One Last Camping Adventure

It's sad to actually admit that the summer is almost gone. Nate and I finally found a weekend where we didn't have any commitments so we decided to pack up the truck and head out for some camping fun! We ended up going by Heise Hot Springs and finding an awesome secluded spot along the river. We actually had camped there a few years ago with Mel and Kel. Good times.

 Here's our cute camp spot. Beyond the fire pit is the river. The fish were jumping like crazy and of course we didn't bring our fishing poles because that's how we role.

Eating some yummy tin foil dinners.

Nate wearing my extra pair of socks because it was very cold!

 When the sun went down we froze! We kind of forgot about our dog Skip and felt bad in the morning when his body felt like an ice block. Whoops. We didn't sleep much but it was still fun. We did have a great experience when I was waking up but still dreaming and shouted to Nate, "Good Job!" And then he responded with a, "Good job on what?" Then I realized I had been dreaming that he had built something or other. Good times.

 

On our way back home we saw some great wildlife. Here is a wild turkey. There were actually 5 of them crossing the road.

 A view of the river.

 And some moosen!

Skip on the other side of the truck oblivious of the moosen...but having a good time.

 We decided to venture over to Palisades and see how low the water was. Crazy!

 Here's a picture of Big Elk. We actually jet-skied here a couple of weeks ago. There is no way we could get in there now.

We had a lot of fun camping; however, it all ended quickly when we got home and realized our house had been broken into. What a lovely surprise. Another reason why I dislike our neighborhood. We were very fortunate and they only ended up taking the little bit of cash I had in my purse. But they went through everything in our house! They played the piano, found Nate's blow darts upstairs and had a fun time, sat at the computer, went through all our cupboards, opened my temple bag and distributed all my clothes on the floor. Nice. We are pretty sure we know who did it, but of course have no proof. They ended up coming through our basement window into our laundry room. The screen is busted now but what can you do. We are just thankful that nothing was stolen or vandalized.

A Huge Project

So back in April I finally convinced Nate that we needed to update our basement. Why you ask? First because it was so ugly and second we are going to be here awhile so why not enjoy being downstairs... right? Well our medium size project turned into a gigantic project. Figures. But it definitely paid off. And in great thanks to mom and dad for spending many days and hours with us to get it done.

 Enjoy our adventure...(And the pictures aren't the best. I took them on my phone. They don't do it justice).

When Nate took off the awesome 60's paneling, he noticed that it was glued onto cement. So Nate and dad had to build walls and insulate them before putting up drywall.

 We hired a guy to do all the texturing and painting. He got it done in 1 day. So worth it!

 We decided to order new windows. I love them! And we had to custom order them because of course they don't make windows that size anymore.

 It wouldn't be a remodel project without some blood and tears! 

Mom and I decided to clean out all the crap under the crawl space. We didn't want to go in there without being prepared! It was disgusting thanks to 50+ years of crap stored down there.

 And now to the great reveal! Our stairs and fireplace before...

 Our stairs and fireplace after! Amazing right?! We ended up putting bead-board down the walls. Mom and I ended up painting the fireplace and brick. Looks so much better.

 One of our corners before...(Don't you love the 60's bright orange carpet?)

 The same corner after with an awesome new sectional and a cute boy!

 Our windows before...

 Our windows after! Thanks to Pinterest I was able to figure out how to make curtains to fit our windows.

 Doors to our laundry room and bathroom before....

 And after. Note to self...don't take doors off to paint them. They don't fit the same after. Nate had to really sand down and work the doors to get them to fit again.

 The ugly corner before. (It use to have a bunch of junk and crap just shoved in there).

 And the corner after. We ended up putting up a shelf, putting in cabinets, and making a door to our crawl space instead of the shelf idea. Now this corner is a great place for my treadmill.

 Here are some more fun pictures. Our TV is now on a different wall. Notice that there is baseball on. It's always on in our house...24-7.

 And the shelf behind our treadmill. Ignore the cords just randomly hanging down. We need to fix those.

When we got it done, I just sat down there for days just starring around and enjoying it all. I still have plans to add little decorating touches here and there when I find the perfect accessories to go along. But for now we love it!

I also ended up finding and re-doing this little stand for our popcorn popper. Thanks Hidden Treasures in Shelley. I love that store. It's dangerous though.

I'll let Nate rest a bit before convincing him to help out with another project.



Gotta Love Pinterest

This summer has been so great because I have been able to take advantage of all the Pins that I have on Pinterest. Nate is always asking me, "Did you get that off of Pinterest?" Why yes, as a matter of fact I did. And I am never disappointed. Here are a few of the many things that I have been up to thanks to Pinterest:

I re-did our TV stand. It use to be ugly laminate and I was able to learn how to paint over laminate using a special primer. Then I painted it a pretty blue. Thanks Martha Stewart paint colors! (Sorry, no before pictures).

  I made this cute burlap wreath for our front door. I could never find a wreath I loved. Finally I did.

 And of course I had to try out one of the many "tips" I Pin. Genius...magnet strip to hold all my bobby pins. Why didn't I think of that one?

 My all time favorite. A scrabble board game for the wall. I just so happen to already have a magnet board so I only had to Mod-Podge some old dictionary pages on it and then glue these special little magnets onto the back of scrabble pieces. I love it!

 Here's a close up.

Not to mention some of the many recipes I've tried. My favorite for dinner: Cilantro Tacos. Check them out here.

And my all time favorite quick and easy dessert: Cookie in a Mug. How did I not know about this?!

I can't wait for more projects!