Coast trip

Thanks to Hurricane Dolly, our coast trip was cut short. We were supposed to spend the week in Rockport, and instead we ended up with one good beach day before heading home.

I guess that is what I get for not checking the weather before leaving home!

There is nothing quite like driving to the beach, only to be met by highway signs saying "Hurricane forming in the gulf...please fill your gas tanks!". It was one of those unbelievable, you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me moments.

Tanner was clueless and had a GREAT time building sand castles and playing in the water. He was so funny the first time he put his face under the water and came up spitting. He ran over and said "who put the salt in there??". Too cute!!

On the way home, we were talking about the beach and the salt water. Tanner informed us that a blue man put the salt in there while it was dark. Where does he get this stuff??!!

Thankfully our beach cottage gave us a voucher for two free nights the next time we go down - so we will have to reschedule our beach trip. And next time I will be sure to check the weather first!




Tanner chasing the sea gulls!

Neopolitan ice cream

It all started with this fabric:

After a year of trying to decide what colors to redo the kitchen, I found this fabric at my FAVORITE furniture and fabric store.

I carried a swatch around in my wallet for a few months and then finally decided to take the plunge. You would think I was buying a new house, not just painting the kitchen!

I decided to paint one accent wall chocolate brown, with the other walls green and the cabinets cream. Oh, and the fabric for the window treatments.

So...I painted the brown wall first. When I first opened the can, I felt like I was in an episode of Trading Spaces. Staring at this open paint can and wondering why in the world I thought that was going to look good. Why is it that the color in the can is nothing like the color once it is on the wall??

But I took the plunge and once it was painted, I breathed a sigh of relief. I actually liked it.

Then on to the green. That is where it started going downhill. As I started to paint one of the walls, I began to wonder why this didn't look like the color chip. Again, why is that?? I let it dry hoping that the color would improve - but no such luck.

All I could think was that I needed a pink wall and we would have neopolitan ice cream. Not exactly the look I was going for!

So off to Home Depot for round #2 in the green paint selection. And I think I got it this time! It looks much better with the brown.

And now if I can just decide on what style I want for the curtains...oh the decisions!

Crazy roadrunner

I guess you could say that we live in the country. It's not like we have acreage or a farm - but we are about 15 miles out of town. Which means that we get all sorts of critters. Like the raccoons that found our kitchen trash can when we set it outside one night. Or the deer who find great pleasure in eating my freshly planted flowers.

Our latest visitor has been a roadrunner. Now, its not like we have never seen them around. But just not quite like this!

Earlier this week, Chris and I were sitting on the couch and kept hearing a strange noise on our dining room sliding door. When we finally got up to check - this is what we found.




The crazy thing was trying desperately to get inside - or he saw something he wanted. I don't know what the problem was, but he continued to peck on our door for a good 10 minutes! Chris immediately began to wonder if roadrunners can have rabies :)

Yesterday evening, Chris spotted the same roadrunner on our neighbor's roof pecking on the chimney pipe.

And then this morning, I found him on top of Chris's truck. He wasn't too excited about that!

So, now we are under strict instructions to not leave the doors open for ANY REASON! Chris is convinced that this bird would make a mad dash for inside our house if given the opportunity. Strange stuff...

Online shopping tip

Ok, I admit it...I love online shopping! The fact that I can jump online and buy something with a few clicks of the mouse, and then have it delivered to my door...it brings me great joy and satisfaction. However, being the frugal, coupon loving person that I am - I only like to shop online when I can find a great deal.

So I thought I would share my latest find. It is called ebates. This website rocks!

You simply link to the store of choice from their website and you get cash back for shopping. I used them last week for the first time. I ordered some ink cartridges for my printer and I got 17% cash back. Gotta love that!!

I just received my email today telling me that I had $9.48 cash back in my account. So if you have some online shopping to do, check them out!

And even better, if you sign up and list me as your referral - we will each get $5 credited to our account! So sign up here...and tell your friends :)

Getting paid to shop...what could be better??!!

Happy Birthday America!

We had a great 4th of July with my family! We left early Friday morning and met them in Fredericksburg for the parade. It was a fantastic parade with the all American, patriotic feel that you would expect from a small town. It seems like most of the parades we have been to the past few years resemble a rolling yellow pages ad - with every local business in the town driving their car down the road with their signs all over it. Not really my idea of a parade. But the Fredericksburg parade was different. There were a few local businesses that advertised with a float but most of the entries were a salute to our great country. It had everything from vintage cars and tractors to WWII era army vehicles. There were also a number of military themed floats and everyone seemed to have a real respect and appreciation for those serving our country. Tanner had a great time and waved his little flag at everyone that went by!






After dinner, we went back into Fredericksburg for the fireworks show. It was a GREAT show and we had a great spot very close to the action. It reminded me of fireworks shows when I was a kid where it felt like they were falling on you. It was a little too loud and too close for Tanner who spent most of the time watching from inside the car! And then he decided he needed to go to the bathroom right at the end, so he and Chris missed the fantastic finale! Poor Chris!!

Overall, I was very impressed with the Fredericksburg festivities - we just might have to make it a tradition!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We are so incredibly fortunate to live in such a wonderful country with the freedom that we have. May we never take for granted all the sacrifice that is represented in that freedom!