10 on 10, the day after edition...

10 on 10 : October 10th, 2010
Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month. Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments.

I discovered 10 on 10 at my friend Mel's blog and thought 10/10/10 was the perfect day to join in the fun!

I came downstairs early in the morning and found these two beauties admiring the massive wild turkeys in our backyard...

I was en route to this bad boy, which has been sitting, unopened, in the cabinet since May, perhaps April, because I was determined to make a decent roast...

I finally remembered to take a picture of what I wore to church for the Pleated Poppy's WIWW...

Getting lunch ready- homemade pizza- yum!

Missy, one of my great friends from high school and college, drove up to visit us today...

We headed out to a local farm where Missy (she is linked on my right sidebar- she is an incredible photographer!) took this family photo...

After wandering around for an hour, we decided to pose and have Bill take some fun shots of us...

Speed-browning the roast, and then speed-cooking at 50 degrees higher to hurry up the process (yes, the crockpot is still in the unopened box, ha!)...

We had quite a spread an hour and a half later (I was a bit preoccupied and didn't get pictures of everyone assembling our yummy apple crisp...

We said goodbye to Missy, got the kiddos ready for bed, and I spent some time writing while Bill watched TV; the laptop arrived on Saturday morning- it was a gift to encourage me to finish my book.  The flexibility is awesome!  I know Bill didn't have to get this for me, so I feel very special and cared for because he supports me and my dreams!

I know I'm a bit late posting this, but hey!  I was working till late last night!  :)

Fall Traditions

Ever since...well, ever, we've been driving an hour north to the White Mountains each fall.  It never disappoints!

Yesterday we were so excited that Bill had surprised us by taking the day off from work- the boys had no school- and we headed out!  This is what it looked like from inside the van as we neared the official White Mountain National Forest region...

Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it, right?

I wish I had my old, larger picture format back, but this will have to do for now.

Storm clouds began rolling in, but only directly overhead- it looked really neat!

Bill was explaining the purple mountains phenomenon, which of course led to much singing!  :)

So Cool!  Coming round the corner...the couple in the parked car were doing the same thing I was- trying to capture it all!

**I am having some serious issues with blogger today, but I'll publish this first part regardless**

Happy Saturday Everyone!

Show Us Your Life- Kitchens

Welcome to our kitchen!  

I'm joining in the fun again over at Kelly's Korner ~ to see other kitchen entries (or to enter your own!) click here!

I waited ALL day long for the sun to appear, and...it didn't, so the pics are a little dark.  (The colors looked so "off" when I turned on all the lights, so I decided to keep it au natural.)

The main colors in here are sage greens, blues, and creams if you can't quite tell- we've also added some darker elements to spice things up a bit.  Nice pun, I know.  :)

some of my favorite family photos are in those two frames~ I love looking at them everyday!

I think I'm in love with my kitchen lights!  we installed them several years ago to replace the builder's generic (and oh so pitiful) overhead lights, and I still smile every time I look at them!  I spray painted the gold chain (thank you builders) on the fixture in the picture below, and it's held up great for five+ years now! 

this eating area may look cute...BUT it breaks up the main flow of traffic, so it's more awkward than functional; AND this table is never, EVER this clean...unless I toss everything in a basket and move it somewhere else when I'm taking pictures, ha!

small pantry on the left; dining room around the corner to the right

this hallway is as tiny and cramped as they come, and of course it's the one that gets used the most!  it leads to the garage, and the open door on the left leads out to our screened porch; there is a half bath and laundry room closet to the right, which is rather convenient for hanging things out on the line

Here are some of my favorite things in the kitchen:

ceramic heart made by Jonah

some treasures from Guatemala, among other things

yum, and YUM- no school tomorrow, so we'll be making those!

 our family Door of Art (basement door)

ceramic heart made by Ethan

a festive gift from a friend a few years back

this is actually a sofa table because we needed something very narrow for this busy corner; it may look like a disaster zone, but it saves my life!

this isn't a favorite, but it made me chuckle 'cause I forgot it was there when I was taking pictures...a frozen paintbrush thawing on the counter- freezing the brush is a neat little trick (thank you HGTV) that saves me from having to wash it out each time when I'm working on a project, like I am in right now this room

Thanks for stopping by for a peek inside our kitchen!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Project Progress

The next time I get restless, wander into a perfectly suitable room, sigh, and find myself saying, 

"What if..."

I hope someone takes me out back and shoots me.

But the color is awesome, right?  :)

Goodbye bedroom blue walls, no, literally- I thought I'd be so savvy and handy and recycle leftover paint from the boys' room.

Love it up there.

Not so much down here.

So I end up painting this room twice.

Don't I feel smart?