Imagine ... 2014

life gets away from us faster than a 3 yr old outrunning bath time

school

work

bills

homework

pta

the never-ending battle of what to make for dinner

soccer practice

family game night

laundry

facebook

cats and dogs and neighborhood kids begging for just a little attention

the years are going to fly right by whether we like it or not .. 

but we'll really miss out on a lot if we're not careful

after a few weeks of finding myself focusing more on my struggles than my blessings

I stumbled across 'the original "imagine.."' video a week ago

I forgot how much I adored the half-minute love montage

but - watching the video from 10 years ago made me want a new one

sifting through a decade and a half of family photos worked wonders for my soul

memories smiling back at me

happy times

silly faces

road trips

tiny babies turning into teenagers

it reminded me that 

the good outweighs the bad 1,000 to 1 any day of the week and twice on Sunday ...

happy campers .. sore backs.

I love camping and that's weird.

• weird because when the A/C is above 73 I feel like my face is gonna melt off
• I use my 'devices' A REALLY LOT(read: too much)
• my back hurts .. EVER time
• I wanna punch Mother Nature in the throat whenever I see a creepy, crawly bug anywhere near me. 

Despite what should be my predetermined disposition .. I love camping.

• we hike in the mountains ..
• we watch the sunset ..
• we sit around the campfire ..
• we play games ..
• we laugh about the windstorm that blew everything over while we were hiking in the mountains to watch the sunset. :)  

We live 10 minutes from a dozen different awesome places to camp.

I love that they come with ""semi-private"" bathrooms :)

The usual routine while the teenager and G. man set up the tent and provisions for a couple days.  I walk around snapping pictures and the 10 year old explores the area.

In the top left corner of the picture above is her pointing out different animal foot/tail trails in the sand .. one of her favorite things to do, ever.
In the bottom left .. child labor - look away.

^^^  A picture of her                 taking this picture.   ^^

one more picture of the dog following her around, while she explores

my four favorite shadows in all the world ....

and finally - my favorite hand to hold - in all the world.

go spend a night under the stars .. it's good for the soul.

instagram - happy little squares of our life ..

From the first time I found Instagram - I was in love.
Pictures of our lives in happy little retro squares; what's not to love?


well - I found something I don't love ...
In today's world of cellphone cameras, i-pads and computers; more often than not - our pictures live their lives forever on Facebook, a hard-drive, or SD card somewhere.


I wanted to be able to display our favorite little square pictures as well as change them out, periodically.  So, I decided to do something about it ... 

I pulled out a large 'glass-less' $2 thrift store frame from my storage and printed out way too many some instagram pictures.



I didn't like the original color of the frame, so I applied an 'espresso' stain and I couldn't be happier.
Ok - I could have been happier, had it not taken 2 days to fully 'cure.'  but .. whatever.



I stapled string to the back of the frame and attached the pictures with mini-clothespins I had bought specifically for this craft.  I hated the pins because they kept breaking, turning sideways and just pissing me off in general ... but I really loved how the craft turned out .. so it's all good!!

Where it hangs is directly underneath one of our many 'sunlights' in our house and it lights up the frame ever so nicely.   

I like it .. I like it, a lot.

I love you because ...

I won't lie; ever since making our  "_____ is awesome because.." boards - they've seen more than their fair share of ridiculous remarks.

"... because she doesn't pick her nose ... anymore."
"... because she screams when she sees Justin Bieber."
"... because she doesn't want to brush her hair.   Ever."
"... because she farted at dinner."

Haha - I know I probably cherish our sarcastic and smartass moments, a little too much.
Judge me all you want; it won't matter. 
I'll still be a smartass, tomorrow .. :)


"I love you, because ..." dry erase frames were on the agenda tonight and they were just as easy as the last ones.  
I revamped a picture frame, painting it and embellishing it with Washi Tape and a homemade button flower, replaced the glass, printed out a simple "I <3 you because ..."  and done.

for this 2nd frame all I did was cover the edges with 2 different types of washi tape 

it says 'you don't need batteries' because she spent hours playing with a toy we found at the thrift store, before she asked if we had batteries to see if it worked.

my kids rock and I must remind them why - a lot. :)

lost socks and drunken cork boards ...

Today was one of those stupid days.  

Within 20 minutes of waking up I'd decided I was going to do nothing productive. 
NOTHING.

I fell asleep early last night and somehow woke up late, this morning.
I woke up, scared from a strange dream that I couldn't remember.
I forgot to plug in my cell phone & it was an unhappy 94% dead.
My cinnamon rolls didn't turn out anywhere near as delicious as I had planned.
The teenager didn't complete her homework as she had promised.

It was very obvious that today was to be a day for crafts, the whole crafts and nothing but the crafts.   So help me crafts.

- home of the lost socks-

-we painted a thrift store wood plank
-we washi taped clothes pins

-we gorilla glued 'em onto the now avocado plank

-I created a 'LOST SOCKS' print out of alphabet letter art
-we embellished the sign with awesome metal flowers and brads from Pick Your Plum

-  DONE !

one happy little lost sock sign for our Laundry room

nobody wants to be alone

even if you are just a sock ...

 

-a drunken cork board-

this one's easy
.. drink a bunch of wine
keep the corks and glue them into a frame
decorate frame
DONE ! lol

but don't craft after the third glass of wine.
friends don't let friends drink and hot glue.

washi tape letter of love ..

This wooden 'K' followed us home, not all that long ago.
If you ask the G. man, though; you'd think we'd had the "K" since 2000.

He swears it's been around our house forever; but I clearly remember finding it after I'd fallen in love with washi tape. (.. I think??)

So I know it's only been here, taking up that valuable 8 inches of space for a month or THREE, at the MOST. (maybe 4)

We found the singular letter  out thrifting and it was a buck.
$1.
who says no to that ?
exactly.

So - I bought it and washi taped it up for our almost 17 year old. 

In fact, she liked my finished piece so much, she hung it up on her wall and told me I was 'cool.'     
COOL, guys!! 
I'll take it!

now to gather the other letters of our 'family alphabet..'

this posts made me reminisce on posts of the past ..
"letters of love ... and yarn."
and
"we'd like to buy a vowel."

do you celebrate the letters that make up your name ? :)

what's for dinner ..

how did that get in there?
 
didn't we just buy toilet paper?

are we there yet?

how could you forget?

where the Hell did I put that?!

what's for dinner?

some questions are just so much easier to answer than others ... :)

I printed a simple menu template
put it into a $ 0.50 thrift store frame
covered the frame in washi tape

glued on bananagram letters

done - cute, simple dry erase menu :)

if only thinking up dinner was so easy ...

wash dry fold .. repeat.

Just in case you didn't get the memo - there are parts of our day as a Mom that leave us feeling less than glamorous. 
Weird, right? 
You'd think after spewing forth a child from our loins, we'd get some sort of voucher redeemable for an eternity of effortless fabulousness.  The powers that be clearly didn't get that memo - so we still have to do things like laundry and dishes.

After years of fashion consultations and early-morning tangle fights; my girls are finally beyond the 'I don't care what I wear or if I brush my hair all week' phase and have traded it for an equally-annoying  'I'm changing my clothes 142 times a day' phase.  

I've always considered laundry and dishes to be the bane of my existence.  Crusty dishes and dirty underwears gross me out plus both chores chip my nails - double fail.  My distaste for the two chores may or may not have been a major part of the reason I had children, to begin with.    Free labor.    I'm kidding .. right ? :P  

There really is no help for my hate of dishes .. but I figured we could put some pretty junk up in the Laundry room as I find it slightly less annoying. 

Eventually I plan on making a lost sock board - but for now I've made 2 prints.

The Subway art (below) was the most fun, because the girls and the G. man chipped in; sharing their own creative laundry words. Our (almost)17 year old pointed out that if people aren't familiar with a couple of the brand names we put on there 'SNUGGLE' and 'SHOUT' - it's going to look like there's a crazy person washing laundry while hugging and screaming at people.   LOL

 

My favorites were 'endless' and 'repeat...' but one suggestion that didn't make it was "whites" and "colors."  A totally innocent suggestion by the G.man that led to us giving him a hard time for being racist. (haha-we're jerks). :P     If we can't laugh at ourselves .. we laugh at our loved ones ! :P

I put Washi Tape on the frame and it says "Made with Love."       I guess it's a little reminder in case you forget half way through a 20 pound pile of laundry how much you love making memories and dirty clothes with the smelly people in your family.    :) 

And here's the framed word art along with the scariest door-knob in the house.
I don't like to open it for fear of what lurks behind ...

washi'd up mini-notebooks

This week, the girls are earning cool points like nobody's business.

On top of all their schoolwork, soccer practices, book reports, and living life as an awesome kid; they've also managed to use Washi tape a few different times.
They even wrapped my Mother's Day presents in the sticky cuteness.
In and of itself; that isn't really a feat.
But, because of their crafty adventures - we've managed to begin to justify the $100 I recently blew on a Washi tape spending spree.

good girls.    good times.   good tape.    bad $100.

toes in the water ...

Over the last year or so we've had a few friends move away.
more specifically .. they've moved to the water.
not near a lake or some river .. but to the OCEANS!!

I'm not jealous .. or as my 16 year says 'jelly.'
actually .. I lied.
Sorry about that.
I'm totally jelly.
I'm jelly beyond belief !! (haha ok I swear not to use jelly like that, again)

On our vacation to San Diego last year; as soon as there was a hint of salt in the air - we swore every single hill was going to be the one that would reveal the blue waters of the ocean.

After an hour of  "OOOHHH this is the hill!" we finally laid our eyes on the much awaited coast. :)   Yes .. we were that excited.

I know that there are cool watering holes and places to swim around Moab; but it's not quite the same as the smell of the ocean in the air and the feel of seaweed in your toes making you scream like a girl.

I see my friends on Facebook fishing and boating and swimming and tanning in the ocean breeze .... ahhh!!  :P  Jelly OVERLOAD !!    (sorry about breaking the jelly promise ... lol  I was weak)

my point ?

• I love the smell of the ocean
• I want to go back to the ocean
• one day I'll live close enough to regularly visit the water 
• and I'm a little envious of my family/friends on the coast

why ?
Because life is better at the beach ..

I made this print out of one of my favorite pictures from
our 2012 vacation to San Diego.

ps .. it's Mother's Day in 2 days - don't forget your mamas, grammas, and sister wives.  (LOL)

click here for the print quality version of the print above

cream cheese and chicken enchiladas

It was a boring Tuesday night.  

no soccer, no after school clubs, no games, no plans.
so of course I thought to myself - "woman  .. find something new and exciting for dinner!"
after an exhausting 3 minute search - I found this blog and awesome recipe. 
"Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour.." 
You should visit the blog, for the simple fact that the name is off the charts awesome; then stay for the easy squeezy recipeasies :)  (see what I did there .. huh huh ? do ya ? :P)

Back to it .. 
.. who am I to pass up making something that is 'to die for?'
exactly.
I'm not.

we gave them a whirl and holy delciousness, Batman!
these bad boys live up to their name - so here's the recipe : 

2-3 chicken breasts, shredded (or rotisserie)

1  pkg. cream cheese {8 oz.}

1 28 oz. can green enchilada sauce

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
optional - 1 can green chiles -
by optional I mean, you should add them or you'll regret itmmensely if you don't

2 cups cooked rice
{I'll teach you how to make rice .. real rice!}

Tortillas
{use flour tortillas - they work a lot better than the ones in MY picture}

1-2 cups shredded monterrey & colby cheese

cook and shred the chicken while you make the rice
Mix the shredded chicken, cream cheese, and 2 cups of the enchilada sauce together.
Pour half a cup of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
Layer the rice & black beans to your taste, inside the tortilla
 top with the chicken cream cheese mixture
Roll up each of the tortillas
place them in the baking dish seam side down.
Top with 1 cup of the enchilada sauce…
and 1-2 cups of shredded cheese.

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.
Uncover the enchiladas, turn on the broiler, and broil for about 3-5 minutes uncovered
...just long enough to brown the cheese.

shove everyone out of the way and get your grub on!!
enjoy the ridiculous feast fit for someone super awesome.
YOU !!

Red Rocks and Classic Cars .. yes, please!!

This year marks the (I believe, but could be wrong) 21st annual April Action car show in Moab.
Since moving here in 2008 - we haven't missed one :)

For the record - I always love living in Moab.
However - the car show is my favorite event ALL. YEAR. LONG.
I don't have a jeep anymore - so I could sleep through Jeep Safari.
I don't rock climb, because I'm a big baby ...
we go hiking/biking/camping a LOT .. so it's fun - but not super special.
But car show .. oooohhh car show :)
sexy cars
hot people
money being spent
classic engines rumbling in the distance as far as your ears can hear.
.... what's not to like ?
horribly long lines at the checkout...
bumper-to-bumper trafficmakes you scream, despite the cool cars..
having to elbow your way through the grocery store for a loaf of stupid bread...
... ok fine !
it's not all happy grins and unicorns puking rainbows.
..  but it's worth it - I PROMISE!!

I even have pictures as proof .. :D

Happy Spring, everyone
season is here ! :)

team pretty - team washi

I like to pretty.   

I've always decorated around me.

rewind  - I'm 3.
My mom bought a brand new bathroom 'cover set' ..  one of those awful 80's sets of shag carpet covers for 'prettying' bathroom stuffs.  One on the toilet, one onto the back of the tank, and a couple matchers on the floor. Then, BOOM!  your bathroom is totally matching .. totally hideous

As a toddler and lover of anything colorful - I found her new pure white pieces offensively boring .. so I decided I needed to decorate for her.   

what can I say ? 

I've ALWAYS been a giver.

I took her brightest, prettiest, reddest nail polish and flung the liquid stain EVERYWHERE!  Making sure to not miss a single spot on her lovely carpet decor. 

WHAT?!?!?

I thought it was pretty.  However, she screamed and cursed a lot more than I would expect coming from someone who had just received a free bathroom makeover.

fast foward - I'm 6.

My mom hasn't changed the curtains in my room since I was a toddler.  

I don't LIKE Winnie the Pooh, ANYMORE !! So ..I randomly poked 42 billionty holes with a metal nail file.   

Voila!  

Now they are 'fancy' and let the sun into the room. Clearly not the kind of 'fancy' my mom likes.  I know this, because the next day she went out and purchased me 'whole' curtains again; throwing away my 'refashioned' curtains; without regard for all my efforts in redecorating.

fast forward 30 something years later : 

 we laugh about these stories, until we cry and/or snort.

it's apparently just in my nature to pretty :) 

and yes - I sometimes use 'pretty' as a verb .. don't judge me.

so, in my recent efforts to pretty the world - I joined the washi tape movement. 

I'm a little late on the 'craze' - but I'm Danielle and I'm far from trendy.

so what if washi tape was ''cool'' last year .. that means I'm cool this year !! right!?!?! >_<

wrong - but who cares?

moving on ..  I know someone just said - 'What is washi tape?'

it's a cute, fancy, japanese tape with the feel of masking tape. 

I may or may not have gone a little mad after seeing so many Washi crafts on Pinterest ..  which may or may not have led to me ordering a box filled with $50-60 worth of washi tape ..

special thanks to both WillowWashi as well as Consumer Crafts for contributing to my craftaddiction.

Once I opened up my box of pretties, I realized I needed somewhere to store the sticky cuteness.