Recharge Lake Tahoe Style

Everyone deserves a recharge and our family needed one.  It was absolutely necessary.

This year we went to S. Lake Tahoe, CA.  We have never been there and that was the best part.  Everything thing we did was new to all of us.  Staying in a rental house is the best way to do it.  I highly recommend it.  The temps never got above 83 degrees.  BLISSFUL!!

We hiked Eagles Falls, went on a 10 mile bike ride through the woods, took a 2-hour cruise in the lake (learned a lot of interesting facts), buried each other in the sands on a private beach, made friends with the locals (heck a photographer took our family pictures for free can't wait to get the CD).  Shopped.  The list is endless.

If you ever get a chance to go... DO!!!  It was well worth the drive.

Here are a few pics and slides of some of the stuff we did. If you have a hard time seeing the slideshow, just

refresh your browser.

No!! Doesn't Always Mean It Can't Be Done.

 It has been nearly two years since Alex thought about an Eagle project.  It has been just over a year, when planned he whole thing.  He even received donations for the project.  It's been a year that the paint has sat in his closet after the project he wanted to do was denied by the Eagle Scout board.  And entire school year has come and gone.

So what!!

This summer Alex was determined to do something he deemed as special and beneficial for his school and community.  He went to the school to get the time he could do his project.  After all, he had already had it approved by the VP the previous summer as his Eagle Scout project.  He was told    " No, you can't, you don't have authority to do that on district property." 

Okay.

It just so happens that was a Tuesday, and on Tuesday the district holds public meetings with a citizens comments time slot.  Alex called the school district to confirm and asked if he would be able to speak to the board to convince them of his desire to do his project.  He  was told,  "Sorry, but no, you have to have made an appointment ahead of today, in order to speak to the board."

What??

But the lady seem to feel something.  She said, if he would tell her in detail what he was looking for, she would go before the board on his behalf and plead his case and get back to him with whatever they decided.  Alex agreed, told her everything and waited.

The next day he received a voice mail from the district.  "Hi, Alex, ....I talked with the secretary at Matheson Jr. High, she said she recalls talking with you...I did tell her that from our point  of safety and insurance it was fine...".

Well!

Alex sent an email to the principle with the voicemail attached and she called him back immediately to set up a meeting to discuss issues she has with the project.  After the meeting, Alex and David went up to the school that night and drew out the plan for the principle and the head custodian to see if there would be any problems.

NO PROBLEMS!!

Ms. Wolfe, called Alex last week to let him know that she and the custodian gave him their blessing to move forward. 

That leads us to last night.

It was a beautiful HOT night!  And as a family and a friend, Collin Post, we worked to make this long saga a reality for Alex and Matheson Jr. High.

I am a very proud mom.  I am so proud that Alex DIDN'T GIVE UP!! 

It may seem like a small thing, but the joy in his eyes from this accomplishment means he knows he can do great things and...

I BELIEVE HE WILL!

Repurposing

Being wrapped up in stuff really is hard and trying to see straight in a whirlwind is harder...so this weekend I stopped to see what was going on around me. 

Our family has been just steamrolling through life.  School, camps, work, activities galore and the list goes on, so when we decided to change rooms (repurposing there too) for ALL of us, I had no idea how crazy life would get.  But in the end I learned a couple of great things.

#1 Just because something wears out it's original purpose doesn't mean that it can't be GREAT as something else.

#2 A great can a spray paint can make all the difference. ;-)

REPURPOSING.

A word I have all to well come to appreciate.  I have heard of recycling but in my book repurposing is not the same as the other "r" word.  I see repurposing as giving new life and new meaning to something of sentimental value.  Yes, ABSOLUTELY, the item could be something you just got from the DI, thrift store or Goodwill.  It has sentimental value because you connected with it for some reason.

With that said, I did some repurposing this weekend.  Before Aiden, Dave and I received this dresser set which included a 9-drawer dresser w/ mirror and nightstand.  It has served our family's needs for a lot of years.  When we did all of this moving around, out to the garage it went to be prepared for it's trip to the DI, when I thought what else can be done with it....

This is what happened to it....



Completed in 1 day!  I love this Ute Red!  GO UTES!!

 


I think the handles just make it POP!!

 


The pattern makes me think of idea especially with the bright red.

 


I just love this piece now.

 


I totally for got to get a pic of the dresser before, but here is the nightstand....BIG improvement I think.

**UPDATE**: After posting this I went back through and read it!!  Goes to show that my brain is faster than my fingers.  Sorry for the TON of grammar errors and stuff left out.

With that said and to answer the question, "What's the new purpose?"~  TV stand, game console & accessory keeper, movie stash drawers, etc. etc. :-).