HGTV Design Star

There has been a lot of talk about HGTV design Star. I keep seeing commercials on TV and ads on the internet. So I tried watching it on Monday.  The basic idea (if you haven’t watched it) is several designers from all over the country compete to win their own show on HGTV. They have all different backgrounds and lengths of time in the decorating business.  Each week there is a challenge and the judges see who the best is and who the worst is and one person goes home. The person left at the end gets their own show.

The episode I watched had the white box challenge. The designers all had a white room with a futon, a desk, chair, two end tables and a lamp in the room. They went to a restaurant supply store to buy what they needed to decorate the room. It did not need to be functional (which to my mind means what is the point?) So the rest of the time was spent watching the trials and tribulations of these designers.

At the end, we saw the judges go to each room and make comments.  (Jake had plenty of comments too-he is not a fan of decorating shows but he does humor me!)

The judges thought this was the winner.



The judges thought this was a middle design- not art-y enough I guess?

Well, I really couldn’t figure out the point. The rooms the judges liked the best were more like art than a room (maybe that is the point; but if I want someone to help decorate my house I need to be able to live in it after-right?)  and the ones who kept the room too useful looking were at the bottom.  

This was one of the bottom designs. Her table got bumped and fell appart right as time was called.

I thought the show was okay. I am not dying to watch again but I am a bit curious about what they other challenges are and if any of these designers can make a room look good and be usable.  

It's HOT!!

I don’t know how it is where you are, but we are ROASTING! In an effort to stay cool we are staying inside and thinking about cool things. Like pools, ice, and Christmas!

Last December, Jake and I spent a few days of the Christmas holiday with my parents. My sister L. was visiting with her kids; V. and J. Her husband only got to stay a few days due to his work.  We had a good time seeing them and enjoyed seeing the kids.  L. was making dinner one night and so V. and I were playing beauty shop. I was surprised that she wanted me to do her hair (as a kid I wanted to do someone else's hair).

I couldn't really think of anything fancy, so we went to the internet! I found a website and we looked through until V found a style she liked then we went to try it. We had a great time! V. loved posing for the pictures after we finished. She really enjoyed choosing the hairstyles (I think we did 6 different hairstyles!)

One style V. chose!

Another style- much easier and quicker than the first one!

None of the hairstyles turned out exactly like the pictures but V. had fun and L got dinner ready (which was delicious!).  V.'s Barbie got a new hairdo too but wouldn't pose for pictures!

V. posing with Uncle Jake and a new hairdo!

Tree Trimming

It was tree trimming time at our house this week. We have a little grove of trees in our back yard. They are all very close together. The trees on the edges have more branches on one side than the other (because the other trees are in the way). We have had lots of lightning storms lately and Jake thought that trimming the trees might help keep them from blowing over on our house or the neighbors’ fences.

Jake built a ladder a year or so ago to help with trimming the tall bushes and trees. He used it to get to the biggest tree. I don’t have a before picture but here are some during and after pictures.

The first limb comes down.

Which limb should I cut down next?

This part of the trimming is all done! I always get nervous with Jake up on a ladder. Maybe my worrying keeps him safe! We still have some cleanup to do and a trip to the dump (the trash men won’t take yard waste). We (and by we, I mean Jake) may notice other trees that need a haircut as we see how this tree grows.

*Disclaimer-We don’t know if this is the right time of year to trim trees.  We are learning as we go about caring for our yard and keeping the plants looking good and our house safe!

Eagle Project

Jake is helping with an Eagle Project today. A Boy Scout in our Ward (church congregation) wants to turn this:

 

into this:

for a local school for his project. Jake likes to build things and so he was asked to help.  He got all his tools and clamps ready. Having the right tools makes the project so much easier! 

Finding

We are in the Finding part of the adoption process. We are hoping to find someone who will choose us to parent their child. So far this has been the hardest part. I say so far because although making the decision to stop fertility treatments was hard, filling out he paperwork and answering the seemingly thousands of questions was hard, it is not the same as this part (but this is as far as we have come and so if the next part is harder I'll update this. I also know every experience is different and this is NOT a complaint).

As we filled out the paperwork and answered the questions, we felt we were moving forward and working toward something. We were doing something. Now we are hoping something we do (this blog, an email, a pass along card, etc)  will lead us to someone who knows someone who will consider us. 

It feels a bit like when you move to a new place and you are trying to find your way around. You know that the store is close but you aren’t exactly sure how close. You start on your way and keep thinking I am almost there… as you drive a bit farther. You wonder if you made a wrong turn  but you keep thinking you are very close.  When you get there you are so glad. Now this analogy doesn’t work if you have GPS and there doesn’t seem to be a GPS for adoption! At least not that we have found. (If you have this GPS. . .)

We know that we will find someone and/or someone will find us. We keep thinking we are very close (mostly every time I open the email). We just don’t know when that will be. We know things will work out.

From blogginwithbobbi.blogspot.com

New recipe

I tried a new recipe last night. I got a craving for shortcake. I looked on Two Peas & Their Pod (go here  for other great recipes) and found a recipe that looked great and we had almost everything. I did have to go the store for a lemon (the recipe called for juice and lemon zest.  Since we didn’t have any fruit I looked at the strawberries and blueberries. Both were in too large a container. Jake decided to get some cherry pie filling to put on his short cake.

The recipe was very easy. The dough was very sticky though (next time I will add more flour and knead it a bit longer!)

Here's how they look on the blog!  From Two Peas& Their Pod

They came out great and really hit the spot. I put butter and jam on mine and Jake had the cherry pie filling (I think the jam was better!)

Before I put the butter and jam.

A little different than the original but still great!

Go here for the recipe!

A New Project

I am working on cleaning out my closet. I found some counted cross stitch kits in a bag WAAAAYYYY in the back. Of course, looking through the bag was more fun than cleaning out the closet and so I found a new project to start. It is a Christmas project but it is so HOT here that looking at snowmen and thinking about winter will help cool us off!

Here's the package. It should look like this when I am done!

I got all my stuff together. The highlighter helps me keep my place. That is the hardest thing in a counted cross stitch pattern. If you lose your place, it will impact things down the road. Sometimes you can fix it but usually you have to pick things out. It is very frustrating and I have put projects aside for LONG periods of time because I messed up and can’t figure out how to fix it.

The kit has everything I need except the hoop, highlighter and scissors.  I usually separate the floss and put it on index cards but since I didn’t have any index cards I had to improvise. I found an empty Diet Coke box and cut that up. I taped around the fabric so it won’t fray while I am working on it.

I punched holes in the cardboard and wrote the color names by each hole.

I’m thinking that I can get this done by the end of the month!

Wish me luck!