Christmas in California

Donner Pass

For Christmas I went to my friend's parents' house in Yuba City, CA. This little trip required a drive over a little thing called Donner Pass. Perhaps you've heard of it. Some people traveled over it a few years ago, were unprepared and had to eat each other. Luckily, I was prepared, have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, and made it just fine. It was pretty snowy on the drive over, but I didn't need to put any snow chains on my tires thanks to the 4-wheel drive feature. ULU (my car) and I made it just fine. These first 2 pictures were taken after I made it over the pass. I survived, so guess you can say that everyone made it over in one piece. Ü (Insert rim shot here).

This next picture was taken from my sunroof while driving around California. Don't worry, Will was driving at the time. Kinda crazy to go from Snowy Pine Tree City to Sunny Palm Tree City. On our way back to Nevada we took Highway 20. It's a beautiful drive through the pine trees! There's a spot that opens up and you can see a valley of trees. I remembered this spot from the last time that I drove to Yuba City for Christmas and I wanted to make sure that we stopped for a photo-op. Well, after a couple of stops at the wrong pull-offs (my fault completely-I was driving and not listening to Will) we got there. The next couple of pictures show the beautiful vista.
This next picture is a picture of Will and me. We've been friends for 5 1/2 years. If you ask him how long we've been friends, he would say something mean like, "Way too long." He doesn't even remember how/where we met. Maybe it has been too long, but then again, his memory isn't so pretty good. I do, however, need to give him some points. He is the ONLY friend that has come to visit me while I have been in Fallon. Oh, and he lives in Upstate New York. Does anyone feel guilty about that?

Will decided it would be fun to go ice skating at The Squaw Valley Olympic Ice Pavilion , where the 1960 Olympics were held. The first couple of pictures were taken at the top of the mountain. We decided to take the cable car up. I wanted to walk up the mountain, but Will wanted to ride on the gondola. Wimp.

In this next picture, you can actually see Lake Tahoe. It's in the middle of the frame.

I'm not sure what was going on with my camera, or what someone, their name shall remain nameless, but they were the only other person with me, did to my camera, but it started shooting in different shades of light. Said person mentioned above knows that I am technologically dumb and better hope that I can figure out how to get it back in a normal shooting mode.

Will and me. It was kinda cold way up there on top of that mountain.

This next picture shows the Olympic Ice Skating Pavilion.

Here is a picture of me. Notice I am vertical. That's right, vertical, not horizontal. There is no trick photography here. After a decade and a half hiatus from ice-skating, I still got it. Well, not really. I was quite surprised that I could walk on the skates, let alone actually skate on the things. I pretty much clung to the wall for dear life. I did let go of the wall, just a teeny bit, but I am proud to say, I didn't fall. Oh, and Will didn't either.

The Red Beast...Before & After

So, a REALLY long time ago, I got this REALLY red piano and decided to refinish it. Well, I FINALLY got it done! I could not have gotten it done without the help of my friend, Annalee. The girl actually called me and volunteered to come and help me work on this thing! What an amazing woman she is! I sure appreciate her in a whole bunch of ways.

So, this piano kind of became the "elephant" in my garage that I was able to walk right past. My suggestion to anyone that might be thinking of doing some furniture rehab-start on something small, an end table perhaps. But, alas, here it is, "The Red Beast" as I affectionately called it.

Without its red exterior.

Ta da! Isn't it beautiful? I know it's decorated for Christmas, but I thought it looked really pretty all dolled-up. :)

Trip to Utah

This past weekend I to a trip to UT for a friend's wedding. It was SO nice to just get away and see some of my friends, do some shopping and not work! :) I didn't take very many pictures, but I kinda really like the ones I did take, so I'm going to blog them.

The first 4 pictures are taken at one of my favorite places in Provo. It's a park called Rock Canyon Park. I spent countless hours there just contemplating life and enjoying the view.

It's beautiful there.

On Saturday, my friend Sue invited me to go with her to Gardner Village. It's this little place that has tons of little shops where you could seriously spend a lot of time and a lot of cash (or in my case, a lot of time swiping your debit card). There were places to buy crafts, quilts, candy, baked goods, furniture, clothes, you name it, I'm sure you could find it here. It was just fun to spend time with her. You can check out her blog from my blog, but I warn ya, you'll probably cry. I usually do.

Here's a pretty cute picture of the two of us with a fallen over witch next to Sue. Does she look like the mother of 4 with a husband who is deployed to Afghanistan? I sure don't think so.
When I lived in Utah another one of my favorite places of contemplation was the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. It is just beautiful! I think the mountains in the background are gorgeous!

Cards...Part 2

I felt like making a mess the other day, so I made some more cards. As you will be able to see, when I feel like I have a good idea, I run with it. :)

P.S. On the bottom part, where it says "Happy Birthday" and "Congratulations", that was typed on vellum, so that's why it's a little difficult to read on the computer screen. Sorry. Also, I cut out the hole where the cupcake is. So, the cupcake is actually on the inside of the card on the colored piece of paper. Cute, huh?

Happy Birthday

Wedding

I used colors from their weddings.

Baby Shower

Lake Tahoe, CA & NV

I've lived in Nevada for 3 years now and had never been to Lake Tahoe. So, yesterday, my friend, Kerry and her husband, Jordan and I drove the short distance of a little over an hour to check things out. We took the Heavenly Gondola ride to the top of the mountain-a mere 9,123 feet-to get "heavenly" view of the lake. Being up 9,000 feet plus is definitely an excellent way to see Lake Tahoe.

Views of the south rim of Lake Tahoe from the observation deck.

Emerald Bay
These next pictures are from Emerald Bay along the western shore of Lake Tahoe.

Here is something rare. A picture of me. Fannette Island

If you look toward the bottom left of the next picture you will see Fannette Island. It is the only island in Lake Tahoe.

Another shot of Fannette Island. If you look really close you can see a stone structure on the top of the island. This stone structure is known as the "Tea House". Some rich excentric woman, Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight, served tea to her guests there. The "Tea House" has since been vandalized and only the outer stone portion remains. Down By the Lake
We decided that we definitely needed to touch the lake to get the full Lake Tahoe experience. Personally, I would have loved to have been on a boat in the middle of the lake, but dipping my fingers in would have to suffice this trip.

Tag...I'm It, Now You're It!

My friend Michelle tagged me after being tagged herself. Luckily she tagged me when my house was clean. :) I was willing to play.

I thought we would start in the front yard, uh, garden, uh rock-holder area.

There's no grass, so it's really just that, a rock-holder area. :)

OK, I admit, I cheated, just a little bit. The wreath in this next picture wasn't hanging on my door when I was tagged. But, I'm very proud to say that I made this wreath with my own 2 hands and I wanted to show it off, who knows if anyone else will get to see it.

This next picture is some real bona fide tumbleweed in it's living stage! That's right, when it's alive it's green, and when it's dead it's brown-just like most plants. In the western movies, dead tumbleweeds are what you see blowing down the road.

(Some people did not know this little fact. That's why I included it on here.)

My Living Room

My Kitchen. Yep, those are dirty dishes in the sink.

Scandalous, I know.

Spare Bedroom

Hall Bathroom

WARNING!!! WARNING!!! This is where it gets a little scary!!

Master bathroom. Also, you can kind of see my messy closet in the background.

Master Bedroom. It's too bad I don't believe in making my bed. :) I hope you've enjoyed this tour around my house. As you can see, there's plenty of room, so if you're looking for a place to get away, come on over!

Addendum: One of my Young Women does not believe that my house could possibly be this clean. Therefore, I am asking for testimonials from my family members and former roommates that I really am a clean freak. :) Thanks!

Fishin' in Fallon

Liberty Pond

Alicia, one of the young women from my ward invited me to go fishing with her at a local pond here in Fallon. Apparently they stock this pond with trout and other various fish. And, apparently, she thought I was an expert fisher woman (see my blog from Sunday, June 29th from Lake Pomme de Terre to see where she got this cRaZy idea). I'm not too sure that either one of these statements is true. ;) Nonetheless, that evening there was a very beautiful and probably one of the brightest rainbows I've seen. Unfortunately, I only had the camera from my phone with me not my real camera, so the quality of photos is pretty poor. So sorry. I wish I was clairvoyant and would have brought my good camera. :)

Oh, how I wish I was clairvoyant.

I took a picture of the 2 of us fishing, but only Alicia looked really cute in it and it wouldn't be fair to her YW's leader to publish a picture of said leader looking so icky for the entire world to see. Since, I don't have Photoshop, this will be a people-picture-free-post.