Ian and Jadey

I mentioned a few posts ago, that Ian had a girlfriend. She is a very sweet girl, her name is Jadey. I haven't blogged about her yet, because I wanted Ian to be OK with it. He says it's OK, so here goes. This is a picture that Jadey's mom took of the two of them together. They were on an outing with Jadey's mom and sister. I like Jadey a lot. I like that she loves Ian for who he is, and doesn't try to make him be someone else. I like that when they are together, I remember my first love. I like that Ian seems to be floating on the clouds all the time. I like that when they have needed to, they have had long talks about the things that are bothering them. I like that as close as they love to sit, and as many times as they kiss, it's like 12 year olds. Not adults. I like that Jadey tells her mom everything, and that she encourages Ian to do the same with me. Yep. Think what you like about me letting Ian have a girlfriend. I only know that when I was his age, I got good at lying to my mom about my crushes and boys. By the time I was 16, it was second nature. But this post is not to justify that decision. It's to tell you that there is young love in my house, and I like it. I like her. 

My Garden....

totally....
absolutley... loves the Ocean.....
lookie here.
I
have
P R O O F

A cosmo that the boys got at the energy fair and I couldn't bear to let die.

When we moved to our new house, I took all of my flowers and plants with me. I dug them OUT OF THE GROUND and put them all in pots. I did this to them in the SPRING. After they had already STARTED growing and blooming. In an effort to help them survive, I cut all of them back VERY far. As in, I whacked them back. As in no more branches, just the bare bones of a plant. The idea behind this was that if there weren't any branches to nurture, the plants might be better able to root and survive.

A rose from one of my Grandma Rosalind's Bushes.

I had to take them all, you see, because many (really, like 90%) of my flowers are flowers that I took or took starts from my Grandma Rosalind's Garden. I have attachment to these flowers. Simply buying a new bush or plant would not be the same.

My "new" fence! It's actually a reclaimed wraught iron day bed that I put in the front. Shhhhh.

Not only did my flowers and bushes survive, many of them have grown their little branches BACK and are producing flowers! Some of them will not have time to bloom this year, my lavendar taken from my Grandma's as starts are growing, but I don't think they will have time to put out any flowers.

Another of my Grandma's roses.... this one is fully opened, and below is one that has just begun....

My Butterfly bush is growing as well, and because of the coastal late summers, I think that the blooms it's TRYING to grow will actually be able to flower and smell scrumtious this year! My daylillies have already bloomed, and will have spread my the time it's time again next year to grow and spread their beauty.

So I have to wait until the dormant season to plant "the potted ones" in their places in the yard. I won't put them through the torture twice in a year. Until then, I have squash and cucumbers and tomatos planted in the flower beds because my Vegetable Garden area is not ready. I have vegis growing on those plants too!

Funny thing is, until my gramma passed away, I never really thought that I had the ability to grow ANYTHING much less be able to cause things to come BACK! But a few years before she died, I had started to listen to her talk about her garden's problems and her solutions. I began to try a few things on my own, and I have tended my green thumb over time. I think it likes the ocean too.......

She's a Garden Gal!

I am a HUGE kellicrowe fan....
I think I
may
have
mentioned
this
B 4

Well, in my book, she's always been a
Superstar.


She has been a member on 2peas for a long time now.
But the 2 peas in a bucket folks have
FINALLY
seen the light,
and asked kelli to contribute as a
GARDEN GAL!!!!
follow my links
and get
adicted to kelli
just
like
me!

Bliss

I love my husband. LOVE love
L O V E
El
Oh
Ve
Ee
Luv.
We took a picture (ok, more than A picture....)
I thought that I looked more chubby than I like to look.
That extra chin that keeps trying to join my face likes to come and visit most during pictures. I keep telling it that I already HAVE a chin thank you very much, and
I
don't
WANT
NEED
LIKE
2.
It won't listen.
So anyhoo....
the thing popped in for a picture session, and I told the hubby that I didn't really like it to be in my pictures. So he says to me,
just suck in your cheeks like this!
out pops his eyes, and in pop his cheeks, and Viola! a skinny face!
The best part about this?
My husband was willing to take ANOTHER picture with me and
MY
skinny face.
I
Love
That
Man.

He even did it in public at a Diner I got taken to earlier that day by Ian's Girlfriend's mom.(yes, I SAID girlfriend, but I'm not TELLING that story now, so you just have to wait.)We (she, Ian, Jadey, Jadey's sister, and I) were in a town near ours wedding gift shopping for a wedding she needed a gift for, and I says to her,
Leeanne,
I feel like something bad to eat like something FRIED.
Rachel, she says to me,
I think that sounds GREAT!
then she says
We could go to the diner, and get fries and a soda and eat in the car.
Sounds good to me.
FRIED
CARBONATED
ON THE GO
the worst possible way to eat food!
lets
do
it.

'cept we get there, and I realize, that the ON THE GO part is not what it sounded like. In the car, doesn't mean while we drive, it MEANS in the car. See, THIS diner has chopped up muscle cars from the 50's and 60's and turned two of them into TABLES that are in the DINER.
Cool.
So Cool.
So cool that I made reservations to bring Travis and the boys back to dinner THAT NIGHT. So~
Here are a few pics of our fun night out on a whim.

The sign out front that SHOULD have been my first clue we were in for some fun..... Those are REAL car bodies out on top of the Diner.

I made our reservations for THE CAR with the flames on the sides, right in the FRONT.

THE coolest Kid's Meal container EVER...

Actual working functioning rides!
Can I just say that 25 cents went Waaaaaaaaaay longer when this was made?

and ten cents went even LOOOOOOOOOONNNNNGER! Sorry there are no pictures of Macs, he fell asleep before we got there, and slept through EVERYTHING.... I got ONE picture of him on Travis' lap outside by a car, but then he promptly went back to bed.

The coolest man in the WORLD.... and he's aaaaaaalllllll mine. Now THAT'S
B L I S S...

And the Winners are......

Ok..... U remember the swatches? Well, Karen, I didn't choose based on FOOD.... thanks for that! I chose Palm Green for the Kitchen (that's the second from the darkest) I chose Orange Taffy (it's CANDY not FOOD) and it's the one at the VERY bottom! So before you die thinking of my Living room in Orange, let me just say a few things.
I wanted COLOR.
I always have, and I always put it off for "someday"
I decided that someday never comes.
and the best intentions mean nothing without ACTION.
remember that?
I also told you that black paint is very hard to get out of the cracks where your toenails and your toes meet. Here's proof:


My toes. tipping the paint tray while you are painting will do this to your feet.
and the floor.


This is my Kitchen Before. Remember, we just recently moved, so my before was never really anything other than not unpacked.


Here is the After. I bought the tin signs at my friend Lisa's Ebay store, Primitives of New England. She's sent one of them as a housewarming gift. I've never met her face to face. I LOVE my cupboards with her signs.

The After view of the wall to the right of the last pic.
and More signs from Lisa's Store.....


This is where the magic happens.... no WAIT. That's another room.... hee hee. The computer desk is another right hand turn from the last pic. It took the longest to do. I also painted the fridge. That's where my toes got black.
Do ya see the cool idea I had?
Lookie on the fridge.... I put magnets on some wooden picture frames and put them on the fridge for the boys to put their art behind....
Genius, I know.
Thank you.


The living room wall that you see from the street, and when you walk in the door.


Sorry this is so dark, but the stop sign is reflective, and it makes all the pictures it's in really dark.
and YES. There is a way to get street signs without STEALING them!


Here is the wall to the Right of the last pic! (nuthin but right hand turns in this blog!) That's the front door on the ummmmm
right.


My License Plate collection, and my end table made from suitcases. I love my suit cases. I got the lamp second hand, and I plan to make a new shade for it soon.

So.....
That's it! Nothing more to see here,
Move along
folks!
Go back about your business!

and thanks for being curious enough to come and take a peek!
let me know what you think of my taffy and palm!

Look Ma! No Photoshop!

Lookie here!
I am a total Baroness of Bargains. I got this pic edited 4
F
R
E
E
That's right folks! Nada, nothing, zip, zero, zilch.
I did it with Picasa2, a free photo
editing program from a Google sponsored program. I saturated the pic and adjusted the color tones. Then I washed out the lighting. I also tilted the picture a tiny bit. I added the Glow feature, and the sharpen feature. I think it turned out pretty good! At LEAST comparable to some photoshop pics that I admire, and considering the PRICE.... well, let's just say. It was worth EVERYPENNY!

Swatches

OK. A little teaser here.... I told you all I like color, and I've always wanted it in the house. I've chosen one color off of each of these swatches. Any guesses which colors? I'll be putting pics up in a few days!

rachel

PAINT

I've been painting. I've always WANTED to have color in my house. It's always been something I would tell friends and family when they came over.

"EVENTUALLY, I'm going to paint this wall, and this...blah blah blah...."

Well, as everyone knows, eventually never comes.
BUT.
This time,
it DID.
I am painting. Because I am painting, the computer has been shuffled, and my camera dock is not hooked back up yet. I am going to do it SOON, but I had to share my eventually with you. I'll put the pics up in a few days. In the mean time, picture that painting a wall doesn't mean that the paint actually STAYS in the paint tray and on the wall. Did I mention one of the colors I'm using is BLACK? It's not so easy to get out of the sides of your toenails.

just saying.

Happy Sunday! I'll be gone at the beach today, and painting on tonight!

rachel

My friend Kerri

My friend Kerri and her daughter came over to see my new house (and me) and we had a blast. It was last weekend, but I wanted to share the pics. These are just two, but they are my fave's. Thanks Kerri! I had so much fun.


Lexi and Macs. I think this is one of my FAVORITES....


See Kerri!? I told you that B&W would make this a killer pic!

TAGGED!

I got tagged. I keep reading that darned kellicrowe and I love her blog. My love of all things kelli got me tagged.

1. How old are you? 30

2. How many kids do you have if any? 3 boys
3. Are you married, single, divorced, widow? Married (happily)
4. What is your occupation? Work at home MOM
5. What are your passions? I have so MANY.... Children and literacy near the top... and creating. I love creating.
6. Are you a dreamer or a dream seeker? DREAMER
7. Are you happy with the way you life has turned out? ABSOLUTELY I couldn't have planned it any better.
8. Are you a scrapper and if so how many hours a week do you scrap? scrapper, but I didn't know we were supposed to actually DO any scrappING!
9. What do you want to do before you die? live (this is totally kelli's answer, but it's the best one I've ever seen, so I'm leaving it.)
10. What is your favorite food? homegrown tomatoes, frigerator pickled cucumber slices, rootbeer float FLAVORED ice cream from WalMart.
11. What is the food you hate the most? tripe. had it once. nuff said.
12. What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you? I really don't get that embarassed. or if I do, I forget about it. I am really bad with names, and I hate when I have to ask someone that I think I should remember what their name is (again)
13. What is the happiest day of your life thus far? any day that one of my boys tells me how much they love me.
14. Are you a neat freak? Or a dirty house cleaner? yes. if you are a perfectionist, you know what I mean. there are days when your dirty house gets the best of you, and your neat freak goes nuts! and because you can't get to it the RIGHT way..... well. eventually you are a neat freak freaking out over the messy house you have to spend all day cleaning.


Ok.... now I tag KAREN!

Friends

I have very few close friends. I think that I can count them on two hands. I have about 5 friends from my old town that I call and email on a regular basis. They are great people, that I love. They have come to see me here at my new house, and they are friends that I hope to keep. Then I have my internet friends.
Travis (and apparently other Men in these friend's lives)
does
not
get
it.
I have about 4 good friends that I met through Ebay's groups. We are all a part of a group of mom's who ebay. We are all store owners there, and we have children. We swap information, and help each other with ebay related things. Through this connection, we have formed friendships. Our little group has grown and continues to do so, but there about 4 women that I consider very close friends, and ALL of the women there are friends. Over the course of our information sharing, we have begun to share about ourselves, and our families, and found that we have even more in common. Many of the women there Homeschool their children, an amazingly uncanny amount of us have husbands in law-enforcement jobs of one kind or another. Our children are all very close in age, and we have mommy stories that are alike! Most of the women in the group live on the east coast. It's not likely that we will be able to meet in the near future. However, these women care about ME. If I were in trouble, and needed an ear, any of them would gladly give it. If we were close enough, and I needed a cup of tea or a few eggs for a recipe I was baking, they would be there. One of these ladies has a HOUSEWARMING gift on the way....
needless to say...
her husband doesn't
get
it.
So......
We are friends.
My dictionary says that the definition of friend is this:
one attached to another by affection or esteem
I don't see how having seen a person face to face can make or break that deal.

To all my FRIENDS here close by, and the worldwide web
Thank you for being
my
friends....
I hold you in high esteem, and affection.

rachel

Aloha!

our picture area that no one had their pictures taken in! LOL


the goodie bags that I SLAVED over.... hee hee


another view of the deck and macs and I.... the ladies and myself decided to torture him with a little dress up session!

The luau was a BLAST! I was so busy though, that I didn't get very many pictures. I had so much fun. Thanks to all the Pip Chicks that came all the way to my new house on the coast from Roseburg, Oregon! I had such a good time getting things ready for the gathering!

• Pinapple chunks on wooden skewers, then frozen to be ice/drink stirrers...
• Bags made to look like grass skirts
• Flowers and sparkles on the Kazoos
• rubber ducks that had purple and red hats and finery
• cake with strawberries
• peach tea with ice made of the same (so that drinks didn't dilute)
• flowers for our hair in coordinating pink and red
• a headress for the birthday girl who turned 50! (that's the pic in "sneek peek")
• a queen's ceptor made with flowers
• more food
• more flower gluing
• painting a dollar tree parot in hawaiian garb to match our colors and become a purple pip chick!

I had so much fun. Thanks especially to Lady Leilani for bring all the wedding decorations from her daughter's luau wedding. Without those, it would not have been the same!

rachel

Sneak peek

Here is a sneek peek at one of the goodies to come at the Red Hat Society Luau at my house I'm planning! I'll post some pictures of the luau when we are done!

How did camp go?

..... I don't KNOW.
The boy has been home since 10:00 yesterday,
and I
STILL
don't know.

Pretty sure it was fun.
Not really sure.
Pretty sure.

No
News
Is
Good
News

...........right?

He's been hanging out with his new group of friends here.

THAT
is
Goooooooooood.
They are a good group of kids, and a couple of them have law enforcement parents. Makes for good bonding, and he's never really known ayone who could relate to him on that level....
they are either going to be REALLY good kids,
or IN TROUBLE
all
the
time......
I'm praying for the FIRST one.

So as far as I know, the last week was great, and he still wants to be a Jr. counselor next year.
Camp stories, anyone?
I'm not getting any from the boy.

well.
there is the song.....
"your potato ate my cat"
that seems to have been a hit.
That's all I can get out of him.
sheesh.
what will I do when he's a
T
E
E
N
A
G
E
R
?