More Snow

Annie is keeping watch of the neighborhood. We got about 8.5 inches over last weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Project

This weekend I worked on another project. Now that it is getting colder, I need something to keep me busy - in the house.

I found these letters at Michaels. I spraypainted them (I'm in a painting frenzy). Thanks Cara! :D

I also completely blog-lifted her idea about the cute bird.

Now it just needs a little somethin' else, don't ya think?

New Carpet

When we first moved into the house one of the first projects on our lists was to replace the carpet throughout. The living room was top priority because it was bright red. Yucko! For some red is great, but it wasn't exactly our taste. Mostly because it clashed with everything! Well now we've finally replaced the carpet! Here are the before and afters so you can appreciate the results. I have to do something about that plant in the corner. I watched an HGTV episode this last weekend and I learned that and fake plants rank in the top 10 of design no-no's, right along with fake flowers. Hmmmm.

Fall Wedding

Sanford and I went back east for my BIL's wedding a couple of weekends ago. Sanford was the best man and I was the matron (ugh that sounds so old!) of honor. It was a fun trip. It was peak season for the fall foliage. It was absolutely gorgeous, fun and freezing!

Fall Yard Sale!!

This last weekend I decided to hit a yard sale. I found two candle holders for a bargin price of $3 for them both. I also found some great ceramic candlestick holders that were horribly ugly and at $5 a peice, (regularly $20 for one) I snagged them with the idea that I would be spray painting them with FLAT BLACK spray paint. They turned out really nice! The ribbon I picked out didn't look so good, so they are bare for now. Here are a few of the pics:

These are my candlesticks. They will not be staying on the table. I'm going to move them somewhere else. The centerpeice will be staying.

The Easy Life

Annie has it easy! Wouldn't it be nice?

What was old is now new!

This summer at a yard sale I found this table. I wanted it, but at the time I had no idea what I would do with it. I know it needed a makeover because it screams "1970!!" There it sat in my garage until last week. I began sanding away at the old finish, then with the inspiration of my friend Cara and her flat black paint creations, I was on a quest! This end table was going to get a new coat of flat black paint! After it dried I distressed it a little and then finished it off with Johnson's paste wax and tada...It's done! It's not too shiny and not too matte. Ain't she a beauty? I spray painted the handle just a bit so the gold flecks show through. When I find the right handle, this one is getting the boot! My next project is the coffee table. We inherited a coffee table from Sanford's grandmother. It has an oval top with the same type of legs. It's getting some flat black paint and a little distressing to match! I'll be sure and share the results!

Before the transformation:

After - I'll eventually dress the table top up with some little pretties...

Last of the Roses

This handful of roses are the last off of my rose bushes for the season.

First Snow of '08

We woke up this morning to a bit of snow! It's hard to believe that winter is right around the corner.

This is the backyard. The snow was so heavy that it broke the branches on some of the trees, which haven't lost their leaves yet.

This is looking out the front door. The mountains are still getting snow.

Fall Hike

A couple of weeks ago we took a hike in the foothills near our house. We took Annie and she had such a fun time. Here are some photos:

The afternoon was surprisingly hot. Luckly we found a little waterhole for Annie to drink and swim in. The water was not deep so she didn't need her life jacket! This is part of the trail looking northwest. You can see a portion of the Great Salt Lake.

A cool rock along the trail

Annie didn't want to get out of the car when we got home. It took a lot of coaxing, but she finally got out!

Battle of the Bugs!!!

OK, so we don't like bugs! Especially when they come to your home uninvited like these bugs did. We discovered them swarming at the front of the house when we were on our way out to walk Annie. Annie's walk was immediately cancelled and Sanford began the war against the bugs! We have never seen anything like this before!! We've estimated the kill count to be around eleventy billion!! :D

We are not sure what these bugs are, but they look like flying ants. They responded very well to the Raid we used on them. They died instantly!!

This photo shows the bugs along the front of our garage door. GROSS!!

Here they are piled up in the corners of the stairs at the front door. (Like Annie's cute toy?)

We been battling the wasps all summer long. We found a HUGE nest in the fence. We've wiped out the wasp poison supply at our local Home Depot.

Celebrating 2 years!

Sanford and I have been in our new house two years now. We have slowly made some home improvments during that time. Recently for our 17 year wedding anniversary we purchased (finally!) our patio furniture. The previous owner also left us the hot tub as well. We have not used it since we have moved here. So for two years the tub collected debri, had pipes leak and the shell was cracked. The skirting was also in need of a facelift. Well, this last week I decided it was about time to revive this tub and put it to good use. I was able to get it repaired and worked painstakingly hard in the blazing sun, to stain the worn out skirting, caulk the crack, fill and learn all about how to chemically treat the water. Whew! Now we finally have our back yard about 1/3 of the way we want it!!

Lagoon... It's what fun is!

I spent the day at Lagoon with my mother and father in law and my niece and nephew. They came up from Idaho and R. brought his friend and A. met her friend S. here. We had so much fun. It wasn't very hot at all. I rode the scariest ride ever. The Skycoaster. It was so scary but so much fun I wanted to do it again. I still cannot believe I did it!!

A Weekend With Family

My 14 year-old niece was visiting from Idaho this last weekend to compete with her dance team in Roy. Being part of the audience was sort-of electrifying with all the screaming and cheering. Most of all it was fun being together with family and supporting something that she loves to do. Here is a clip of one of her dances. I'm not the best videographer, but my camera (I forgot the camcorder, ugh!) did a fairly good job.

Commercials

I LOVE funny commercials. Tonight I saw the new Nextel "steel workers"commercial. I tried to find it on YouTube, but to no avail. However, I did find another gem: