Flu

on Christmas.  'Nuf said.

The Holidays

Well, I have no excuses....other than work and prepping for our first Christmas in the cabin (actually, our first time hosting Christmas EVER).  The shopping/crafting/wrapping has been done for about a week or so.  But work has been busy and stressful.  The tree skirt looks great, the presents are sitting and waiting, and the Xmas Crackers are tempting me daily to pull and POP! one.  :)

Tomorrow I make an early run to (the dreaded) Wal-Mart for a few necessities and lots of food for the weekend.  We are having a Winter Solstice Party (aka End of the Mayan Calendar Party) Friday night.  Then Saturday is brunch then an 'early' Christmas Eve Party.  Lots of fun food, prizes and crafts/fun things to do.  The Xmas Fairy has been busy...

Lon has assembled a fantastic bunch of holiday movies to run with or without sound while we play and celebrate.  For example, on my two days off last week we watched the Christmas classic, Gremlins.  Yes...think hard, it WAS a Christmas movie.  Billy got Gizmo for his Christmas present and all hell breaks loose after the midnight snacks and late night swim at the Y.  We also have such favorites as Elf, White Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Year Without a Santa Claus, The Santa Clause, Fred Claus, Scrooged, and E.T....just to name a few.

Besides, we have Pandora for excellent mixes of Christmas music (I highly recommend creating a Jack Johnson Holiday station...most chill and excellent) and some fun mix CDs from years past.  Thank you, Kris, for one of my faves...The Girls Do Christmas.  Best take home party gift ever!  :)

After my Wal-Mart run, I come back home to prep some goodies (Vegetarian Sausage Balls) for our work Holiday Party, clean the house for weekend company, go to said party, prep weekend party fixins and find time to relax during my first off day this week...ha!

I am very much looking forward to hosting our first Christmas, but wish I hadn't had to work right up until the day before.  Such is life.  And it will all get done and I'll have so much fun once everyone is here.  It's really been so nice NOT to stress about the holidays and only have to stress about work.  Oh yeah, and the gray squirrels that have apparently taken up residence between our ceiling and roof (we have no attic...they had to have eaten a path out of the insulation.)  But have no fear, we have someone coming tomorrow afternoon to rid us of the rodents and hopefully patch up their entryway!  If we had an attic, I wouldn't be as surprised, but our ceiling is directly under the roof...crazy.  The life of a log cabin owner...we learn new things everyday.

Anyway, sorry for taking so long to post.  I do have pics to post, but the phone-to-laptop cable is downstairs and I am upstairs...maybe after the holidays I'll have time to post more frequently...and maybe I'll have a new phone-to-laptop cable.  :D

Hope you all have a Happy Christmas, Merry Hanukkah, Blessed Kwanzaa and a Freakin' Awesome New Year!!!

After Pics and Xmas Crafts

Work has been crazy...sorry for the delay in 'after' pics of the painting project.  I love my new champagne cork door knobs, too!

This looks SOOOO much better!

Mom's favorite (Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante) corks

Ahhh, so nice to get a project done.

Also been working on some very fun holiday crafts for decorating and gift-giving.  Here is my burlap and satin tree skirt...finally finished!

Pinterest Craft #1, Finished skirt...finally!

Finished skirt in its rightful place...yay for presents!

Pinterest Craft #2, cheap glass ornaments from Hobby Lobby with paint on the inside (paint on the outside of a couple, too).  Very fun to make!

Pinterest Craft #3, birdseed ornaments.  These are hanging in my trees all over the yard, sans cookies cutters, of course.

Pinterest Craft #4, my adorable little cork trees (before trunks).

After trunks (from the yard).  I only decorated the one...I like it, but I like the natural ones, too!

And I had one craft FAIL:

Toilet paper roll snowflakes

No biggie...I am making homemade Christmas Crackers this year and my trial cracker was fantastic!  At least I've got a fun use for the rest of the paper rolls I've saved!  :)  

Happy Holidays!

Pre-Thanksgiving Weekend

Since I have to work all of Thanksgiving weekend (and I mean ALL...Thurs-Sun), Lon and I have been blessed by Mother Nature with gorgeous weather and four days off together.  We have played, watched college football, put up Xmas decorations, wrapped presents (yes, I am almost done) and painted.  The weather was nice enough to open doors/windows and we painted.  You may remember from our earliest pics of Cabinooga that they had a very sad baby blue painted on several walls.  A baby blue we were not fond of from Day 1.  Today we changed that.  We chose Hazy Stratus from Valspar and we LOVE it!!!  Here are some 'before' pics.  Will take some 'after' pics tomorrow and post them.  I still have to work on the trim, so don't expect 'after' pics for a day or so...

Wow...the cabin looks so nice and clean when it's empty...the baby blue also went up on the balcony (over kitchen).  I can't wait you to show the new and improved!

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Halloween 2012

Yes, I know...that was two weeks ago.  But I got to do 'gory' for the first time...too fun!  Here's my unzipped Christmas elf.  What do you think???

Note the pointy ears, too!

The blood looked really good when it was shiny, but it kept drying.  Guess that's good for keeping it off my clothes, huh?

Check out the crazy boots Mom found for me at the thrift store!

Sorry for the delay in getting these posted.  Had a blast at a friend's Halloween party and the 'zipper' was a big hit!  Also, helped Mom with her Halloween party the weekend before, but my outfit at her party was much more tame...hard to really call it a costume.  Check it out:

Yeah...we were hippies.  :)  Our original costumes of garden gnomes were way too hot for the warm AL October evening.  

Thanksgiving is next week already (I'm working...yay.)  And before you know it Christmas will be here!  Been working on my crafties (decor and gifts).  Pinterest has been a HUGE help.  Til next time...

Fall Project #1...almost complete

**Note** This was supposed to be posted last week...saved in drafts.  Oh well.  :)

We successfully cut up my corner desk to make a 5' long rectangular desk top to fit in our little nook upstairs.  My office view is now our gorgeous view of the trees and mountain to my left and our 'art gallery' to the right.  I can look forward right over the balcony wall and see our M GO BLUE sign (and the TV if I shut the laptop).  I love my new office space!!!  Now we just have to clear out the corner it used to occupy (by the wood stove) and bring in the dining room table from the porch.

Of course, the weather is still nice enough that we ate lunch out there yesterday.  Maybe the table can wait a while longer.  We are also planning to do some painting, install a light fixture and move some more things around.  But my office is almost complete!  Just need to hook up the printer and get it tucked out of sight.

Yay for pictures!  Here they are...

The mushroom lamp will move soon (you can see it from downstairs), but we are looking into some rope lighting for under the balcony railing.  Should provide some nice atmosphere.  :)

New office space.  I love it!

View from my desk...not bad, huh?

8 years later...

...and all's well!  :)

Yesterday was our 8th wedding anniversary...and we spent the day going on a little road trip to Cloudland Canyon State Park in GA.  Took a picnic lunch and did a little hiking (very little).  The weather couldn't have been more beautiful and the fall colors are brilliant!  Here's a few pics from the day:

Not far from the cabin...

From the lookout at the hang gliding 'jump off' point

These leaves look painted, don't they?

Not that you can tell, but they have a pile of leaves raked up under the tire swing.  Classic.

The view as we are driving down our little road.

Fall afternoon at the cabin.

Facebook...deactivated.

I feel more refreshed already!

Okay, okay....here it is.

I have discovered something....are you ready?...wait for it ................................. ..................................................................................................................................................................................................apparently I was not born to be a blogger because I only go through spurts where I even want to update.  There.  I said it.  Sorry (my two(?) readers) I was unable to keep my small and simple promise to blog once a week.  But I'll update you on the last few happenings at Cabinooga.

We finally had our little Fall Party/Hoops & Hops/Housewarming thing.  We had a good time, laughed a lot and hooped a little.  The next day we basked in the quiet stillness of being in the cabin alone.  The party was fun, but it'll be a while before we do another.  Maybe my 40th?  Not sure...

Mom & Scot came up for the Three Sisters Bluegrass Festival that we have attended every year we've been in Chattanooga.  We love it!  And they did too.  :)  There was free music, hoopers, kids and dogs running free and having a blast.  Mom was impressed with the fresh, warm kettle korn...that stuff is addictive!  River Rocks was going on at the same time and we watched several heats of a Stand Up Paddleboard race take off from right under our feet (standing on the pier).  Now that is right up Jennifer and Mark's alley!

We've decided on some rearranging to better use the space in the cabin and the 'stream' is about to get cleaned out and resealed so we can start it back up and clear our little pond.  Other than work, those are our current fall projects.  Of course I'm still playing and crafting (loving this stuff!).  I made a burlap bubble wreath for Mom complete with black roses and tiny spiders for her Halloween decor.  :)

There you are.  The updates.  Until next time, enjoy this refreshing fall weather!!!

Burlap Bubble Wreath

Like I said, I found this on Pinterest and loved it!  You could use it year-round and add greenery, flowers, decor as the seasons change.  I kind of like it nice and natural.  It was so much fun to do.

Supplies:
14" straw wreath (they suggested 10" foam, but it was way more expensive!  And straw is renewable and recyclable.)
Burlap (about 2 yards cut into 4" squares)
Lots of 'big head' pins (I used the straight pins with the different colored balls on top from my sewing stuff.)

Basically you fold the square into a triangle by pulling two opposite corners together.  Then take your right corner and pull it around to the front and take your left corner and pull it around to the back.  Stick your pin straight through where all four corners are flat against each other and pin.  Repeat.   A lot.  And that's it!  :)

The tutorial I used is probably much easier to understand.  She took a lot of good pics and I was just having too much fun to stop and use the camera.  :)

From the beginning...

Straw wreath ($3.99 @ Hobby Lobby)

Lots of burlap 'bubbles' (Burlap $3.99/yd @ Hobby Lobby)

Almost finished...

I'm done!  I finished last night, but didn't take any good finished pics until this morning.  I don't like this orange-y light.

Hanging on the front door.

Behind screen door.

Yay!  Finished product!

Back side...since the back will show when our shades are open, I may cover this with a little more burlap.  Or maybe not.  See all my pins?  

Already late...

Yes, you are correct.  I did miss a couple of 'weekly' updates.  The weather has broken into beautiful Fall temps (it's 53 now and our high will be 75...Mother Nature is in a good mood and so am I!) and work has been hectic.  Here are a few updates and I'll post some pics later today. (pics are here now!)
40x40:  2 more pounds drop kicked to the curb!  (pretty amazing since I haven't been to the gym in weeks...oops)
Crafties:  Haven't spent a lot of time on them, but they are on the agenda for today and tomorrow.  This is because I've been....
Halloween:  Getting my costume and party ideas ready for Halloween!!!  We are going to our first Halloween party (together) and I'm so excited about going gory!  I've never really done gory...had fun shopping at Spirit Halloween and getting some fun goodies (spirit gum, liquid latex, scar putty, fake blood...love it!)  A good friend of mine is also throwing a Halloween party and I'm trying to help her get all kinds of creepy ideas too.  If you follow my Pinterest you already know how busy I've been with my party ideas pinning.  :)    Love that crazy site.
Fishies:  They are now pets...since we got the fish back in April they have been feeding on plants and algae and ignoring any food I tried to give them.  Last week I noticed they were swimming around the plants, but not munching.  I gave the fish flakes a try...they gobbled them up!  Like they were famished...so I stood there watching...all the food was gone and I threw out some more...gone in minutes.  A few hours later I stood by the pond and all five fishies swam up to the top and circled until I threw some more food in...my little goldfish are trained!  Now they feel like pets and not just some fish that live in the pond.  Yay!

Time for some banana oatmeal and coffee to warm my bones before I get these doors open and get this day started.  Happy Hump Day!

Fishies eating

Power washing deck (look at all that dark stuff!!!)

Playing with the power washer

So happy with how this is turning out!

Trial #1 for zipper face...fun!

Started a new craftie today...this is the beginning of my burlap bubble wreath (as seen on Pinterest, of course.)

Let me know what you think!  :)

Bad Start

Well, we had a pretty sad start to the college football season...at least from where I sit.  I knew playing the #2 ranked team would prove challenging, but a slaughter?  Ugghh.  Oh well, Air Force is next and surely we can teach them a thing or two.  :)

40x40 update:  Well, let's just say, tomorrow is Monday and the start of a new week.  After getting cortisone injected into my left wrist to help with my annoying and painful Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I did not go to the gym on either of my two off days.  Friday at work my hand/wrist was okay and yesterday was the official start (in the Jordan household) of the College Football Season!!!  So no exercising, no super healthy eating...but that's okay.  You only live once (unless you are reincarnated and then you get a do-over as something else) so you might as well enjoy it!

I think I would like to come back as a butterfly.  My do-over might not be as long as this one, but think of the things I could see and do.   You could drink your breakfast from a buttercup and glide along a breeze.  How cool to be one of the Monarchs that migrate south to Mexico...sorry, went off on a tangent.  Way off.

Happy Sunday and welcome September!  Happy to see fall is on the way.

Too much fun!

Oops!  I almost went over my week!!!  Sorry about that.  Worked three days and played for three...and now I'm pooped.  I'll give a decent update...later.  Here's the quick and dirty:
Bought a power washer...power washing ensued.
Had friend in town...crafting and catching up ensued.
Southern Brewers Festival in town...drinking ensued.
Lazy Sunday...comfy clothes and doing nothing...currently in progress.

*Great to see you Jennifer!

40x40 update

Well, after trying a few 'holiday' recipes from Pinterest I'm happy to report that 3 weeks into my 40x40 and 2 lbs are gone.  It's not a lot, but with the beers we've been trying and the sweets I've been making/trying, that's pretty darn good.  I'm actually surprised it hasn't gone up.  But progress is progress so...YAY!  :)

Off to finally make the screens for our rain barrels and hopefully get them in place today.

Pinterest Weekend---NOT fail! :)

Since I had several days off this past week (7 to be exact!), Mom came up to hang out and play.  We had quite the Pinterest weekend.  If you don't know what Pinterest.com is, check it out.  It's fun.  You can get sucked in, but you'll find all kinds of cool projects, recipes, ideas, etc.  We had several projects on the agenda to try and we tried them all...and they were AWESOME!!!  I'm pretty worn out from the weekend, so I'll post our pics and links to the appropriate Pinterest page.  Let me know what you think!

Crayon Art  

Prep

 1/2 way done

 My finished masterpiece...so much fun!

 Piece I made for Mom

 Mom's first one (with genuine Chattanooga wood!)

 Mom's masterpiece

 Garage sale trays painted with chalkboard paint

 Hemp Angels (for Xmas treats)

 Funky mushroom lamp I found a garage sale (painted the base) and another crayon piece I did (my first one).

 Yard Art (leaves from our yard), but we used spray paint, not acrylic.

Piece Mom made for us!

 The only 'fail'...turned out okay (Lon likes it), but the glue gun is shot and most of the crayon didn't even come out of the tip, but dripped from the back!  I call it Christmas Chaos.

 The weather turned cooler this weekend and we had the doors and windows open. The screened porch was our art studio and Lon burned our very 1st campfire in our fire pit....the shot's a bit blurry, but I LOVE IT!