mountain living

So a couple weekends ago now, we went on a jeeping trip with some people from our church. And I should use jeep lightly as there were only two actual jeeps. The rest of us had 4 wheelers and side-by-sides and trucks. We were in TJ's truck which did awesomely on the trails. For most of the way going up it was an easy ride and then the trail started getting smaller and the elevation higher so it was a little nerve-wracking to me, but I'm alive! Kemper loved it, and loved being able to play when we stopped at a little old mine. We were all around the town of Silverton and Ouray which were both mining towns and there are a lot of old mine buildings left. Anyways, here are a few pictures from my phone.

This is how he smiles now...

We kept going higher after this, my phone just died and I had no camera.

hi

Yes I'm still here, if anyone was curious. I just don't have a ton to talk about. Or actually I do, but I'm lazy and don't ever want to take the time to write it all out. I haven't been very good at reading all of your blogs either and for that, I apologize. But I'm here, hoping to keep up with the blog again. Obviously my distraction has been my ever growing two year old, he keeps me busy 25 hours a day it seems. We've been going to a few play groups, the playground, and the rec center pool. I went to girls camp a few weeks back, which I loved being there as a leader. And we've been to the lake a few times now. And on drives up to Ouray and Silverton. It was our 3 year anniversary a couple weeks ago, first one we've spent together, and we kept it pretty lowkey with a nice dinner out. I've just finished the book The Help and absolutely loved it. I think the movie is going to be incredibly cheesy but I want to see it anyways. And I want to read more books like it, any suggestions?

My other distraction from the blog world has been Pinterest. Its basically a virtual bulletin board that you can keep track of all the things you find online, and use for inspiration. You have to have an invite to join, so if anyone wants one, let me know! I've actually used it a lot for remembering recipes. So since I can't find my camera at the moment, heres a few "pins".

these are from honestly...WTF. They have a few tutorials for bracelets, but I really like this one because similar bracelets sell for the big bucks, and this cost me less than $9.

These cupcakes make my mouth water just from the picture, found here. Who wants to come over and eat?
This is my basic go to look, I like how effortless it looks (although for here it probably was put together by a stylist)
This look is too preppy for TJ's taste, but I really like the mix of pattern.

our guest room

So we are fortunate enough to have a guest room in our home. And a loft too. The guest room and Kemper's are both in our basement. The only thing that isn't great about the guest room is there is only a tiny window, so not much natural sunlight comes in. And the lights in there are really strong fluorescents, which I'm not a fan of. So I'm trying to make it has bright and welcoming as possible. We really need to repaint, but that'll be later this summer. So here's what I've managed so far:

Both the paintings are by me, I'm trying to get back into painting and wanted to just make something quick and easy.

Once we paint the room a new color (probably a blue) I also want to get a few more lamps so that there is more than just the one in the corner, and the overhead fluorescents.

The only think that I've bought specifically for this room are the blue pillow cases. And they were .25 cents for both. Everything else I've already had in the house.

So definitly still a work in progress, and as you can see I'm still a novice decorator and artist, but I wanted to put something I've done on the blog so.. there ya go.

baked

So, I'm a terrible blogger. I know this, I apologize to my faithful readers... but this morning I made blueberry muffins, from scratch (instead of the box) and they are amazing. I guess I'm starting to settle into my domesticness. So I got the recipe from Joy the baker (click for recipe).

Heres what her's look like:

And heres how mine turned out:

I could've baked them for longer, but I was too eager to eat them. They are a lot easier than I thought and I think I'll only make these from now on.

Other news, my brother in law, Nikita graduated high school Friday and had a party today. I'm made a "better than sex" cake per request of my mother in law and thats easy to make too. As far as being better than sex, I'll let you all be the judge, but my vote is no ;]

Better than Sex cake:

Devils Food cake mix

Cool Whip

Crushed Heath bars

Caramel topping

Condensed Sweetened Milk

-Bake the cake according to the directions on the box, no change for high altitude.

-Cool on a wire rack for about five minutes, then cut like you're cutting pieces to serve, just not all the way thru.

-Heat about six ounces of the carmel with the condensed sweetened milk. Pour all over the cut sliced cake so that its absorbed.

-Then sprinkle a ton of the crushed heath bars (walmart sells it in a bag next to the choc. chips) on top of the cake as well.

-Let cool all the way and then cover with cool whip.

Enjoy!

-Let cool on a

the weekend

This weekend was a pretty good one, mostly because the sun was shining. The sun seems to be a rare thing here in the spring. Saturday we supported TJ's friend as he graduated college, with a degree in welding. Kemper spent his time running around, exploring trees and throwing a fit that he wasn't allowed to run in the flower beds.

Then that night we went to a gathering downtown called the dandelion festival. And it is every bit of hippie that it sounds like it might be. I wish my phone had been working at that point, I would've had pictures to share, so just use your imagination. There was live music, a used clothing sale, and ice cream truck, face painting, henna tattoos and a castle made of cardboard boxes. And of course, dandelion beer. And a lot of dreadlocks on white folk. We stopped by to say hi to some friends, and stayed a while. Probably longer than TJ was comfortable with.

Sunday we had a youth fireside and TJ spoke to the kids about his experiences in Afghanistan. He wore his uniform, so being the good Marine he is, he made sure his hair was in regulation as well. I helped him shave the back and Kemper also got a haircut. A mohawk to e specific. Its growing on me...

I'm really bad at titles.

Most of posts end up not really being about anything, so I never know what to write for a title.

This is just to say that I'm still here! Blogger has been weird to me lately, I can't get to comments, except to read them in email. And I can't comment, so I'm here lurking around, not being able to comment, but know that I am reading. Also, apparently I'm not "following" any blogs anymore, so don't know what happened there. But I will leave you with a picture of Kemper, making his usual face:

shes crafty

I have a ton of red and white felt left over from making Christmas stockings this year, and I don't want to get rid of it just yet, so with some of the white scraps I made a phone cover and stuffed rabbit for Kemper yesterday. I didn't use a pattern or tutorial for anything, its totally from my brain, which explains why the rabbit turned out kinda weird.

I wanted a simple cover to save my phone from the bottom of my purse. So until I find something I can bring myself to spend the money on, I figured this should work. It has a button closure on the back.

And heres the rabbit, Ralph. I wanted it to be bigger, but I always forget to add space for that before I start sewing. I think he's so funny looking its cute. And everything I had on hand at home already. ( I stuffed it with stuffing from a dog toy that Bear destoyed)

And Kemper ate the crayons more than colored with him... but he sat pretty quietly while I sewed. And that face is now his go to picture face.

welcome to the future

If you know me, then you know that I drool over anything Mac puts in a commercial. Yep, I am a material girl in a material world. So sue me... whatever. Anyways, so I've been wanting an iPhone since '07 and a iPad since well the buzz about them started. I don't care if you hate Apple, these gadgets are freakin' awesome. So it just so happened that I'm due for an upgrade and TJ's phone broke and could be replaced for free with whatever he chose since his was a POS. So we got iPhones! Yayyyyy! So now I'm waiting for it to arrive in the mail and I've decided I want to get a cover from etsy and would love any suggestions for Apps! I am a kid in a candy shop. So heres some covers I've found on etsy:

There are a lot of cassette ones, but this was my favorite. Found here.

found here

This one is my favorite, just pricey, but mothers day is coming up right? found here

found here

Found here.

I can't imagine how much time went into this one. found here.

So, now for the App suggestions!

a post just to post

I apologize for being such a terrible blogger. I have things to say, but usually a facebook status will do. Or I just have a lot of mean things to say about other people and well " if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all" right? Anyways, on with the rest of the post:

Kemper is now a two year old. And has the public melt downs to prove it. I'm not sure if people think I'm crazy or a bad mom, but I just laugh it off. It probably comes from three years of working with emotionally disturbed children but I'm fairly good at ignoring screaming. I love how smart he is, and that he can communicate with us. Its so much fun to watch him learn. But by 8 o'clock I'm usually spent.

We finally hosted a party here for the occasion. It was going to be outside but it ended up snowing that day. So we just had family and a couple of friends over. And my parents came to town.

I snapped a few pictures of Kemper but that was all.

Other than that, not much new has happened this month. I've started going to MOPS to try and branch out. It's been pretty good so far. But I definitely need more sarcastic people in my life. Easter rained all day so we did not do an egg hunt, but we will probably tomorrow if everything dries up. And thats been our April.

i hit things

Not when I'm mad, I throw things then. But with my car. Thats why I really loved having a tiny Vdub, I never hit anything in it. And my car now isn't even that big, especially compared to vehicles in the area. Our house that we have been blessed with has a two car garage. which is underneath where our living room is. TJ's Excursion and now some Dodge truck are too large to fit in it. But my car is just right. So one side is for me, the other side has toys... like 4-wheelers, dirt bikes, actual bikes, tools etc. Its not large, but its not small. A normal person should be able to park with out problems.

Here is a picture of our house, I park on the side closest to the stairs.

I have hit said stairs and both sides of the garage opening. The left side with my side mirror, no big deal, just a smudge. The stairs left a mark on my gas lid.

And here's what happened on the other side.

And yes... thats wood stuck in the side of my car.

major fail.

twenty four rambles.

1. I turned 24 on the 21st, My husband took me out for sushi (which I love and he tolerates) and a movie... Paul. He also bought me a beach cruiser in light blue.

2. After seeing Paul, I want to live in an imaginary world and hang out with a pot smoking Seth Rogen alien.

3. I think my dad would be proud that at a point in the movie, they walk into a bar and I immediately whispered... "this is the song from the bar in Star Wars".

4. Also, Dad... when I hear songs on the radio, I can sometimes be caught singing the Weird Al lyrics instead of the real ones.

5. My hair curls in the back but not the front, prompting some of the young women in youth group to tell me that its a hot mess.

6. I never think I'm that short (5'2") until I happen to be in a large crowd and can't see a damn thing because I'm short.

7. I've become obsessed with fashion blogs... mostly because I think, what do these girls do all day? Dress weird, take pictures, edit pictures then blog it.... super fulfilling life.

8. I have hit my car on our garage about three times... so far. We've lived here since August. I'll do an actual picture post with the results of one of the crashes.

9. Speaking of cars and hitting things, I've been in three major car accidents, totaled all three cars. None of which were my fault, I just have amazing timing.

10. I've been sober for three years now. Except for caffeine... I just have a hard time giving things up.

11. I haven't been back to Maryland in about two and 1/2 years, and I'm itching to get back. I know a lot of people who hate it there, but I grew up there, I feel like being from Maryland is apart of me.

12. My sister is in Germany, and I miss the freaking crap outta her. Plus she's dating ( Hi Anne... I'm calling you out!) I just wish it was easier to travel to Europe with a 2 year old.

13. Kemper will be two soon. Which means I've been a mom for almost two years. Which does not seem real at all.

14. After living with TJ, a very manly man, Kemper, a almost two very much a boy toddler, and two stupid boy dogs... I've become extremely girly.

15. Durango is a beautiful town, in a beautiful area, but it won't ever be the same as the beach to me.

16. Yesterday while out, a guy asked us for restaurant recommendations. I like that I'm a local now.

17. We went on a family bike ride and I didn't take any pictures, does that make me a lazy blogger, or lazy mom? I think it just makes me forgetful.

18. We canceled our cable and have accounts with Netflix and Hulu plus. I think we watch more TV now than we did when we had it.

19. I've pushed a lot of people away in my life, and I regret that so much. And I'm terrible at making friends, which makes moving to a new place a hard thing to go thru.

20. I've become more convinced that I should've lived in the 70's. I love the style, the house decor, the music! I loooove the music.

21. I read a ton of blogs, I comment on few. I'm trying to fix this, so I don't feel like such a stalker.

22. I really want an iPad. I don't care how trendy they are, the commercials totally work on me.

23. I'm looking around for a screen printing kit so I can start making stuff. And probably open up an etsy store. In a totally cliche way, but I expect no one to mention that.

24. Some people complain about sharing a bed once you get married, I think its the best part. I think those people have never gone thru a deployment.

For Japan

"Give says the little stream. Give oh give, give oh give. Give says the little stream as it hurried down the hill. I'm small I know but wherever I go the grass grows greener still. Singing singing all the day, give away oh give away."

Donate here. Or the many other charities.

St. Patrick

Heres a picture from Design*Sponge. Green has been my favorite color lately, specifically the really bright lime green. Wouldn't it be great to eat corned beef in this dining room?

I wonder if St. Patrick rolls in his grave every March, or if he enjoys watching drunk Americans make dumbasses of themselves? Either way, I love St. Patricks day. I love the color green, all the leprechaun mischief, bands like the Dropkick Murphys, watching movies that have an irish person in them.... all of it. And best of all is I met TJ whilst eating corned beef and cabbage three years ago. We didn't date right away, but we met, and there were sparks. So I hope everyone is having a good time celebrating. We're having the missionaries over since I already knew what I'd be cooking tonight. And Kemper and I are watching Planet 51... you know because the aliens are green.

I'll write a Kemper post soon.

mom and dads family room

Maybe one day I'll actually write a real post again. But here is a mood board I came up with for my mom and dads family room. It was a formal sitting room but now it will be a place to gather and hang out. It has beautiful carpet that is a burgundy color. I would personally change it out, if I could. But since thats not usually practical, we're going to design around it.

Explore home design ideas

The couch, lamp and bamboo chair are all from Ikea. Everything else was in the mydeco boutique. I'm thinking of trying to recreate the bird art. And picking up similar fabric to the pillows instead of buying them. I think that the chevron fabric would make great curtains, that we'll either try to find fabric ourselves or on Etsy. The walls are currently a dusty pink color and I think they should be a white or possibly even an off white/grey.

Feedback??

movies

So, heres the first of many getting to know me posts. I figure, if I have a blog and I'm going to keep it I might as well update more often, and you know... actually write. I've also merged the two blogs into one, so welcome.

Now movies... I love them. I mean I will watch just about anything. My favorite being indie comedies or even just regular comedies. I guess I like indies because they tend to be closer to real but lets face it, its still a movie. And I like TV too, I like to follow a few actors in whatever they do, one example being Jason Segal. I retain a lot of useless information about movies, TV, actors that sort of thing. But I also notice who directs and produces, or even the set designers. I now regret not going to school for film, even from CO I could still make a great critic. I just really like the whole art and production of a film, so much work goes into a less than 2 hour movie or 30-minute show. And I really will watch anything. If you recommend it, I'll watch it. I think a person's taste say something about them, thats why I like recommendations.

So to sum up, I really really need to find a game show thats based on totally useless entertainment trivia, and then become an instant millionaire.

Calendar.

Its not too late to buy a calendar for the year right? Well I found this beauty on Etsy today and a little shop called vanhoosedesign. And it goes with my love for things that look like paint swatches or a color wheel or designy nerd type stuff. So, I'm sharing it with all of you! Meaning... I'm telling you about it, not buying it. But my birthday is coming up soon....

p.s. I'm still working on joining my two blogs, but I am going to consolidate them. This one will merge with my family blog (bethandtj.blogspot.com)

oh my deco

I'm usually late to the game for everything, but have you heard of mydeco.com? Its awesome! Basically you can create your own moodboards and 3D rooms for freeeeee. I love the free part. So here's what I came up with for our half bath and master bathroom:

guest bath

Master Bath

new year.

So, TJ said he thinks I should blog and I blog stalk all day long, so its probably a good idea to be less creepy and actually write on my own blog. And since its still January, I'm going to write a new years post.

Our goals together are to:

work out/ eat healthier/ give up soda.

go to the temple, and be sealed.

go on dates more.

budget, or rather make one and stick to it.

My goals that I wrote down are to:

find more ways to teach and entertain Kemper

meditate and practice yoga at least 5 times a week

dinner at the table at least 4 times a week

make more paintings

learn to snowboard

blog more....

write in my actual journal, mostly for stress relief

organize the house, get rid of excess

shop consignment, thrift and flea markets more.

actually subscribe to all the magazines I buy each month. and the local newspaper.

potty train Kemper

I think Kempers goals are to just run around and be as crazy as he can. But he's almost two so that seems to be right on track.

Did you see my other blog? I'm thinking I should consolidate my blogs so that everything is just in one place. Or should I keep them the way they are?

is two better than one?

This image popped up on Ohdeedoh just when I've been thinking about re-doing Kemp's room. We have a few vintage-y things we want to keep for him so I think we're going to get some shelves to display and I just want something other than the animal prints I made in there. His crib is just natural wood, I don't think it even has a stain on it so I think painting it would go really well. I also want to try my hand at upholstering soon.

And on a sort of different note: when I started this second blog I had an idea of what I would do with it. But I have a bad memory, and I've kinda lost my blogging steam. I'm not quitting but I think I should move my two blogs together... What do you think? Would it be better to just have one? Does anyone know how to make two blogs morph into one? Hope everyones weekend goes splendidly.

cooking and laundry

Most days it feels like all I do is cook and clean clothes. And with a son, husband and two boys dogs, everything is always dirty. So heres a kitchen from Coastal Living Magazine that I'm in love with! The faux bois is amazing on the floor, and I'm really loving the pop of yellow.

And I love this room from Canadian house and home magazine and also featured at design*sponge. I love the floral, stripes and map all together. I'm a big fan of mixing prints, I think it adds a good dose of character, charm and is a whole lot more interesting.