Bedroom Makeover

I had the day off from work and didn't want to spend it sitting around or watching movies.  So on a whim I bought a gallon of paint and redid our bedroom. :)

I've also been refinishing a table & chairs I bought at a garage sale for $40, and finally completed that project.  It took me forever with work and vacationing, but I love how they turned out.

Bedroom before:





The paint I bought wasn't dark enough so I found some old black and some dark brown paint to mix in (and thought it looked cool:)



I painted subliminal messages into the wall, ha ha:



And after all the work:



I got a cool frame for $3 at a garage sale, and after refinishing it hung my wedding bouquet :)



Here's the beautiful chair cushion I sadly removed to reupholster:



And the table with paint stains and lots of scratches:



I ripped the fabric off the cushions:



And stapled new fabric on:



I also refinished the wood table top- sanded, stained, and applied poly-acrylic. And I repainted the chairs and table legs to lighten them a bit.

The grand finale:

Yosemite June 2011

We went back to Yosemite this month for eight whole days! (It's usually a 14 hour drive there and back for a three day event.) It was awesome! I don't want to say too much about Todd and his brother Mark, because Todd PROMISED me he would blog about his adventure. :)

But I will say that he completed one of his life goals! And while he and his brother were climbing I was free to drive and hike around and do whatever I felt like. It was really fun to be on vacation without having to accommodate anyone else, lol! I enjoyed the solitude, especially because it basically forced me to make friends with anyone willing to chat.

I met some really cool people, had some great talks, and will never forget some of the things I learned from them. But enough of that, and now for some photos!

As usual, to see more photos click the other blog:
www.brittasphotography.blogspot.com

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls



The guys gearing up for the day:



Sizing up the challenge



See how much fun I was having all alone? ha ha



My man



OK, this might give away what Todd has promised he'll write about- but do you see the climbers on top of the boot-shaped flake of rock?



That is Todd on the top left part of the boot, and Mark is running below and to the left of the boot doing the "King Swing."

Can you see that same boot-flake on this cliff face? Look really closely...
And I'm serious- just look for it before you scroll to the next pic.



Here it is:



C.R.A.Z.Y!

What kind of adventurous, free spirited, active, fun, free, wild guy did I marry?!?

One who can keep up with me.



(Ha ha, if only! ;)

Goblin Valley

We went camping in Goblin Valley state park with some friends.  It was a little windy... OK, it was a LOT windy... but it was still fun.  :)  The wind blasted the sand so hard against our legs it was painful!
But I took a million photos because there is so much beauty in the desert.  (To see the frameworthy photos, click here: http://brittasphotography.blogspot.com/2011/06/goblin-valley.html )



Dave and Mikelle


Dave and Mikelle










Self Portrait

We found this awesome river to play in.  It was almost as amazing as the beach.  Almost.

Riding in the Rain

.

I picked the wrong week to start riding my bike to work.
Actually, I didn't have a choice- my car was in the shop and it sounded better than sharing a car- with our crazy and random schedules.

It's been an incredibly wet year. Everyone's worried about the pending floods that are sure to ruin basements galore when it heats up enough to melt the snow. I rode my bike (and trax one-way) to and from work through the rain for a couple days. It was very wet. And the 100 minute ride home involved climbing a fence (with my bike) trudging through mud puddles in construction sites on busy roads, getting lost and backtracking multiple times, and a $40 bill from the car-repair guy for "having no idea what's wrong" with my car. [This is after I paid him $850 last week for a repair that I "may not have needed."]) Awesome.

Needless to say, my bottom is bruised from the darn bike seat and I'm relieved to have my car back! But I think I'll start biking once or twice a week... when the weather warms up and dries out.

And seriously, it was kinda fun. :) And I'm just really glad that I can afford a $890 bill right now.  It could be worse!

Spelunking

Last Saturday my super cool brother-in-law took us caving caving in the Spanish Moss Cave in Rock Canyon. It was a little scary but mostly really cool! I haven't rappelled down a twisty tight corridor before- I'm used to lowering off a wall or through thin air. So that added an element of fun :)

Asher and Todd getting ready to Spelunk!




After a serious hike/scramble we reached a locked hatch. (Luckily we had the key, ha ha.)
Harrison, the master spelunker setting up the first rappel:



We rappelled down this tight corridor- here's Nat:



Todd coming in after me: (Keep in mind everything is PITCH BLACK except our headlamp light.)



And then we reached this ledge lined with sandbags.



Then descended into the abyss:



It was very slippery and slimy- we got nice and dirty.

Then there's a series of awesome formations all over the walls, ceiling, and floor we navigated along to reach the bottom:





The lighting changes the look of the cave walls:



We had a lot of fun playing with flashes and lights:



And we met Michael Jackson's Ghost:



He got in a fight with Asher:



And then with Harrison:



Luckily, he didn't win. And we climbed, ascended, and hiked out alive. It was so cool! I've got to do it again some time!

More Art

I'm really enjoying this new painting-thing!  I could hardly wait to finish this one so I could start the next. 
I have to admit that I copied a painting I found on http://www.etsy.com/ to create this masterpiece.  The next thing I paint won't be a knockoff, lol!  (Starry Night, and now this.)

Happy Easter!

We are blurry monsters! Happy Easter, Rar!


I had such a fun Easter this year!  My friend Becca had 2 free snowboarding passes for the last day of the season at Brighton.  To save money, Todd stayed home and let me use the pass.
Becca and I started the day by waking up at 4:30 a.m. and took the tram up to Snowbird to watch the sunrise.  They do it every year for free, and supply hot chocolate and have an Easter service.  It was awesome.
We then came down the valley and ate breakfast at Rich's bagels, meeting some people who were headed up to Brighton as well.
The snowboarding was GREAT.  It reminded me why I used to love it so much.  It was warm and beautiful and challenging and hard and we did jumps and spins and tricks.  Or tried to jump and spin and trick anyway.  I wish Todd were there with me. : )
We ate lunch at Molly's and bumped into the Rich's Bagels crew, who invited us to a "Season's end party" that we decided to check out.  We snowboarded and hiked to a ridge overlooking mountains, clouds, and Heber- it was gorgeous.  And someone brought a Djembe drum.  Did I mention that I wish Todd were there with me?  lol
We didn't stay long and rather than hike back down we sat (me) and laid (Becca) on our boards and used them as sleds to get back to the run.  And boarded back to the car.
Then my parents-in-law supplied me with a subperb Easter feast.  They take good care of me!

And then we showed our families our condo we got as a rental property.  (Pictures to come.  Maybe.)

By the end of the day I was pretty wiped out but happy for having had so much fun.

Happy Easter

And one more for fun: