Monday, November 30, 2009

Rockin' Rollers Salon - Lenox, Iowa

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You know Amber. She's my baby sister. Yeah she loves it when you call her baby sister! Cuz well, she is. But anyway, Amber is also a hair stylist. Pretty damn good at it too! She kinda sticks out a bit like a sore thumb.

Cuz of the purple hair and such.



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ANYWAY.... A couple weeks ago, she found herself in a life altering situation, either open a salon, or well, open a salon.

She decided to open a salon! Good call! It's called "Rockin' Rollers - Hair of Fame" She let me kinda help name it. Good sister! Anyway, it has a rock type theme to it, and it's super cute! It was kind of a "do it quick" sort of thing, and even still, it's turned out really well considering especially where it started.. which was a dank dark place.

OHHH.. and FYI, the new movie coming out called "The Crazies" (a remake from 1973) was shot in Lenox, and guess what else? Part of it was shot in the building where Amber's salon is *right now*. How crazy is that! Sooo.. you should go visit, get your hair cut, and check out a real live movie set :)

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It's decorated in a rock theme, guitars and wings. We're having fun coming up with ideas to decorate, then look at each other trying to determine when we'll find the time. Just please, don't get Amber started on how bad I screwed up like 2 expensive pieces of vinyl. Love you Amber!



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She's also doing nails, which not a lot of people in her area (Lenox Iowa) do.




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If you want to get your hair cut, in a cute salon, in SW Iowa, if you are within driving distance... go here. I know I'm biased, ... but... if Amber were in LA, she'd be one of those high falutin' celebrity type stylists. So look, you get that, at a fraction of the cost!

Rockin' Rollers
108 S Main
Lenox Iowa

For an appt, email Amber and she'll get back with you asap!

PS. Tomorrow, when Youtube is working again, I'll link up the crazies trailer so you can see too!

I'm so Thankful for....

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I thought I'd try to finish this month strong. Last year, I posted what I was thankful for, every Thursday, I considered it this year, and decided instead, I'd tell you all the things I'm thankful for, the entire year... today. The photo above, from recent thanksgiving events, may or may not, illustrate what I'm most thankful for lately.

  • I'm thankful so much, for family. Even when sometimes you wanna smack them upside the head, I still love them, or can kinda tolerate them sometimes (no one pictured here. lol). It's good to have family, that feels like friends.
  • I'm thankful that I have an eye for photography, a hand to create, feet to carry me, an ear to listen, a heart to tell me the right path, and a brain to follow it. That's the full monty people. Some folks only walk away with 1-2 (or none) of those.
  • I'm thankful for this place that I've found. Over by the lake, out in the country, at the bottom of a big hill, in the middle of a beanfield. I love small sky country. (like big sky country, only smaller!) I love seeing every single cloud, every single day. I'm thankful that God plunked it down just for me, and slowly let me use my head, heart, hands, and brain to slowly take it from junky to beautiful... or beautiful to me anyway.
  • I'm thankful for the ability to give, give, give. To my family, and friends, and random strangers that need that tiny glimpse of hope. I'm lucky I have more to give than some, and wish I had more. $20.00 in my pocket, makes me richer than 80% of the world. I'm lucky.
  • I'm thankful for this country, even in a time of turmoil, I'm glad I'm *here* and not *there*. I'm proud of what we have created here (mostly ;).
  • And you guys! I am thankful you like to come here, and read my weird rambling thoughts, and look at my marginal photos. It's weird to see my counter go up and know "hey that wasn't me looking at my blog." They like me... they really really like me. ;)
  • I'm thankful for my kids. My oldest is out on his own and *doing it* and I'm proud of him. I'm proud of you Seth. Really. You're doing so well, and better than I thought. Seth growing up, does not make me feel old (that's my new mantra anyway). I'm proud of Tanner, because he's always there and helping, without me asking. He really does not ask for a lot of things, and so I do more when I can. He is smart, and at times, I'm more than happy to admit he knows more than I do, doesn't matter that he's 15. That's cool stuff right there people.
  • And I'm thankful for my husband, Gene. He's the one person that "gets me" more than anyone. He lets me poke fun at him, and we both belly laugh. In fact, no one has ever made me laugh as hard as he has, not any comedian on the planet. Ever. He tells me I'm beautiful every single day, even when my hair is yucky, eyes are puffy and I have no makeup on. He works hard so that I can have things that I never asked for. He brings me flowers because it's Tuesday. Yup, sometimes he's grumpy and I'd like to strangle him, but, I'm sure he can say the same about me. If I need him he's always there for me.
  • Oh, and pie, because dude, life ain't complete without pie.


Saturday, November 28, 2009

Aww.. husband's say the craziest things!

From the pages of "where the hell does he get this stuff?" A "conversation" with my husband this morning as he was rubbing my neck.

"You have a delicious looking neck. If I was a vampire, you'd be dead and I'd be wearing your head for a hat."

Wow... what a romantic.
and srsly.. wth?

Monday, November 23, 2009

hey Walmart.... Why ya always gotta pick on the fat kid?

I've been having a problem lately. Somewhere along the line, I aquired a nasty case of heartburn/acid reflux. No idea why this came about. Possibly... it *might* be that mcdonalds I secretly sneak about once a week. Or maybe it's that chocolate I eat once in a while... or possibly I've been stressed more lately than I have for a while. Or maybe, but probably not.... it's my stomach revolting against diet coke.

And I'm not giving up the diet coke.. not happening ... mainly cuz I JUST BOUGHT A BEVERAGE REFRIGERATOR! I'm sad. I know this.

Regardless of what the cause is, I woke up the other night with an experience I've never had before. Acid reflux. There was coughing and burning. Tums was a flirt, milk helped slightly, and my night ended with 2 pillows and a burning throat for 2 days.

Later, I bitched about it to Jim, and he suggested Pepcid. Why? Because he has the SAME PROBLEM. Dude. We have issues.

I, being the cheapskate that I am, refuse to pay like $9 for a bottle of fancy tums, so instead I bought the Walmart brand. I get it home, and unlike most of the men I know, I decided to read the actual directions for use.

How nice, there's a handy little list of things to do to help reduce heartburn.
Like:
-" Do not lie flat or bend over after eating". CHECK... Oh wait, let's define how long after eating. Cuz dude, I waited *six hours* You'd think that'd be enough time.
-"Raise the head of your bed." Oh helllll no. And all that valuable blood down in my feet? Yeah, that's what I need, a heart attack but hey, I won't have any heartburn!
-"Eat slowly and avoid big meals" - Next
-"Quit smoking" - Yeah, I stopped smoking when I was 8.

Then it was right there. It smacked me in the face like a small-ish mack truck:


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Way to get right to the point Walmart. No "But you have such a pretty face" or "You have amazing eyes" not even a "you have such a nice personality". Nope... just "if your fat, don't be so fat."

sigh.

Walmart, couldn't you be a little more gentle with your advice. You know what might have been better would have been "Hey girl, I know you're having some problems with heartburn, I'm soooo sorry, it's probably that pesky ex or something screwing up your awesome day. I do have another idea, tho, I mean, possibly, could it be that little extra weight you're carrying. Now don't get me wrong, you have an awesome ass, so if you lose some weight, don't lose any there cuz gurrrrllll you got it goin' ON!"

Wouldn't that be so much better than the four words of death, a stark reminder that only my senile grandma could possibly say any more bluntly.

In other news, we had deep fried tenderloins for dinner.

{this is why god made tomorrows, bowflexes .... and pepcid}

Where in the world is ......

My world, this past few days:

1. Gene had a birthday last week. Happy birthday dear! It could be worse, you could be 50. LOL. Baked him a cake, took him to dinner... it was a good day.

2. Got my Pioneer Woman cookbook in the mail...

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This is a really good cookbook. It doesn't really feel a lot like a cookbook even, it's full color on every single page, lots of photos of how to make the recipes, but it also has some great stories and beautiful photography. I don't think it will go on the cookbook shelf.

3. Meet Boo Boo Kitty. He/She is my new outdoor kitty. Actually, the cat adopted me, and eats mice in my yard so kitty can stay.


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    Don't worry, I name every stray cat boo boo kitty.


    4. We finally applied all the trim to the counters this weekend. I'd been putting it off for literally over a year.

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    What the counters looked like before, above. (Yes I know, I desperately need to clean off my desk.) I lived with that for almost a year (on my desk). The rest of the counters were finished this summer, they didn't look nearly that bad. The bottom photo is the after. Almost all the trim is stained black. TIP: You can't stain oak black. Can't be done with over the counter stains (not even onyx). Trust me. Buy some india ink and stain with that, works great, and will still take 2 coats!!




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    Trim on the island is different than trim on the rest of the kitchen. Island has black granite and after we put the trim up, I realized that it was a LOT of black, so we decided to try the red oak first, and we really like the color.



    5. Found what is probably going to be our Christmas gift:

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    After getting the trim up, we sat in the living room, looked into the kitchen and said, "Man that fridge looks like ass." You see, we have a really old fridge that was a freebie. When we moved in, this place tapped us for almost EVERYTHING, and a free fridge was a blessing not to have to worry about buying a new one. The down side is, it's old, rusty on the outside and doesn't match the other appliances.

    So we went appliance shopping.

    I fell in love.
    I have named her Maggie.

    Thats never a good sign.

    Bad news.... it doesn't fit in the hole!! Worse news.... we still want it!! Guess what? We're planning on tearing up a section of the kitchen we just declared "almost finished" hours before.
    WHAT IS WRONG WITH US!?

    Don't answer that.


    6. Friday night shot the Mother/Son dance at the community center. Kinda like a daddy/daughter, only vicey versy.

    7. I have a lot of work to do. Several weddings I'm going to try to crank out this next 2 holiday weeks. I'm having a slow start, today has been a bad day for me, I have things weighing heavy on my mind, and I'd rather sit here and wallow in my self pity. Maybe getting out of my jammies would help.

    Wednesday, November 18, 2009

    Josh's Senior Portraits - Maryville Missouri Photographer

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    Meet Josh.

    This is a pretty awesome kid right here. I mean really, how many times do you hear an 18 year old say he wants to go into the field of *history*. Really? I'd just be impressed if my kids showed up for history class.

    (oh hush, my kid does)

    Josh is not only a really happy bubbly (can you call guys bubbly?) person, but he's also my rep for my alma mater, Bedford Community High School, Bedford, Iowa. (Go Bulldogs!) As soon as I met him, I knew he'd be great at it. I mean, come on, he's all apple pie and baseball... look at him!


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    Anyway, Josh is also on the golf team and from the looks of it, he is pretty good, but what can I tell ya? All I know is that I'm impressed that when he swings, the club doesn't hit the ground like it would on someone like.. ohh.. me.

    Tiger Woods and Josh. Those are the two golfers I know. Not that I *know* Tiger all that well... so Josh, you are the most prolific golfer I know! Go you!




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    I'm really happy that Josh let me take his photos, they are some of my very fav photos I've taken yet!

    Thanks Josh!

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    Tuesday, November 17, 2009

    Holy Leopard Seal!

    This is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I want this guys job so bad!
    I'd love to take a photo 1/10th as beautiful as his are!

    I WANT THIS BOOK! lol

    Wanna see a really Foxy Butt???

    I was sitting on my couch today, and something moved outside, I looked up to see a fox walking down my driveway..

    I snuck outside and caught this:



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    Shortly before he looked up, saw me and bounded out into the brush.

    I suspect he's looking for meeses. You know, it's that time of year, the beans are out, and I live in a bean field. The choice seems obvious... "To the oasis!" So he can have all the mice he wants as long as he doesn't get himself into trouble... like eating cats. :(


    This pic had to be my consolation prize yesterday. See the snow? Yeah there was sleet/ice with that too.

    I was scheduled to go to Kansas City to meet the one and only Pioneer Woman. I got up early, fixed my hair, and put on my favorite Pioneer Woman outfit. In fact, we call this the "PW shirt", cute lil' jean jacket, boots! I have boots! (well mules, but hey).... caked on some make up. I kept peeking out the window, wondering if it was going to clear up or not. The rain stopped and I was so happy, only to realize that now it was snow.

    I kept checking weather.com, was watching the weather channel, and you KNOW something is up if I'm watching the weather channel because dude... *b.o.r.i.n.g.*

    Jim messaged me, and finally talked me out of going.

    So hopefully, someone remembered to have my book signed, and someday it will show up in the mail!! I'm so sorry PW that you weren't allowed to be graced with my presence. I am sure I was sorely missed and there was much grieving. *sobs* (most of it by me).

    SERIOUSLY, I started wondering if I could fly somewhere.
    Yeah.
    That's how bad I wanted to go.

    Thursday, November 12, 2009

    Project 365

    Yes! I'm still doing Project 365. I know you've not seen an update from me forEVER... I've just let myself get so far behind (almost 6 weeks) that it took me 2 nights to catch up. I'm not going to come this far, and get this stinking close and give up now. I'd be SO MAD at myself.

    I decided to just start sharing with Nov 1 again on. I missed at least 1/3 of October, so I've vowed to finish strong the last 2 months!

    Project 365 has been a great way for me to kind of give you an update on my life, without going into the boring details also. Hope you enjoy!

    I can't wait to be DONE.






















    Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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    It's that time of year, where this guy rules the roost of many households:


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    If you don't know what that is, well, it's a soybean. My friend, I live smack in the middle of a soybean field (this year anyway, hoping next year to be corn).

    This stuff, is not just as an additive to stretch your fast food burger anymore. It's used for fuel, animal foods, candles, crayons, etc etc. So yeah, it makes me kinda proud and tolerant when traffic slows to 12 mph in a 60 waiting for a combine to crest a hill.


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    Seeing these sights lately, just make me smile...


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    But it's especially exciting, when you hear that telling hum outside your back door, and you know that it's YOUR TURN.

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    Yes, I know, it kicks up a lot of debris, and my car looked like it had been in the middle of a desert for 2 days... but it's finished.



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    They made quick work of the area around us. Running 2 combines, several different tractors hauling away the beans. In fact, everywhere you go, you see loads of beans headed whichever direction. More semis traveling up and down this road than there will be for an entire year, all in a couple days.

    But they never stop. No matter what, if the weather is good, and there's no dew on the beans they have to come out.

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    And they go a lot faster than you might think....

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    This is a 20 second exposure!




    Good bye beans. I will miss you, as you've always been a safe haven for the field mice and now they will all exclaim....

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    To the oasis!

    Hi, my name is Lana, some critters call me "Oasis".

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