Summer Plans

Each and every year we say,"We are going to do a pool next year". The summer months come and then leave, and no pool. NOT this year!! This year I've managed to find the answer to all the problems in the past that have prevented us from setting one up. Are you ready for this:

http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/natural-swimming-pools-460908

Yes my friends that is a swimming pool made out of... Are you ready for this: A SHIPPING CONTAINER!! completely chemical free the way th Lord wanted it.

I will keep you updated with we start the project.

Back to Nature

How much closer to nature can you get if you sleep under the stars and live off the land? A nightmare to some, but to some of us, no cell phone, nothing electronics, no tent. Just you, the stars and a warm cozy fire surrounded by God's country sounds like a dream come true.

To live in a simpilar time has always been a far fetched dream of mine. To fly under the radar, and live off the land. Everything we need to survive in this great world has already been provided to us we just have to hunt and forge for it. Even at a young age, I've always been curious how the Amish communities throughout the world are able to live without electricity. Then one day it dawned on me, the lightbulb wasn't invented until what the late 1800's? People didn't get upset when the lights went out for a few hours, they just lit another lamp or put another log on the fire. We have all become so dependent on modern convience,what will we do if they are no longer available. Will you be able to survive if you have to hunt your own meat? What about growing your own fruits and veggies?

My hubby has said since the beginning that I was born in the wrong era. Old fashion remedies worked for centuries before modern medicine was trying to make a dollar. If someone told you that you could cure a migrane by rubbing a drop of an essential oil on your temple, would you still opt for a Dr's appointment and prescription? I'd personally opt for Chamomile, Lavender, or Marjoram essential oils on a compress, or maybe in a bath soak.

http://www.bagbyhotsprings.org/

Ok speaking of rustic baths. This is an actual bathtub located in Bagby Hot Springs, Oregon. It's a natural fed hot spring. I could spend hours talking about how I'd love to have just a weekend there, but I won't. The point is, there are are so many things out there that need to be tried instead of automatically being turned down.

I'm going back to photography basics (kinda)

No I'm not making my own camera, but I am going back to 35mm. I was given an old 35mm K1000 SLR camera with the lenses that I will post pics of as soon as I can find it online :) Until the house gets built and I get my own dark room, I am going to take it to a 1 hour developer here in town and just have the film developed.

The Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner is at the very top of my list of MUST HAVES. It not only scans 35mm film, slides (all old and new), and pictures; It does so as the name implies.. Perfectly. After managing a photo lab for almost 2 years, I am more than aware of the problem that dust and scratches pose for film and old pictures. This machine CORRECTS all of those problems. Old faded pictures, fixed with the push of a button. I'm really excited to scan all the old family negatives and convert them all to digital. All saved neatly on a removable memory stick. How wonderfully easy it would be to share old family photo's and history in an updated digital format.

So for now my Canon Rebel T1i will have to wait, because for now I'm goin' oldschool!

Kitchen Fixit's

For a family of 5 in a small 2 bedroom (12X70) trailer, our kitchen is not only in the physical center of our lives, but also metaphorically. Have I mentioned that organization is the key!! A good label maker is a must if you want to keep your sanity.

I found this picture in my search for inexpensive alternative backsplashes. I found something that actually shocked me. It wasn't wallpaper, it was actually fabric. How do they do that you ask?? Well it's pretty simple actually, FABRIC STARCH. I'll post directions when I get to the project, but can I say that I'M super excited to try it.

Bathroom Fixit's

The bathroom will be centered around this shower curtain. What you can't see in the picture is all the detail in the curtain!

The copper color in the curtain will make the silver fixtures in the bathroom pop in the small space.

Organization is the key to a clutter free space. Since our washer and dryer are also located in the bathroom, I've drawn up a plan to include a folding table, with shelves and cabinets above and below directly across from the washing machine and dryer. I'll post pics as soon as we start this project.

Bedroom Fixit' list

I'm all about REUSE, REHOME, AND RECYCLE. I don't see a need to buy a brand new headboard for $500+ when I can make one with minimal supplies. I will study a piece, and do numerous hours of research and figure out how I can make it better and cheaper!! I put the plan on paper, and hubby makes it a reality. We're a perfect pair!! I'll post pictures and directions as I take on each project.

OK I've got about a million projects that I've found over the years that have been stored in the back of my mind. Like I've got all the space back there right??? So I figured I'd post them in here (along with pics of my progress) to keep track.

THE BEDROOM

A picture in this style hanging over the headboard using the colors in the fabric. I can SO do this :) This is actually a Faux Suede Fabric picture with stitching that I found, very cool. Very calming

Hubby and I finally found a set we agreed on!!

Simple, yet enough detail to be interesting. See the true colors of the bedding.

Hubby will make the bed and side tables, and I'll make the headboard. Instead of the white leather pictured here, I was thinking of a dark chocolate brown to match the bedding.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the lamp on the right side table, so I'll have to find a shade that's similar and just stamp it.

A contemporary rug similar to the picture would be pretty cool if I could just find one :)

Modular shelving like this painted in the light teal and cream color will hold books, pictures and various trinkets. I'll design them, hubby will make them, we'll paint them, and he'll hang them. TEAM WORK!!

The last on the list, is actually the first to be completed. Hubby started this project after our current closet literally fell apart. The shelf in the top of the closet came down (well OK 1/2 the shelf), so I demoed the rest :) I'll post pics later of his progress.

Me

My life began just as everyone else on God's green earth. It just took me 30 years to realize that everyone else's life has been, will be or is AS SCREWED up as mine. I spent many many years a very angry, bitter young lady.

At the age of 28 my Mother started her fight against Ovarian cancer. She turned 38 on December 18, 1995, and lost the fight on January 12, 1996. Back then, especially in the 80's, ovarian cancer was an "Old lady's disease". Women in their 20's didn't get that, grandmother's were the most likely targets of such a fatal disease.

So at the age of almost 18 began my fight against God, the world and myself.

Growing up, I really didn't understand life, nor was I going to listen to anyone who tried to explain it to me. I say growing up because even the oldest person on this earth learns something new everyday, and isn't that part of growing up? I knew it all, and ignorned anyone who tried to prove otherwise. I know now that it's a phase we all grow through, but didn't know it at the time. My early 20's were the worst, and by the mid 20's I was so racked with guilt that I developed the insomnia which still plagues me today. The growing up process is still on going, but just recently turned into self discovery. I couldn't spend hours point the finger, and blaming people for my woes, but when it comes down to it, we all CHOOSE how our life turns out.

I mean do we spend our time making others happy, and following other's dreams? Or do we wake in the morning and pray,"Dear Lord help me be the best person I can be. Use my hands to do your work. Please give me the wisdom to see the signs you set out for me. Use me to bring people to your kingdom. Please take the hatred and anger from my heart and show me how to forgive those who have hurt me. Show me how to get past it and overlook it. Please work on my heart Dear Lord. Please help me live up to YOUR standards, not everyone else's. Please help me feel good about myself and help me let go of my past. I want to Thank you Lord for everything you have done, will do, given and will give in my life. In Jesus's name, Amen".
This is the prayer I pray every morning, evening and anytime in between. I use to turn to alchol for the answers, but now I turn to the Lord.

I started listening to that little voice in the back of my mind. You know the little voice that tells you to buy a package of plastic sheeting and duct tape for a car in front of you in the Walmart parking lot. 2 years ago, it was Christmas time, and I had run up to Walmart for something ( I don't even remember what it was we just couldn't live without). As I was pulling into the turn lane to get in the parking lot, I ended up behind an older car that had no back window. I couldn't tell you who was driving, just that there as at least 1 adult, and 3 or 4 teens. The Lord tells me to go inside and buy plastic sheeting for their back window. I said, but Lord I can't, I've only got $20.00 and I HAVE to buy ___. Besides I don't know those people, and I don't want people to think I'm crazy. So I proceeded into Walmart and went straight to hardware. The urgency was so great, that I ended up in sporting goods, and had to ask for help. The employee showed me where it was and I practically ran to check out. I sprinted outside, dropped the bag with the plastic sheeting and tape through the back window and went back inside. As soon as the bag left my hands I felt such a calm peace in my heart, that I KNEW it was the Lord speaking to me. People will say, it was just the holiday spirit that got into ya. This may be true, but I know that when I pray that prayer, things like this happen to me all the time. It can happen walking down the street