Curtains!

Alright, here are pictures of my new curtains! Ugh, just ignore the plastic in the pictures. As soon as it gets warmer, that will be coming off! :o) And hopefully this summer we'll be able to get our door/windows replaced, so things will look a bit cleaner and nicer. :o) I love my new curtains though, and love the way they make my home look so much cozier. Decorating is awesome. :o) I got the material for these curtains in the clearance section at Joann's. I got the lighter material for $7/yard and I got the darker stuff for $2/yard! Yay! :o) The cast iron hangers that I used are actually garden hooks, to hang plants outside with. I got those on sale for $7 each. The picture frame I also got at Joann's, but I've had it for a while. I got it on sale, but I can't remember how much it was. And the flower set on the coffee table I got at Bed, Bath and Beyond several months ago with my wedding gift cards. :o)

They look even better in person, so if you wanna come over some time and check them out, feel free! :o)

Bag Holder

So, I'm starting to dive into the many pictures that have been on my camera for months. Various pictures that I've been meaning to post, but never got around to. They won't be in order, just whatever I feel like posting at the time. :o)

So, here is one of my recent projects. I had seen on another lady's blog a simple pattern for a plastic bag holder, so I decided to give it a try. It was SO easy to make, and I loved it. It only took me maybe a half an hour or 45 minutes.

I started by sewing two pieces of material together (the green and the black/white). I can't remember what the measurements were. There weren't really any "rules". You just kinda did what you want.

Then I took a piece of black and white eyelet lace, and folded it in half and sewed it along the original seam. then you add the elastic at the bottom, and sew it into a tube and Presto!:

you have a bag holder. :o) I do have complete instructions that I could make copies for anyone who wants to make one of their own. Just let me know. :o)

The Weekend

Well, it was a pretty good weekend, all in all. We went snowboarding on Saturday. It was fun, but hard. Really, really hard. We got a lot of wet, heavy snow, and then there was a ferocious wind storm on Friday, which made the snow really bumpy. They didn't groom the hill at all, so we had to battle the snow all day. This is only the second time I have been this year, and I didn't get to go at all last year, so my body just isn't used to it anymore. We had a good time (Mike and I went, and Jordan came with us, and Sam and Elmer caught up with us later in the day), but it wore me out. I actually ended up sleeping in the lodge on a bench for about an hour. :o) Then after that, I went up twice more with the boys, and called it quits at about 4:45 or so. They did the last run without me. My legs were on fire, and hurting so bad I literally could not hold myself up any longer. I felt like I was having muscle failure. I was really annoyed with my body, and mad that I couldn't go up any more. :o) I have pretty much decided that I don't want to go again unless I have a girl to board with. I can usually keep up with the boys ok, but Saturday was hard. And they weren't too incredibly interested in waiting for me, which I get, but it made it kind of a bummer day. Anyways, I am glad that I went, I just need a girlfriend next time. :o) I think in between now and then though, I'm going to do some SQUATS and get my legs in shape! Sheesh. ;o)

Anyways, we went home, and Mike headed out to Jordan's to play the Wii with all the boys, and Heidi came over and hung out at my place for a while. :o) We had a good time. We got my curtains hung up, but I don't have pictures...yet. I will though, I promise. :o) They're gorgeous, and I LOVE the way they pull things together, and are making my house look more like a home now. :o) After we finally got the curtains hung up, and a couple other decorating touches, we watched a movie, then she headed home. Mike got home, and we went straight to bed, since it was 12:30 because we had to set the clocks forward. :o)

Then Sunday was church, and lazing around the house. Mike filed our taxes, and we're getting money back! Yay! :o) Hopefully we will be able to have his truck paid off this month or next. What a blessing that will be!

Anyways, that's all for now. Hope you all are having a great day! :o)

Cleaning House

So, I have made myself a calendar that has a different chore for each day. I did this a couple months ago, but it didn't exactly stick...actually, I did this back in October. And that calendar is still up on my fridge. Hmmm. Should probably take that down. Anyways, here's my new one:

Hopefully this time I can stick with it better than last time. I guess we'll see. :o)

Well, while we're on a cleaning/organizing note, I guess I'll post some pictures from a while back of a cleaning/organizing project of mine. :o)

One night when Ang was over, working on her quilt, I decided to clean out my spare room closet. Unfortunately, I'm embarrassed to admit, this is what it looked like when I started:

But, with some time, and organizational skills, this is what it looked like when I was finished. Ahh. Doesn't just looking at that make you feel better? It does me! :o)

Alright, well there's my little update. Hopefully I can stick to my cleaning schedule. Wait, no, I will be sticking to my cleaning schedule, from here on out. There. That's better. :o) Hope you all have a great evening, and a great weekend! :o)

Interesting Night

Well, I did get most of my kitchen cleaned. not all of the dishes would fit into the dishwasher, and I was going to hand wash the left-over ones, but then Heidi showed up, so I decided to put it off. Imagine that. :o)

So, we spent a little while looking around for the screw gun, and then for some screws to hang up the brackets for my curtains with. We found the screws, but Mike had the screw gun with him in his back pack. When I went out to the garage to look for the screws, Mike had the garage door opened, and was holding a shoe box. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "Nothing." kinda like a little boy who gets caught doing something that he's a little bit embarrassed about. :o) I stood there and watched him for a couple minutes, and realized that he had gotten his truck stuck in the freshly plowed snow bank across the street from our house. You see, we share a parking spot with our neighbor, and it's first come, first serve. So, when they're parked there, he has to park across the street. Which normally isn't an issue, but with the recent massive amounts of snow, the snow bank is bigger, and farther out into the road than normal. So, when he tried to park over there, the snow sucked him in, and got him stuck GOOD. Or bad. Whichever way you want to look at it. Anyways, a couple trips to the store, and roughly 2 1/2 hours later, we got it out. Goodness. :o)

anyways, Heidi and I didn't get the curtains hung up, because I had to help Mike with the truck, so she just went home. Hopefully we'll get to that another night soon. And when we do, I'll have pictures. :o)

Tonight, I plan on getting some Laundry done! Ugh, it needs it real bad. And, I'm going to get the rest of my kitchen cleaned as well. :o) as for the rest of the house... I need to start brainstorming for organization solutions. the house desperately needs to be de-cluttered. I just get overwhelmed with all the stuff laying around. It drives me crazy, and I don't know what to do with it all, so it just keeps piling up until I want to explode and just THROW IT ALL AWAY!!!! *ahem* I'm done now. :o) Any suggestions for cutting back on clutter, and staying organized? what do you guys do? I love feedback, so come on, spill!

Alright, I better get going for now. I've got a bunch of pictures from the past couple months that I want to get posted, so hopefully I can get started on that today. See ya! :o)

The Goins-on Around Here

Well, I just thought I would do a "word" post now, since I've done so many "picture" posts lately. :o)

Things with me are going good. Just been working, and loving my husband lately. :o) Haha, that sounded bad. Not that I haven't been loving him in the past. Oh, never mind. :o) Anyways, I'm just sayin, things are good right now. And it's nice. :o)

I do have some problem areas though. Like MY HOUSE!!!! Oh my. It's such a mess. BUT I'm going home tonight to clean it. I already took care of the living room, and the kitchen table on lunch. So, tonight I need to tackle my kitchen. HOW ON EARTH does it get SO messy? Goodness. I don't even know how it happens. I turn around and BAM! it's a disaster. Sheesh. Well, tonight it shall be taken care of. Mike has a side job out in North Pole for a little while tonight. So, while he's gone I'm going to clean, and then Heidi is going to come over and help me turn the material that I got at Joann's on Monday night (on SALE!) into curtains for our poor living room window/door. Yay. :o) I'm really excited to get some curtains up, since I've been in our house for almost 9 months (9 month anniversary coming up next Saturday!) and have done practically NO decorating. So, I'm looking forward to a productive night, and am feeling quite motivated at the moment. Pray that I STAY motivated. :o) That's always my problem. I'm always PLENTY motivated at work to get stuff done at home, then I do get home and all I want to do is chill. Hopefully that won't be the case tonight. Ok, no. It will not be the case tonight. I have to determine to get it done, and I am. There. :o)

On another note, it is snowing like CRAZY here. We woke up to around 4 - 6 inches on the ground this morning. When I got to work, they were plowing the parking lot, and when I went to lunch at noon, there was almost as much snow on the ground as there had been before they plowed this morning. It's been snowing moderately all day, but now it's REALLY coming down. It's expected to continue snowing tonight through tomorrow. Crazy. Everyone is complaining, but I like it. :o) We're going snowboarding on Saturday, and I'm SO excited. This will be the second time of the year going, and with all this snow, it's going to be AWESOME. So far it's only Mike and I going, so anyone else in the area wanting to come, PLEASE DO!!!! It'll be fun!!! Come on.... you know you want to. ;o)

Alright, well I think that's enough out of me for one day. :o) Hopefully I'll have pictures to post soon of my new curtains! :o) Hope you all have a good night. :o)

Hawaii Pictures, Part 4

Alright, well I've gotta say that I'm pretty proud of myself for getting these pictures posted so quick. :o) Maybe I'm getting better at this. Or maybe it's a fluke. :o) anyways, on with the show.

Beautiful hibiscus flowers at one of the stops on the Hana Highway.

So, we stopped at an arboretum along the way, and there was a steep drop off and this was what was at the bottom. Just looking at it freaked me out, because right before you get to this stop there's a sharp curve, so it's definitely not hard to imagine how this happened. *shiver*

The trees were amazing.

These trees were my favorite. they're called Paint Trees (or something like that anyhow) and their color intensifies when they're wet. Lucky for us, it had just poured. :o)

Ugh, these pictures don't do them justice. They were so cool.

Look! People!

The end of the trail.

These orange flowers were so cool. they grow in the tops of the trees though, so unfortunately I couldn't get a close up view.

More Paint Trees. :o)

Aren't these roots cool??? Alaska trees are SO boring.

Lanae`'s potty. Haha, ok not really. It was a joke we had going though. You just had to be there. :o)

I just love this picture. I completely used manual focus on my camera and I love the way it turned out.

Lava rocks

On our way back to the first waterfall, a second time.

Mike swimmin in the water. :o)

On our way to the airport.

Hehe, love my Tori. :o)

Do you see how disgustingly tan mike is?!?!? I mean, I came back pretty tan too, but nothing near what he is - obviously, since I'm standing right next to him in the picture.

Anyways, there you have it. They're all done. :o)