Dink's Gear

So I decided that I would give selling my baby clothing & accessories a go. I have created a blog for my creations and will be starting an Etsy store as well. Check out what I have so far!

I Learn Something New...

every day from my dear husband. The other night Jesse had a volleyball game that he needed to be at and of course I had washed his undershorts that he wears. They also had not made it into the dryer but that did not phase Jesse he slipped them on wet and grabbed my blow dryer and proceeded to blow dry them till they were no longer wet. I was laughing soo hard when he was telling me his creative drying method. I am surprised I haven't thought of that one yet!! I will be implementing this last minute method in the future as well.

Ode to Neti Pot

Neti pot you are a miracle worker!!! I sleep at night without all that annoying drainage, you allow my husband to sleep as well which translates into me sleeping even better!! My sinus' haven't felt this clean in a long time and Jesse's either!!! I am glad I tried you even if it does entail sticking you up my nose!!

Beautiful Fall Day

Today is gorgeous!!! It makes me soo happy when it is warm inbetween cold days, I feel like there is hope that I won't be freezing cold the rest of the winter. Rarely true but it does provide a false hope, that is all I need!!

The Package Has Arrived

We have a new Nephew!!! Vance Harper Goulding arrived on Thursday at 3:27 pm. He is a cutie and likes to sleep!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

It is Halloween finally!!! I have had my house decorated, thanks to my pesky neighbor, and I actually bought pumpkins to carve this year. It is a good year!!! My mother-in-law is glad to see that I am making progress in decorating my house for the seasons!! So I love getting the biggest pumpkin possible and I found these cheap pumpkins at Winco this year for only 6 cents a pound, so I could get my fat pumpkins for a under $2!! I guess I haven't carved a pumpkin in several years becuase I have forgotton how much work it is to scrape away the insides. Also, I apparently am rough on knives becuase I have gone through three of those dinky carving knives on just one pumpkin!! Oh well I guess I will have to find something a bit sturdier next year. So Happy Halloween!!!

Soo Funny

Saw this baby in the news today and man was it funny!!! Even if he is stupid I will give it to him for being creative!!! I would like my bed to be motorized, I guess a twin size bed, so I could be really lazy and still get things done!!!

California Fun

For Fall Break this year Jesse and I decided we would head out to Southern California to hit up Magic Mountain and Knotts Berry Farm. Luckily it was also Jesse's cousins Court of Honor so we got to hit that up as well. Jesse was asked to be his escort at the Court of Honor which was pretty cool. The weather was amazing and the crowds were minimal making a perfect roller coaster trip!!! I think every fall break we will be hitting up roller coasters somewhere!!

Onesie Extravaganza

I first saw these babies about two years ago on my friends friends blog and saved the picture for a new craft to do one day. With my sister-in-laws baby shower coming up I thought that would be a great gift to give that is cute, unique and personal. Luckily Danni has been making them like mad over the summer so I had an excellent teacher to help me along the way. Then Nicole called me and told me about this cute idea of a bunch of onesies and toys strung up with clothes pins in a basket. So I went with that idea and got a cute basket and found some really cute little baby clothes pins and away I went. It turned out really well and will definitely be a future baby shower gift.

In Project Overdrive

I get a bit stir crazy and love having tons of projects becuase it makes me feel productive. Also it is getting cold and this is when I start up my knitting festivities but I am feeling bored of knitting so I have been tinkering with sewing. Lately I have been sewing quite a bit and have fallen in love with all the cool fabrics and dreaming up the things I can try to sew. My sister-in-law is expecting and has been talking about wanting a car seat cover/blanket. So in my strange craziness I have been googling away and oogling away as well to get ideas and I think I have found what I am going to make.




There is a killer sale going on at the fabric store and I want to try and knock one of these off. So if you want one let me know so then I will have a deadline and will finish it before the cold weather ends!! The fabric sale ends on the 10th so if you want one let me know before then and what color schemes you would like and I will try to work around those. Or you can pick your own fabric and bring it over. I think I will need 2 yards of a minky fabric and a 100% cotton or other similar type of fabric for the outer layer.

Logan Marathon

I was talked into running another marathon and this time it was a bad, no fun day!!! Well...the first 18 miles were actually wonderful and I ran them faster, happier than last run but then it just got downright ugly!! I believe they call that hitting the wall and man did it hurt!! Needless to say I am glad I am done and will not be doing another ever again!! Cassidy was also talked into running by myself and Kim and I think she, okay know, she had the same feelings about running as I did!!
(Cassidy and I's early morning start, we were soo happy looking)


(Very glad to see some familiar faces)

(Starting to feel the Pain)

(Just hoping and Praying that It will be Over Soon)

(Cassidy and I Finally Finished)

Jesse's Birthday Bash

Jesse is finally a quarter of a century old!! I have been there for some time now so it is nice to have him reach that milestone! For the special occasion I decided that I would put to work my cake baking skills and make him a homemade chocolate cake. Fortunately it turned out well and was way more delicious than if I had bought a cake from the store.

(Somehow whenever there is a camera around my butt finds its way into a solo picture)

(I can't resist licking the serving utensils)



(My "Edgy" sister)

(Doesn't it look delicious, yes all three layers)

(Good thing I have lots of help from my friends!!)

(Jesse's second birthday cake that I made at his parents house)

Finally Finished

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It took waaaayyyy longer than I wanted to but I finally finished refinishing the kitchen table and chairs!!! Ahhh at last, what a relief, sense of accomplishment, giddy joyous event, etc, etc, etc!! Now we are one step closer to being able to park into the garage, maybe before it starts snowing!! A girl can wish.

Before

After



I LOVE how it turned out and am glad I decided to do it myself even if I had some issues and wanted to give up a few times!! :)

Apron Complete

I have been attempting to start an apron for myself and then do one for my mother-in-laws birthday for a few months now and have been preoccupied with the table and chairs. Well the birthday was just around the corner so I shifted focus and got to work on the apron. Luckily it is a really nice pattern that was easy to follow and understand, which is sometimes a struggle that I have!!! I tend to work best under pressure and that is why I procrastinate soo much and once again this turned out better than expected.

Snake Surprise!!!

Today Kim and I went on a run during lunch which was hot and miserable and horrible and hot and I will NEVER do that again. More exciting though than the run was who we encountered on the run. Yes this little guy, Mr. Rattlesnake in all his rattling glory!! Luckily my instinct in any startling situation is to leap high off the ground and away from whatever I am startled by. It has been very helpful in numerous situations. This was one of them for sure!! It was Kim's first experience in seeing a live and wild rattlesnake so she had to snap a picture of him. I think he was just a teenager rattler cause he wasn't too big but he had a rattle and they don't have rattles when they are fresh out of the egg. So everyone watch out on those hiking, camping, walking on the path adventures it is baby rattlesnake season and they are a biting!!! (ha, ha, ha I am soo funny!!)

Wonderful Birthday Weekend

I was given a great birthday present this year by my in-laws. Jesse and I got a nights stay at the Cliff Lodge & Spa up a Snowbird with a 50 min massage, breakfast and the apline slide. Jesse and I's parents also came along so we had a great time. The bed was fabulous, the dinner was delicious and the massage was a dream!!! Luckily we were able to extend our massage from 50 min. to 80 min massages. It was also the first weekend of Oktoberfest up at Snowbird so we spent the day playing and eating yummy German food. I love Bratwurst and sauerkraut so I was in heaven. I think I want a nights stay at a nice hotel and massage every year!!

Triathlon ....Check!!!

The Triathlon has come and gone and boy was it an adventure!!! I was fairly relaxed about the whole thing when it came down to it which was nice. I found while chatting with others that it was a lot of people's first time doing a triathlon as well, 235 people out of the 800 to be exact. As for training I really didn't do too much just some work on my swimming, a few biking (once on a stationary bike, once on a mountain bike around a golf course and then finally yes on the back of a tandem)go rounds and a lot of running!! You would think with my fear of biking and lack of swimming endurance I would've been training more but hey why be soo stringent and have no life, been there done that!!!

First fun incident was going and trying on the wetsuit that I was renting. The helpful guy told me in detail how to properly pull it on and how to lick the pads of my fingers so as not to tear the material, etc, etc, but he failed to mention that the zipper goes in the back. so I sucked myself into the wet suit and came out with it on backwards and provided everyone in the store a little chuckle!! Then I had to unsuck myself and turn it around and reface the waiting audience!! Luckily it fit and I was done with that cool event!!

A few days before the race my friend Biz graciously lent me her road bike and shoes w/ clips which I had visions of tipping over stuck onto the bikes pedals and being run over!! Breckan luckily is a pro and gave me a quick lesson on clipping in and out and how to shift and such on the bike the day before and after a few rounds I felt as good as I was going to be.

Race day I had my bag packed, car loaded and was off up the canyon to Jordanelle. The same day there were two big bike races biking in the same area as we were Tour of Utah and 1,000 Warriors bike ride so as we passed the groups of "real" cyclists I took in their form and technique to memory to try out on my bike portion. Luckily we had to bike into the park so I could practice my new skills and figure out the shifting before I was in the middle of it all.

I was body marked up, my station was all set and my wetsuit was on and zipped up, swim cap on, googles on and timing chip was in place and I was ready to hit that water!!! Swimming was a whole different event once I started the race, I found that I don't like putting my face in the water (breathing issues), I love the back stroke (spent 85% in this stroke the other a mixture of freestyle with my head out of the water and doggy paddling to maneuver around those pesky slow swimmers!!!), Googles and a wet suit are a bit inhibiting and would like to have neither next go around and third I wish I had a nose plug for those moments when I was behind some kicking feet!!
What I Faced Going In

Can't Wait to Get The Wetsuit Off!!


The bike portion was fun becuase everyone is soo friendly and cheery for the most part. I only jumped once when someone passed due to their eager greeting & well wishes and I only thought about careening off the road into a ditch once, I watched people wash the front of their houses, mooed at some cows, talked to some ponies in a trailer, cheered on fellow bikers as I passed or was being passed, had a few conversations with myself and successfully unclipped at the appropriate spot without falling!! Success!!!
Getting Ready to Leave

Glad to be Back


Running was surprisingly weird in that you felt like lead for about 1 mile. I seriously thought I was running an 11 1/2 minute mile, luckily I was going at an 8 1/2 min/mile which encouraged me to keep on moving. My family was on the side lines early on and cheering me on, they even gave me a drink of gatorade, which I discovered was given to them by some random runner who asked them to throw it out for him and they thought ah this would be perfect for Dareth, well they were right!!! Luckily, I had a lovely gentleman to get through the first two miles with that was in is late 60's and was doing the Olympic distance ta-boot who kept me moving until it got easier!!
Just Starting Out

Almost There

All Done with my Fans



When it was all over, I was really glad I went ahead and did it even if I was solo. It was great getting to meet all the cool people, change up the activities and be done before noon!!!

I finished 25th in my division and 238th overall. I completed all three in 1 hour and 49 minutes. Swimming took less time, biking took a bit longer than thought and running was right on!! So all those people that are wavering if they should attempt a triathlon, just do it and you won't regret it!!

The 4-Runner is Gone

Last week we officially sold the 4-runner. It may have taken a few hours for the family to decide to purchase it but they ended up going through with the deal!!! I am soo excited to have one less vehicle to think about and hear all the great "plans" Jesse has for it~!! Now for the scooter and then we will be back to our cars and Jesse's scooter!!!! Oh I can't wait!!!


If you know of anyone that wants to take a look let me know!!

Table Project

I decided to tackle the kitchen table and chairs refinishing project a few weeks back with some guidance from my very generous neighbor. I got my supplies, laid everything out and then tentatively began the large project of sanding the chairs and prepping them for painting.

Luckily I was informed that I didn't need to sand as much as I thought, since I was painting, and using spray paint would be a lot faster!!

So I dived into painting after my sanding ventures and low and behold they came out quite nicely. Actually a little better than I thought.


Although my right hand and arm were very, very sore from spray painting soo long which I didn't think was possible but for two days I was fairly useless with my right appendage. Luckily I had some very helpful neighbors to assist and play around in my garage with me!!





The table top I wanted to restain it a warm cherry color which would prove to be the bain of my existence!!

After stripping the old varnish, sanding away for a few hours Jesse went out and got me rougher sand paper and sanded down that table in less than an hour, making it look brand new!! In my haste to get the project over and done with I opted out of sanding the table with the finer sand paper and convinced Jesse that we could just put the stain on.



That is when all my good luck came to a screeching halt and my table has been stuck in this state of disarray. We applied the stain and it was looking fairly dark which Jesse assured me would lighten up. Yeah...not so much!!! My dreams of an easy and fast refinishing job were squashed when the next day my table looked like it was painted a blah red/brown color instead of a beautiful brown with a hint of red stain. After dragging my leaf into Four Chairs to see if they could help me figure out what to do next it was advised to try paint thinner to pull up some of the stain and then to take varnish remover to try to get it off as well.

After leaving the state and then having family in town the project has remained in its unfinished state in the garage!! Last night I began my feeble attempt to respark my interest in the project but it is not very fast moving thus my interest is lacking to say the least. My mom suggested to just paint it so I would move onto reupholstering the seat cushions so that one day in the near future I would have a kitchen table again. Oh no, that makes me just want to try all my options before throwing in the towel by painting that darn thing!! So hopefully I will be successful tonight and will be restaining and it turning out and me finishing it!! Aaahhhh now that would be nice!