Garage Sale Finds of the Summer

Last week on Saturday was a great day, and we were both home (amazingly husband didn't have to work) so i suggested we hit the garage sales for something fun to do. And, shock of all shocks, he agreed without me having to twist his arm. He wanted to go get a paper and see where any were, but i figured all we had to do would be to drive around and we'd find a few. He didn't believe me so i looked up a few online to make him feel better, but in the end we only got to one of the places on the list because there were tons of signs all up and down the neighborhood. I ended up finding a bed frame for cheep, and we had fun going through strangers crazy stuff. Our find of the day, besides the bed frame?

Yes, Titanic The Board Game. We didn't know if we should be disturbed or if we should think it was funny. The object of the game:

"Gossip with other passengers, receive telegrams and collect all five pieces of your personal property to advance from the Second Class to the First Class section of the ship. But watch out, you might get put back in steerage or, worse yet, never make it to your lifeboat in time..."

Who knew there was such a thing? It really was so outrageous, we had to buy it. It was $1 we still don't regret spending. Its missing a few pieces, but i've found a site online to buy them, so i'm not too worried about it.

Other then that, things are going. I've been putting off doing the decorating of our house for after the beach vacation so we could save money, but now that its over i can start doing the things i've been planning. Things like curtains, artwork on the walls, table runners and candle holders, accessories and decorations, that padded headboard i've been wanting to do for forever, and the extra bedroom.

I've been on the hunt for a bed frame for our extra queen size bed, and i'm so glad i've finally found one. When we got our new mattress set for our bed to replace the one i had before we got married, we were short on bed frames. So we had an extra bedroom with a mattress sitting on the floor, and it might be just me, but I'm not a fan of offering guests we have over to sleep on a mattress on the floor. i just feel guilty doing it. We have 2 different sets of guest coming to stay this week, so that's my immediate stress for the week, getting that room put together (for the most part) so everyone is comfortable.

But that leaves the one full size mattress, minus its box-spring, sitting on the floor in the other extra bedroom...i don't have any idea what to do with that one. I want to make it usable and presentable without spending hundreds of dollars, so i'm going to put this out there: any suggestions??? i'm open to suggestions. I know i won't be able to do it this week, but eventually.

And then for my room, i plan on finally doing the padded headboard. Yea! I've picked out the material, and Husband has approved, so its going to happen soon. I'm just going through tutorials and pictures online to figure out which way i'm going to do it.
Other then that, Husband and i have been going to movies when we can. I love summer movie season, there are more movies to see then we have time for. I took Husband out for his first taste of Greek food last week. He said it was better then he thought it would be. Seriously. I'm a huge fan of Greek food (i blame the White House Grill if Post Falls for getting me hooked, and great mom's like my friend Rachel's for making such great food all the time), so if he likes it i can have it more often here. Victory for me for that one.
So yeah, basically staying happy still, staying busy, having fun with husband when i can, and trying to stay cool in the Cali heat. Not too much to complain about really :)

Outer Banks

Vacation in Outer Banks, NC was everything i hoped it would be. WONDERFUL. Playing in the ocean, sand castles, parasailing, a new kite, family, little kids and babies, sun burns, great food...even just the initial act of getting out of the car the first time when we got there and smelling the ocean air...wow. My eyes roll back in joy just thinking about it.
We've been planning this vacation for over a year. Husbands mom, Liz, loves the Outer Banks and i think she's genius. It turned out great, and was worth all the months of stress talking husband into it (he was convinced we wouldn't be able to afford it).
The huge house we stayed in was on Hatteras Island. I don't think i realized that the "Outer Banks" was a string of islands (sandbars) before a few weeks before we left. I don't know what i thought it was before then, but it was a big realization. Now i know why Nicholas Sparks writes so many books that take place there. Our friend Jeremy dropped us off at the airport in Sacramento and we flew into Norfolk VA on Saturday night and drove down from there. We hung out at the airport for a few hours trying to figure out flights and the rental car situation for husbands brother Jacob and his wife because their flight was delayed, so we got to the house around 3:30 am Sunday morning. But since we were still on west coast time mentally we weren't completely dead tired.
Sunday i finally got to meet husbands entire family. It was the first time the whole family had been together in 7 years, so it was a big deal for us all to be there together. I knew i married into a great family, but this trip reminded me how wonderful they really are. I couldn't ask for better in-laws. And the extended family (a few aunts & uncles and cousins) that rented another house down the street, were just as fun getting to know too.
We spent Sunday, not at church because it was so far away, but enjoying the beauty of the beautiful beach and playing in the ocean. Getting sunburned. Our house was right on the beach so we got to see an amazing view. Husband was able to take some great pictures up on the deck one night.
Everyone took turns making dinner every night. I can't think of a night where there wasn't great food. Husband and i made taco salad on our night. I will be posting the recipe for that soon because it seemed to go over fairly well.
There was an awesome Frozen Custard place that everyone stopped at. There were over 30 of us that walked in, and amazingly we didn't scare them into closing early.
The Parasailing turned out to be as great as i hoped it would be. We ended up with 12 of us all together that went, and we got a great deal on it. With so many of us they were going to take us up to 800 ft of rope at the 400 ft price, but the tuesday we set it all up for, they didn't show up. They had double booked, and they felt so bad for making us take the ferry to Ocracoke so early in the morning that they set us up for Thursday for 1/2 the price. It turned out to be a prettier day i thought, and it really was tons of fun. It wasn't half as scary as husband thought it would be, and we've decided the best way to describe is was that we now know how it feels to be a kite.
We took the chance to take tons of family picture. Husband had fun spending time with his brothers and all the guys playing games, and i enjoyed getting to know the sisters-in-law. The kids were so fun too. One of husbands nephews found me so many great shells on the beach, it was soo cute.
Overall, the vacation was a success. I can't wait until we can go back to the beach again!

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