Fabulous thrift find

When I visit my family in Washington, one of my favorite things to do is go thrift store shopping with my sister.  The Pasco and Richland Goodwill stores always seem to have a decent selection of unwanted treasures.

I ended up finding this gem on the dress rack in Pasco:

My sister laughed out loud when she first saw it, but when I tried it on she was like Ohhhh, it actually looks really good.  Thank goodness our fashion styles vary and we don't have to fight over $3.99 dresses.  It came with a matching belt, but I like the white contrast better.
Kind of reminds me of this dress from Shabby Apple, minus the peter pan collar, all-over polka dots, and $96 price tag.  

I just love good thrift finds, don't you?  

Hmmmmm, something is just not quite right...

(All I could do was laugh when Clark ushered me into the room and said: I have something I need to talk to you about.  Dang wordless Ikea instructions! Luckily, they do sell paint...)

UPDATE 9/11: Ikea DOES NOT sell paint anymore.  But Home Depot saved the day. Whew, Clark narrowly escaped having to dissemble the frame. He's one lucky boy.

A move is a move is a move

Whether your moving a few blocks, across the country, or to a different country (hey, we've  done all three in less than 2 years!), it still sucks the life out of you.  It's exhausting and you not only have packing to do, but cleaning and organizing, junking out and justifying.

Now imagine moving into a new place in a hot and humid environment, calling the electric company to have your electricity transferred, and you're told that the power has been SHUT OFF and a technician cannot turn on the power for the next 5 DAYS because that's the soonest a technician will be in your area.  We may have experienced a similar-- nay, this exact situation.  It's infuriating, let me tell you.  Nevertheless, we got through this situation without any tears, which is a miracle on my part.  But I did have to restrain myself from calling up the management company and chewing them out for not alerting us that the previous tenants (most likely) moved out weeks ago and shut off the power.  How rude.

Moving right along...

Our electricity was turned on a few days ago and it feels heavenly.  I will never take electricity for granted again.  Cold showers only feel good for so long. We're almost completely unpacked and organized.  We are FOR REALS going to invest in a sofa and a tv.  FOR REALS. No messing around this time.  We have the space, so we might as well make our living room feel like a living room.  

Now, for your enjoyment, here are a few photos of our place in disarray:

Living room with french doors.  So classy.

Hallway lined with...stuff.

Desperately trying to focus and prepare a Sunday school lesson in 90 degree heat.  This did not go over well and we had to seek a cooler environment at our friends' apartment.

Enjoying some Chinese food before the sun sets.

View from our kitchen window. Our balcony and one of the kitchen windows overlooks a community pool.  I felt more comfortable taking this photo inside because people probably would have thought I had bad intentions if I had been taking photos from the balcony.  If we're still here next summer, we're going to pay the membership fees and join the pool.  It stays open late and all the little kiddies go home around 5 pm.    

Get ready for a virtual tour of our apartment in the next couple of weeks!  Why, you ask? Oh, because nobody loves us and/or wants to visit us.  *sniffle, sniffle.*  But honestly, I do think some people who may not ever visit might like to see our place. So Clark and I will be your proud tour guides!  Just don't judge us if we don't have a sofa or tv by then.  We'll get there...

  

We got him, and we got him GOOD!

After our camping extravaganza, I flew back to Pasco  for a very specific purpose: my Father's surprise 60th birthday party!  It was pretty awesome and I must say, I am so impressed that my Mom pulled it off!  Though his actual birthday is in January, she scheduled the party for the summer to eliminate any form of suspicion.  In order to send out invites to his closest friends, she had to sneak into his phone and locate his friends' phone numbers.  Only she's not super technologically savvy, so I know this was a difficult errand for her to perform.  The couple days leading up to the party she had him believing that she was going to throw me and my little brother a party, jointly, because Scott just graduated from Embry-Riddle and I am set (fingers crossed) to graduate in December.  Thus, it would be a graduation celebration of sorts.  She also told my Father that I believed the party was for Scott, and he believed it was for me.  Whew.  So theoretically everyone was thinking the party was for someone else.  This method was implemented so that no one would be suspicious with the set up of tables and chairs, and traeger parked in the lawn.  

The afternoon of the party, my Dad, Scott, myself and my two cute nephews Chase and Cole headed in town for some Fro-Yo and to pick out a computer for my Dad at Costco.  When we entered the driveway just after 4pm,  my Dad recognized several of the parked cars.  His initial response was: What the??? 

As we climbed out of the vehicle he looked at me and said: this is for you guys.

So I kind of laughed and said: Uhh, nooooooo, it's for you! Cedar's awesome banner was displayed along the pool fence so I'm sure that as my Dad read the banner the reality of the situation sank in.

And then various individuals on the lawn yelled surprise!! (As you can imagine,  it's kind of hard to choreograph a simultaneous yell of surprise when everyone is out in the open, so it wasn't actually attempted.)  Nevertheless, my Dad was stunned! And embarrassed.  He doesn't like attention.

Like the title of the post reads, we got him, and we got him good!!

Scott, Cedar, Katie and Ty all enjoying the bbq feast.

 Dad's tropical themed cake.  Props to Costco for being willing and able to decorate a cake with non-standard designs!

Teya and Dad 

Dad and his three grandchildren. It's pointless to get them all to look in the same direction.

Dad and two of his sisters.

Some party decor.  Thank you, Dollar Tree.

I decided to present Dad with his gifts a little early.  He received a Penn shirt and this mug.  The other side is way cooler, and displays Penn's coat of arms.

The evening's entertainment was funded by Cedar.  He brought over a bunch of fireworks.  He also lit two sparklers and handed them to 4 year old Cole.  Best idea of the night? Probably.

Now, Cedar actually lit some fireworks the night before, just for funsies.  He sent a bottle rocket soaring into our parents' deck roof, yelled oh sh*t!, and ran helplessly to the roof where he could not retrieve the rocket.  Luckily, the house didn't burn down and no one was hurt.  Cole was also extremely scared of the sounds of the fireworks, and cried like a little baby.  Oh wait, he's only 4.  So, I gotta admit, I'm impressed the little guy came around in 24 hours later and held onto TWO sparklers.  Kid's got grit. I just love the look of consternation on his face in the picture below.   

Cedar and Scott lighting some bottle rockers in the field.  Don't worry, everything is fireproof in the country.

Cedar narrowly escaping a small explosion.

Oh, hey look.  The chickens were enjoying the party, too!  Yes, my parents have 4 chickens.  And yes, the chickens are allowed out of their coop to roam around the yard.

Mom and Dad, with part of Cedar's awesome banner.

The complete birthday banner in all it's glory.

It was a fun party and it was great to see relatives who made the effort to attend!  My only regret is that we didn't even get a family picture.  Dang, I should have hired a professional. 

Love you so much, Dad! Hope you had a wonderful "birthday"!

East Coast Camping Extravaganza!

A couple of weeks ago we went on a totally awesome camping trip up the East coast. Two nights in Rhode Island, two nights in Maine, and two nights in New Hampshire.  We were supposed to spend our seventh night back in Rhode Island, but we opted to join the Chad Tobler family at their home in Waltham, MA.  We spent several afternoons on various beaches, visited multiple lighthouses, and ate lots of good seafood.  I can't go into any more detail because I'm tired and cranky and we don't have power and I feel like we're camping...again.  More on  our current situation later, though.

Our trip started off with two nights of camping in Naragansett, Rhode Island.  The beach was packed despite our trip beginning on a weekday.  We learned that if you wait until after 4 pm, you can park and enter the beach for FREE. Much better than paying the $28 fee.  So that's exactly what we did.  Both days.

Clark may have been one of the whitest bodies on the beach. I was probably the second whitest.

Judith Point Lighthouse.  Perhaps I have never declared my love of lighthouses on the blog.  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM AND HOPE TO ONE DAY RESIDE IN ONE.

So much so, in fact, that Clark allowed me to have a personal photo shoot with the lighthouse. He's so sweet.

Our second day we drove up to Providence.  

And we ate some awesome fish and chips back in Naragansett...

 Overlooking the ocean.

We also visited the Fisherman's Memorial, which apparently isn't built to withstand strong winds (or so I assume).

Before we headed back to the beach to watch the sun set, we ate some ice cream at Aunt Carrie's.

Our third day we drove up to Maine, and immediately after setting up camp we hit Old Orchard Beach.  It was beautiful and the water was so clear compared to the water at the beach in RI. I'm not saying I didn't like the beach at Rhode Island, because I really did.  But, let's be honest here.  I prefer clear water over murky water, and long stretches of white sandy beaches are mighty fine, too.

Before leaving for dinner, Clark secured our tent to a nearby tree.  Good thing Clark took this precaution because it ended up getting nasty during the night!  Meaning, we had plenty of wind and rain.

Later that evening we drove to The Lobster Shack for some fresh and local Maine Lobster!  This restaurant was featured on Man v. Food, which is one of the reasons we chose to eat at this establishment.  It was packed.

The Two Lights Lighthouse, which can be seen from The Lobster Shack.

DANG, that is a fine looking lobster. The meal was complete with two biscuits, fries and cole slaw.

Clark wasted nothing, and played with his food, too.

As I mentioned, it poured buckets our third night, so our fourth day started out a little drizzly.  So we took the opportunity to drive up to Freeport and visit the flagship L.L. Bean store.

Luckily for us, the weather cleared in the afternoon and we were able to walk around Portland without any worries of being drenched and miserable.  Portland is such a cool city, and we both agree that it has a Northwest feel, like Seattle or Portland, OR. I could see myself living in Portland, Maine.

 Before heading down to New Hampshire on our fifth day, we drove out to the Portland Head Light.  It is so picturesque, and I probably took at least 50 pictures of the lighthouse alone.  

And later in the afternoon, after we had set up camp in New Hampshire, our much anticipated camping buddies arrived! We loved camping with Chad, Janet, Violet and Lucia!

That night we were supposed to have grilled corn and shrimp, however, the weather turned in an instant and drowned out the fire Clark so carefully started!  The rain poured and unfortunately, we only feasted on a dinner of chips and cheese dip.  

The next morning we waited out the rain, which eventually stopped.  So we headed to York, Maine for some beach time and to see the Nubble Light House.

The beautiful Nubble Light House.

York Beach, Maine. Though it was mostly cloudy, it was still in the mid 70's and enjoyable.  

That night we were able to enjoy fine conversation around the campfire.

 Thank goodness for coolers.  We were also able to enjoy the shrimp that we were supposed  to eat the night before.

As we all prepared to depart on the seventh day, Chad and Janet realized that their van had a flat tire and their keys were locked in their van.  See the pole in the car? Somehow that pole managed to unlock the van.

Chad and Janet were able to get back to Waltham but the next day as we drove out to Wingaersheek Beach, the tire went flat again.  

We noticed the tire was flat at a convenience/sandwich store.  The sandwiches were remarkable, by the way.

We were able to make it to the beach, and while Chad figured out the tire situation, we all got to frolic in the sand and on the rocks.

The tide went out and you could walk nearly a half mile out.  It was so neat and yes, Chad and Janet, that beach is fantastic!

View of the beach as we walked out with the receding tide.

We had a blast on this trip and are so glad we were able to see so much of the East Coast.  I am also thrilled that I have fulfilled my childhood dream of visiting Maine.  Next time we visit Maine, we'll go farther North and see the Acadia National Park. Also, I think 6 days of camping might be a few days too many.  After about three days our linens were permanently damp and sandy.  Yep, I think three days of camping is probably the max from here on out.   Thank you, Chad and Janet, for camping with us and for allowing us to stay at your home for a couple of nights!