whatever

A day at the Cottage-

 
I spent a Day at the cottage- there just something about this old house....that....well, makes me smile. I'm not sure what it is...maybe it's just her age....and how well she had done....almost 100 years old.  I know I won't weather the years as well.

Being here though, reminds me just how much I still have to do.  I haven't even began to touch the upstairs {except for the bathroom} and oh, the dust.  Living in a farming community...you really have to deal with the dust!

Nut season is at hand....so, that means we will be spending more of our time here.

 
The garden is pretty much "spent"....and being here, I'm reminded that there's more to do to the master bedroom.....but it's all good......I'm thinking a fall little party at the house would be fun. =)

 
and the wisteria is going to be fabulous next year. {at least it survived, we have other plants that did not fair as well...not sure why.}

But... all is well, it was a Happy Day at the cottage.

Happy Birthday to little Audrey...she is one today.  She also shares a birthday with my Brother...welcome to the 50's Maurice.

 

Spring Event-

You Inspire us-

If you haven't stop by the Spring Event Blog lately....stop on by, see what we are up too.  

Called to a Fire-

  
Yesterday we went to the Temple with our Branch, about 15 of us.- {we now serve in the Spanish Branch}  Wonderful Day.

On the way home we had a great Lunch with this lovely couple- they were just called to serve in the Spanish Branch - he is the second counselor.

{We had just finished lunch when we got the call....sorry guys....they got to experience a fire call with us...it's a little crazy =) 

 
Made it back home....and then Dan headed off to the fire-

 
The road to Yosemite has been closed for a few days- I think they are getting it under control.   Hugs to my friends in that area.

It's about 30 miles from our place.

 

 

 

 

Straight to you-

Had such a fun evening- Steve, Sandi, Dan and me =)  Went to Sacramento to see Josh Groban "Straight to you tour".

 

The cute shoes that Sandi wore....and the amazing stage. So interesting how they made it change just with light through out the concert.

 
 
For half of the show he performed on a stage in the middle of the arena- at one point he took questions from the audience.....{they had us text our question to him earlier} one was from a young women, who asked if she could sing with him on stage.  Sandi and I were a little worried for her...kind of like her Mom would be....just wanted her to be awesome.....was thinking it would be so cool if she could really sing well....Josh got her up on stage and then asked her what she wanted to sing....she replied anything.  {we could tell that Josh was a little worried for her....you could tell he didn't want to embarrass her, just in case she wasn't good....so they sang Happy Birthday to a women in the audience....Oh my goodness, brought the house down....she could sing really well...I think it totally surprised Josh.....but how fun for her....getting to sing with Josh.....Awesome! 
 
Josh sang for over 2 hours...so awesome! 

Truly couldn't ask for a better way to spend an evening---  friends and awesome concert!

 

 

Pantry makeover- one roll of wallpaper & a quart of paint.

My pantry was one scary hot mess.....just couldn't take it anymore.....so yesterday around noon I riped into it. {Picture taken at 11:29am}

  {Picture taken at 12:54pm}
 Took everything out...washed down all the shelves....I can't believe all the stuff I got out of there....filled up the island, table, counter-tops and there was a stack of boxes I set in the laundry room...Holy Cow, why did I let it get like this? {I'm a little embarrassed to say that yes; 6 big bags of old, "why did I keep it" stuff will be in the dumpster today.}
So, now I have it cleaned out....Oh, I have a little secret to share about cleaning the shelf stains- windex  combined with Bar Keepers Friend...will take out just about anything.

  What can you do with a pantry, one roll of wallpaper, and a quart of paint.......

 
{Picture taken at 4:37 pm}

The shadows in the pantry make the wallpaper look  light in some places and darker in others.....But in real life they look the same =)

 
Finished at 7:10pm

 
Shopped my home for a few items....but pretty much everything that was in there before came back  {well,except for the 6 big bags of crazy stuff.  =)

Before-

 

After-

 

 

 
The Pantry is clean once again...hope it stays that way for awhile.  The Pantry is... "what it is"..... In my dream world,  I would love for all the containers to match, cute handwritten labels would be nice and a cute little framed blackboard would be sweet.  All in all I'm pretty okay with how it turned out.

 
Next project...clean out the spice cabinets...scary!  {just ask Sam....wait, maybe not. =) 

 Click on button below...to see what others are doing.

Saturday with Denver & Bree

Denver and Bree are back at school now.....so fun to have them here for a little while.   We had a nice "chilling" week.  Shopping, beach, pool, shopping, nuthouse for Denver....lots of food and movies.  On Saturday we took the kids into Fresno to pick up Denver's new suit.   While there we " killed" a few hours looking at model homes {Danny's idea=} The first set we looked at were stunning...the others not so much.  So I will share some of the things we liked.

Loved this kitchen...well, really loved the whole house....I didn't have my camera with me, so all these pictures were taken with my phone.....sorry. {this home was priced at 1.4 million =)

 

It was kind of hard to get the pictures that I wanted with my phone.  We loved all the ceilings. Lots of rooms with wallpaper...not sure I'm ready for wallpaper just yet....still trying to get over the 80's.

Barrel ceiling- fabulous.

Seriously what is up with the chair?  This was in another set of model homes we went through....I think, according to the design...they were catering  to a younger group.  =) 

Fun Day.

 

 

Denver & Bree-

 
......you guys make me smile.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk-

Denver and Bree are here for a little visit- so we loaded up everyone and headed to the beach.....for a little day of fun.

{sorry denver for the eyes closed photo) but Bree looked adorable so I posted it....girls rule.

 

 First ride right out of the car- Carlee started off all happy....but 1 minute into the ride, not so much.....they stopped it for her.....sorry Carlee.....I promise she had tons of fun later.

 
 

 
Denver and Bree- braving the sky drop.

 
Sam and Heidi-  I Loved the look on Heidi's face in the second picture....wish I had captured Bree's expression....it was awesome.

 
Bree and Denver- flying

 
While Denver and Bree were doing crazy big kid rides....we did a lot of this....

 

Danny did a lot of this..... no rides for us.

 
 
 
Watched a show on the beach-

 
Even got a little wet-

 
Rode on a really old carousel-

Had tons of fun at the beach and boardwalk-

 

 

Dinosaur tail & a lost mind-

Sam, Heidi and kids came over last night for dinner and games....Denver and Bree are here for a few days so we thought it would be fun to get the family together.

 

Heidi made this adorable little dinosaur tail for Preston....each of the kids had their turn trying it on....it even fit Bree's tiny waistline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today Bree and I drove into town to pick up a few things {namely a patch to fix Denver's pants =)

After we got home we decided to relax a little and watched "the Glee project." We are so cheering for Damian.

But this is what I noticed that had us just laughing-

Yes, I'm loosing my mind- the shoes I wore shopping.  Bree I need you to save me from myself ;)

 

Having a great time with Denver and Bree- pictures later.

 

NW Street of Dreams-

 
Day two of our Mother Daughter activity was huge, in more ways than one.  Shannon had arranged for us to tour the Street of Dreams homes.  She knows I love to tour model homes.

All the showers in this home tour were huge! 

 
 
This was my favorite home of the show....everything just my style.  It even had a "top secret" hidden playroom-

Loved the beams-

 

1. Loved the soft colors and the pop of raspberry.
2. Beautiful outdoor garden- each yard had something different, from wood-burning-fireplaces and pizza ovens to golf greens,sport courts and exercise equipment.
3. Loved this outdoor eating area....the chairs were great.
4. This bath had a wonderful spa feel...loved all the marble.

 

The fretwork in this room was fabulous, it really popped with the gray color behind it.  Later on in the day Shannon and I came across something similar at the container store...it was made of plastic.

Shannon shares a few more pictures of the tour on her blog-

After we left the tour.... it was lunch and some super fun shopping.

Have I said how much I love the hanging flowers and potted plants in Portland. =)

 We had a wonderful time shopping .....came home with a few treasures.

 
It was a super fun day.... But really just spending time with Shannon was the best part of it.  She has blessed my life and I'm so very pleased with all that she does for her family, friends and Church.  

It seems we never had enough time.....I'm thankful for her in my life.

The rest of the time spent at Shannon's home.

• library
• shopping
• special lunch at burgerville
• Church 

 

 

1.  Payton and Shannon picking out books
2. Anna life of the party.
3. Conner looking for a book on the computer
4. Dollar Tree- I got the kids a Bingo game and told them I would take them to Dollar store to get prizes for the game. They each had five dollars....you would of thought I gave them $100.  Cheap entertainment.  =) {they put all the prizes in a basket so when they play the game the winner has prizes to pick from.}

 
I had a wonderful time. Came home ready to face the world. Thanks Shannon for making me feel so very special, and to all the kids for their hugs and kisses.   I so appreciate Scott....and all he did to help make this happen. 

Love you all.

 

 
I miss my daily "tea" party with my sunshine.