the oregon coast = lots of old people

Not that I have anything against old people. It's just that I never expected to go on the same vacation as them. And stay in the same timeshare, and workout with them in the mornings, and take pictures for them at lookout points, and eat with them at restaurants, and chat in the vistors centers. For five glorious days, we vacationed as the RVing, buffet loving, tourbus touring, denture wearing, retired generation do. If I ever go back to Oregon, I will either have gray hair and some super deluxe binoculars for whale watching, or a road bike to ride the Coastal Hwy. I really hope it's the road bike.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was a random stop at a fundraiser for the Neskowin Valley School. It's a private art centered school and reminds me of the Sundance School.

kids playing games at the school

inside the school where we ate yummy soup and hot chocolate

the coast, obviously. i was really surprised at how unpopulated the Oregon Coast was.

my little nubkin. we left ellie at home my mom, my aunt lisa and justin's mom- ellie loved it but i thought i was going to DIE of missing her by the fourth day.

this is as extreme as our trip got.

cabin on Cannon Beach that both Justin and I really liked. the window casings are red.

where we stayed the first two nights.

Ashley, Joe and Tanner at Silver Falls. A five mile hike took us to seven amazing waterfalls.

i am in love

with this house. we saw it when we were in CA this summer. it was for sale so i called on it, trying very hard to sound rich: "Yes, 5.5 million? OK, well it sounds like something we would be interested in, how many bedrooms again?..." This link probably won't work forever but until it gets taken down enjoy the tour...http://www.17027pacific.com/

Thirty-two reasons why I love Springville

Springville is my favorite town. It's just so darn cute! It's small, unassuming, classy, artsy, but not snooty artsy. It has a great sense of community, amazing homes, good food, and it's clean. So here are my favorite spots in Springville. Be sure to click on the image to see in larger format.

1.new home in river bottoms 2.Blaynes Cycling (best tune-up around) 3.cute old home 4.Art City Trolley Restaruant (order the Real McCoy Salad) 5.Peir 49 Pizza (okay, so the pizza's not that great but the building is cool! 6.another old home (almost made an offer on this a year ago) 7.the future "Artichoke Lane." Road leads behind the high school where we want to do a development similar to Daybreak 8.BeAddicted Antiques 9.Christopher's Herb Shop (Ginger Cafe is yummo) 10.Mark Anthony Aveda Salon (my favorite place to get a haircut 11.Gary Price sculptures (his sculptures also line Main Street) 12.Springville Museum of Art 13.Wandering Wardrobe (used furniture and clothing) 14.1930's dream fix-up (I will buy this someday) 15.immaculate old mansion 16.Cowboy sculpture

17.Cornwagon Quilt Co. (stay tuned for pictures of my first quilt) 18.by now I know a good playground, and this one is awesome 19.medical offices 20.Finish Hardware Showroom (support the little guy, buy here!) 21.Funfinity (simply the best toys and games ever made) 22.another great home, all stucco - one of my mom's favorites 23.moose on the loose 24.Hobble Creek Golf Course 25.Yummys (old fashioned goodness) 26.Sage Creek Salon (my second favorite salon) 27.this is where we want Artichoke Lane development 28.Mapleton City Center (perfect sized library and home of Ellie's gymnastics class 29.Springville High School (go Devils!) 30. Hobble-Creek running trail 31.Ledgends Vintage Motorcycle 32. vancant land! and land with sheep, horses, llamas, cows, chickens, etc.

One room down...

a rotating collection of art and pictures, aprons (so in right now), and a mini quilt.

the orange bins i bought at wal-mart when ellie was a baby - this yellow and orange room has been in the works for a while now.

wooden duck and magnet board from purchased at Swiss Days.

basket from a cute store in Heber.

ruler: from my mother in law jann - the dragonflys have little crystals on them.

rocking horse purchased last year at my favorite store in St. George, Urban Renewal. Bedskirt is from Dillards, it cost a whopping $3.50!

pillow: etsy.com, 1960's quilt: antiques mall in Springville, rocking chair: stolen from Jann

stool: Target, frame: Wandering Wardrobe, light: Target

Lanterns: The Flower Basket Boutique, Bed: can't remember, I had to spray it white though.

Dresser: Made by my super husband and myself. When we decided to name Ellie, "Ellie Peach"

we wanted to make her a "peach" dresser. This is the style of our lingerie chest from High Country Home days.

Adirondack Chairs by Kent Nicol, my dad and owner of Garden Furniture Mill in Provo.

He gave these to me for Mother's Day. Rug is from Costco. Lemon pillow left over from High Country Home days as well when we were selling Oi Pillows.

front pillow: Ikea, Yellow rose pillow: Roberts Craft

Pics from Ellie's room, pretty much finished. Just imagine it with wood floors and white walls... maybe one wall yellow. So cheery!

Update: After showing this to my mom she had two genius ideas - so now imagine this room with cork floors and the wall behind the bed orange, or a really cool orange wallpaper. Pefect!

boating in the winter

So here are some pictures from our latest adventure, Lake Powell. Our trip basically consisted of these three things: wind, cold, and wind. Combine that with camping and needless to say, we bagged it on Saturday and left. Joe and Ash went home (they also had the great experience of their tent blowing down on them during the night) and we went to Capital Reef. Powell was actually pretty fun despite the wind and I'm glad to say we were sucessful campers (meaning Ellie and Cody slept great). But Capital Reef is one of my favorite places ever. Growing up it was a favorite family vacation and I can't believe it has taken me this long to take Justin there. The entire day we were there we both kept saying, "This is my favorite day ever!"

An Apple or a Cody. Both so juicy and delicious; it's a hard decision, so I picked both.

The deer here are quite tame. When I was here 10 years ago, I huge buck ate an apple right out of my hand. This is about as close as we could get, probably because Ellie kept yelling, "COME AND GET THE APPLE DEER!"

This pioneer home is now a really cute little gift shop. We bought homemade strawberry ruhbarb pie ice cream. Ellie is modeling the apron I bought her as well.

Hickman Bridge. A fun little hike.

laura

Be sure to click on the picture to see it in a larger format. Both paintings are still drying but can ship by Monday. Hope you like them!

sunday best

Springville Fix Up

I wanted to post some pics of our latest remodel. Joe Hawkes and Justin were partners on the deal. They bought the home early spring of '07 and spent most of the summer fixing it up. The house had such good bones it was a fun one to redo. We put the house up for sale a couple months ago but the market is crashing as we speak so we got nervous and decided to rent it out for a year. Now Just and Joe are working on getting the land below it subdivided to sell.

Front view. Notice the amazing red chairs? Get them here.

The entire deck was sanded and restained. More red furniture to enjoy the view.

The kitchen was the most drastic change. The entire drop ceiling in the kitchen was removed and Joe added more than enough can lights. New appliances, beadboard backsplash, granite countertops and new hardware. We were nervous that we wouldn't be able to get the cabinets to look updated enough but they turned out pretty good.

The living room and dining room look great now. I bought metal spray paint and painted the gold chandeliers which saved us some big bucks.

Joe, Justin and Ellie checking out the view. All the land below came with the house. They are now splitting it off as a flag lot.

Nadine Kagan

Nadine, Click on the photo to see the painting enlarged. Hope this works!

We love grandma yesiree!

Today we heard that mamma nicol was a little sad, so we made you this video to cheer you up! We love you so much! You are so good and smart and funny and classy and if anyone is not nice to you it's just because they are jealous.

i am tired

I decided I must have been really tired when I put up that last post. I don't love that kitchen anymore at all! It is too busy and like a little kid. I do like the cabinets, just not everything all at once. My problem is I have too many styles that I like - here is another kitchen I have liked for a while, though usually I like things more contemporary:

just one more

okay, just one more post and then I'll go to bed. I just came across this kitchen...see this is why I want a small house - you can do so many creative things in a small place that you couldn't get away with in a large house. Check out this kitchen:

Office in a Closet

This probably sounds really strange but I have always wanted my office to be tucked into a closet. I first got the idea a few years ago when I saw it in a Better Homes & Gardens magazine:

I have loved the idea ever since. Well, my dream has come true. Now that we are living in Lew and Jann's basement apartment, the only place to fit my office was in a closet off the kitchen. I am seriously deliriously about this space. I would say its the first space since we have been married that really feels like me. Here it is:

I don't have room for my second monitor anymore but it's worth it. Hanging on the left door is my vision board, a ribbon board is above the monitor, favorite recipies in the green tin box, ribbon and notions in the baskets, all my favorite books, the perfect chair and a little bird to watch over me, perfect! I'll have to post some close-ups sometime.

reunions, hiking and the lake - the last days of summer

We had such a great summer with Justin not working too much and going to summer school. We were able to spend so much time together. I loved it. Now Justin is back in school with hard classes and spending lots of time working on my mom and dad's new home (framing starts next week). Here are a few highlights from August.

Anderson Reunion


our annual family photo at the Anderson (my grandma bagley's family) reunion. I love my little family!

The Bagley Babes. Lisa, Marian, Renee, Mignon (mom), and Anne.

This is my cousin Emily's youngest, Eli. He and Ellie have the same birthday, Eli is just a year younger. He is so cute I can't stand it.

My grandma Bagley and Ellie. Does anyone else out there have a grandma that dresses better than they do?

Ellie and my grandpa Bagley

"Mamma Nicol" and Ellie.

Bear Lake

Our friends from our old ward, Liz and Tim Collings, invited us on their annual Bear Lake trip. So we tagged along with them and about 8 other couples for three days of relaxation on the beach. All the girls were either pregnant or had new babies so the moms mainly sat around watching the kids on the beach and nursing. Above is Liz and her cute baby Elijah.

Cabin the Collings are building. I love Liz because she has great taste and isn't afraid to use color as you can see.

This little boy in the video with Ellie is named Taj. Don't they make a cute couple?

Hot Pots

These pictures are from our family night hike to the hot pots up Diamond Fork. I just have to post these pictures because we need to take a vote: Does Cody look like me or not? Please say yes!!!