A tale of a brother and sister, British style.

Amen to this. It has saved me many a time lately.

A couple months ago my little brother and I went out on a sunshiney day to "float the river". Something a lot of people in our town do in the summer months. I had lived in Sandpoint for 28 years and had never done it, so we packed up our cooler , our tubes and had our mom drop us at the top after leaving our car at the bottom.......So we thought. We were told that the river was flowing fast this year so it would be about a 2 or 3 hour float.

We, for some reason started talking in a British accent and couldn't stop. We thought we were so funny and just kept up with it for hours. Of course neither of us took watches, so we had no idea how long it had been. We came to a beach and some people were joking with us that we had 5 hours to go and that they hoped we had our bug spray. We laughed it off, but then started wondering "Really, are they bloody serious?" We realized, as the sun started going down that we had made a mistake.

The next few hours were HELL. I am not joking or being dramatic. They were horrible. It got freezing cold outside, and we were ATTACKED by mosquitoes. FOR HOURS. If we got out of the water we were attacked. If we were in the water we were freezing. Plus: Isn't it just creepy to be in the deep water when it is dark and you don't know whats in there with you??? The river also, almost completely stopped flowing at this point, so we had to swim...and swim...and swim. Whenever we came to a beach we would get up on it and run to try to speed things up, but then we would get attacked. My brother kept whacking me with his hat. He said I had hundreds on my back and kept yelling at me to get back in the water. I was soooo cold!

At one point we tried to get out and run across this field to bypass a switchback and maybe find a rescue home???? But, no. We ran into barbed wire fence and my little bro did not have his shoes on! It was retched!! This was the point where our British accents were no longer funny and we dropped them like a bad habit. We finally got to a point where I decided I couldn't take it anymore. I had worked a few summers in college on this golf course that sat on the rivers edge. I decided I was going to keep getting out and walking up the bank until I found the course. And on my first try I saw it. The green of the 6th hole! (ok, I have no idea which hole it was, but i think it sounds cooler for the stories sake:) I told my brother we had to get out and run over there, but the woods to get there were so dense we couldn't see getting through it. All of the sudden I heard a hissing noise in the brush and jumped back in the river. I quickly learned that it was no snake.....I had popped my tube in the trees. We then had no choice but to make it through the woods. I was not about to get in that river tube-less. My poor brother cut up his feet and legs, lost his sunglasses and popped the cooler tube in those woods.

 While we were relieved to be on solid ground, we were not so happy that we were still getting attacked by mosquitoes. And the course was closed. We knew where the course was in regards to the car, so we ran through the course, got out to the highway and ran to our car. I have never been so happy to see my little Chevy Malibu. NEVER. At this point I think a few more British sentences came up, but we really felt like we had been through a life threatening ordeal. What if it had gotten really dark and we were still in there???? It had taken almost 6 hours to get there. Turns out the spot we started in was where we were supposed to get out!! We totally took the wrong part of the river! I was reminded of this for days as I itched my mosquito bites covering my body.

That, my friends, is my story:) and I dedicate it to my bro, BJ, who just turned 18! And to my sis Chels who also just turned 18 for being smart and choosing to not go with us:)

How cool are they????

A free smile

I came across this blog today and it brought a smile to my face. Every post I read was full of happiness, fun and inspiration. This lovely lady Katie makes me want to move to New York!! You always hear people bashing different cities for one reason or another, but Katie brings out the best of The Big Apple and takes advantage of all of its greatness. You HAVE to check her out.

http://colormekatie.blogspot.com/

 I am a new follower of her and look so forward to getting a clip of her cheeriness every day.

She is in an improv group she sometimes blogs about and posts videos. HILARIOUS! Like this one HERE I watched today called the mute button.

Heres Katie, making business cards because she ran out and needed some that day. She is soo creative.

And here's a piece from her 'Bubble" project. She went around New York posting these shadows she made and hides to take real pictures(as opposed to staged ones). They are so cool.

And here are some of the walls at her house.

Adorable right? You must check her out....like now....go! We could all use a smile and some inspiration today:)

Who Who Who

I was browsing through my phone and found some pictures of some decor I was doing when I moved, so I thought Id share a couple. I had seen an owl on another blog someone had redone white and loved the idea. I had been on the lookout and got lucky at a second hand store in Sandpoint. My girls thought it had a "mean scary look" so I had to hide it until I could get to it. Here he is before:

And now:) Just some white spray paint. Isn't he chic?!

And here is a lamp before:

And both after. I did did the coffee filter project I saw on littlemissmommy.com. I also found some cute wire baskets at the dollar store that were bright green that I painted. And filled them with some balls I wrapped in fabric.

Better pictures to follow, these were all I got while packing. The lighting was horrible.

Cute? What do you think?

I cant wait to decorate my new home with some of my goodies and the new ones to come!

Linking up to Primp

BBQ and M and M's

I did FINALLY get to do some garage sale browsing this weekend and got a few cute finds. I got a few cool frames for some chalk boards, a great white serving dish and some decorative balls:) hehe.

I also got this cute little stand for the kitchen that I'm going to redo.

Some more adventures here in Nevada:)
 We found a cool shopping/food center called "The District". Someday I will have a visitor and can shop there:) Anthro, Pottery Barn, Ben and Jerrys, Loft and the list goes on and on. We walked around and ate at the DELICIOUS Lucilles BBQ.

They look excited to eat:)



Yuuumy!



We also took a trip down to the strip with the girlies. We took them to the MGM to see the Lions habitat...awesome! This picture does not do it justice. We also got to walk underneath them while they were laying down WITH the trainers!

Then we went to

'their castle" , the Excaliber.

and to M and M world

This is my quick attempt at a panoramic. People just wouldn't hold still!!:)



Vegas Baby!!!!

City Sights and Curly Ques

Last week we made our way around some more Vegas sights I thought Id share. I figure we have to see all the sights so we will be ready to give all our future visitors proper tours, right?

There will be quite a few pictures, so if youre not completly in love with the two cute blonds(who couldnt be?) please bear with the many photos:)

Heres some pictures from our Lake Mead visit. There is this dock you walk down to the marina, and the waters are FULL of these huge fish . HUGE. They are used to being fed, so they sit there with their mouths open. The girls thought they were talking to them. Brandon decided to see if they would suck on his finger and almost got bit by a teeth filled bass.

Kind of gross, huh?

Heres Macies picture of B and I. Guess she didnt want her sissy in the pic:)

Then we headed down the road to the Hoover Dam. Yep, the  damn dam!! Emma had a hard time with this one, wondering why is was now ok for her to say this word:) Silly girl!

We passed the road the first time and ended up in:

Am I the only one who isnt up on their geography trivia?? I now know that the Hoover Dam is halfway in Nevada and half way in Arizona. Time change and everything. This may be a known fact to all of you, but I must have been sleeping in that class:)

Here are some shots of the dam. It became very very hot while we were there, so we just made it to the side to look down. Its so beautiful there!

Of course now today the heat seems to be over for the year. Its 65 right now!! Perfect day for sightseeing versus last weeks 102!

Brandon and I also got tot go down to the strip last weekend for my first time thanks the gma and gpa for watching the babes! I didnt get many pictures, but we had a blast. We went into Planet Hollywood, the Belagio, and the Monte Carlo all of which were awesome. We did the penny slot machines a little and came home 15 bucks richer. Take that Vegas!

I also got a taste of home and got to spend an evening with Chuchie at the Tropicana! My first trip into the strip all on my own. Thanks for the great time Alina! Love you!

 And lastly for our week in review, the girls wanted some curly hair, so we tried our hand at the old fashioned way and they are thrilled with the results!!

before

 



Macie the model





Shirley Emma

We also took a trip to the local Farmers Market to look into getting a booth. Once we get our storage unpacked and I can get a few things finished Im hoping to set up to sell my things. Im going to make some more benches, mirrors, chalk boards and pillows to sell at the market. I cant really haul around my huge furniture to those kind of venues, so I will be making some smaller things for them. Sooo excited to get started!

In need of a furniture fix...even if its not mine:)

We haven't yet move into our own place here in Vegas, so I'm having a bit of a furniture-redo-Crafting withdrawl. So I thought Id just do some browsing:)

We left our headboard behind on accident during our recent move.

Con: We had just got it and it was kind of cute and basic.

Pro: I get to make a new one!!!

So, I have taken to Pinterest for some inspiration. Check out these amazing headboards. My own version of one will be gracing the pages of my blog once we get settled and my tools get unpacked. And after, of course, I consult the hubby on his opinion of the style.

I LOVE LOVE the yellow and gray use in this one. And its so rustic and pretty at the  same time:

I also love the fabric and shape of this one:

Ive always wanted to try one with a old door. This one is so cool. It feels like there's another room behind your bed:

I had originally thought of something classic and white like this:

or this :



But I have to make sure its not too girly. I don't want to scare the hubby off:)

I could go on and on with these ideas....and just might.

So, in closing leaving behind the headboard was awesome:) I will soon have a thing of beauty to rest my head under.

(and it ended up going with a lovely lady for her bed:)