They Used to Own the World

Opal and LaMoyne Peters are in their 90s.

They are gorgeous, full of love and history and brimming with laughter.

I went over to their house two nights ago.

The house they have lived in and loved for 70 years.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of the curtains, couches, tables, clocks...

I listened and listened to the history that they lived.  It was glorious.

Opal also gave me a treasure of vintage clothes.

My heart will be happy from this night for months, years...forever?

I am going to do a post soon showing the clothes and hopefully sharing how great they are.

I mean, these guys are the best.

They are still ranching and they are 90.  90!!

Meet Opal and LaMoyne

Opal and LaMoyne.  Married for 70 years.

Tiptoe through our shiny city

**This is an artist's work from the Owl Barn Calender I told you about a few posts ago**

2010 is about to go out the door

It’s hard to believe that it’s December.  I’ve been looking forward to this month for over 2 years now.  In 17 days we will be traveling to Illinois for Christmas and then the hubs and I will be coming back here to New Mexico, packing the moving truck and going to San Diego.  

Really, my heart is about to burst with excitement

A lot of me completely loves where we are, but I'm kind of suffocating at the same time.

For the past few months we’ve been living mainly out of boxes so we don’t have too much packing to do, but there is so much other things that we have to get done.

The things that top the list is

1. Find a place to live that is cheap and hopefully close to some beach

2. Find a job that I don’t hate that pays reasonably

Any help on either number would be much appreciated

I’ve been applying to multiple jobs every day (yesterday I was talking to a retreat leader and instead of telling him I would give him the receipt I used the word resume) and it’s hard not to get frustrated with the whole situation.  

I promise you that I’m a gem of an employee ( yes indeed ) but I also don’t think that I can express it through a paper document.

Oh well, things work out.

To another subject

I have actually made sales this week in my etsy store

When I started last week I was trying to fortify myself to wait for weeks (((months))) for the first one.  I just have to say thanks to all my friends who are supporting me on this venture.  I just got back from visiting an old friend in town with a few pieces and she ended up buying my navy, sailor dress.  Sharing these loves I've find with other loves in my life have made me really happy.

Brad actually told me yesterday that I would have to go get more things to put in the store.  Craziness.

To yet another subject

We’ve decided to buy as many secondhand, vintage and handmade Christmas gifts as possible.

It’s kind of been kicking my ass

I love supporting friends on Etsy, but my 20 dollar budget per person tends to come up short.  I also have no idea what to get the men on my list. 

Any suggestions???

Overall though I’m so glad that we’re doing it.  When we get settled in to San Diego I plan on putting a lot more types of things in my store and make myself be crafty crafty crafty.

My heart is so ready for this to happen ssssoooooonnnnnnnn

*Twin Time*
Which one is me?

nephew time

Niece time (I've got 4!)

Sad news in the Animal Room front

R.I.P. Granny and Pa (our mediocre ring neck doves)

I'm sorry this guy and his friend Brandi Alexander (the other ferret) 

got out and literally ripped your necks open.

Apologies

Well Dearies,

Happy December

who knew it came after Novermber?

Goo Goo G'joob

The title of this post is dedicated to the Beatles being on iTunes.  

Hip Hip Hooray

Hip Hip Hooray

Hip Hip Hooray

My hubs has been trying to find their music on vinyl, but now we can finally have them.  The adventure for vinyl won't stop though.  Don't worry.

**********************************************

My etsy shop is now open.  I have started small, but it will get bigger and better and more everything good.

I have way more to put on.  When I do, be on the lookout for a giveaway ;)

**********************************************

It is getting super cold here.  When I was in Illinois (long before I met my husband, or anyone from here) I thought New Mexico was a desert like state with hardly any inhabitants.  To the contrary, lots of the state is gorgeous and mountainous.  The other parts are more scrub like than desert.  Anyway, being up 7000 feet in any state means super cold temperatures.  The cabin we're at (only for around 20 more days) is the epitome of a mountain cabin, along with the lack of actual heat.  Needless to say, it is quite cold inside and out now.

Don't pity me too much (I'll take a little) because it's the holiday season, we're moving to sunny CA after the New Year and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger (or something).

Last week was full of happy things: food, friends, family and my birthday.  Honestly, it's always hard to be away from the twin on our day of birth.  This year we had lunch with B's parents and afterwards I suggested we just head home, but my wonderful husband decided that we would check out all of our local thrift stores.  It ended up to be a great, lovely, thrifting fantastic day.  

The sun was also lovingly bright.

This belt is lovely and bold, but it tends to slip up a bit.  B isn't the best at spotting little details like that to fix.  He's still great for just taking the picture in the first place.

I'm 26 and 26 starts with a 2

And ends with a 6.  I'm not a huge fan of the look of these tights, but they are lined with micro-fleece, which is amazing on blustery, cold days

The Fire Lady

Thrift stores can't heal everything, but it helps on days when everything is going quite your way.  They are magical places in many ways.

Tomorrow is December (one hour away here in Mountain time).  I love that and I hate it.  My family continues to grow and each year we have more and more to buy for.  I really love giving things to people I love.  It's a delicious feeling.

I hope everyone is bundled up and smiling.  

Let's hear it for the best December ever.

Owlendar

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

We seriously have so much to give thanks for.

SO DON'T BE A GRUMP!

My heart wishes I was with family in Southern Illinois, but I've got a great fam in New Mexico as well.

This is also my last post as a 25 year old.

SHIT SHIT SHIT

I'm about to jump into the wide world of etsy/ebay vintage clothes selling

**input sentence from two lines up**

I asked my hubby yesterday to have faith in me.  I told him I'd get money.  I might be an idiot.

ok, off to fill  my belly with cranberry sauce and turkey.

(I initially put feel my belly which is not what I meant and weird to say)

GOBBLE

--weeds and whimsy--

P.S.
I'm thankful for you
ssshhhhh,  don't tell

Romance and Happy Days

Happy Almost Thanksgiving everyone!!

AANNDDDD it's almost my birthday (Friday!!)

There are some downers about working for a Christian, non-profit (low pay being the main one), but we get a whole paid week off for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I had no idea about it until a few days ago.  Imagine my glee when hearing that I had 3 more days before a 9 day break.

Pure Glee.

Don't be too jealous my sweets ;)

I have had my wedding pictures back for weeks.  Sorry I haven't posted them quicker.

Here are my favorites (I loved tons of them).  I hope you all enjoy them.

I'm making the cranberry sauce for the family gathering this Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving eating everyone!!

Surprises are the best because you aren't expecting them

Yesterday was the husband's birthday.  He's 26, as I will be in a matter of weeks.

SSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO

Me being the great wife I am, I planned a secret trip to Santa Fe (I planned this trip the day before--I plan things way in advance).  Wednesday night (the day I planned the trip and the night before we left) I had to work in the office to make up for the days that I would be missing.  On a side note, my bosses are super great.  They not only let the hubs and I have two days off with no notice at all, but they were so excited for us.  At the office I had time to get some ideas of things to do in Santa Fe (I always like to have some sort of plan in my head to make sure our time is full of stuff we love).

When I got home I did my best to hint at the hubs that I had no plans at all (I'm so coy).  Inside I was dying,  when I get excited it's hard for me not to spill it.  I made it through the night and we both went to bed (one of us was excited because it was his birthday the next day and one of us was excited because of my genius).

Now, I usually leave for work around 8 (it's so convenient to live a minute and a half away from work).  I wanted B to think that it was just a normal day, but I couldn't sleep so I woke him up and basically yelled that neither one of us was going to work for the next two days.  It was joyous.

I won't bore you with the details of the trip but it was a great day with my favorite person ever.

Never mind that last sentence because I am going to tell you some things about the trip.

I made reservations at this little, boutique hotel right off the historic Santa Fe plaza, the Luxx Hotel.  It turned out to be a gorgeous, really homey space that I would definitely go to again, but here is the kicker.  We went around 5 to check in and we couldn't get into the place.  It had three entrances but they all had number pads and I had never been given a code at all.  There wasn't a buzzer or anything little thing to give us a clue to get inside.

Does this seem weird to anyone else?  How do these guys not think that this little hiccup isn't a pretty big deal?

Anyways, B and I don't have cell phones (I know, it's kind of odd but we like it that way).  So we had to find a pay phone which, everyone, let me tell you those effing things are hard to find.  The first two didn't work and  the third one was monopolized by a German fellow that talked for 20 minutes.  When I got a hold of the hotel they didn't think it was weird at all that we couldn't get in.  Honestly, I'm not too upset about it because it was kind of a funny adventure.

We finally made it in and this hotel doesn't really have a lobby just kind of a loungy hang out room and it also has a communal kitchen which I really loved.  I felt like the whole place was like a huge house (it wasn't like a corporate hotel at all) and we were just in town for the night and they had invited us over or something.  We stayed in the Sanctuary Suite (it says that there is a hot tub and a kitchenette but those were all communal and not actually in our rooms) it was unlike any hotel room I'd been in before.  My camera died after the first 5 or so pictures (I maybe forgot to bring the charger--or charge the batteries that I have before we went) but I got some pictures of our room.

Sorry, no outfit pictures.  My head loves this hat though!  Excitement

Overall, I'm glad I chose it, but what in the hell Luxx people?  Why do you make it so hard to get inside?

I love birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween. Shit, every single day that I could possibly get excited about, I do-because why not?  The days that I get to be with family and give people things and tell them how much I love them (without being too weird) are my favorites.

So, of course, my husband's birthday basically tops the list.  Seriously, he's the best ever and I don't care who knows it.

I hope you all are ready for a kick ass weekend.  It's fall so get out and smell some foliage.

--weeds and whimsy--

The Best Sunflower Yet

ICK

It's already dark and I hate it.

Why do we do this to ourselves every year?

Spring is coming soon right? (hush)

I'm trying to cheer us all up by these bright pictures.

On Sunday when we went out taking pictures (of me and my white duds) we accidentally forget the dress I was originally wearing at the first site (we just drove off without it ((ridiculous))).  I had one other dress with me and we stopped at a Goodwill and my zipper broke on my other dress.  So, I had to pick another dress out at the Goodwill or wear my wedding dress for the entire day.  Don't worry though, the dress was there when we swung back around.  Anyway, I found this little burlap sackish type dress which sounds horrid, but I really love it.

It's different and Southwestern and rugged??? that may sound stupid.  Oh, it also has pockets which brings up my love for a piece of clothing exponentially. 

Friends, I'm just pissed about this night time crap.

How can I be functional when it's dark by the time I get off of work at 4:30pm.

They just want us to watch more tv and be sluggish.

Does it mean that I'm not a strong person when I'm so sad on day one of this early set in darkness?

Maybe

It just makes me want to listen to folk music all night.

Here's to finding ways to keep sane through the winter.

--Weeds--

P.S. I'm knitting like a dream

Just a Cage of Rib Bones and Other Various Parts

I know this is the second post in a day.  Apologies, but remember how I told you all about my Wedding Day Shoot?

Well, it happened on Sunday and it was a gorgeous, sunny and all types of lovely day and I just received a sneak peak from my photographer.

I was nervous about them because I had felt rather strangely about walking around in my wedding dress so I had a little bit of an uneasy feeling about it.

I really love this picture though.  I have high hopes about the rest of them, excitement doesn't even describe it.

Our first stop was at a place right outside of Tularosa, NM where there were a lot of boxcars.  About five minutes after pulling up there were two old, happy men that pulled up in their 4 wheeler asking us what we were doing.  They were basically giggling at us after I told them about the wedding shoot.

The title of this post are lyrics from the Ingrid Michaelson song Breakable which is the song I walked down the aisle to.  Memories.  I'm such a girl sometimes.

Again, sorry for the bombardment of posts.

--Whimsy--

Staying Glued Together

Let's let this crisp air to get in our bones.

I think God knows exactly what you need to keep going.  In my case it's blue skies, crisp air and that pine smell that can only really be felt in the mountains.

Good music.  Good books.  Good family.  Good friends.

such a lucky girl.

I started knitting a week ago.  I love it.  It's a mess.  Truly a mess.  I've always made things, random things.  I think we've all got a love for creating beautiful things within us.

I keep finding such creative people.  They just ooze all this good stuff out of themselves.  It's infectious.

I am now in a constant search of things that I could create some day (far away) with my own two hands (and a very limited budget).

^^These are all from Sadie & Oliver^^

^^These gems are all handmade by Karen and Kristen at Fink^^

^^Everything by Call Me Mimi^^

Ok, so the dresses are way out of my league, but I couldn't not show how great those are.  People made them.  I'm a person.  You're a person.  I just want to make things all day.

I am going to stop rambling.

I found this Autumn dress a few weeks ago (on treasure day).  I wore it on Sunday, but didn't get any pictures of it.  So, I wore it again yesterday (so what).  I feel like a forest nymph (not in a weird way) when I wear it.

I now want some pumpkin pie and ginger cookies. 

The hubs came home with tons of candy for me a few nights ago.  He knows me so well. 

Whether you create by putting words together, or outfits or if you are like me and dabble in way too many things I hope that this weekend is perfect.  

Go get inspired.  

November is the Birthday Month

Growing up we had birthday months.

I think this was an invention of my oldest sister

Everyone should have a birthday month.

I received this little piece of bliss a few days ago

It's a lens that is made especially for dim light conditions.  It also has crazy good focusing.

I love it.  I've messed around with it just for a bit.

Here are some of the first shots.

As you can see I'm a knittin'.  Still pretty horrible about it, but I'm doing it.  

((((you're doing it Peter))))

I was knitting while the hubs was working at a Fall Festival/Halloween Fair.

***Did you hear about the cat who ate the ball of yarn?***

**she had mittens ((welcome to my joke world))**

These were some of the guys we brought with us

There's Brandy in the upper left and Burns on the bottom

ESCAPE!!!

Life's a dream some time.

How is Fall treating everyone?

I wish I could wear these colors all year round.

Go November!

Must Have

I have been thinking about this for a long time.  It may be my favorite discovery ever.

A few days ago Brad and I went to some friends of ours and they had one.  Now I know for sure that this was meant to be.

Let me introduce my new love.

No matter how long it takes, I will get a black standard poodle.  Look how great these dogs are.

Madelyn, our friend's dog, is 13 and turning gray, but she is the most beautiful, awesome looking dog I have ever seen.

Can't you just see me and my standard poodle frolicking on the beach together.

It makes my heart happy just thinking about it.  We will be fashion icons together.

I also LOVED what I wore for our dinner night (when I met the aforementioned dog of my dreams).  

I had found a yellow dress that had the original Target tag on it (for $30 which I got for $4) but it shows every  little imperfection (((this is code for my hips/thigh region looked ungodly)))) so I put it under another thrift find.  I threw on a black/blue cardigan I had gotten on a recent trip back to home to Southern Illinois and a brown belt and it was so comfy and easy to wear.  

This is really going to be a go to outfit for me.  It has a splash of color along with some classic vintage pieces and I feel absolutely me in it.  The whole outfit costs around 20 bucks (which is another perfect thing about it).

I think this is the only hairstyle I've had for weeks now

this collar is one of my favorite things about this dress.  Such a good detail.

I got my first birthday present (it's still weeks away---how good is my husband?).  It's a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D  lens.  It's made for close-up pictures in dim light conditions.  I'm unbelievably excited about it.  Also, it made my blah day yesterday turn completely around.  I also got to belay at our camps rockwall which also always makes me  happy.  Give me the chance to show kids that they can do something that they originally thought was beyond them and I am on board.


TOMORROW IS MY WEDDING PHOTO SHOOT!!!!

I'm super nervous about looking stupid.  I know I know I know.  It will be great.  BBUUUTTTT I'm still worried about how they will all turn out.  A friend of mine is doing the shoot and it will be a fun day so I'm trying to get super excited about it.  My wedding was so long ago and I'm looking forward to having all those feelings rush back to me when I step into the dress.  I even bought fake eyelashes (wish me luck with those).

I'm probably going to bring some other outfits along to get the most out of my day with an actual photographer (who is doing the pictures for free b/c she is amazing).   Hopefully my next post will tell you all about our locations and everything.

Back to the beginning

I seriously can't stop thinking about what my life will be like with a standard.  Is it horrible that I'm excited about this dog and I haven't even began to think about little babies yet???  All my friends are having kids and I love that and I'm happy for them, but I can't imagine taking care of a little human.  Enough talk about that.  sheesh.

I'm going to get a hooded sweatshirt for my poodle to wear when it's cold.  It's going to be adorable, and she/he won't be a prissy poodle--just an unbelievably awesome looking dog that will go around with me and make me look cooler (I need all the help I can get).

Tell me about your pet wishes and dreams.  Do you have a pet now that is the most amazing thing ever?  Do you envision yourself with a great dane that you can put scarves on?

I'm sure this obsession of mine will keep popping up on here.  I just hope that I don't turn into a crazy dog lady before I even get one.

I'll leave you with this

P.S.

I am not dressing up for Halloween this year so please tell me all about your Halloween fun.  I MUST hear about it.