Garage Sale Success, My Love for Old Folks, and Chevron!

Life has been going 100mph lately!  I am lovin' it though!  I like being busy...but I am a lover of some down-time too (Hopefully I will catch up on that this week.)!  My garage sale was a success...and I may have even picked up several items myself!  Lisa and Julie (sister and cousin) were getting rid of a lot of good items that were too short for their long bodies...YAY!  Finally a good reason for being a shortie!  I picked up a couple items for my house too.  Overall, it was a good, fun experience!  Here are a few of the items I bought!

I ended up with a lot of shirts!  This is just a small fraction!

We spent the day at Adventureland (amusement park) with hubby's family!  It was a scorcher, but my girlies loved it...So, all my sweating was worth it!! Hallie is able to ride a lot more of the wild rides now...that was a definite plus! We rode the bumper cars and I had to photograph this 80 year old man thoroughly enjoying them!  I was a creeper...but I didn't care!  I love seeing old people get out there are enjoy life!!  It is motivating!  It makes me want to take care of myself and NEVER stop moving! 

Can you tell Hallie is "over it?"

        I was feeling creative one night last week and decided to repaint a painting on my mantel.  Here it is...the chevron painting!  Oh, and check out my little diva who loves the stage! 

I hope everyone is having a great start to their week!!

Katie

Weekend Pictures

Here's my neice nephew, Bowen Thomas. This is Katie's baby boy! He has luscious locks of hair and it was getting in his eyes, so of course, I had to pull it back with one of his sister's clips.

Here's Colby and I canoeing on the DSM River. We are in a drought so it was around 1-3 feet the whole way. It was fun. We went with my Sunday School class people.

Here's a group shot from Eric Church concert.

Here's my crazy cool nieces! I love that they like to be crazy/wild/adventurous/pose like tatted gangstas with me!

Ostrich boots. The only boots worth wearing! (O, and Colby's Vans).

Here's the outfit I wore to the concert. Its a really flowy top, so I look pregnant. The boots were hand-me-downs from my friend LaNeysa, the shorts were bought at a garage sale (my old school 80's style shorts), top is from Mama Kimber's closet! 

Here's a puzzle I have put together recently.  My friend Kelly is on a puzzle kick and has me semi-hooked.. I like to do it when I am watching Olympics or its bloody hot outside! Speaking of the Olympics, I'm addicted! How heart breaking was it when the US female Gymnast didn't advance to the all-around (can't remember her name?)?

Here's Katie and I at White Oak Winery.  We went with a big group of people for my cousin's birthday on Friday night. It was good times. They had a duo singing and it was a beautiful night. Also, Katie chopped about 8 inches of her hair off. It looks amazing!

Here's a picture of all the girls: 

From left: Julie, Lisa (our oldest sister!), me, Jill, Katie, Julie, Lindsay, Allie, and Sammie.

Hope everyone has a lovely Tuesday!

Sara

Concert, Friends, Outfit, Love and This Weekend



This week I have been reallllly busy, which is always a good thing!  Last night I went to a concert with Colby's sister; the concert was Grace Potter.  In Des Moines, they have a really cool small venue which is located right on the DSM River on a sloping lawn. It's picturesque in every way. Last night was perfect weather..probably low eighties/high seventies. It was GRAND. Anyways, here's some pictures of the venue/stage.

 DSM River. Gorgeous. I love the cement railing. Reminds me of something out of Elizabeth Banks and Mr. Darcy days.

This is where the stage is set up. Grace Potter has a great voice. I hadn't ever really heard her until she did the duet with Kenny Chesney (You and Tequila song), but I reallly like her. I've been listening to some of her stuff today. Her song "Apologies" is really good, so check, check, check it out.

A couple nights ago, my dear friend JENA came in to town, so we met my other dear friend, Paige, out for a bite to eat, followed by Zombie Burger shake. I loooooove seeing these girls. I went to lawschool with them and they are just the kind of people you want in your life!  It's nice when everyone can get together and catch up. We are celebrating Paige's day of birth in a couple weekends on a lake up in northern Iowa. I.AM. PUMPED!

Here are the girls at Zombie Burger..taking a "typical" Zombie Burger pic. Ha.

After dinner with these lovely faces, I met one of my best friends for the late showing of Dark Knight Rises. It was really good. The guy who plays the villian is one of my favorite actors nowadays (Tom Hardy). He was in the MMA Fighting movie.. Can't think of it. Here is who I am talking about:





He was physically HUGE in this movie. I want to go read about his workout routine because I am sure it was unreal. In this movie he almost looks Hulk-like. Anyways, I think he's a really good actor and he has a BA vibe he puts off. Love that.

Here's a random outfit picture that I wanted to share. The quality is NOT good but I had to take a mirror pic.

The blue tanktop is from Salvation Army. It was $0.60, I believe. I've been trying to wear bright, fun colors this summer. I wore this outfit to work, so I like that it has a high neck. The jeans are old (Paris Blues, I think), the cardigan is from Target from years ago, my shoes are from Marshalls (years old, too), and my belt is one of the belts I bought at Sal Army for $0.50!

Colby and I were fighting a lot this week. I am glad that is over.  I hatttte fighting! But, we are normal, and in my opinion, normal people fight. If you claim you don't fight with your significant other, then honestly, you are weird (or lacking some PASSION)! 

This weekend, I am going to go see this guy with Colby and a bunch of fun people!!!

His song I am most looking forward to hear is "Carolina"!!  The first verse starts with this:

There's a cabin in a valley my grandpa built on your land
Your mountains are a canvas from the Maker's hand
Tonight I'm fishing Elk river if only in my mind
No, I haven't seen her banks in such a long, long time

And to answer your inevitable question, YES, I will be that girl hooting and hollering when I heard the intro to this song! So pumped!  Something random and funny about this song: When I first used to hear it, I thought he was talking about his girl's boobies("Your mountains are a canvas for the Maker's hand"). And, I was like, that's kinda pervy, but at the same time nice he's so "enraptured" with his lady's breasts! HE HA. I will shut up now.

Sorry for the loooong post! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Oh, and one more thing, the pepper plant I posted about where I had a small sized bell pepper, remember that post? I got home and the pepper had got tangled up in another pepper plant, snapping off my only pepper! I think I am going to need to transplant them this weekend! I was SAD!

Alright, bye bye bye!

Sara

Silence.

I have been quiet around here because I have been a busy little bee!!  My sister, myself and my cousin-in-law are hosting a garage sale!!  I don't think I will make a ton of money for the amount of time and energy it has taken, but it has been a fun experience!!  I purchased quite a few things from it too!!  I will have to share those with you later! 

Just a thought...Do you ever get the "urge" or "feeling" or "holy-spirit nudge" to do something kind or encouraging for someone else?  I think I get these frequently....except I don't always act on them.  I want to improve on this area of my life. I really, really, really love people!!!  For real.  I want to start acting on that love!!  OK...sorry if that felt incredibly awkward or weird to read! 

Well, that's all she wrote!

Katie

Lyrics

LEE BRICE- "HARD TO LOVE"

I am insensitive, I have a tendency to pay more attention to the things that I need.
Sometimes I drink to much, sometimes I test your trust, sometimes I don't know why you're staying with me?

I'm hard to love, hard to love, I don't make it easy, I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood
I'm hard to love, hard to love, you say that you need me, I don't deserve it but I love that you love me good.

I am a short fuse, I am a wrecking ball crashing into your heart like I do
You're like a Sunday morning full of grace and full of Jesus I wish that I could be more like you.
I'm hard to love, hard to love, I don't make it easy, I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood,
I'm hard to love, hard to love, you say that you need me, I don't deserve it but I love that you love me good.

Girl Boy, you've given me a million second chances and I don't ever wanna take you for granted, I'm just a man psycotic woman

Sometimes this song describes me. Click here for a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0liNLHmvKY

Happy Tuesday!
Sara

Pepper Plants and a New Shirt

IT'S MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY! And its not too bad around these parts. Anxious to be done, but the time is quickly passing!

About three weeks ago I planted pepper plants in pots. I put six plants per pot, which is probably WAY too much,  but I am just gonna go with it and see what the plants produce. I got all my plants for $2, which is a STEAL, if you ask any expert gardner:) 

Here's a picture of Pepper Plaints-Day 1:

They were tiny tiny tiny.

Here's a picture from yesterday.. You will see a bell pepper starting to grow!

They are a lot taller than the other picture and they are a lot more bushy! I might have to dig them up and transplant them elsewhere, but for now, I am keeping them here. Every week, I put some Miracle Grow on them, and I think that is helping. I love stir-fry and green bell peppers are my favorite ingredient. I could eat them all day long. Love them. I also panted a yellow pepper plant, red pepper plants and some other red/green oblong looking peppers.. can't recall the name. I will keep ya'll updated on how they are coming along!

Next up, is a new shirt I picked up at Salvation Army for $0.60 on Friday.  It was bloody hot and we were going to the horse races, so I needed a breezy shirt! Colby said you could see my bra through it.. OOOPS, I wasn't meaning to skank out at the horse races! Here's some pictures for ya:

This is Colby and I at the races. I don't know the brand of my shirt but the belt was also from Salvation Army ($0.50)! It's a little too big, but I don't mind belts that are too big. 

Speaking of belts: Here is another belt I picked up for $0.50 at Sal Army. Yes, I am laying on top of my sister, and it looks like we are lovers. FYI, we aren't lovers, just kindred souls! I was actually shocked Allie let me straddle her! HEHA.

It's got all these different color swatches on it, and its a light brown leather belt.  I love it.

Hope everyone has had a great week!! I need words of inspiration... here they are (thank you Pinterest) and, oh how true they are (I'd add something about thanking and living for our Maker, too):

My littles, my hair, my shows.

Little girls are glorious creatures....emotional, darling, sassy, spicy, sweet, precious...these are just some of the adjectives that I think of when I think about my girls.  I thought it would be fun to start a little "tradition" with them this weekend.  We let them each have a "slumber party" with Daddy and I this weekend!  They always want to sleep with us...which I think is precious!  So, instead of always telling them no...I figured, what could it hurt?  Hubs was on board...so, every now and again- we are going to let them sleep in our bed!  They were so excited and it made them feel so special!!  If you see my hubby tomorrow....you will now completely understand his dark circles!

On an entirely different note....I CHOPPED my hair!!! YEAH!!  It is kind of sad....I really LOVE long hair...but I feel fresh and spunky!  AND YES!!  I will be growing it out again!!  Here's (yet again) another I-phone photo...this is me saying YIKES...8-10 inches later!

ALSO...Did you watch the BACH finale??  I totally would have picked Arie. I just find him more attractive...plus Jef was a little too gushy for me.  I think Arie was just more manly...ya know??!!! Or are you cursing me loudly for speaking such blasphemy of Jef??

Regardless....SHOW ME SOME LOVE...because I am more obsessed with Team USA than any of those bachelors combined!!! Countdown time to the Olympics!!! YEAH!!

Hope the Sunday blues have been easy on ya....especially sister (Sara...worst case ever occasionally!)!

Katie


 

Random Friday Ramblings

Today is FRIDAY! My favorite day of the week. I feel like a young buck leaving its mother for the first time!  Anyways, I wanted to document my favorite songs at the moment and of all time.

FAVES*:

1. "Wanted" Hunter Hayes.  Make me MELT! This song is ahhhh-mazing. 
2. "Come Over" Kenny Chesney. Best lyric from this song: "Forget about your friends, you know they’re gonna say, We’re bad for each other, but we ain’t good for anyone else."
3. "Fool For You" John Butler Trio.  This song bring out my inner hippy. LOVE it.
4. "Drunk on You" Luke Bryan.. Every girl wants a guy to be "drunk" happy on them. Enough said.
5. "Teenage Dream" Katy Perry. This used to be my ANTHEM! I loved it. I listened to it over and over and over. KP fan for life!
6. "Wide Awake" Katy Perry.  This is her new song. I love it. It gets my blood pumping. I went and saw her Documentary and I really like KP as a person too. I imagine she wrote it about Russell B.!
7. "Keep Your Eyes Open" Taylor Swift.  This is another ANTHEM song of mine. When I used to run (which seems like another life ago), I LOVED it when this song would come on. It has a mellow intro with a hard chorus. Like a lot. Say what you will about T. Swift, she has brought me lots of good mood feelings. Anyone remember "Hey Stephen". Loved that song too.
8. "Call Me Maybe" Carly Rae Jepsen. This song is addicting. I had satellite radio in a car I rented and heard it non stop on the Disney Radio channel. It may eventually start to annoy me, but currently, everytime I hear it, I sing LOUDLY!
9. "Carolina" Eric Church. I am going to see Mr. Church next Saturday!! SOOOO excited. Should be a great time. Anyways, this song is great. Best line, "Tonight, I'm fishing Elk River, if only in my mind."
10. "Kissed You Goodnight" Gloriana. Love this song. Its drama-rama.
11. "Dirt Road Anthem" Jason Aldean. If you don't love this song, I don't know how to help you.
12. Casting Crowns "Angel to Love Me"  This song will always make me think of my little sister's wedding.

* I reserve the right to modify this list because I know I have forgotten some of my ALL TIME faves!

Also, here's some randoms of my life lately:

 Winery downtown. Really fun to go with a bunch of cool girls!

 Regular vine walkers.

 This is my nephew Landon. He likes to lick goats. HEHEHEHE.

This is AHHH-mazing. This is goat milk. I wished I lived on a farm and had goats and chickens... I wished I lived on a farm and had goats and chickens.... I wished I lived on a farm and had goats and chickens...I wished I lived on a farm and had goats and chickens...

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Its going to be HOT HOT HOT here in Iowa! I'm excited for this weekend. No huge "set" plans, just L-I-V-I-N'!!

Re-paint everything.

Gosh darn...I really, REALLY, really wish I would have taken an art class in high school...I love, LOVE, love painting!  (Plus, we had a wildly fun art teacher! UGH!)  The problem is I don't really know what I am doing.  I always tell myself that artist are not made they are born...but like anything practice and instruction improve on that which is innate.  So, with that being said, I am lacking in the practice and instruction area.
Anyway...I want to share with you a "re-paint" I just did!  I had a large piece of art I had purchased from Bed Bath and Beyond when we were first married, just sitting in the basement collecting dust.  So, one day during nap time I got out my acrylics and went to town....It is nothing remarkable...but I think I gave it a fresh face!  Here is how it turned out.
BEFORE:

The large picture art on the Mantel before!

AFTER:

Isn't it brighter and cheerier?  Maybe not prize worthy but possibly usable!

Since my topic for the day is re-painting everything, I am showing you some oldies I have done as well!  This piece of art came from the old deck that was on our house before we even moved in!  They saved some of the wood for some reason...boy am I glad they did!

Art on old deck wood!

Close-up...so you know it really is old deck wood!

Here is another art project I did out of our old deck wood!

Horrible pick!  It reads,"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them!"

And finally, paint leftover plywood from your hubby's latest woodworking project!  This is now hung above our toilet in our guest bath!  I may do a tutorial on how to make this yourself one of these days....It is so easy!

I hope this post will possibly inspire you to find the artist in yourself and search your house for scrap wood and other things to paint!!

Have a great week people!!

Katie

Corn, Corn and Love

I have been asking Colby to take pictures with me in front of a corn field because: (1) we live in Iowa and have an abundance of corn, (2) I think its a perfect backdrop, (3) its beautiful, and (4) its part of the reason I have so much pride in the great state of I-O-W-A. Well, last night we were driving around and about every five minutes I'd say lets take a picture there-there-there! We couldn't get it to work though because there was no good way to set our cameras up to take the picture (cameras=iPhones)!  Anyways, we go to his house, which is located right next to a corn field, and got these cute pictures!!

It was the perfect night last night. We drove around talking, which is one of my favorite things to do with Colbidiah.

Have a good weekend, Everyone!

Sara

Random Thought on Peeing

At my work there is a men's restroom and women's restroom (one per sex). Today I had to use the Men's as the Women's was occupied. While using the bathroom, I started thinking about how disgusting it is that men pee standing up.. When did this happen? Why did this happen? Has it always been this way? If you live with a man, clean after a man, or have seen little boys "potty training", you know that no male can claim they don't "dribble".

Moreover, science would tell me that when liquid hits water, it tends to "splatter".

So, my point: it is disgusting that men stand up while peeing. There are traces of urine all over everything because of it.  The only logical time for men to pee while standing up is if they are outside.  On another note, this does not de-masculinize men. Peeing standing up is not a trait of masculinity!

Book Love

I love reading great books but hate wasting time on books that are just "so-so". I heard about the book "Divergent" by Veronica Roth from a blog I follow. The blogger compared it to being as good as "Hunger Games", so I knew I must give it a go. On a side note, I loooove Hunger Games. Like re-read it, love it.  Anyways, the past 7-8 days in Iowa have been scorching hot, like above 100* hot. It had me in a funk, but gave me a good excuse to stay inside and read Divergent.

This book was great. It's the first in a trilogy series.  It is set in a post-Apocolyptic war Chicago where society is divided into 5 factions. The factions all represent a trait/characteristic that was meant to be kept and maintained to have a "balanced" and peaceful society that would not war and create major destruction.  The five factions are Abnegation (promotes and maintains unselfishness), Dauntless (promotes and maintains fearlessness, bravery and heroism), Erudite (promotes and maintains knowledge and constant pursuit of new knowledge), Amity (promotes and maintains Peacefullness), and Candor (promotes and maintains honesty). 

The book follows a 16 year old girl named Beatrice Prior. She grows up in the Abnegation faction. At 16, you choose which faction you want to be in, which is completely your decision, but you are given a test that tells you the faction that suits you best.  Will she change factions?? You must read to f ind out! haha, like that cliffhanger?  Anyways, I won't blab on about the rest, but you should read it. Its really good! I started reading the second in the series; its called Insurgent.

Here's a really good website if you want to get good, honest reviews before you buy a new book: http://www.goodreads.com/.  The site lets you rank and rate books you have read, gives you suggestions of books it would like based on the rankings you assign books, and you can read reader reviews of a variety of books. I like it and have found a couple books from the site.

Anyways, hope everyone had a good and happy Fourth of July!

Sara

Sisters.

Upon hearing some unbearably sad news tonight...I felt the need to gush on why I love each of my sisters so much.  Seriously, I am so thankful for each one.

LISA....Lisa is my "big sis."  The best kind...the kind that let me go to high school camp with her when I was a wee 8th grader.  The kind that included me when she had friends over.  The kind that hugged me and comforted me when I was being punished.  The kind that always took my side but told on me when I needed to be told on....get the picture?  As adults...she is a great planner and plans all of our girly outings.  She is gifted in hosting....for example: she doesn't get stressed out to have people over or have college students/family members live with her.  She is focused and a great runner because of it.  She is incredibly smart but completely humble.  She is drop dead gorgeous without an ounce of makeup on or hair done...AND she is that girl who doesn't even know it.

SARA...my Irish twin sister.  Sara is fiercely loyal...seriously, don't say crap about any of her people or she will go hog wild on you....no.holds.bar.  She is well-liked and the life of the party...everyone wants to hang out with Sara.  She is tactfully witty.  She is book smart but incredibly street smart.  She does NOTHING half-ass and works incredibly hard.  She is ambitious and fearless...her solo flight was in record time (according to me).  She can make her hair look fabulous with a pen or pencil.  She is an outdoorsy, girly, tom-boy, hook baitin', country girl in the city.

ALLISON....Allie, Allie, Allie.  The best word to describe her is sweeter than apples.  She is a WONDERFUL friend....I would genuinely like every aspect of her even if she wasn't my sibling.  She is extremely helpful.  She is a giver...not only of time and energy but also a very thoughtful gift giver.  She would do anything for anyone.  She is gifted in care...AND this is why she will be everyone's favorite nurse.  She is non-confrontational and a peace-maker.  I love hanging out with her because she is laid-back and go-with-the-flow.  She has the most amazing hair ever.  Also...my kidlets love her.

Leaving you with a goofy picture of my girls. I hope they grow up and love each other as much as I love my sisters.

Lots of lovin' going on here tonight....
Katie

Funky Funk...and some randomness.

Do you ever have those days where you feel like the whole world is against you?!  Even when you know it absolutely is not?!  I am pretty sure I have one or a few of those days at least once a month...if you know what I mean?!  I am on the struggle bus today...I REALLY LOVE TO BE JOYOUS AND POSITIVE...but today I am crabby and HOT!  I sound whiny and high maintenance...two qualities I cannot stand. 
Okay. Enough. Enough.
I really just want to take a quick second to share what I have been pouring myself into lately (besides my three amigos)!  I am finishing up our 2011 family photo album (aka my family blog turned into a photo book).  I use a software called BLURB.  Their books turn out really beautiful!  They are the first thing (besides my 3 amigos) that I'll grab if an Iowa tornado or house fire ever happen...really!  They are all of our little memories and photos bound into a keepsake.  I know when I am "90 something" I will love peeking through them! 
*My goal of completion was June...it is now July...hopefully I send it to print by the weekend! 
*Here is a glimpse of our 2010 edition.

Front cover...these pics do not do it justice!

Back cover.

Inside pages

What I stare at while I edit the book!

Well friends, on a completely different note...I have high hopes to go to Goodwill tomorrow!  Hopefully I will have some good finds for you!  In the meantime I will leave you with a picture of my wallet...definitely bought at Goodwill on my last visit for $1.50!

Perfect size and shape!  Plus neutral in color!

Sweating in my air conditioned home as we speak...
Katie