february barbeques

i can't believe summer is already over. i love fall. but man, it was a good one. i'm nostalgic to see it go.

found this in my drafts, and since it's almost february again..
i wanna document these memories.

we ate dinner outside on the patio in coats and blankets, followed by a 7' high bonfire, telling bad jokes and eating bread pudding and making s'mores. star map apps out and finding constellations, venison jerky and gigantic shop tours.
it's a good life surrounded by good people

DIY chair redo

when we moved into our house, i bought these two chairs off ksl and had my parents bring them when they helped us move.

shoutout to my amazing mama for meeting the lady somewhere near lehi and doing a little bargaining for me

i knew i wanted to update them somehow, but i wasn't sure what color, or if i would be ambitious enough to make a slipcover, or finally get so fed up that i just buy one..

 almost one year after being in our house, and discovering that i have an extra 8 weeks before school starts up again, i decided i was ready to tackle them.

i read about a billion tutorials on how people did theirs, and consulted with Mandy, my go-to design consultant everything consultant. i eventually got a decent idea about how to proceed, and priced out my list, then hit the stores to get everything i needed.

(i followed this tutorial really closely, and got my mixture ratio from her as well)

here's what i used (was able to get it for $6.99/bottle at my Joann), and here (from home depot, $32.99/gallon), and a closeup of the texture i was working with

i was terrified at first, because my paint goes on super light (THAT'S NOT NAVY..!!). but then i just said "screw it" and went for it! i'm so glad i did.

 

(another added bonus of painting: hiding mystery stains...! thanks, ksl)

that chair on the left was mooch's for the whole year we've all been together (the house, the dog, and us). training her off it was hard work. she took to it after a couple days, but not before jumping back on after i'd already vacuumed the crap out of it...getting her hair all up in the business again.

in case you were wondering why there's a vacuum out on a hardwood floor...

i just used a regular 2" bristled brush and a ratio of 1:1:1/2 mixture of paint, textile medium, water
and a couple few episodes of criminal minds

tutorials i read recommended spraying the area so the paint covers...i didn't do that, because my mixture was already so wet on those chairs... so i just went to town.

regrets: not finishing the whole mixture in one go. i let it sit overnight then finished the chair, because it got too late. i feel like if i had done it all at once i wouldn't have had to do a second coat.
also, not having great light the whole time. because this night? chairs looked awesome. in the daylight with some sun? monkey with hands over the eyes emoji. oh boy.

so. have good lighting and when you make your mixture, make sure you have enough time/energy to finish the whole thing.

yes.. i painted right in my living room. on my floor..! don't worry. it scraped off so easy and was way less work (and mess, believe it or not!) than dragging in an old drop cloth covered in overspray from all my recent spray paint projects. 

 regret #2: they really are not as comfortable as they were when we bought them. that was jordan's biggest stance against painting them. i told him not to worry about it. (monkey with hands over eyes again). but, i've read that rubbing fabric softener helps loosen things up a little, or heard that super fine grit sand paper will work.

for the time being, they're staying put. cause we never use them, i love how they look, and i've lost my chutzpah. (which actually means audacity in Hebrew, but i like it better to mean drive and ambition... *cry laughing face*)

and there you have it! my relatively easy, relatively inexpensive diy chair redo. 

(total cost: $48.67. i ended up with extra textile medium, and lots of extra paint, but glad for it by the time i realized i needed another coat. and when you compare that to the price of two brand new chairs.. not bad!)

World Cup 2014

We went to Brazil. And I only had to take Klonopin twice! (miracle). God bless modern medicine. Maybe one day my brain and my body will reconcile without medication. But until then, I am so so grateful that I can take pills to feel better. #endthestigma

We were gone for THREE WHOLE WEEKS. It was a great experience, filled with beautiful souls, gorgeous landscape, and wonderful food. And so. much. traveling.  I loved being able to meet and love the people that I've heard so many stories about, and see all the places that are so near to Jordan's heart. I have this thing where I'm excited for someone about a trip somewhere, until I hear that it's back to someone's mission. And instantly I'm like ugh. Seriously? That's all? There's more to life. Find somewhere else to explore. I know. Terrible. But luckily people were so sweet and excited for us to go visit. And let me tell you, once I actually went, I get it. And I should have gotten it before we went..

Being there and meeting these families who loved Jordan and who played such a huge role in that two year chunk of his life was a sweet reminder of the importance of those things, and getting to see the locations of spiritual growth for him were so cool. Plus, playing tourist when one of you has already been there is 10x easier. (i.e., driving and navigating)

We went with the expectation of attending the Germany v. USA game in Recife (heh-see-fee), and enjoying the on-the-equator heat on the beach as an escape from the winter we'd be experiencing in the South. Turns out the friend we were going to buy our tickets from got scammed, and was out something like $2000, but luckily for us, we hadn't purchased airfare to Recife yet, nor paid the friend for those tickets. All we'd done was book a hotel, and that was easily canceled. So, small blessings. And it ended up saving us about $2000, on airfare, food, hotel, and game. I was pretty bummed about not getting to actually GO--it's a once in a lifetime experience! And the beach...! But, the game was rainy, we would have gotten soaked, it was a tie... Oh well.  I've tried to talk myself out of feeling bad about it. ha.

Instead, we flew into Floripa, drove 2 hours and spent 5 days in Joinville (join-vee-lee), drove a few hours up to Curitiba (koor-ee-chi-ba) to make it to the temple, then 6 hours to Videira (vee-deh-ra) where we spent another 4-5 days, and finally drove another 6-8 hours back to Florianopolis, or Floripa, where we stayed at a beach front hotel for a killer deal, and had the beach to ourselves. Thanks, "winter" time! And flew back out of there to get home. A map of our travels:

And here's where we were in terms of South America:

Sure, we didn't get in a stadium for any games, and that was a bummer. But we still watched almost every game, and let me tell you--watching soccer with lots of passionate fans is a good time. Even if you don't speak the same language. Or particularly care about soccer.. ha.