chaise lounge

well, because of my last post...
i have not been to the thrift store.
which is good and bad.
mainly good.
anyways... i was on my way home, and i decided to drive down the alley...
here, everyone puts things in the alley...
some good, some bad, some make you wanna puke.
well, another post later, but i made a bench for $1.
just some "bargain bin" wood from home depot ($0.51 each)
but i have some outdoor fabric scraps that i wanted to make a cushion for the bench.
so i needed some old cushions or something to recover.
but they had to be free.
so back to the alley.
i found a freaking CHAISE LOUNGE (no pic yet).
it was a nice indoor one, that was all fabric covered.
the only problem was that it had NO cushions...
the only thing i really needed.
so here is little ole me, in the honda civic hatchback, trying to get this chaise in this mini car.
luckily it was light weight, and i only had to drive a few blocks with this thing hanging out the back of the car. i am sure it was a sight.
so cam and i drag it into the garage, where it is living now, until i can get some cushions.
and until it's nice.
i think we will use it out in the backyard to relax, read, and have people over.
i know i can make it great!!!!
so i have been looking on craigslist for free couches and chairs to mainly just get some cushions.
i have found some winners, but just havent had the urge to go get stuff yet.
maybe next week.
ill keep you posted!
ps: t-19 days til africa!!!

no more...

while i was at the yoga retreat

i made a pact.

until i go to Africa (1 month from yesterday)

i will not spend any money.

i will only buy necessities

mainly being food items.

no more:

this

or this

or even this

-

pretty much i am not allowed to enter a store

(this was my own rule).

I was buying too much from

here

here

here

and even here

i was wasting our money that could be going to school loans

and future down payments on houses

away to dumb things.

(although i didnt think they were dumb at the time).

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I know you are thinking... AHHH what about food...

well my friends, refer back to the "spending too much here"

catagory, and note that costco is like my refuge.

my goal is to use something i already have for the main ingredient...

monday night it was a whole chicken

tuesday was leftovers

tonight it was ravioli.

i have plenty of quinoa, rice, pasta, and salad.

if i need to supplement the meal with something

from the store, i can...but i havent had to yet.

this is also good, b/c it cleans out my pantry and fridge.

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on monday when i got home from the yoga retreat, i went

"spring cleaning crazy" although there was no actual

CLEANING per say...

i was cleaning out every area i could think of

and making piles to donate to goodwill

(which happens to be one of the places i am not allowing myself in).

I made a whole jeep load of:

clothes

dishes

pots/pans

shoes

games

baby clothes (dont ask... i just see something and save it for a friend for later)

fabric and yarn i didnt like

towels & sheets i dont use

toaster oven we havent used in 2 years

espresso maker we havent used in 3 years

the awesoe jack lelane juicer we only used 3 times.

pretty much a lot of crap.

-

sure i could have sold a lot of it on craigs list

but i feel like i dont have time

(valuable time for me)

to waste with phone calls and having my stuff lay around the house.

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it was cleansing.

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i actually feel free!!!

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i returned some stuff to home depot i didnt use on the curtain makeover.

and something to target i didnt need.

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i have written down anything i have had to pay for

-like my yellow fever vaccine i got today

-and the stirfry mix i got for cam

-

-

it feels awesome.

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if i feel i have to buy anything at all...

i have to run it by cameron & bethany.

i think that's awesome!!!
-

like i wanted to mail a package to a friend,

i ran it by both peeps, and they said it was fine,

so i did it!!!

-

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i hope i can keep it up after africa.

-

it's great!

-

when i get back my goal will be to return to our budget-

and then start paying off school loans-

then we can be TOTALLY debt free

by the time we have babies

(or close to it!)

tulips

i love love love love this pic

schnooze taking time to smell the tulips

(which by the way, smell like citrus)

yoga retreat

saturday, sunday, and monday

bethany and i went on a yoga retreat.

mainly for relaxation

and girl time

(congrats to B for getting in to Med School,

booooo that's it's in Alabama and she has to move).

we definately we excited for the yoga, but

were pumped for being in the mtns, having

good vege food, and quietness.

this is where we slept and did yoga.

it seems warehousey... but it wasn't bad at all.

it definately felt like camp.

we stayed in a room with 6 bunk beds

and side tables in between each bed.

and we had a community bathroom, which was super nice

and had natural (jason brand) shampoo and soaps and lotions to share.

there were towels for us too.

the weather was actually GORGEOUS sunday

and we went for a hike!

this is the lake at the start of the hike...

still frozen

a dog friend we made with B




the top of the 2 hour hike...


won't get into it, but the hike part sucked.


but the view... oh the view was worth it.

we named this mountain

"lady bug rock"

b/c there were squillions of lady bugs

not a gross amount, but A LOT!!!

me being all coloradoy

me and bethany

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so a list of things:

1. we met a girl named "red turtle"

2. we had some amazing warmed milk (chai like) for dessert

3. i had a sugar scrub and B had a facial and they were amazing

4. bethany opened her hips and i improved my breathing

5. we did yoga one time in the "yoga cabin"

and there was a fire going in the fireplace

6. there was a guy there that looked like chris kramer with brown hair.

7. lots of gals didn't shave.

8. one of the girls in our room was so weird, and was studying cell division for the fun of it

9. we got to do Om's (which i had never done)

10. we did lion's breath (or something like that) and it was fun

11. we learned a lot about the yogi lifestyle.

12. there was a woman monk there.

13. it was beautiful and serene

14. we were starving to death most days

and thought we wouldnt even make it to the meals, and during yoga you could ALWAYS hear my belly growling :)

bethany's bday

bethany's bday & easter all in one.

-

so we ate dinner at their house and it was a blast!

cam made her a homemade cheesecake

and i made her dark choc. cupcakes without icing

(*she doesnt like icing)

me and cameron

b cooking

the lamb

jill, shellie, rose

rose, cam, jill, shellie

the salad... so amazing!

lamb

mashed sweet potatoes

was so excited about dessert, i forgot to take a pic

until it was almost gone.

caramel, hot fudge, and strawberries

with homemade whipped cream!
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happy birthday bethany!

curtains for office

so, i needed to figure out what to do for curtains in the office...

on a budget.

i was gonna use sheets from the thrift store, but i wasnt finding

ANYTHING that i liked at all.

-

so i started looking online...

target, overstock, amazon...

but everything was bland and plain and boring.

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so i started thinking unconventional..

lots of fabric for cheap...

i loved Dwell designs for target...

what about a shower curtain?

so i went to target.

but the shower curtains weren't cutting it for me.

then.i.saw.it

THIS

dude... a table cloth!!!
perfect!

lots of fabric, for $21.99!!!!!

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has the yellow/mustard i wanted, and i love the birds.

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so i cut the table cloth (60x104") in half length wise

and then hemmed it.

then i sewed a pocket panel thing at the top.

i am using 2 48" dowel rods, painting them brown

then using the gold things to hang them from the wall

then the awesome hooks from anthro (on sale for $2.95)

for the tie backs :)

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pic to be posted soon in office.

chair redo #2

chair redo #2

bought it at the thrift store for $10

ugly color wood

and ghetto velvet seat

sanded and painted

now on for the seat

it had 3 fabrics on it

wowsers

put new seating stuff (dont know what its called)

the other was falling apart

batting still good

so i used that

put my fabric on

TADA!!!!

i love love love it!!!!

now it's my new sewing chair :)

love at first site!

chair redo #1

before

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weird shiny pinkish fabric

old scuffed up wood

after sanding and painting
THE AFTER!!!
(it's not perfect by any means, but i did it, and i love it!)

schnooze modeling

the cushion wasn't that hard, but when i had to make it snug

that's when i ran into problems...

so it looks kinda janky... but i didn't want to redo it 20 times.

the back part, i added new foam and padding

the old stuff was literally disentigrating when i touched it...

and it was this weird rotten orange color.

now it's soft and cushy!

pefection in the back :)

made my own piping

(not that hard)

without the cushion

with cushion

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this chair replaced the red one...

anyway, the red one didn't really go with the living room

it was just comfy.

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yippee!!!

how does my garden grow?

planted my seeds last monday-

sunday (almost a week of growing) this is how big they were!!

then today (8 days after planting)

here they are

the ones going crazy are:

lettuce, spinach, sugar snap peas, and broccoli

i love them so :)