Zip To It

Jeff and I had a long weekend. His mother gave us a very nice Christmas gift last year for a zip line tour, one night stay and breakfast at Historic Banning Mills. We were told the tour would take about 3 to 4 hours. I assumed this meant we were going on a lovely nature hike to a zip line location and then back again. Nope. We zip lined for 4 hours from tree to tree, like Tarzan (sort of). We were in a group with about 15 strangers and we geared up (helmet, harness, crab claws, rope, gloves, etc.) and crossed a cable bridge and from there completed 9 zip lines from tree to tree.
The first one was about 450 feet. I had a scary feeling in my stomach for about 2 seconds and then 8 seconds later it was over. The rest of the zip lines were about 50 to 100 feet. Then the second tour was the final 5 zip lines of our package. We crossed several bridges in this tour, a couple of which only consisted of 3 cables; 1 for your feet and two for your arms. Think tightrope walking but safer. The longest zip line on this part of the tour was 1500 feet and Jeff and I got to race. He beat me but it was super fun going about 60 miles an hour way above a creek. The views really were amazing. We didn't take a bathroom break until the end of the tour. We could have but you have to take off all your gear and it's a bit of a hassle. Jeff also did the free fall. It cost extra but he got 2 jumps off a tower. He said it made the trip but I had no interest in doing that myself. You jump off the red platform. We did not take our cameras on the tour because we were concerned about losing them or damaging them. All the pictures we took were the next morning while watching another group get ready. Anyway, it was a super fun trip, very exhilarating. In my next post I'll talk about our trip to Helen.

Pretty Pots

I did a little painting this weekend. I was inspired by a YoungHouseLove project and it turned out that we had all the pots I needed (except 4 more purchased at Lowe's).
I also had to buy two cans of the Thompson's water seal and the outdoor latex paint. The whole painting process took several hours because I wanted to leave plenty of time for the pots to dry between coats. I did three coats but I think two coats would have worked. Sandi and Remy came to check on my progress throughout the day. I love how crisp and clean they are. However, these will not be used until March of next year. Many of you already know this but Jeff and I are getting married next March and these painted Terra Cotta pots will be the centerpieces for our dining tables. I know the solid white may look a little bland but they will be on tablecloths with a very strong green and white pattern. We'll fill them with white pansies or any other cute, white flower that is in season at the time. I have several tiny pots that I may paint later and use as decorations as well. This will be a largely DIY-ed wedding, inspired by the YoungHouseLove wedding page. Money is tight and it's going to be a very layed back, intimate affair so having the wedding at home just made sense. I will be doing several craft projects for the wedding/reception and we'll be making various improvements to the yard and deck. I'll try to post the crafts and improvements as they happen.

Sick September

It's the last day of my birthday month and when I say Sick September I don't mean it was a particularly awesome (sick, wicked, etc.) month, I mean I was sick for most of it. I think there was a 5 day period where I wasn't sick. I'm still sick today but I do feel like I'm on the mend.

Also, as a totally unrelated side story; some students were working on a campus scavenger hunt today. They had to stop by various offices and get signatures and one of the signatures was for the librarian. Enter moi. So, one student walks in and says, "I need your John Hancock." And I respond (naturally) with, "It's Herbie Hancock." I get a "What?" from the student. I ask if he's ever seen Tommy Boy and he says no. My first thought was how sad for him. My second thought was I must be really old. My third thought was what is this generations Tommy Boy?
Or even this generations Chris Farley? I know there could never be anther Chris Farley but you get my drift.

iBirthday

Friday was my 31st birthday. I took the day off (it's not too often that a birthday falls on a Friday), got a pedicure, read a book, watched some HGTV, went out to dinner and generally had a lovely day. I also bought myself a present. A few weeks ago I stopped by the PeachMac in Macon and asked about "trading in" my iPod Touch for an iPad 2. They said they would give me $103 for it. I said, "$130?" They said, "$103." That seemed like a low (and silly) figure so I decided to just buy the iPad 2 and not trade in my iTouch. Jeff sold my iTouch the next day through Craigslist for $200. Yippee!! I love the bigger screen on my iPad and I use it each and every day.

Madonna Made a Movie

Madonna has been making the rounds at film festivals lately to promote her new film W.E. I didn't really pay much attention to anything other than her outfits. It turns out that the film is about Edward VIII (who abdicated the throne) and Wallis Simpson. They referred to themselves as WE when corresponding--which is something I learned from one of the Leslie Carroll books I mentioned a few posts ago. I'm very excited about this film now. I know there's no chance it will be showing at a theatre in my town or probably anywhere in the state but I do hope to see it on DVD. Madonna's acting ability is hit or miss so I don't know what to expect from her directing. She was married to a director for nearly 10 years so maybe she picked up a trick or two. I just wanted to share this information in case anyone else was in the dark about the subject of this film.

Krueger

Jeff has numerous "decorative" items inside and outside the house. Most of these items are found objects and some are very valuable. Sometimes creatures take up residence in the outside items. This is the case with Krueger.

Over a year ago we noticed his web and occasionally saw the wolf spider peeking out. He would come out in full view mostly in the early morning or early evening hours. We are now on our third Krueger (or maybe 4th). They don't live very long and a younger spider will usually take over their "home". This Krueger is probably the biggest so far. We can see the fur on his legs. I know he's creepy but naming him (them) makes it a little easier. The name is perfect because when he's just peeking out of the lip of the jug all you can see are his legs. The image resembles the metal claws of Freddy Krueger.
I have never actually watched a Nightmare On Elm Street film all the way through. I usually say hello to spider Krueger on my way out the door to work and in the evening. He doesn't do much but wait for food to arrive. Jeff tries to feed him occasionally but I've never been around to witness that moment of bonding.

Netflix Streaming

For the past month or so I have been watching TV shows during my lunch break via Netflix streaming. I've also enjoyed watching the streaming shows at home through our Wii. The show watching first began with The Office.

Loved it. Love it. Next came 30 Rock. Loved it. Love it. I'll be super happy and super unavailable once the newest seasons are viewable. I did attempt to pace myself with these shows but they're only about 20 minutes long and just so funny that I would watch like 4 episodes in a row. I think between The Office and 30 Rock I watched all three seasons of Arrested Development. Hilarious. Can't believe it was cancelled. Then came Downton Abbey, a Masterpiece Theatre period drama.Downton Abbey is wonderfully acted and the new season should be coming soon. Glee (seasons 1 & 2) have all been viewed at work. They're about 40 minutes long and kind of entertaining but mostly embarrassing to watch. I did enjoy the music but I've made it through all the streaming episodes.

Next came Ghost Whisperer with Jennifer Boob Hewitt. I enjoyed the first couple of episodes but after a total of 6 I now realize that her Boobs are an actual character in the show. I could have sworn it was supposed to be family programing but most of her clothes were only a thread away from nipple exposure. Speaking of family programming; I attempted to watch The Tudors at work. BAD idea. Full frontal nudity within 4 minutes of episode 1. I couldn't logout fast enough. I love learning all I can about Henry VIII and his six ill-fated wives but the show is mostly just visual (a.k.a. raunchy) and not much aid for my thirst for knowledge. So, any miniseries' on a major movie network (HBO, Showtime, etc.) are not on my queue either. I've just started Parks and Recreation and I have high hopes. If only Modern Family were streaming! I bought the first season but have not seen any of the 2nd.I know this is the month that Netflix will be increasing the price of their services but I'm staying on as a customer. They've just made this form of entertainment so accessible.

Loo Redo

Jeff and I repainted our hall bathroom and added some coordinating accessories. Though Jeff despises painting, he was extremely helpful. First the accessories. You already saw my love birds on the tree canvas thingy. Here's something I bought from Kmart about a month ago. I wanted to paint it white so while I was in the bathroom painting Jeff was applying a few coats of white spray paint (with primer). Here's the bathroom before the redo.

Here's the bathroom after.



I'm sorry about the poor quality of the pictures. My camera is very old but you get the idea. I love the blue and white contrast and it's a very happy blue. This wasn't a super cheap redo but for a little over $100 (wall paint, new shower curtain, new shower curtain rod, new shower rod rings/hooks, wall art, hand towel hoop, caulk, nail hole filler) the changes make a huge impact. Jeff already had paintbrushes, rollers, and trim paint so that saved us some money. Plus, we did all the work ourselves which took about 2 days.

Faking It

I know that's a horrible post title but it will all make sense in just a moment. So, my obsession with the Young House Love blog continues and most days I'm reading about their latest projects or checking out links to other projects. They did some Pinterest stuff recently and I decided to see what the site was all about. I don't understand it at all but there are dozens of craft ideas with pictures and I came upon this one.
So cute! Then I tried to figure out how I could do something similar and change the initials in the tree (duh). I enlarged the picture to fill a regular sheet of paper (8 1/2 x 11) and printed it on thick paper. Then I cut out the tree using an x-acto knife. I taped my "stencil" onto a 9 x 12 canvas from Hobby Lobby and traced it with a pencil.


Then I removed the stencil and painted inside the lines with some wall paint (more on that later). I purchased another color for the birds, which is supposed to be dark grey but looks black. Ta da!
It looks like I hand painted it (sort of) but I just filled in the lines, thus faking it. This whole process did take some time and it's not as detailed as the original image but I love, love, love it and it's personalized in a subtle way.
I will do another post so you can see where this little guy will be staying but that project is not complete yet. Stay tuned...

New Favorite

I have a new favorite author (not to replace another favorite but to add to the list), Leslie Carroll. I've read two of her books and I'm halfway through a third. They are all non-fiction books about various royal persons throughout history. I just love them. The first one I read was Notorious Royal Marriages: A juicy journey through nine centuries of dynasty, destiny, and desire and it's probably my favorite of the three. The second Carroll book I read, Royal Pains: A rouges' gallery of brats, brutes, and bad seeds, was full of unbelievable stuff, gross stuff.

Now I'm reading Royal Affairs: A lusty romp through the extramarital adventures that rocked the British Monarchy. I love the subtitles. The writing is wonderful and I've learned so much like Catherine the Great invented the onesie and King James the I (of which the King James edition of the bible is named for) was gay. I know these are things I could learn from a history book or the dreaded Wikipedia but these are almost like reading a story. I like them so much I've purchased my own personal copies. She does write some fiction and I may be willing to give them a try.