Recapping

I was getting better at this, wasn't I?? Dang it!

Feb. 14th: Our Valentine's Day started out EARLY. Early, early, early!!! 5:00 AM early. Got up, got Cole up and the 3 of us trekked up to Port Angeles to catch the ferry to Victoria, B.C.

(I can already hear you thinking, "Oh, what a nice Valentine's weekend getaway this will be for them! But wait.... bringing Cole along also ?? That seems kind of strange......")

Nope, nothing like that at all. What really happened is --------
I BOUGHT SHAWN A NEW CAR!

Ok, so *WE* bought Shawn a new car. Ok, he found it and picked it out himself. Ok, so it's not brand new, just "new to us". I never said I was the best storyteller.

Anyway, back to the story........ Hopped on said ferry and sailed to Victoria. Clear. Crisp. Crowded. The ferry arrived in Victoria at about 9:45 and then leaves again back to PA at 10:30. That gave us 45 minutes to clear customs into Canada, meet the people selling the car, exchange money & titles, purchase tickets for the ferry, clear customs and inspections to be back on the ferry at 10:30 to make it back to the states at a decent time. Otherwise the next ferry leaves at 4:30 in the afternoon........ Needless to say, they held the boat for us. But all was accomplished!

(Jennie - this one's for you!!)

The actual story of the car is another saga:
Shawn had previously owned a 1990 Black Nissan Pulsar that he LOVED. Surprisingly, they fit tall people really well. He said it was the most comfortable vehicle to drive that he's ever owned. Including the Pathfinder! He said it's roomy, you lean back a little when you drive (more like a comfy chair than a gangster-lean) and the visibility is unmatched (in his opinion).

So he started looking for one on Craigslist, Auto Trader and even Ebay. Nothing around here whatsoever...... then he started looking in Oregon, Idaho & B.C........... which is where he found this one.

It was a single owner, lady driver with 144,000 Kilometers........ that computes to about 93,000 miles! And it's a 1988 !?!?! Shawn was instantly drooling over the photos they sent. A one owner car with 93,000 miles on it?? He was emailing with the husband immediately. And with a sale price of $1300. US, nothing could compare.

Yeah, he really wanted a Black one, but with the excellent condition it's in, he'll be just fine.

**On another note - anyone interested in a 1997 VW Golf ??

Just when we thought Spring was here

WE GOT SNOW!!!!!!

again!

I know it's not really unusual for us to get snow here in February, but we had such nice (well, decent) weather lately that I think we were all looking forward to SPRING.



I don't know about anyone else, but it made Cole happy. It made me happy (on a very grouchy day). And that's what counts!

Funny too, cuz my Father-in-law emailed me today and said it's been in the 50's. In Northern Michigan!

I am my fathers daughter

Here are my first crafty projects I created just after being home. Cole needed pen/pencil/marker holders and also something for his papers. I'm too FRUGAL and the office stores/Target were too expensive and/or nice, so I created my own. The paper holder is a cereal box and some black Gorilla Glue tape. Cole even helped spray paint the dog food cans!

(It's been a nasty PMS weekend and beginning of the week. I'm out of ideas for words and as my mamma always taught me: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". And I'm doing just that.)

Hope you enjoy and maybe get your own ideas!

More projects

I took some photos of the frame I spraypainted. Nothing big, I was just super excited at how well it turned out. Trying to get the lighting, flash, etc. to work together were another thing. Maybe I should start studying photography..... hmmmm..... I like the sound of that!

My next awesome find was my new curtains!! (Our. Our new curtains :)

I had been looking and looking.... I've had the curtain rod up there since before Shawn moved in..... I was always going to make them myself (how hard can they be, right? it's just two big rectangles.) Well, fabric prices are the culprit! Holy crap! Even when I found a neutral green-tan cotton velvet low-priced and 50% off ($9. a yard), it was still cheaper to buy them pre-made.

Grrrrrr.......

But then I found these:

100% Tan Cotton Velvet with cool metropolitan grommets. Ahhhh!

I swear, I thought they were mis-marked. The tag at the end of the metal post thingy they hang on said "$7.99". WHAT?? It's probably a mistake, they left off the "1" in front of the 7..... they're supposed to be $17.99, which still would've been a great deal since they normally sell for 24.99 to 29.99 PER panel.

So I go scan them. Yep, they were marked wrong.

THEY RANG UP AT $7.10 PER PANEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you kidding me?!? $14.00 for velvet curtains?

SCORE!

Oooooh! Spray paint!

I've always been an avid recycler. It's in my blood. Or, it kinda is. I've inherited the pack-rat gene and can't stand to see things thrown away. I recycle for the environment too. I'm adamant at the house and now Cole has grown up knowing what recycles and what doesn't. Yay!

I've also always been a thrift store shopper. I used to HATE going with my mom in jr. high (the smell was soooo awful). And God-forbid, growing up in the name brand 80's, you wore anything to school without a label. (Do you remember when Value Village actually had a "Labels" section?? Crazy.)

So yeah, LOVE recycling, LOVE thrift stores.

And my newest favorite LOVE? Spray Paint!!

Surprisingly, I had never used it before..... well, not exactly true. I used clear gloss spray paint for the Christmas village I painted for my mom.... and then a few years ago I got a grapevine wreath, sprayed it silver and added silver-blue glitter for a Christmas wreath. Turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself :)

With a little influence & inspiration from Candice & Shannon, I decided to hunt out my first projects. (insert evil laugh here)

My first project was a simple picture frame. I liked the style of the frame and got it half off at Goodwill - .49 cents baby!! (why I don't have a picture, I don't know......)

Then I stumbled upon the following. I was originally going to paint the scroll work black, but then I thought..... maybe an antique-tone to it. I dry-rubbed some stain and it was done. Not too impressed, and might still paint it black, but it'll do for now.

This was my BEST find - it didn't have a tag, so she rang it up for 59 cents! I know it's not much, it's got that ugly, 70's brown look to it. But I figured, in BLACK it would be fantastic!!!

And it is! Now I have a cute chunky wood candle holder that will go with our decor. Bam!

Whoa!

Well.... where has the time gone? I had great intentions of blogging on a regular basis with my, ahem, "newly acquired free time".... but I just haven't been into it.

I take Cole to school everyday and then pick him up at 3:30...... I've gotten the decorating bug (once again), but with limited funds, that doesn't get me too far..... I've organized a little and I ventured more into ebay....... SELLING on ebay! It's been so much fun - taking the photos, listing the item and watching people bid..... over MY stuff! It's nothing fancy or turning into a real salary, but it'll be extra spending money for the Bahamas in April. Score!!

I guess the first venture of my time off has been the super find of the Bunkbeds for Cole (and now Anna's) room. Thanks Craigslist! I felt so awful for her sleeping on our couch every weekend..... Cole gets up the earliest on the weekends and to keep him from waking us up, he knows that he can turn on cartoons in the living room..... which is where the couch is..... where Anna sleeps.

No longer! Now he can get up, shut the door and let her sleep till her hearts content! I remember being 14 and it never shocked myself or my parents if I slept till noon (as long as I didn't have something to do)

So that's it for now.... I promised myself that I would take time at least 3 times a week (if not more!) to blog about what we've been up to..... just simple, little things..... I already have ideas for future blogs, so stay tuned!