Our Daily Happiness

Urban Dare

My buddy Melissa and I did another urban race over the weekend (like the Amazing race). There were eleven clues to this one (one of which was a photo hunt). The race started at the Gingerman Pub. Check in was at 11, and the race started at noon. So...this is pretty much how the day began:

We had time to have a couple while we waited to receive our starting sheet. Once we got that, we had another while we solved all the clues:

By now you will see we were off to quite the happy start. I plugged in all the addresses to a new app I had downloaded (and did not test first) and we were off. We found a guy to do a cartwheel for a photo pretty quickly:

Then we went to the Borders art installation:

After that it was off to the dog park where we did a three legged race. It was there that we spotted the man I would propose to. I asked his sweet wife if she minded if I popped the question and explained the crazy race we were in and she seemed more than happy to let me have him. He offered to remove his wedding ring, so he didn't seem too resistant either...ha!

The photo dares are funny. I wish there were more. After that stop we got to Tru Salon:

It was at this point we realized the app I downloaded may not have routed our stops in a good order as we were running all over town in circles. So, we decided to stop for a beer to discuss this. Then we ran to Gator's (it was on our list) and had another beer while we mulled over the list:

At this point we realized we were not going to finish the race on time. This realization was followed by much laughter as we ran off to find Rosa Parks...because WE ARE NOT QUITTERS.

We checked this saloon off our list too:

This is where we had to make a crucial decision because we were starving and Gloria's (clue 2) was 20 minutes walking distance away. This is where we decided that we needed to find a new app for the next race and just call it a day. We had ran in circles all day and my phone was dead and our navs were not cooperating. So, we gave up and headed to the nearest Mexican place and pretended it was Gloria's and got a margarita and some dinner.

After that we headed back to the Gingerman Pub to officially accept defeat. 

We ended the night by finding a geocache...just so we felt like less of a losing team. I will never forget Urban Dare. It was a day filled with laughter and that's what these things are all about. We saw some very frustrated teams on our adventure and we both decided that we didn't join this race to be irritated and frustrated...we joined to have fun. And boy, did we have fun. Cheers to Losers!

We are only further motivated for the next one!

 

 

 

True Foamies

Last weekend my brother and I participated in the Foam Fest 5k. Kailyn had several soccer games that day, so I asked Kyle if he would like to join us. He was a little reluctant at first ("I don't want to run 3 miles!"), but given the chance to get dirty with us vs. going to soccer games, he chose to join our team. I convinced him that the obstacles would be great parkour training, and I will say he rocked it on the wall climbs (and every other obstacle). Our team name was "The Foamies". We all had so much fun. Needless to say, Kyle is hooked on mud runs now and wants to do another one ASAP. 

Our last mud run was more watery than muddy, so this one was quite the surprise. It was SUPER muddy and SUPER foamy. Pure awesomeness.

Here is a picture of Kyle and I at the starting line. I wore my Wonder Woman knee highs this race...forgot to get a pic of them up close, but they have actual mini capes and are completely ridiculously awesome.

Let me tell you that while you are waiting for your heat to start, this foam just keeps piling up. I ran through it kind of blind from foam but laughing hysterically. I was happy to spot Kyle after because he took off like a bat out of hell. He was loving every minute and I was so freaking happy about that.

He was ahead of me and Ryan for a while, but his fast pace got the best of him and he eventually had to join the normal folks. Ha! We went from wooden walls to climb to the Tube Crossing (inner tubes tied together crossing a lake that we had to maneuver over). It was awesome to hear Kyle screaming "I love this!" as we completed the obstacles.  Next came the electric mud crawl. Ryan apparently got shocked a couple of times and said it didn't hurt too badly, but Kyle and I kept on our bellies and got super muddy to avoid testing the electrical wires. 

From there you took your wet, muddy self to the Cargo Climb. This was the scariest thing of all because it was so slippery and I was a little scared Kyle would fall. They had no safety mats and I am not sure if that was just an oversight or what because the last run had the same obstacle but had safety mats. We got held up here for a while because my brother helped a few people over (like the gentleman he is).

After that I think we went through the Bouncy Ball Bash...hilarity. My brother emerged a little disturbed (see pic below) and told me I had shoved every ball in his face. Ha! I was just running through and pushing them out of my way! Plus, he was on my blind side. I had a blast!

There were several other obstacles after this, but the most noteworthy were the Aqua Lily Pad and the Death Drop. Now Kyle and I were sweating this darned Death Drop from the minute we started the race, but it turned out to be the most fun of all the obstacles. I am glad they saved it until the end. You literally drop 3 stories and if you know me, you know I hate heights and I hate drops, so this was my worst nightmare. Not to mention that at this point you are FREEZING from being wet and muddy so the anticipation while waiting in line for it is a little cuckoo.  We loved it though. Kyle was a trooper. Here we are waiting in line to tackle the beast.

The final thing is a foam slip and slide through the finish line and you do get super foamy and for a second I couldn't see anything, but that was awesome as well. They took this pic right after and you can see I was pretty foamy!

Then, they take a pic of you in front of the green screen and that was fun, too:

I'm going to have to vote this the best run yet (Tap N Run was a close second). I look forward to getting my kids involved in more of these. Fun stuff.

Quote of the day:

Service Project

Kyle has been very busy with his 6th grade service project and I couldn't be more proud. He chose a charity called Heroes on the Water. They are an organization that helps wounded warriors (injured military personnel) relax, rehabilitate and reintegrate with society through kayak fishing and the outdoors. Kyle loves kayaking and fishing so this is a great fit for him.

Not only did he reach out to his music school to ask if he could donate some of the proceeds from his next concert to the charity, he also brainstormed some great ideas for spreading the word about the concert through Instagram and his band's Facebook page. 

We knew getting people out to his show would be difficult, as his peer group does not yet have transportation of their own, and most of our family lives out of state, so we also started a fundraising page online. He met his goal within hours of releasing the webpage live. Seriously amazing. Check it out here.

Then, today he went to volunteer at a Heroes on the Water event and to meet the members of the organization in person. He came home filled with excitement and sporting a new Heroes on the Water hat. He helped unload kayaks and spent some time telling them about his fundraising efforts. They also let him get out on the water in a kayak and fish. Kyle was loving everything about this organization and the great group of people who run it. 

Big thanks to our family and friends who donated. What an amazing experience for Kyle. I am loving that the 6th grade had this project. It really touches my heart. Here are some pictures from the day:

As usual, I leave you with a quote:

This is something I have been blown away by since Kyle started this project. Kids are awesome.

Thelma and Louise

This weekend, my neighbor and I participated in the City Solve Dallas Urban Race. Melissa is my geocaching buddy, so we knew this type of scavenger hunt race would be right up our alley and that we would make a great team. These races are kind of like The Amazing Race, where you follow clues to tell you where to go and then you take a photo there to prove you made it to that checkpoint. Some of the checkpoints had challenges as well. It was an absolute blast. 

We got there at around 10:30 on a very cold morning. I had made us shirts for the race. Melissa's said "Louise" on the front, and mine said "Thelma". I also had put a quote on the back of each of our shirts with something our character had said in the movie. Melissa's said "You get what you settle for" and mine said "I've had it up to my a** with sedate". Melissa provided the neck scarves. We were excited and ready to get started!

When it was time for the race to begin, the organizers unrolled a huge poster with our first puzzle. You had to figure out the answer and run to that location to get your packet with all of the other puzzles.

I had a feeling it was Flavor Flav, and a quick Google search confirmed I was right and we were off!

We ran to Ross Ave and N Pearl St and got our clue sheets. I'll post them, but we have scribbled all over them and not all the answers we wrote initially were correct (although we did solve most of them pretty quickly). We also had the men helping us from home, which turned out to be invaluable.

Melissa quickly solved the first clue which was Lizard Lounge and we were off and running again.

After this we decided we really needed to come up with the quickest route and we sat on the side of the road and scribbled down the addresses of all the places we knew we would have to go. After fumbling with a map, we decided we were best off calling Adam and having him map us a route. He mapped it for us and we were off and running again. Next stop: Zen Bakery (Clue #5).

We took off running again and headed to Murray Street Coffee Shop (Clue #7). Here they blindfolded Melissa and she had to pin the moustache on the hipster. I was allowed to coach her and I thought we did a fantastic job!

We were off and running again.We were headed to Deep Ellum Brewing Company (Clue #9) when we ran right past (Clue # 6)...SCORE! We quickly took a picture and were off again!

Then we got to Deep Ellum Brewing Company. Here, they had a game where I had to kick a ball against a wall and Melissa had to catch it before it bounced. This was hard as you had to start with the ball on home plate and you couldn't touch it with your hands. It took us a few tries, but we got it...thank goodness!

Now along the way, we had been working on the Connect 4 photo challenge for Clue #10. We had snapped a pic of something red, white and blue, one star, and two moustaches in one picture and all we had left was a lime. This is when we decided we would stop for a beer and get a pic of a lime while we were there...we had been running like crazy people so we deserved this beer. Plus, we were happy with ourselves and thought we deserved it. Why am I even justifying this, really?

and the lime finished our connect four photo challenge....AWESOME!

Seriously...when Melissa spotted the two dudes with the moustaches I was cracking up. They were so nice to let us take a picture. That picture just makes me laugh.

After the quick beer stop, we were off to Doug's Gym (Clue #8). We found a nice guy there that had just finished his workout and he was kind enough to take a pic for us:

From there we started our run to Wild Bill's (Clue #3). A nice woman there offered to take our pic:

After that, we ran to Tiff's Treats (Clue #4). They had a cookie for us. I took one for the team and ate the cookie. Melissa is lucky to have me. :)

You were allowed to skip one of the clues, so we opted to skip Clue #2. This meant we were done so we booked it to the finish line. You were allowed to use public transit, but we did the whole race by foot. We weren't in it to win it, we were in it to get exercise, solve puzzles, and laugh our butts off...we accomplished all of those goals. When we got to the finish line we were so proud of ourselves!

We are still waiting to find out how we placed. I'll update this post when they post that info. We can't wait to find out so we can kill that time next time. There WILL be a next time.

EDIT:  Results are in: 33rd (2:38:50) Thelma and Loiuse 3524. (Probably shouldn't have stopped for the beer...ha!). Looks like this is out of 86 teams, so for our first try, and with a beer stop, we will take it!

Here is the map of the ground we covered (roughly 5.2 miles, we guesstimate):

Awesome fun! Go Thelma and Louise!!!

As usual, I'll end my post with a quote:

Spring Break 2013

Our Spring Break came early this year. I had planned ahead thank goodness and rented an amazing little place called "Inspiration Point" off Homeaway. I am all about rental houses these days. I love the freedom it gives you to cook your own meals and really make yourself at home. In a hotel, there is usually nothing to do in the room but sleep and watch TV. I need a living room and a deck and a spot to play board games and have conversation. Inspiration Point was just the place. The house sits on stilts and overlooks 25 miles of uninterrupted nature. It was just what I needed. The kids and I went back and forth debating whether we wanted a log cabin or a house with a view and ultimately decided on the view (as our last two vacations were in log cabins).

I can't really describe the view other than pictures do not do it justice. This rental was close enough to home to have visitors, so the first night there my Dad, his business partner, and my brother drove over to have dinner on the deck with us. We had a great time enjoying the view, Uncle Ryan played football in the yard with Kyle, we grilled, lit the chiminea, star gazed, and drank wine. It was lovely.

Kailyn spent a lot of her time on the deck making rubber band bracelets from a kit her Auntie Connie had sent to her for her birthday. She was a bracelet making machine!

Adam came for the second night and took the kids down to the river to skip rocks and then made sure they caught a glimpse of the comet off the deck at night. The kids were excited he was able to come even if it was for less than 24 hours.

The kids and I had the whole last day and night to ourselves. We went geocaching and that took us on quite the adventure. We went on a hike that totaled over a mile to try to find the cache at Nolan Point. It was our first four star terrain and it was difficult to navigate. The kids decided if I climbed up the cliff anymore I would slip and fall and they didn't want that, so we gave up trying to finding the actual cache and just appreciated Nolan Point (and the cave below it) for the beauty that it was. We saw the most beautiful scenery that day, so the hike was worth it no matter what. Here are some pictures:

We came back to the cabin, I cooked, relaxed on the deck with the kids and we played games. It was a perfect night. I even sent them on a photo scavenger hunt...they loved that.

It was a great trip. As we were walking out the door to leave, I turned around and said one last goodbye to that view. Breathtaking. We will be back.

Before we left for this trip, I did a fun run with my brother, Ashley (his girlfriend), my Dad, and Wayne (my Dad's business partner). It was called the Tap N Run and my goodness it was fun. It is a beer run with four beer drinking stops along the way. It was only a 4k (thank goodness), but we all had a blast. I may have been a better runner if not for our pre-run celebratory drinking, but who has time for that?

Ashley and I planned fun outfits and I had so much fun getting to know her better by dressing up like Twinkies with her. We had a blast shopping for the run together. 

It's hard to see from the pictures, but the running bib had tear off beer tickets along the bottom that you exchanged for beer along the way. It was hysterical.

Here we are getting ready to start the actual race (please keep in mind we were there a couple hours early "warming up" for the run):

This is what is at the starting line:

You take it, chug it, and run...until the next beer station, then you repeat. Ashley and I managed to run the entire race (only stopping for a second when we were retrieving our next beer at the beer stations). People were in costumes and high fiving us along the way...we were seriously cracking up. It got to a point where we really had to keep encouraging each other not to stop. We wanted to finish strong. When we crossed that finish line and got our medal (which doubles as a bottle opener), we were ecstatic!

My brother wasn't to far behind...

...and last (but not least) my Dad and Wayne crossed the finish line!

At this point they give you a full beer to celebrate. We had an absolute blast.

It was fun to do this, then go on the amazing trip with my kids a few days later. It was an awesome Spring Break. It was good to unplug and get outside. I'll leave you with this...

Rat Pack Party

I recently attended a dear friend's Rat Pack themed 50th birthday party. This kind of party calls for some costuming and a themed gift, of course. I will start with the gift because my friend Faye and I had a blast making it.

We decided to go with filled record bowls reminiscent of the era. I went to several thrift stores and a couple Half-Priced Books bookstores to gather the Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. records we needed to complete the Rat Pack bowl ensemble.

Here is how you melt the records to make bowls: 

You heat the oven to 225.

Find an oven safe bowl and set it upside down on a cookie sheet.

Lay the record on top of it and put it in the oven. 

Watch it and it will start to melt. Let it get all floppy over the bowl.

When its good and floppy, take it out and quickly put the record inside the bowl and start molding it with your hands...bowl will be hot, record won't...it is only pliable for a matter of seconds so you have to work quickly. You can set a can in the center to keep that part flat if you like. It will harden super quick.

If you don't like it...do it again. 

After we had made all of our bowls, we filled them with candy from the era and shrink wrapped it up and attached little bow ties (that we also made with ribbon and a trusty hot glue gun). We also added buttons to complete the tuxedo look. I wish I took a better picture, but it was the day of the party and I had too much to do to bother with a whole photo shoot, so all I have is a cell phone pic. I also made our own custom wine bottle label for the wine we put in one of the records and I'll show you that in a bit.

The wine label was too much fun. For the front, I put my friend Tom's face on the face of Sinatra:

and on the back label, I put my Friend Faye's face over Shirley MacLaine, Gary's face over Dean Martin, and mine over Marilyn Monroe. It really was hilarious to me.

This party was so fun. Tom and Gary took me to a vintage shop to pick out a dress and I found one for $20. It was an absolute steal. It was missing a few rhinestones so I had to remove some from the back on the neckline and replace them. Add dress repairer to my new list of talents. I am amazed by what you can teach yourself when you are low on cash and need to get something done. Super Glue and Needle Nose Pliers were my new friends.

The party was glamorous. Even Marilyn showed up to sing Happy Birthday. Funny stuff. Here are a few pictures from the night. 

someone thought it was a Brat Pack party...

My beehive is a total crack-up to me. Faye created it based on a tutorial I found on Pinterest. That bump is really a bathroom loofah covered in brown fabric and tucked into my hair. People are so clever! The tutorial is here. Good times, great friends.

I'll leave you with this quote, as it cracks me up.

 

Packing Tape Transfer Amazingness

Since posting the packing tape transfer my daughter and her friend did on Instagram, several of you have asked me how the heck I did it. I Googled it, that's how. There are amazing tutorials out there, but I followed this one.

I know how amazing I am at reexplaining what others have already explained, so I am going to give you a step by step through photos.

Step one is to stage a silly photo shoot. Actually you can just use a magazine or any photocopied photo you have...It has to be printed with an actual heat transfer printer (think toner, not inkjet). I printed mine on my Brother printer/copy machine that I have in my home office. If you are confused, just get a magazine and stop stressing. I staged a little photo session and then made their photos into a little photo strip in Photoshop (because I am a complete computer nerd). Here is their photostrip on my computer monitor:

Keep in mind that packing tape is 2 inches wide, so if you are using a single strip keep it 2 inches wide or under. Then print:

Then lay the tape over the printed picture:

Then burnish...we used the handles of scissors because my bone folder has gone mysteriously missing.

Make sure you have completely rubbed that whole piece of packing tape down then cut it out with the same scissors and dip it into a bowl of water and get it very wet.

Then take it out of the water, and start rubbing all the paper off the back of the tape with your finger.

 If you have trouble, wet it again until you get all the paper off.

When you are done it will be a transparent strip of your photo!

You can stick this in your art journal (which I am sure you will see a post about in the near future), or if you are doing a cute kids project like this, simply spray the back with some spray adhesive and stick to their school binders.

So many possibilities. So get a magazine, and get some packing tape and try this right now so you can show everyone how amazing you are. Look at us learning new things together!

I'll leave you with a quote (as usual):

 

Transference

I have been very busy learning some new techniques and playing around in my journal. I have decided this is the year of Learning. Last year was the year of Living where I went to a concert or cultural event each month (sometimes several in a month), but this will be the year I spend time learning new techniques and creating.

My most recent experimentation was with image transfer. I read a blurb about it on my favorite website (if you don't know I am talking about Pinterest by now than you really need to pay more attention). Anyway I had to try it. If you are too lazy to click the link I provided, I will give you a quick run down of the steps.

First I found a picture...I know this is a horrible pic (I really hope I do not look this sad and old all of the time) but it had the least background and I thought it would turn black and white the best. You have to convert the photo to black and white (not grayscale) by adding brightness and 100% contrast. The finished look was delightfully creepy to me, and obviously a vast improvement from the original.

The conversion also removed my wrinkles which was a bonus in and of itself. My dark circles stayed though adding to the creepiness...why did I pick this picture again? Oh yeah...it was the first one I found in Picasa and I was too lazy to look for anything better since I knew it was going to be altered anyway...and the lack of background distraction. Anyway, I flipped the photo horizontally and printed it on my office printer/copier.

I had to flip it because you then apply Mod Podge directly to the top of the picture and then place it face down in the book (which would make it backwards unless you had flipped it). Make sure you have coated the book page first in Mod Podge and let it dry. This makes your image stick to the coating and not the book page where it will never ever lift up properly. I learned this the hard way. If you look closely you can see I have a failed attempt of a transfer on the right side of the page. I rolled with it...art is messy.

Anyway, once you place the picture down in your journal...burnish it. I think that's the word. Just rub the back of it all over and really get it laying down flat. Then walk away...for several hours. This was maddening to me because I was so excited to see if it was working. Once you have waited (and waited some more). Get a spray bottle filled with water and spray the glued down picture and start rubbing it with your finger. This will remove the paper, but the ink will stay. It is amazingness. I'd like to tell you I got a squirt bottle out, but I didn't have one. So I used dirty paint water that I had on my desk that I simply dunked my finger in. Don't judge...it worked.

Here is how it turned out:

I told you it was kind of out there. Yes there is orange paint on my face...that was already on the background first. I forgot to mention that! Totally paint the whole background first, then Mod Podge to seal it, let dry, then apply your photocopy. This is why you should just click the links I provide. I am not a good explainer.

I added some hand stitching, a fabric heart, some sentences and words with white sharpie, and I called this one done. New technique learned.

Someone on Instagram said my journal looked "crunchy" and told me she loved a crunchy journal. She was right. This journal is crunchy and just awesome. I love flipping through it and seeing all my stages of experimenting with art. When you turn the pages, they do crunch....it's all crispy and full of goodness. This is my book of heart following.

I'll leave you with a quote as usual. Saw this on Tristan Prettyman's Instagram last night and it really struck me. This is so where I am at right now.

Drawn Together

Yesterday was a good day.Tuesday is one of our easier days as far as activities go. The only after school activity is drum lessons for my boy, so this is an afternoon that Kailyn and I get to spend together while he is "shredding" (my son would be proud if I added the little 'rock on'  \m/ symbol as well).

It can get loud in the music studio, so we usually wait in the car and hang out and talk. Yesterday we brought our sketch books and tried to draw stuff we saw online. I saw this awesome drawing on (you guessed it) Pinterest, and I knew I wanted to try to draw it. I loaded a drawing tutorial on Kailyn's phone on how to make a simple face and we both got to sketching. We were talking and comparing noses and facial features and laughing. It was good stuff.

Here is mine:

and here is hers:

When we got home I told her we should add our girls to our art journals and she was totally into that idea. We got out the paint and made a huge mess. I finished mine but hers is still a work in progress so you won't get to see the details until she is done. I had the added advantage of having my background already done and ready. 

Here is how mine turned out:

and the close-up of all the awesome texture (a little modeling paste and some coarse texture gel):

As I went to shut off my office light last night, I caught a glimspe of my desk and had to stop and smile. I love her journal open across from mine and I love the time we spent together creating. This picture makes me so happy. I hope Kailyn cherishes these moments as much as I do.

I never thought I could draw anything. I have recently learned that it is okay to "remix" other people's art in order to grow yours. I was reading a review of the book "Steal Like an Artist" (which I totally want to buy soon) and David J Turner said "The broad thesis is that creativity isn't a mystical flash of insight in the mind of a lone genius, but rather a combinatorial, collaborative process in which artists and designers consciously and gradually combine existing ideas into novel forms." I freaking love that. I need to remind myself of this. I am making this art for me and it is OK to let other people inspire me. I have already felt artistic growth because of it. I am happy to be getting my feet wet in the arts and crafts community again. 

I leave you with another quote...one I have printed out and now have on my desk. 

 

Guitar Finale

I think I may be finished with the guitar. You should probably know that I have said this several times throughout the process of doodling on it and then I add "just one more thing". I have a feeling it is done until I break a string tuning it and I have better access to that area under the strings. Who knows. It's art. Is it ever really done? For now, yes. I present to you my Sharpie guitar:

Here is a close-up for fun. This took forever but it was worth it. I am in love with my guitar completely.

So now I have to make an effort to get back to lessons. This has been a distraction from that. What is the use of having such a pretty guitar when you can't play it?

I have also been back in my art journal. I am trying some new things. I need to get back to texture soon though because although these "quickies" are satisfying, the really do make me miss the stuff that takes much longer. What would Freud have to say about that?

Here a few of the pages I have done. The first was heavily inspired by something I saw on Pinterest. The girl that pinned it had pinned a pin of someone else and it took me some digging to find the original artist so I could give her credit. You are welcome. She is all kinds of amazing and I prefer you don't click on that link before you look at my version so you think mine is great for a second before seeing her amazing stuff and then being completely let down by mine. Deal?

and then the close up:

As you can see, I am trying to actually draw things. This is not really my strong suit, but I don't care. This journal is for experimenting and trying new things. Plus, without practice it is nearly impossible to grow as an artist. So when you look at my journal look at it as part of an experiment in learning. You'll be happier when you are less judgemental as well. Again, you are welcome.

and here is the close-up of this one. This sentence in the book stood out to me because I have taken a big step back from being "in the crowd" and sometimes I have felt like I disappeared completely. Truth is, I'm just doing some soul searching and I need this time. I think everyone does, really. I can't explain the peace I feel when I have paint out and I am putting it on paper. It's good stuff.

This last one I did last night. I always listen to music when I paint and earlier in the week "Grey Street" by Dave Matthews came on Pandora while I was painting. Such a great song. I truly have been obsessed with it lately. I knew I wanted those lyrics in my journal. 

This street sign is not great, but I have never drawn one and I feel like I stepped out of my box in trying to and that is awesome. Again, it's all about learning. Plus, it's my book and if I want to draw wonky street signs paired with depressing song lyrics, I am entitled. So are you. I won't judge.

I love to get things on paper that have connected with my soul. I may do a whole music lyric journal. Who knows.

I'll leave you with a quote I found online that I may put in my journal someday. Stay tuned.