Project #1......Check!

I'm very excited to reveal a project that has been in the works for months. D and I have a habit of buying things and then spending ridiculous amounts of time trying to make it better. Whether it be a house or a car, we are all about modifications. I shared with you a couple months ago the before pictures of our pop-up here. And today I finally finished the majority of our pop-up face-lift. Drum roll please..................

 

Instead of the typical ruffle (because I'm not a ruffly type of girl) I did a simple pleat.

I found a wonderful lady to reupholster my cushions and with some of the leftover canvas she made this cute pillow, I did add the flowers.

This was another fun project we did. I found this idea searching online. Space is at a premium in a pop-up so when I saw this idea we jumped on it. It is simply a closet shelf system attached to the back of our galley. We have a few more things we plan to do but that will have to wait until another payday.

I found this CAA-UUUTE decal on Ebay. I had to have it!

Our new PUP!

So I'm betting you think this is a post about a new puppy, right? Nope, we have entered the clan of Pop-Up owners. We purchased a 2001 Coleman Cheyenne Tent Trailer a couple of weeks ago and in the rush of normal everyday life we have been diligently learning everything we can about our new toy. I found a website called Popupportal.com that has been really helpful, but the one thing that stands out to me is the amount of pride and work people put into these things. I can honestly say I would be proud to join them. Pop-up's are such a strange little thing. People are all about doing different "mods" (modifications) to maximize space, decor, function, and use. I have seen so many cool ideas that I could just take off running with it. Alas, finances enter the picture and then I'm thrown back into reality that some things just take time. The first thing that is going to be done are the curtains. They are horribly faded and ugly. I'm sure they were nice at one time but I can't even tell what the original color was. Next will be the cushions. The upholstery is in good shape but ugly. And there is this little part of me that's a little OCD. Things have to match or coordinate and I wasn't going to coordinate my new curtains with the ugly upholstery. There are a few other small things that we are going to do and I plan to take you all along on our journey. We are leaving on our first trip next week where I hope I may get some curtains made (fingers crossed). Here are some photos of what we have.

This is our bed (king size)

This is the kids bed.

This is what pup owners call the galley. Stove, sink and fridge.

Ugly sofa

Ugly dinette cushions.

Here's a little taste of what you'll be seeing somewhere in the decor.

Now for something a bit fun.

I'm hoping this post will be a little bit more enjoyable to read than the last. Not to mention I need to get the title off of some of your blog rolls.
Yesterday we got home from our first (and probably only) camping trip of the year. We hooked up the truck to the trailer and hauled the dune buggy down to Marysvale, Utah along with my parents, brother, Grandma, Uncle Steve and Aunt Marla and their kids Brandon and Ricci with her new baby. My Uncle Kevin and his girlfriend Barbara were also able to join us. This trip served two purposes. First, Camping, enough said. Second, Friday was my mom's 50th Birthday. There was no way that she was going to not have some sort of party.
We left Thursday morning after some very hectic packing the night before. My mom rode with us and thank goodness she did. I was heavily preoccupied with pulling the trailer behind us and could not do anything for my kids. My Grandma rode with my dad and Twinkie. We met up for lunch with my brother and Aunt, Uncle, and cousins at Burger king in Nephi. After lunch we headed to Marysvale. I'll be honest this isn't really camping. My parents own the Taj Mahal of trailers, Blake (my brother) has a huge tent complete with a little table and chair. We stayed in a cabin that had a microwave and mini-fridge as well as a heater and a/c. We didn't have to go too far to find a flushing toilet and coin operated shower. But you know, this is an atv haven and your going to get dirty, and you have to clean up. We did the tent thing the first year we went there with Punkin when she was 18 months old. It wasn't bad, she just didn't sleep well which meant the other people in tents didn't either. Plus I don't have a tent large enough to accommodate us anymore. Anyway, we got there in one piece and started the fun right away. If the girls weren't conning rides out of their Uncle Blake they were either coloring or playing in the dirt. They played in the dirt probably the most, which meant baths every night. Friday I coordinated with my dad to take my mom on a long ride so that I could drive up to Richfield to pick up a cake and other items for her birthday. I left Punkin with my Grandma and Aunt and took Peanut with me. It took me a little more than an hour and when we got back we blew up some balloons and decorated the pavilion the campground has. After everyone returned from the trip we heard about all of the adventure, especially Ricci's crash and burn. She apparently was trying to keep up with my brother and Brandon and took a turn to sharp and ate it. She's OK, a little bruised and beat up but at least she's alive. While everyone was cleaning up, Grandma and I started putting together some hobo dinners. We cooked them on the grill and then we went over to the pavilion to eat. I was walking over with my mom and she saw some balloons and said "I don't want to go in there, it looks like someone is already using it." I said, "oh mom, it's fine we'll only be there for a minute." She walked in and said, "Oh, it's for me!" I then ran over to our cabin and grabbed the cake out of our fridge. I think she was happy that we did something for her without making a huge production.
Saturday we made plans to go on another ride but this time take the girls. I was a little hesitant but it what could it hurt. We weren't doing anything to difficult and we thought they would enjoy it. Peanut started off with me, she looked a little tired so we knew it wouldn't be too long before she fell asleep. My mom wrapped a towel around the seat belt straps to give her some cushion. About seventeen miles in we stopped to take a break and decided to go back because Punkin had gotten dust in her eyes and wasn't happy about it. She even blamed me and she wasn't even with me. Punkin was getting a little tired of the trip as well. So my parents and I took the girls back and the rest of our group continued on. Punkin rode back with me which was a little more fun because I wasn't having to stop and fix her in her seat as much and I could go a little faster, which we both like. The total trip was 34 miles and my girls did really well. Which is good, because this what our family does and they are going to have to like it. We got back and just hung out with my Grandma and Ricci. The girls watched a movie while they ate lunch. Finally everyone got back and told us about their adventures this time. I only got a picture of my Aunt but they were all covered in mud. I guess once they hit the top of the mountain they were caught in a hail storm and had quite a ride. It certainly showed. We had dinner shortly after that which included hot dogs, chips, veggies, and fried zucchini.
Sunday morning I got up and showered, we had breakfast and packed up to head out. We had so much fun and can't wait to do it again.

I made my mom a scrapbook for her birthday and have been working on it since about January. Since it was a big secret I haven't been able to reveal any of the pages until now. This was my first digital scrapbook but I did add some additional elements after I printed the pages. So if some of the pages look like they are missing something they probably are. My mom likes the 3-D element of scrapbooking so I tried to merge the two types of scrapbooking. These are not in order because I forget that blogger does not upload in the order I choose. So bare with me.

This was her senior photo.
Camping and riding motorcycles.
With some of their older vehicles.
I just love this photo.

My parent's wedding.
This was taken when they had the engagements done ( I think).

Writers Workshop

So I've never done one of Mama Kat's workshops, usually because I don't get to sit down and read her blog untill the weekend and I'm not going to be the loser that does the Wednesday Writers Workshop on Sunday.

The Prompts:

1.) Write a limerick.

2.) Normal is...

3.) Describe a memorable camping experience.

4.) What's the best thing that has happened this week?

5.) Did you have a childhood hideout? Where? Describe it.

6.) Words that hurt me

I'm choosing this week to Describe a memorable camping experience. Most of you know that I'm a huge fan of camping and grew up camping a lot. So I really could lay down a novel right here for you. But I won't.

The most memorable camping trip was probably about four or five years ago. It was in September, we went up to Left hand fork/Blacksmith whatever it's called near Hyrum. Dallas and I went with my parents and my brother and his girlfriend. We set up camp and unloaded the four wheelers and my brother was off with in minutes on his new Raptor. It was beautiful, the campground was vacant because it was the off season (which means free). Apparently we were the only ones who new that because all the way up and down the road people just camped off to the side.

I think it was the second day we were there, we had been riding all morning and my brother and his girlfriend had been gone on their four wheelers for quite awhile. I had mentioned how long they had been gone to my mom when my brother and his girlfriend rode up on one four wheeler. We automatically think that his brand new toy bit the dust already, but as he got off and came closer we could tell something was wrong. He immediately told us to call the cops because he had just been attacked by what we refer to now as the "hillbillies" and they had taken his four wheeler. Just then we see them racing down the road. My husband told me to jump into our truck to drive to cell service. So I left the drama behind. I drove down the washboard road so fast I literally shook the tail lights loose.

By the time I got back, my family was sitting at the table eating the dutch oven dinner that had been cooking and acted as if nothing had happened and I was nearly in tears. It turns out that the "hillbillies" had mistaken my brother for someone else who had driven past them earlier that day and flipped a rock and cracked their windshield on their truck (because the were camped on the side of the road). But when they realized that I had left to get the police they begged for forgiveness and took off to pack up their camp. After the police showed up and we gave a description, they found them hiding down the road a ways. Turns out hillbilly #1 was on parole and shouldn't have been where he was and doing what he was, i.e. drinking and shooting guns. He ended up going back to prison for 6 more years for violation charges.

I think the best part of the whole experience was seeing how protective our little family could be. My dad quickly got his gun, but kept his cool and left it holstered, because we had heard them shooting earlier and he didn't know what to expect. I saw my mom stand between my little brother, who at the time was about 22 years old and taller than her, and a rather big 40 something year old man. And I, truly realizing how important my family was to me as I was racing down that road for help not knowing what was happening to them and what I'd come back too.

All in all it was a great trip and an exciting story to tell. Oh, and my brother fared OK, just a few bumps and bruises. We were just grateful that he wears a helmet because three grown men were kicking him in the head and with out the helmet he surely would've been in much worse condition.

So I hope you enjoyed my first entry to writers workshop, although a writer I'm not. And if you can take anything from this story, always wear a helmet, because you never now when you'll run into a drunk hillbilly.