An "after" among the "befores".

Roger was out of town on business all last week.
When he is away I like to paint stuff and put holes in the walls. :)
This time I did a sweet little surprise for him in our bedroom.
I bought a couple of chairs off of KSL last month. The fabric is all wrong for our room. But they are Ethan Allen chairs. Sturdy and comfy. So they will get slip covers. (What color though? I can't decide.)
Anyway, I felt like we needed something on the wall above our chairs so I decided to do a gallery wall there.
The subject is US.
I love how it turned out. He says he does too.

The antique mirror and our monograms are from the makeover I did in our old master bedroom.
The smaller frames are spray painted thrift store frames with wedding photos, a few lines from our wedding vows, places we've spent time together (Subway Art style) and a piece of scrapbook paper with one line from "our song".
The big "Est. 1998" (the year we were married) sign I made using the tutorial found here. I mostly stumble my way through all things computer related but this tutorial really helped me make good use of a program I didn't even know I had before last week.

So the gallery wall is the "after" part of the post.
The "before" part is the chairs that need slipcovers. Seriously. What color? I don't want white. Yellow tones would disappear into the wall. Brown tones might disappear into the carpet but we're sort of leaning that way anyway. Maybe a print with purples but that's tricky. Roger doesn't seem to like prints. Hmm...
The hope chest needs to be refinished or painted. I love it and it means a lot to me, so it's staying in the room. But the color needs to change.
The lamp is really too small but it was a gift to me from Roger's mom and I really love it, so it stays too.
It's sitting on a half finished project - a hat box that was previously covered in a Christmas-y print. It just needs another coat of spray paint and some kind of other fluffy embellishment. Maybe a fabric flower or something.
The bedroom is finally starting to feel cozy. It's such a big room. This is not a complaint. I'm just not used to dealing with so much space. Especially in a bedroom. And the super high vaulted ceilings made it feel kind of cavernous.
But it's definitely coming together now.
If you have any ideas for me on those befores, PLEASE leave them in the comments. :)

His biscuits

 Only 3 ingredients. Self rising flour, buttermilk and MAGIC.

That's why I love him.

Renewing Date Night!

Roger and I love having date nights. I think every marriage needs them regularly!

Last year was so full of weekends spent taking care of two houses and then the holidays, and then...

We kind of  let them slide.

But thanks to a nice holiday bonus, we renewed our season passes to Hale Center Theatre this year.

Which means we have at least 6 date nights already in the bag for this year.

Starting tonight with a comedy! Born Yesterday

Bad wife!!!

I totally forgot to brag about how my super sweet husband surprised me with a gift while we were on our little Valentine's Day getaway.
He did!
He presented me with a gift certificate to

ZEN!!!
Click the ZEN and see what an awesome gift it is!!!

So, I will be enjoying a leisurely massage there very soon.

Thanks, honey! You're the best!

Thanks Honey!!!

You're the BEST!!! XOXO

Today In My Life

We had a nice start to the weekend today! My back is feeling a lot better now. Still not 100%. Maybe 75%. But well enough to feel like getting out with the aid of my friends, Valium and TENS. LOL
My super cool friend and neighbor, Lori, hooked us up with a great deal on some red potatoes! 25 pounds for $7.50. Can't beat that! I have no idea where she got such a great deal. I was afraid to ask. She might have to kill me if she told me. So we'll just quietly go about the business of enjoying some delicious red potatoes and you can all just be uber jealous. okay? okay!

Today was the pick up day for the September Community Supported Agriculture coop. We are as pleased this month as last. What a great way to support local farmers and companies!
We got the Nutty Guys sampler. Local products. Super yummy! The bag of cashews alone would sell for nearly $6 in the grocery store but we got cashews, trail mix, golden raisins and peanuts all for only $10.

We ordered the Harvest Share again. $14. This month that included 5 gala apples, 5 Brigham City peaches (no secret how much I LOVE those!), 5 Utah pears, 5lb bag of organic red potatoes, 2 organic Utah acorn squash, 3 organic Utah green bell peppers, 6 organic Utah sweet corn, 5 Utah tomatoes, 3 pomegranates (I must admit though that these are the tiniest pomegranates I've ever seen. LOL) Almost forgot! We also got one loaf of artisan wheat bread and a pound of brown rice.
We also ordered the Farmer's Market share, all organic. $13.50 This month that included a spaghetti squash, 3 large potatoes, 5 tomatoes, 2 onions, 1 acorn squash, 1 yellow pepper, 1 red pepper and an unidentified herb. Anybody know what that is? LOL

Can't wait to make some yummy meals with all this healthy stuff this week.
After we grabbed our CSA pick up and put away the perishables we loaded up Emily and Jaxon and headed for the mountains! Oktoberfest is going on up at Snowbird. The weather was lovely! About 70 degrees with a nice little breeze.

We had some good food! Emily even managed to have an adventurous attitude about trying new foods. And there wasn't really anything she didn't like. We had Paprika Chicken, German Potato Salad, Saurkruat, Chicken and Apple Sausages and Apfelstrudel. In the end, she and Jaxon were most excited about the German Chocolate Cake though.
I also employed my sense of adventure and tried some BEER! After all these years I finally had a beer I liked! All it took was a brew which involves chocolate malt. Ha! How could that be bad?!
I wonder how hard it will be to find Uinta Oktoberfest Black Bier when it isn't actually Oktoberfest anymore?
We enjoyed the German song and dance performances while we ate.

We spent a little time watching the 1996 yo-yo champion do his thing. That was fun.
And then Emily and Jaxon spent some time at Kinderland. Bounce houses, slides and wild, energetic playtime.



We spent some time at Der Marktplatz. Checking out the wares of local craftsman. Emily got a great crocheted rainbow colored hat that drew many compliments. Jaxon got a new pillow for his bed with a very special Disney Cars pillowcase.
I was drawn to a handmade jewelry booth. This bracelet seemed to call out to me and I went back two or three times to consider buying it.


Finally the woman who made the jewelry took my hand and said that it was the Blue Lace Agate stones on the bracelet that I really needed. She said she could sense that I've had some tension and unrest lately and that the blue lace agate is a calming stone that helps us to speak and think on a rational plane. Also that the amethyst stones would help to balance thoughts. Hocus pocus or devine intervention? You decide. But the fact is that I try to live my life drama free but sometimes drama finds it's way in anyway when I least expect it. So I bought the bracelet. And I'll wear it for serenity. I think it's helping already. ;)
I also bought a necklace for my friend for Christmas. It promises to bring all the good and healing things I could wish for her. Shh...it's a secret. Don't tell her.
My back finally had had enough and we made the long trek back to the truck and headed for home.
I'll leave you with a few pics we took on our way out. What a beautiful part of the planet we are blessed to call home, huh?

Eleven Years

Happy Anniversary to Us!!

Happy Birthday Studmuffin!

I hope you had a great birthday!
Thanks for all you do for our family.
And for being hotter than ever!
Love, Sugarbritches

My first WW rebellion.

So Roger and I had a date night last night.
We went to see Treasure Island at Hale Theater. It was a good show. Most impressive was the 12 foot deep diving pool built into the set. It was amazing! There were pirates diving and being thrown overboard all evening. We were luckily not sitting in the splash zone but it was fun to watch. I'm always so impressed with the many different ways they can recreate that stage.

Before the play we went out to dinner. I decided before we went that I was not going to think about points for this one meal. I would just order whatever looked good to me.
We went to Johnny Carino's. I had a salad with ranch dressing. Just regular ranch. And I had about 1/3 of the loaf of bread they bring with your meal. Dipped in the herbed olive oil with roasted garlic of course. I ordered the Jalapeno Garlic Tilapia


which has been my favorite menu item there for a long time. I could only eat half of it. And I was actually full a little sooner than that. And for dessert I had a peach bellini.


Yum!
So weird though...
A few months ago I would have had the salad, a whole loaf of bread for myself, some stuffed mushrooms appetizers, the entire tilapia entree and possibly some tiramisu for dessert.
Oy!
No wonder I was nearly 50 pounds overweight.
So in 14+ weeks I finally had a night of rebellion. I don't count the Market Street incident since I didn't intend to have a 67 point meal. I actually thought I was making a decent choice that time. LOL
The rebellion is over. I have .8 lb more of myself than I did yesterday morning as a result. But that's okay. I'm back on program and I'm sure I'll overcome that by Sunday morning weigh in.
It was fun to eat like a King (Queen?) for one meal.
It was when I ate like a King every day, all day, that I created problems for myself.

I did a BAD, BAD thing.

But it was SO, SO good!!!

~Crab Stuffed Mushrooms (9 points per serving)
~Green Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing ( I'd guess about 5 points)
~Fresh Alaskan Halibut Oscar (33 points per serving. I should have only half next time. :P )
~Buttered Parsley Potatoes (I'd guess about 4 points)
~Raspberry Almond Tort (The whole recipe is 95.5 points. Yikes! But it sure is DIVINE!
1/8 would be almost 12 points. 1/6 would be almost 16 points. I'm not sure how they cut it for each portion.)

YUM!!!

We've had a Gastronomy Gift Card laying around for many months and decided to use it for a date night last night.
One of the reasons we haven't been in a big hurry to use it is that our last two visits to the Cottonwood location were a bit disappointing. So this time we went to the South Jordan Market Street Grill location and we were not disappointed. So delicious!
I was just guessing that I had used up all my weekly WW points on this meal and what was left of my points for the day yesterday. But just now I saw that their website has the actual recipes for these dishes. So I could figure out the exact number of points. But do I dare????
If I decide to figure it out I'll come back here and add the points values to the list above. Ya know, for future reference. ;)

This splurge resulted in a 1.5lb weight gain from yesterday morning. Yikes! I think I'll be able to recover by Sunday's weigh in though. And I was surprised to find that this indulgence didn't set me on the slippery slope at all. I was happy to get back on the program immediately.
It was really good though.
A nice reward for an impeccable month on the weight loss plan. :)
*OMG!! 67 point dinner!?!?!
I need to go to Heather's. Maybe I should walk.

Dearest Studmuffin

Thank you...

For working so hard for our family.

For sharing and supporting my opinions about the importance of our children having a stay at home parent.

For loving me so much. Sometimes more than I think I deserve.

For breakfast in bed last weekend.

For setting my coffee each morning, even when I forget to set yours.

For putting up with my Christmas tree pants.

For having such a kind and loving heart.

For warming my feet.

For chocolate milk and raspberry filled powdered donuts.

For whatever comes next.

Forever and a day,
Sugarbritches

My domestic tips for today.

1) If your husband (or you!) snores like a rusty chainsaw, go to IKEA and buy this pillow . You'll have the quietest night in your 10+ years of marriage.
Get one for yourself too and, for the first time in over a year, you won't wake up with your bad shoulder screaming in pain.
A quiet husband and shoulder? Definitely worth $40 plus tax.
2) Shave all their heads. All of them. Save yourself an hour of cleaning hair off the beater bars of your swivel sweeper and vacuum. If you own a set of clippers you'll save on haircuts too.

Where did I put those clippers?

Another IMO

Roger and I FINALLY managed a date night last night. Turns out that paying for a date night is not the most challenging part of having one. It's finding the time!
So, having accumulated some date night funds, we made good use of them.
This was going to be a post about a great date night deal that Costa Vida in West Valley offers. For $25 you get two meals, two drinks and two movie tickets to the Ritz theater across the street. Unfortunately, when we got to Costa Vida we were told that they aren't offering that deal right now but that they would be bringing it back next month. So, there's your cheap date night deal suggestion for next month. LOL
We ate there anyway because we love it. And then we did some clothes shopping at Old Navy (I scored jeans for $10 and a $6 blouse!) and then back to the movies.
We saw Ghost Town. It was great! Hysterically, side splitting funny much of the time. A little sappy some of the time. Overall, we really enjoyed it. Click here to see the trailer.
I had forgotten how much I enjoy Tea Leoni's acting. She's very funny and quite beautiful. She always seems to be very comfortable in every role I've ever seen her in. She makes you forget it's acting.
And I had never heard of Ricky Gervais before but he was brilliant! What a great comedic talent!

Happy 10th to Us!

Yesterday was our 10th anniversary.
10 years later I stand here in pretty much the same place that we started.
~Scared of the challenges that lie ahead.
~Hopeful for our family, our marriage, our lives.
~Excited to see what the future holds for us.

"A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year." Paul Sweeney

Happy Birthday Honey!

How blessed I am that you came into this world 29 years ago ;) to sweep me off my feet, help me raise 7 beautiful children and bring sweat to the back of my knees.

I love you!

Happy Birthday!

Another Grandma Daycare Monday.

Soo....tired.
Well, I started Jaxon on the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child method of getting him to sleep thru the night.
Last night he cried for 2 1/2 hours.
OMG!
Tonight it was only 40 minutes.
Thank God!
This plan better work or he and I will both need therapy.
Last night he went on to sleep over 7 hours straight which is longer than he has in months. I didn't have as much luck. I guess I'm used to snuggling my little man and protecting him from Daddy's flailing arms. And I didn't know what to do with all the extra space in the bed!
He was more pleasant today. And he ate much better then he has been. I think he was getting his belly full of "Mommy Juice" thru out the night and then wasn't really very hungry during the day.
Today Jaxon and Caydance fell down the stairs together. Jaxon was at the top of the stairs and Caydance was halfway down. He fell and took her down with him. She has a bruise on her face and Jaxon doesn't have a scratch. I guess she broke his fall. Oy vey!
Kayleigh and Brad must have been afraid I'd let her fall down the well or something because Brad came 3 hours early to pick her up. LOL (j/k we don't really have a well!)
On a pleasant note: Roger and I finally had a date night Friday night. They are few and far between these days. We gotta do something about that.
We saw Once On This Island at the local community theater. It was good but I wasn't fully committed to it till almost intermission.
Then we had dinner at Market Street Oyster Bar. It's still very expensive and very crowded but not as good as it used to be. Oh well, the company was good even if the crab cakes were not. :)
After dinner we spent some time at the book store where I bought the previously mentioned book. Results are not in on that one yet. ;)
Even on a daycare day I managed to get some sewing done. Added a few more rows to Tukker's quilt. I need to finish it and get on with the plethora of other projects swirling in my head.
I have two new grandbabies coming that need their own "special projects".
Off to see what it's like to go to bed early.
That should be interesting.