lazy wednesday

today is my first day off from work & nannying in 6 days. im not complaining, im just stating fact. typically on my days off i have a long list of things to get accomplished and waste no time in getting started.

today is different.

today, so far, all i've done is climbed out of bed, turned on the coffee pot, kissed the hub goodbye, browsed a few blogs - ashley ann's under the sycamore & all things new, played with little ilsa and poured myself a cup of coffee.

sidenote: oooh, if you do check out all things new, make sure to browse rachel's etsy store. i'm in love with all her earrings, not to mention the hairpins. i think i should order my mum earrings now.. just thinking about wearing them gets me excited!

now, i have a to do list.. a rather long to-do list infact. today, when i woke up, it looked like this:

start coffee pot

water plants

gym this morning

hang curtains

& now.. (after i've had my coffee), it's evolved itself into this:

start coffee pot

water plants

gym this morning

dimension chalkboard (explanation later)

hang curtains

browse world market for more curtains

flea market?

lunch with the hubster

uncover desk

finish at least one painting

start/finish may birthday cards

post office to mail cards

pay some bills

call rei about the climb

work on vacation to do list

finish knitting project.

decide on mothers day gift

start dinner

email the girls

find a housewarming gift

well now, after seeing all the things i have yet to try & accomplish tody, i feel i should get my butt to the gym and start tackling that to-do list. happy wednesday all :)

because im lacking in "blog-worthy" topics...

i have a zillion projects and whatnot on my to do list but this week, nothing's gotten accomplished because its just been a crazy, nutter-butter week. if i had gotten something accomplished & completed i would have taken pictures & blogged.. but such is life and i didnt so here you go: this is what you get... "ways to charm a southern girl" i stole this from ashely ann & her blog.. it just seems to fit. :)

yes, yes, i know i'm not at all southern; though sometimes i wish i was.. i would have an excuse to: want to live on a farm, have chickens, drink whiskey, plant sunflowers, love cowboy boots as much as i already do and i'd have a super cute drawl. i love seattle, dont get me wrong, i love the recycling, the coffee, music, rain and state parks, but there's something about southern sweet tea & corn on the cob in a hay field thats idyllic to me.

on with "ways to charm a southern girl":

1. stand up for a lady. (this doesn't just involve chairs)
2. kill bugs.
3. hold doors open.
4. fix things/build things.
5. wear boots occaionally (not the fancy, i-paid-$400-for-these. i'm talking about the mud-crusted, i-could-have-just-come-in-from-the-field work boots).
6. take off your hat inside.
7. grill stuff.
8. call us.
9. stand when we come back to dinner & pull out our chair.
10. compliment us.
11. dont show up in a wrinkled, untucked shirt (care about your appearance but not too much. dont smell better than we do. dont use mousse or gel. you should look like you spend more time in front of the mirror than we do).

wallace falls

last saturday hubby and i went for a litle hike. we've been planning to go for about 3 weeks but the weather and our days off never seems to coordinate. nonetheless, we finally made it out to wallace falls. it took us about 3 hours and 20 minutes for the 5mile, (1400' elevation gain), roundtrip hike.

the trail starts out walking by some blackberry bushes and underneath buzzing powerlines but once you get actually into the hemlock trees, it's a whole different world entirely.

within the first quarter mile the trail forks and the left goes along the old railroad tracks and is more gradual, hence making it popular for moutain bikers but adds an aditional mile to your roundtrip. we decided to go the more direct route, right, down woody trail. (there's a map at the fork, don't worry). woody trail takes you down to the river, across a few bridges and then up switchbacks. above is the hubby on wallace river. nice beard, eh? looks like a mountain man.

along woody trail.

small falls.

view from atop all the switchbacks. it was definitely worth the work to get this view. just to be able to see the tippy-tops of all those evergreen trees was a beautiful thing.

this is the best photo we got of the falls.
an astonishing 265' from top to bottom. breathtaking in my book.

one a dreary thursday night...

... I decided to copy a few questions from a neighborblog while I kill some time. enjoy.

on my bedside table:
heidi swanson's cookbook and a notepad full of doodles.

latest interests:
I think I want to learn to knit.

on my mind:
uncluttering our office... ehhh.. (we'll see).

learning:
how much more exciting life is with a 7 & 11 year old on your side, (the darling kids I nanny).

making:
a cup of chai tea.

looking foward to:
climbing mount si next week.

enjoying:
a glass of wine.

amused by:
ilsa (our younger cat) sneek up on ike (our older cat).

photo wall

so i've spent about 2+ weeks arranging & REarranging photographs/frames on top of our coffee table. i figured it was about the same size as what i wanted on the wall so i taped kraft paper to the top and when i finally settled on a position for each frame i traced them onto the paper. then spent another 4 days measuring the hooks and frames and drawing them on to the paper. i made notes on the drawings of frames of what frame hung where & with what picture. THEN i hung the paper on the wall and hammered the nails into the spots i marked, ripped the paper off, (careful not to rip apart my notes), crossed my fingers and hoped things would turn out right! and guess what..... IT DID!!! TA DA!!

our kansas trip

we made a trip back to kansas this past weekend. it was so great to hang out & relax with family.
anyhow, here's a few pictures from our trip. enjoy!

24 of us bombarded the derby, KS village Inn.. here's a little panoramic view of the craziness.

kent, sarah & rachel. aren't those girls gorgeous!?

dunn-dunn-dun-dun! charade time!

above: kent drew "transformers" and had to act it out.. needless to say it was a bit difficult.

here's larry & diane doing their best at charades. diane's face just cracks me up!

cade wasn't too into charades but he did eventually figure out the trike on the stairs didn't work too well..

the hubster at the village inn. lovin' the 'stache huh?

i didn't take this. i just thought it was worth sharing frank martin's face. and we did watch the kstate game while we were there.

showcasing my newest painting...

drumroll please...... TA DA!

my newest painting.

it's for our kitchen and i absolutely love it. and i just had to share it.

now off to brunch w. the inlaws :)

happy sunday. more blogging later this week. promise.