Pure Awesomeness

My family just recently got back from a little road trip to the Oregon coast.  We saw some amazing things.  This was one of them:

Now, you guys have parobably seen and tried these, but I have never seen them here in Utah, so we had to try them, and they. are. amazing.

Am I the only person to have never tried these?!

I googled them when I got home and found several (uh-oh) ideas on how to replicate the taste.

The possiblilities really are endless.

Summer Update

I had high hopes of being able to blog consistantly this summer, but alas, no.

This is just a quick post to let you know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.

Remember this post?  Well, we all survived, and as I look back on that post, I can't help but notice that it sounded a little melodramatic.  It was a weird, scary day though.

We ended up not being evacuated, but this is what the mountain looked like when we went to bed that night:

and here's what it looked like the next day:

It was like there had never been smoke or flames or craziness the day before.
Thanks for all of the well-wishes and concern.

Our summer has been crazy busy!
We've been playing on the lake quite a bit.
The kids are getting pretty good at wakeboarding and love trying to get thrown from the tube.

{My toenails rarely look so pretty, that I had to take a picture...lovin' that Robbins toe.}

We've also been attending baseball and t-ball practices and games a few times a week.  It's been fun to see my kids learn a new sport.

Swimming lessons, too.

We've had a few birthdays,

...and parties and reunions,

and been busy with scout activities, girls' camp and youth conference.

I've snuck in a few projects--my favorite is this wingback chair that I made a slipcover for.

Our summer has been exhausting, but great so far.

Hopefully, we'll get the blog back on track when school starts again next month.

Have a great day!

P. S.  I normally don't like oranges in the summer, because they aren't as good as in the winter, but I had one the other day, and it. was. awesome!  Now I can't stop eating them.

The "Threshold of Hell"

I live in a pretty rural area.
It is beautiful and has amazing views.
It has easy access to boating and 4-wheeling.
The people who live out here are hardy and tough and good.
Every summer, out here on the frontier, there is a new plague.
The year we moved in, it was crickets.  Thousands of them.  Everywhere.
The next summer, it was voles {small rodents that are a little bigger than mice, but not as big as rats, with shorter tails.}
Some years, it's large spiders.
Some years, it's snakes.
But one thing we have to deal with every year are the fires.

{all photos taken by my neighbors}

A friend of mine, taking into consideration everything that we deal with out here, nicknamed the area "The Threshold of Hell". 

I'd say he's pretty accurate.

So we are at the ready.  We've gathered our belongings.  We are ready to go if/when that call comes.
Hundreds in our town have already evacuated.  Some homes have been damaged.

So we'll wait and see.

A Winner! ...and I went with blue

Congratulations to Jenn, the winner of our Valshi $25 gift certificate!

{The result isn't showing up for some reason, but it was comment #2!}

Jenn said...

Just liked Valshi Boutiques Facebook page and I would LOVE to win this giveaway!

May 24, 2012 5:13 PM

...AND Congratulations to our $5 jewelry wall winners:

Crystal
Karin
van Zwol Family
The Harding Family
Gayla

       
and a big THANK YOU to Ashley at Valshi for hosting this awesome giveaway!

To claim your fabulous prizes, send me an e-mail and I will forward them to Ashley.


Also, remember this little beaut?

I decided to paint it navy blue, and I love how it turned out!

The room is slooowwwly coming together {see?  I added another A, and hung some pictures...now I need to replace those curtains, and find a good lamp}.

Have a Great Day!

June Visiting Teaching Message

This month's message is
Visiting Teaching--a Sacred Assignment

After reading the message, I realized that there seems to be a common thread with the messages this year...

January's message was Watchcare and Ministering Through Visiting Teaching
February's message was Guardians of the Hearth
March's message was Daughters in my Kingdom
April's message was Love, Watch Over, and Strengthen
June's message is Visiting Teaching--a Sacred Assignment

All of these messages emphasize the worth of women, as well as the importance of visiting teaching, and taking care of each other.

So as I was deciding what to share with my sisters this month, it occurred to me what a blessing it is to be a visiting teacher--and then one of my favorite hymns popped into my head:

Sweet is the work, my God, my King,
To praise thy name, give thanks, and sing.
To show thy love by morning light-
And talk of all thy truths at night.
Hymns, 147

Even though it's sometimes not easy, visiting teaching really is sweet work, and I am so thankful for it.

To make this message, you will need a large candy bar {roughly 7-7 1/2" x 3 1/2 inches} for each of the women you visit.

Print the message {it worked better on regular paper, than on cardstock}.

Cut along the dotted lines.
Tape the message to the candy bar.

and you're done!

...Unless you feel like embellishing, then by all means, embellish away!

Another note: large candy bars come in different sizes.  If you are using a king-sized Hershey bar, or Symphony bar, etc., you will have less room to work with.  If you are using a large Godiva or Lindt-type bar, you have a little wiggle room and could layer a fun printed paper underneath if you want.

Happy Visiting Teaching!

P.S.  The "is the" in the title was bugging me, so I made a different version...you can print it here.
It looks like this:

Yard Sale Gold

The other day I was driving home and saw a large yard sale.

Of course I stopped and looked around and found a few random things like gloves and some patio {Christmas?} lights.  I was about to leave when they told me that there were a bunch of things in the shop out back that they were selling too, so I went back there and--

{cue chorus of heavenly angels}

it was like I was in the middle of an episode of American Pickers, or Picker Sisters.

The guy there told me that they were moving to Florida and they just needed to get rid of almost everything. 

So I started digging and found a few things.  And the more I dug, the more I found.

I ended up with these little beautes.

These cocoa bean bags--when I told him I was going to make pillows out of them, he gave me that "you're-crazy-but-whatever" look and told me I should probably wash them first.

This little stool--That he couldn't believe I wouldn't want to paint.

When I started sanding the big flakes of paint off, look what I found!

Well, hello bajillion baby praying mantis'.  Welcome to the world.  Go.  Eat my bugs.

I was going to put a clear coat of poly on it, but I guess it can wait till the babies leave.

And this!

It is one of those super-cool pieces that could go anywhere...nightstand, side table, little console...you name it.

I think I will put it here:

In the sunlight, I fell in love with the rusty, chippy paint surface, but inside....I'm not sure.  What do you think?  Should I paint it or leave it?  What color?  Navy blue?  Turquoise?  Orange?

P.S.  Don't forget to enter the Valshi giveaway!