Things That Make Me Laugh #25
Fun Google Hack
Coolest Cardboard EVER. Yup, Cardboard.
My mind is going crazy with all the options and questions: What about a kids castle? How much weight does it hold...could you creat a book case...a whole wall of book cases? What about a whole house full of cardboard furniture....how durable is it.....how long would it last.....how much does the material cost?
HOW COOL WOULD IT BE TO DRAW ALL OVER YOUR HOUSE!!! I mean seriously, and if you didn't like it you could just replace that piece. LOL So much fun!
Anyway, back to the real world. If you want to read the information it's http://kellyandolive.blogspot.com/2009/05/monday-morning-inspiration.html
Enjoy!
Seabrook
A couple of weekends ago my mommy and I stayed at a new community on the Washington Coast called Seabrook. It's about 40 minutes north of the Ocean Shores turn off on Hwy 109. The whole idea of what they want to create is fascinating: it's a combination of privately owned and company owned homes that can be rented out. So you purchase a second home there and, if you want, the management company rents out the house when you're not there or you can live there year round or only during the summer time. Your choice.
Mom and I were quite enamoured of this house. It was designed so that you had a wood fireplace in the living room AND on the front porch! They were back to back and therefore shared a chimney which seemed such a wonderful idea. We saw the family sitting out there every chance they could get and even though it was chilly they appeared quite toasty. Unfortunately, this particular house isn't available for rent.
Oh, and did I mention that it was RIGHT on the water. Well, okay right across the street from the water. They are currently working on the next stage of building which puts about 6 houses right on the bluff above the water. Beautiful location.
The Best Hot Cocoa EVER!
I have found THE BEST recipe for hot cocoa EVER!Christmas Doggie!
ROFL *wheeze* *gasp* So sorry, I can't stop laughing! THIS is why dogs bite people! Poor Thor, he had absolutely no choice in the matter. He and Bee have matching outfits... I know he wishes they didn't.
He's usually a happy, energetic doggie, but put him in something like this and this is what you get:
Can't type anymore, because I'm trying to catch my breath from laughing so hard. Enjoy!
Little things encased in ice
These pictures were taken near Hood River, Oregon, on our first anniversary trip. Along the Old Columbia Highway are a lot of waterfalls, most people don't know that there are about 8 different, very beautiful waterfalls to be seen, along this route, they just stop at Multnomah Falls and call it a day. Multnomah Falls is gorgeous and stunning, don't get me wrong, but I think that if you have time, you really should see them all. Each one is completely different and unique.
A couple can be seen from the road and others require a short walk to be seen. All of them have walks/hikes and some of them have several different choices everything from 15 minute jaunts to 12 hour hikes that take you along the entire ridge above the Columbia gorge.
This lovely little leaf is from a black berry branch. Because of the incredible winds that whip through the gorge there is a lot of spray from the waterfalls. During the summer this is a wonderful way to cool off while hiking. During the winter it is a different case altogether. While still an amazing thing, the spray settles over everything and leaves a thick coating of ice over everything: leaves, branches, rocks, calm pools of water, and trails. Which, makes you want to take a picture of EVERYTHING :-)
New-found, Old blog
It's still the little things...this adorable darling was just too cute to pass up posting here.
It's AMAZING how much time can pass between blog posts...and how many things you can forget that you have out, just floating around in the vastness of the internet.
Since the last post:
New job
New photography clients
No kids
Found out my darling husband likes to work with wood and does it QUITE well
New car (I love my Blubaru)
Learning how to manage people (still don't think I'm cut out for it)
Started charity crafting projects - knitting and quilting
Traveled to Italy with my mom and brother
Friday, its the New Monday
The One Word
So, after much deliberation I have picked my ONE WORD!
SAVOR
Verb
1. to recieve or derive pleasure from; get ejoyment from; take pleasure in
2. to appreciate and enjoy fully
3. to give oneself over to the enjoyment of
4. taste appreciatively
Synonyms: appreciate, bask in, delight in, esperience, feel, luxuriate in, relish, revel in
My favorite out of all those is "bask" - synonyms for bask include: delight, drive pleasure, enjoy, indulge, revel, rollick, take comfort, take pleasure.
These days my life just seems to fly by without me really taking any of it in. I'm tired of it! I'm sick and tired of feeling like my life is boring and unremarkable unless somethin big is happening. THE SIMPLE ACT OF LIVING IS BIG!
That is what I'm hoping to catch this next year. Savoring every moment and event, big or small, "significant" or otherwise. I'm trying to see my life as interesting.
So I'm going to SAVOR...
If you want to know more about "One Little Word" go here here
The Greatest Little Book Ever!
This little book is AMAZING! I would recommend it to everyone! Quidlen makes no claim to knowing what life is all about, but is down to earth and profound! We all need to hear what she has to say.
"Life is made up of moments, small pieces of glittering mica in a long stretch of gray cement. It would be wonderful if they me to us unsummoned, but particularly in live as busy as the ones most of us lead now, that won't happen. We have to teach ourselves how to live, really live...to love the journey, not the destination."
Even if you don't ever read this book, take the above excerpt to heart, think about it for a while and see where it leads you.
GIRAFFES? How Odd
I'm not sure why, but giraffes make me laugh. Not polite giggling, not small tittering, but hysterical laughter. I think it has something to do with the movie Madagascar. David Schwimmer playing the voice of the giraffe just kills me. I'm sure it didn't do anything for his image to play a hyprochondriac giraffe, but I think it's hysterical!
Anyway, just a little something about me that not many people don't know. Have a great night.
All That Stuff
I honestly hope their parents like this pic. I cannot TELL you how hard it was to get this one. It truely doesn't matter how great the equipment you have is, if the subject doesn't behave, there's nothing you can do. I took over 100 pictures and this is the best, not that it's not good, they both have true smiles and arent' killing each other, but they aren't looking at the camera, which I think they're mom really wanted. Well, you just do what you can, and that's what I did.
It was rather anti-climatic unfortunately. It was a good show, dont' get me wrong, I just think they left it WAY too open ended. Yes, I know that that is done so a series can be made of it if it gets good reviews, I just think that if someone spent 3 days worth of program looking for his daughter it should be pretty big when he finds her. Anyway, just my two cents worth :-)
Catch Up
Well, it's Monday. The Monday after a holiday weekend. Those Monday's are always filled with mixed feelings for me. On one hand, I love being back to work because I miss the kids that I nanny for when I'm gone, but on the other hand holiday's are SO very nice!
Thanksgiving was great! Everything went well and everyone got along and had a great time. I wasn't expecting any problems but when you put three families together all with different traditions and expectations...well, there's potential. But all went peachy fine.
So my darling husband and I braved BLACK FRIDAY (cue scary music) and we actually got 90% of our Christmas shopping done. We got to the mall area at 7 AM and were completely done and on our way home by 1030 AM!
We spent the weekend just chillin' cause we don't get to do that very often. We went to Lowe's and got our tree yesterday. I'll post a picture when I get the house all decorated, or at least the tree. I didnt' decorate it last night because it was wet and needed to dry out a bit. It makes the living room smell SO wonderful!
I think that's all you guys need to be caught up on...nothing else too terribly exciting. Though I did finish another two layouts over the weekend. I'll have to post them so y'all can take a look. Tomorrow I'll post pictures, I promise.
ALREADY?!
Well, it finally happened. I knew we would see it eventually, though I didn't expect it so soon. But, there it is, the day before Thanksgiving, SNOW on Mt. Si. Not just on this mountain either, it's all over the surrounding hills as well. This is the mountain that I look at every day while I'm at work. Sometimes it's covered in a blanket of cloud and and other times it's warmed by sunshine, but it's always there. They say if you look close enough you can see the side view of an Indian chief. Some days I can see it and other days it's not so obvious.
Thanksgiving. WOW. That's really all I can say, it's been sneaking up on me for some time now, but I was ignoring it and now, BAM it's tomorrow. My family and my husband and myself are all going over to my husbands family's house at the request of my mother-in-law. It should be a great time. I'm bringing the cookies (haven't decided between chocolate chip or my famous soft ginger cookies) and the greenbean casserole. I love it when we all get together and everyone brings a little something, it makes it so much easier and less stressful for everyone involved because no one has to cook everything.
10 Random Things
I've been reading alot of other blogs and keep coming across this, so I thought I'd do it on mine every once in a while, on different subjects: Today its about me and my quirks. Enjoy.
I don’t like white chocolate
I love the sunshine and being warm. I could live somewhere where it didn’t get below 78 degrees very easily
I can’t ever seem to get my library books back on time
I HATE, ABHOR AND DETEST cleaning bathrooms
A little snack baggie of walnuts and chocolate chips is my go-to snack for blogging
If I could I would travel ALL the time
I like hiking DOWN things, not up. For example, the Grand Canyon, you hike down it. Yes, I know you have to hike back up, but you hike down first.
I don’t know how to ski
I am a very good swimmer, but I don’t like to put my head underwater.
I am the queen of useless pieces of information. For example: Crickets and Katydids have their ears on their elbows, but Locust have them on their abdomen. And: MTV first debuted in 1981
The Very Last Leaves
This picture is the last of fall. I snapped it right before the leaf blower came to blow all the leaves off the grass and into the street so the street sweeper could suck them all up and take them away.
I don't know about you, but I enjoy watching the leaves blow around and skitter over the lawns, sidewalks and streets. Unfortunately, here in the neighborhood where I work they frequently clean up all the leaves blowing around and collecting in piles. The homeowners association probably doesn't want the neighborhood to look "unsightly". My thought is this: How unsightly is it to leave the leaves so that kids can play in the piles and have leaf fights! That was the one thing I always liked best about fall as a child.
Anyway, now that all the leaves are off the trees, things around here are definitely starting to look like winter. You definitely bundle up when you go out and you find yourself starting to hope for snow.
This weekend was great. I spent it with my best friend, in Oregon. She had some stamping classes to teach down in Springfield and I tagged along for company and quiet. It's been so long since we've been able to have that much time to ourselves alone! I can't believe that we talked the whole way down and the whole way back. That's like 10 hours of talking!
Well, gotta dash around before M gets home from school (it's early release because of parent teacher conferences). Until later.
The Best Tea Ever
This is my absolute FAVORITE type of tea! It's simply lovely with a good book, for that caffeine fix or even just because. My mother and I found this tea many years ago in a tea room somewhere and we both completely enjoyed it. I've just recently gone off my daily Starbucks and needed something for that daily caffeine hit. Two cups just about does it for me.
If you've ever had Earl Grey, it's similar but much lighter and not as intense. It doesn't leave a bitter after-taste either. Recommendations: a bagel with a light marmalade; sourdough break with raspberry jam; and I can't forget to tell you that it makes a lovely accompaniment to the Cranberry Orange Scone at Starbucks.
It's sometimes hard to find, I have to get mine at a little British tea shop in Gilman Village out in Issaquah because my grocery store doesn't carry it. It can also be found online at Amazon or straight from Britain if you wish. Enjoy!
A Day
Do you ever have one of those days that just a day? Not good, not bad, just...a day. That's what today is.
The kids and I are all bundled up in the house because it's EXTREMELY windy here at work. And when I say windy, I mean: if it's not nailed down, it's floating around. They closed the Hood Canal bridge earlier today and the winds in Bellingham have reached 62 mph! I really don't mind so much, it's kinda nice to sit and blog with my cup of tea while the wind whistles around the corners of the house.
Let's see, not much else going on around here...came in late to work today, the parents have meetings late this evening. Hoping I can still get home in time for CSI and Myth Busters. Both those shows have kinda become a tradition with husyband and myself.
Books I'm currently reading: "The Teenage Liberation Handbook" by Grace Llewellyn and "Real-Life Homeschooling" by Rhonda Barfield - both are most interesting, thoughts on them later perhaps.
It's Football Season!
And this is his sister. Also quite a cutie. They both have such great personalities and love to play together. I've got SO many pictures of them. I'm sure over the course of the blog more will trickle in hope you all don't get tired of seeing them.
I've got a photo shoot in Seattle next Sunday, I'll upload some of those when the family gets their proofs. Oh, and I'm also going to Springfield, Oregon with my best friend on Friday and Saturday to keep her company while she teaches a DeNami Stamping Class, so there should be pictures from that as well. Have a great night.
What a Cutie!
Hard to beat how cute this little guy is. Since I'm his nanny, every day is a photoshoot. He's just so cute I can't help myself! I'll post pictures of his sister as soon as I can get them reformated. Have a great night!
Trying Again
Well, lets try this again. I started a blog under another name, and no matter how many times I try to get into and talk to tech support it won't let me in. SO, let's hope this one works.
I intend to use this blog as a place to let loose all the randomness that is constantly going through my brain. I'm not terribly sure if anyone will find it at all interesting, but one can always hope. I will also post pictures of my photo shoots and my scrapbooking layouts when I do them.
I would love comments, just so I know who wanders through.
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