San Francisco

Here's another one for Kurt's album. I'm trying as hard as I can to get it done before we leave. I need this monkey off of my back.

No Time for Scrapbooking

Wow - Life has a way of taking over your time. First the move to Boise from Portland - which was a LOT of work - and then 9 days spent in California with my father-in-law cleaning and prepping his house for sale. I love HGTV and it was fun to play Sabrina Soto for a week. I can't come close to her skill level, but it was still fun to try - it was like going to a staging fantasy camp for a week.

Here are some before and after shots:

Upstairs Bedroom

This is where I spent a majority of my time. It was sort of a catch-all storage room and the remnants from when my father-in-law's other son lived there. We turned it into a proper bedroom.

Before:

and after:




We packed up everything and once it was empty, the other half of the work started. I painted the walls to make it look fresh.



Living room

Before:



and after:


We didn't do much to this room - mostly just removing a lot of furniture and knickknacks.

We removed all of the blue accents in the living room area to neutralize it and changed out the curtains to bring in more light. We removed a chaise lounge at the back and added a dedicated dining area and left some blue accents in the new dining area to help define it.

We also removed a few other pieces of furniture to open the area up. We took out the screen and moved the bar area into the family room. Finally, we removed a buffet table from behind the couch. Once we moved the couch back, it made the room feel larger.

Oh, I almost forgot - I painted the foyer from apple green to almond paste.



Downstairs Bath

Before:

and after:


So those are the most dramatic photos. I did a lot of other little things, too, like removing little things from the walls all over the house, changing out the art and shower curtain in the hall bath upstairs, painting the window sill in the smaller guest bedroom, and painting the kitchen ceiling (when Cyn passed away she was in mid-progress painting it from gray to yellow). We took a paint chip to Lowe's and though it wasn't big enough to match a color using their computer, we eye-matched it and got a perfect match.

Not only did I get to see my dad and some friends, I also got to see some wildlife while I was down there. A pack (actually, I just looked it up and technically it's called a "rafter") of turkeys lives in the neighborhood and every morning they comb the streets looking for bugs and food. Cyn always referred to them as a gang of hoodlums. They look so funny skulking around. And the cutest thing about it all is that a quail was born around the same time as some of them and adopted into the group. It looks so funny and out of place - this tiny little bird hanging out with these big huge birds - and it behaves just like them.



I am still not used to living in a MUCH smaller metropolitan area than Portland. I was a little surprised to find out there was only one direct flight per day from Sacramento to Boise. Then, when I got to the airport and saw this waiting for me, it was confirmed. I live in a very small place now. And I like that. I might not like tiny little prop planes, but I like the small town feel of my new city.

Yup, that's all the passengers out on the tarmac waiting for their carry-on bags. Since there is no real storage space above the seats, they offer what is called "a la cart", where they tag it with a green tag and store it in the belly of the plane kinda like a grey hound bus, which is sorta how the plane felt. And you board by going out onto the tarmac and climbing up the open door stairs. Yes, I live in a very small city now.

After I landed, we went straight from the airport to a small stamping expo (around 20 vendors) - hey, I know where my priorities lie! I got some patterned paper - 9 sheets for $0.35 each - and they're really cute. I think they're retired Stampin' Up paper. (I need more patterned paper like I need a hole in the head, but that didn't stop me.) I also got a couple of stamps and some older issues of Close to My Heart catalogues for $1 each. They have some really cute ideas in them and I can't wait to try them out.

So, now that I'm done moving and helping my FIL sell his house (hopefully soon!), it's time to get back to scrapping. I am two months behind on my club and I have a few projects that need to be finished. I can't wait! I haven't scrapped in almost two months!

Western Idaho Fair

We went to the Western Idaho Fair this past Sunday. It was the last day so we got half-off admission. Yay! The fair reminded me so much of the Santa Cruz County Fair that my family went to every year. Well, "went to" isn't quite the right word. We lived and breathed the fair every year for weeks. We baked cookies and pies, we put together themed table decoration displays, we did flower arranging, we entered our poetry and fine art, we installed gardens, we worked the 4-H snack shack, we exhibited rabbits, chickens, goats, and sheep, we built huge displays in the 4-H building and put on demonstrations based on the classes we had taken that year - the list goes on and on. Those memories are some of my favorite from my childhood.

I went to the fair again one year as an adult and it was just sad - nothing like I had remembered. The hall where we our crafts had been displayed was filled with people's collections - troll dolls, silver spoons, and kitchy cow stuff (an entire case filled with things like cow salt and pepper shakers and a cow creamer where the milk comes out of the cow's mouth so it looks like she's regurgitating cream). The building where our homemade pies and cookies resided had been turned into a vendor hall, filled with booths from companies like Alhambra Water - where they were trying to hawk their water cooler systems. It made me so sad inside. I never went back.

So I wasn't sure what to expect when we went to the Western Idaho Fair. But, like everything in Idaho so far, it exceeded my expectations. We had a blast and here are some photos of what we saw and did:

First and foremost - the cardmaking and scrapbooking display:













And the most amazing quilts I've ever seen:

(My favorite - I LOVED these little monsters.)

Awesome cakes - It's amazing what someone can do with fondant:








We watched a little pig racing. Who knew there was a national association for Pig racing? I was a little sad Brittney Spare Ribs didn't win.





We went to the Wallaby exhibit put on by Bronco Motors. These little guys were so cute.





And we saw some farm animals:

This guy was pretty cool. I was so happy there was a fence between us, though, because he started to get aggressive and began coming at me with his horns directly pointed toward me, all business-like.

Loved this sign. Made me laugh. "Little extras" lol.

And finally, we rode the Ferris Wheel. I can't believe Spencer actually went up there in it with me. That is how much he loves me.