48 Hours

For the most part I did what I said I would today. 
 I slept in until almost 11am and then I finally rolled into the shower sometime around one.
I did my best to ignore all the chores begging to be done and watched a good dose of Keeping Up With The Kardashians,oh how I secretly love those Kardashian women...
BUT as the day rolled on and Vern got home I felt inspired to do some cooking.
I made a huge 9X13 meatloaf for dinner and topped it with cheese and frozen hash browns (Schwans has the BEST hash browns).
Here it is starting to bake in the oven,mmmmmm...

My secret to meatloaf is adding a box of Stove Top stuffing instead of bread or crackers. It's delish with beef or  turkey meat loaf.I made a huge meatloaf in hopes it will keep Del fed for a few days and I like to keep these types of left overs in the fridge :)
I also made a pumpkin cake with apple cider glaze.(It's the easiest recipe I know) I would share the recipe but due to a computer virus they were deleted from my system.
If you want any of my recipes,please let me know I am happy to share,I just need to type it out.
THEN I made a double batch of "Melody's Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies". I baked half and froze the rest. I love having cookie dough in the freezer for a last minute sweet tooth!
Whew,so much for taking it easy! Everything turned out great and I am making "Cara Packages" to share with our  coworkers.
I also took a little time to share the progress in my yard this summer...
Here's the view from the chairs in our side yard. Those sunflowers are 7 feet tall!

And blooming like crazy!

See my Zinnias and Dahlia's growing there in front of the fence? Yay for perennials!lol

We also picked our first harvest of broccoli!

Nothing is better than home grown produce! I think it just tastes better when you grow it yourself..haha
One more pic because I had mentioned Chipper's new haircut and I don't think I have shared a picture yet. Here he is in his handsome sweater,I tell him it makes him look smart ;p

We are off to the beach this weekend for a quick over nighter. I am very excited to get away!
Living with Del has a lot of positives but it's hard  not having much privacy and tolerating the continuous barrage of friends and family that stop by and never call first. Oh and did I mention his mother has a key to our house? Yes, she stops by a few times a week unannounced. If the door is shut and locked she just let's herself in...isn't that nice.
In 48 hours..I will get 48 hours away. Fair enough :)

The Ickies

For the last 2 days,

I just haven't felt good at all.

It went from swollen crampy fingers to a kink in my neck and then the all over aches with a toothache. 

Weird. 

Then last night I had insomnia.

Sunday and Monday are the busiest days of my week and this week... 

they kicked my butt.

On a happier note-

I am busy picking paint colors for the kitchen,dining room and living room!

I have a client who works for Rodda paint and she offered to give me her employee discount!

That makes great paint very affordable and these old walls and this inexperienced painter need all the help we can get!

The closest store to me is in South Hill Puyallup so I am trying to do as much online as I can.

I'm looking for fairly neutral tones to warm and brighten and Del dislikes blue..

so it narrows it down quickly :) 

Beige and green?

She also said that all their stores have an "oops bin" that range from quarts to 5 gallons for $3-5.

I am thinking these will be helpful with trim,furniture and other crafty projects.

I don't find these clearance bins much anymore?

I used to love creating projects with random paint inspiration!

As for tomorrow,

I am going to take it easy.

I am sleeping in and staying in bed as long as possible.

Coffee and chick flicks-

the cure for even the weirdest symptoms ;p

Even Del Liked Them....

I set out today to find a cloth shower curtain and rug to put the finishing touches on our bathroom remodel. I knew my chances of finding one in my small little town were slim but..I just had to try. I had no luck with ANY bathroom stuff but I did find these!

They were $10 each at BiMore,a local discount store. They are about 2' tall and solar powered!At night they glow a warm orange light just like a candle,soooo  cute! Even Vern and Del liked them and the popular vote is to hang them from the beams on the new back porch (when it's finished..err started? haha).
The creative bug has bitten me since I have been reading a friend's blog.With her permission(and as soon as I learn how to) I will link you to her in the future. Her blog is called "Raising The Rhyne Brine" and she has an amazing talent for creating custom wall/home decorations and designs.
I am plotting my attack on the rest of the inside of our house this fall. The kitchen,dining and living rooms all need a face lift. I am thankful for True Value. com at times like these. I can pick my paint colors(or at least narrow it down)and see it in a virtual room before I even drive 5 blocks to the store. Very Convenient :)
My head is swirling with ideas and the frugal crafter in me is ready to start shopping for supplies and motivation. Oh and did I mention I want to make birdhouses too? Another day maybe...:)
.
.
.
Yet after all that....
I still need a shower curtain and rug for the bathroom.
It never ends.

Tastes Like Irony

  When people said gardening was hard work..I internally rolled my eyes. I assumed gardeners were just a bunch of green thumbs feeling unappreciated for growing their' own food and flowers instead of buying it.My thinking was something like "Good for you gardeners,now get a REAL job...."
I had plenty of flowers and vegetables that I grew in pots on my apartment patio!I never had any weeds or slugs these "gardeners" complained about? I assumed it was because they were neglectful and didn't mind to their flowers as often as I did. Yes my "garden" was smaller but how different could a "real garden" be? I mean really?!

Fast forward 2 years-
I FINALLY live in a house!
I have a yard with flower beds and a garden!
And if I may say so myself..it looks pretty awesome!
BUT...
The battle never ends.
The slugs.

The bugs.

The weeds.
Too much rain.
Too much sun.

Gardening isn't for wimps.
It's HARD WORK!!!
 My neighbors had to question my mental stability as I scurried around my yard until 2pm today in the Nike pants and t-shirt from last night,my hair in a frizzed out ponytail and remnants of glitter from yesterdays makeup sparkling down my face.I was a weed killing,yard organizing,flower tending machine!I lost track of time and before I knew it Vern pulled in the drive way from work. I hadn't even showered! I was covered in dirt and sweat..gross ;p
 Funny thing is..I was smiling ear to ear! Our yard looks so great that suddenly I didn't care how filthy I was.I was proud of our flowers and garden...and I couldn't wait to tell him about all the "hard" work I had done.
 So the slice of humble pie I eat tonight tastes like irony,( I think it's a popular favorite)
because I realized that I'm the "gardener" I used to mock.
:)

Blame It On The Latte

It's 12:45 am I am not as tired as I should be...

Maybe it was the 4 pm triple latte?

Hmmm...no one is awake here at home or on Facebook..

So I thought I'd write a blog about the random things that have crossed my mind lately.

Did you know that if you put blueberry muffins in your cookie jar and then neglect to rinse it out before you put chocolate chip cookies in it...

Your chocolate chip cookies will taste like blueberry muffins.

Yes they do.

And no it's not good.

Ew.

Making more cookies tomorrow.

Birds &Blooms Magazine rocks!

6 issues a year just doesn't cut it for me so I get my daily/weekly fix online for free :)

I was informed that roofing begins tomorrow at our house.

This  means that after 5 months of remodel they are starting the roof on the morning of my day off.

Not the other 5 days a week,oh no...

Friday friggin' morning.

Nice.

Please pray for my garden,flowers and sanity.

This time the mess isn't just in my house..

now it'll attack the front lawn too.

Vern got us a camcorder,it was his 15 year gift from Boeing.

Cute little thing.

Easy to use.

Thanks Boeing!

But...

I have a hard time taking enough pictures!

So this poses the question..

What to video?!

Do I make one just for fun and memories?

Or do I wait until an "opportune" time that something exciting is going on?

Hmm?

Perhaps I will video the mess in my lawn tomorrow..haha

Ok that really wasn't funny,it's time for bed.

I'm glad that latte finally surrendered.

Nite.

Cara + Vern= LOVE

Let there be such oneness between us,
that when one cries, the other tastes salt~ Believe, Rossabelle

 Photos of Vern and I taken by Corbin Gross at Corbin Photography :)

Cooties

Monday my day went pretty much as usual. I worked from 9-6 and I was especially excited to come home to our company,Barb and Lloyd from Sekiu. I was foiling along on my 2 0'clock appointment,about 95% done,when I spotted a bug in my client's hair. At first I thought it was a flea and passed it off but 1/4 inch more through her head and I saw every hair dressser's worst fear-LICE!

At that point I had been working on her long,thick hair for about an hour so I figured I might as well finish the last 3 foils. I felt horrible for her,she was 17,quiet and sweet behind a lot of black eyeliner and an attepted "attitude" to her doting Grandmother .The news was heartbreaking and she began to cry. I did all I could to comfort her as I secretly twitched and itched from head to toe. The policy is that I have to finish quickly if I can, or stop immediately. When her color was done processing I shampooed and rinsed her hair and broke the news that a cut and blow dry were out of the question. I promised to pamper her if she came back after a few lice treatments.I sanitized everything and went about my day trying not to itch and freak out...but it didn't work...

SOOOO....FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY 14 YEAR CAREER AS A HAIR DRESSER..........

I bought a RID lice treatment kit on my way home. $25!! Highway robbery!! Isn't a lice scare bad enough?! Damn RID people...they get you when you are vulnerable.....;P

I was paranoid more than ever and couldn't risk giving lice to Vern and our friend's! I immediately applied the shampoo to my hair and sprayed down my clothes with the spray before putting them in a hot water wash. The shampoo says to wait 10 minutes and no more.15 minutes later I showered and shampooed like crazy! Eghck! The shampoo wasn't too bad,it stunk a little but it was well worth the peace of mind :)

After a good laugh and a clean pair of clothes I was ready to enjoy our friends and the amazing lasagna I had blogged about a few days ago.It was so delicious!Thankfully Barb and Lloyd are great friends and were very sympathetic (they both work in a prison so not much phases them). I will repeat the shampoo again in a week like the box says,just in case. In the meanwhile I am going to have my head THOROUGHLY checked at work just to be double sure. Ick.