Garage Sale finds- part deux

Just a few more favorite items of 2010:

Who would want to get rid of this wreath...for $1??

Lucky for me!

I guess on a sweltering summer morning, an autumn wreath isn't noticed, unless you're me.

On occasion Karl will go with me.  He's a great sport and he sees totally different things than I see at the same sale.  He always notices tools, fishing stuff and other typical guy junk.  Like this Power Wheels...seriously, "you want to take this home?".  Turns out, it was a pretty great find.  He had to go to a battery store and get a new battery, but it works great.

Ashton is too little to ride it by himself, but the Hansen girls next door take him and Maci on rides whenever they come over.  (They have a pink jeep Power Wheels of their own).

Anyway, Scott Vikari and Madison Garrett got a kick out of it this summer too.  Too bad those Texas kids live so darn far away!

This slide was my first purchase of the summer for $5, another Grandma thing.

This was also a great season for bracelets.  I didn't picture them, but I found a ton of fun braclets for myself for .50 or a dollar.  I think the jewelry crafters get tired of all the stuff they've made.

For those of you who know my crystal christmas tree collection, this was a THREE TREE year!  They are difficult to come by and some years I haven't found any.  But again they are usually dusty and unattractive sitting amongst other disguarded things and the seller only wants .50 for them.  (I have to breathe deeply and not give away my emotions when I see one, but a giant "YES!" dance is happening in my head). 

I love Betty Crocker!

It's not just because I grew up a few miles from Betty's test kitchen at General Mills in Minnesota, (but that may be a part of it).  It's because they are using those kitchens to improve MY life.  First it was 5 varieties of CHEX cereal, then 2 Gluten Free cake mixes, a cookie mix and brownies.  All of these are so delicious they taste like real food.  So I squealed right in the aisle at Wal Mart yesterday when I saw this:

This is so awesome!  Gluten free specialty foods have never been cheap and at $3.84 for this little 16 oz. package that is still the case, but I bought two boxes (one for me and one for my daughter).  I want to suppport Betty and General Mills in their efforts so I will pay!! 

Favorite Garage Sale Finds

I have been a garage-sale-aholic for many years, not ashamed to admit it.  I love perusing other peoples junk hoping to find a treasure of my own.  I am drawn to certain types of things, dishes, for example. I have found a few fun things over the years.  One of the best parts about this hobby is that when I am no longer interesed in my new find, I can haul it to DI with no lingering regrets about how much I paid for it.  Some of my favorite finds this year include:

Hansen classic figure at Luthern church sale $4

A set of outdoor garden lights - the real variety NOT solar $3

this candle holder has yet to have any candles - but is just right for short stemmed flowers $1

This glass and metal tray (underneath finds from years past) $2

Set of 10 Currier & Ives Dinner plates $5 (In perfect condition)

This is for the grandma collection $10


There are so many fun things, I hate to see the season end!!

Delete! You've got to be kidding me!

 I carefully documented the transformation of our storage shed.  Well, it was just a hard earned coat of paint, which required sanding, scraping, primer and 2 coats of paint.  I had Laura take pictures of this event, which spread over several weeks.  I learned a great deal of things.  Talk to the folks at Home Depot, they were very helpful, recommending a heavy duty outdoor primer.  Wear gloves when using primer.  (Primer= Paint + Glue).  Don't plan on going anywhere in public if you don't wear gloves while using said primer.  Paint in the cool of the morning not the noontime heat of the day.  Apparently, I learned not to delete the file that I had just downloaded onto the computer while the camera was still plugged in because it stripped them from the computer AND the camera in one click.  I tried restoring everything on the computer to no avail.  Well, the shed still looks good now, with a little luck it was such a thorough job I will NEVER have to do it again (while we still own the house), and I didn't lose a hundred pictures, just a dozen.  AND I can cross this huge job off my list!!

The finished product. 

A Beautiful Day in Park City

I love being outdoors on  a beautiful day, especially if it includes a day off of work and being with my sweetheart.  If I have to golf to do that, I will!    Actually, I am learning to enjoy golf, but I am pretty awful.  I had a work related tournament with the Utah Jazz last week and we invited a couple of friends from the ward to join us, the only rule was that they had to say things like, "Good hit Barb!", and "Nice job!" no matter what actually transpired on the green.

I had a few good swings, and since it was a "best ball" they didn't have to use anything of mine.  I did however have one particularily good drive that landed me almost on the green:

Karl had a great shot - none of us in our party could see exactly where it landed until the guys in the group ahead of us started jumping and yelling that "It went in the cup!".  Sure enough, it took a chuck of grass with it as it dropped in the cup. Not a hole in 1, but the 2nd shot of a par 5, so a "double eagle".  Awesome.

Personal Progress

This spring our Relief Sociey challenged the women in our ward to work on on the Young Women's personal progress program - if they had never done it before.  Being something of a goal oriented person, I decided to think about it.  So I read through the book.  There is a lot of stuff to do for this thing. I figured if my daughters did it, and one day my granddaughters will do it, I could too.

FAITH

I decided to do the "plant a garden" for my project, which I would be doing anyway, but this time I read about nurturing a garden as you would your faith.  I coincidentally read a gardening blog where the guy recommended 5 minutes a day weeding, and never letting the weeds get taller than an inch.  ONE inch!!  This turned out to be easier than I thought and for the 1st six weeks or so, it was easy and easy to see how nuturing your testimony each day yeilds the same results.

As the summer wore on I was a little less motivated, but found that by keeping those nasty weeds out when they were small paid off later. As usual, some stuff grew well and some failed altogether.  I've grown onions for years, this year they just laid down and died.  I planted some funky variety of Swiss Chard.  Yuck.  Just tore that nasty stuff out of there. We always have great success with our potatoes, carrotts and beets (except for the Year of the Gopher), and they have done well this year too.  I finally have some pumkins, but time will tell if there is enough time for them to grow and turn orange before the end of Octobler.

Last Sunday I started the Book of Mormon again, (a newish requirement in Personal Progress is to read it).  I absolutely am loving the connections with Lehi warning of the destruction of Jerusalem.  That didn't sound right.  What I mean is that since I am teaching Gospel Doctrine this year and I am immersed in the Old Testament prophets declaring the same warnings, it is pretty cool to take off with Lehi's family at the same time and see what an important event that is for the Gospel in the new world.  I'm pretty sure I'll get to the Book of Mormon Isaiah chapters at the same time I am teaching Isaiah in the O.T.  So, I guess the whole Young Woman/ Old Woman Personal Progress thing is pretty cool.