31 March 2012

. . . it's tradition . . .

. . . of course,
i do a little here and there
as needed, but . . .
. . . at least once every six months,
my ironing gets done . . .
. . . all of it . . .
. . . it's the perfect
saturday conference activity . . .




. . . along with
the tabernacle choir . . .
. . . the sweet, sweet sound
of power tools
provided today's accompaniment . . .



. . . which was music to my ears . . .


30 March 2012

. . . dream job . . .

. . . so excited
for my
new church calling . . .
. . . playing the . . .




. . . at the . . .



. . . every . . .



29 March 2012

. . . whole fence . . .

. . . you may call me daniel-san . . .
{but you should substitute "bathroom" for "fence"}



. . . it's all in the wrist . . .
{and under my nails}


28 March 2012

. . . favorite day of the month . . .

. . . quilt group day . . .
. . . yay! . . .
. . . thanks so much
to jamie for hosting . . .
. . . and when i say hosting,
of course i mean
making us a yummy
bowtie pasta
spinach
strawberry
chicken
craisin salad . . .
. . . and giving us a tour
of amberlee's darling bedroom . . .
. . . i have really talented friends! . . .

. . . other highlights included:
show and tell . . .
. . . nedra brought
two fabulous quilts . . .
. . . oh my stars! . . .
. . . check out
these kaffe baskets . . .
. . . the applique and piecing
are impeccable . . .
adds just the right oomph
to select blocks . . .
. . . and to top it all off . . .
. . . it was quilted
by judi
. . . whose work is
probably the best
i've ever seen . . .




. . . nedra also brought
her version
of nanette's
all dressed up quilt . . .



. . . serious . . .
. . . quilt . . .
. . . envy . . .
. . . covet . . .
. . . covet . . .
. . . covet . . .

. . . again ~ texture magic . . .
. . . notice the green
and purple dresses . . .
. . . and . . .
. . . judi's . . .
. . . quilting . . .
. . . again . . .


. . . and finally . . .
. . . take a gander
at this darling number . . .
. . . renee pieced
these wonky little girl blocks . . .
. . . and i absolutely adore
the wonky border, too . . .



. . . great job, my quilty friends . . .
. . . you are awesome mentors
who inspire me to keep sewing . . .


27 March 2012

. . . poof! it's gone . . .

. . . i've tried lots of different methods
over the years . . .
•fabric softener
•electric steamer
•slap on some drywall mud
. . . but the best idea so far
for getting rid of
pesky, unwanted wallpaper? . . .
. . . josh squared . . .




. . . josh, my nephew . . .
. . . and josh, his uncle . . .
{also uncles ammon and lamoni ~ i wish i'd taken their picture}

. . . and bead board . . .
. . . lots of bead board . . .



. . . i've been in awe
of the craftsmanship . . .
. . . they've faced
the tub and shower enclosures . . .



. . . they've wrapped
every {unsquare} corner . . .
. . . they've filled and sanded
every nail hole and seam . . .



. . . now let's just hope my
{less-than-professional}
painting skills don't mess up
their beautiful work . . .


26 March 2012

. . . progress? . . .

. . . yes . . .
{i think so}
. . . it always gets worse
before it gets better,
doesn't it? . . .




. . . the calm amid the chaos . . .



. . . do you know this trick? . . .
. . . wipe excess paint
on the rubber band . . .
. . . keeps groove
on top of can cleaner . . .
. . . ensuring the lid
will still fit well . . .


{i learned that on pinterest}
. . . ttfn . . .
. . . tons more beadboard
to prime and paint . . .


25 March 2012

. . . twenty-nine . . .

. . . and holding . . .
. . . no, really . . .
. . . these two turned twenty-nine . . .
{tyler on st. patrick's day and brent today}
. . . we feel blessed to have
them for sons-in-law . . .
. . . 1983 was a very good year . . .




. . . i think . . .


24 March 2012

. . . wc . . .

. . . water closet:
a compartment or room
with a toilet . . .
. . . meaning: this room
does not currently qualify . . .




. . . as you can see . . .

. . . what? . . .
. . . you don't keep your toilet
on the back porch? . . .



. . . so . . .
. . . while you were watching
a midnight showing
of the hunger games . . .



. . . i turned into
a beadboard painting machine . . .



. . . one coat of primer . . .
. . . then four coats of semi-gloss . . .
. . . and i've only just begun . . .

{totally open to suggestions for a color
to paint the top portion of the walls . . . help!}


23 March 2012

. . . time to change . . .

. . . remember that one episode
of the brady bunch
when they're trying
to make a record . . .
{go ahead and watch that video
and let me know how long it takes
to get that tune out of your head}

. . . isn't this
a lovely waverly print? . . .
. . . i, apparently, thought so . . .




. . . back in 1996 . . .




. . . but the time has come . . .
{actually it probably should have come a long time ago}
. . . for a change . . .
{insert cracking voice}
. . . so i've decided
to get rid of part of it . . .
. . . there are three essential tools
for removing wallpaper . . .
1} a paper tiger
[it's an amazing scoring/perforating tool that makes tiny holes ~
i wish i'd invented it]



2} a spray bottle of hot water
[i use a pressurized garden sprayer,
sparing myself from painful hand cramps]
3} and the most important tool
is patience

. . . the tools are used in that order . . .
. . . score the paper . . .
. . . spray . . .
. . . wait . . .
. . . repeat steps two and three
many times . . .

. . . especially the waiting . . .
. . . trying to peel the paper off too early
only brings frustration
and damaged drywall . . .



. . . about four hours later . . .
. . . and that's all there is to it . . .
. . . i'd say it's already looking
about twenty-five per cent better . . .


22 March 2012

. . . good for your eyes . . .

. . . while carrots are
a good source of vitamin a . . .
. . . your mom
wasn't exactly telling the truth
when she said they'd




. . . colby, however,
ate every last spoonful
and doesn't give a flying fig . . .
. . . mmm ~ figs . . .
. . . maybe they're
next on the list
of fruits to try . . .


21 March 2012

. . . we aim to please . . .

. . . remember when i said
. . . i was waaaaaaaaaay off . . .
. . . anyone can see
that what we're dealing with here
is yellow algae . . .
. . . and after lots
and lots
and lots of gallons of chlorine
and super shocking it
multiple times . . .
. . . a fancy pool chemist says
the only way to fix it
is to drain the water
and start over . . .




. . . which can only mean one thing . . .
. . . neighbor kids are happy campers . . .



. . . especially on a 75 degree
early release school day . . .


20 March 2012

. . . seasons . . .

. . . the calendar tells me
today is
the first day of spring . . .

. . . the weather forecast tells me
that here in mesa,
we'll be experiencing
all the seasons
within the space of one week . . .




. . . all the seasons
except that one
that lasts for about six months
where it feels like you're
on the surface of the sun . . .


19 March 2012

. . . two thumbs up . . .

. . . recipe successes
from over the weekend . . .
. . . first up ~
. . . they're salty . . .
. . . they're caramel-y . . .
. . . they're buttery . . .
{and, yes, they're bars, too}




. . . a couple of mental notes
for next time . . .
. . . and there will be a next time . . .
. . . the recipe says
to coat a 9x13 pan
with non-stick cooking spray . . .
{why don't they just say pam?}
. . . but you might say to yourself:
"self: there is
one pound of butter
in this here dough ~
there's no way it's going to stick" . . .
. . . and then ~
you will not spray the pan . . .

. . . and you will be right . . .
. . . the dough just slides right out . . .
. . . the caramel filling,
on the other hand . . .
. . . will be stuck
to the sides of the pan like
super glue,
e6000,
gorilla glue,
epoxy,
liquid nails . . .
. . . take your pick . . .
. . . spray the pan . . .
. . . i'm just saying . . .

. . . also ~ next time i will salt
a little more . . .
. . . there's tons of sweet going on . . .


. . . next up ~ spring-ish potpourri
simmering concoction . . .
. . . you should make this . . .
. . . it smells a lot better
than the three packages of bacon
chris and i cooked last night . . .
. . . it's simple: slice a lemon {or 4} . . .
. . . snip a few sprigs of rosemary . . .
{i have tons. i'll share}
. . . pour in a little vanilla . . .
{go easy. the vanilla was a slightly overpowering on my first try}
. . . simmer on low . . .
. . . i would recommend
not leaving home
while the stove is on . . .
{public service announcement}



{it looks really fresh and pretty until you start to simmer it.
then it looks kinda like a brown slimy mess.
but it smells delish.}

. . . gotta run . . .
. . . wish me luck . . .
. . . i'm making these today . . .


18 March 2012

. . . gracias frani . . .

. . . everyone should be so lucky
{at least once in their life}
as to have a next~door neighbor
like frani . . .
. . . we were partners in crime
through more crafting shenanigans
than you can shake a stick at . . .
. . . she was always the glue gun whiz . . .
. . . i was in charge of sewing . . .

. . . remind me sometime to tell you about:
•the time a bunch of us
stayed up pretty much all night
making framed pictures
of victorian houses
out of fabric and trims
•the time we stayed up
pretty much all night
making gingerbread man wreaths
•the time we
bought a special machine
that applies metal picks
to silk flowers
•the time we made
who knows how many
flower arrangements
to sell at a boutique
•the time she introduced me
to the orange county swap meet
•the time{s}
she caught drew and brad
tinkling outside
•the time she played matchmaker
for amelia and tyler
•etc
•etc
•etc
•and then the time
she showed up at my house yesterday
with this darling jellybean topiary
she whipped up for easter



. . . it's getting a little crowded here . . .
. . . since now we have
a february
mary engelbreit calendar page . . .
. . . a jellybean easter topiary . . .
. . . then to make things
a little more confusing . . .
. . . i thought i'd throw in
our st. patrick's day
double rainbow fruit plate . . .



. . . seriously ~ i miss
having frani right next door . . .
. . . those were the good ol' days . . .


17 March 2012

. . . wearin' o' the green . . .

. . . remember that one time
when everyone but amber
got the memo? . . .
{she was waaaaay too old/cool for matching by then}
. . . happy st. patrick's day
from the romney kids . . .


{ca. 1992-ish}


. . . and happy birthday
to son-in-law, tyler
and former visiting teacher, jamie . . .


16 March 2012

. . . gifted . . .

. . . friday night's
television lineup
includes
{but not during march madness}
. . . a series about a neurosurgeon
who is visited frequently
by the spirit
of his deceased ex-wife . . .
. . . i know, i know . . .
. . . but i like it . . .
. . . and my favorite part
is that during each episode
i get to see
what my hair is going to look like
in the next life!!!! . . .

. . . meet dr. kate sykora . . .
{aka actress rachelle lefevre
~ she's gorgeous ~
and apparently she was in twilight, which i never saw}




. . . she's not the dead ex-wife . . .
. . . she just plays the doctor
who took over the ex-wife's position
at a free clinic . . .
. . . oh ~~~ it's complicated . . .

. . . but i love her hair . . .