Wallowa Lake 2015: Part I

Today was my first day back at work. I had a 5 a.m. wake up for dance team and an all day meeting for the committee I am on. Summer is over.
 So we will have a look back at some carefree summer days..
Every year my husband's family goes to Wallowa lake for about a week.
This is only my third time going, and each time I fall more in love with our beautiful state!
It is about a 6 hour drive for us, and this year I decided to try to document some of the countryside we pass through on our way. Even though it is a long drive, it a beautiful one.
This first picture is only 1 minute out of town...I live in a beautiful place!

Joel loves it when I take picture of him when he is driving (obviously!)

He loves it even more when I take selfies! 

Actually he must not have noticed I was doing it, because usually he makes fun of me and then tries to photobomb it with his hand. Our back seat is packed to the brim.

The Columbia River Gorge.

Windmills.

Somewhere between La Grande and Wallowa.

We made it to our destination after dark, and we were greeted with a warm welcome from our identical twin nephews, (I got a hug, Joel got a Power Ranger roundhouse kick! haha) and then had to set up our brand new tent for the first time using our car headlights. That was fun...so no picture until the next morning!

Doughnuts from Vali's Alpine Restaurant are a tradition. They are pretty popular though, and this year they stopped taking orders early and we didn't get our order in time, so we had to try to get there early and wait in line to get donuts for 18 people...the line was out the door...

Well, we didn't get there early enough. There were about 8 doughnuts left when we got up to the counter, and we didn't want to be jerks and buy all of them when there were still people in line behind us so we bought a few and split them.

My half was delicious.

Next it was off to cowboy church. We got there half an hour late, but we didn't miss the sermon. It was a whole 5 minutes long. I thought maybe it was just a recap but apparently that was the whole thing!

Since half of a doughnut didn't quite fill us up, we decided to go to the Red Horse Cafe for breakfast.

We had coffee and split a huge breakfast burrito, and it was sooo yummy.

This was just MY half!

We walked around town and looked at some shops, and then decided to head back to the cabin to play some cribbage. I snapped this sad picture of the lake on our way back.

A little rainy and gloomy. No lake time today!

There's blue skies in the distance though...

Oregon is so beautiful!
Happy Monday.

Painting Inspiration: Do It For The Process

If you've been following my blog from the get go, you may have noticed that I enjoy creating art!

I'm that great, but I enjoy doing it and sometimes I even think my pieces turn out pretty well.

I've always enjoyed arts and crafts etc. growing up and in high school I took art class all four years. 

My senior year I took an independent study class, where I just got studio time every day to created whatever I wanted. It was awesome! I got to experiment with different mediums and my art teacher gave me tips and suggestions as I went. I don't paint quite as often as I would like, partially due to lack of space! In the picture below I was sitting on the floor, painting at my coffee table--good thing it's a hand-me down coffee table from Joel's bachelor pad that is already chipped and dented!

My youngest brother moved out on his own into his very first apartment this summer. He was talking with me about how he'd like to set up his apartment and what colors he liked. My mom and I went to IKEA with him and then made him go into Home Goods, and he was commenting that he liked blues.

So I told him I would paint him a picture for his apartment.

I used a picture that he took for inspiration. I'm pretty sure it was taken at a golf course (he used to work at one, and it is his favorite sport), but you can't really tell, haha! Here is the comparison.

I used acrylic paint. Most of paintings are in acrylic, it a very easy medium to use.

I also got inspired to paint a pineapple! Pineapple is my favorite fruit!
Joel and I randomly bought one this summer, and it was sitting on our kitchen counter next to a pitcher I had bought, and I was inspired by the colors and the patterns.
Pineapples are very geometric. I created and abstracted version.

The inspiration:

It turned out a little cartoon-ish, but I like the colors. I discovered a hashtag on Instagram called
"do it for the process" and I've taken it to heart. I may not love everything I create, but if don't try it and keep doing it then I'm never going to get better. It's about the process.
So I decided to hang it above my temporary bar cart.

Speaking of bar carts, I have craft stuff in the bottom half, but I did fix up the top!
The pink goblets were a birthday present from my mother-in-law. I love them!

What's your artistic medium?
Have you done it lately?
Do it for the process!

Happy Wednesday!

A Blue, Summer Backyard Wedding Reception

Back in July, I got to attend a wedding reception for a dear friend! We've been friends since the 6th grade and we were roommates our freshmen year of college. She had her ceremony in Mexico, so I was so pleased to get to go to her wedding reception!

Sorry for the selfie. I am being vain. I was pleased with how my hair turned out though, and I wanted to show off my ear jackets from bauble bar. I'm really liking this new trend! I think earrings are especially fun when you have short hair.

The wedding reception was in the Bride's parent's backyard. When we were growing up my mom and I always thought that their backyard would be a beautiful place for a wedding!

Their cute little barn. All of the food was set up inside, and it was delicious!

The bride and groom with the Father of the Bride.

There were so many pretty details! Janell and her family really put a lot of work into decorating!

The bride and groom came around to each table to visit.

They had a beautiful set up for their desserts--and there were a TON of pretty desserts!

This is my favorite picture of them at the reception. They look so happy!

It was really nice to get to visit with friends from home that I don't get to see very often!

Of course there was lots of dancing! Me and Janell getting down with our Dads :)

More friends!

More dancing!

Janell and I with each others' brothers :) I have missed Andrew!

Family!

Such a sweet couple.

There was a really cute little bar area.

This shows pictures of the bride and groom at different ages growing up.

Quite the party!

Haha, my parents dancing at the table, while Joel and add are annoyed with me taking a picture!

My sweetheart :)

Beautiful lights at twilight!

What are they looking at?

My parents dancing!

There was a selfie station with lots of fun props!

We took a Polaroid in front of the backdrop and then wrote a message on it and clipped it to the chicken wire windows. Such a good idea!

For favors, they gave cookies and rice crispy treats. Janell loves cats, so they found some clever ways to sneak cats into the wedding--aren't those kitty cookies cute?

Our parents. Lots of fun memories growing up. Hoping we can get together more often!

More beautiful decorations.

One last picture of the beautiful lights. It was such a fun reception! I definitely danced so much I got hot and sweaty but it was worth it :) Congrats Janell and Mike!

I just love weddings!
Happy Tuesday :)