Be Open To Whatever Comes Next!

To start.... Jim and I were at Pioneer Book in downtown Provo this past weekend... I was actually looking for a book on Coco Chanel.. they didn't have it, BUT, Jim found a fascinating book called... Cabin Lessons... It's a story about this retired couple who bought a piece of property by Lake Superior, and decide to build a cabin.... sound familiar?  It's actually really interesting and well written.  There are little quotes all the way through the book that have made us stop and really giggle... We've decided to use some of these quotes in our blog... so, if you see something along those lines, you'll know I'm not quite as witty as I think... I've stolen them... rather, borrowed them... that sounds better.  But we will not plagiarizer, quotations will be identified!

And, the stupid snow is finally starting to melt... I do not believe that the snow storms are ending - we've had our hopes dashed so many times this year, it's crazy, so I'm not going to make that prediction... But, we are starting to see our jacuzzi again, so that's a plus...

As many of you know, our family went to Disneyland in December.  While there, I tried to have all kinds of activities for the family to keep it interesting... One of them was playing FISH with actual gift cards.  Jim used one of his gift cards this weekend, at Home Depot!!!  I highly recommend this game for families - it was a blast!  (Yes, it's kind of expensive, but so worth it.)

In case you are wondering, Jim's shirt says, "I complain, therefore I am".

And, we went to the Rock Show in Spanish Fork on Saturday, and again on Sunday... I'm still collecting rocks for my outside shower grotto and we picked up some really pretty rocks...It was fun explaining to people why we wanted specific rocks, and when they heard, "outside shower" some got a little panicky...  They just need to loosen up a little bit.... 

Here's my collection of newly purchased rocks.... I don't have a clue what names are... for most of them... I did at the show, but, I've slept since then...

One of the rocks I bought because I thought Coy would get a kick out of it... It was advertised as "dinosaur poop"... When I asked the vendor how he knew it was dinosaur poop, he said..."lick it"...  Um.... not happening in my world, but I knew the story would amuse Coy... (I called Coy last night and told him about the rock, asked him if he wanted to lick it to verify it authenticity... he started saying NO before I finished my sentence...  )  Giggle.

This is Zebra stone.  Once it gets sealed it will be very black and white.

Here's a better picture of the Zebra stone.

I know this one is petrified wood!!!

I don't know what this one is, but I loved how it was so unique and different.  Little globules!

So, if you can identify any of these rocks, or want to lick all the stones to figure out which one is dinosaur poop, let me know!  Giggle.  The seller said this one is dinosaur bone... So, we've got dinosaur bones and dinosaur poop!!!

Jim came with me to the show, and just about got eaten by a T-Rex...  Giggle.

I saw this picture online, and absolutely love the look.  We have kind of the same idea we are going to put into the loft bathroom - at least the hardware is the same, but I'm loving the old doors/windows. In the loft, I have raw edged sheets of wood that we are going to hang like these windows.... Really heavy, but so pretty...  But, these windows... I am not sure where I would put them, but I love it.  So elegant.  First of all, I've got to find the windows before I go any further.  (I can just hear Jim groaning about this one....)

And, we're still waiting for the snow to stop....I have family coming to visit at the end of April/beginning of May and I was all excited to show them the cabin... ya - that's not going to happen... sad face... Do you think I can convince Aidan to put off his wedding until maybe July or so?

As always, the adventure continues.... Love, Jim and Cheri

"If all the difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all."  Cabin Lessons

Almost there....

It's still snowing... I have absolutely nothing more to say about that...  sigh.. Last week, the Jacuzzi was totally covered in snow... this week, we can see a little of it... But... it's still freakin snowing...

This next picture below was taken 5 years ago, same day.. in the exact spot that the jacuzzi now resides.  All the garbage from the framing was piled there... After a couple of trailer loads taken to the dumpster, the area was cleared and 4 years later the jacuzzi now has a home...

We've had a couple of storage units that have been filled with building materials for the last several years... we are in the process of emptying them and closing them out and/or moving things around.  This is what we found in the one unit yesterday - a chair made out of desert scrub oak wood...  We re redoing the seat platform and making it more stable instead of macramé.  Jim wants to have a regular seat put on it, and I have already purchased a sheepskin to put on said seat... It's going to live in the great room...  We have the coffee table that some what matches it already in the living room... This thing must weigh 150 lbs. . . .

In digging out the one storage building, we found boxes of this backsplash tile...  I flat don't remember where I was going to put it... Might have been a backsplash in the downstairs kitchen, or maybe in the bathroom... I just don't remember... I really like it, but don't know where it's going to eventually land.

And, we have five boxes of it!!  So, if you have any amazing suggestions, I'm open for creative ideas...!

And, hockey season is coming to an end.  Coy is in tournament games, as is Brea...  The player in the middle of the picture with his stick up in the air is Coy... but, I don't know for sure... Giggle.

And, Brea is also in tournament games.  Her games last weekend were in Homer, Alaska...  She is such a strong little player... So proud of all the kids.

And, here is Brea and Brad, sporting their new hockey sports wear...  I swear, Brea just does not take a bad picture, ever.  Brad just looks like he wants to... snarl...Giggle

I found this copper bell that I thought would look good on our deck... It's not huge, but it really is pretty.  Hope it doesn't turn green.  I am so looking forward to getting back to the cabin...

And I'm still collecting rocks etc for our grotto.... I came across this turtle a couple of weeks ago.  It actually came from a collection that Jim's mum had put together.  Whenever they travelled, she would buy a turtle as a momento of that trip.  I saw this turtle, and thought it would look great with the rocks and the frogs that I already have.

And, we found more oak flooring for the great room... we're getting quite a collection now... in a world where everything is manufactured, our natural oak floors are going to be beautiful.

With that, we are still anticipating getting back to the mountain and working..... gonna be a busy summer - but unlike last year, we are going to take some weekends off... Driving down to the cabin every weekend really took it's toll last year...

...the adventure continues.

Love, Jim and Cheri