Someone Had A Good Birthday

My birthday was over a week ago, but my lack of blogging about it before now has nothing to do with how great it was. i just haven't been wanting to do the sifting through and editing of the pictures. Husband took about 200 pictures, and vain person that i am, i can't just post anypicture of me. I have to find the ones that make me look cute...or at least not scary and fat. But i finally got around to it because i really do want to tell you all how my big day/trip went.
My wonderful husband for some crazy reason loves and adores me. i haven't figured out why, but he does, so i take what i can get. One of his goals in life seems to be making my every wish come true, and on my list was to go to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. Who wouldn'twant to visit it?

It is a maze of rooms and craziness, but i love the whole story of it, and the idea that it's haunted is just a plus for me. So birthday morning we threw the suitcase in the car, hit the gas station and Jamba Juice, and then we were on our way. We did the tour of the Winchester house, with the VIP behind the scenes tour that goes into the extra areas not on the regular tour, including the basement. My #1 hope was that i would see/hear a ghost on the tour, but i was disappointed on that one. But its ok, we can't have everything we wish for.
After checking into our hotel, he took me out for some of my favorite food: Greek. I'm happy to say i've been able to expose Husband to Greek food this last year so i can have it without him making a face at the idea now. He'll only order a Gyro, there's no adventure in trying anything new, but he'll never say no to baklava so i'll take it.

Tuesday we went to San Francisco. We walked around through the park and down to Ocean Beach, and i let Husband take his time taking pictures along the way.

We went over to the Golden Gate bridge and took more pictures.

We wanted to go over to Alcatraz Island to do the prison tour, but we decided we're going to need to take another trip to San Francisco so we needed to leave some things to do for next time. Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, and riding the trolley will be left for next time too.

We did go to the Exploratorium Museum though.

We promised each other we would only stay for 2 hours so we could go do some of the other things on our list for the day, but some how 2 hours stretched out into 6 and they were kicking us out the door for closing. There were so many things to do and see, and we still weren't done when it was time to go.

So after getting some dinner and checking into our hotel, we called it a night. We were so tired from the day, we were asleep by 10 i think.

Wednesday morning we slept in, got ready for the day and decided we were ready to head home. We drove down Lombard St. and then headed over real quick to stop to see the "Painted Ladies" aka the Victorian Houses you may recognize from the opening credits of Full House.

And then we got out of there. But since Fairfield was on the drive home, we had to stop at the Jelly Belly factory and take the tour.

We may or may not have left with several bags of Belly Flops... Our plan for those was to send some bags as gifts to people, but we both have a sweet tooth i don't think either of us have the the ability to give them away any more.

So yes, i can definitely say i had a good birthday. Probably the best birthday i've ever had. I've never taken such a great trip for a birthday before, and just the fact that i got to spend it all with Husband, my best friend ever, made it all the better. I'm going to have to do something really great for him soon i think.

Busy Girl This Fall

Ok, i admit i haven't been busy doing a lot of anything the last few weeks. Lame right? Husband and I were both sick with an annoying cold/flu one week, and we're in the midst of a major push to pay off debt (we paid off my car!!!), so we haven't been out doing things like we would normally. No going out for movies or fun adventures, and except for Husbands desperate need of McDonald's to win the Monopoly million dollar prize, there hasn't been a lot of going out for food on my end. After 2 days in a row of Husband coming home with McNuggets and large fries for me, and stomach aches to follow that evening, i requested he just buy fast food for his lunches and not bring it home ever again. I think i can live without McDonald's for the rest of my life. The pain isn't worth it to me.

But in my down time i found a new addiction. I'm having a little bit of a hard time admitting it, but i think i should share. On top of my admitting this, i'm admitting that i'm hoping to get all of you addicted too.... :] So here it is, my addiction :

Veronica Mars. It was a tv show they had on the CW a little while back that lasted 3 seasons (sadly). Who would have guessed this was actually a good show? Well, my mom of all people did. She kept telling me about this show, and I didn't believe her until the other week when i was looking through the Netflix instant watch library, i added it to my list and gave it a try. And then I couldn't stop watching it once i started. I took over Husbands Xbox and watched all 3 seasons in just a few days. I woke up every morning at 8 (sometimes 7) and parked myself on Husbands favorite chair over the weekend. Yes, i got up at 7 on a Saturday, though i can hardly do that on a week day, and stayed up until 1 at night watching episode after episode. I neglected poor Husband during my marathon too. i don't think i cooked a single meal. It was all PB&J or cereal. But thankfully he's not the type to complain about food. His biggest complaint was that i had taken over the Xbox so he didn't have anything or anyone to entertain him. He survived though.
So yeah, i was addicted and in the end felt very unsatisfied when i got to the last season and it wasn't completed with the continuing story into season 4 to finish the series. But i have a whole new respect for Kristen Bell as an actress which i thought would never happen. Any way, i think you should all watch it and take part in my addiction when you have some time.
I'm happy to say that Fall is finally here in CA. Its beautiful, again. This time last year, almost to the day, i was able to go up to Apple Hill, without Husband because he had to work, and i was hoping to go again this year with him. We just haven't had the chance. We had planned to go with some friends the other week, but Husband managed to get some tickets from work to a football game the same night so we all went to that instead. But chances are good that we'll still be able to go this year. There's still time. Unlike Utah, with its ridiculous snow the last week of October (who would want to jump seasons from summer straight to winter?!). Utah, you have my sympathy....
Halloween is a day away now. Who can wait?? Our ward had our Trunk or Treat 2 weeks ago. We helped with one of the booths, fishing for prizes, and i was actually able to talk Husband into dressing up with me to go. I dressed up like a dental hygienist, and i was able to drag out of husband that the last time he dressed up for Halloween he was Napoleon Dynamite. Since he still had the Vote for Pedro t-shirt, i just had to pop the frames out of some crap sunglasses for him, and he was set. For candy this year we're skipping chocolate and going with suckers.

These loverlys are heaven. I decided, since i usually eat through all the chocolate every year when i purchase candy before the big day and have to buy 3 times as much as i would have if i could just hide it from myself like a normal person, suckers were the way to go. They're impossible to eat through a whole bag in one sitting. I wanted the Caramel Apple Pops, but amazingly i couldn't find them anywhere in the stores here. i have no idea why though. So i resorted to buying 2 boxes of them online, thats how determined to not buy chocolate this year i am. The first box we handed out for trunk or treat, the 2nd box will go for Halloween.

Halloween...

Even as i'm writing this, my enjoyment from this holiday is going down. Why do people have to be dumb? Earlier this week, Wednesday night, just as it was getting dark out, i heard a hard thwack on the front window. It wasn't a new sound because i've heard birds fly into the top windows over the main windows a few times this summer, so i didn't think too much about it other then the fact that it was kind of late for the birds to not realize the windows have glass in them. But Thursday morning when i left for the day, while i was locking the door behind me i looked over and saw this:

Someone decided to throw an egg at out house :[ Why are people that rude? We haven't had the chance to clean it off yet, 2 days later. But its ok though, because tonight as i started my blogging, we were hit again, by the front door this time. Angry Face! Husband didn't hear it, but i did and told him, and he got out the front door just in time to hear a car take off down the street. We'll have to clean it off tomorrow morning for sure now. We don't know anyone in the neighborhood, and we don't have enemies, so who knows why we're being singled out here. Punks.
So that's our month. Nothing too exciting going on, like usual. Really looking forward to November, for my birthday....and for Harry Potter :]

Frame Jewelry Display

I am not the type of girl to wear a lot of jewelry or accessories. I'm sure that makes me weird for a girl but oh well. You'll usually find me in just my wedding ring and a simple necklace when it comes to accessories. Nothing frilly or chunky or large for me. But don't get me wrong, i love the frilly/chunky/large stuff that everyone is wearing. I just don't know how to wear it myself. I'm terrible with accessories. Trust me, i wish i could be good at it because i really do love it. And oh how i wish i could wear headbands, but i'm pretty sure i have the biggest sized head you can get for a girl and the headband just digs in behind my ears causing major headache...but headbands aren't jewelry, which is what we're talking about today. So anyway, as far as earrings go....i almost never wear them. I have a bunch, but my ears are just too sensitive to metals most of the time that i hardly ever try to wear them. But when i stumbled onto this Earring Display over at Kevinandamanda.com, i fell in love.

That's adorable right? I couldn't pass up this idea, so i went and made it myself :]

It was SO easy to make too. PLUS i already had everything i needed, i didn't spend a single dollar. But even then, if you don't have some of the supplies, it's still a very inexpensive project. I had a bunch of frames i didn't know what to do with from decorations for our wedding, but i got all of the frames in the first place from DI and Goodwill for a $1 each, some of them for less. So like i said, very cheap.

What you'll need:

Picture Frames

Picture Hanging Wire

Craft Paint

(i used Vintage White & Calypso Sky, but your colors are up to you)

Paint Brushes

(the foam ones worked great to give the paint the streaks so it wasn't so polished with the white)

Thumb Tacks

Ribbon

Staple Gun & Staples

I started out, for this frame, painting it first entirely with the Calypso Sky and letting it dry. It doesn't take more then a few minutes. I wanted this to be the color to show through when i painted the white over it with the 2nd coat.

When i painted the white over the 1st color, i just brushed it over, i didn't try to get the white into the detail and corners. That's the look i was going for, the shabby chic look, and i got what i wanted :]

Next was the hanging wire. I used 2 pieces of hanging wire and twisted them together so post earrings can be hung from the display as well.

So, you can slide the post earrings in between the wires and put the backs on, or hang the hooks over the double wires.

When stapling the wires to the back of the frame, you have a choice. You can staple the wire directly to the back of the frame. But if you do this, i realized after the fact, the wire will be directly against the wall if you decide to hang the display.

So the other option is to staple the wires to the side of the inside of the frame where the glass and backing slides into.

I spaced the hanging wire about 3/4 of an inch from the top of the inside of the frame, and 3 inches apart for each additional wire below that. It depends on the size of the frame you use for how you space it though.

This is what the ribbon and thumb tacks were used for. Because the backs are taken out of the frames, there is nothing to use if it's going to be hung up on the wall. So this is what i came up with.

Amanda, the one to inspire this whole project, was inspired in the first place by Ruffles And Stuff with this:

She had used an old frame with the original hanging wire to string up her necklaces.
I didn't want to have to unclasp my necklaces to get it off the wire, so i decided the hooks were the way to go. I realize a necklace has to be unclasped to put it on your neck....but i just thought it was easier to slip a necklace over the hook when it comes to taking it on and off the frame.

The only thing you need extra for this is the Hooks instead of the hanging wire. You can find them in the hardware aisle. I used 7, and equally spaced them across the top on the inside of the frame.
If that isn't enough hooks for you though, you can use 2 hooks on either end of the frame and slip a dowel inside the hooks to hang the necklaces from and -- i would think -- that would be easily removed to take a necklace off the dowel. Or you can just use the picture hanging wire if you like that idea :]

So there you go. A simple, inexpensive DIY project you can do to display your jewelry.
I actually didn't keep this project for myself.... Husband thought i was silly to spend so much time for something that wasn't for me, but when i told him i was sending it to his sister, he said i was really sweet :]

My sister-in-law Leah makes earrings, which she has given me several pairs of, and has lots of pretty jewelry, so i figured she would put these to better use then i would.
So Leah, these Frame Jewelry Displays are all for you.

I hope you like them!

Hey There!

You've missed me right? I'm warning you right now, there are LOTS of words in this post, but not a whole lot of interesting ones. If you read all of it, you're a good friend. If you don't, you're still a good friend because i won't blame you for not reading. So yeah, there's my warning.
I know some of you are wondering what happened to me. i used to be so much better at keeping this up to date. I know i should be doing this better. Its like free therapy some days, cheep entertainment other days, and like having friends around the rest of the days. I like sharing things with everyone so i don't know what my deal is..... i'm sorry. Life just gets busy and distracting some times.
I recently spent 2 weeks in Idaho visiting my family. It was much needed for me, but the hard thing about it was that i did it without Husband. Gasp! I don't know how either of us survived 2 weeks apart.... i especially don't know how Husband survived living alone for that long. He's never done that before. He grew up the middle child. After high school he served a mission for our church for 2 years and always had a companion with him then. When he was going to school he had roommates. Basic training, he lived in barracks. When he was on the boat, its was like living in barracks. No privacy. There's always someone around. Then, we got married and he's been sharing a room with me since. He's never lived alone. But while i was gone he had to feed himself, entertain himself, and keep the house clean...He survived though, and i came home to a clean house. But he called every night to tell me to come home because he was so bored and he missed me. I felt bad doing it to him :(
But I stayed the whole 2 weeks in Idaho with my family, and i'm glad i did if only because i love my family so much. When Husband and i visit there together, Husband wants to go visit Utah right away and see all his friends from school and from growing up, so time seeing my family is cut short. He feels bad doing that, so it was actually his idea for me to go alone in the first place. I probably wouldn't have stayed so long except my younger brother was visiting the first weekend i was there, and i hadn't seen him in over a year. And then my other little brother turned 7 on Sept. 1st and he wanted to have me there for his party.

So i conquered my fear -- or at least survived it -- and drove the 12 hours by myself to make the trip. Yes. I have a fear of driving. I used to make drives like that, no problem, back in the days when i was single. But after i developed a vertigo issue a few years ago, conveniently around the time we got married, driving turned into a stressful scary thing. i only say conveniently because i have Husband to do the bulk of the driving when we travel. I won't go into how hard it is for me, but i got past it -- i did it! -- all by myself. I was going to meet my family up at Yellowstone National Part, but Husband and i decided making that part of the trip was pushing it for me. So i missed out on that with my fam, but oh well.
Getting to spend so much time with my little brother Jared was fun. He started 1st grade while i was there, and it was exciting to send him off for that. His poor mom though. Cindy, my step-mom, was at a loss of what to do with her days that first week. She spent every hour wondering what he was doing, missing him, and trying to think up excuses to go see him at school. And then when he came home, he didn't go running into his mom's arms like she imagined and hoped he would. He would walk in and ask where i was instead. She said it was like getting stabbed in the heart with a knife and having it twisted it in a little deeper every day. I felt bad about that, but thankfully she knew it wasn't intentional on my part. He just loved having me there. When i'm not, he usually calls at least once a week to tell me how he plans to build a guest house onto theirs so i can come live with them. He says bringing Husband is an option left up to me if i really want him to come, thank goodness. He just loves his sister.
His birthday party turned out to be a lot of fun. I spent a few hours filling up water balloons for him and his friends to have a war out in the front yard that only lasted a few minutes. But i got to throw a few of them myself, so it was all worth it in the end. His birthday present from mom and dad was his very own kitten. Cute right?

I was so jealous. Well, at least i was until she pooped on my bed in the middle of the night right next to my head. *Seriously???* I about puked all over her. After that she thought we were best friends though. She followed me everywhere, i couldn't sit down without her in my lap. blah. i started locking her in the garage every night so she would always know where the litter box was at night.
While i was there, i got to run into Logan UT a few times to go to Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby is one of those places i can spend hours wondering around and getting ideas for crafts and art projects and decorating. If we had a Hobby Lobby here in Cali, i would probably spend all our extra money there. Something i picked up while i was there, something i've wanted to do for a while but didn't have everything to make it, was supplies to make this:

Antiqued Candle Holders. Its glass vases sprayed with mirror spray paint and water to make it look antiqued. I like candle warmers, but I'm not a huge fan of candles in my home. I don't care for the fire part. But it really is SO pretty, i couldn't resist wanting to make it. But i couldn't make it because i wasn't able to find the mirror spray paint. I have tons of glass vases that sit in my kitchen windows because i don't know what else to do with them, but now i'll be fixing them up nice and pretty :)
But really, the things that really made the whole trip worth it was spending time with all of my parents. My step-mom Cindy is one of my favorite people in the world. She's always so easy to talk to when something is bothering me, and she's the last person to judge. She's such great example. I love her. With my dad....i'm probably considered a daddy's girl. We're complete opposites though. We have different ways of looking at the world as well as how we do things, but we both want those around us to be happy. I love my daddy though. I got to spend hours just sitting around talking with him. And then my mom :) i love her too. I was able to go over to see my mom when she wasn't busy. I actually got to attend church with her, which is something i haven't done in a very long time. I can't even remember the last time... But it was nice. I enjoyed her ward, and i loved going to her Sunday school class she teaches for the 12-13 year old youth. It was fun seeing all her work she's done in her garden too, and cooking with fresh picked vegetables from the garden was so yummy.
So, that's about it. It was a great visit, but i'm glad to be home. I've been cooking, and cleaning, working on some crafts, and enjoying Husband. I'll be posting a craft i made in the next day or two that i'm pretty excited about, so that's something you can look forward to from me soon.



Oh, and P.S. Happy 1st Day of Fall :) I love this time of year!

Best Taco Salad Ever

While we were on family vacation to the Outer Banks this year, everyone in the family took turns making dinner over the week. We were warned ahead of time by several months so we could make plans. Since Husband is such a fan of my Taco Salad (its one of his top 3 favorites to request when i ask him what he wants for dinner for the week), and it feeds so many with just one recipe, i figured it would be my best choice to go with. It turned out i was right too, everyone was happy :] ...at least they said so anyway. After getting back from vacation i promised i would post the recipe, but procrastinator that i am, i still haven't. I'm sorry.

Taco Salad
1 lbs. hamburger (i use ground turkey though)
1 taco seasoning mix
1/2 bag Doritos
1 bag salad mix
1 can Black beans (drained)
1 can Kidney beans (drained)
1/2 bottle Catalina dressing (i use the fat free kind)
Shredded cheese

Brown the hamburger meat and cook with the taco seasoning according to directions. Poor the Doritos into a big salad bow and crunch them a bit, but not into crumbs though. Poor in the bag of salad and the beans and cheese, and then mix in the Catalina together with everything. Yummy!
This does make a lot for 2 people. The chips will get soggy though, so it doesn't do well for leftovers. When i make it for just us, i don't include the chips and salad in the big bowl, i put them in our individual bowls and mix it all together then. So for leftovers, i send husband to work with sandwich bags of chips and salad so he can heat the mixings and not have soggy stuff.
Let me know if you ever give it a try. It really is amazing stuff :)

I Clicked There

This is just something i found funny today. I admit it, i'm a sucker for commercials and adds some times. There are sooo many times i crave and covet things i see on tv. Its terrible. And if there's something i find half interesting that has a web site, i'll check it out. We've all seen the Zappos.com commercials right? The *puppet* ala Muppets style workers taking call center orders for the site. They were funny, so i had to look at the site. Their ploy to use humor with puppets worked on me. I'm not in buying mode right now, that comes and goes every few months or so, i was just waisting time this afternoon online so i checked it out. Honestly, I don't like to buy shoes online too often because i want to know how they fit before i buy them.
Then i stumbled on the this towards the bottom of the page:

You may have to click on the picture to see what i have circled in red here. Something you don't usually see, it says Don't Ever Click Here. What would you do if you saw that? Duh. You can't NOT click there. So i did it. And i got Rick Roll'd. It sent me to the funniest thing i had seen all day. So, now you can go to Zappos and check it out for yourself. But if you don't want to, you can just click where i said *don't ever click here* and it'll take you to where Zappos sent me.
I'll be blogging again this next week. We had our anniversary this last Sunday, and today we went through the Star Trek exhibit at the Aerospace Museum. We weren't supposed to take pictures of that, but i'm a rule breaker :) So those posts will come soon.

Chicken Pasta Salad

A few months ago Husband and i made a trip over to Idaho/Utah for a week. We spent a few days visiting my family in Preston ID, then we went south to visit friends and some of Husbands family in Utah. While we were visiting his aunt's house, they were having a birthday dinner for his cousin Marie. The dinner was great. Fresh homemade rolls out of the over, a fruit salad, and the most yummy Chicken Pasta Salad i have had in a very long time. It was one of Marie's favorites, which is why she had it for her dinner, and a few days before the 4th of July i was able to get the recipe. *i hope she doesn't mind i'm sharing this with everyone, its just so good i had to share... :]
I've made it twice since getting the recipe because Husband likes it so much. Which is weird, because it has mayonnaise in it and he knows it. He hates mayo.

Chicken Pasta Salad

12oz. bow-tie pasta
12 oz. spiral pasta
2 c. grapes
3 chicken breasts cooked and cubes (or you can use canned chicken...it makes it a lot easier)
3 green onions
1 pkg. crasins
1 small can cashews
1 c. mayo
1 bottle Kraft cole slaw dressing (it has to be Kraft)

Mix first 5 ingredients together. Just before serving add the crasins and cashews. Mix the mayo and dressing together then stir all together.


This is a large recipe. When i make this, i have to cute the recipe in half because this makes A LOT for 2 people, and even then, we have leftovers. The next day we just add a little more of the cole slaw dressing to get it back to consistency.

Enjoy!

My small Dilemma

Yea for Husband and I, our 2nd anniversary is coming up in less then 2 weeks :) Its amazing how fast its gone by. Last year Husband actually had to work (duty on base for 24 hours), and i'm looking forward to spending the actual day with him this year. It was about this time last year that he returned home from a 6 month stay in NC for school with the Coast Guard, so we've finally got a whole year together. He's the love of my life that will go into forever and by far my best friend, and i know i love him more every day. He's more then i could ever ask for. Blah blah, cheesy stuff you probably don't want to read right now. You get the picture though. We are cheesy like that when we're together, arguments about who loves who most and all that. It spills over into the blog sometimes, so i'm sorry. I'm pretty positive i'll get more into all that declarations of love stuff on our actual anniversary, so i'll spare you all until then.

But yes, its coming up fast and we've been talking about *gifts* :) He likes to buy me gifts for some reason. Sweet as heck, and i know i've said this before on here, but i'm pretty sure we would be broke if i let him buy me everything i want. He's slowly getting it into his head that when i say i like/want something, that he's not expected to get it. Usually. But birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays are great for presents still.

I've been dying to get a KitchenAid stand mixer for forever, and every time one of the gifting holidays come around Husband offers to get it for me.... But i've told him no every time. Crazy right? I want it, but i can't justify getting it yet. There are other things for around the house we can get can get for a lot less money.

So, no KitchenAid. For now.

One of the rooms i would like to fix up in our house is our bedroom though. Our room is a mess. Basically a mix-match of furniture and clothes all over the place. Its a little depressing and embarrassing to tell the truth. I try to keep the door closed when people come over so people don't see, but inevitable Husband goes in there for some reason and leaves the door wide open. Ghaaa! Seriously? I hang my head in shame every time and have to run up the stairs to close it without drawing attention to myself so people don't notice and try to peak in before i get to the door. We don't have a dresser, just the closets. There's the little tv in there, my 1st TV/VCR combo i got my junior year of HS that i use when husband has to stay the night at work. The queen sized bed. Nothing fancy there: a new mattress set, and the usual basic metal frame. I have the metal headboard i bought when i was in college for $7 at Kmart (on clearance) set up with the bed too, but i really want to make my padded headboard for it in a dark taupe micro-suede. SOON. I have artwork, lamps, and the duvet i want for the room already. And then there's the bedside tables.... yuck. I had 1 when i was single that was ok....but leaves a lot to be desired. i think i found it for $10 at Wal-mart originally to go beside my futon in my 1st apartment. The other one is this weird unfinished tiny little shelf table i've always used to improvise with so we both have something. I want new matching bedside tables though. Since moving in last November, i've gotten Husband to hang up his clothes 2 times. When i do laundry, i'll separate and lay all his clothes out ready for hangers. Hangers are torture to me, and to him apparently because he usually picks up his piles of clothes, including his underwear, and throws them on the floor so he can climb into bed. He says he wants drawers though. So, i've decided i want this:
Its nightstand sized, and there are drawers he can shove his clothes in, at least a few of them, and i like how they look. They would go great with everything i already have and plan to do with the room. And bonus, they're $70 each right now. If you've ever shopped for nightstands, you'll know thats a great price. So, this is on my list of potential gifts. I know, nightstands as an anniversary gift....not really romantic. I'm kind of practical, or something. But i don't care.

My other choice for a gift is this:

The Come Unto Me statue of Christ. I'm in love with it. It's beautiful. I've always wanted the Christus statue for my home, but i think i would love this one more. And right now, its on sale (like 70% off).

So that's it. Those are the 2 things i want for our anniversary. Stuff to decorate my house with. But i can't pick. Which would you pick?? I'm sure i'll get some See's candy as well, or flowers, because that's what anniversary's are for :) Husband has no idea what he wants so i'll have to think of something super special for him. He never wants anything, so he's pretty easy to make happy....if i can think of something. That's the hard part.

Blog Traffic

Do you guys remember this post? It was the one i posted with the invite for all of Husband's family that were going to North Carolina to come Parasailing with us while we were there over Memorial Day weekend. Just a short little invite, family specific, with a picture of some random people parasailing at the top. It was the one post i've made on here that wasn't really meant for drawing the general public of random readers to worry about reading....But for some strange reason, it's the one post that's drawing the most traffic to the blog.

Its been going on for weeks. I've been watching the Live traffic feed, and i think its safe to say that over 95% (if not more) of the random readers land on that page first. WHY? I changed the Title of the post from "Parasailing" to "Come Parasailing" hoping that might change the draw for people to land on it, like maybe they would get the clue that its not a post about the parasailing experience itself.... No go. So, i decided to just add the disclaimer in red at the top to redirect everyone.

But that still leaves the *WHY?*. Why is everyone landing on the blog for that post? I've Googled, Yahoo'ed, and Binged "Parasailing", and the blog doesn't pop up on any of the searches, so that leaves me with no idea what the draw is. There's nothing interesting about this particular entry. I've considered just deleting it, but i haven't obviously. I don't have a reason to dissuade anyone from reading about us (unless i start getting some crazies leaving weird comments, but that hasn't happened so i'm not too worried yet). So i guess, to any of you readers that may have stumbled onto the blog because of my "Parasailing" invite post, i would more then appreciate a hint for why you stopped by because i really want to know :)

By Aircraft?

Have you ever seen one of these signs? They have them here in California, but i can't remember if i've seen them anywhere else.
My real question is:

How does this work??

We drive down the highways enough, and i've never once seen any type of "Aircraft" flying overhead keeping tabs on our speed. Trust me, every time i see the sign i do search the skies. Are they lying to us to scare us into driving the speed limit? Or are they really hiding in their patrol cars off in the bushes in wait for us to not take them seriously? i'm sure if i Googled it, i would find out how it really works, but to be honest i think i find it more interesting to speculate what's really going on....but then again, i do want to know. What do you think?

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 :)