Chalkboards

(A lot of my posts on home projects are going to be for future use. Since we currently live in a one bedroom apartment and don't really have money for projects, I am merely daydreaming. But that can be fun!)

A trend that I've seen that I love is chalkboards. You can really make anything into a chalkboard now. All you need is your base and chalkboard paint! Of course, borders and edges make it cute!

Here are some that I've seen recently that make me want it...

See the "dwell" chalkboard? I just love this room overall...

the nest

Design Sponge:

Like I said, you can put chalkboard paint on just about anything...

Of course I have to include something from AshleyAnn. She is an artist of life. Even if you aren't into chalkboards, check out her blog...it is really something else.

http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2010/07/20/diy-week-vinyl-chalkboard/

Very much so looking forward to having a home...and a chalkboard.

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Little Ones--Hansen Family

This adorable little girl is the daughter of some of our best friends. We love spending time with them and capturing moments in their daughter's life.This time we took pictures at grandma's house.

This little one is crawling, standing and pulling up on things, mimicking, laughing, and has little teethers!

One of the reasons I would want a girl...shoes.

My Daddy put a pretty flower behind my ear.

I just had to add this in there.
"You know I love you Danee, but get that camera out of my face!"

We love you Hansens and are looking forward to sharing the rest of the pictures with you!

We're throwing the idea around about advertising for Graduating pictures for Chico State students. I have some friends who have already asked and we're doing theirs. I'm apprehensive to do people's who I don't know. We'll see. Thoughts?

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Frames? Yes please!

I always want to go the yard sales, I just never get up to do it. I love my sleep. It's a tumultuous relationship. I rarely feel like I get enough, it takes the place of other fun things, I need to get over it.

Frames...I love them. I want to start collecting some sweet yard sales finds. I have found some but I just use them right away for random stuff around our tiny cozy apartment..

I found this green one at a Goodwill store on our road trip for .75! It was originally a weird brown so I spray painted it.

I found this one at a yard sale for $1 but used it right away for a poster I had just gotten. It looks super boring here but I don't have a better picture of it on this computer.

My goal:

From http://www.stammfam.blogspot.com/  originally posted on Design Sponge:

How AMAZING is this for a baby room? Uh, to die for...

Check out this blog post....awesome.

http://windhula.blogspot.com/2010/05/hall-of-frames.html

I just think it would be so fun to do a major project with some goodwill/garage sale finds. Knowing that it is cute AND cheap...perfect!

If you find any frames that have potential and you don't have any ideas for them...don't hesitate to pass it along!

The weekend is almost here...

DIY Mason Jars

While visiting San Diego this past weekend, we spent some time with some really good friends of ours. They had just finished their deck in their backyard and she was looking for some lighting ideas. Since I am vicariously living through them with their awesome backyard, we decided to do some Mason Jars candle lighting.

Elyse bought the Mason Jars at Albertson's, the wire and rope at Home Depot, and the Sand at Michael's.

We then filled the Mason Jars with purple sand and put a candle inside.

Next, we wrapped wire around the top of the jar and twisted more wire to make a handle-type shape.

Then we cut the rope to her liking and hung each Mason Jar on a different branch...

I couldn't stay until it got dark but I imagine that they looked beautiful, adding some light and a lot of character.

Thanks Elyse for letting me be a part of decorating your beautiful backyard!

Home sweet home

We are heading home this weekend to celebrate a friend's wedding. It is so fun that we finally get to celebrate with other people our age getting married. We got married pretty young and were the first of our friends. So many weddings are coming up and I can't wait!

I was looking through some pictures we had taken on our Cruise last January...

Why did we move away again?

Oh yeah...

We moved from one breathtaking place to another breathtaking place. They are beautifully different. But we love them equally. Which brings me to another issue....where will we end up?

Last, but not least.

Crater Lake was not supposed to be our last stop on this road trip. Our last stop was supposed to be The Redwoods. However, we were homesick at this point. We hadn't showered in 4 days because the pump stopped working in the RV. We were gross. Could have made it a few more days but still wanted to find each other attractive at the end of this trip...

We loved seeing snow on the ground in August.

Yes, it was that blue!

You did us good, friend.

Ahh, you missed you so. We never want to leave you that long again...except maybe for Europe!:)

 We enjoyed this trip immensely. We'd recommend doing National Park Road trip to anyone! There are so many beautiful places here in the Western United States. We're thankful for being able to go on a trip like this. Thank you to everyone who helped us along the way!

Multnomah Falls, OR

Multnomah Falls is such a beautiful place. It is right off the road and has a beautiful bridge.

It started to rain on us so we didn't end up walking up to the bridge but the view of below was great. The first picture is the top half of the waterfall and second picture is the bottom part.

Leaving Multnomah Falls, we ran into a beautiful sunset and a lightning storm. We got out of the rv to get some pictures. We left the shutter open so we could try to capture some of the lightning. It worked out pretty well!

The next day we had a little sushi date in the rv. We ordered take out so we wouldn't have to tip...cheap.

Last stop: Crater Lake! Then we're heading HOME!

Mt. Rainier National Park

 After leaving Seattle, we were tired. We drove to Mt. Rainier National Park where we really enjoyed spending some relaxing time just the two of us. We LOVED having Mallory and Dom on the trip and visiting friends and family. This was one of the most relaxing nights we had had in a while. We drove around the park a little bit and took a few pictures at sunset.

We stayed at a camp sight in the park that night and got some rest before the big day ahead of us.

We woke up to Mt. Rainier and it's beautiful halo of clouds.

We stopped to get a picture of this waterfall. We were getting sprayed from pretty far away!

Thankful for some cooler weather!

We loved Mt. Rainier National Park but at this point, we were starting to miss home.

Next stop is Multnomah Falls, Oregon.

Seattle

We feel so blessed to have friends in different places around the country. Our friend Jay let us stay with him in Seattle, where we went to school and is now working. He was such a great host and showed us around Seattle better than we could have hoped. Jay took us to Thai food the first night we were in town and then to a park where we got to see this beautiful view...

First thing I thought when I saw the Space Needle...Grey's Anatomy

The next day, Jay took us to University of Washington campus where he graduated. 

 For breakfast we went to Jay's favorite donut place. Top Pot Donuts...

Next, Jay walked with us to Pike's Place Market. He had to go to work but gave us suggestions on where to eat and what to do. We can't thank you enough, Jay!!

If you haven't been to Pike's Place Market in Seattle, you must go! It is busy with vendors selling gorgeous flowers, yummy fresh fruit and vegetables, the famous fish market, etc.

 Oh, and you have to try Rainier cherries if they're in season...YUM

Pike's Place has a famous Fish Market where they throw the fish across the room when people order them.

This guy was talented...doing one-handed catches!

What we were surrounded by...

We had to go to the first Starbucks. This guy was playing his slap guitar outside of the bucks.

Goodbye Seattle, we loved you.

Now it is Jay's turn to visit Chico. Although, coming from Seattle, I think he might be kind of disappointed!

Next stop is Mt. Rainier!