i will miss this...

our garden is starting to produce-- radishes and lettuce, tomatoes on the way, mini eggplants, and yellow squash...
i am loading up the truck this afternoon so we are ready to leave for home early tomorrow morning. boo --

p.s. we had a great time in big timber -- i would post pics, but jon took the camera. saw michael keaton and tom brokaw's ranch (from the road of course), drove through fabulous back country roads on the way to livingston -- saw natural bridge falls, ate at the pickle barrel, stayed and ate wonderful food at the grand hotel, and brought back a wonderful box of peaches from our niece, melysa's orchard-- been eating them all week, so good!

avoiding...

--the need to exercise (especially after last nights annual indian taco adventure at the local fair)

--finishing packing for our weekend trip to Big Timber

--putting my scrapbook supplies away

--having to go home in one week

--going to town to get my allergy shot

--the desire to crawl back in bed because i had a sleepless night last night

--buying this cutie ...until later...

--the fact that i will have to take all the hinges off my cupboards before i paint them

--all things productive and instead thinking about my next fabric project:

--is now over, productivity must reign. hope you have a great weekend!

10, no 13, things I LoVE weekends, and TrAcE AdKins!

well hello monday --- do you think we could go back to saturday?

1. grains of montana, we ate lunch at this delish little place in billings. it is very similar to our favorite wheat montana...i had their veggie sandwich on sourdough and jon had a grilled pesto chicken panini, we topped it all off with a mango mango whipped cream topped smoothie...yum.

2. c'mon inn. we love staying at c'mon inns and it is our choice whenever we are in montana. their rooms are clean and lovely with cushy beds and cozy bedding. the center of the hotel in billings has a waterfall and fish pond, with hot tubs situated at the outer corners to rest and relax in, and the complimentary breakfast bar and tables is next to the pond so you can sit and watch the fish swim around while your eating. such fun. we highly recommend the experience

3. fair animals ( but where were the goats??)

4. fair food -- started off with a funnel cake topped with strawberries and whipped cream -- followed by a black bean veggie burrito, and corn on the cob (from the girl scouts booth, of course) -- i wanted to get a s'more too, but our tummies were too full.

5. gloriana - they are a fun, up and coming band that opened for trace-- jon and i had only heard one of their songs before the concert, but we enjoyed their music so much that we bought the cd during intermission--oh and had it signed by all the band members too!

6. great seats--next to a cute couple from wyoming, in the center and close enough to see, but far enough that i only felt like i was going to be half deaf at the end of it, instead of having a complete and total loss of hearing... jon assured me i would still have my hearing after the concert, and if not, i figured at least we would be in it together ;)

7. trace -- oh TrAcE... now, i LoVe my husband, no doubt about it, but trace adkins ---- he's smokin' hot eye candy with a voice that will just make you melt -- one of our friends wrote me before the concert that he was "one big man" ---she wasn't exaggerating, he is huge both in height and muscle mass... what a fantastic concert -i think we only sat down for 3 of his songs (p.s. in case you're wondering--jon knows that i think trace is quite handsome -- he's ok with it as i know how in love he is with uma thurman)

8. Honky Tonk Badonkadonk -- our word of the weekend

9.sanuk sandals - everyone should have a pair

10. hotel waffles

11. starbucks decaf soy carmel macchiatos with light carmel in the morning -- and a white chocolate mocha for jon

12. road trip music

13. self portraits -- why is it so much fun to shoot randomly ridiculous photos??

more pictures? --

passing along the funnies...

we're back! we had a such a great time. it is amazing what 24 hours can do for person. i'll write more about TrAce, fabulous tRaCe, in a little while, but i wanted to share this post from liz kartchner's blog. her husband, collin, occasionally hijacks her blog and posts a generally hilarious some sort of something, but this takes the cake. i laughed so hard i had tears rolling down my cheeks... you can also enjoy the funnies by clicking here.

the 3/50 project

i ran across this today on one of my new favorite sites: the bash eco events blog

todays post was about the 3/50 project - supporting local economy. jon and i are all about shopping local when possible and are trying to make it our regular routine--though sometimes more expensive or a few extra trips, it is worth it and the product and usually better, more unique, or the experience more personal-- what's not to love about farm fresh local produce, store keepers who know you by name, watching your chocolates & kettle corn be made, or getting to know your local bee keepers (just had to throw that one in)...

the sun will come out tomorrow...

...well, we are hoping the sun will come out tomorrow -- after almost a full day of rain, clouds, and a little thunder. i woke up this morning to the rain come pouring down, so the previously planned to-do list was thrown out the window and in entered the "rainy day" plan... it has worked out well so far...

-wear comfy clothes and jon's big pair of fluffy wool socks

-start bread in bread machine

-start chili in crock pot - i discovered an easy and tasty recipe this summer - i changed a few things - 1 can vegeburger instead of beef, red pepper vs. green, and add 1 can tomato sauce

-scrapbook for a bit

- take pictures of hardworking boys washing barrels in pouring rain (with a good attitude!)

- catch lulu napping on the pillows --but she looks so cute -- take pic instead of moving her

-"watch"(i put it in quotations because really it is just noise that i glance at on occasion) - "center stage: turn it up" for the 4th? time while making tomato chowder for lunch

- work on lesson plans

-work on lesson plans some more, but get side tracked by...

-watching "annie" for the 1st time - -might have made my top 20 - love it, so cute

-do some dishes, make some cornbread, blog a little...better get back to the lesson plans...

p.s. shh... i have avoided exercising today, and eaten a few too many of the raw chocolate macaroons my mom made for my brother (at least they are fairly healthy)---also, i think that i am going to eat my new favorite ice cream tonight (not healthy) schwans dark sweet cherry -- it's pretty much divine and the trailer is on its 2nd carton this week ---opps... it better not be a rainy day tomorrow so i can go for a run...

these lovelies are our current neighbors

lulu meets the grasshopper -- this is from last friday

who's ready for a party?

meeee!!!

this morning as i was looking through some of my favorite design blogs, it seemed that the universe was trying to tell me something... yes, one would hope that the universe would convey a deep, illuminating message... however, i am afraid that this was as deep as it got "make a fabric banner" -- that's it...oh and the fact that almost all of the blogs i looked at today had uber cute banners in them. imagine that. what's a girl to do? well, this girl got off her duff and went to the local fabric store. i wasn't sure i was going to be able to find fabric, and then, the universe spoke again - "look to the east" now, this could mean many enlightening things, but i think this time it meant the front of the store, because that is where i found this fabulous fabric that met all of my needs: bright, cheerful, favorite colors, lovely pattern, several different prints that all coordinate - hooray!

my afternoon was spent making this beauty and watching "mamma mia" -- with the song lyrics on -- good thing i was the only one in the trailer. such fun. i am so excited to hang my banner on my porch, i am pretty sure it will look even better than it did hanging in the trailer.

mmm... wait. is that the universe i hear again? ---what did you say? --- what a grand thought - yes, i think i will have to host an ice cream social. i'll leave you with with the song of the afternoon:

p.s. this has been cooking while the banner making was happening. so easy, though not on the super healthy side, leave a comment if you want the recipe. yum, so ready for

dinner time!! (however, currently being highly entertained by "bridget jones diary"

10 things--i love weekends! --and cupcakes--

1. cupcakes - mike and i made frosted chocolate buttermilk cupcakes - so good, so easy, and almost too healthy to be called a cupcake

2. more cupcakes - jon and i made sprinkles strawberry cupcakes - also so very delicious

3. even more cupcakes --- blackberry lime cupcakes --- they look divine and sound like summer

4. scrapbooking -- i did a lot of it this weekend - and i finally got to my small blank envelope book - it is put together and waiting to be filled -- will post when finished

5. trace adkins - next saturday jon and i will be front & center at his concert...so excited!!

6. montana fair - where we will be before the concert. the state's largest fair held in billings, mt

7. my precious puppy -- in what jon and i like to call her "angel mode"

8. "jolly by golly" -- i am so ready to make my december daily book! -- i had some fabulous moments on the internet this weekend looking at christmas paper, decor, and other holiday fun

9. i covet these lovelies from anthropologie

10. pictures -- so much fun to look back and relive happy moments - like our coast trip