Summer Lovin'

I love my 3 week summer break where I don't have to see any kids. Not that I don't love my job, but lets be honest, I need a break. I'm down to 2 jobs (from 4) and I like to be really lazy. Some days I  go to yoga and then I lay on the couch. I feel really guilty the whole time but not guilty enough to get up. But then I unfortunately remember I have homework for my last online class (hooray) and then I want to cry because instead of watching HGTV I get to watch videos and take tests. And then Niki saves the day and we craft. I have never crafted a whole day and I think I might like it. We found this awesome artist, Lorena Siminovich, who sells great art to Anthropologie for $104.00.  Niki and I made ours for $5.00 + the cost of frames. I just love a good deal. 

Ms. Siminovich's $104.00 art:

My $5.00 art: 

And you really must see them in real life... its so much better then the picture! 

The Dirty Delta

Boating in the dirty Delta is the best... but sadly we have been neglecting out boating adventures this summer (compared to last) due to our home renovation projects. But last weekend we all put those projects to a rest and went out on the Hall's boat... appropriately named Uno Mas. We had a blast and the weather was beautiful.

The girls... Tessa, Nicki, me, and Brooke

The Uno Mas owners... Brooke and Jason

Tessa is trying to decide if she likes wearing this cute red life jacket. 

Jason rocked, as usual, wake surfing. 

Look at Cam jumping the wake... he is definitely getting good. And just for the record- he is landing 180's now. 

Jason was determined to conquer the wake surfing his first day trying it. He was close... 

My philosophy once I'm up is "Do anything you can to stay up." So that means don't go over the wake. I like it like that. 

Brooke is really like a pro. Let's see... she gets up her first try, jumps wakes, and only falls because she is too tired to hold on anymore. Yes, she is good. 

Niki was awesome... and escaped the trip with only a minor injury. C'mon Niki... it doesn't really hurt when you get nailed in the head with a surf board.

I Broke Up

with my hairdresser. Our 1 1/2 year relationship has ended and I'm kind of sad about it. 

I have tried to be patient with my 3 last BAD highlights... but this is where I draw the line. This bang cut is just not working out for me. Tears welled in my eyes in the salon and after attempting to fix the mess about 3 times I just asked her to stop trying. After my cut I went to work and my pilates client looked at them and said, "Well, at least you don't have a wedding to attend." And then I said, "Oh, I must not have told you my brother is getting married in 3 weeks." Breaking up is hard to do... do you tell your hair dresser or do you just never go back??

Paint Project #1

Brooke and Nicki talked me into painting... I have never painted before except for one time. I helped Nicki paint her ceiling and I think I had more paint on my shoes then on the ceiling. So after borrowing lots of Brooke's supplies, 2 trips to Home Depot, and a detailed inservice by Brooke on taping off our room...  

we started to paint. I wish I had pictures of Brooke and Nicki painting because they slaved away on the room too... not to mention answering 100 of my questions (thank you, thank you, thank you!!) 

And we are done (with the painting that is). I have furniture and bedding picked out but now I just need to find a money tree. 

Negative On The Green Thumb

Our front porch needed some livening up... so I headed to Alden Lane. This place is amazing. I suggest a visit to this place just to see it. I have never seen so many plants, pots, and helpers who actually help you. 

When my mother-in-law visited she equipped me with some great gardening gear... thanks Margaret! 

Here's where we play a game? Find this purple plant in the pot below. 

Yeah, its not here. I killed the purple plant... in both pots. Planting is not a stress reliever, it is a stress causer. Good thing Alden Lane guarantees their plants because I have been back 3 times to exchange the plants I have killed. Oh the good times... 

A Real Shocker

What... how could they have broken up? I knew they probably would but I hoped not... because I loved Shane. I do want to take some scissors to that flap of hair that was always in her left eye. It's official, all the bachelors have commitment issues. Why am I addicted to this show again? 

Zucchini Bread

I made my mom's recipe for zucchini bread which I have always loved.  I think zucchini is a Utah thing- we put it in cake, bread, muffins, you name it. I substituted all the oil for applesauce. Applesauce + zucchini = very moist. But you know, it didn't turn out bad... I would probably make it again that way.

-1 cup sugar

-1 cup brown sugar

-3 eggs, beaten

-3/4 cup oil (or appleauce)

-2 cups zucchini, grated (I left the skins on and make sure you press out all the liquid!)

-3 tsp vanilla

-3 cup flour

-1 tsp salt

-1 tsp baking soda

-3 tsp cinnamon

-1/4 tsp baking powder

-1/2 tsp nuts (optional)

Combine the sugars, oil, and eggs. Beat until well blended. Add zucchini and vanilla. Gently spoon flour into cup to measure and combine with salt, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, and stir into creamed mixture. Blend well and add nuts. Pour into two greased loaf pans. Bake about 50 minutes at 350 degrees. 

The Dark Knight

So its a little frieky, a little violent, a little long, and it might make you afraid of clowns... but you have to see it. This movie is awesome!! 

Coldplay

I must say Coldplay was amazing... that was one of the best concerts I have ever gone to. We drove down with the Brintons and found sweet free parking. We had a bunch of time to kill so we went to grab dinner but of course there was a super long wait at every restaurant. Lucky for us we found Quiznos and just as we finished ordering the sandwich maker says, "You know we close at 7 so you have to take this to go." That was defintiely not lucky and why did he not tell us this before we ordered? So we ended up eating on the curb, freezing, eating our hair because of the wind, and watching parts of our sandwich's blow away. Thanks to my self timer I caught this classic moment on film.

There was some good pre concert entertainment as Cam and I watched a girl pass out before the the opening band started playing. And after listening to 2 horrible opening bands... Coldplay came on. It was so great! 

Chris Martin likes to do this jumping action almost every song. I thought it was hilarious... check out his moves from afar. 
 

Sunrise Cafe

A few weekends ago we went with the Halls to Sunrise Bistro in Walnut Creek. If you haven't tried this place then you really should... and order the yogurt pancakes. They are to die for and I would pay to get that recipe. After we did some serious house shopping ... which the boys were super excited about. 

Trying to convince Jason that he is having a good time.  

Jason made us take this picture... 

Baked Beans

My mom is famous for her baked beans, I whipped up my first batch for July 4th. Unlike most things I cook for the first time, they actually turned out pretty good. Here's the recipe: 

-4 slices bacon, cook till crisp (I used turkey bacon which turned out super great)

-2 Tbs bacon drippings (I did not add this)

-1/2 cup chopped onion

-2 (1 lb) cans pork and beans

-3 Tbs brown sugar

-1 Tbs worcestershire sauce

-1 tsp mustard

-1/2 cup catsup

-1/4 chopped green pepper

Cook bacon till crisp, drain, reserving 2 Tbs. drippings. Crumble bacon. Cook chopped onion in drippings (I used Pam) till tender. Add with bacon two 1 lb. cans pork and beans, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce, prepared mustard, catsup, and green pepper. Mix everything together and put in a serving dish (I 2 times the recipe and it fit in a 9 x 13 pan).  Bake at 325 for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. 

The Wasp Nest

Do you see this teeny tiny thing in the middle of this picture? You might have to squint to see it. Well, I have deemed this the smallest wasp nest in the world and Cameron seemed to think we needed to make a trip to Home Depot to get wasp spray. Are you kidding? Can something this small hurt you? 

I asked Cameron if he needed binoculars to aim... 

July 4th {2008}

Why am I posting this late? Because last Thursday as I was paying bills- my computer screen went completely black. I figured it was stressed from paying bills :) Turns out the logic board (or something like that) just broke inside the computer. What a great weekend surprise. Well its back and back into blogging action. We had a BBQ at our house for the 4th and watched Livermore's fireworks from our front yard. 

Brooke, Nicki, Tessa, and I

Cameron's mom was in town for the 4th... it was great to spend some time with her and she was definitely my party planner. She came with a suitcase full of decorations and decorated for the BBQ... it looked so great!  

The spread

Cam and I

How many boys does it take to grill a burger? Apparently 4

I love this picture of Tessa. She had this giant piece of bread in her mouth and would show it to me everytime I said "Smile."

Brooke entertaining us before the fireworks started. That girl can dance...

Right Under Our Noses

Every time we go to Utah Cameron and I make a million stops at this particular gas station to get diet cokes with pellet ice. Does it get any better then pellet ice? I wonder why diet coke tastes better with pellet ice... its a mystery?? We stopped in at this ghetto am/pm the other day and look what we found... pellet ice. They call it crunch ice- but same thing. The highlight of the trip was not only finding this ice but while I was getting a beverage this homeless man says to me, "No offense, but this is the first time I've ever seen someone my height." My response back to him... "You should really start hanging out with taller people." Do people think before they talk sometimes? 

Canned Pumpkin

A while back I  read somewhere that you can make a cake or cupcakes with a cake mix (chocolate or white) and canned pumpkin. I never dared try it... but I had some friends over for dinner last week and Lisa brought cupcakes made with a white cake mix and a can of pumpkin. She sprinkled sugar on the top and they were super good and only 2 points (good news apparently for those who watch their points). 

Anyhow- I'm not a huge fan of the ingredients in a cake mix, but the cupcakes are pretty good. I made some this week

but mine didn't turn out as cute as Lisa's because she used this pan. She sells pampered chef and I think she could convince anyone to buy anything in that catalog... cupcakes in this pan are very cute! 

First Home Improvement Project

This is my kind of project. First you buy stones, next you put them on the ground, and then you are done. Now if only all projects were like this... 

Hired Help

Look at my hired help... isn't he cute? I think Cameron is still feeling inspired from the fair...