I'm just wasting a little time while the paint dries in the music room...

I've felt very creative lately, not that I've finished many projects, but the ideas are unending! I love crafty things, painting (in doses), and seeing something come together for a final project.

It seems my house is an unending canvas of things to do. No, those things don't have to be done, but I enjoy home projects.

Right now I have two coffee tables that I need ideas for. They will be painted, but I want some inspiration. My style is eclectic and leans towards contemporary. Nothing too detailed, or ornate. (Yes, you can draw the conclusion that Handel is not my favorite. I prefer Eric Whittacre or some other contemporary composer much more :o)

So, inspiration for my two coffee tables, hmmm....

the search begins!

Homecoming...the good, the bad and the ugly

Patrick and I decided to take a little break/vacation to Flagstaff during NAU's Homecoming weekend. We saved up for it (Dave Ramsey wouldn't have it any other way) and it was wonderful and terrible...I'll explain.

We arrived in Flagstaff and parked our car at the dome, then proceeded to walk downtown. We HAD to go to my favorite place P.J. Chillcottage (I thought it was Philcottage all these years) to buy some soap. It's expensive, but honestly it's the only "splurge" I do for my home. There's something about homemade bar soap that is just so cool to me.

Anyway, after visiting the Old Towne Shoppes we headed to a new restaurant: The Lumberyard. Since we moved from Flagstaff there have been quite a few new restaurants opened, and we wanted to try our luck on this brewery. I give this restaurant two thumbs and two big toes WAY UP! It was amazingly delicious! I mean, just look at this pulled pork sandwich and chili cheese fries! Excellent food, and fabulous beer!


There are cobwebs all around us, but don't worry, it was only a part of their Halloween decorating.

By this point I had a very satisfied stomach and purchased my all-time-favorite soaps. I probably could have gone home and been just fine right then. But we decided to stay for the game (since that is what we came up for).

We walked everywhere, and it was so refreshing. Look at how beautiful Flagstaff is in the Fall...


We walked to the dome to check out the tailgating, and it turned out to be sort of lame. I remember it being so much more fun when I was in college. Anyway, we made our way to the alumni table, got our free keychain and lanyard, and a delicious meal (I gave most of mine to Rachel because we had just eaten). After tailgating we headed into the dome for the game...and that's where the disaster started.

I love sports. Let me rephrase. I love going to sports games. It's very much a social thing, and I love being social with random people. Patrick goes for the game, I go for the social aspect :o) But this game, was not good. Not good at all. The score was 0-40 until the 4th quarter. Guess who had 0, yup, NAU. There was even a time when one of our players who had the ball threw it out of bounds because he was too scared to run with it, get pummeled or something. It was so sad. He just threw it out like a little girl. Now, I'm no pro football announcer, but I know a sissy when I see one-and that play was absolutely pathetic. There were countless other times when the guy throwing the ball threw it terribly, or the guy that was supposed to catch was looking the other way and literally got hit with the ball ON THE CHEST BETWEEN THE NUMBERS! Now again, I'm no pro, but any Joe off the street knows that is terrible playing right there. We managed to make the best of the game and take a couple of pictures.


This was before we realized our alma mater was so terrible at football. Notice the smiles :o)



And the 3rd quarter "after" picture-self explanatory.



This is my favorite part of going to games: seeing all the crazy people. I love stuff like this!



Rachel joined us for the game.



NAU Football ::sigh::



Louie the Lumberjack.

We left before the 4th quarter was over, and the score was 3-41. Sweet, we scored some points. The final score was 10-40, so at least it wasn't miserable in the end. Ha ha.

After we left the game we got some apple cider and coffee at Starbucks with Rachel. There's nothing like warm apple cider on a Fall day. I love it!

We didn't want to stay too late, but almost forgot about "our spot" Beaver Street Brewery. We've had some good times there. It seems that was the go-to place in college and after we got married, for celebration or some good eating. Turned out the fondue was great, but beer was sub-par. What a let down. Oh well.



Afterward we decided to hurry home so we didn't have to drive so late, plus Patrick's parents were staying at our house that night. Overall it was a very nostalgic and fun day-trip. I'd do it again, only next time, no football game for me :o)