On the road less traveled...

Change of the Seasons

I know I've already posted on the red cups...so I should be past the Fall/ Halloween stuff....but since I haven't posted pictures of any of that yet...I will anyway!

The colors in Eugene that frame all the streets and parks are amazing starting at the end of September.  As the weeks move into fall it is stunning.  As a drive to work in the morning I want to stop every few blocks to document the colors.  Of course, I don't...and so then I finally catch one good picture before the leaves all start to fall off the trees.

[This was the scene out of my office window a few weeks ago.]

I went to my parents' house the weekend before Halloween to celebrate my dad's birthday.  I met my parents for lunch on Saturday and managed to convice them to go to the pumpkin patch.  I'm fairly certain they thought I was joking when I said I wanted to go to the patch....but finally they were on board!

We headed out to the Baggenstos Farm in Sherwood and got in line for the hayride.

It was fun to watch the kids on the various playground areas...to watch as they talked to the pygmy goats in the little petting zoo area and played in the entrance to the corn maze and climbed all over the hay bales.

When we got onto the hayride they let a few more people then they should have on.  Presumably, parents would have put thier kids on thier laps- and there would have been enough space.  But the lady next to us had each of her 4 children sit separatly..and so there wasn't enough space.  So....I had my mom sit on my lap!  Kind of funny, actually. 

The weather was super crisp and clear.  Perfect pumpkin patch weather.

 

[This might be my most favorite picture of my dad and me, ever]

The next day, we carved the pumpkins.  Again, my dad thought I was joking.  Until I had a plastic tarp over the kitchen table and pulled out a bunch of knives he thought it was a joke.  Then my brother got roped into it.  He was not too excited about it, but eventually did get into it and come up with a pretty cool carved pumpkin.
 
  

[Trick or Treat]

Happiness Is...

Each fall, the red cups come out at Starbucks.  Maybe it's strange, but it's the sign of the seasons changing for me.  Last week Monday, I spotted a red cup on Weaver's desk...and so I quickly rounded up a group to head out for the morning coffee run...excited that I would order my first peppermint mocha of the season.  However, when we got to our local Bucks, they didn't have the holiday cups yet.  So I had to wait.  Because you can't get a peppermint mocha in a white cup.

But the next day, the cups had arrived...

[I wish my inbox had less in it....and I hope that I'll get around to accomplishing that!]
 

Baby Crafts

I haven't posted anything crafty in a while...primarily because I haven't had time to DO anything crafty.  And when I do have time, it seems like it tends to be pretty project oriented.  And lately, it seems like a lot of that is baby crafty.

Maybe it's strange...but I love working on baby stuff.  I get all gooey when I walk by the baby clothes section in department stores.  I think the kid/ baby themed craft stuff is fun.  Hear me loud and clear, I don't actually WANT a baby right now...but I love looking at baby stuff.  So lucky for me, friends are having babies..which gives me just the excuse I need!

This is a mini book I made for a friend and co-worker, Lori...who just had her baby Owen a few weeks ago now!

 

I stiched the front of the album with the sewing machine.  I added the acrylic heart, and did a random criss-cross stich to attach it.

There's a little intro page for a newborn photo, and then there are 12 pages with the month number stamped, the idea being that each month there's a picture of the baby placed into the book. 

There is also a little journal block for room to write things for each month.

 

[Supplies: Paper: My Mind's Eye; Stamps: Stampin' Up, G Stamps, unknown; Felt flower: Stampin' Up; Letters: Scenic Route; Acrylic Heart: Heidi Swapp; Zutter Binding System]

October Wedding

On the first Saturday of this month, my friend Kim and her fiance Steve got married on the Oregon Coast.  It was so nice to head back out to the ocean for the weekend.  I took the friday off and headed out earlier in the day to check in with people in the office.

It was a gorgeous day to drive out to the coast.  There is a spot on Hwy 20, just as you crest into Newport that takes my breath away.  But try as I might, I never manage to get a photo of it.  On a clear day, there is a perfect strip of ocean on the horizon, just beyond Hwy 101 and the courthouse.  And just after that becomes visible, there is a break in the trees to the left and the Yaquina Bay bridge is visible.  Love it.  Inevitably, I end up with a serious of photos as I attempt to try to get the angle right...but to date, I've never managed to get it.  Maybe one day.

[Kim's friends and family gathered down by the water for the rehearsal on Friday evening.]

October truely is the most gorgeous month to be on the Oregon Coast.  Absolultey incredible.  The temperature is perfect, the wind is starting to set in, and the sunsets are stunning.  It was heartbreaking for me to stand there and remember that I used to live here and left.

Friday night was a lot of fun- getting to meet Kim's family and her and Steve's friends that traveled in from all over the country.  What a hilarious group of folks! 

[Guest book and photo frames.  The little soaps on the table were my wedding gift....lots and lots of decorated soaps as party favors!!]

I woke up on Saturday to torrential downpours and was so worried for Kim!  They had a tent as a "backup" plan...but it wouldn't keep much dry...nevermind that the guests would all have to walk down a considerable ways before even getting to the tented area.  But by noon the sun had come out in full force, and by 4 pm the tent was actually nice to have to cast a little shade on the seating area.  The weather was AMAZING.  The waves were crashing and it wasn't too cold or too warm.  I can't wait to see the video that the videographer will put together.

[Kim with uncle and aunt, her parents, Daniel, friends from Germany, and Joy.]

 

[The Mr. and Mrs.!!!]

They started a receiving line on the way up to the reception room.  And with about 5 people left rain drops started to come down.  And as Steve and Kim just made it up those stairs the rain came down like crazy!!  Talk about lucky with the weather!  It rained for a little bit, but before too long let back up, and made for a beauiful evening. 

The wedding cake was made by one of our courtroom transport deputies...Deputy Barb.  gorgeous!!

A quick photo with the bride before the night was over.  Congratulations to Steve and Kim!!

11 years ago today...

The years keep passing by, but each year it catches me by surprise.  Last year was hard because it was the 10 year anniversary. I was very aware of what today was...it was the 11 year anniversary of the crash that took the lives of Kayci McCurry-Armstrong and Nick Ferrer on October 6, 1998.  It happened at 7:51am on a road between Forest Grove and Beaverton as they were on thier way to school that morning.  Kayci's little 1971 yellow BMW, which she had nicknamed "Mr. Bumble" could not protect them from the impact with another car.

Where would they be today?  What would thier lives look like?  What types of things would they have accomplished?  I often wonder, but on this day...for the last eleven years....I spend a lot more time reflecting on the questions.  I wish they would have lived to discover themselves. 

[by Kayci McCurry-Armstrong, 1997]

Today I think of Kayci and Nick.  I think of thier families and friends that were left behind.  I think of that day when I walked into the high school to visit with friends, and was greeted by what I can only describe as a slow-moving nightmare.  I think of how we have all struggled over the years as we each deal with the grief in our own ways.  Kayci and Nick, I love you both.  And you are very missed.
 

Coburg 2009: At least we didn't buy a canoe!

Before this week officially starts, I am bound and determined to get the pictures posted from the annual trip to the Coburg Antique Fair!  Casey and I, along with a number of other girls got together last year for a fabulous day of hunting for treasures at what has become one of my favorite weekends of the year!  I took things pretty slow last year....but not so much this year ;)  I might have done a little spending....but I found some AWESOME things!!

At 5:25 AM and we are ready to go.  tie downs, blankets: check.  Flashlights: check.  Waterbottles: check.  Granola Bars: check.  Tape Measure: check.  Cart: check.  List of hopeful finds: check.  Two very excited girls ready to spend the day exploring in Coburg: check!

[Casey was on a mission...] 

[On our way back to the car...for the first time.  The things in the cart belong to both of us...]

By the time we made the first trip back to the car, it looks like we did pretty well...but what you don't see are the big items that we had the vendors hold for us for the end of the day pick up....say, like a sideboard for Casey and a door and a sled for me.

Occasionally we would run into Emily, Jill, Ali or Kim and swap stories on awesome finds and check out what the other girls found.

[Snagged this photo off Emily's blog...Thanks Emily!!]

At some point we had to hang our heads in shame...we swore we weren't going to do this:

[Totally busted.]

  [Round 1]

With the car absolultey jam packed full...a sled hanging out my rear passenger window and an armilary (1 of 2) on Casey's lap, we started to head back to my house to unload on set...and then would come back to pick up the second round...and maybe do a little more shopping!!

[At this point, we were getting a little tired...time to refuel at lunch and get back to it!!]

[Round 2]

This go around we had a big sideboard, a door, a bed frame, a wagon, a divider screen...and a host of other smaller things.

After the 52-mile yard sale (that we we only made 14 miles of) that required strapping items to the roof, we had thought we had been at our worst!!  But as it turns out...we topped ourselves.  Two trips and a very crooked ride home, cramped in by an old wooden door!

But as we were leaving, we saw this guy...and I told Casey- "at least we didn't buy a canoe!!"

And when I got home I laid out all of my loot...missing from this photo are the door and this great table I got.  (and the little green caddy is actually from the Brownsville fair a few weeks ago...but I got the garden tools this time).  Will post other pictures of those!

[Antique Fair Love.]

As the deck turns...

 the deck doesn't really turn.....but now there's an idea..... :p  Seriously, the deck plans change with every other board that goes down- develop into something greater and more involved.  I've been much better with Phase 2- except that I rotated the seating plan...but otherwise it's pretty much as originally planned!  (depending on how you define "originally").

A few days of work last week, as we tried to get in under the anticipated rain this weekend...and there's some serious progress.  We managed to get in 12 feet of framing and decking towards the fence- with another 6-foot section to go.  Three of the pergola posts are up, as well as one of the cross beams.  Looking AWESOME.

And notice the fence?  This is what it looked like before...By the way, that is not grass...its the beginning of a lot of weeds.  It's decieving, I know.

 

[December 15, 2007. ]

My brother was here one weekend and started to help with the pressure washing of the fence...

[It's a good thing my brother doesn't read my blog...he'd kill me if he saw these pictures were posted!]

It's amazing how much better it looks- and quite frankly that a little pressure washing was all it needed!  So while a new fence was definetly not in the budget (or in the plans), I'm pretty stoked that pressure washing and a few gallons (so far 7..will probably need 5 more?) of stain brought new life to the fence!

Back to the deck.

We worked late into the evening to get the pergola beam set.  I am SO excited to see this all come together, even better then I imagined it!!

 

The roughly nailed up boards on the left are an idea of how the seating is going to be done.  It is going to go from each middle post back to the fence, and then all along the back fence.

 

It did end up raining all weekend, so there wasn't much to be done.  It has been sunny so far today, and I'm hoping that enough of the wet has dried up.  Going to head out there and try to get the sanding done on phase 2 so far...get it ready to be stained in the evenings this week.  I also need to figure out a scroll pattern for the pergola posts- that is going to require mastering the jigsaw.  Here's hoping!

The Story of a Deck.

Yes, there is a phase 1.  And a phase 2 is currently underway.  So as the summer ticks away, we've been VERY busily working on the deck!  I think it's entirely possible that this is the most custom deck in all of Eugene.  Here's some progress photos up to where it's currently at.  This deck project has gone through (quite literally) about a million transformations.  And sometimes it's somewhere in between that I decide to change something.

[June 6, 2009]

[June 14, 2009 - framing is in place for phase 1]

[Jne 26, 2009 - the first quadrant of deck boards is down and the center frame for the tile design is in place]

One day, Dave asked "why doesn't anyone ever put tile on a deck?"  Well, I don't know.  But we did it.  It took me an entire weekend on the turbo tile cutter from Home Depot to get all of these pieces of this tile design.  Nevermind the 30 versions of the design that I sketched out waiting for court apperances over the last few months!

[June 28, 2009 - It took a while to get it laid out to make sure everything fits right.]

[July 20, 2009 - All the deckboards are down on Phase 1!!]

 

[August 12, 2009 - The rose compass is all laid in, and grouted.  Check out my "N" orientation!  Even that worked out the way I had invisioned it!]

This last weekend I worked on getting Phase 1 sanded and stained while Dave started on Phase 2 of the deck!  There is going to be a step down, and on the lower deck there is going to be built-in seating with a firepit and a pergola.  The seating and pergola will throw a little bit of a wrench in things....but hopefully it will be less complicated then all the angles and special framing of phase 1.

 

[August 17, 2009 - Phase 1 is stained (except fo the two boards right under the door) and looking AWESOME!]

The stain turned out considerably more gray then it was supposed to be.  I have to decide if I am going to leave it and hope it weathers well, or if I want to repaint or restain it.....sigh.  I was so excited to be done...but the shade ddn't come out quite the way it was on the sample.  What do you think???

We've decided we really ought to have our own home improvement show. :p

Weekend Decking

This is the current state of the deck. I'll be back later to post more pictures of progress. But decided to put up a quick iPhone post!

iPhone blogging!

So I figured out how to unlock an iPhone allowing me to keep my tmobile service but use this! I'm pretty proud of myself actually! Who would haveever thought that I could figure it out?! Thanks to google and YouTube. Now let's see if my blogging frequency increases now that it is at my fingertips! So I'm testing the blog by iPhone function. Here goes nothing!!!