September 21, 2011

Can I getta pin?

O-M-Geee….new obsession. Pinterest. Ever heard of it? It’s THE BEST new web thang around! The web site is a virtual pin board where you can post all of the fabulous, fun and fierce things you find online. It allows you to sort and save these ideas into different boards creating endless inspiration, and I mean endless! You can also get ideas from other people’s boards too – I love when I see someone re-pinning my ideas! Sadly, my boards seem to include more food ideas than anything else, but hey, that’s what inspiring at the moment:-) I’m trying to focus more on home decorating – there’s only so many pumpkin treats to pin!

For some reason, the site does not work as well at my place of work so I have to save links in my email and pin them at home – a bit annoying, but it keeps me focused on my real work during the day. I also think you have to be invited to join – you can’t just sign up for it – so let me know and I can send you the email. Happy pinning!

http://pinterest.com/

September 19, 2011

Floor it

Finally broke down and forked over the cash for a new kitchen floor. The old one was an icky white that I could never seem to get clean. It also looked like it was installed by someone who didn’t exactly know what they were doing and it was peeling up in places. Decided to stick with vinyl and went with this dark grey one in hopes that it wouldn’t show the dirt as much. Unfortunately, my hawk eyes can still see the dirt, but at least it cleans up well!

Sadly, my car transmission prevented me from also replacing the yucky countertops. Those new trannys just drained the good ol’ bank account. Will have to save up for them again – maybe next spring will bring some shiny new counters!

September 18, 2011

River Recreation

Wish I had a better picture to show you besides this totally awesome wet suit shot! River rafting isn’t exactly condusive to photo taking. Cashed in our Groupon for a belated Father’s Day present on the Tieton River, north of Yakima. It only runs 4 weeks out of the year in September when they release water out of Rimrock Lake. Liz, Dad and I drove out at 6am to meet up with the 60+ other peeps on the trip. Jesus, what an outfit they run up there! Two huge buses of peeps and tons of rafts. It was pretty organized for that much chaos!

This was my first time on a guided trip and it was pretty fun – rapids were mostly level 3 with a few level 4s thrown in. Nobody fell out though I was secretly hoping for a boat flip for the excitement. I could easily have done a level 5 – heard the Skykomish was pretty killer in the springtime. Made a mental note of that 🙂

September 6, 2011

Serene Lake, strenuous hike.

Hiking

Took some recommendations from a colleague for a “fun, but butt kicking trail” and ended up at Lake Serene outside of Index, WA. Four miles up to an alpine lake sounded pretty sweet on a Saturday and I rallied the troops for the excursion.

The excursion ended up being eight miles of hell – stairs, rocks and steep, steep slopes. We ran out of water and just about killed ourselves getting to the top. The lake was beautiful, but man, we were not ready for that sort of hike! The way down was just as bad, the knees were not loving it. But we made it back to the cars in one piece – even Miss Stellie made it all of the way without being carried. I was very impressed!

August 29, 2011

Deck Demo Time!

Deck demolition

Been super busy at work with concerts – there hasn’t been a weekend where I’m not working for at least a few hours. Ugh. Just a few more shows and it’ll all be over with – then I can focus on remodeling again! I’ve got a nice long to do list for the fall.

Dad got home early from AK and while he’s not working, I’m putting him to work. He began demo on my bedroom deck today. It was completely rotten and carpenter ant infested. Ick. Can’t wait to get a nice shiny new deck installed (even though we never use it because 1) it’s off the master bedroom and 2) it gets zero sunlight)! More pictures to come…..