Summer Insights

I think I'm settling into summer. I've discovered a few things about myself in having all this free time...

1. I hate to clean the bathroom. And even when I have oodles of time, it still doesn't happen as often as it should. Sooo that "I'm working" excuse, isn't really true I guess.

2. I am bad about starting a project and not completely finishing it. In a day, I might start and almost finish about 3 projects such as cleaning something, an artsy project, or organizing. But I just can't seem to finish that last 10%. What does that mean???

3. Carlos and Polly follow me around because they don't get enough time with me. You see, now that I'm home a lot more than normal, they are content to stay in a different room if they are napping. This has never been the case. It's a little sad I must admit.

4. Either I did something wrong, I cooked it too long, or it just wasn't good, but the Cooking Light recipe for the pound cake I made tonight was not what I was hoping for. I guess that's what you get when trying to make a "Light" pound cake.

Summer is going well and I'm enjoying the extra time to exercise (Ran 2 miles today thanks to my new running friend!) and to study the Word and pray. Also its nice to get all the little house projects done and have time to spend with other teacher friends and have a lunch longer than 25 minutes. The next month is going to be busy with vacations, some training and Houston Project so its going to fly!

High Flyer

So my cat Carlos is quite talented. Besides being overly large and longer than any cat I've ever had, he can jump like no body's business. Also, he plays fetch. Yes, like a dog. My cat growing up, Little Kitty, also did this with hair twisties. Carlos plays fetch with anything - hair twisties, toys, twisty ties. But one of his faves is the little seal that you pull off of the box milk cartons. You know, the ones that are a circle and they have a little circle pull on them. Anyways, below is Carlos demonstrating 2 of his skills - fetch with the milk carton seal and high jumping. Enjoy the show.




Oh and there is no one at home with me - what you hear in the background is the show Felicity. I bought it at half-price books this week and have been watching it as I clean, scrapbook, email, etc. Its been enjoyable and takes me back to college when I watched all the seasons in like a month with the HELK roommates. I love summer!

Bursting!!!

That is just about how I feel right now...except for not about bacon. I am so excited right now for two spectacular reasons. So excited, I have almost forgotten to eat dinner!

1. We found out today that this is Ben's LAST WEEK in Louisiana!! That means he will be home all week from now on. Praise the Lord!

2. We booked plane tickets tonight to visit the Herringtons in early August! Oh how I miss them. They live in Missouri and it has been about a year since we have seen them. Such sweet friends.

Oh! And we can add this one to the list - Twilight Eclipse in 3 DAYS! Wow, good night ya'll.

Finished...almost

I loved doing this project! It wasn't very hard or very expensive and I love the way it turned out. I may try this again. All the painting is done, I just need the knobs. I ordered some glass vintage looking knobs from Amazon and so I'll have to wait a little bit for those to come in. But for now, its a great addition of color into my kitchen.

AFTER (See two posts below for the before)

The knobs to come...

Funky fun furniture!

So, in my quest to add a little style to my house, as I mentioned below, I've been on Craig's List a lot. I found a really neat little company called Altar'd. From reading their website, I found out that it is a Christian family that restores and paints older furniture and they also do workshops to teach you how to do it yourself. They have an interesting name but I love the reason behind it. And it gave me a little inspiration. Check it out!

Summer Project #1

One of my favorite things about summer (among many) is having the extra time to do some creative projects. Last year, I learned how to write in Calligraphy and have enjoyed that skill throughout the year. Well, a couple days ago, I started this year's first big summer project.

To give you some background...I've been looking for some things for my house to give it a little more style and character. We got our new furniture in, and I love it, so that has been fun, but I wanted some decorative items. I've been looking around on Craig's List for anything "Shabby Chic", "Distressed", or "Vintage" because I like the way that style looks. Now, I've realized that my house is not Shabby Chic style; although I love the look, my house does not fit that. But I do like the distressed look. I found a few pieces on Craig's List, one really cool couple in particular that own a company called Altard, but they were still in the couple hundred dollar range and I was looking for cheap.

Then I stumbled on a $35 small, solid wood dresser. And I thought...Hey, this might be crazy, but I bet I can make my own distressed dresser. So now, the dresser is in my garage waiting to be worked on. I've already sanded down all the stained surfaces and have put on the primer color and I'm just waiting for it to dry. We'll see how this turns out....

BEFORE

Seattle 2010

Last Wednesday, we returned from an 8 night/9 day vacation to Seattle, Washington, Olympic National Park, and Victoria. Loved it! I would recommend the area for vacation to anyone. First of all, it was gorgeous, second of all, it was cool, and third, it was much different from anything in Texas. A blessing from the Lord. We had a lot of sweet time together with fun, relaxation, and good conversations. I have a lot of pictures here and even more on facebook if you want more.

270 foot tall tree, 500 years old, HUGE

The Hoh Rain forest. Isn't it gorgeous! And amazingly sunny. Except for the narrow little trail we followed, there wasn't an inch of ground that didn't have a plant on it. Just amazing.

Marymere Falls - it took a little bit of a hike but such a reward at the end.

This is at the B&B we went to called Collette's. Oh. My. If you ever go to Olympic National Park, you HAVE TO go to this place. It had an overwhelmingly gorgeous garden with a view of the ocean and, get this, a bald eagle's nest you could see from our window. Very cool.

One of the many ferry rides...don't we look relaxed! Ahhh vacation :).

Lynn, you went to space??? I know you must be thinking that. Actually these were the suits we wore to go whale watching in Victoria, Canada. It was COLD on the water and wet. They looked even cooler in person, I promise.

That's an Orca (killer) whale!! It of course looked a lot closer in person but it was awesome. We saw a lot more and it was so worth the trip out.

Blake and Julie if you read this, this photo is for you! That's the space needle above my head.

The Fremont troll under the bridge. The Fremont area was recommended by Holly along with a lot of other great places. We ate at this delicious, very green, place called Homegrown. Very much the culture of Seattle.

Home of Bella. Yes we drove through it and made a few stops. Or, we could have taken the $40/person tour around Forks and La Push. Somebody is banking!

Can't wait for the 3rd movie!! Who's with me???

What would a Benjamin Cooper vacation be without golf? I rode around in the cart and took pictures, played on my iphone, and watched my Ben. It was a beautiful course nestled in the woods and rolling hills.

First Starbucks!!

Probably my favorite part of Seattle - the Pikes Place Market - amazing fruit, donuts, and other yummy goodies, even Organic Wednesdays!

Hooray for a wonderful trip!