My latest project

Something must be in the air again . . . I've been getting crafty! A couple of weeks ago I had the urge to stop by the DI on my way home from visiting a client in Logan. I've been looking for a cupboard or small shelf of some kind to put in the living room for Sasha's toys. Anything I found at a store I just wasn't crazy about. And if I'm going to spend $50 or $60 on something, I had better be crazy about it! So I browsed the DI and found this:

It's a microwave shelf. At least that is what the sticker said. I didn't care, it was $10, still in one piece and in pretty good condition.

I removed the doors and the swivel top, sanded, primed, painted, sprayed on a second coat too thick so I had to re-sand, re=prime and re-paint. Then I found some cute paper at Heartland to mod podge on top. I also cut out two 10" lady bugs on my cricut for the doors. Here's the finished product. I absolutely love it! I was completely giddy when I finally had it all put together. And anytime someone comes over I HAVE to show it to them. I know, I'm goofy.

Total cost (since I had to buy some additional primer and paint) was under $40. Could have done it for under $30 if I hadn't messed up. But I guess that's the price of art, right?

My next project is a couple of nightstands that I found on that same trip to the DI. They're going to go in my bedroom as soon as I find the energy to get them all fixed up. Heaven only knows when that will be!

(Pardon the poor quality pics . . . I had to take them with my cell since my brother has my camera).

So Thankful Sunday

Today was probably one of the best Sunday's I've had in a while. They always go by way too fast, but this one was really good. It wasn't a particularly special day for any reason, but it has been a good one. We actually made it to church before the sacrament was passed, which is pretty much a miracle. Sasha was relatively calm and I actually got to listen to most of the talks. It was also Sasha's first day in nursery. I can't believe my little girl is already (almost) 18 months old! She did really well for her first day, too. She was a little overwhelmed at first just because there were lots of people in the room when we got there with all the parents dropping off their kiddos and a couple of them crying (kids, not parents). But I put her down and gave her some play-doh, then snuck out when she wasn't looking. We checked back a little later and she didn't seem to be missing us one bit! At the end of Sunday School I told Josh that my arms felt weird because they weren't snaking all over the place for the last hour trying to keep Sasha contained. And RS was awesome! We had a great lesson talking about prophets and I actually got to hear the entire lesson! It was fantastic!

After church we came home and Sasha went right down for a nice 3 hour nap without a single whine or whimper. Josh and I cuddled in the hammock for about half an hour until the home teachers came. After that Chris, Mandi, Colin and Deanna came over for dinner. I must say that I am becoming a master of the grill and could possibly even give my dad a run for his money when it comes to grilling steaks. (My dad grills THE BEST steaks ever! Eat your heart out Flemings and Ruth's Chris!) We had BBQ spare ribs, corn bread, pasta salad and green beans. It was yummy! Then we had S'Mores for dessert, cooked over the fire pit. We talked, played a game and had a pretty good time. At least I did. :)

At one point in the evening, as I was watching Sasha run around my backyard I had a sense of deja vu. I have pictured just such a scene many times before, before Sasha was born I pictured having kids run around the yard, eating under the trees, relaxing and being completely at peace. I am so thankful to have stopped to notice and recognize that life is turning out just as I had hoped. Maybe a few small details are different, but I really couldn't ask for a better life. I am truly blessed and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for it.

I left my heart in San Francisco

I LOVE this city! I would love to live there one day . . . if not live there, then visit very frequently! I had to work all of Tuesday and a big party of Wednesday but we still had some time to play. Of course Josh and Sasha played while I was working but I don't think I could pay that man a million dollars to take a camera with him. Oh well. Some of MY shots of our adventures . . .
Playing around in the Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate Park

Playing at the fountain at Ghiradelli Square. Got to love the chocolate!

Lunch at a restaurant at Union Square

And my favorite stop on the trip . . .

Way too short of a trip. Can't wait to go back again!

White Rim

Well, it's nice to be back after almost two straight weeks of traveling! These are just a few of the 346 pictures and videos I took on the White Rim trail. This was such a fun trip! I am not much of a camper, but once a year for four days, I can handle it. :) We had some really yummy food (cafe rio pork burritos two nights in a row. You would think that wouldn't be good, but they were both different enough that both nights were yum! And the dutch oven Chicken Pot Pie . . . Oh my goodness!) and had a great time with everyone there. Our friends Cam and Mandee put the trip together every year. Josh went last year and I saw that he had such a good time that I decided I would go this year as well. I'm so glad that I did. Even though I have never really gone mountain biking I had a great time and even did almost 30 miles over four days. I'm still a novice for sure, but I had a lot of fun. Mountain biking is definitely something I want to do more of and I really hope to go on this trip next year.
This was the view from the front of our tent on our last night camping . . .





A few of the die hard bikers coming up Murphy's . . . I think the hardest hill on the whole trail. Yeah . . . I drove the truck, not my bike up this sucker. Actually, I can't even say that I drove the truck the entire way cause it's a pretty scary hill and I made J'me drive his truck up the first part, which I'm not sure was even the scariest part. But I would have felt horrible if anything bad had happened while driving someone else's car. This picture doesn't show the scary part, but if you have been there, then you know!
I don't think this picture needs much explanation . . .

Cam and Mandee goofing off and making everyone laugh . . . as usual!

One of the first stops along the trail, don't remember the spot. But it was gorgeous. A little cold, but beautiful! And I think Josh looks cuter in his bike gear than I do. :P Although I did get a couple of compliments on my shorts. :)

The morning of the third day we played around a bit in some slot canyons. Sadly, the funniest part of this adventure was not captured on film. :( What was the funniest part you ask? Probably the part where I took off my socks and shoes to wade through a small puddle in the rocks before climbing down the last part of the canyon and instead of sliding my feet slowly down to the bottom of the puddle I decided it would be more fun to just slide my butt down to the bottom and get soaked up to my chest, at the same time sending a rush of water down the small canyon to everyone waiting at the bottom. Yeah, not my best moment, but at least it was something to laugh about! Oh, and then there's the part where Josh almost ripped my shirt off trying to pull me out of the freezing cold water. Good times . . . good times.

This is just a short video of me repelling (!) over a boulder onto Cam's (aka, the shuttle) shoulders. If you know me well at all, you know that I am a fraidy cat and don't like heights. But I've decided to become a little more adventurous in my old age so I wanted to try it. I knew I wasn't going to get hurt, I just had to take a moment to trust myself enough to do it. And I did!

All in all it was a really great trip. Wait, did I say that already? Well, it is worth saying again because I had the best time! I was worried that everyone would think I was wimpy or lazy if I didn't bike a bunch, but everyone was very cool and I felt good just even being there. Maybe next year I will be able to bike more and not walk up so many hills. But it was fun driving the Simpson's truck, too. I like to 4-wheel! Plus it made it so everyone else could ride more, which was a-okay by me. The real champ was Mandee . . . 8 months pregnant and camping for 4 days, plus driving a huge truck WITH a trailer behind it, which may sound easy but believe me . . . .IT'S NOT! Not on the White Rim anyway. Riding your bike was the easy part!

Being the Uber planner that I am, Cam is convinced that in two years I'll be planning the whole thing, instead of him. I'm not so sure about that, but we'll see. If it means I get invited back every year, then I'd be okay with that!