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Dreaming of Fall!

Good evening!

I am dreaming of Fall! Scrumptious grey rainy days, sloshing around in puddles with the kiddies, hot cocoa and mini-marshmallows with friends, thick feather comforters and a lovely good book, fuzzy-warm slippers on a crisp and cold morning, snuggling with the ones you love on the sofa after a long brisk walk in the chilly afternoon.

Sounds absolutely fabulous!!

While I continue my evening of dreaming about Fall, I would LOVE to hear your favorite thoughts about Fall.

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Sunday Evening Update!

Good evening!

What a lovely day today was here in rainy Oregon! I just LOVE the rain! I love that it is cool, wet, and that a really good rainy day makes you want to stay inside all snuggled up reading a good book! Today, I did just that, amongst other things!!

The book I read today was the Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder! I have the whole set, and I actually had just gotten to reading them today. This first book was such an enchanting peek into Laura Ingalls Wilder’s pioneer life as a child living in the woods in Wisconsin in the late 1800s. One of the things I really loved about reading this story is that they tell you how they did a lot of things that our modern culture really take for granted such as churning butter, making maple syrup, homemade cheese, how to make homemade bullets, and the dangers of living out in the wild, and off of the land.

The  Little House in the Big Woods is a great story, about love, hope, family, and all of the exciting adventures that Laura Ingalls and her family has growing up together, and it is quite a fun read – especially for a rainy day! It ALMOST makes me wish I could live the way that her family did…

ALMOST!!! 😉

Ok, maybe for a weekend!! 😉

Anyway, on this fabulously rainy day, I have also helped get some of the house chores done – you know the typical cleaning, that you have no problem helping everyone and their mother do, but you would rather chew off your own arm instead of doing it at your house – that is what we did today!! Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, making the bed, etc, etc, etc!! 😉 I have also spent a fair amount of time crocheting some more on my sweetie’s blanket!! I had discovered that I had made a mistake somewhere and not wanting to just ignore it, I ended up having to pull out 10 complete rows, which if you know anything about granny squares, that is A LOT!! To put it into perspective, when I had first discovered my mistake the blanket covered me from chin to toe, and after pulling out the 10 rows, it is once again a small lap blanket!! DARN!! But, all is good – I am glad I pulled it out, I want to be really proud of this blanket, and make it something for my sweetie that I know I did the VERY BEST that I could on it for him. He is TOTALLY worth it!!

As I get back to doing some more crocheting before bed…

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

A Friday Night Short Post!

Good evening!

I am in the middle of crocheting like a fiend – I am really wanting to get this blanket done for my sweetie! I have already crocheted 4 skeins worth in the last two days, and have 5 more skeins at my disposal, thanks to my sweetie!!! 😉

This picture is the color of variegated yarn I have chosen, chocolate, tan, and baby blue!! I like it because the baby blue is the color of my sweetie’s eys, and the brown is the color of mine! Even though it will be his blanket, he has agreed that the best place for it will be on our bed in the master bedroom! Which is just PERFECT, because our walls are a very beautifully coordinated blue color, and everything else in our room is either white, or a beautiful chocolate brown.

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section! 🙂

I am crocheting this blanket like one GIAGANTIC granny square, that way it ends up in a very large, simple, but lovely blanket that should cover our bed very nicely! 😉

I did promise that I would share pictures of it with you, but I am determined to get it done and THEN I will share pics with you!!! I guess you should probably know, I am just stubborn like that! 😉

Anyway, as I get back to crocheting like crazy…

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

A Granny-Squarin’ Fool!

Good evening!

I almost forgot to blog tonight – EEK!! That would have messed up my goal of posting 365 days in a row. My sister, Alice, taught me how to crochet granny squares this past week, and I have been a granny-sqaurin’ fool ever since!! She also helped me fall in love with variegated yarn, which I have used a lot in the past, but only for crocheting scarves. So, I picked out some cute yarn, and I have been just crocheting away!!

I have been down and out the past two days, only venturing out today because of a dentist appointment I couldn’t afford to miss, but other than that, I have pretty much been stuck in bed or on the couch!! Long story, but crocheting my little granny squares seem to have helped me pass the time, and not move around too much.

I am thankful to report, that I should be back up and running/ or at least hobbling along as carefully as possible, tomorrow!! Which is great because I am THE WORST patient EVER, just ask my sweetie – God bless that man and all he has to put up with. I honestly don’t know how he manages to put up with all of my hub-bub!

Anyway, I will try and remember to take pictures of my squares, and blanket that I working and share them with you tomorrow!! 😉 In the meantime I am going to do just a little more crocheting before I have to go to bed for the night!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

The Ya-Ya Sisterhood!

Good evening!

I just got up to my art studio, and turned on the tele for some background noise, and what did I happily see was playing? One of my favorite movies, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. I just LOVE this movie, as well as this same story is my absolute FAVORITE book, which is saying a lot since I so have so many favorites.

I think my draw to this movie is that I have always dreamed of having a small intimate group of women who all share their lives with each other. A band of sisters who are there for each other through thick and thin! Now that I have re-read this sentence after writing this, I realize that I kind of do have this little sisterhood in my own life, we just live kind of far from each other! But, just knowing that I have got my own sisters out there, it makes me realize how much more special I think this movie is.

Besides the sisterhood itself, I think my favorite part of this movie is the pomp and circumstance surrounding the Ya-Ya Sisterhood ceremonies, with it’s candlelight and self-made crowns. I can just imagine the girls sitting in a circle, the air crackling with positive energy and hope, I can hear the giggling as Vivi tries to keep them all in character, in her dramatic way – of course I would be Vivi in this scene. But of course, DAHLING!! 😉

Anyway, I digress! 🙂 I wanted to tell you about my day today. I went to work, as usual, but then I had a doctors appointment this afternoon. I have a really hard time going to the doctors. I feel like I am just complaining when I go, because  I know there are people out there who have much larger problems then I do! I want to just skim over whatever is going on with myself, which usually means I don’t say what is the real reason I came into the office.

Does anyone else have this issue?

Is it just me??

And it isn’t my doctor – I LOVE my doctor!! She is one of those people who has the BEST kind of bedside manner, and she doesn’t mind explaining things over and over for you, or answering all of my questions. So what is the big deal?? I would love to hear your experiences with your physician!!

Anyway, I know this is kind of a jumpy posting tonight, but I am so tired! I feel like I am recouping from jet-lag from our vacation these past 2 weeks, so I will have to ask for your forgiveness!! I am going to go spend some more time cleaning up my art studio – slow and steady wins the race!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!

Getting Down & Dirty!

Good evening!

I am spending the evening in my art studio tonight. I would love to tell you that I am on a creativity roll and am creating like a fiend, but my confession is that I am actually still just cleaning up from our vacation! When we got home from our first half of our time off, I did the totally bad thing and just dumped everything off in this room and just closed the door!! I know, I am just so embarrased!! 😉

Oh, man!! When I see these pics – yes, this is my “Art studio”, I just get overwhelmed and am not sure where to start!

However, I am very determined to get it cleaned up so that I can get some really “arting” going on!! 😉

I am also wanting to get it cleaned up because, GULP, I am wanting to watch some tele tonight! I don’t know about any of you, but the tv show, Two and a Half Men, has been one of the only televisions shows that my hubby and I watch regularly, and we are kind of excited to see how the show will look and feel with Charlie Sheen out and Ashton Kutcher in. I know, it is not really deep, and not really terribly important, but there you go!

Before I leave this evening – to get productive, I just wanted to let you know that work was really cool today, and I was very glad to get back to it!! I didn’t realize I had really missed Chris and Julie!! AKA my peeps!!! 😉 Anyway, it was good to get back to work and to feel like a contributing member of a team again!! Not to say that I am not looking forward to my next vacation, whenever that is!!! I’m just sayin’!!! HAHAHA!!

Anyway, wish me luck!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

A Relaxing Saturday!

Good evening!

I am having a very relaxing Saturday at home with my sweetie! I wanted to share some more pics from my weekend with my sisters with you this evening!

I found these two FABULOUS vintage train cases, that looking at them now, I am sick to myself that I did not pick these up! I may just have to call my sissy, and ask her to pick them up for me!! HEE! HEE! 😉

There was also this little chi-chi red and white striped purse. Can you say A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E?????

I also love these little goblets. I am not sure if it is the cut of them, the fact that they are nice and heavy, or if  it is just the scrumptious blue!!! I LOVE these!!

These pictures were right up my alley!! Pic 1!

Pic 2!! 😉

This is my dream vanity!! I have always dreamed about having a sexy place to get all dressed up!! DREAMY! 😉

 

These boxes of music rolls were so interesting! At first glance it reminded me of Olivander’s shop in Harry Potter! 😉 But I just love decorating with these kind of historical trinkets that are just GREAT conversation starters!!

Alright, I am going to call it quits for this night and spend some more quiet time with my sweetie and the girls!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Spending a Day with the Animals!

Good evening!

This evening I am going to share a bunch of pics of a super fun day we spent over at Wild Life Safari! It was quite a lovely day, and seeing that it was in the middle of the week, we pretty much had the run of the whole park!! 🙂

So without further ado, here you go!! 😉

Wild Life Safari is located in BEAUTIFUL Winston, Oregon.

Left to right: Austin, Jennifer, Gavin, Trina, and Jason, getting ready to go in.

We were very fascinated by the pink flamingos. It was my goal to get some of their interesting and unique feathers for collaging, which we did finally manage to do!! Whoo! Hoo!

We all had fun feeding the little goats. Gavin kept saying he was getting goat kisses whenever they licked his hand. LOL!! It helped that he kept refilling his hand with goat food! 😉

Jason had SO MUCH FUN with this little monkey. It was like they were long lost cousins.

It was so much fun to watch them mimic each other. This little monkey was so entranced by a weak light that Jason had in his pocket! 😉 But NOW, he wants a small monkey as a pet – I THINK I HAVE CREATED A MONSTER!!! 😉

Here is Gavin mimicking his Auntie Jennifer, she is just off camera!! 😉

We all took some time out to play on the children’s playground equipment. 😉

and after a few false starts, Gavin finally made it all the way to the top!! What a BIG boy!! 😉

Larger monkeys in another area of the park.

Koi the size of small sharks!! 😉

Then we took some time to feed some ducks, and geese.

Don’t they look like they are having fun?

I am not sure if this was a crocodile, or an alligator, but I would still hate to have found this guy on my street.

Here are the “boys” playing!

I really do love this man of mine.

Jason and our youngest sister, Trina! I LOVE this pic! 😉

And here is one of us near the end of our outing! Jennifer, Jason, Gavin, and Trina. We were all really tired, but really happy!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Dinner with Family!

Good evening!

I am having such a WONDERFUL time hanging out with my family down here in Roseburg, so much so that it makes long to have us all living in the same city!!!

As soon as Jason and I got into town we went and picked up my second to youngest sister, Jennifer, from work, and next our youngest sister, Trina. As soon as we had all gotten together and said our hellos, we met up with our dad, and his wife Trudi for dinner over at Red Robin! 😉

I have FINALLY gotten pictures of all of us, and I am very happy to be able to share these with you! 🙂

Here is myself and my dad! Do you know how hard it is to get a normal picture of my dad. He is ever the big kid who automatically plays whenever a camera is pointed at him – it really is just too funny!! 😉

Here are my troublemakers!! Trina, my youngest sister, Jennifer, my second youngest sister, and Jason my love and sweetie! 😉

See what I mean about my dad and a normal picture – I took 5 pictures of my dad, and his wife, Trudi, and this was the best one of them all!! I am glad that these two make each other so happy – that makes me really happy too! 😉

Ok, so back to my girls!! You see our mom died when I (being the oldest of 5 girls) was 24, and my youngest sister was only 8. Even before our mother passed away, I really did my best at mothering these two since we were 10 and 15 years apart. So, I have really grown to call these two “My Girls”! and since Jason and I do not have kids of our, it has kind of become true!!

I have always referred to Trina and Jennifer to my friends who do not know them by two labels. Trina is lovingly known as the “Know it all” – because she has always seemed to know weird facts about all sorts of EVERYTHING! 😉 and Jennifer has always been the “Comedian” because ever since I can remember she always has a quick retort to anything that is going on, and you are GUARANTEED to end your conversation with her in tears from laughing sooooo much!! 😉

I am just so glad that I was able to get these candid and very real pictures of how it is to be around these two! When these two were younger, they really NEVER got along!! Matter of fact they always claimed that they would NEVER love each other, NO MATTER WHAT!! I knew that would change as soon as the older of the two moved out of the house; and sure enough it did!Matter of fact, now, as adults, they live together now, with Jennifer’s husband, Austin, and they are closer than ever. Their joy with each other is infectious, and I just LOVE the energy that all of us have when we are together!!!

What a GREAT evening we had together!! I will make sure to share more pictures of some of our adventures tomorrow!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain!

Good afternoon!

The house is clean, the laundry is done, camping stuff is FINALLY finished being put away, and we are ready to go visit family down in Roseburg for a couple of days. We have a couple of get togethers planned with various family members, and will be staying with two of my younger sisters and one of our brother-in-laws. I can not wait to get there!! I am so excited!! Other than a couple of dinners, we really don’t have much planned, seeing that we usually play it by ear while we are there, that should be fun! I am hoping to have a ton of pictures to share with you! Especially of our two nephews, Aaron and Gavin, who I am sure are growing like weeds!! 😉

Our two four-legged girls, Fay and Sophie are going to be staying home this trip. Our friend Don is going to be coming over and keeping them company – I hope they don’t bark at him too much. For some reason he is fine as long as he is sitting down, but as soon as he stands up, Sophie starts barking at him like CRAZY!!! It is kind of funny!! 😉

Anyway, as you can tell this is going to be a short post! I have got to get on the road if we are going to get there on time!!! WHOO! HOO!

I will talk to you again tomorrow!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉