Paigey Pig

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Before & After

Is it just me or are before/after posts really awesome? I try to keep my blog-stalking to a minimum of people I actually know, but I like reading this blog for DIY inspiration.

I have been SEARCHING for some good metal bookends for a while now, but even at goodwill they usually run $20 for a set. I found some marble ones that were only $6 ANDDDDD they were rabbits! [Joseph rolled his eyes when I showed him but I likely would've also bought them if they were anything else too--I tell ya I've been SEARCHING--however I cannot deny the lucky opportunity to immortalize my beloved pet!] Anyways, they were dark brown but when I washed them to prep for getting painted all the brown stuff came off in clumps... weird. It made for some funky fur-like texturing in the after state, but not too bad. Before:

After:

And here they are in-use:

Also, I did this one probably a year ago but never posted about it. We needed extra seating in our apartment & I found this solid li'l chair for $5. I just sanded off that weird crusty milk looking stain on the seat, took the casters off, and added a coat of Martha Stewart's 'Blueberry Pie' ...aka 'purple' paint. Now that I know better I would've added a primer to make the paint stick better since it has chipped off a bit on the legs from lots of use, but hey that whole 'shabby chic' thing is in style now, right? Before:

After:

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

This was our new years eve. Hope yours was a good one too!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Um, what?

I just had an experience that was so incredibly strange, I don't know what to do except write a blog post about it.

This morning we took some of the youth at church to Peppersauce cave. I just parked at the church and got a ride up there. After the activity I drove one of the girls home and then pulled over to check the oil on our car. (it leaks oil so the light is ALWAYS dinging--agh!) Anyway, I popped the hood and what did I see staring back at me with the most terrified expression?

A rabbit. A LIVE RABBIT. IN MY CAR ENGINE.

So of course I screamed because I thought it was dead for sure. And then when I realized it was alive but not jumping out I worried that its legs were probably melted to the inside car parts. I didn't want to get too close for fear of rabies so I started searching for a stick or something to gently pry/nudge it out of our engine. But in the end, as I approached stick-in-hand, it just hopped out on its own and ran into the nearby park.

(the orange circle is where it was hiding when I opened the hood)

My best guess is that it got inside the engine to stay warm when I left the car parked at the church.

Soooooo then, did that rabbit really ride 10 miles inside my car engine from the church to that park?

Sunday, September 11, 2011

My baby

Time to meet the newest addition to the Ricks family:

What is that? Can't tell?

Okay, how about now?

THAT. Is a lion-headed bunny. Her name is Lily. We got her from a friend who was moving. And I love her. She is litter-box trained and everything. The only hard thing is that rabbits are natural "prey" animals, so she is absolutely terrified of me. And all I want to do is snuggle with her ALLL day. Because I love her.

Time for a close-up. She is sooooo perty!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

year 1

So we had our anniversary last Sunday (22nd) but we were busy making preparations to go backpacking to Havasupai so I didn't get to post.

Anyways, being married is cool. This photo is a representation of all the happy joyful lovey-dovey times of wonderfulness we've had in the last year.

Since getting married I think we've learned a lot of funny little things about life and each other. Aside from the fact that I talk in my sleep Joseph learned that I will love him more if he watches a girly movie with me than one of his action/explosion movies. I learned that Joseph makes the most fabulous grilled cheese sandwiches EVER. Joseph learned that I can be kind of an electricity nazi. I learned that Joseph never turns the oven off after he uses it (ok, not never, but like 9 times out of 10--who does that??).

Something I suspected before but definitely learned in marriage: Joseph is always right. Not that he has to be right, he just is. Joseph is also ALWAYS cheerful. I learned that Joseph never gets angry. He doesn't even get upset. However, Joseph learned that I get upset. And grumpy. Pretty frequently over lame things. Like electricity.

Nonetheless, being married has been pretty awesome. By residing in closer proximity to Joseph on a daily basis I have discovered that he is even cooler than I thought when I married him. Sometimes despite my best efforts he has been nothing but patient and loving and nice to me and just an overall total sweetheart. I love him bunches.

**end mushy-gushy stuff here**

For our anniversary present to ourselves we decided to take up camping/backpacking as a hobby and bought some sweet gear:

We decided to test-drive everything in our living room the week before our trip.

Happy anniversary to us! :)

Friday, April 15, 2011

TGIF

Like I've said before... I love my job most days.

Tuesday was NOT one of those days.

But today was. When I got in to work this morning the computer program we use was down. It wasn't working for 2&1/2 hours. And, consequently, neither was I ;)

ALSO: Today was our site's annual "Stress-free day". Catered lunch. Massages. Acupuncture. Games. Did I mention no appointments with clients the WHOLE afternoon? It was a good end to a not-so-great week, and a great start for a pretty cool weekend.

I did good despite my intense needle phobia

(Minute to win it and Wii games)

Now if we could just get them to do this monthly instead of once a year...

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Blues Clues: pt cruiser edition

Over the last 4 months or so we've had about 6 separate "incidents of irritation" with the car. Nothing major but, needless to say, last week when the car started being shaky for all speeds in excess of 10mph... I was more than putting off taking it baaaack to the mechanic again. In addition to the shaking I noticed that we were getting HORRIBLE gas mileage too. Like dropping from 26 mpg to 17 mpg. Shaking I can handle. But sucking all the expensive gas out of the tank?! I put on my detective hat and solved blues clues.

high speeds + shaky car + bad gas mileage = ???

Now, at the risk of being a stereotypical "I-have-no-idea-how-to-work-a-car" female I will reveal to you the problem:

Yup. Flat tire.

(Side note: this is a picture of our other flat tire from a few months ago... only 2 more to go baby!)

So to recap: I was driving our car 10 miles of freeway to/from work every day, for like 8 days, on a flat tire.

I wish I could say this was a one-time thing, but I am notoriously bad at car care. I'll never forget the dumbfounded look of my father when I (in high school) told him I had been driving my car with the oil light on for a whole month. Apparently that destroys your engine.

And do you know what else (besides a flat tire) will give you really bad gas mileage? Driving with the parking break on.

But I digress...