hello

Is it August already?!?  I keep seeing commercials for pre-season football, wasn't the Super Bowl just a few weeks ago?  Wow.

Well, let me catch you up.

July 5th, we went junkin'.  Here are some of my scores:

For those of you that don't live in the Midwest or even the USA, junkin' is where you shop at "junk" stores (flea markets, thrift stores, yard sales, antique malls) to find treasures.  This is the hubbs and my favorite past time! 

We used our left over sparklers.

I am knitting a few gifts.

I finally finished knitting my cowl.  I bought 5 balls of this Louisa Harding yarn at Tuesday Morning for $6.30 total!  It is 90% cotton 10% cashmere and it feels so soft! I still have one ball left  :-)

We saw a Yoda cloud.

I went to visit this girl...

In this city...

 and had a lot of fun, ate a lot of good food:

I bought some yarn in Chicago and decided to make some handwarmers. They are almost done.

Took the kids to visit the in-laws. Saw a fox the minute we got there in the middle of their yard.  This pic is taken with my iPhone through binoculars.  I think it turned out pretty decent, considering.

Took the kids to the zoo and was greeted be this feller:

Saw an elephant getting a bath.

And fed a giraffe.

We went to this fun place

And did some more junkin'.

 We got home and built an in-ground fire pit:

And it is fantastic!

Pinterest gave me this idea to make "Firestarters" Click here to find out how.  

And they worked like a charm:

Oh and I was given this stash of knitting goodies from a friend of mine that didn't want it any more.

I have started on Christmas projects already.  Which is probably a good idea since the last 7 months have flown by.

This pic doesn't look like much but I have started getting ready to possibly put an art exhibit together.  This will be the first one that I have done in 10 years! So fingers crossed that I can have the focus to get this done and accomplished.

I am also hoping to post more often so until next time, Happy End of the Summer!

May Trip

You might recall that my grandmother passed away this past December.  Although she lived most of her life in Erie, Pennsylvania, she was currently living in my hometown of Las Vegas, NV.  Her burial requests led us all back to PA.  Erie is known for their lake-effect snow, so it was the consensus to wait until warmer weather before having the service.  My family chose Mother's day weekend, which was appropriate, to celebrate the life of my Grandmother.  We just got back home last week and here are some of the highlights. (I'll spare you the 900+ family pictures)

We arrived just in time to see this beautiful sunset!

I love the beach! 

The beach community that we stayed in.

This might be morbid, but I find old cemeteries to be absolutely beautiful.

My mom saw no problem bringing several bags like this in her check in luggage.  She did get stopped by security but surprisingly not detained :-)

Bloody Mary time with the fam.

Although it was cold, the lake was still beautiful! 

 Roasting marshmallows with the kiddos.

Both sets of my grandparents are buried in cemeteries only a few miles apart, we were able to visit them all.

Ah...  and the trip home, only 15 hours in the car.

Those were the highlights, minus the karaoke videos...  I might get into some major trouble sharing those with the World Wide Web of Embarrassment :-)  I am horribly busy right now with the school year coming to an end and handling the back up from traveling.  I am hoping that once school is out, it will allow some time for me to blog more.  I have plenty to share!!!  Until next time, Happy Travels!

Trip Pix

Sooo....  I am from Las Vegas.  Born and raised, I moved away when I was in high school and then when I went to college, my parents moved back home.  I stayed in the Midwest and I have acclimated to the point where I don't know if I could assimilate back into the Vegas culture.  Regardless... I love to visit.  If not for the fact that it is home and it is Las Vegas, but because a good portion of my family lives there and I love to visit them.  We recently got home after a weeks long trip and I am just now able to post pics of our trip's Insta-highlights.

Hometown LOVE right here:

We went rock scrambling at Red Rock Canyon:

Took at trip Downtown:

You can't visit the Southwest without eating at In-N-Out Burger...  they have THE BEST burgers!

 My baby cousin had a birthday while we were out there:

So, us old fogies tagged along for a night on the Strip:

Our trip was centered around our anniversary, so we renewed our vows.... Vegas Style!!  Making sure that our officiant was the same Elvis that was at our wedding reception.....

10 years ago!!!

That's it for now...  I have a few projects in the works, and of course Fall is almost here and you know what that means?!?!?!  Tis the season to start yarning...  crochet and knitting, here I come!!!  Until next time!!!

Chicago-Grams

We took a family trip to Chicago last week and here are some of the Insta-highlights.

 Until next time, Happy Travels!