Idaho with my Aunt and Uncle and my awesome cousins. We also saw Frozen which I highly recommend.)<br />
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And now it is December, which has been treating both me and my handsome hubby splendidly so far. We completed another project in the house -- putting up shelves around our wall-mounted t.v. -- and we've been enjoying the warm glow of the light on our cute little Christmas tree. I have purchased gifts for several people, and it's not even Christmas week. Small victories, I tell you.<br />
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And now I have blogged. Watch out, all. I'm unstoppable!<br />
Except I'm going to stop this post. Right now.tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-66634927558060840652013-07-19T12:49:00.002-06:002013-07-19T12:56:10.480-06:00Hi-Ho Kevin, Away!Alright, it's about time I tell you about this great adventure we had when our awesome friends Geremy and Madeleine invited us to go on a day trip to Antelope Island. Have you heard of Antelope Island? I hadn't, but apparently a lot of people, especially outside of Utah, know about this place and even have it as a box to check on their list of adventures to do here. Huh.<br />
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It began as a kind of worrisome thing, since the projected temperatures for that day were over 100 degrees, aka human-puddle hot. But as we drove across the barren salty flats on a bridge straight out of a sci-fi western (it probably exists), complete with bleached bones, the temperatures were at a comforting 92 degrees and that eased our minds. The plan was to go out on an hour-long horseback ride, enjoy a picnic, and call it a day. So we came to terms with the fact that we'd probably be baked crispy <i>and</i> eaten alive (apparently a LOT of people have trouble with the bugs over there, as seen in reviews) and we tromped over to the barn land where the horses seemed to be.<br />
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This turned out to be completely fun. Probably the most fun I've had in a long time, even though when you break it down it was really just me sitting on a horse for an hour. But I have to tell you, the grin never left my face.<br />
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Oh, and here's some buffalo we saw driving in.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Insert prairie appropriate song here. </td></tr>
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And this rather mangy looking coyote.<br />
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Ok, back to horses. My horse was majestically named Kevin. Say hi, Kevin!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin is not amused.</td></tr>
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Kevin and I immediately became the best of friends. He stood perfectly still for me so I would not fall off the other side of him whilst trying to mount, and he even let me use saddlebags to hold all my water bottles, sunscreen, and camera. All the essentials of a true horsewoman ... cowgirl ... professional leisurely horse rider.<br />
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Joe got the horse everyone secretly wanted to ride. His name was Joe. The horse, not Joe. Although obviously Joe's name is Joe too. Joe was huge, tall, and beautiful. His mane stayed on one side of his neck, very properly. Don't be fooled by his look of disdain in this picture. He was a very nice Joe horse. Well, I guess he might have been a bit disdainful too, if we knew what he was thinking. I'm sure he knows he's the prettiest horse at the party.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joe squared.</td></tr>
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Madeleine's horse was named Numbers, which was apparently a reference to the brand he has on his shoulder area (a lot less silly reason than the name sounded, right? I was expecting a cute story, and instead heard about his seared flesh. Ho hum). Geremy got a dappled grey (not really. I just like to say "dappled grey" for some reason. But it was dappled) named Scout.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This be Scout.</td></tr>
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Alright. Picture overload, ahoy!<br />
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The ride was free-range, more or less, meaning that the horses didn't just train in on each other's back ends the whole time. We could roam around each other, walk side by side, speed up, slow down. Whatever we wanted that didn't get us thrown off. These horses are apparently used a lot by the LDS church in their historical movies, so they were super well trained and actually responded to us kicking and pulling the reins. <br />
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We were first taken nearish the lake to see a giant herd of buffalo that were just hanging out there. Our guide helpfully pointed out the ones that were trying to mate, and some goofy-looking ones trying to cool off by rolling around in the dust.<br />
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It was pretty cool to see that many buffalo (I think they're technically bison but let's be real here, buffalo is much more fun to type. And to say). At some point I apparently got a smudge right in the center of my lens so I apologize for the murky cloud in the middle of my picture.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every picture I took of Joe looked good. Look at him! So savvy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The group</td></tr>
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Couples shots!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maddy was kind enough to lend me her sunnies. They are strange upon my face,<br />
but I was really glad for them in the blinding sun.</td></tr>
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We took a break at a the water hole. Numbers was completely absurd. The other horses lapped up the water in a very dignified, horsey way, while Numbers dunked his entire face in and blew bubbles.<br />
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We then headed back to the barn.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One last shot of some Joe riding Joe action.</td></tr>
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If you too want to have a blast roaming around Antelope Island on the back of a potentially willful animal, we went through <a href="http://www.randghorseandwagon.com/rides.html">these guys</a>. Our hour ride cost $50 per person, which seems pretty reasonable to me. Do it!<br />
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We were famished after horsing around, so we decided the lunching time was at hand. We'd actually brought a picnic lunch of sorts, but Madeleine suggested this bison burger joint that is on the island itself, so we went there. Burgers sounded better than soggy PB&J, weirdly enough. I didn't take pictures, because the place honestly looked a bit like a glorified rest stop, but the burgers were large and delicious.<br />
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After that it was so stinkin' hot that we decided to forgo any further sightseeing (despite my desperate wish to see a porcupine) and went to our friends apartment for some decompression time.<br />
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That was our adventure! It was so much fun, and not even that hot (on the horses. In full disclosure it was extremely toasty once we started walking around on foot after) and I didn't notice a single bug the entire time. We did apply the bug spray generously, though, so maybe it was just quality spray. I have to say I would definitely do this again.tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-27906341771077726062013-07-11T17:45:00.001-06:002013-07-11T17:45:21.524-06:00It's ComingHello again! Just popping in to say that I'll be writing a new post sometime soon. There is no guarantee of this, of course, but I find that writing a post about how I'll soon be writing a post usually helps motivate me to actually do it. So you get this (sort of) post to read and I get a nagging reminder of my promises to write. Win-win?<br />
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Do you want to take a pop quiz about why I haven't written anything in the last two weeks? Let's!<br />
<br />
Have I been:<br />
A. Busy with work<br />
B. Lazy<br />
C. Forgetful<br />
D. Uninspired<br />
E. All of the above, except for A (let's be honest)<br />
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Hint: It's E.<br />
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I actually have some fun things to write about, and I even took pictures of the fun things so I could share them on here. Therefore, it will happen. It <i>must</i> happen. And in case the quiz above is giving the wrong impression, I do actually love both my awesome job (it's just that it's part time so I can't use it as an excuse for not writing) AND writing on this blog! I love it so much. Sometimes there's just a shlump, know what I mean? But never you fear, that shlump is soon to end.<br />
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'Til next time!tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-22904099422099883092013-06-28T18:19:00.001-06:002013-06-28T18:59:41.332-06:00Suggestions of a Yard Sale NewbieLast Saturday we had our first ever yard sale, which was obviously pretty exciting. It went pretty well, but I guess I must have been a bit optimistic about the amount of stuff one can sell and the number of people who want to buy stuff. Turns out, no one who comes really buys anything, and you sell almost nothing, especially if most of your stuff is over five dollars. Darn! However, I probably would have still done it even if I'd known. I always enjoy yard sales and I strangely had fun doing my own, despite my deluded expectations ;)<br />
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Here was our valiant attempt:<br />
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My friend Melanie is moving to Wisconsin next month, so she came too and sold a loooot of her own things. It helped having her there. Without her stuff our sale would have looked pretty sad. Kinda like it does in the photo above. (That's just our side of the sale.)<br />
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This is hers:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Note that she actually has people looking at her stuff. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">They were very dedicated salespeople!</span></td></tr>
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Anyway, if I ever have a yard sale again (it will happen, I mildly hoard) I will definitely be doing some things differently and I think these things would help me have more success.<br />
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<b>More Signs</b>. We (okay, I) made some awesome signs. I'm not even joking. You want to hire me to make your yard sale signs. They were that good. But we only put them on the corner right next to our house and on one other spot on the opposite side of the road from the drivers who would be facing it. Does that make sense? It was on the left side of the road, if you were a driver. So that was silly. I would definitely be a little more ambitious and put signs on major intersections even if they were several blocks away from our house. Dedicated yard-salers will see these and come no matter the distance.<br />
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<b>Make Things Look Crowded.</b> This sounds strange and kind of devious, but nonetheless I'm pretty sure I would smoosh all my stuff together in a way that looks really clustery. Toward the end of our sale, when things had seriously slowed down and it was only noon, Melanie's husband Kevin went out on the street to look at our display, and when he came running back he said this: "No wonder no one's coming, it looks like we have nothing left." The truth was we had almost everything left, we just set it up badly. I'd use more tables, put things in rows, line things up so they can be seen easily from the street, anything to show the "drive-by glancer" type that there is in fact a lot of stuff and they should probably come buy it immediately.<br />
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<b>Price Things Crazy Low. </b>People expect to be shocked and amazed at what they can get for pennies at a yard sale. I failed at this because, truthfully, I didn't care if my stuff sold or not. I am abnormally attached to my stuff, and secretly hoped that no one would want the things so I would have a reason to keep them for myself. So in reality, I wouldn't price things lower unless I really wanted/needed to get rid of stuff. Melanie, for example, is moving, so she <i>really</i> wanted to get rid of as many of her things as possible. And she did. She was selling stuff for way lower than necessary, and she and Kevin ended up making more money than we did. So my point is, if you want stuff to sell, make it ridiculously cheap. And if you REALLY want to get rid of stuff, pile it in a box that says "Free." It'll disappear, like magic.<br />
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<b>Start Early and Settle In. </b>We are lazy people who like to sleep in. So we started at 9. Even with that "late" start time we still got up at 7 and were working non-stop to set things up right until the last minute. Still, even with all the work and knowing I'd have a sleepless morning, I would start closer to 7. Our busiest time was for sure 8:30-9:30. Yes, half of our busiest time was before our sale had even officially begun. See what I mean? It's like people want to just buy cheap stuff and then get on with their day. Unthinkable.<br />
That being said, I would also set a start time, and no end time. Well, maybe an end time like 6 pm. That's right. I would just set up and sit there as long as it takes, like it's my day job. If I really wanted to sell things, I would wait until there were literally no more people coming. That way, you <i>might </i>end at 2 (like we did), but you might have a random stream of people who thought 4 pm would be the perfect time to find that creepy ceramic bunny they never knew they wanted.<br />
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I might also sell lemonade for a couple quarters or something, cause we went to look at some yard sales recently and I will tell you I never wanted to buy something so much at a yard sale as that .25 lemonade.<br />
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There were some things that I think we did well, though:<br />
<br />
For one, Joe <b>put up a KSL ad</b>, which I think probably brought in quite a few people. He made sure ours stuck out and was funny and welcoming, because there were SO MANY ads that even within 40 minutes ours had disappeared from the front page.<br />
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We also <b>priced eeeeverything the night before</b>, when we were still awake and happy. This made things so much easier the next day as we didn't have to decide on the spot how much we were willing to sell things for (although we did do some negotiating, as I think every yard saler should).<br />
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And we were selling radios and TVs, so Joe was brilliant and<b> brought out an extension cord </b>so we could blast the radio and play a movie on our TV, and anyone who wanted could test the electronics before they bought them. It was smart--ALL of our electronics sold--and it made our yard sale fun, because there was music and the Last Unicorn.<br />
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Anyway, it was fun and a good experience generally, and we did make a good chunk of extra cash. I still have a few big items left that I'm planning on selling individually on KSL. Like this desk!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ufVs6YTxNCY/Uc4cfjN7BII/AAAAAAAABD4/-JrmAStIpkA/s1600/20130615_095308-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ufVs6YTxNCY/Uc4cfjN7BII/AAAAAAAABD4/-JrmAStIpkA/s400/20130615_095308-001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Handpainted by my own dear mother, it is a cute little child's desk that </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">any young girl </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">would love to have at her disposal!</span></td></tr>
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And this dresser:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TejKUhQf698/Uc4cfa9B3AI/AAAAAAAABDs/gC4afYlds-c/s1600/20130615_095318-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TejKUhQf698/Uc4cfa9B3AI/AAAAAAAABDs/gC4afYlds-c/s400/20130615_095318-001.jpg" width="355" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Hand-<i>stenciled</i> by mom, and is a total flashback into my 10-year old room.</span></td></tr>
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Those may or may not be two of the things I slightly overpriced due to my weird extreme attachment to things. But nevertheless I <i>am </i>actually selling them, so I guess if any wandering reader is dying to buy one or both, you definitely may! The dresser is 30 and the little desk is 20. For now :)<br />
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I have an adult-sized desk as well, and a jewelry box. Oh, and a ton of books by Mary Higgins Clark, John Grisham, and Agatha Christie. Just in case you really want some of my stuff. Let me know.</div>
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Perhaps these nuggets of wisdom will help one of you out in your yard sale adventures! Otherwise, I'm really impressed with you for reading a whole post about someone selling their unwanted junk, haha. Thanks! </div>
tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-88875875966178405922013-06-25T16:21:00.000-06:002013-06-25T16:23:08.398-06:00Pretty Rock Garden MarkersWell, craftiness has not been forthcoming for me lately, but today I finally decided to break down my creator's block and just make something. I have <a href="http://augustwren.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/herb-markers.html">a pin on Pinterest</a> of these really pretty rock garden markers. <i>That seems easy enough, </i>I thought to myself. So, I grabbed the bag of filthy rocks that I had collected from my cousin's yard a few weeks ago (which she kindly allowed me to have without even giving me any weird looks) and washed them off in preparation to make some super cute, cheap, easy garden markers. Turns out those little plastic tags that come with the plants don't have much staying power. Our garden has a nice little pile of identifying tags that have blown away in the wind. Sigh.<br />
<br />
So with my freshly cleaned rocks waiting anxiously on my crafting table, I snatched up a newly purchased acrylic paint pen and got to work.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-grN-RRzZ5v8/UcoSsiBk3pI/AAAAAAAABDE/jzo5TbPcme0/s1600/IMG_2309-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-grN-RRzZ5v8/UcoSsiBk3pI/AAAAAAAABDE/jzo5TbPcme0/s320/IMG_2309-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have no pictures of the rocks before hand. You'll just have to use your super powers of imagination and envision a pile of ordinary rocks.<br />
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At first I thought I'd just grab my least favorite rock (yep, I had favorites) and just have a go for practice. It's a good thing I did, too, because my unfamiliarity with the paint pen thing led to a huge blob of white across the whole top of the rock...and down onto my desk. Good news, though! They are right about it being easy to clean up when wet. A damp paper towel got it off my desk and almost off the rock too. Once the initial flood of paint came out of the pen it worked quite easily, so I just practiced some swirly things and dots and got this:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1XFREfTYhAU/UcoStCiSsWI/AAAAAAAABDQ/qj9h-ff9Sx4/s1600/IMG_2311-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1XFREfTYhAU/UcoStCiSsWI/AAAAAAAABDQ/qj9h-ff9Sx4/s400/IMG_2311-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note the splotch of white from my spill. Bird poo chic, no?</td></tr>
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Other than the blob smudge across the top it actually worked! For once my "this will be easy" thought turned out to be true. I went outside and made a list of the plants that actually still have markers and are thus identifiable. Since I am garden-ignorant, I couldn't figure out what the other things were so I only made markers for tomatoes and onions. To be honest, the only other thing we planted were peppers anyway. We're diverse here in the Galloway Garden. And here's the finished product. I love them! (Also, if you look at the pin I linked to you'll see I cheated and used some of her ideas. What can I say, they were lovely!)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W8uYVx2louI/UcoSq47IHcI/AAAAAAAABCg/9YBQ8djeEcQ/s1600/IMG_2304-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W8uYVx2louI/UcoSq47IHcI/AAAAAAAABCg/9YBQ8djeEcQ/s400/IMG_2304-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was my favorite rock. So flat and so smooth. Yeah baby!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YJXxWsckIrU/UcoSq1SnRRI/AAAAAAAABCk/UDuy_3eaGjk/s1600/IMG_2305-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YJXxWsckIrU/UcoSq1SnRRI/AAAAAAAABCk/UDuy_3eaGjk/s400/IMG_2305-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think this one ended up being my favorite after all was finished. I just like<br />
all the different little decorations. It's fun and funky fresh. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O9RfOqfvcIE/UcoSsBEYnoI/AAAAAAAABC4/2ryaw1_ys6E/s1600/IMG_2307-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O9RfOqfvcIE/UcoSsBEYnoI/AAAAAAAABC4/2ryaw1_ys6E/s400/IMG_2307-002.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another rock. This one was weirdly black on one side. <br />
Rock mysteries--exciting stuff!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4NK-0ZBeRrA/UcoSsf355CI/AAAAAAAABDA/lqxHP3TyNgA/s1600/IMG_2308-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4NK-0ZBeRrA/UcoSsf355CI/AAAAAAAABDA/lqxHP3TyNgA/s400/IMG_2308-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I really like how this one turned out. Sadly, my actual real-life <br />
red onions are not doing as well.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1vlopuuMQco/UcoSrIdryhI/AAAAAAAABCs/ykLL4B4MO4M/s1600/IMG_2306-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1vlopuuMQco/UcoSrIdryhI/AAAAAAAABCs/ykLL4B4MO4M/s400/IMG_2306-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The clan of rocks.</td></tr>
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These couldn't have taken me more than half an hour and they'll look so delightful in my garden. I'm planning on corralling Joe tonight so he can tell me what all his peppers are, and I'll make more for those too. Hooray for pretty things. :)tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-25999004175037806192013-06-18T13:42:00.002-06:002013-06-18T14:08:15.734-06:00Bleeeeeuurrghhnn! (Bagpipe Noise)There is one weekend during the summer that I approach with as much anticipation as Christmas. It is filled with the blaring drone of bagpipes and the alarming flapping of kilts in the breeze. There is homemade root beer, there are delicious fish and chips made by the most awesome Scottish couple ever ("And haeow many would ya like, darlin'?") (Scottish accents are hard to type). And, most importantly, there are the Wicked Tinkers.<br />
<br />
It is Thanksgiving Point's Scottish Festival. And it is amazing.<br />
<br />
Perhaps you do not know that I am a Scotophile. I love Scotland. I want to go there. I want to <i>live</i> there. I love the castles and the moors, the overcast skies and the green, green land. I love the accent and the redheads (and the non-redheads too!). I love the cottages and the COWS, oh the cows! The cutest cows on this planet! Look up highland cows. They'll be your new favorite animal. I love the food! Ok, that's kind of a joke. Haggis tastes like hamburger, if your hamburger has gritty pieces of animal organs in it. It's really not bad. But it's really not good either. And I don't know of other Scottish food, to be honest, (pretty sure the English have a solid claim to fish and chips) so I can't give a fair review. I love bagpipe music and the silly old games (caber tossing, for example) and the myths and history. You get it, I think. I love Scotland.<br />
<br />
So you'll understand why I love this festival which by most standards might be considered dull and repetitive, as it's very similar from year to year. It doesn't matter. I love it every. single. time.<br />
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If you are unfamiliar with the festival, its main attractions are these:<br />
Strength and agility athletic tests for the menfolk, of course. I almost never get the chance to watch these for some reason :(<br />
Booths for many clans where you can learn about their history and find out if you are a descendant.<br />
Booths and booths of stuff to buy! Jewelry, kilts, knives and swords, and ever so much more.<br />
Bagpipe competitions by groups from around Utah (maybe even further? Have not investigated).<br />
Stage performances of Irish dances, Celtic inspired bands and THE WICKED TINKERS<br />
A pavilion full of foods to eat. Fish and chips, turkey legs, non-cultural food and, naturally, haggis. Yum!<br />
There are also the opening ceremonies, which involve bagpipes and marching clans introducing themselves and their motto. There are also closing ceremonies which I've never witnessed but I bet they're similar.<br />
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This year Joe and I took the beasties and had a good time parading about while people commented about how huge Magnus is. We started with the opening ceremonies.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7X5ejzIhUb8/UcCwyjDCoKI/AAAAAAAABAc/zQd-w9gzpaI/s1600/20130608_121657-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="337" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7X5ejzIhUb8/UcCwyjDCoKI/AAAAAAAABAc/zQd-w9gzpaI/s400/20130608_121657-001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A marching clan</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dlGP4VaPGNE/UcCwzhVaovI/AAAAAAAABAk/w-xGzNTpGjU/s1600/20130608_121701-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dlGP4VaPGNE/UcCwzhVaovI/AAAAAAAABAk/w-xGzNTpGjU/s400/20130608_121701-001.jpg" width="333" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We met up with my cousin Kelsey, her husby Harrison, and their<br />
beasts. Pilot is an Irish Wolfhound, so applicable!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mIV20Csj1sc/UcCwzlTO6KI/AAAAAAAABAo/I_Sjdv0XisU/s1600/20130608_121713-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mIV20Csj1sc/UcCwzlTO6KI/AAAAAAAABAo/I_Sjdv0XisU/s400/20130608_121713-001.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magnus enjoying a spot of shade</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gcmA5wmKSVM/UcCwzwRBw6I/AAAAAAAABAs/SwHqx6O011s/s1600/20130608_121849-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gcmA5wmKSVM/UcCwzwRBw6I/AAAAAAAABAs/SwHqx6O011s/s400/20130608_121849-001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clan MacGregor! Represent!</td></tr>
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After that was over we spent a while walking around the booths and enjoying the general ambiance.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZzprMf35tjs/UcCw0k5h-II/AAAAAAAABA8/l5Ln-gyG3KM/s1600/20130608_125840-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZzprMf35tjs/UcCw0k5h-II/AAAAAAAABA8/l5Ln-gyG3KM/s400/20130608_125840-001.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magnus was a big hit at the festival. He loved it.<br />
Had to take a picture of the cute little fairy!</td></tr>
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And I bought a ring from these guys. Just one of the many awesome booths with stuff for sale crammed on every surface. It's hectic and crowded and I love it. I always wonder how much of their stuff gets pocketed though. Hmm.<br />
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We had a delicious lunch of fish and chips, as is tradition. Sadly I did not get to see/talk to the awesome Scottish woman because I had dog duty, but Joe said she was there and that he was called "darlin'," so that'll do for me.<br />
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After lunch we had but minutes to get to the Wicked Tinkers show. They say that they play "tribal Scottish music" which is really the best way I can think of to describe it. Bagpipe, drums, and a didgeridoo. It's wonderful.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkphiV3pGJk/UcCw12YToOI/AAAAAAAABBU/A8rlvqQ_MQY/s1600/20130608_141033-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkphiV3pGJk/UcCw12YToOI/AAAAAAAABBU/A8rlvqQ_MQY/s400/20130608_141033-001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The blond man on the right is my fayvorit. His hair blows in the breeze. And as<br />
Joe found out last year during a very windy Scottish fest, so does his kilt.</td></tr>
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A sampling:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New drummer. They sometimes walk through the crowds<br />
as they play and it's awesome.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r4tLrkFZ2ps/UcCw3ivcIEI/AAAAAAAABBk/hax762XT4HY/s1600/20130608_141332-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="397" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r4tLrkFZ2ps/UcCw3ivcIEI/AAAAAAAABBk/hax762XT4HY/s400/20130608_141332-001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Wicked Tinkers!</td></tr>
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And then Joe made my day by taking a picture of me with them! And I'm even standing next to Luxurious Blond-haired Man! (I should really figure out his name.)</div>
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It was a successful year of Scottish festivaling. If you are also a lover of all things Scottish, I highly recommend it. It's usually in the first week or two of June. There's also a Payson one that hasn't happened yet. Count me in! Cue music:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
"<i>I just can't get enough! I just can't get enough!</i>"</div>
tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-54859950389361755112013-06-12T13:08:00.001-06:002013-06-12T13:08:28.850-06:00Tara's Favorite Quick & Easy MealA recipe? From me? Shocking, it's true. I'm definitely not a cook/chef/baker (although I do make a mean chocolate chip cookie). And to be fair, this isn't even my recipe, it's just one that I found and loved and change from time to time depending on whether I have all the ingredients or not. So here's my favorite quick and super easy pasta (made quicker and easier!). You may have seen similar things like it on Pinterest; I know I have. And I drooled heartily at them all. This girl likes her pasta.<br />
Since I don't remember what it's called, it shall be named....<br />
<br />
Fresh Herb Pasta!<br />
<br />
<u>Ingredients needed:</u><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Keep in mind I made this for just me and measured nothing, so I didn't include any kind of useful amounts. Fortunately most of it is preference-based anyway)</span><br />
--An amount of spaghetti <i>(for one person I just took a small handful)</i><br />
--water? <i>(to boil the spaghetti...yeah. Just being thorough, here.)</i><br />
--oil of choice <i>(canola for moi)</i><br />
--Parmesan cheese <i>(freshly grated would probably be delicious, but I just use the ol' powdery stuff)</i><br />
--red pepper flakes<br />
--garlic<i> (again, original recipe calls for a clove or two, but I was out and so used garlic salt. It works)</i><br />
--herbs of choice! <i>(my preferred combo is oregano, basil, and chives. mmm.)</i><br />
--salt and pepper, if ya want.<br />
--tomato <i>(optional)</i><br />
<br />
<u>How is it Done?!?</u><br />
First, bring water to a boil. Then, cook spaghetti!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My handful of spaghetti!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boil, boil! Mwahah.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Meanwhile, as you patiently wait for your pasta to cook, cut up your fresh, delicious herbs. Or if your herbs are dried, I guess you could spend the time measuring our the amounts that you want, which would be significantly faster. I'm sorry, dried herb users, I don't have much else to occupy your spaghetti-boiling-time. I guess you'll just have to play this video and dance around your kitchen. Do it! I promise your day will be happier.<br />
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Actually, you should do that even if you had to chop herbs.<br />
<br />
I got my fresh herbs from my <a href="http://tarayabeth.blogspot.com/2013/05/diy-kitchen-herb-garden.html">recently made herb garden</a> (yay!) which is simply blooming and oh-so-happy! I can't believe I've kept them all alive.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Basil</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chives</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oregano. Did you know that oregano is fuzzy? I didn't until I took this close-up<br />
and now I'm vaguely creeped out. Don't worry, it's still scrumptious.</td></tr>
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Now would also be a good time to cut up those fresh tomatoes. These are optional, so if tomatoes aren't really your thing, just leave em out. <br />
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I should also point out that if you're going to use actual garlic cloves--the more delicious way to do it, admittedly--then while your spaghetti cooks you would put the cut up clove(s), a bit of oil, and some red pepper flakes (to taste) in a little pan and heat it up until the garlic starts a-sizzlin'. You'll take this off the heat and then dump it over your drained, cooked spaghetti, add the rest of the ingredients and it is sooo good. So good.<br />
<br />
Or if you're just using pantry stuff like me, you'll want to drain your spaghetti, douse it with some oil, and then dump in all these things, to taste: garlic salt, parmesan, herbs, red pepper flakes (leave this out if you prefer milder tastes, it gives the pasta a bit of a kick), herbs, salt & pepper if you want, and tomatoes. I like to wait until the last moment to add the tomatoes so they're still cool when I eat the dish. Delish!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ingredients of choice.</td></tr>
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In the end, you have this pretty pasta that you feel good about eating and, bonus, is also extra delectable!<br />
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It's seriously my favorite, I eat it for lunch at least twice a week. Yum. Let me know if you try it!tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-82668594729933300302013-06-11T19:08:00.000-06:002014-08-28T14:25:51.756-06:00Ten Reasons Why Beauty and the Beast WinsWell, I was going to write about the Scottish Festival that we went to last weekend {the highlight of every summer! My wedding last year was only marginally more exciting for me than this super-awesome event ;)} But for whatever reason I'm not really feeling it today, so instead I'll just take an unexpected turn and talk about my favorite Disney princess movie ever, Beauty and the Beast. Random, I know. I like to keep you on your toes.<br />
<br />
Beauty and the Beast is by far the best and most role-model worthy Princess movie Disney has made. (I feel I should point out that I'm talking the classics, here. I feel like Tiana and even Rapunzel are pretty decent princesses to take after, too.) And by the way, while I will staunchly defend this movie as the best princessy movie ever, I will also totally abandon my position if you can provide me with a reasonable and well-stated argument in favor of another film. But just you try! Just. You. Try.<br />
<br />
So here you have it....<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZAx2uyBUlMI/TpOE5Znml4I/AAAAAAAAE9Q/esttNZdY1PY/s400/Beauty-and-the-Beast-Wallpapers-5.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></div>
<br />
<u>10 Reasons Why Belle's Story is the Best</u><br />
<br />
1. <b>Belle reads constantly</b>. Obviously this is awesome. Thanks to her love of reading, she's smart and imaginative and <i>also</i> makes friends with all the townspeople, especially the bookstore man. This is something everyone should definitely do because people are fun friends AND with just a simple batting of your over-large eyes, you too could go home with your favorite book free of charge! There are no negatives here.<br />
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2. <b>Belle lives in the French countryside. </b>Does this really need further explanation? I have been in rural France-land and it is seriously like a scene from a story book. A story book like Beauty and the Beast. <br />
<br />
3. <b>Belle is an awkward misfit. </b>Now, this seems a little unbelievable since she's gorgeous (her name literally means beauty...a little transparent) and the "hottest" guy in town totally has a thing for her, but nevertheless she still doesn't quite fit in somehow. Everyone in town looks at her with the same indulgent smile that you would give a child after he showed you his masterful mud-pie. I suppose this is because she is a nerd for reading books. And because her father is a bit of a nutter. Either way, having watched this as a little book-loving, super-awkward pre-teen, I feel that this whole misfit characteristic really works well for the young and potentially insecure female audience. Would it work better if Belle also had braces, Snoopy glasses and no sense of fashion? Yeah, probably. But it's a good effort.<br />
<br />
4. <b>Belle is an upstanding model of modesty.</b> Suuuure, she shows a little shoulder in that mysteriously available golden ball gown, but for the most part she is in her cute and decently flattering "provincial" garb. No sea shells necessary to win over the man-beast.<br />
<br />
5. <b>Belle is a family gal.</b> Nothing comes before her crazy-haired inventor father, Maurice. From the very beginning where she defends him against Gaston (creeper-stalker) and then takes his place as the Beast's prisoner, to the very end where she leaves in the midst of a romance-filled evening to save him from his slog through a blizzard, she is one dedicated daughter. So dedicated, in fact, that she can't even give her semi-boyfriend a heads up that, hey, don't worry, she'll come back in a few hours and he doesn't need to slide into a hopeless depression caused by her apparent abandonment.<br />
<br />
6. <b>You get to watch the part of their love story where the Beast is the Beast. </b>It may sound weird, but I would be surprised if anyone said they honestly thought the transformed Prince was more attractive than the Beast version. (Okay, maybe not that surprised.) But really. The Beast was strong and bulky and makes for a pretty intriguing love interest in that he differs from the average strapping Disney prince...and is a Beast. I wonder if Belle minded that her post-curse Prince was suddenly the exact same size as she was <i>and</i> had prettier hair? Regardless, the Prince had blue eyes in both versions of himself so that's a plus either way.<br />
<br />
7. <b>Cogsworth's awesome zinger. </b>Ad-libbed by David Ogden Stiers (aka Cogsworth), mind you.<br />
<i>Beast</i>: "I want to do something for her...but what?"<br />
<i>Cogsworth</i>: "Well, there's the usual things: flowers...chocolates...promises you don't intend to keep..."<br />
<br />
(7.5).....<b>And then he gives her a </b><i><b>library</b>!</i> I mean, come on! Take note, fellas.<br />
<br />
8. <b>Belle tolerates no controlling Beast baloney. </b>Beast gets all demanding and rude, so what does Belle do? She <i>leaves. </i>Way to go, Belle. No one should take that kind of hogwash from anyone else, and when the Beast gets after her for it later, she gives it right back to him and he realizes he's been a real dunderhead. I hope you are all appreciating my totally PG-rated language in honor of the Disney topic. <br />
<br />
9. <b>Belle meets her Prince and doesn't marry him the next day. </b>This is probably my biggest reason for loving this movie. Granted, he is a freakishly huge buffalo-bear-gorilla-boar-wolf-lion who imprisoned her within ten minutes of their first meeting, but the fact is that they started out with no affection lost between them and then got to know and like each other at a normal pace. The fact that they got to know each other <i>at all</i> automatically gives them a boost above the competition. I'm lookin' at you, Sleeping Beauty. And Snow White. And The Little Mermaid.<br />
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<div>
10. <b>They both learn lessons together. </b>The Beast's life-changing lesson is kinda central to the story. A scary old lady comes to his door and asks for help, he sees her craggy old face and nay-says that right off the bat. So she transforms him into a crazy-looking animal mutt until he can get someone to love him through his beastliness, just as he should have loved others despite <i>their</i> beastliness. And, magically, Belle pretty much learns the same lesson (along with some others, like the fact that you can find adventure without even leaving your own home town if you have a cursed animal living in a castle nearby). People are not always what they appear to be on the outside, and first impressions are not always accurate. Sometimes they're whoppingly inaccurate. A stupendous lesson for any child, if they pick up on that rather than on the idea that maybe their dishes sing and dance while they sleep.</div>
<br />
In case anyone's wondering, the fact that the entire village seems to have forgotten that 10 years prior there was a prince living in a castle within walking distance does not negate the fact that this movie is rockin'. Plot holes do not supersede wonderful life lessons.<br />
<br />
Bonus knowledge: A few weeks ago I was informed that the Beast's name is "Adam." Well, I guess technically the Prince-who-is-no-longer-a-beast's name is Adam. The Beast's name is the Beast. But anyway, who knew? I certainly didn't, but I'm glad I'm no longer lacking in this important piece of B&tB trivia.tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-75397327613633740172013-06-06T14:09:00.000-06:002013-06-06T14:18:51.369-06:00Bravest of PuppiesIn addition to home decor and related things, I am also obsessed with my dogs. Thus, I feel I should warn you that I'm writing today about an outing completely revolving around them and their silliness. If you think dogs are dirty, useless animals or just boring to read about, this would be the time to stop.<br />
<br />
Or now.<br />
<br />
Now, perhaps.<br />
<br />
No? Still with me?<br />
<br />
So be it. On to puppies!<br />
<br />
This past weekend, Joe and I went to a river with our puppies...and also four other dogs. There were humans too, our friends Doug and Cait and their sister Stacie. All of these dogs, mind you, were under a year old, so obviously it was impossible to take a picture of them all. (Well, I think Caitlyn managed it, but that's because she has superpowers that I lack.) So we'll just do a roll call instead.<br />
<br />
Sadie! Golden-doodle. Fluffy white and oh-so sparkly clean...for now.<br />
<br />
Red! Full-on poodle. Looks like a stuffed animal. Less old than Sadie.<br />
<br />
Tess! Aussie-collie mix of the most beautiful sort. Smart and bursting with energies.<br />
<br />
Ace! Collie extraordinaire. Super cute and well-behaved. Least worrisome of the bunch, and also youngest (I think? Maybe Red is. Hm.)<br />
<br />
Magnus! Newfoundland-Great Pyrenees mix. Giant beast with no manners. Handsome and aloof.<br />
<br />
aaaand Sawyer! Strangely-shaped mutt. Best guess: collie-newfoundland. Funny and needy.<br />
<br />
I really wish I'd gotten a before picture of these guys. Especially Sadie, she was looking pret-ty scraggly by the time we left.<br />
<br />
We began the escapade by loading all puppies into the back of Doug's truck with the most worrisome ones tightly leashed. It was kind of a circus. So many puppies! We had a bit of a hard time finding a place to go where they wouldn't immediately attack nearby folk, but we eventually found a pretty nice spot of river and let them free. I'm sure we were all envisioning these 6 dogs leaping with joy into the cool river waters, splashing and swimming with abandon. That didn't happen.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8W7RXMGPnNI/UbDhqnwl_FI/AAAAAAAAA9g/XRoEemtUb8w/s1600/IMG_20130601_183330-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8W7RXMGPnNI/UbDhqnwl_FI/AAAAAAAAA9g/XRoEemtUb8w/s400/IMG_20130601_183330-001.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joe trying to guide his beast into the water.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AhT2i2HuX8A/UbDhqcrL7wI/AAAAAAAAA9c/P5BNSwtpOJU/s1600/IMG_20130601_183346-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AhT2i2HuX8A/UbDhqcrL7wI/AAAAAAAAA9c/P5BNSwtpOJU/s400/IMG_20130601_183346-001.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tess eyeing the water suspiciously. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VUcDc6G63Hk/UbDhp402CII/AAAAAAAAA9U/9ex9EEfuxyk/s1600/IMG_20130601_183429-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VUcDc6G63Hk/UbDhp402CII/AAAAAAAAA9U/9ex9EEfuxyk/s400/IMG_20130601_183429-001.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All dogs nervously pacing the bank and tentatively pawing<br />
only the most shallow areas.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>None</i> of them would go in. Despite throwing them in (just the ones we knew would recover from it, don't worry), pushing them, enticing them with sticks, tennis ball, and giant branches (a Magnus favorite), they all just watched with hopeless longing as these tempting items floated out of reach in the water, which they must have assumed was actually lava.<br />
<br />
Finally the pristinely white golden-doodle Sadie decided to forgo all that silliness and jumped in to get a stick. Hooray! One dog that isn't a scaredy-cat. (Don't you think that's probably the worst insult in dog world? I bet they'd all be giving me some major stink-eyes right now.)<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wzBPGd_gl-4/UbDhuHyShqI/AAAAAAAAA98/pWn8wxDSLfc/s1600/IMG_20130601_183455-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wzBPGd_gl-4/UbDhuHyShqI/AAAAAAAAA98/pWn8wxDSLfc/s400/IMG_20130601_183455-001.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yay Sadie! Bravest of dogs!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And for a while that was almost enough to get the rest of them in. They were certainly a little more incessant with their pawing and whining as they hovered at the river edge. But nay, none followed. They just started chasing each other around in the weeds, probably trying to hide their shame by pretending they didn't even know there was a river at all.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CUka8MURM50/UbDhvU4F_QI/AAAAAAAAA90/FqDKmzPnk00/s1600/IMG_20130601_183532-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CUka8MURM50/UbDhvU4F_QI/AAAAAAAAA90/FqDKmzPnk00/s400/IMG_20130601_183532-001.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the company. Dogs pretending they know of no<br />
river. Caitlyn probably recording Sadie doing <br />
what dogs do <strike>best </strike> worst. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J94Ym02xnOA/UbDhuI4e_NI/AAAAAAAAA9s/6upDuUSh-4o/s1600/IMG_20130601_183627-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J94Ym02xnOA/UbDhuI4e_NI/AAAAAAAAA9s/6upDuUSh-4o/s320/IMG_20130601_183627-002.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I actually don't remember this happening, but there is<br />
a picture so I guess it did. Go Sawyer! I also love Tess's head<br />
poking in there as if to say "Well? Scale of 1 - 10, how <br />
searing is the lava?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PlF8Z9l5lM4/UbDhyff1uyI/AAAAAAAAA9w/EjqUu1QC6E0/s1600/IMG_20130601_183650-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PlF8Z9l5lM4/UbDhyff1uyI/AAAAAAAAA9w/EjqUu1QC6E0/s400/IMG_20130601_183650-001.jpg" width="331" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magnus finally decided he couldn't be outdone by this curly-furred<br />
<i>girl, </i>so he waded in even futher than all the other scared puppies<br />
to take away the stick she earned with her bravery.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At one point, a super-loved stick was thrown all the way onto the opposite shore. Sadie, undeterred, went over to fetch it and got stuck after climbing up the bank and deciding that it was way too steep to climb back down. She's no fool, guys. So Magnus, hearing her wimperings for help, finally made the plunge. What would we do without damsels in distress!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lPJ0qRy6MXM/UbDh6-K2SJI/AAAAAAAAA-A/ydGz_oGpDIw/s1600/IMG_20130601_185608-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lPJ0qRy6MXM/UbDh6-K2SJI/AAAAAAAAA-A/ydGz_oGpDIw/s400/IMG_20130601_185608-001.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The second bravest of puppies. And Joe.<br />
Can you spot Sadie? Bonus points if you can!</td></tr>
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Of course, once he got to the other side he helpfully started eating cow poop. I don't know what we expected. Joe made the sacrifice of swimming across to rescue Sadie after Magnus proved to not be very good at it. And Magnus just clambered down himself like it weren't no thing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R_JnAZd3ikA/UbDiCP2xpiI/AAAAAAAAA-M/m9kfHPHTsw4/s1600/IMG_20130601_191155-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R_JnAZd3ikA/UbDiCP2xpiI/AAAAAAAAA-M/m9kfHPHTsw4/s400/IMG_20130601_191155-001.jpg" width="362" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some final attempts at puppy coercion.</td></tr>
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After waiting an hour or two we came to the conclusion that the rest were just content to not be brave, so after they'd had a goodly amount of fun-time-scampering we loaded em up and headed home. We might have been dirtier than the dogs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yu0U2ree5ZE/UbDiBgmNkxI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/2_AW9TJpVgM/s1600/IMG_20130601_191757-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yu0U2ree5ZE/UbDiBgmNkxI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/2_AW9TJpVgM/s400/IMG_20130601_191757-001.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't know how I managed to take a half-clear, half-blurry<br />
photo like this, but I love how it makes Tess look extremely creepy.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mAxn6er24cM/UbDiMVP7XxI/AAAAAAAAA-U/ELPWu3xWaGs/s1600/IMG_20130601_191842-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mAxn6er24cM/UbDiMVP7XxI/AAAAAAAAA-U/ELPWu3xWaGs/s400/IMG_20130601_191842-001.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And Magnus took up half the truck bed himself. Creepy Sawyer.<br />
And look, Red! I got so few pictures of him for some reason.</td></tr>
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Overall, not what we expected. But the dogs were exhausted when we came home and I'm pretty sure they still had an adventurous time. It was fun to watch them be all nervous around the scary water and run around outside. Ah, man, they're so cute and silly. I do love puppy play dates.tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-68859609672045347912013-06-04T11:41:00.000-06:002013-06-04T18:53:22.073-06:00The Bedroom That Will BeYou may have noticed that I have recently become a woman (semi)obsessed when it comes to crafts, DIY projects, and home decor. The living room has had most of the focus since moving in because it was plain and is the room most people see. But next on the agenda is most likely our bedroom. OooOOoo. I have a few ideas of what I'd like to do in there, mostly involving some light grey walls, fun detail decor and maybe a change of bedding to go better with the plan. We'll see. But I wanted to make a post of inspiration pictures, and hopefully after all is done I can compare the two and see some mystifying similarities between my new in-home retreat and the rooms that inspired me (....and Joe. He cares too. Sort of).<br />
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By the way, if you too are bedazzled by the pictures below and want to add them to your "someday this will be MINE MWAHAHAH" Pinterest board, please pin them from the original source that I link and not from my blog....since I have nothing to do with them. Yes? Yes. I would just remove the nifty little "pin it" link from the photos but...I don't know how. Sigh. Confessions, confessions.<br />
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I first realized that light grey walls were my heart's desire after seeing these pics on a couple of my favorite blogs:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-keFeBaeasE4/Ua4fuuAjOwI/AAAAAAAAA7o/v4wu7H8cNRc/s1600/Gray_Owl_Paint_Lettered_Cottage_Living_Room_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-keFeBaeasE4/Ua4fuuAjOwI/AAAAAAAAA7o/v4wu7H8cNRc/s400/Gray_Owl_Paint_Lettered_Cottage_Living_Room_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Work in progress photo from <a href="http://theletteredcottage.net/gray-owl-by-benjamin-moore-2/">The Lettered Cottage</a>.<br />
It's so light and airy! I love it.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fyGb5vZVIyU/Ua4fulMr3QI/AAAAAAAAA7k/wzcgWogO6XQ/s1600/gallerywallyounghouselove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fyGb5vZVIyU/Ua4fulMr3QI/AAAAAAAAA7k/wzcgWogO6XQ/s400/gallerywallyounghouselove.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gallery wall from <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/04/its-done-and-we-heart-it/">Young House Love</a>. Such a<br />
great home "makeover" blog, I love basically<br />
everything they do. Ever. Including this amazing<br />
gallery wall. Seriously, go look at the post on how<br />
they put it together. Uh, brilliant! </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dmibaF4lV9E/Ua4fuXCJVqI/AAAAAAAAA70/nwtzp7U33cY/s1600/bedroomdarkergrey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dmibaF4lV9E/Ua4fuXCJVqI/AAAAAAAAA70/nwtzp7U33cY/s400/bedroomdarkergrey.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is another from <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/2012/07/getting-moody-in-the-bedroom/">Young House Love</a>. I'm thinking<br />
a darker grey accent wall behind our bed, maybe<br />
with a stenciled pattern over it, would be quite fun.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QdBPn6BaAo4/Ua4iRgh3AgI/AAAAAAAAA8M/nEwdMLC6SQM/s1600/stencil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="367" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QdBPn6BaAo4/Ua4iRgh3AgI/AAAAAAAAA8M/nEwdMLC6SQM/s400/stencil.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A stencil like this, for example. From <a href="http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/allover-stencil-birch-forest.html">Cutting Edge Stencils</a>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t9I4J_TWDm4/Ua4hARGqjKI/AAAAAAAAA8A/VqUsyTUIkXw/s1600/greybedroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t9I4J_TWDm4/Ua4hARGqjKI/AAAAAAAAA8A/VqUsyTUIkXw/s400/greybedroom.jpg" width="325" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And I just found this one on Pinterest, and traced it back to<br />
<a href="http://justthedesign.tumblr.com/post/28551680099/grey-white-bedroom">this tumblr</a>. No idea if that's the original source<br />
(probably not) but I tried. I like the white/grey bedding,<br />
fresh and lurvly. And the walls, of course.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2OY6gN-8Css/Ua5IyKm-QYI/AAAAAAAAA9E/pDU21-CXNRg/s1600/greyroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2OY6gN-8Css/Ua5IyKm-QYI/AAAAAAAAA9E/pDU21-CXNRg/s400/greyroom.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love the shades of brown in this one, too.<br />
From <a href="http://blissfulbblog.com/blog/2012/12/11/my-happy-place.html">Blissful Blog</a>.</td></tr>
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I also found some cute...what would you call it..."his" and "hers" silhouette graphics at thegraphicsfairy.com (so great for free art to print out for your boring old bare walls...ok <i>my</i> boring walls) and I'd like to get those made rather large and put them over our nightstands or in some other empty space for some added quirkiness.<br />
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Anyway I think you get the idea. I'm hoping this will be sort of a summer project for us.... and that we can do it all for pretty much no cost. As no major changes are being made I feel this is quite doable. Here is our room right now, by the way (in case my multiple picture postings have faded from your memory or you have forgotten from lack of interest...you're not getting off that easy!):<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tyy8dOFZMCs/Ua4kjYqXUVI/AAAAAAAAA8c/KqBcTVGlAQc/s1600/IMG_2190-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tyy8dOFZMCs/Ua4kjYqXUVI/AAAAAAAAA8c/KqBcTVGlAQc/s320/IMG_2190-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stencil wall? Hmm?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Vh5rD3B_fA/Ua4kjZeYmUI/AAAAAAAAA8g/-ICpcoT-6CE/s1600/IMG_2191-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9Vh5rD3B_fA/Ua4kjZeYmUI/AAAAAAAAA8g/-ICpcoT-6CE/s320/IMG_2191-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Curtains of some sort shall be crafted!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-svpNdNFEiL8/Ua4kjlbEA3I/AAAAAAAAA8o/8orVqFDgY8Q/s1600/IMG_2192-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-svpNdNFEiL8/Ua4kjlbEA3I/AAAAAAAAA8o/8orVqFDgY8Q/s320/IMG_2192-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All black accessories. Hooray for matching anything!</td></tr>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nM-Jzz_59M4/Ua4kkUJvJAI/AAAAAAAAA80/0u1FLpWj0eE/s1600/IMG_2193-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nM-Jzz_59M4/Ua4kkUJvJAI/AAAAAAAAA80/0u1FLpWj0eE/s320/IMG_2193-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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To end, here's a list of things to do:</div>
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-Paint walls light grey</div>
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-possibly stencil one wall that may or may not be a darker grey</div>
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-make curtains or buy them for a ridiculously good price (probably white)</div>
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-art for the walls</div>
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-new bedsheets/pillow cases (?)</div>
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-find lamps for the side tables</div>
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-replace doorknobs on closets and patch holes on weird top cupboard closet (we replaced that hardware last year)</div>
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Fun! Can't wait to get started. :)</div>
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tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1240011190737640332.post-10417432881080139662013-05-30T11:20:00.001-06:002013-06-07T13:42:52.649-06:00DIY Kitchen Herb GardenFor several months now I've been eyeing these lurvly herb garden planters I've seen on Pinterest. (Ah, Pinterest, you sly devil.) I didn't really know how to make it happen and I didn't have anything to put in it, and <i>then</i> our windowsill was laid siege to by our outdoor garden plants that we never had time to plant (until last weekend...seen <a href="http://tarayabeth.blogspot.com/2013/05/annivers-wait-chicken.html">here</a>!). So I just ooh-ed and aah-ed and looked at the greenery in my window and hoped I would eventually make a kitchen planter so my sill may stay forever green. It's just too pretty to resist.<br />
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Finally this week the garden went outside, and a planter box came inside! I kinda just made it up, because none of the plans I found were the right size and because it's just a simple box and shouldn't be too hard.</div>
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Inspiration pics: </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Th2pCRj6MVQ/Uad_eLdDv7I/AAAAAAAAA5U/-8wgMWUrJ98/s1600/inspiration2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Th2pCRj6MVQ/Uad_eLdDv7I/AAAAAAAAA5U/-8wgMWUrJ98/s400/inspiration2.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thebeatthatmyheartskipped.co.uk/index.php/2010/02/09/diy-indoor-herb-garden/">TheBeatThatMyHeartSkipped</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sYSY0ZRCPg4/Uad_eEBbsuI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/SApE-aAt3Kc/s1600/inspiration1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sYSY0ZRCPg4/Uad_eEBbsuI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/SApE-aAt3Kc/s400/inspiration1.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.migonishome.com/2012/04/kitchen-herb-garden.html">Migonis Home</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9nURZ9TQKGc/Uad_eKfua5I/AAAAAAAAA5c/Gdf1LQX5hoM/s1600/inspiration3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9nURZ9TQKGc/Uad_eKfua5I/AAAAAAAAA5c/Gdf1LQX5hoM/s400/inspiration3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.creativelysouthern.com/2013/05/diy-planter-box-herb-garden-the-gro-project-2.html">Creatively Southern</a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NfsZ4xlabyA/Uad_ek-nJ9I/AAAAAAAAA5o/CsDd8uUh68w/s1600/inspiration5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NfsZ4xlabyA/Uad_ek-nJ9I/AAAAAAAAA5o/CsDd8uUh68w/s400/inspiration5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ana-white.com/2013/04/plans/herb-garden-planter-2">Ana White</a></td></tr>
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Those last two in particular, because they have handles. Isn't that just smashing? I love the color of the second one, too. If our wood had been that deliciously old and dark, I would have kept it natural. </div>
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Here's what I made!</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fdbfb28VHBM/UaeAEQgUEqI/AAAAAAAAA5w/ckpus--BJIA/s1600/IMG_2261-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fdbfb28VHBM/UaeAEQgUEqI/AAAAAAAAA5w/ckpus--BJIA/s640/IMG_2261-001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Just ignore the fact that they're planted too low and you can see the unpainted insides. I ran out of dirt. I know, it sounds ridiculous but it happened. </div>
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Anywho, here's what I did. </div>
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First, the Joe and I traveled far and wide to find some suitable wood (Home Depot). We came home bearing two cedar fence planks and some wee screws. And also a new hand saw, because our first one was left here by the previous owners (very nice of them, it came in handy many times) and it was pretty dull and not a little bit rusty. So, with the help of our fancy new saw, I started cutting our boards to length. After one cut had been made, Joe noticed I was using the brand new saw and wanted to try it out to see how magical it was. I graciously stepped aside and let him finish doing the rest of the boards. :) </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PZKyhpQeXr8/UaeB3XynAlI/AAAAAAAAA58/oEW1xVEU5Sg/s1600/IMG_2234-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PZKyhpQeXr8/UaeB3XynAlI/AAAAAAAAA58/oEW1xVEU5Sg/s400/IMG_2234-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magical, indeed. We use buckets to saw wood because we're legit like that.</td></tr>
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Our kitchen window has a mini-bay-window thing going on, so we could fit a pretty sizable box. The boards were about 5 1/2" wide. Our three long pieces were cut to 34", and our end pieces were cut just shy of 6 3/4". </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-idJw6-xLlQA/UaeB3uSsw1I/AAAAAAAAA6I/2lJDDidvqA8/s1600/IMG_2236-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-idJw6-xLlQA/UaeB3uSsw1I/AAAAAAAAA6I/2lJDDidvqA8/s400/IMG_2236-002.JPG" width="265" /></a></div>
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We screwed the long side pieces into the outside edges of the bottom piece first, then attached the ends. The wood split slightly in some places as we screwed it all together, but we just decided it would add to the "rustic" look of it all. Right? Poorly done = rustic. :)<br />
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It was also pretty rough wood, so before going any further I sanded it down to prevent woe-inducing splinters later.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ptNXPURObFI/UaeB48NZy8I/AAAAAAAAA6c/lx01c50PQZ4/s1600/IMG_2242-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ptNXPURObFI/UaeB48NZy8I/AAAAAAAAA6c/lx01c50PQZ4/s400/IMG_2242-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It fits!</td></tr>
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I forgot to mention the rope we got from the depot for homes. I had to have some cute handles! They even ended up being practical later, when I had to haul the giant, dirt-filled beast inside. Bonus!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NhP9o9Ak31M/UaeB3wnY6mI/AAAAAAAAA6E/mQSp61oEnwg/s1600/IMG_2238-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="338" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NhP9o9Ak31M/UaeB3wnY6mI/AAAAAAAAA6E/mQSp61oEnwg/s400/IMG_2238-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I eyeballed a decent looking length of rope...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CdxFY08sOGg/UaeB4_DQGQI/AAAAAAAAA6g/HmoxXEhEmNg/s1600/IMG_2240-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CdxFY08sOGg/UaeB4_DQGQI/AAAAAAAAA6g/HmoxXEhEmNg/s400/IMG_2240-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...knotted it inside some holes we drilled into the end pieces...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v8rR-rKIvWQ/UaeB4pOLiUI/AAAAAAAAA6U/e1LemER0UAY/s1600/IMG_2239-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v8rR-rKIvWQ/UaeB4pOLiUI/AAAAAAAAA6U/e1LemER0UAY/s400/IMG_2239-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and voila! Beautiful rope handles. Magnificent.</td></tr>
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Joe happened to be painting some edges on our living room ceiling, so I borrowed his supplies to paint the box white. I like the natural wood look, but the cedar was kind of pink and clashed weirdly with our counter tops and windowsill. So white it went!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yBREY-7OJn8/UaeB5CxKMHI/AAAAAAAAA6o/KWFFsWwn2BE/s1600/IMG_2243-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yBREY-7OJn8/UaeB5CxKMHI/AAAAAAAAA6o/KWFFsWwn2BE/s400/IMG_2243-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Then came dirt and herbs! I lined the bottom with a cut up, large plastic garbage bag to help with potential leaking, and the dirt pretty much keeps the water in everywhere else so far. Basil, chives, rosemary, cilantro, oregano...and a jalapeno, though success there might just be wishful thinking.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yTYTJqUwOIg/UaeB6GE4JII/AAAAAAAAA60/U3Tn_STLSRc/s1600/IMG_2249-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yTYTJqUwOIg/UaeB6GE4JII/AAAAAAAAA60/U3Tn_STLSRc/s400/IMG_2249-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They're alive! (...for now)</td></tr>
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I wanted to paint some nice phrase on the side like "herb garden" or "kitchen herbs", and set about doing it the hardest way possible, which was by printing out letters and cutting them out of the paper to make a stencil, if that makes sense. I could have just cut them out the normal way, traced around the letters on the box, and painted <i>that.</i> But, nah. Never occurred to me. After getting halfway through cutting the "H" (from "Herb"...as in "Herb Garden"...yeah I didn't get far) out of the paper around it, I decided to throw that idea out and buy some stickers.<br />
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Sadly, a trip to Hobby Lobby proved that letter stickers are usually pretty small. So instead, at the suggestion of my brilliantly crafty cousin Kelsey, I got some cheap cork coasters and traced/cut some letters out of those. I should have taken pictures of that, because it was a bit ridiculous and tedious. Luckily, Kelsey came over to watch the Hobbit with me as I crafted the letters one by one. I love the result! :<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1EGyafRlSsQ/UaeB6dxcmCI/AAAAAAAAA64/R6xU5qs2adQ/s1600/IMG_2260-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1EGyafRlSsQ/UaeB6dxcmCI/AAAAAAAAA64/R6xU5qs2adQ/s640/IMG_2260-001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Detail pics!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2FeQgFa7Kw/UaeB7eXuXeI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/9y2MR8JYHQg/s1600/IMG_2263-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A2FeQgFa7Kw/UaeB7eXuXeI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/9y2MR8JYHQg/s640/IMG_2263-001.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Am I a fan of how the letters and handles ended up matching? Yes, yes I am.</td></tr>
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I'm eventually going to get some nice, nutritious dirt for the herbs so I can raise them up out of the box a bit more, but overall I'm pretty pleased with the result. I don't know how long it will last, but I do love having a box o' greens in my sunny window.</div>
tarayahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06598384667260138057noreply@blogger.com3