Blogging

So I guess if I am to start an online etsy shop, I should start blogging more. (Hopefully my etsy shop will be up in March selling my handmade goods that I have sewn.) Like most people, I have RSS feed to my favorite blogs. I get bored and sad when they don't blog very much because this is my lifeline to them. How can I complain about them when I rarely update mine? So my goal for the immediate future is to blog more.

I'll kick this one off by talking about audiobooks. Since my last in-dash CD player crapped out on me over 4 years ago, I put my factory stereo with tape deck back in my dash with the hope of no one breaking into my easy to steal Honda Accord. I've already had one CD player stolen. My hubby bought me an ipod and an adapter for my car, so I can take my electronics with me. 

Ok, back to audiobooks. Now I can place whatever books I want to listen to on my ipod and listen to them while driving. Audiobooks are expensive so I rely on the library. Most of the time, I just request whatever I am interested in and then pick it up when it is available. Recently I came across this-a site where you don't even have to visit the library to get your books. Just log on and surf what is immediately available for download and transfer to playable device or burn.

Listening to these stories in the car allows me to unwind on my ride home from work and gives me something to be happy about for my 5:30 in the morning drive to work. I mostly listen in my car like a said, but audiobooks are also a great way to get chores done around the house. I put the ipod on and off I go. When my mind doesn't remember all the horrible tasks I need to overcome, I don't have a problem doing housework. I also ready quite a bit, so I find it is good to listen to a different genre that you are reading. I listen to a lot of mysteries. Agatha Christie is my favorite. Sometime I even listen to my Book Club book on tape. More on Book Club to follow.

My First Time

My friend Becky recently bought a chair for ten dollars on craig's list. She wanted to paint and reupholster it to be the seat of honor for her sister's baby shower. We had brainstormed together, but neither one of us had attempted something like this before. Of course we waited until only days before the shower and set to work. She picked the fabric out, sanded, primed and painted the chair and the next day, I went over with my air compressed stapler and a plan for the re-upholstery. I was a bit fearful, even with my knowledge of sewing. An hour and a half later and wahlaa, a brand new chair that was the rave of the party! 

Halloween

Warning sign. We are not liable.

The front of the house.

Extreme props.

The front of the house.

We went to L.A. for Halloween. My Aunt Judy and Uncle Vance live there and every year they have the most amazing Halloween Yard. It takes over a month to put it all together. We showed up two days before to help put the finishing touches on it and to scare the crap out of people on Halloween. It is a lot of hard work, but very rewarding. Plus, I get to see my other family members from IL and other parts of Cali. See the second post for more.

My 10 Year High School Reunion

Like I said in the last post, I was in Peoria, IL the last week in May. This coincided with my ten year high school reunion. I didn't take many pic's, but here are the ones I liked. The first two are guys I went to high school with and the last two are me with my friends kids. Casey Getz, his wife and son, Jeremy Elsasser, me with Joe and Ashby Patterson's little girl Emma and me with Amber (Aaron) and Jason Redoutey's little guy Caleb. I think I was one of two couples at my reunion without kids. Of course there were some single people and Nathan didn't attend with me so it was kind of weird. I fell back into by old secretarial roles by organizing a list of updated addresses and emails. My ultimate goal of pacifying my curiosity about my classmates was met, plus it fueled me to join facebook. So I guess it was a success. 

I am so delinquent

I've been up to a little sewing lately. I made my mom a gardening bag for mother's day. Didn't turn out exactly as planned, but still super cute! This pic is taken at my parent's land in Farmington, IL. We were home the end of May.

It's been a long time

Sorry all. I have been horrible at updates. I have an exciting new project I want to share with you though. Nathan and I have been working at renovating a baby blue room (a favorite of the past owners) into my new craft/office room. Take a peek. First Nathan removed the popcorn ceiling, installed can lighting, patched, sanded and painted the ceiling. Then we painted the room not once, but twice since I didn't like the first color. Most recently, Nathan laid wood laminate flooring. It looks amazing and that is just the beginning. Right now we are working on crown molding and baseboard. I can hardly wait for him to build my desks and for me to get started on all my curtains and accessories. 

Another Home Tour

Last Sunday, Becky and I went on another home tour. This time to Windsor Square in the Scottsdale Camelback area and another girl Heather joined us. The homes and landscaping were beautiful. Very inspiring.