Friday

Can you believe it's the end of January already?

What the heck.

Didn't the new year just start?

 

I am happy that it's going to be the start of the February

because that means I get to go shopping tomorrow.

No big plans for the weekend,

but I'm sure I'll figure something out.

via

 

Who knows, maybe I'll find one of these while shopping,

and install it this weekend.

Could be a quickie weekend project.

I kid, I kid!

 

Have a great one my friends.

Frozen

When it was cold a few weeks back,

and everything froze over,

I managed to get a couple fun pics.

 

Cool huh?

Sealing Slate and Various Other Things

Todd and I finished our weekend project.

And can I just say I am sore in places I didn't know could be sore.

Here's the breakdown of how the weekend played out.

Friday night:

Moved furniture and various other crap out of the living room.

It took about an hour, and man, I think we need to do

this once a year because dude....

things were dusty!

It should be fun figuring out where all the wires go.

Saturday:

We woke up, made breakfast and got to work.

We used DuPont Stone and Tile Cleaner and Protector

to clean our slate.

It was very easy to apply,

and a pain in the ARSE to remove.

Ewwww!  Look how brown the bubbles are.

"Bubbles, tiny bubbles."

After we applied the cleaner everywhere,

we had to go back by hand, and using sponges,

wipe up the floor.  It took us three separate go throughs to finally

 get it all clean (like 4 hours worth of cleaning on your hands and knees).

Let me just note here, so that you don't think I'm a total slob -

slate is very dusty, and I do mop it about 1-2 times a week.

Grime just accumulates in the tile over 5 years.

Sunday:

Compared to Saturdays scrubbing and cleaning the slate,

sealing was a piece of cake.

We used DuPont's Semi Gloss Sealer & Finish-

two bottles to be precise.

Application was easy, we just poured the sealer out and applied it with a brush.

The sealant was kind of milky, and looked like glue

once you applied it to the slate.

Todd and I were a little worried when the sealant

looked white, but it dried clear.

We started from the front of the room and worked

our way out the front door.

Once applied, we had to wait at least 30 minutes to

apply a second coat.  Sunday was a little cold, so it

took about 1 hour to dry. 

At about 1 1/2 hour for the first application,

plus an hour dry time X's 2,

we were only able to apply two coats.

That meant that the project flowed over in to Monday.

So after work, Todd and I got to 

applying the last coat of sealant.

It was well worth the work (and pain),

and Todd and I couldn't be happier with our project.

Take a look.

It brings out the beautiful colors of the slate,

and they shine like a beautiful diamond -

ok, maybe not that much, 

but they do shine.

This project has us motivated to seal the kitchen tile.

I'm all for it, but it's going to be a couple

weeks before we do it cause I have to let my

poor aching body recuperate!

So what do you think?

Friday!

 

I'm going to have a busy, busy weekend.

Tonight we moved all the furniture out of the living room.

Tomorrow we are going to scrub the floors.

Sunday we are going to seal them.

Fun stuff I tell you.

 

I'll be back with pics next week

(you know I will).

Until then my friends.

 

Salmon Falls

There are some benefits to being in the middle of a drought.

Not many, but some.

Todd and I had planned to go see Hunger Games - Catching Fire,

this weekend, unfortunately it was no longer playing locally.

So instead of driving two hours out of our way,

we decided to hike to an archaeological site.

Folsom Lake, if you can call it that - it's currently

more like a puddle, floods the old town of Salmon Falls.

Salmon Falls was a gold mine camp that was

founded in 1848 by Mormons.

The town was flooded in 1950

(I believe when Folsom Dam was built)

Now with the water so low, we were able to hike

 and check out the bridge and  town.

This was the view from right below the parking lot.

The walk was fairly easy, but we did have to cross some water.

No, not the river, the little creek to the right.

 

Once we figured how to maneuver over that,

it was a clear shot to the bridge.

 

I believe this is the original Salmon Falls Bridge.

I couldn't  believe how thick the bridge was.

 I would venture to guess about 12 inches thick.

 

After we had explored around and under the bridge,

we headed to some of the foundations that were near.

This gives you a little perspective on how far away the

building(s) were away from the bridge.

My thought was that this was a damn for the creek

that ran adjacent to the river.

 

On our way out, Todd noticed some tracks.

Trying to impress me he said,

"They're either mountain lion or puppy tracks."

 

I think I tend to think the latter since there

is a human footprint.

Your thoughts?

 

It was a lovely afternoon, and a lovely little walk.

I would recommend the hike if your looking

for something new and a little different to do.

And They're Off

 

The kids are off to school again.

After a month here, they were ready to get back to their apartment.

I spent part of Sunday cleaning up,

and man does it make a difference with two people

in the house as opposed to four!

It is much more quiet as well.

Todd and I are already missing the singing and bantering back and forth.

 

It wont be long, and it will be the end of the semester and

then we get them for the summer.

I'm sure, to them, it will feel like forever for the semester to end

as classes like analytical geometry, chemistry

and physics are on the docket

(so NOT jealous).

 

 

 

 

Yahoo It's Friday

Yippee -

I'm doing a Friday dance.

I'm definitely looking forward to the long weekend.

Walks, movie and breakfast out are on the agenda.

The kids are heading back to college on

Sunday, so we are going to try and make

the most of the next couple days.

 

Pictures from a family walk we took last weekend.

Austin was there, but he was so far ahead,

he wasn't even in the picture.

 

Have a wonderful weekend.

Bag Lady

I found a tutorial on how to make

a no sew bag.  I shared the information with

Lexx and she decided she wanted to make one.

 

Supplies were simple:

scissors

duct tape

material

stapler/staples

something to use as straps

 

Lexx showing some of the supplies.

She chose red and white chevron material and gold duct tape.

She cut out the material, turned it right side down,

and then taped the entire back of the material.

She did this to two equal sized pieces of material,

and then stapled the material together with the duct tape on the outside.

 

She then took and stapled the straps on, put some duct tape

over that and then turned the bag inside out.

Voila!

 

It took her about 2 hours to complete.

It's adorable and completely sturdy.

 

If you want to make one,

the website is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjbrtiYWF-g

 

Improving the House

So Todd and I are taking this

"improve"

thing seriously.

This weekend I made a list of home improvements

we wanted to make this year,

and broke those projects down by month.

 

On the list this month:

seal the tile

finish the trim on the doors/windows

 

Todd got started on the trim on Sunday.

It's already looking much better,

although he ran out of wood and was unable to finish

(We'll probably finish this weekend).

 

Cleaning things up around the door.

What a cute little construction guy.

Look at that beautiful work.

 

It will probably take a couple more hours to complete

this project and then we will get to cross that off our list.

 

As far as the tile goes, we'll probably seal that

at towards the end of the month,

so in a couple of weeks.

 

You do any home improvement projects lately?

And the Word Is...

Instead of making a New Year's resolution

that I will more than likely NEVER keep,

I decided to come up with a word for the 

year that exemplifies what I would like to accomplish.

After mulling things over, I decided on ...

I felt like I could implement this in several areas of my life

without getting too specific.

Areas I'm going to concentrate on are:

Health

Home

Attitude

There are so many areas people can improve.

What would you try to improve?

Did you make any resolutions or pick a word of the year?

Cuteness Explosion

It's been a little while since I've posted some cuteness,

and I'm feeling the need.

Besides, who doesn't like cute furry animals?

Via

 

This makes my heart smile!

Tahoe

I'm back to work, and already missing vacation

(it's only day 2 - yikes!).

 

I found myself thinking about the family Tahoe trip

today and thought I would share some pictures.

 

There was much less snow than last year,

and the temps were probably in the high 50's,

this was much different from last years trip.

 

We decided to drive around the lake and make stops

whenever the urge hit.

The first stop was Eagle Falls.

We were just there in October and took pictures,

but we wanted to see how much water

was spilling over, so we hiked through the

snow to go and get a glimpse.

It was pretty awesome.

The pictures don't do it justice,

but there was a layer of ice over the top and then

snow all the other places.

Very cool!

This was the top of the waterfall,

 

and this was looking down from the top of the waterfall.

 

After we were done looking at the falls,

and had frozen our rearends off because we weren't

dressed correctly, we decided to try

and take a family picture.

Yeah!  We did it.

 

Then we decided to go for a little walk on one

of the boardwalk that is directly across from the falls.

We encountered something that we had never seen before.

Be sure to watch this.

AND DON'T

cheat and look below the video!

 

 

Yep, we ran in to Mr. Bear.

Who would expect to see a bear in the middle of winter?

Apparently Mr. Bear thinks it's spring.

We didn't want to be Mr. Bear's dinner,

so we turned our fannies right back around and

headed for the car. 

It was at this point that we decided to just

continue driving around the lake

in the safety of our little car.

 

It was such a beautiful day,

and no picture can do it justice,

but I thought this was a fairly decent photo

of how perfect our day out was.

 

The kids couldn't hang with the real adults,

they fell asleep in the back,

so Todd and I took pictures while they slept.

At around 5 PM we ended up back at casinos,

and we were starving.

So we made a stop at the Hard Rock Café

and got some twisted mac n cheese.....

Yummmers!

 

Lexx had to show off her sweatshirt while

we waited for my dinner.

 

Everyone else wanted hamburgers,

so after we watched the 49ers win a football game,

and I finished eating, we headed over to

their favorite burger joint.

 

I have no picture, but just imagine

everyone except me stuffing their faces

with a huge hamburger and you get the idea.

 

We had so much fun and enjoyed spending

the day together, especially since we get to see

so little of each other during the rest of the year.

It's a fun family tradition that we plan on

continuing for as long as our schedules allow.

 

Did you do any quick trips during the holidays,

or have any fun family traditions?

Friday

via

 

I'm wrapping up my Christmas vacation.

It's been a glorious nine days off,

and I haven't got jack-diddly done.

It's actually probably one of the most relaxing

vacations I've had in a long time.

Got to spend some real quality time with the kids,

and got caught up on relaxing...

all good things.

 

So although I don't personally need to recuperate

from a long work week, I know some of my

blog readers do, so this is for you.

 

Have a great one my friends!

Celebrating the New Year

As most of you know, we are not big party animals.

So a night at home was how we celebrated the new year.

We find it stress free

(and much less dangerous than being on the roads).

 

Although the party was small, we managed to have

a good time and kept ourselves entertained.

First order of business was to have Lexx take a picture of

my New Years outfit.  For those of you who guessed

that I would wear the yellow necklace...

You were correct.

 

We then had to take pictures together before everything

became too difficult due to alcohol consumption.

Mother and son.

Isn't he a handsome guy!

 

After a couple of pictures were taken,

it was time to get our mimosa on,

and that we did.

Aust downed two in the time I took a couple

sips out of mine!

 

Lexx wanted to get in on the picture action,

so of course we took selfies.

What else are you going to do when you

have to stay up until midnight and there

are only five of you at the party?

I had to force Todd to take a picture because

he was tired and just wanted to go to sleep.

He's not a big party animal,

as you may already know.

The kids (Alexxa, Austin and Natan) watched movies

in the living room and ate snacks all night.

Todd and I watched Warehouse 13

and relaxed in our room.

 

I made it to 12:30 AM,

but unfortunately Todd didn't.

This is how he brought the new year in,

 

and this is how I celebrated.

By taking a picture of my husband sleeping

and posting it on my blog without him knowing - bwahahaha!

It's gonna be a great year,

don't you think?