Walton Court of Fire Rundown

Sorry it's been a few days since I've had a chance to post. So, here is a run down of our weekend, starting with Thursday the 24th. After I got off work we went to the Days of 47 Rodeo. TONS of fun. I didn't used to be a fan of the rodeo but that was back when I didn't really know what was going on. I've been going with Collin's family the last few years and it's starting to make sense. I forgot my camera, so no pics there. Later that night we came home for the most awesome block party EVER! The Walton Court of Fire turned out really great. We had between 80-100 people there and next year we're hoping to increase that number by at least 10. Debby and Toby brought a volley ball and net which brought out the competitive side in a lot of the guys. Tammi was awesome on the fireworks. She and her staff (staff being the few guys brave enough to assist her) had about 6 fountains going most of the time. Jodie, Sabrina, and Jamie did most of the shopping and got two piñatas. The kids really enjoyed those. The BBQ turned out great! All in all it was a really fun night. Any suggestions on how to make it better next year? Oh, and thanks to everybody who stayed and helped clean up. The yard and driveway were spotless by the time everybody left. I REALLY appreciate that!! Especially Malachi, who picked up two bottles that weren't even his. Here are some pics from that night.

They Came! (Only to sit in my spare bedroom for months)

I got home last night around 6 and had a little celebration on my front porch for, lo and behold, my curtains came! Fat lot of good they’ll do me for a while, but I have them and I’m happy with that. I also found another great deal. Jen was selling some end tables she didn’t need anymore for about half the price I would have paid for new ones. And they are beautiful (of course, Jen bought them, how could they not be?). Our spare bed rooms and garage are slowly amassing things that will one day (Collin, if you’re reading this “one day” means “one day BEFORE you go hunting this fall”) be showcased in our lovely new basement (said with The Price is Right joviality). Sorry, no pics today. I should have taken a picture of the box on my front porch. Just imagine it. It was a white box with purplish writing on it that said URBAN OUTFITTERS.

Walton Court of Fire

Our sign fell down during that crazy storm last night. I figured it would. Collin and I were laying there in the middle of the night listening to the rain and thunder while talking about how much we need the rain. We were silent for a moment and then I thought about the sign and said "my sign probably won't make it." And that is the last thing I remember before drifting off back to sleep. Poor sign. We hardly knew thee.

People have been asking if they can bring anything. For the BBQ it's a pot luck, so bring a side or a salad and your own meat (and buns/toppings if your grilling a burger). There will be a grill or two for grilling. We will be providing ice cream around 8, but if you want to bring some we won't say no. And then when it gets dark (around 9) Tammi will start the fireworks! Bring some sparklers or a few fireworks. The more we have, the better they'll be!

See you there!

An Inalienable Truth

The longer you scratch a mosquito bite the longer it takes for it to go away.

DIY Photo of the Week

This week's DIY is probably the easiest DIY we did. I was staring at my white heater vent one day (doesn't everybody stare at their heater vent?) and thought "what can I do to make that heater vent not stand out so much?" I thought about painting it with metalic spray paint. That's when I thought "I bet they come in metalic colors!" So on a weekly trip to Home Depot, I wandered aimessly and found these! I replaced all the heater vents on my main floor. And at $13.00 per vent, it was a fairly cheap way to make me WANT people to notice my heater vents.

Curtains for the Basement

So, I know the basement still has a cement floor (we bought the wood last Saturday) and no Sheetrock (we'll get that once we are done with the electric), but that hasn't stopped me from buying little things here and there when I find a really good deal (ceiling fans for $40 each!). My favorite purchase so far has been these vintage looking curtains I found at Urban Outfitters. I love them! I'm not usually a "curtain" or a "floral" type person, but these just really appealed to me. If you want to give your house a vintage touch this shop is for you. They also sell really cute vintage feeling clothes and accessories. I could go crazy there if I could afford it. For now, I'll just have to settle for the curtains. The shop at the Gateway (just south of Barnes and Noble) only has clothes and accessories.

You can find home furnishings online at http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/.

Walton Court of Fire!!!

Everyone is invited! Tell your neighbors, tell your friends! See you there!!!!

Sharon's Butterscotch Door

This door belongs to my dear mother-in-law, Sharon, who also happens to be one of my favorite people. This door was painted this past weekend because while visiting my sister-in-law, Cori, and her husband, Kyle, my father-in-law, Gerrit, told Kyle that the paint on his backdoor was peeling. Sharon found this amusing because she has for some time noticed the paint on their own sidedoor was peeling. On returning home, she teased Gerrit about this and before you knew it, Collin was painting this previously white door this beautiful butterscotch color with yellow trim. I love it! I'm already trying to figure out where I can use these colors and Collin is already trying to figure out a way of talking me out of more DIY projects.

DIY Photos of the Week

Last week's DIY photo of the week was the tile backsplash I put in. In the picture you could see a little bit of the painted cabinets. What a great segue to this week's DIY photo of the week! Collin painted our standard oak kitchen cabinets a creamy off-white color and then the 2 of us spent about 8 hours "antiquing" them with brown glaze. We'd slather the glaze on with a paint brush and then use elbow grease to wipe about 90% of it off. We then worked it into the edges. Collin put bead board up under the bar area. We then put black knobs on all the doors and drawers. It was a labor of love!

How We Spent Our 4th of July Weekend Part 3: The Gateway

In other non dog related news, I spent the majority of last Saturday morning cleaning our house while Collin continued working in our basement (which I will now call the Construction Zone). I shouldn't even have bothered to clean the floors for this is what I saw within minutes of sweeping. I give up.

Later that day I went shopping with my mom at the Gateway. The two of us then went and picked up Collin and my step dad, Allen. The 4 of us went back to the Gateway for dinner at Applebees and then saw WALL-E. WAY cute show. I enjoyed it even though the kid behind me kicked my chair.

Oso and Marley's Before Pictures

After waking up unsuspecting this morning and planning for a day of napping, Oso and Marley found themselves not napping but at All Pets Grooming for a haircut. Marley, the little lady that she is, allowed the groomer to cut her hair. Oso, showing true male aversion to grooming, grew frustrated after the groomer combed out and trimmed his beard and eye brows. The groomer called me midway through his cut to tell me Oso wouldn't let her comb out his belly hair for a trim. After hearing Oso howling in the background I told her to do whatever she could. Oso now has a shaved belly.

Oso and Marley's After Pictures

How We Spent Our 4th of July Weekend Part 2: DIY French Doors

Collin took advantage of the long weekend by kicking off finishing our family room. First order of business: breakfast at IHOP (mmm, yummy french toast). Second: installing french doors leading into the family room. His dad came down to help. While helping, he used a cheap hammer Collin bought me so I could hang pictures (truth be told, I've never used it. Collin has hung every picture in our house). While my father-in-law was using the hammer it broke in half!

But they got them hung!











Now all we have to do is paint them... and finish the rest of the room.











After dinner at Mimi's Cafe (love that place!) with Collin's parents we ran a few more errands at Home Depot then came back for the Walton Street of Fire.
ATTENTION: The 24th will be the Walton COURT of Fire! More info to come later.

How We Spent Our 4th of July Weekend Part 1: Family BBQ

Thursday July 3rd we headed up to my mom's for some family togetherness. Every year my mom has a BBQ in her backyard on the 3rd of July. After the BBQ we all walk up to the Eaglewood Golf Course to watch fireworks. It's such a huge tradition in my family that my mom would sooner have us miss Christmas than cancel her 3rd of July BBQ. My mom, nephew Alex, and sister, Jenn.
Collin and me with some of that togetherness I mentioned.

My cousin, Kelby, doing what she does best. Which is being Kelby. And really tan.

My nephew, Brayden, waiting for his doom. Within the space of about 5 minutes one of his brothers, Austin, was stung by a bee and the other, Carter, fell and split his lip open. This was the look on his face when we told him he was next. Luckily, his doom didn't include applying ice. It did, however, include icing after he sat on his peice of chocolate cake. Perhaps the most dramatic of the 3 brothers, Brayden cried the loudest and the longest. We love ya Bray!

My little sister, Jenn, and her little boy, Alex. Cutest little stinker! He would smile literally seconds before and after I took a picture of him. So this will have to do.

When we got to the fireworks we ran into some old friends, Stan and Mandy (and there 7 month old baby, John)! They used to live right next to Kevin and Megan (the house they just sold) and across the street from our old house (the house we sold almost 2 years ago). They moved away about 3 1/2 years ago, back when this ward only took up a row in the 8th Ward Relief Society.(It's true, we did used to only take up 1 row. Ask anyone who was there who still lives here. Jen, Gina, Megan, um, who else? That can't be it.)


And that, my friends, was how we spend July 3rd.

My Reading Chair

I am going to start reading Emma by Jane Austen (for the 3rd time) while sitting in this chair. Collin doesn't like it when I am in this chair because it means I am reading and whatever he says to me I don't hear or remember him saying. I love this chair. Every reader should have a reading chair. It's like mine has a force field around it that blocks everything out so I can just read (well, it blocks out everything except for little dogs named Marley).

DIY Photo of the Week

Collin and I enjoy DIY projects. Since we moved into our home in May 2007 we have done a lot of things to make our house ours. One of the first things we did was paint the cabinets and tile the backsplash. Can you believe I tiled it all by myself?

Stupid USB Chord

I was going to upload some pics to go with my postings but didn't have a way to get my pics from my camera to my computer. So I went all the way over to Office Max (quite a feat at 5 in the afternoon), told the kid (couldn’t have been more than 14, maybe 15) the exact type of camera I had, got excited that it was only $20 bucks (that’s only half the cost of a tank of gas), brought it home (the dogs were happy to see me), and showed it to Collin when he got home (Collin’s response: “you’re still blogging?), only to find out that the chord doesn’t fit my camera. Sigh. So... no pictures today. Just close your eyes and imagine me scowling while holding a USB chord that doesn’t work with my camera. Be as creative as you like. Have a good night!

**UPDATE** Collin and I went back to Office Max, talked to a much smarter salesperson, and got the correct hardware we need to put pics on our computer. Life is good.

Girls with bangs

I've suspected for about 6 years that my husband was cooler than me. [Fact: Collin and I have only known each other 6 years]. How can I ever compete with his coolness you ask? Well it seems I already have in the form of a hair cut. http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/06/27/104-girls-with-bangs/ And to think bangs were just a spur of the moment action that Missy, my friend and hairdresser, tried to talk me out of. Thanks, Jen, for the link!

Jen is my Hero for the day

I know I just posted a little while ago but I forgot to add something very importnant to my post. Props to Jen!!!! She spent literally HOURS creating this beautiful blog you see before you. I went over to her house around 6. 5 hours, 3 barking dogs, and a Subway Sandwich later here we are. All cute and sweet and marvelous. I think I am in love with Jen.

My blog hopping days are over.

Hello, I am done blog hopping and am ready to blog myself. Our friend Zach calls is stalging, or stogging, or stoging; he didn't really say how he spelled it. Phonetically it's a combination of stalking and blogging. So there that is. I'm a reformed stogger. I'll spell it stogging. Feel free to use it; I'm sure Zach would be flattered...

Collin is sitting behind me with his guitar playing that one song that one dreadlocked guy on American Idol made popular. Hallelujah. Great song made greater by my husband. Ha ha, I'm his groupie. He just switched to Johnny Cash. I have the hottest husband.