My First Garage Sale

We had our first yard sale last weekend and well,talking about it in great detail would be boring but perhaps if I keep it brief you may find the humor that I did.
Weeks of preparing, organizing & garage cleaning.
Prices marked & junk sorted
neon green Yard Sale signs made and hung
One crazy morning
One beautiful September day
6 hours in the sun on my front porch selling stuff I'd usually just donate
$130 profit and a sunburn
Leftover stuff turned free pile until it rained
equals one large truck full of stuff to Goodwill
Where the donation line is almost in the street so...
Vern drops me off in the front of Goodwill
Vern returns to the back of the store to wait in line to unload our leftovers.
15 minutes later...
We walk out the front of the store with bags of new junk I bought with my garage sale money.
We arrive home to celebrate the new found space in our garage.
Only then do we realize what lies ahead...
Weeks of preparing, organizing & garage cleaning.

Lesson Learned: Next time just donate it in the first place. You get a tax write off and a coupon for 30% off one item....I'm thinking that's totally worth it ;)

Vern's Girl

Cloud 9

We've been home from the beach 2 days and I find myself still in a mental slumber. Perhaps our weekend was just sooooo good that I am in no hurry to return to full on "reality mode" yet. The weather was warm and you could see bits of Autumn starting to appear. We found (and drug home) a few great pieces of driftwood, an unusual variety of agates and the usually unusual collection of shells and random treasures.For the first time we watched movies on the laptop at night before bed instead of reading. It was cool to be watching a movie and hear the waves crashing outside in the distance.
Camp Sekiu has undergone some major improvements...Lloyd built a larger and much improved "kitchen" near the newly relocated fire pit. It will be nice to have a place to hang out when it rains besides our trailer and a lot more convenient to have a place to prep food. Also he has cleared an area close to camp that we named "The Park". By most standards it is still pretty full of trees and ground cover debris but in comparison to it's surroundings...it looks like a park! So that was a popular spot to take the dogs and let them run leash free and explore. They had so much fun running,smelling and playing,it was really cute!
Leash free,I guess that's how I felt too...one afternoon the guys went mushroom picking and I stayed back at camp with the dogs. Yep,just Me,the dogs and the handgun...I had to laugh a little,sometimes my life feels so redneck. lol I turned on my Itunes,did my hair and makeup and uploaded photos to Facebook. Hardly sounds like camping right?! I needed that "Cara time".

 But there were a few memories I'd like to make sure I remember for a long time....one morning Vern greeted me with coffee and said "Good morning my future bride!" It was so cute and made me smile just a little the rest of the....well I am still smiling so ...but later that morning I was on the beach and something occurred to me. This is exciting. Knowing he is going to ask soon but not sure when and how. Up until the other day I had been a little frustrated with waiting. I suddenly realized that I should stop and enjoy this exciting and giddy feeling because it is rare. This is the last time I will feel this way,waiting for the man of my dreams to ask my hand in marriage *sigh* yep,once in a life time. I had turned the wait into a frustration and almost missed this opportunity to make the most of it!I feel so blessed for the epiphany I had on the beach that morning...

And then as if he didn't have me on Cloud 9 already...My Prince Charming,he's always thinking...One night we were headed back to camp after dinner at our friend's house and he drove right past the turn off. As I smiled at him with a raised eyebrow he drove on with a childish grin telling me only that he had a surprise. A sunset beach walk. There we were,alone on miles of beach,holding hands all showered and fed as the sun set on the Straits between the US and Canada.There are few perfect moments in life and this was one of them. One I hope I remember for a very long time <3 p="p">

 

Deja Vu?

So many times I have written a post like this before but I suppose it can't stop me from posting about it once again...
In 48 hours I plan to be in Camp Sekiu. 2 1/2 days of beach combing,fresh ocean air,campfires and snuggling with my man in our double sleeping bag. I need to get away and unplug,it has been an intense summer and things aren't slowing down anytime real soon as the holidays sneak up on us.When I walk on those beaches I forget about this big ol' crazy world. No voice mails to check or calls to return,no messy roommate,no work and too far away to be much help if needed anyway. I need a damn hot dog!Charred near black by a propane BBQ or open flame and a few days of crazy wind blown hair and no make up. I want to get my daily work out while climbing through the rain forest looking for mushrooms. Maybe Vern can snag us a salmon out of the river and we can once again experience a Northwest dinner like no other? Fresh salmon caught that day and mushrooms picked that day, all grilled over an open flame in the rain forest as you gaze at the stars and point out the occasional cruise ship floating slowly by in the Straits below. It's magic,an experience you could not buy in any restaurant. So tomorrow I will dig out my travel bag and begin to pack in hopes that will keep my busy until Friday afternoon when we make our escape.

Back On The Wagon..

Sometime last week I started up my Isagenix again and tomorrow I start my first cleanse! With some help of two other Isa friends coaching me I have lost the 2 pounds I gained while I was off of it! The three of us are cleansing together tomorrow and I am excited at the thought of having someone to struggle through it with! Cleansing is a two day process in which you fast for 2 days and in return nourish and cleanse your body with the help of a cleanse liquid and little round snacks packed full of the nutrients your body needs to nourish and stabilize during the process. Oh and water,lots and lots of water to help flush it all out! Half your body weight in ounces,try it,it's harder than you think...inless you are thin then don't...go have a cheeseburger in my honor instead. ;)
I do not want to be a yo yo dieter. I do not want to lose this weight and then gain it all back. This really has to happen and I really can do it.

This Little House

This little house we live in...I must be determined to like it and stay here because room by room,year by year,we make it a little bit better. As we are deeply committed now to our bedroom remodel,it motivates me to want to tackle so many of the other projects I have in mind. 2 more rooms. OK,2 1/2 because the kitchen isn't totally done yet (needs shelves/deco). Oh and add another half because our bedroom is great but not 100% until we tackle the glue issue on the floors (under the new rug) someday. But basically it comes down to the living room and the office. The living room needs paint,trim,a mantle,lighting,blinds, furniture and new deco that involves all the repurposed projects I have waiting. The office needs new paint,flooring, furniture (everything from a futon to a new computer desk),window covering/blinds and a deco face lift. I am hoping this inspires me to also finish and add a few touches to the kitchen and our bedroom but check back with me a year from now and see how I am doing. ha ha! If you have an old house you'll understand exactly what I mean,the projects never end.
;)

In One Day...

In one day we....
Cleaned and reorganized the garage
Doubled the size of the garage sale pile
Created more storage room for Vern and a craft bench for me in above mentioned newly cleaned garage.
Took a break..
But it was still early...
So we...
Moved everything out of our bedroom
Pulled up the carpet,pad and tack strips
Scrubbed,swept and vacuumed the newly found hardwood floors to remove "some" of the glue residue we will have to tackle in a future project.
Took 350 pounds of junk to the dump.
Went to Home Depot and was lucky enough to find an 8x12 foot beige burbur "solution" for under $100, a new lamp for my night stand and a few cans of Oops Paint (for future projects)
Returned home to wipe down and clean the bedroom walls and furniture
Rolled out and fit new rug into bedroom only to discover that it is 3 inches too wide..and we were too tired to care..
Moved all the clean bedroom furniture back into the bedroom.
Sat in awe for the rest of the evening at how wonderful our new room looks and smells as my new lamp shined a dim, blueish light into the room.
Had the epiphany that if you don't like something about your house/life it may take less that you think to fix it.
Have a clean,organized and roomy garage that makes all 3 of us happy and a beautiful "new"bedroom for one day's work and $150.