"Madagascar" look alike ~

Halle and her new pal...Melman (the Giraffe from Madagascar)! 

Who knew that we could find him at a gun store in the city~

Crazy Giraffe anyway................

Mary, Mary quite contrary...how does your garden grow?

Its that time of year when the gardens start to take off...

mine has proven to do just that~

taking off and producing veggies like crazy...Of course the weeds aren't far behind, if 

not just ahead of the growing produce in the garden. 

 The corn and zucchini plants have gotten so big with the 3 days of rain that we got last week~

 We've gotten a few tomatoes here and there. I planted a few different varieties this year

hoping to get some earlier pickings. The ones that are on right now are the "Lemon Boys" which I 

decided I wasn't very fond of. SO...they won't be getting a growing spot in my garden next year!

 We have 2 "plum-less" plum trees in the back yard, which have decided that they aren't plum-less this

year...needless to say the rough wind we had last week knocked most of them off

the tree, leaving them on the ground for ant food...

and the rest the birds have chowed down on.

Crazy how it seems like just yesterday I planted my cute little garden, now its 

gone and grown into a jungle...guess this "monkey" will go grazing for the goods tomorrow!

All in a days work~

I have a bird feeder in my back yard, full of scrumptious sunflower seeds, aimed to feed the hungry little birdies that fly around looking for food. Just about every day we hear a LOUD BANG after one of them flies directly into our back window. Most times the birds snap out of it and fly away, but the other day I heard a LOUDER bang than usual so I went out to make sure that the bird was okay. Just below our window we have a fountain...and thats where I found the poor, helpless bird. He had pretty much been knocked silly...shaking his head and looking a bit dazed...maybe even a little "drunk". I fished him up out of the water and held him until I could tell that he was getting his senses back.

He just sat and stared at me, never making a peep....

But it wasn't long before he snapped out of it so I set him

gently on the feeder where he could eat...

much to my dismay he flew off the feeder, running into the window again!!

This time he just clutched to the edge of  it until I could catch him. 

SO...Once again, I put him back on the feeder~

 I figured he might want to eat...after all, food brings me comfort and makes

 me feel better when I'm hurt, why wouldn't it do the same for him?! 

Evidently birds aren't the same as people (ha ha ha)...food is meant for nourishment, not

for casual partaking and comforting of the body and soul...the little guy sat there for a bit, never ate a bite and then then he took off like he was as good as new! 

Gosh...makes me feel a little like Doctor Dolittle....

magically made the little birdie all better and sent him back to his home in the sky~

One's person's junk is another's treasures~

Several years back when my grandmother died, my grandpa found a box of old photo's and a few sentimental things of hers. He was moving and asked if I wanted them...I was thrilled, of course I wanted them. He brought the box over, I went through it and decided to set it aside and wait for "another day" to take on the task of sorting, reading and trying to figure everything out...so the box was set in a corner of a storage room and there it sat...THAT WAS many YEARS ago. A few weeks back I was de-junking and came across the infamous box of "stuff" so I decided to sit down and take things out one by one and decide

what to do with it. There were pictures galore,

(my mom when she was a tiny little girl)

some adorable pictures of my mom when she was just little, many of the places they went

on vacation, some of my aunt and many, many, many of people I didn't know (reminder to myself

as to the importance of writing on the back of printed pictures...names and places) there was also a couple of old journals from MY GREAT-GRANDMA and GRANDPA and some birthday cards that my grandmother had saved. I was thrilled when I ran across an envelope which had a lock of hair

that belonged to my mom when she was a little girl...I also found a tiny little box marked "Jolene's first walking shoes", so I opened it up to find the oldest shoes I had ever seen. 

 Grandma had taken the time to stuff each shoe with a bit of tissue paper to insure that they

held their shape. They were so adorable and sweet that I decided to put them on display in my living room. Now every time I walk by them, I am reminded of my dear grandmother. I was very close to her and had many opportunities both as a child, as well as an adult, to spend HOURS visiting with her. She had so many stories about life, what she had gone through and what got her to where she was then, the stories of her life intrigued me and I cherish them dearly...

 as I will,  these special little blue laced shoes.

SeW Fun!

After the FLOP with my bread...I needed a little "MORAL BOOSTER"...

so I sat down the other afternoon and whipped

out a skirt (well, not really whipped out, it took awhile)...

I have to say, I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Its a lace over lay onto polyester fabric with a wide elastic waistband...

VERY FUN and FEMININE and even a little VINTAGE,

which is right up my alley. 

I loved this little cream number so much so I whipped up a grey/black one and a tan one too..

NOW I have a few new skirts to wear, WOO HOO!

Guess its better than a dumb ol' piece of HOT bread anyway (NOT)!

A FLOP!

I was UP EARLY (2:30am) on Thursday Morning so I thought I would make some bread.... when I get up early and can't sleep, I bake. I did the whole thing with the dough, "let it raise once, punch it down, let it raise again, punch it down, then put it in the pans to let it raise again"...I put 6 loaves of bread in the oven (yes, I had preheated it) and waited the 27 minutes for the timer to go off...anxiously awaiting a piece of hot bread at 7:00am. The timer rang and I ran to get the bread out, opened the oven door to see that my bread was not baked. The top was a little crusty but the it wasn't cooked at all. I looked at the temperature to see that for some ODD reason it was set at 320 degrees instead of 350 (its digital)...figured I must have bumped it and didn't get it set right. Turned it off and then back on, only to wait ONE ENTIRE HOUR for it to heat back up to 245 degrees. WELL...to make a long story short, the bread was ruined, my oven was broken and I was a very sad girl!! SO MUCH for hot homemade bread!!!! 

BRAVE...

Okay...so I bit the bullet and bought some colored jeans...(a few pair)...I have to say, 

I'm "kind of" liking them!! MAYBE I will just wear them for summer...who knows~

They are so comfy...a little edgy, AND a WHOLE LOT of fun!

You know, one day I will be wearing pastel flowered moo-moo's, house slippers 

and toddling around the kitchen with my hair standing on end 

(okay, it already does that...but this will be an "UGLY" stand on end look)

wondering where my youth went...SO I decided, what the heck I'm going to have a little 

fun before I get to that point!

Might be a little "BRAVE" and a bit of a statement piece for the wardrobe but

its me, it's not hurting anyone, I'm liking it, so I'm going to do it. 

Smokey the Bear said....ONLY YOU can PREVENT Forest Fires

After our relatively dry winter and spring...you would have to say that the ground in our state is "fairly" dry (yes, "that" being an understatement)...we knew it was only a matter of time before fires started to break out and the world begin to burn up.We have had many fires in our state, but only a few weeks ago did we get our first big one here. It was just up the mountain from our sweet little town. It was a scary sight to look up the canyon and see thick smoke billowing down toward our home. We could smell the smoke, see the smoke and even often TASTE the smoke! One evening several days after the fire broke out, we took a ride up the canyon to get a better look. 

 We saw ALOT of smoke, alot of black, dead and sad looking brush and trees.  

 The fire was much closer to the road that I had imagined....close enough that in some places we could see the orange flame.

I t was hard to see all the pretty lush greenery burnt to a pile of ash.

 Many cabins were lost and property damaged, but no injures or lives were lost...which is a blessing. .

 As of today, the "Church Canyon Fire" (which is what they named it) is 100% contained...we have had hoards and hoards of fire fighters camping out at the fair grounds, getting little OR no sleep and fighting to keep this fire from coming farther down the mountain where it would threaten oil rigs, homes and peoples lives. We can never repay these wonderful men and women who fought, and continue to fight, so hard to protect us.

 Fires are a wicked, wicked thing. They destroy everything in their path and are no respecter of  person or property. We appreciate all that's been done and is continuing to be done to keep our little area safe! Thank you...to you wonderful, selfless, kind hearted firefighters that are JUST DOING YOUR JOB, but do it for my benefit!

 Although the fires are an ugly, harsh, and terrible thing...the smoke they leave floating behind

can make for a very cool sunset!

BUT I have to say, I'm glad we are NOW smokeless and "orange sunset" free....! 

Takin a BrEaK with the girls...part 2

 After an extremely late night of crafting and visiting, we woke up early the next morning to get ready for our visit to the audience of "Good Things Utah" (Salt Lake Television Show)...we were just a "LITTLE BIT" excited! (mmm...maybe a BIT MORE THAN A LITTLE EXCITED)...we left Orem early and in plenty of time (or so we thought) as to avoid the rush hour traffic as we headed into Salt Lake. We had directions to the the studio, but for the most part they didn't get us to where we needed to be....so we ended up using our GPS  for more "detailed" directions. After exiting and entering a few WRONG  freeway on and off ramps, zipping (yes, literally) across 4 lanes of traffic to hit the RIGHT exit, and KNOWING we were ALL GOING TO DIE...WE FINALLY made it SAFELY to the Channel 4 Studio  (a little SCARED and sick to my stomach...but we made it none-the-less)!!...AND we even arrived a few minutes early!

For some reason I thought the studio would be DOWNTOWN...not the case, 

I thought it would be larger, not the case

 I thought the parking lot would be full of cars...also, not the case.

 We were all setting our phones to silent as we got ready to enter the studio

 One of the "important" people took our picture in front of the big ABC 4 news sign...Pretty Cool!

 We got to peek in at what happens "behind the scenes" of the ABC 4 news as we 

entered back stage of the "Good Things Utah" Set. I guess NEVER being on a TV set before, I was a little taken back by how different things looked in real life than how they are portrayed on television. The set

to "Good Things Utah" was much smaller than I thought, there was talking amongst the hosts and camera men during commercials (like every day talking, laughing and shooting the breeze)...AND THE AUDIENCE isn't always full. We were 3 of.....ONLY 3, in the audience...Although, I have seen shows where there

are TONS of people...evidently the day we went was not one of those days.
 It was a bit weird and awkward at times as they hosts sat and chatted and we totally felt like the third wheel. The platform that they sit on doesn't even face the audience (which I found to be completely different than I thought). The girls are ALOT thinner in real life (THEY look thin on TV...but in real life they are sticks) and Neica (the blond) is SUPER tall...I felt totally at home standing next to her!

 After the show was over we got to go meet and take pictures with the girls, Breanne, Neica and Gretchen...such sweet ladies! I had such a fun time! They had "Papa Murphy's Pizza" do a segment on the show...they brought in a Artichoke Bacon Pizza and a Pepperoni Pizza and talked about some promotion they were doing (have to admit, I wasn't paying much attention to that segment or to what they said, I was checking out the set and all the amazing things I was shocked about seeing)...BUT after the show was over, the girls gave Dayna, Kim and I a piece of pizza! I happened to have the one with Artichokes on it and LOVED IT I might add!!

Since we were in Salt Lake we decided to take advantage of 

the CHEESE CAKE FACTORY! DIVINE, SCRUMPTIOUS, FANTASTIC are the words that come to mind...the only problem was, there was so many

yummy choices of things to eat on the menu, it was very hard to decide what to order!

We had a great time chatting while we waited for our food........

Kim wasn't sold on the dressing they brought her for her salad...it WAS a little weird!

DEEEEE-LISH!!!!

Then we headed to IKEA (which was a new adventure for Kim and I)-

It was very cool, different and fun!!

Poor Kim was packed in the back with the loads of goods we bought from

all the different places we stopped....

a little here and a little there adds up to be ALOT!

We had a super time...its great to just get away from the hum drum everyday things

and do something different. I always have a blast when I hang with my girls!!

Thanks girls for the fun, the food, FOR KEEPING me safe and sound

and for thinking that its still okay to hang with "Da Mom"!

NOW TO THINK OF SOME OTHER FUN ADVENTURE we can take!!!!

Takin' a BrEaK...with the girls~ (part 1)

A few days ago I took a little venture out to the city to hang out with Kim and Dayna. Isn't it funny how when your looking so forward to something, the wait to get there seems all that much longer?!...it felt as though I DROVE AND DROVE AND DROVE for hours...(it WAS a FEW hours drive, but certainly not as many as it felt like).

The girls and I spent the afternoon taking in a little "retail therapy"...checking out the Malls and stores, trying on a BILLION outfits and shoes...

but lucky for our pocketbooks, we only settled for a few odds and ends!

These pictures don't do ANY of these shoes justice...they were so stinkin tall...I wear

heels frequently...BUT these were CRAZY TALL!. 

YOU will be happy to know, that WE TALL FOLK, opted out of buying any of them...

instead I settled for a pair that were ONLY 4" tall. 

I have to say that Kim sported the hat pretty well...I thought she should have snagged

it up so she would have something to wear out on the farm while 

she helped Mike cut hay....she didn't take my advice...somehow "MOM advice" lost its value 

with the "I do's"......

For some reason sun glasses just don't look as attractive with a BIG BLACK security clip

on them...THAT must HAVE been the ONLY reason Dayna and I chose NOT to buy ours...

We made "chick food" for dinner........a little Italian Pasta Bar! TALK about SCRUMPTIOUS!

(thats the way I like it...uh huh uh huh...thats the way I like it)

okay if you don't remember the 80's you won't get that...its the lyrics to a very dumb song~

OH YEAH, and we got CUPCAKES from the Sweet Tooth Fairy for dessert...(and snack time)

UMMM...MOM ADVICE, IF you have NEVER had one of their cupcakes, 

you should MOST CERTAINLY  add it to your bucket list....

THEY ARE TO DIE FOR! MY personal favorite is the "sweet potato cupcake"...they are all divine and no matter which one you eat, you would feel as though you were biting into a little piece of heaven...just sayin'

I make cupcakes often at my house, but these...THEY ARE HEAVEN, mine...don't even compare!

Dayna whipped up a craft for us to create while we were hangin at her house...

It's a darling sign that has the date we first met our spouse, the date they proposed

and the date we got married. THEY were so much fun to make and 

turned out adorable (if I do say so myself)!

We also made these fun little "love note" containers for the men in our lives too. 

We wrote down something we loved about them on a piece of paper and put

the paper, along with a little treat, in a GIANT pill holder. The guys get to read a 

note and eat a treat every day for a week...........too cute!!

AFTER a long day of playing...I was ready for some rest.....(yes, this is my "I am tired, put me to bed" face)

because the following day, we were going to head to Salt Lake for a visit to the ABC channel 4 studio.... 

"Takin' a BrEaK with the girls"

TO BE CONTINUED...................