my life art fun

bookmarks

2011-10-26T11:40:00.003-06:00

I did a lot of bookmarks this week for silhouette.

These are my favorites.

If you have any ideas, let me know!

cuteable!

2011-10-24T12:00:00.002-06:00

So I have been working on my etsy shop lately - getting things going and prepped for Halloween. And I was featured on Cuteable.com. Pretty cool. Thought I'd share!

Summertime

2011-08-03T10:03:00.004-06:00

I haven't been doing much blogging, but it's not because I haven't done anything blog-able. I've just been busy with my new girl and my garden, camping with family, building the new fence and gate... I found some great books I just had to read, and I've been learning to do a lot of cooking from scratch. One of my favorite things I've made instead of buying lately is granola. So easy and so much better, I think.

So this morning I had blackberries from my garden with homemade granola and yogurt (store bought - I'm not that skilled yet).

I want to get some photos up of my garden. This is my 4th year having a garden and it's turned out really great this year. It's taken a few years to get things going the way I want, and I still have some things to figure out, but at least I'm sticking to it! So, photos to come!

Fence

2011-06-07T13:05:00.004-06:00

Has anyone seen the before pics of the neighbor's fence? Here are the after pics. We still have trim to add to the edges but having this much done makes me so happy! My dad suggested doing a corrugated metal fence and I thought he was nuts. But I saw pictures on the internet and actually liked them a lot - and I like how it turned out! Kinda modern, but I think when we get our trellis on the side of our house, they will tie the fence in well.

We are going to get the porch railings done this summer, also.

uh... here's the before...

Better than leftovers

2011-06-07T13:02:00.003-06:00

Chris and I had an excellent dinner a few days ago. I had been working in the garden all day and realized her was coming home and I hadn't even planned anything for dinner yet. So I rummaged around and threw some things together and made a pretty amazing meal if I do say so myself. :)

I recently discovered the beauty of the broiler in my oven and I had some chicken so I spiced it up and threw it in there and got some pasta cooking. I found artichoke hearts, pesto, mozzarella cheese and sundried tomatoes and threw them together. It turned out so good! I had to take a pic to show my mom. :) and now I share with you! Sorry about the photo quality... I already ate half of it.

Oh and I made a salad with strawberries, croutons, almonds, craisens and a creamy balsamic vinaigrette. Mmmm. I told Chris it was better eating than Italian restaurant leftovers. And better than paying restaurant prices! :)

rolling her rrrrrrs

2011-04-22T10:42:00.003-06:00

trying, anyway!
she runs out of steam at the end.

A new phase...

2011-04-18T13:01:00.004-06:00

So our little girl is officially in the drooling stage. If you see her anytime soon, she'll likely be wearing a bib to catch all that drool that would otherwise be soaking her adorable onesies (that you now won't see because of the bib!)
She fell asleep with one on a few minutes ago, but just woke up because she moved and the bib scared the [slobber] out of her.
Must go tend to her... but here's the last pic I took of her before her bib-wearing phase. Again, no guarantees on how long she'll be wearing them. Two years? Three maybe??

Spreading the word

2011-04-07T21:32:00.003-06:00

So I have a friend I used to work with at the Church who is doing a give away on her website. One way I can enter is to link to it. So I am chancing telling you all about it so I can have one more chance to win.
Here's the link to the give away.
No offense, but I hope I win. :)

Favorite Uncle

2011-04-01T13:40:00.003-06:00

Uncle Ty came home from Italy about a month ago. All the nieces and nephews looooove uncle Ty. And look at my baby girl with him. You can tell he's her favorite already.

one month

2011-02-23T22:19:00.001-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T21:00:00.005-07:00

My sister-in-law took pics of baby and me for Chris today for Valentine's. Thanks, Shanny!
Here's my favorite. I love her smile!

I promised pics

2011-02-04T09:08:00.003-07:00

Here are a few pics of our little one.

Thanks to Aubrey from www.framebyframeportraits.com for a job very well done.

The end of productivity as I know it

2011-01-25T21:39:00.004-07:00

So we had our baby.
We are head over heels for this little girl.
I can't take my eyes off of her. Needless to say I don't get much done.
Born last Friday, 7lbs 10oz and healthy as can be. I'm feeling pretty blessed.
And she looks just like her daddy. :)

I will update this post with pics of her when I get the chance.

After

2010-12-28T13:41:00.005-07:00

Remember my post a super long time ago about the desk I wanted to refinish? Well, I did it a long time ago, but only now have pictures and am posting about it. We painted it one of those colors that some people would look at and say "Ooh that's a cool desk - are you going to refinish it?" But we love it, so here you go!

(Here's the before if you really don't want to click on the link to the old post)

Great Idea

2010-12-09T09:58:00.006-07:00

For Christmas this year, my sister-in-law came up with a great idea and called my sister for help.

Go to Loni's blog - she just finished a set of nesting dolls I'm pretty sure you've never seen before.

I love it - I'ma need me a set!

Also, check out the baby pants she made.

Embarrassing Moment and an Apology

2010-12-03T13:18:00.004-07:00

I've had my share of embarrassing moments here at the Church Office Building. The most embarrassing of all would have to be when my friends dared me to try to fit through the "tours on 26th floor" sign in the lobby. I had done it before, so they dared me to do it again, so I did, but my purse got stuck sideways through it, which made me get stuck, and I had to back out of it. The security guard yelled from across the lobby for me to stay where I was!!... so he could get his camera. Nice.

And yet that doesn't come close to the embarrassing moment of one of our interns here whose skirt fell off in the elevator. Haha. I still laugh out loud about that one. That takes the cake.

So my embarrassing moment yesterday doesn't quite beat me getting stuck in the lobby sign, or the intern losing her skirt, but it was pretty bad, nonetheless. I was walking to the parking elevators on the lower level when I turned the corner and heard the *ding* for one going down. I wanted to catch it, so I cruised past the people talking in the lobby area and got in, ready to go. One of the guys talking in the lobby got on after me and was laughing. I didn't say anything, but wondered what was so funny.

Then he said to me, "That was Elder Perry."

Me: "Oh, yeah? I didn't notice."

Him: "Yeah, I didn't think so. He was talking to you and asked you how you were doing."

Me: "What? Really!? I thought he was just talking to you!"

"Haha..."

Then the guy gets off, still laughing.

"...hahaha..."

Blast. I hate that. I really have to pay more attention. I told Chris and he said Elder Perry probably just figured it was pregnant brain. That's what Chris chants whenever I do something dumb, and it happens a lot lately.

So I decided to blog about it, because if Elder Perry follows my blog (haha!), he will know it was an accident and then he won't feel bad. So my apologies to you, Elder Perry.

So that's my story of how I snubbed one of the 12 apostles. Not the most embarrassing moment, but I hope I don't make it a habit.

(That was my second embarrassing moment involving Elder Perry and an elevator, by the way, just for the record)

Before and after

2010-11-05T12:29:00.002-06:00

I was looking at our old blog we had while we were building our house.
I thought I would post the before and after of the lot.
I must say, I like the after better.
(You don't really need me to tell you which is before and which is after, do you?)

Oh boy! It's a girl!

2010-09-14T10:56:00.009-06:00

So cute!!! Look at her little hands...

Snug as a bug in a rug...

Chris thinks she has his nose...

I spared you all the gender shot. :)
I'm pretty sure I could have sat there all day and watched her on the screen.
She'll make her appearance february first-ish. :)

My Latest Project

2010-09-03T10:11:00.004-06:00

Last year our neighbors across the street moved out. The landlord was cleaning out the place and I saw this great desk and asked if I could have it. It's been in my garage ever since, holding my extra bike tires and tools, vegetable seeds, and other junk I don't have a place for. And currently my canning stuff.

I've decided it would look great in our second bedroom - so I'm going to strip it down and paint it a great green color. I went to Lowe's last night and asked the lady there showed me what to use, which I can't use (but Chris can... sorry, Chris!) and when I told her I was going to strip it and paint it green she practically threw a fit. She begged me to keep it natural. I told her I'll have to see what it looks like when I get all the paint and graffiti off of it. (I sure hope that's not a bad word on there... I can never tell what they're trying to write)

So this is what it's like now... I'll post pictures after Chris strips it, and when we decide whether to keep it natural or paint it.

Garden Views

2010-09-03T09:10:00.004-06:00

This year I tried a few things in my garden I've never tried before. Chris and I love artichokes, so we decided to plant some and see how they did. Has anyone seen baby artichokes when they are the size of an egg? Very cute.

We've pulled a few from the garden, but I decided it would be cool to see them bloom...

I also planted a lot of eggplant this year. I've planted it before, but it's never done well for me. This year has been great, though. We went on vacation to San Diego last week and when we got back, I had monster eggplant - pulled four from the backyard and had eggplant parmesana for dinner last night. I also planted cauliflower and cabbage later in the season... I hope I can harvest it before the snow and frost get here.

I've done peppers each year, too, but I've never had them grow as tall as they have this year. Chris and I built a new box along the south side of our house and put some peppers, zucchini, eggplant and a tomato plant in there. Some of the pepper plants are nearly four feet tall - they may pass me up any day now! :) The only problem is they haven't given many peppers. Now that it's cooler, I might see more...

It's been a lot of fun getting new things from the garden. Next year I might skip out entirely on the squash (except I looove spaghetti squash and will always plant that) and grow pumpkins. I just finished my first batch of salsa this year and am excited, because it turned out great and it's something that will actually get used and won't just sit on the shelf like the tomatoes I bottled last year!

The one challenge I have had with canning is that I have a glass top stove. Everyone says you can't can on it, so I've always had to borrow someone else's camp stove or go to their house... it's been pretty inconvenient. So the other night while Chris and I were out shopping for a crib, we stopped by and bought a propane stove so I can process all my canning without bugging anyone else for theirs! This is what we settled on: A fold up double burner - propane powered - we thought it would be good for canning, camping, and emergencies. (haha... ignore the toilet paper box in the photo)

Other things I planted this year that was new: onion, beets, sunflowers, grapes, garlic, and corn. And wildflowers! But most of them died, so I'm not sure I should count those... :(

Let the catching up begin

2010-08-19T13:26:00.004-06:00

I took a really, really, I mean really long break from blogging. The story is way too long to share, and maybe eventually I'll share some here or there. But not now. For now I am going to post a new border and a few other things I did for Silhouette. I haven't done much for Silhouette lately, either... and I blame it on the same reasons as not blogging.

I will try to post some other things, too. I've had a great garden this year - most everything has done really well, except my squash plants. I had an infestation of squash beetles that ate my plants away. I doused them with vinegar, which seemed to work, because my plants are coming back. I don't really mind not having the zucchini... I still have a ton in the freezer from last year! It's the spaghetti squash that I wish I had more of.

I also planted some fun, different things this year that I don't usually, so I will post some photos of those, too.

For now, here are some designs you can find in the Silhouette store... plus, like my new watermark? :)

Oh, plus - I learned how to Crochet. Yet another step in the domestic direction.

More Stuff

2010-02-20T15:27:00.005-07:00

Here are a few things I worked on this past week.

This is a card I made for Chris for Valentine's day.

Other random things

These are the scraps from making the hearts for the card. Sometimes the leftovers are just as great as the actual project.

More bookmarks

2010-02-10T13:50:00.002-07:00

Here are a few more shots of some bookmarks I made for the Silhouette.

I made these for the Young Women in our ward. The mutual theme for 2010 is from Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage." I thought it would be a great idea to remind them of what they are - that they are strong, instead of telling them to be strong. That they would respond better to flattery than commands. We are talking teenagers here, after all. :) Just kidding! We all react that way, don't we?

Side note... is what you get when you don't clean your silhouette blade.

Irresistable

2010-02-10T13:42:00.003-07:00

I was looking through my iPhoto library and saw this. Gracie got ahold of one of the bags of chips during lunch while we were building our house a few years ago. Isn't this the perfect photo for a Lay's potato chip ad?
"Betcha can't eat just one... even off the floor."

Love these flowers

2010-01-27T21:24:00.005-07:00

Did anyone see Loni's 3d flowers on the silhouette site or on her blog last week (and in her etsy shop )? They are pretty much fabulous. I told her I was going to make them and put them in every room in my house. I have a whole pile of them on my desk at home right now, but have yet to display them like I want. I do, however, have some on my desk at work.

Have I mentioned I love them? I also bunched four together and gave them to a friend to say thanks for something pretty great that she did. They make a great alternative to a thank you card.

Tropical Fish

2010-01-26T17:53:00.004-07:00

I really need to get more creative with my titles.

So... no surprise here... these are my tropical fish.

And bubbles. See how well they go together?

Falcon, Raptor, Tomcat

2010-01-26T09:51:00.003-07:00

I've been doing a lot of animals and birds for the silhouette lately (and I did fish, too, which I'll try to post tonight) but I branched out a little bit this week... took a little different approach...

Here we have a falcon, a raptor and a tomcat.

Bookmarks

2010-01-13T16:12:00.004-07:00

Here's my lastest group of designs for the Silhouette. I started doing the Young Women values, but added a few others that I thought would appeal to a broader audience (some like Knowledge and Integrity have been tweaked so they cut better since I cut these out). What do you think about me making the rest of the YW values? Let me know! Any other suggestions?

Snowflakes

2009-11-27T12:49:00.005-07:00

Some designs I've been working on for the Silhouette...

Playing Catch-Up

2009-11-10T11:26:00.014-07:00

I have a lot to post today... from Halloween to projects I've been doing for work and with friends. So lets begin, shall we?

This week, I am going to be featured on the Silhouette blog - they will be highlighting me and my designs, and will show some things I've been working on and a few things others have created with my designs. Here are a few now...

I'm in a gratious mood lately, can you tell? :)

They also started a free download of the week, and asked me to create one - so here's the free download for this week:

... and another design I submitted this week...

We just finished with the Halloween rush, and we did some pumpkin carvings for the site, too...

A witch's hat...

A fall leaf embellishment...

(It's a tradition at my parent's house to have meatloaf in a pumpkin the sunday closest to Halloween. My mom usually draws a smiley face on the pumpkin, but carved this into it instead.) Notice Loni's spider and web design on the pumpkin on the right. She also mentions the meatloaf in a pumpkin on her blog.

We also had a monster salad for dinner with the meatloaf. Notice we had weeds and grass and goblin fingers and mummy wraps... you get the idea...

And played Halloween Bingo where we used pictures instead of numbers...

And a cute kid in costume. This is my nephew. His big brother helped with the face paint. I think his dad wore the same costume when he was that age!

Here are a few other project I've done in the past month or so. Some friends from the ward came over and learned to preserve apples. Some sisters in the ward had apples they weren't going to use, so we took the opportunity to learn how to make applesauce and apple pie filling. I think there were 7 of us in all, and we did 137 bottles of apples (give or take a few). It was a lot of fun, but I thought we'd never see the end to all those apples. Our floor is still sticky in spots, but it was great to be able to get together and learn from one another. None of us knew exactly what we were doing, but with all of our knowledge put together, I'm pretty sure we made some great botchulism-free apples. :)

The last project I'll mention is these really cool paper lanterns I found on a blog I follow. I usually catalogue idea after idea (or recipe after recipe) but never get around to doing any of them. But during General Conference, Chris and I made some of these and have received a lot of compliments on them. I had a few friends over this weekend and we made some for them, too. We used scrapbook paper and used fall colors for one friend and Christmas colors for the other. I think they will turn out great! We used the larger c9 christmas bulb strands. They turned out really cute! We will probably do some halloween ones next year...

Phew! That's it. And about time! Are you seriously still here reading? Hard core! ;)

Food Co-op

2009-08-22T11:36:00.008-06:00

After the race this morning, I stopped by the rec center to pick up my food co-op order for the month. Here's what I got this month... for just $16. ($14 for the harvest share and $2 for the rye bread). Find more info here.

This month: 5 bananas, 5 peaches, 6 plums, 6 ears of corn, 1 small watermelon, 1 bag of spinach, 3 cucumbers, 16 oz. pinto beans, 1 loaf whole wheat bread, 1 package mushrooms, 1 head of broccoli.

Chris told me I was crazy for signing up for it this month because we can't keep up with the food from our garden. But a girl can only eat so many zucchini and tomatoes before she just can't take it anymore! Here's what we have from our garden this week (minus the stuff we've eaten). I'm thinking of starting a "harvest swap" with other gardeners in the area. Will anyone trade fruit for my squash? Anything for squash?

5k tomorrow!

2009-08-21T17:59:00.006-06:00

Hey - the Magna 5k is tomorrow. It's nothing official - just a chance to get out and have fun. Here's the info. Come if you can! There will be breakfast served afterward (everything is free!)

UPDATE: I just got home from running the 5k this morning. I finished in 25:58 and was first in my age group - 2nd woman overall. Granted, there were only about 30 of us, but still........

My strategy: Chase the men in front of me and run from the men behind me. I guess it worked well enough. I loved the run! A great way to "start" my training for the 10k in October, right?

We are thinking of doing a halloween run - where you can dress up and run to each booth/trunk to get your candy (plan those costumes well... dressing up like Usain Bolt is a good idea). Halloween run: good idea or bad idea?

Last year we did a family run on Thanksgiving and called it "The Parry Gobble Wobble"... and it ended up just the way the name of it would suggest. But it was a ton of fun.

Chubby Halloween

2009-08-19T16:05:00.004-06:00

So, I've been doing some freelance work for Quickutz, a scrapbooking company and their Silhouette digital cutting machine (and so has Loni and Joel). I came up with a fun idea and figured it was time to start posting my designs!

I'm not sure how much everyone else likes it, but it's been a lot of fun to do. I've been designing chubby animals - some of which are in my header at the top of my blog.

Here are a few things I came up with a while ago, and finally got around to doing this week. Since halloween is coming, the timing was perfect.

So, what do you think? Any other halloween fiends that you think would look great chubby?

Please don't copy/download/etc. any of my designs without my permission.

Thanks!

Human Race 10k

2009-08-19T09:09:00.003-06:00

I have a new goal: 10k on 10.24.09
I am going to run the Nike+ Human Race in October. I was determined to do a big race this year, but things haven't worked out like I hoped they would (that's some determination, huh?). So I have 9 weeks to get ready for this race. The good thing: I can run it wherever I want, whenever I want as long as it's that day. Go to the website and check it out!

Oh... and I changed my blog again. See? I told you the previous change wouldn't last long.

Flock of Cranes

2009-07-18T11:00:00.005-06:00

I was on my way to lunch yesterday with some friends and noticed a whole flock of cranes nearby...

New Look

2009-07-18T10:50:00.005-06:00

Hey so look... I changed my blog. And I named it something new because I was bored of the old one. But don't get used to this one — who knows if I'll like it in a week. But yes... if you're looking for me, you're in the right place. See? Sheesh, Chris... smile! ;)

garden

2009-07-16T13:47:00.006-06:00

So it's been a while since I've posted anything. I guess that's because I haven't been doing much worth documenting.
So here's a few photos of my garden/patio area. some were taken a while ago, and some this morning... I think you'll know which is which. Enjoy!

I'm so domestic!

2009-06-23T18:51:00.003-06:00

Hey, Mom, remember when I told you I was taking a spinning class at the gym and you laughed because you "never thought of me as the domestic type," thinking I was spinning wool instead of riding a bike?

Well, guess what. I baked bread. For the first time ever. And it was focaccia bread. And it was good.

How's that for domestic?

In other news, Chris laughed at me when I said I wanted a sewing machine and to learn to sew. That is kind of funny, right, mom?

Landscaping!

2009-06-04T22:15:00.003-06:00

Chris and I got our lawn in last weekend!
Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who helped!

All-Time Most-Coveted Race: Unofficial Magna 5k

2009-04-20T10:49:00.015-06:00

A few friends of mine and I started a new (ameteur!) fitness-type blog to help motivate one another into getting in better shape this summer. Since we all live in Magna, we decided to call it:

We would like to encourage everyone to have fun with it. How far did you run? What did you do for fitness? What's your favorite exercise/activity? Where do you like to workout/run/walk the most? Whether you are in Magna, Bakersfield, Hawaii, Italy, or the Bronx, we hope you join us in getting more fit this summer. Please comment and let us know what you are doing!

At the end of the summer (or beginning... I'm not sure) we are going to have an unofficial Magna 5k run for fun and invite anyone who wants to participate to come out and have fun. I'll edit this post and let you know when I find out for sure.

We aren't professionals by any means, and definitely suggest taking doctor's/physician's/professional's advice over ours. At the same time, Ashley, the main blogger on the site, is a great writer and it is very entertaining to read her posts. We put links on the blog to sites that have good advice for runners/walkers/average Joes.

So check it out and then get outside and move!

Really! Go!

Great deals everywhere!

2009-04-20T10:22:00.003-06:00

Chris and I were driving home through Herriman last night and saw a great deal at the Subway. On their marquee they had the message:

"FREE NAPKIN WITH PURCHASE OF A SUB"

I thought I'd let all y'all know because who would want to miss that steal-of-a-deal?

I love the sweater-jersey

2009-03-17T11:20:00.002-06:00

His wife must take a spinning class at the gym!

Family Photos

2009-02-24T13:49:00.006-07:00

Chris and I got family pictures taken. It's been a while since we've had any done, and it felt like engagement photos again since we have no kids yet, but it was still a ton of fun. My friend from high school took them for us and did a great job (I'll link you to her site as soon as she gives me the thumbs up). Here are a couple...

Here's a new one: my mom says we look like Bonnie and Clyde. (Or Bonnie and Claudio!)

Spinning Class

2009-01-09T15:30:00.008-07:00

The other day I was talking on the phone with my mom and we got to talking about the topic of exercise.

As usual. We are always trying to find things to motivate us and keep us going - things to help us be healthier.

I commented to her that there are a few women in my ward that go to the spinning class at the neighborhood rec center. Not quite sure if she knew the term "spinning," I asked if she did so I could clarify if I needed to. She assured me she knew what I was talking about, so I proceeded with our conversation. (For anyone who might not know, it's a group cycling class).

I told her about how the ladies in my ward were encouraging me to join them, and that I told them I would in an upcoming class (which I haven't yet but fully intend to!) but that I wanted to watch as I ran the track to see what it was all about. I told my mom that it looked like so much fun - that it looks like something I would love to do.

She laughed.

I asked her what was so funny, and she told me she never thought of me as the domestic type. Now I was the confused one. "Domestic?" I asked. "Are you sure you know what spinning is?"

Come to find out, she thought I was going to start spinning wool at the rec center with the ladies in the ward.

I asked her why in the world there would be a wool spinning class at the rec center. She just figured they had all kinds of classes there, not just work out classes. So I laughed, too, and proceeded to explain what spinning at a gym is. We have some funny conversations sometimes, my mom and I.

I am thinking of coming out with a line of workout clothes that I spin from wool... that you can wear while spinning at the gym. If only I were the domestic type.

2008-12-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Halloween Party

2008-10-30T21:30:00.007-06:00

Sunday night we had a halloween party at my parents' house. Here are a few of the kids (big and small) that dressed up...

Batman and Batgirl... Batman was training Batgirl how to stand...

The little chicken doing the chicken dance...

The farmer and the chicken...

Raggety Ann and Andy...

Chris tried on everyone's costume... kinda. Here he is with Batgirl's mask...

And the hippy's hair...

Batgirl and Grandpa Ernie...

Daniel Boone with a big cheeser...

...and with Ernie's nose and hair...

I dressed up like Pippie Longstocking for our Cub Scout Pack Meeting...

This is me being stronger than a policeman... strong enough to pick up a horse!

Rival

2008-10-20T08:29:00.004-06:00

So I've been running a lot lately with the nike+ ipod contraption. Very motivational. I hate to say... this post might be a little negative. But I also must say... I'm quite proud of myself. Not for the negativity, but for my accomplishment!

A little background to the reason for my pride. On nikeplus.com you can upload all of your running information and it keeps track of everything for you: your distance, pace, time, etc. You can also set personal goals or join public challenges. Anyone in the world can join the challenges to try and run the fastest 5k or run the most in 30 days... things like that.

Well, there's this dude from MX city that joins ALL the races. And he runs a lot. He even joins the races that are women specific... like "Women 25-30" or "Go Girls!" He joined the Utah race! So he's become my rival. I refuse to join any challenge he's already part of. Ocassionally, though, he'll join one I'm already running. The funny thing is, he has no idea that he's my arch nike+ rival.

But here's the good news - what I am proud of. Look!

This is one challenge we are both in. Since I can't kick him out, I'll just have to beat him. And look. I am ahead. I've run past Dr Suarez. You know, I bet he's not even a doctor! Doesn't matter, though, as long as I win!

All my friends need Nike+

2008-09-14T22:05:00.006-06:00

I love this!
Do you have one?
Wanna race me?
Or train with me?

You'll love this!
Don't have one?
Go get one!
You can race and train with me!

Can't stay away

2008-08-20T12:52:00.003-06:00

Chris and I made another Bear Lake run last weekend. Just us this time. We relaxed on the beach, camped overnight Sunday to Monday, rode our bikes, relaxed more on the beach, and even swam for a while. And got sunburned. Me, anyway.

My legs are bright red, but I have sock lines, even though I was barefoot the majority of the trip. Just my luck. Oh - and I have lovely white circles around my knee caps where they didn't burn, either. Beautiful. No worries, though. In a few days it will all just fade back to the pasty, pale-blueish-white-see-through color I usually am.

Meanwhile, back home...

My vegetables are still growing!

Trip to Paris

2008-08-12T10:29:00.006-06:00

This past weekend we went to Bear Lake. And yes, that's right, folks... to Paris, Idaho. We stayed at the Paris Springs campground with the family. Here are a few photos of the weekend.

Loni and Rori with their art projects:

Kaleb drawing batman:

Chris drawing the Superman logo on Kaleb's forehead:

Kaleb and his tough Superman face:
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Chris and Ty's feet... and Rori's head in Bear Lake. Or is it Rori's legs and Chris and Ty's heads in Bear Lake?

Kaleb chasing the seagulls on the beach:

Rori was cold, so she put on grandma's pants... she didn't want her picture taken with them on. But I got her, anyway:

Chris showing Kaleb and Rori how chasing seagulls is really done. Notice the guy in the background watching Chris:

Rori feeding sand to the seagulls. Not the most nutritious meal they've ever had:

Cub Scouts

2008-07-31T10:33:00.003-06:00

Chris and I are the wolve den leaders in our local scout troop. Last night we had a pack meeting and gave away 47 awards. Our kids are doing great - and we finally figured out how to do this whole award thing!

At the end of the pack meeting, we had a raingutter regatta and raced vegetable boats. Chris and I both made a few boats in case the boys didn't make one or forgot or didn't know or whatever. Turns out it was a good idea. Chris's was a good idea anyway. One of mine was too wide, and the other sank! So here's Chris with his amazing cucumber boat. He was so proud! Then we were done and he tossed it in the trash. He's not the most sentimental person in the world.

Remember my Zucchini post? Well, I found another use for zucchini from the garden. Boats. Unfortunately, the zucchini I used from my garden became the boat that sank. They definitely taste better than they race.

All American Outing

2008-07-30T15:10:00.005-06:00

Last friday night, Chris and I were at a loss for what to do. We didn't want to go spend any money, but didn't want to just sit at home either. So we jumped on our bikes and rode around the nightborhood for a little bit, then continued down the street towards Main Street. When we got there, we saw lights on at the park and rode down to see what was going on. There was a baseball game going on, so we took some time and enjoyed the game on a perfect (and beautiful) night. I felt so American. It was awesome. I love my little town.

Shanny reminded me of the sign outside a motorcycle bar on Main Street. We rode past and saw it and I had to tell someone... so I called Shanny. It says "Now beer is cheaper than gas. So drink, don't drive." I don't agree with it, but it was creative. I say drink water because it's cheaper than beer and gas. And ride a bike so you need no gas (see the hobbyhorse post below). :)

Oh, and here's an eggplant update. Eggplant amaze me.

Gitcherself a Hobbyhorse

2008-07-23T08:50:00.008-06:00

If you know me at all, you'll know that I go through phases of rediculous obsession with things. Right now, I am currently obsessed with (the word seems a little strong, but can't thing of anything more appropriate) biking, my garden, reading, and, as always, cool pens and notebooks. My mom always teases me about the pens and notebooks, but hey... I'm an artist/graphic designer. What do you expect? And when I am obsessed with something, I like to learn all I can about it. So... today you get to hear a little bit about the bike.

Last year, Chris and I got new mountain bikes and spent a lot of time riding and finding cool places to go. We even went to Zions and biked one of the funnest trails ever (I forget the name of it!)

My first bike was a hand me down from Joel... who got it from Nate. With each hand me down, we got to paint it the color of our choice. (Can't remember my choice of color. Red? Or was that what it was when I got it from Joel?)

Da Vinci sketched an idea of a bike out in the 1400s but it never left the paper. The first bike (1800s) had no pedals. It was like a Flintstones bike. In France, they made the "velocipede" which had the pedals on the front wheel. They called it the boneshaker because it was made of wood and had metal tires and the streets were paved with cobblestones.

One of the first models of the bike was called the hobbyhorse. I found a site that showed a group of men in the army in Montana (Fort Missoula) that rode bikes. Their longest trek was 1,900 miles to St. Louis, Missouri. On bike. 1,900 miles? That's a lot of gas saved. Thus, a lot of money saved. Maybe even enough to buy my dream bike.

So anyway... living in Magna has really helped Chris and me use our bikes more often. We ride them to the track to go running, to the neighbors, scouts, Nate and Shanny's, etc.

There's a program on Trekbikes.com called One World Two Wheels that advocates riding a bike and keeping your car parked when you travel two miles or less. They say that 40% of all car trips are two miles or less.

So that's my goal. Jump on my hobbyhorse for anything less than two miles away. Except church. Nylons and a skirt on a bike is something I've already chosen to pass up. Otherwise, I'd ride to work. No thanks. Oh... and an FYI to any Magnitas wanting to ride their bike to the store: Smith's has no bike rack. I found that out the other day.

These are my dream bikes. Dream because they are $3,500+. Like I said, you've gotta save a lot of gas for that.

drool

Garden Update

2008-07-18T09:19:00.004-06:00

My garden has been growing, and we've started using vegetables out of it for dinner. Mostly zucchini, yellow squash, herbs and even some strawberries. I have an eggplant and cucumber that's about ready to be used, too. Here are a few pics of how it's growing. Tomatoes: not so good. Spaghetti squash: real good.

The carrots are growing well, too. I had to thin them the other day because I just scattered the seeds when I planted them. So some were really close together, and here's how they look now... only in the ground.

Bad Mouse!

2008-07-10T22:51:00.006-06:00

A friend of mine introduced me to Avalanche Software Artists' blog. I've been marveling over their talent pretty much all week and I'm sure continue to marvel into the coming weeks. I've been inspired to break out the pencils and (aah!) the imagination for myself. Considering I have done basically nothing for the past 8 years or so, I'm a little rusty.

I decided to pull out my sketchbook and one of the first things I attempted was a cute little mouse. Here's how the sketch turned out.

The mouse didn't turn out very cute. Or nice. He looks kind of bitter. Like he was created just a little too late and missed his big chance at fame. As if there are any famous cartoon mice out there anyway, right? Maybe I'll stick a wedge of cheese between his little paws and he'll brighten up a bit. At least it looks like a mouse. Doesn't it look like a mouse? Kinda??

Zucchini #1 of X

2008-07-03T08:13:00.003-06:00

Who ever said you'll never use algebra? I just used it on my blog. Ha! So last night, Chris and I ate the very first of the who knows how many (X amount!) zucchinis from our garden.

I've been trying to figure out what to do with this first zucchini of the season... which worries me a little bit. I'm in trouble if the first one gave me a hard time... cuz I'm going to have to figure out what to do with X amount of zucchinis all season!

I decided on making a pizza with this first zucchini. Enter a short story: Last summer, Chris and I went to Zion NP and ate pizza at that little pizza joint in Springdale. We ordered the "Good for You" pizza and loved it. So we've attempted to make it a few times and it's turned out super rica. So that's what we made last night. For anyone who might want to know... I used a boboli crust, bertolli mushroom spaghetti sauce (it has real chunks of mushrooms in it), put artichoke hearts, tomatoes, and sauteed zucchini and onions. I topped it with just a little bit of parmesan and muzzarella cheeses. MMM... so good. We added the cheese on top... which kind of kills the "good for you" idea, but it only helped the taste. Trust me... it tasted as good as it looked. :)

Arroyo!

2008-06-30T10:13:00.003-06:00

This is our little buddy from down the street. He stops by every once in a while to say hi. He learned how to say our last name and rolls his rrrrs better than a lot of people I know. We had to get a video, and thought it would be fun to post.

His parents tell us that when they pass our house, he'll ask for Chris. One time, his mom said we weren't home. So now, every time they pass the house, he'll say "Chris Arroyo not home" whether we are or not. Super cute kid.

Pretty plants... Ugly bugs

2008-06-11T15:56:00.006-06:00

I was fascinated by the blossoms I found on my eggplant and had to photograph them...

And caught a few other cool photos of the garden. New pumpking plant started from seed, more chives (I love their flowers), twisty twirly tendrils on the squash plant...

Then I saw a bug. What I think was a bug.

So I sent this photo to the USU extention to see if they could identify it. I stumped the professor! He's thinking it's an egg sack if not a bug. He says, and I agree, I probably don't want to find out what's in there if it is an egg sack. So I went back to the garden to try and find it - or one like it - so I could squish it, but didn't see a thing. I did see these, though. Intruders. How ugly is the skeleton thing?

The garden has become my project. Pretty fun. Besides discovering the ugly bugs.

Garden

2008-05-29T16:03:00.004-06:00

Here are a few pics from my garden. I was having fun with the camara's micro zoom more than anything... but I'm just as amazed that the plants are alive as I am with the micro zoom!

Chives:

Cilantro:

Pole beans just sprouting:

Strawberries:

Carrots that need to be thinned... a lot.

Temple Square

2008-05-16T09:27:00.002-06:00

My cousin, Courtney, got married yesterday. Classic me, I didn't get any pictures of the actual event, but did get some random photos while we were there. Like these ones of my mom and dad. I think they turned out really nice, so there you go...

Cinco de Mayo

2008-05-07T08:32:00.004-06:00

Cinco de Mayo fell on a monday this year. We had a big family night and invited the family over for a Cinco de Mayo party. We started celebrating the holiday in our family after Chris and I were married. Not because he's ever celebrated it before, but because of the funny comments he gets on the day. People often ask him why he celebrates it - what the history is behind it. He promptly reminds them that it's a Mexican holiday and that he is from Chile. So it's become a tradition to throw a Cinco de Mayo party for Chris. He's a really good sport for putting up with the inside joke. And we're all grateful to have him in the family so we can celebrate the holiday! We'll take any excuse to have a reason to party with the family. And what better excuse than a cute Chilean?

So, everyone brought something to share and the food was delicious. I forgot to get my camera out until the very end, so I didn't get any great pictures of the party, but I did get one of Gracie that can illustrate a little bit about what went on. If you'll check out her shirt, you can see we had raspberry drinks, enchiladas, taco soup, and nachos.

The house stood up well to the party - especially the kitchen. The island worked great both for the preparation and for the serving. It was a ton of fun. Thanks to all who participated and helped in making it so much fun... and the food so good.

In all fairness, we should plan a huge Chilean party in September as a thanks to him for letting us throw this party in his name... and to have excuse for yet another party! Empanadas, anyone?

Lunch Break

2008-05-06T12:52:00.003-06:00

I finallly remembered to take my camera with me for lunch (well, not for lunch... I had a sandwich for lunch). Actually, I remembered my camera the other day, but the batteries were dead. So here are a few photos from my lunch break, with charged batteries, before eating my sandwich.

Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-24T08:24:00.000-06:00

For Easter, we had a dinner and easter egg hunt with the family at my mom's house. Here are a few pics of the kids hunting for eggs.

Kaleb only wanted blue eggs. And one purple one.

Gracie and Drew raced to the egg. Drew took the candy out and gave Gracie the egg. Wasn't that nice of him to share?

Dad and Ty were outside flying a kite.

Avree's newest thing is sticking out her tongue.
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Zoo

2008-03-21T11:57:00.000-06:00

Yesterday for work, my team went to the zoo. We went to see the wildlife art exhibit there. I got some fun pictures of some of the animals while we were there.

Grandma Far Away

2008-03-21T11:47:00.001-06:00

Growing up, we called my great-grandma Mousley "Grandma Far Away" because she lived in Montana. She passed away last week, and I'll miss her, but I know she really isn't very far away.
Today would be her 88th birthday. I love my grandma.
1920-2008

Chile Photos

2007-12-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Chris and I went to Chile last year for Christmas, and I took some fun photos while we were there. These are a few of my favorites.

You knew it was coming...

2007-12-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

Still life of fruit.

Color Practice

2007-11-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

Here's one more - I wanted to play with the colors and wasn't too concerned with proportions so much as the techniques I wanted to try.

Return to Art

2007-11-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Since High School, I haven't done much art that doesn't have to do with the computer (I guess you could say fine art). A friend's dad came to work and did a watercolor demonstration for us, and it made me want to start drawing/painting again. So here's my first attempt at watercolor in about 7 years. It's from a photo I took in Puerto Octay, Chile, December of 2006.