Decorating. :) cheaply.

So many people think that they need to spend in order to have a nice, beautiful space.

And by no means am I saying that I think my space is "beautiful",

but it is definitly an improvement from when I first arrived!

.....

For example, just re-evaluate your furniture arrangement.

Notice how small and cramped my apt looks?

...

:window looks hopelessly small and wierdly off-center

:bookshelf is tucked away in the corner, behind the topply lamp.

and who knows what that picture is of? The only way to see it is to

stand on the far side of the table, or right in front of it.

:table is no-where near the kitchen

:coming down the stairs (they are along the wall

behind the bin of trains, to my back from where I took pic),

on way down stairs you can see a long narrow path right between

the table and blank wall to the baseboards. Makes room appear short.

not to mention the first thing one sees as coming downstairs is a train bin.

: couch is along the wall facing the bedroom door.

who wouldn't want to enjoy a cup of tea, facing no one else for company

and gazing into the usually messy-ish bedroom?

...

there are many tiny details that I did not appreciate in the original layout,

but carrying on.

:Oh, one more thing- the only perfectly useful chair

that could be used in a cute nook is by the fridge. and not at all facing the other seating.

so that lucky person could sip tea while enjoying the hum of the fridge. Such loveliness! haha

.....

Okay here is the new layout:

...

Fixed:

-the topply lamp is in no more danger of toppling. Properly placed in a corner.

-The nook chair now has a 'nook'. Facing the couch for company and

with good lighting to read books from the bookshelf, and a place to put that cup of tea.

-The couch is now facing the other chair for proper visiting, and also it stops your eye

as you come downstairs. So it acts as a 'half-wall' visually.

(See how there is a 'floor line' along the far side of the table that continues

along the near side of the couch?

It subconciously makes it two separate spaces. Dining and living, making room appear larger.)

-with the picture and bookshelf lined up beneath the window, it appears more in center of the wall.

and the couch taking up more of the floor space on the long side helps as well.

visual trickery! :)

window also looks less small b/c it is part of a larger structure now, instead of being alone.

-table: near kitchen!! :)

.....

The room could be left just rearranged, and would be a completely free 10 minute makeover.

 But I was bored and feeling the need to get crafty.

...

Being on a limited income- I made a budget of $30 to re-do the bookshelf area.

It is not what I would 'dream' of but it was fun to re-think items

and use as many freebies as possible :)

Curtains: burlap (they need an extra length still, so will hit the heat register once finished): 10$

...

Frame: micheals "oops" bin 5$.. Wire mesh hand-done: 2$

...

Flowers: dollar tree 1$ ..Vase: oatmeal box covered in contact paper 1$ for roll

...

Rosette Pillow: upcycled free sweater from free bin at a ski swap.

...

Curtains: handpainted napkins 1$ each. Blue craft paint: .80

...

Picture frames: 1$ for all from dollar tree

...

Gold mercury glass candle holders: clearance from holiday items 2$ for all three.

...

Books: from free bin at library-just picked nice looking colors :)

...

There are two little wooden blocks that were free from nanny guys' burn pile, painted with nanny family's white craft paint and then decorated with paint chips.

...

Free picture book-gift from mom :)

...

Chalkboard in wire frame: 2$ for flat paint board. 7$ for chalk paint.

1$ for chalk.

...

Total: 35$ :) five over, but for a completed temporary bookshelf, was worth it!

Expedition to Homer.. finally posted!!

Luke, his good buddy Zach, and myself all drove down to Homer

one fine weekend in Sept to join in on a camping trip

with mostly everyone else who is up here.

Was so fun to get to know everyone a bit more, and to enjoy a new place! 

.....

The drive down was a rainy-ish one.

But with rain, comes rainbows :)

We saw a double rainbow almost immedietly.. so pretty!

This is along the Turnagain Arm, we saw belugas swimming in here,

they were so white, they looked like they were glowing!

We arrived in Homer that evening, and it was just beautiful..

Very clear skies, and perfect temp for a bonfire..

We also witnessed a very brilliant light show..!

Was so pretty, it appeared to stretch from one end of the spit to the other

(hey, sister K- this is the lights that I picked your necklace colors from :) ..)

.....

During the day on Saturday, we all wandered to the Wooden boat show,

It was such a neat little fair, with a handful of very picturesque boats

and a small food booth with a small kids' activity tent,

felt very accurate according to the size of the town! :)

At the fair, we ran into the roiko family that was visiting here,

very fun to see some familiar faces!

Loved this boat, floating in the water..

Made me wish I were a salty old sailor.

.....

This was, according to all who voted, the best sail in the entire show.

Oh for crying out loud, look how cute the little whale is.

...

This was an old steam engine I believe.

I only half paid any attention to the actual information and instead just admired the looks of it.

And the shiny-ness of it.

And the interior paint colors.

Ahhh, to have a reddish-orangeish floor somewhere in a house..

and that's why I have no clue what type of engine it is.

.....

Oh hello there campsite!

Can you see that white building??

The fair was behind it sort of, so was a perfect little stroll away.

We camped right next to this line of shops, was just the darlingest coastal town I have ever seen.

.....

Wandering down to the harbor, we saw this huge halibut.

Quite artificial, but we did see a guy who caught one almost the same size.

The fillets they were getting off of it were about three feet long and about 8 inches thick.. was insane.

.....

As you can read, the harbor:

The harbor is just unbelievable..

The boats and their incredible uniqueness,

the reflections, the scenery, the colors, the feel of the salty air, aaahhh...

This is why people get into boating.

Right here.

Well now, ain't he cute.

Just a little tugboat.

With round windows!!

It really is a toss-up between the whale sail and this boat for the favorite trophy.

And this dude.

odds are good for him winning the trophy.

...

Teensy jellyfish.

Can you see it??

.....

A historical landmark, built in 1897 and turned saloon 1957, before AK was even a state!

Originally a cabin- one of the earliest cabins built in AK.

.....

The tides here are world record tides.. usually about 40-60 feet of change..

Thus the buildings are all built on posts. :)

...

Can you see the spit?

Taken through binoculars;

There is one long two lane road and it ends with a bunch of those shops and the harbor.

Towards the front, you can see a dark blob next to a lighter blob on its left?

We camped right next to the lighter blob!

Ohforgoodnesssake. The things we seen.

.....

Enjoying the tidal pools :)

a Jellyfish waiting for the water to come back up..

Didn't know they were clear like this!! Almost did not see them laying on the sand at all

We picked up the jelly and put it in water to watch it swim away..

It inverts itself then slowly unwinds its tentacles to swim :)

The sand looks like ribbons when the tide goes out..

...

Oh I think I will keep him.

No complaints about holding my seashell cup and coffee cup

so that I could take pictures.. :)

.....

Looking back on the row of shops, crazy the water can reach all the way up those posts!

More ribbony sand.

...

The second night was also beautiful..

Loved the relfections!

This here is a whale's tooth.

So my family can see what I was talking about.

So there you have it. Homer.. Such a long post, but hope you enjoyed! :)

a tale of a new hair-do

Here is a tale of a new hair-do.

A tale of a lady haircutter who was

very very new to the business of hair-doing.

Much less hair-cutting.

But her first client was a very reasonable fellow.

And he didn't much mind what sort of hair-do got did.

He only had a few requests.

.....

He does not much care for

So no orange hair. After all, he looks rather pale with such lively colored locks.

.....

Also, while he would love to own the very decent moustache

in such a dapper look as the

It really would defeat the purpose of having a sharp and new haircut.

And the lady haircutter really does not promote nose brooms of any kind.

.....

After putting in some serious thought on becoming very

he decided to not to.

It would have been a tad difficult to keep up with.

.....

And while he really wanted to look as cool as

he remembered that he does not play any instrument.

.....

So instead he settled on just a simple haircut.

Much to the joy of the lady hairdresser.

After all, it was her first hair-do.

How cute can you get?

As it turns out, pretty darn cute. Seriously, as far as co-workers go, I ain't doing too bad. :)

My word gladice. that's far.

In the skiing post, I mentioned distance, and thought I would post this little number as well.

The views here are incredible, and even though I had heard from so many people how gorgeous this place is, it is pretty awesome to see it firsthand!!

.....

Okay, so this is a picture from Lazy Mt trail head parking lot. It's about 5 miles or so from Luke's cabin.

So you see that road I pointed a blue arrow to?

That is the Parks-Wasilla Highway, that eventually leads to the Denali Nat'l park. 

 ...

And that incredible mountain all lit up in the sunset?

That is Mt McKinley. 

According to mapquest it is about 249 miles from where I took the picture.

 ...

That's like seeing the Mackinaw bridge from my mom and dad's house!

Holy shemoly. You guys all gotta get up here, and we could go to this spot. And gaze into the distance.

.....

And then move in to the house on the left so that 

we could enjoy tea and crumpets while gazing out into the distance. 

.....

Kidding of course. Anyway, you get the idea.

Oh, okay, you want to go skiing?

Well that's no big deal.

I used to ski.

Back in the day.

I can handle it.

And if I can't I will simply brag that I could. Once.

The idea is, if you can't ski very well, the hatcher pass road run is the perfect 'starting point'.

.....

Wow.. I was about to discover that little idea is way way wrong.

Here we are.. before I knew what the heck "skiing the road run" really means.

It wasn't a really big loss, these puppies were purchased for a steal of a deal at a ski swap.

and I have no clue if they are an off brand or not, they just made me feel important.

and athletic.

Here is Luke, he loved every minute of the day.

It was more exciting to see him get excited. :)

One of my favorite parts of the day:

Hitchhiking!

(You gotta hitchhike 'cuz it's not technically a ski hill, so no ski lifts.

It is just carved out of the mountainside by people who love this sort of thing)

Anyway, this is out of the back of the truck,

you can even see a tiny parking lot way at the bottom

filled with tiny cars.

Luke in the midst of hitchhiking..

A picture of the beautiful view at the start of the run..

Down in that valley is the town of Palmer :)

The town where Luke lives..

It's about a 25 minute drive to the pass.. just to get a feel for the distance

Back to town! Loved how the lights looked against the mountains in the distance.. 

Also loved being back in town, safe and sound.

All limbs still intact.

Maybe with some practice might try again.. :)

Maybe.