tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36138575720584334852012-01-16T19:02:23.941ZRachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.comBlogger571100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-17745935270848478842012-01-12T22:56:00.011Z2012-01-13T19:23:04.099Z

~UnknownThe overall arching theme of my third semester of Sculpture was Hope--being able to see the miraculous in the mundane. For my final project, I wanted to do something completely different than what I had previously done. I'm not really certain how I came up with the idea. Looking back, I think this might have been my motivation: As a kid, I loved Lite-Brites. I have very fond memories

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-70041824556187292562012-01-12T20:30:00.002Z2012-01-16T19:02:23.959Z

~Richard Bach For the third semester of the Sculpture class I'm taking at the local community college, the instructor gave me free reign to do whatever I wanted, so long as I set my own schedule and met my goals. The kicker is that the projects had to revolve around a centralized theme. I struggle with themes. Mostly, I just make whatever I think is pretty, and don't really care too much

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-2309627369608727602012-01-12T20:17:00.008Z2012-01-12T23:40:26.754Z

~Rabindranath TagoreSpring 2011, I took the second semester of Sculpture class at my local community college. I had the same instructor as the first semester, and two classmates from that class joined me. The instructor didn't want to hamper our creativity and decided that we could collectively decide what we wanted to do. The three of us came up with six projects/subjects to tackle during the

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-8905306334433398942011-05-19T23:15:00.000+01:002011-05-20T01:15:40.352+01:00

Waaaay back in the day, just after we bought the house, John was cabling the upstairs for tv and internet, and came across a lamp base behind the knee wall that surrounds the perimeter of the entire upper level. I had the grandiose idea that I would paint the base and attach some sort of awesome lamp shade and it would be an awesome homage to the origins of the house.I started out by wielding a

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-60958033710790540142011-05-11T09:27:00.000+01:002011-05-11T17:28:02.790+01:00

Dante's Third Circle is reserved for Gluttons, and while I still firmly hold that carvers inhabit his Seventh Circle, I decided to punish/challenge myself and take another stab at carving. The parameters of this project were simple: create a sculpture of the human form and focus on the play of light/darkness.Realizing how freaking hard it is to carve, I decided to create a mold that would better

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-68360618616559626812011-05-10T08:45:00.000+01:002011-05-10T16:41:49.338+01:00

I can clearly remember than in Mrs. Burns' Fourth Grade Class, one of the art projects we undertook was making masks related to Idaho History. The FUN activity involved dragging out mothers in on a weekday, Vaseline, and hanging out in the teacher's lounge (SO COOL!!!!!!!!). Our loving months applied plastered gauze strips to our greased up faces and we tried desperately not to hyperventilate

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-65595355938458603722011-05-09T18:58:00.004+01:002011-05-09T19:26:56.451+01:00

Perhaps the most difficult project I tackled during the Beginning Sculpture class last fall was carving. As I like to tell anyone who will listen (and even those who don't), I am a CREATOR and not a DESTROYER. That is to say, carving is an activity commonly enjoyed by those individuals who occupy the outer ring of the Seventh Circle of Hell.The assignment sounded simple: carve something out of

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-19784068159778915532011-01-28T00:46:00.006Z2011-04-22T23:28:50.025+01:00

My mom insisted that my two brothers, sister and I took specific projects in 4-H when we were kids. Our first year, we had to take Helping Mom & Dad (a ploy to get us to pitch in more) and Idaho Wildlife (in hopes of fostering naturalist feelings towards our native fauna). The second year, we could take one project of our choosing, and we also had to take a project on native weeds plants. Now,

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-13023621399975330462010-10-12T23:58:00.005+01:002010-10-13T01:34:28.126+01:00

The second medium that we worked with in my sculpture class was wire. The assignment sounded easy: using wire, create one sculpture that appears heavy, and one sculpture that appears light. We were to consider our materials, the colour, and the visual weight of our method when creating our sculptures (thin wire appears lighter than thick wire, silver wire appears lighter than black wire, simple

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-85886200327216058482010-10-06T22:56:00.003+01:002010-10-06T23:24:35.687+01:00

For the final project of Medium #1 (Foam Core Board), I had to create something that was a "walk-through" sculpture. Based on the cryptic description from the hand out the instructor provided us, I thought a walk-through sculpture was one where the viewer interacted with the piece, where they could easily see top and bottom of the piece but would need to move their entire body (not the piece

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-1640035632598772612010-09-13T17:11:00.004+01:002010-09-13T18:49:25.085+01:00

As you might or might not be aware, I'm taking a Beginning Sculpture class at the local CC. Throughout college, I always *meant* to take a sculpture class, because I have it in my mind that I could be very good at sculpture (no false modesty here!). It never worked into my schedule, and I wasn't too enamored with the professor that taught the class. Then when I started taking classes at the CC

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-73520466199510239222010-09-07T22:31:00.004+01:002010-09-08T02:50:27.534+01:00

Last spring, several Home Improvement/Decorating blogs were a frenzied with hanging succulent gardens created with Whirly Hanging Candleholders from CB2. Cute, to be sure. I was reminded that during college, I invariably had a hanging fishbowl that I fashioned out of a clear glass replacement light globe I snagged at the local Ace Hardware. I wrapped the lip with wire, and suspended it from the

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-70542058237910203572010-09-01T17:20:00.005+01:002010-09-01T17:49:09.542+01:00

My friend Mickey asked me to make a birthday card for his wife's birthday, and since I'm quite fond of Mickey and Carrie, I immediately agreed (despite having many unfinished projects looming over me, and school starting).Mickey's only direction was that he and Carrie would be spending the upcoming weekend in the mountains, and since they're both avid back packers, something mountain/wildflower

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-10243274093246931692010-08-23T17:37:00.004+01:002010-08-23T18:07:10.371+01:00

It's not really related to my house, but I promised my mom I would share with her the pictures of the necklaces/earrings I made this weekend. Carrie came over on Saturday, and we got our Crafty-Geekness on, and made some jewelry. Carrie finished a necklace her sister had asked for long ago, as well as another necklace using some of her beads and some of mine--both turned out lovely, though I

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-40898855474241214702010-08-17T00:46:00.002+01:002010-08-17T01:21:45.935+01:00

The property my house sits on is L-shaped, with neighbours on both sides. Both of the neighours have houses that are set further back than my house, so they have prime-views of the windows on the back side of the house. Before the neighbours to the left moved in, John and I went to look at the place with our realtor to see what they could see, and were happy that they really couldn't see much.

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-44809662785390914222010-07-01T22:48:00.009+01:002010-07-02T18:05:22.308+01:00

By and large, the house is severely lacking in storage. In the three bedroom house, there are exactly three closets--that's it. There's no linen closet. There's no utility closet. Instead of making a closet underneath the stairs on the inside of the house, there's a closet on the outside. The vacuum cleaner, broom, carpet cleaner, etc are all "discretely" tucked behind trash containers and

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-28361539604170160972010-06-29T16:58:00.008+01:002010-06-29T17:42:17.093+01:00

As I have mentioned, my grandmother made beautiful beaded Christmas ornaments. Each year, all of her grandchildren could pick out a single ornament from her bevy of creations. As a child, this was a fun tradition, and now as I look at my amassed collection as an adult, it makes me feel a bit more connected to my grandparents.Last October, I decided I would take a stab at making my own ornaments

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-55226266880899322372010-06-24T22:53:00.006+01:002010-06-24T23:41:59.898+01:00

As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. My road is *very* well paved.As you might recall, I had that BRILLIANT idea of doing a home-made Christmas with my family. Here it is, the middle of June, and I've FINALLY gotten all of my Christmas 2009 gifts sent to their respective recipients. When I hatched my BRILLIANT plan of making all of these Christmas presents, the

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-3458124961810589792010-06-09T18:11:00.009+01:002010-06-09T19:40:23.020+01:00

Last fall during the beginning woodworking class John and I were taking through the local CC, we were introduced to the Scroll Saw. I immediately decided that I liked the scroll saw, and that it and I would become best buddies. I liked that I could easily cut circles and waves, that it was relatively safe to use, and didn't take a lot of know how. I also liked that I wasn't confined to a pattern

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-80388803294963077852010-05-25T19:02:00.005+01:002010-05-26T00:57:17.420+01:00

Something I have always always always wanted was a kitchen window that was spanned by gleaming glass shelves where I could store knick knacks and pretty things. I convinced myself that it'd take out some of the tedious boredom out of doing dinner dishes and that I just might look forward to the task. My mom (or was it my grandma) had this GORGEOUS puzzle that features coloured glass in front of a

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-12831302589325045812010-05-18T05:39:00.006+01:002010-05-18T07:08:37.505+01:00

So I've noticed an alarming number of design blogs that feature sunburst mirrors. And I WANT one, but I don't want to shell out the $200 (for a cheapie) to $1500+ (for a HOLY F). And with my false sense of belief in my woodworking abilities bolstered by the relative success with the magnetic knife holder I made for my brother in law, I've convinced myself that I would make my own sunburst mirror

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-40008632029409439742010-05-11T20:33:00.004+01:002010-05-11T23:30:40.214+01:00

So, I did a horrible thing. I pressured my siblings into agreeing to do hand-made gifts this last year (2009) for our sibling Christmas exchange. The rules were simple: after drawing names (including sister- and brothers- in-law and not-quite-in-law), each person could spend up to $20 in materials required to make something for the person they drew. They could use a photo of a cute nephew that

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-77954240083247141662010-04-23T00:50:00.005+01:002010-04-23T01:21:17.969+01:00

After my fall foliage wreath turned out so well, I took a stab at making an ornament wreath (using the instructions Eddie Ross so kindly provided) for Christmas. I used shatter-proof ornaments in blue and silver tones. It turned out ok. (Hmmm...I thought I had taken a picture of it before I put it into storage, but evidently I did not. Poo.)Following Christmas, I replaced the ornament wreath with

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-62611638185134983962010-04-19T20:40:00.006+01:002010-04-20T16:51:56.157+01:00

I like pretty things, and when I see them for sale, I think "I could make that myself SO much cheaper!" so then I take a picture of it and go home with the intention of recreating it. Piracy? Perhaps. But I have no intentions of selling anything and they're all for personal use, so I'm a Private Pirate (not the be confused with a Privates Pirate, which is a whole 'nother kettle of fish). (Where

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-21168337177642987082010-03-15T23:16:00.005Z2010-03-15T23:43:33.925Z

Before we moved into our REO house that had sat vacant for over a year, we did a MASSIVE cleaning. John literally vacuumed an entire shop-vac full of dirt and dust off the carpeted floors, and I spent hours scrubbing toilets/showers/sinks/cabinets. We were so happy to be done with the cleaning push and then the move, that we didn't even think about decorating/painting. So for the last year, I've

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-90834365542069980142010-03-09T17:08:00.005Z2010-03-09T18:19:31.197Z

Last April, I bought some paint. I was going to paint the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms, because the SAGEY green in the DS bath and the LEMONY yellow in the US bath were killing me. I'm more of a warm gray/blue kind of a person, and my eyes were telling me they were in pain.Then, I lost the motivation (because there were other things to do), and the cans of paint sat in the spare bedroom,

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-1301228701132654312010-03-03T18:37:00.005Z2010-03-03T20:21:05.994Z

The lyrics to "A New Life" from Jekyll and Hyde are rattling through my head, because I gave a New Life (hah!) to a sad little seat-less chair John and I found outside ReStore last Octoberish. You might remember the picture from my post back in November. That it's below. Cute, isn't it? As I remarked, I'm certain the chair was hand-crafted, and the person who made it just gave up on

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-53146935996972730262010-02-26T21:43:00.002Z2010-02-26T21:47:43.323Z

For Christmas this year, my lovely sister made me some lovely wreaths. She thought I could use them either as wreaths or as table pieces with votive candle holders in the center. I decided to use it as a replacement for the bulb wreath I made for Christmas, and finally got off my butt to put it up on the front door.I think they're cute! They're made out of grapevines, and the "flowers" are made

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-41860741894635798852010-02-13T00:33:00.005Z2010-02-13T00:51:27.639Z

In typical RACHEL FASHION, it's the middle of February, and I'm just now thinking of the new year. I'll cover my butt by saying I didn't get to this sooner because I was waiting for Tết.Inspired by this post at YoungHouseLove.com, I decided to make my own deliciously simple wall calendar. Now, I'm not clever enough to come up with "in jokes" so instead, I used random quotes from some of my

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-71267567449112527862010-02-03T19:51:00.004Z2010-02-04T23:47:34.988Z

One of the items on The List is to replace our current mailbox. As I stated, there was no mailbox when we moved in. Before we bought the house, we were in love with a pretty 100-year old Craftsman in a seedier section of town. The mailbox on this house was wall-mount, and pretty shabby, so in my delirious enthusiasm for the pretty 100-year old Craftsman, I bought a replacement wall-mount mailbox.

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-25682019091263415032010-01-29T23:41:00.002Z2010-05-18T17:38:13.377+01:00

So, one of the main reasons I decided to start this blog was that I thought it would give me motivation to continue doing home renovation projects. It's a lofty goal, and one I hope to continue to work towards.So, I thought that as extra motivation (because I need it!), I would post the REALLY BIG list of things John and I want to accomplish with this house, from the tiny (switch out the light

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-10029115027814688762009-12-30T18:13:00.012Z2009-12-30T21:17:44.090Z

Along with mashed potatoes (for which I'm evidently famous—or infamous?) and chocolate lava cupcakes, I was asked to bring a sweet potato (YAM) soufflé to Thanksgiving dinner with John's family. After I got the ingredients mixed together and popped them into the oven, I set the timer for 35 minutes. I then decided to give my itchy trigger finger some exercise, grabbed the staple gun, and set

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-13520932403524638082009-12-07T21:09:00.008Z2009-12-08T23:55:52.923Z

A confession: I hate Martha Stewart. I think it's because she's so darned stylish and smart and savvy and seemingly frigid. I hate her perfection. I look at her and her perfect crafts/creations and I am Jack's raging bile duct and I get the unmistakable impulse to "destroy[] something beautiful." And yet I cannot help but LOVE most everything she does. When I go through the issues of Martha

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-62555332808221141932009-11-12T18:21:00.008Z2009-11-25T19:16:58.693Z

I think I have delusions of grandeur.My delusions deal with furniture restoration.In the past, I've been able to deny my urge to rescue distraught furniture from dumpsters and street curbs and thrift stores.It started with the big gold monster chair my dad snagged for me when I was a freshman in college. I don't really remember its providence (thrift store? back alley? port of authority?

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-17700572723702637162009-11-04T18:50:00.011Z2009-11-04T20:29:04.567Z

We lived at the condo for three and a half years, during which time we had three Halloweens come and go. The first year, we did nothing (went to see a movie, I believe). The second year, I got three faux pumpkins and carved them up, and set them on the porch area in front of our door, bought a large vat of Tootsie Rolls and waited for the trick or treaters. The day after Halloween, our Tootsie

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-38484467557629411812009-11-03T18:15:00.003Z2009-11-03T20:36:23.800Z

A number of years ago, I attended a National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Undergraduates Internship hosted by the Human Technology Interaction Center at the University of Oklahoma (yes, that is a mouthful!). It was an awesome, awesome experience where I was privileged to participate in the execution of cognitive psychology experiments, as well as participate in research for NASA.

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-89840484088938250562009-10-30T22:13:00.001Z2009-10-30T22:18:35.297Z

I just had lunch with my aunt and uncle. They're in area, visiting from Idaho. It was *so* nice to spend time with family. Sometimes living so far away from the people I grew up with is so unbearably lonely, so it's just nice to be near them. Thanks, Uncle Mark and Aunt Meg! You made my day/week/month/year! Honestly!

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-26975780758028160592009-10-27T18:43:00.007Z2009-11-03T20:38:21.781Z

I know it's almost HALLOWEEN, but I've got CHRISTMAS on the brain. Among other things, my grandma was a great crafter. I remember spending hours and hours in her tutiledge as a child, watching as she carefully assembled beaded and sequined ornaments. I probably fried some serious brain cells as I remember getting contact highs off the fixative she used for attaching figurines to interesting

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-42237277570394068892009-10-13T21:38:00.010+01:002009-10-14T01:01:25.527+01:00

John's oldest sister, My, makes this abso-freaking-lutely delicious soup for every fall/winter family function. As with most Vietnamese dishes, it's simple, understated, and yet so totally crave-worthy it's addicting. John says it's called Soup Mon Cur (that's how I hear it when he says it).So lately, I've been craving the soup, and with it finally cooling down here in sunny Southern California,

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-30925220814451044522009-10-13T20:00:00.000+01:002009-10-13T21:35:28.232+01:00

Locusts are fine and dandy, but flies are much more Southern California appropriate.I first noticed the damned dirty flies Saturday evening when I was rinsing a glass. There were about 5 of them sitting on the basil and mint leaves growing from my swanky AeroGarden, which sits on the alcove behind the kitchen sink. I figured the damned dirty flies were laying their eggs in the dark murky waters

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-15477318314704955982009-10-07T19:00:00.001+01:002009-10-07T19:28:45.758+01:00

One of the neatest things about our house/neighbourhood is the abundance of non-palm trees. I think that's one of the many reasons I like older homes: they have established trees. And the over-useage of palm trees in Southern California really only started (as near as I can tell looking at the various neighbourhoods in the area) sometime in the 1980s, so homes built before then typically have

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-81272508543351721302009-09-24T19:35:00.010+01:002009-09-25T01:24:20.555+01:00

File this one under "TMI." So, last night at around 7:45, John told me that Josh had shut off the valve to the toilet and it looked like the toilet had been leaking.That is the set-up. You can see where this is going.Read on only if you choose.No one would fault you for not.Consider yourself warned.Still with me?I asked him where it was leaking, and he said he thought it was leaking from the

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-15150661178119013992009-09-16T23:22:00.014+01:002009-10-07T19:30:12.483+01:00

A-hoy!John enjoyed his birthday (thank you for the calls, messages, and well-wishes). In addition to the warm thoughts and praises, John snagged himself some swanky swag. Behold John's Birthday Booty (*not* that kind...sorry, Jer):From Mom and DadEddie Royal Jersey* From Rachel, Albert, and ElsaBronco bench, almost center field, FIRST row, "obstructed view" (obstructed by the PLAYERS). From Sarah

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-493740779624063672009-09-10T00:08:00.007+01:002009-11-03T21:20:39.919Z

Lately, I've gotten in the habit of whining, "I want a doggie!" everytime I see a cute dog. Since most dogs are cute (sans, of course, most instances of the Chinese Crested), John's heard me whine that a LOT lately. Then, I remember that we DO have a doggie.(Lately, Albert's been running up to the front or back door in the evenings, pawing at the frame, and meowing. We didn't know what he wanted-

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-62260486916244675252009-09-02T23:39:00.005+01:002009-11-03T21:20:22.836Z

On our lunch, we took a trip to ReStore (which we haven't seen to since 8/15--that's some kind of record for us since buying our mortgage). They must've gotten a tile warehouse's overflow, because they have pallets and pallets of ceramic tile.Hiding behind some stacks of perfectly respectable ceramic beauties were....Three full boxes of 12" x 12" tiles of filled and honed travertine, in a

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-78354591165463552032009-08-24T23:55:00.008+01:002009-11-03T21:19:59.080Z

I am, periodically, an avid beader. It harkens back to the time I spent crafting with my grandma when I was a kid. As a pre-adolescent, I tried my hands at braided bracelets using embroidery floss, and quickly realized that my lack of hand-eye coordination would forever limit my weaving skills to patheticness. Beading seemed like a good alternative, so I worked my way through spools of dental

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-22732438874663854832009-08-17T19:12:00.002+01:002009-11-03T21:13:28.566Z

Several weeks ago, we were driving back to work after lunch at home, and I started singing "The Ants Go Marching..." John gave me a bit of an incredulous stare as he navigated through the crappy court-bound traffic around downtown Riverside. He must have lived a deprived (depraved?) childhood. He'd never heard the song before!I took that cue to fill John in on all the antics of the Little One (

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-46586455388820595902009-07-29T19:04:00.003+01:002010-02-04T23:42:28.728Z

My friend Carrie's kitty passed away last week after enduring some months of ill health. The kitty was old for a kitty (15) and was loved very much. Carrie's husband wanted to do something for the kitty, and asked me if I had any ideas. My foray into pet product retail work taught me that pet retailers try to accomodate owners by offering grave markers, but that the commonly stocked markers

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-72247885953557882842009-07-23T00:14:00.001+01:002009-11-03T21:12:37.399Z

A few weeks back, we were on what has become a routine shopping trip to Lowes. We were looking for a non-gaudy ceiling medallion to cover up the hole I created when I repositioned the junction box in the ceiling to accomodate the ceiling fan. We had previously struck out at Home Depot--all they had were ugly, daisy/rose/geometric-covered motifs that induced nausea--so we were hoping Lowes would

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-42593011889195047762009-07-22T18:20:00.001+01:002009-11-03T21:12:18.630Z

John, in his advanced years, has become a bit of an energy miser, and ridicules my love of incandescent bulbs (I SWEAR basic flourescent lights give me head aches! The outdoor lighting aisle of Lowes is akin to an iron maiden!). And I admit that the ridicule I endured for owning a Prius but not sorting my recycling has made me decidedly more consciously green.I read online somewhere that people

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-55429014143082742392009-07-17T19:09:00.001+01:002009-11-03T21:12:01.229Z

That's what the first wire said to the second and third wires.The story starts out a few weeks ago. Just before we decided to replace the light fixture in the dining room, the old light went out. We thought it was nothing major--just a burnt out bulb. So after I triumphantly got the new fixture wired in while John dutifully supported the weight of the chandelier, John turned the breaker back on,

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-78945018031084117102009-07-10T17:41:00.001+01:002009-11-03T21:10:08.010Z

It seems fitting that our house is affectionately referred to as The Chocolate Lava House among certain members of the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, it's more than just the brown stained concrete than lends itself to the name: there's also the D E A D yard in front and back. I swear it's not just laziness that keeps the yard D E A D. It's also frugalness (no increased water bills! no maintenance

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-86321957496391024292009-07-03T21:42:00.001+01:002009-11-03T21:11:28.311Z

I'm pretty sure Dante was a time-traveller, and somehow wound up in our master bedroom during an Inland Empire heat wave, and was thereafter inspired to put quill to paper and pen one of written language's greatest tomes.Our house is on the slopes of a rather large hill, with somewhat spectacular panoramic views around the neighbourhood below. Our master bedroom is southfacing and is saturated

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-25113183342221258732009-07-02T20:25:00.001+01:002009-11-03T21:11:01.954Z

One of the easier lipstick changes we've made to the house is replacing the existing light fixtures to give a more unified feeling. I'm cheap and always on the hunt for a bargain, but I also have very particular thoughts on what I like and unfortunately, the stuff I like is rarely a bargain. My family members are masters at finding slamming deals at thrift stores, sourcing out cool lamps, chairs,

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-39733444889847122052009-07-01T20:07:00.001+01:002009-11-03T21:10:46.105Z

The previous owners had painstakingly run a single length of coax cable from one side of the upstairs master bedroom to the middle of the wall. And by painstakingly, I mean they pulled up the edge of the carpeting and slapped the cable down and pushed the carpet back over it, snaking it haphazardly along the perimeter of the room. And then called it a day. And thus, the house was labelled "Cable

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-50818710821154312062009-07-01T19:47:00.000+01:002009-07-01T20:05:59.597+01:00

One of the challenges we've had with the house is that we have had to replace the screen doors and windows (because, you know, we don't like bugs, bats, and beggars to have free and ready access to the house when a window's open--crazy, I know). What's been especially challenging is finding a screen door for the backyard slider.The door panels themselves are very tall (95") and very narrow (30")

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3613857572058433485.post-79151429669593624962009-07-01T00:54:00.002+01:002009-11-03T21:09:49.875Z

Updated 11-3-2009.When John and I became homeowners in late February, 2009 (whoops, I mean March 5, 2009), we had all these plans and visions for what we were going to do with our spectacular house with equal measures of problems and potential. We sat down and made a long list of all the things we wanted to so with the house, things we needed to fix, stuff we wanted to upgrade, etc., from short

Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04651719159131707497noreply@blogger.com0