Songs from the Past ... 1970

What were you listening to in High School?

For most of you it wasn't that long ago... but for me ... well a few more years.

I love music ... and it always takes me back.

I loved high school ... dances ... going steady ... football games ... cheerleading.

*** yes I was a cheerleader ... I dominated***

Music always reminds me of some special occasion ... or maybe ...  a special guy.

Without further ado ... 

1970 Rocks Again !

Simon & Garfunkel ..."Bridge Over

 Troubled Water"

This song stayed #1 for months.

 Edwin Starr ... War

Great song.  You guys probably remember it better from  Rush Hour.

The Jackson 5 ... ABC

The  Jackson 5 ... and  Michael Jackson ... my all time favorites.

Michael was so cute back then.

The Beatles ... Let It Be

Nobody did it better than the Beatles.  Best group EVER!!!

***I belonged to a Beatles Fan Club ... hmmm sounds like a post***

Sly & The Family Stone ... Thank You Faletten Me Be Myself

These guys were  off the hook.   I actually saw them in concert.  

Sly was notorious for being hours late or no-showing at concerts.

They were the definition of "freaky" funk ... how is he still alive?

Ike & Tina Turner Review ... I Wanna 

Take You Higher

This song was done by Sly as well ... but this woman could and still does 

SHAKE IT UP!

Stevie Wonder ... Signed, Sealed,  Delivered

Stevie is still  bringin it.   He has some serious skills.

I love dancing to oldies ... yeah I said oldies ... I'm old ... sue me.

Today I'm linking with ...

Row House #14

as they link up with "music from the year you were born."

I hope you guys don't mind ... I kind of changed it up a bit.  I like the music 

from high school a whole lot better. 

Hope you enjoy it!

**** Don't forget tribute to Michael Jackson tonight on GLEE!***

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Meet Kelsey ... Sponsor Sensation

Meet  Kelsey!

Kelsey is one of those super chicas who has graciously  been

a sponsor of ...

Reinventing the Ordinary.

***did I make that sound like I was in Alcoholic's Anonymous?***

She is a great girl ... super blogger ... and a real hoot.

Do people still say that?  I'm starting to doubt my expressions.

Kelsey is the owner ... writer ... and creative genius of

Eat ... Drink ... be a Tourist

so ... without further ado ... here's what Kelsey has to say.

________________

Hi ... I'm Kelsey. 

 I'm a huge travel lover ... and enjoy sharing tips about places to visit and explore.  

I love to cook ... and try to share new healthy recipes ... 

alongside some yummy baking adventures ... of course.  

Overall ... I enjoy sharing the real me and putting myself out there

 in a way I never thought I would.  
Blogging is such an amazing community and the support is astounding ... 
no matter what I may be writing about.

I've been blogging for a little over a year now.  

Two of my old roommates ... Kai & Emily ... used to stalk blogs when we lived together

... and they each eventually started their own. 

 I always knew I wanted to start one as well ... but it took me awhile 

to figure out what I would write about. 

 My blog is still a work in progress ... and I always try

 to find new and exciting things to write about.

When I'm not blogging (or working) I enjoy exploring the area I live in... 

hanging out with friends and family ... and living life to the fullest. 

(so cliche ... I know ... sue me). 

 I work for Target as a Guest Service Manager ... 

which seems to take up all of my time ... when in reality ...

 it's only about 40 hours a week.  I've taken the last year of school off ...

 but am excited to start back this summer at SDSU ... to finish 

my Recreation and Tourism Management degree.  

My dream job is to be a travel writer ... but I have so many other goals

 and business ventures that I want to accomplish.  

Who knows where this journey will take me!

I'm a huge shopaholic ... it's bad.  I'd say that's one of my biggest hobbies. 

 I also love traveling ... writing ... and working on new 

and exciting blog projects with friends. 

 The So Cal Blogger Meetup 

is one of the most recent additions to my hobby list ...

 and it has been quite an amazing one ... at that.

I don't have an ETSY shop yet ... but I do love social media ...
 spend a lot of time on  twitter ... instagram

 (kelsey_kayy) ... and  pinterest. 

 Now if only I could get paid to tweet and pin ... hmmmm.

I hope you come check out my  blog!  

It's a mish mosh of all things fun and important in my life.  

Plus ... I think I'm pretty funny ... but I'll let you be the judge on that.  

Thanks for having me, Becky!! 


____________________________


I'll be seeing Kelsey this weekend at the  SoCal Blogger Meetup
... I can't wait.
Go on over to see her blog ... leave a comment ... say hi.


Thanks Kelsey.

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Waterfalls ... DIY

I've always wanted to live by the ocean.  

Clearly not an option at the present ... unless I win the lottery.

So when you can't go to the water ... you try to bring the water to you.

We moved into an older home ... and little by little ... 

I'm making changes.  One of my first projects ...

BUILD A WATERFALL

We do have a pool ... yes a big plus ... but behind that ... there was

an ugly ... ugly ... boring corner.

I mean nothin going on!

So I googled ... and googled ... and researched ... and read.

The first step ...  lay out the shape of the land  and ... dig the hole.

I wanted the top of the waterfall to be as high as possible for the space.

That meant bringing in more dirt ... and  building up a small mountain.

I was able to use all the dirt from the hole.

***notice ... lots of fun roots to cut through***

The hole is an important part of the equation.

Most important ... the top edges of the pond have to be level.

The pond water will find it's own level ... and you don't want water slopping out on

one side ... and too low on the other.

Now there are two schools of thought for the pond ...

dig a deep hole and cover it with plastic ... or ...

 dig deep hole and lay a preformed plastic pool form 

inside the deep hole.

***notice both options involve digging a deep hole ... rats***

I opted for the plastic pool liner ... because I thought it would be easier.  It wasn't.

As it turned out ... you have to make the hole fit the  exact shape  of the hard liner.

Anyway hole dug ... liner inserted ... hill mounded.

Next  line the hill with plastic.  This is where the water will run down to the pond.

The next part involved moving the rocks in.  I don't have pictures of this.

Needless to say ... it was a lot of work.   Now if you have alley access to the backyard ... 

you can have large boulders delivered and positioned by a crane.

Unfortunately ... I had to roll each one in by hand.

Knowing that we had no alley access and a small gate to go through ... I chose the largest

boulders that would possibly fit.  If wishes were horses ... I'd have chosen big honkin rocks.

The last step is to  put a pump in the pond  and  run the hose up to the top 

of the waterfall ... plug er in  and ....

wham bam thank you ma'am .... we've got a waterfall!

I love it.

As you can see  I added some lights  and of course  landscaping.

It takes a bit of planning to decide where to place all the rocks ... and I had to try a few

configurations.  I used flat slate rocks all the way down for the water to cascade over. 

 Although I put plastic down along the water's path ... I still used

some quick cement to fill in any gaps or holes between rocks.

I recently added an  automatic sprinkler drip system ...

and  a timer for the waterfall. 

 It's important to have the water recirculate on a regular basis as well as chlorine tabs occasionally.

Now I must say my husband did help me move the rocks from the front yard to the back yard ...

other than that ... I did this bad boy all by myself ... the planning ... the digging ... and 

the lifting and cementing of all those heavy boulders.

Now this is my type of DIY.

 I love the sound of falling water .... how about you guys?

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So What's Up With That ?

I'm officially starting a  New Reinventing the Ordinary Segment.
What's Up With That?
Yeah ... there's a few things I need you to explain to me.


1.   Instagram

 I don't get it.   Am I missing something?   I bought an expensive camera ...
that I couldn't afford ...  to create better photographs. 
 Now everybody's "insta-gramming."
 Seriously ... do y'all think most Instagram pics look that good? 


 Maybe my eyes are bad ... well yes ... my eyes are bad ... but help me out.
What is the Instagram appeal?
Why am I working so hard figuring out all those buttons on my Nikon?

2.  Comic Sans Haters

What's all the broo-ha-ha?   (Okay I know that's not how you actually spell that word.)
 Some people can actually be insulted or disgusted if you use a certain font.

I'm not naming any names ... but someone whose name rhymes with "SPY" told me ...
"Absolutely never use comic sans!".
 How can a font evoke such emotion?  It's not like the letters are dripping with blood or anything.

3.  Font Police ... ALL CAPS

And while we're on the font-ish type subject ... why can't I type in  ALL CAPS?
 I'M NOT ANGRY.  WHO MADE THAT RULE UP?
MAYBE MY CAP LOCK BUTTON IS STUCK.
MAYBE IT'S EASIER FOR ME TO READ.

YEAH ... DID YA EVER THINK ABOUT THAT? 
 I TOLD YOU MY EYES WERE BAD.
 (For those with short memory on this ... see #1)

 Who makes up these "Font Rules"?

4.  Google +

What's the deal with Google + ?  
What are  "photos from my circles"  ...   why can't I rearrange my albums?
 Just when I figure out how one thing works ... they go and upgrade or downgrade or whatever.
Are you guys ... my friends ...  gonna be there in March 
...  do I have to go back and find you all again?
 Will you still come back to me?  
I don't get it.
Aaaarg ... what do I have to do? 
 Next you're going to tell me Facebook's gonna change ... that'll never happen.



5. Picnik

 Ok ... just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water ...
Picnik is ending?    What's up with that??? 
 So where are my pictures going?  Where will I edit my photos ?
 (Not that they ever need editing.)

Ok ... does Google just own everything?  
Ah never mind ... Picnik drives me crazy sometimes anyway.

___________________________________

Now don't get me wrong.  I'm not trying to insult anyone who uses ... 
endorses ... or loves these items.

I genuinely don't get it!
Really ... you can't be that surprised.   I am over 30 ... darn it!


I'm reaching out to the my blog-reading public. 
 Can you help me out?

There.  Now I feel better.  I've vented ...  and now I feel better.
This is real therapy.  I'm going to make this a regular feature.
Maybe on Thursdays ... that's it ...
Therapy Thursdays.


You got answers?  Let me have em ... be nice   :)

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Sponsor Love ... Redhead Memories

                               Meet   Kaycie   from ....

Redhead Memories

Kaycie is one of my spectacular sponsors and I want you to get to know

a little bit about this awesome  REDHEAD.....

_______________________________________________

Hi everyone.  I'm Kaycie.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself .

I was raised in Utah ... but after marrying my husband Scott in 2010 ...

we moved to Las Vegas ... which is where we now call home.

As fun as it is not having snow here in Las Vegas ...

(or hardly any winter at all )

I will always be a Utah girl at heart.

I love everything about it.

Soon after getting married I started my little blog ...

Redhead Memories .

I started my blog about a year ago as a way to document our life.

One way or another I started discovering other blogs ... and realized that there is a 

whole ... big ... blogging community!

I got inspired by bloggers like ...

Busy Bee Lauren 

and many others.  That's when I saw that anyone can have a blog ...

because everyone has a different story to tell.

Everyone sees the world just a little differently ... 

and that's why  I enjoy sharing my own view of the world.

I also  love reading lots of other blogs  to see their perspectives.

My husband and I are attending school and since Scott has a good job ...

I'm able to focus on school and hobbies ... 

such as  sewing ... photography ... and crafting.

I don't have an Etsy shop ... but I love trying out all the great tutorials

everyone puts out.

_______________________________________________

I think the best part of being a sponsor is it gives a whole new audience to your

blog and these little features create new friends.

Let's show Kaycie some love. 

By the way she's a cat lover ... but we dog lovers won't hold that against her. 

Visit  her blog  and tell her I sent ya ... oh and leave her a cool comment.

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Team Spirit ... Make a Puppy Sweat Shirt

Everybody needs some team spirit!

... and  baby it's cold outside!

 I got some last minute tickets to see the  Bakersfield High Drillers

play football some months ago.  One of the prerequisites ... however ... was I had to wear 

BLUE AND WHITE!

Well ... not a big problem for me ... I had plenty of  DRILLER  sweatshirts ...

but ... Blake  was anxious to see the game ... and didn't have anything to wear.

Not to disappoint the boy ... I rummaged through my closet ...

(mostly my husbands closet ... ssshhhh)

grabbed my scissors ... and just got crazy.

I started with a sweatshirt ... size of the shirt depends on the size of the dog.

Hey ... that's a great phrase.

(Memo to Hallmark)

Depending on what you want to do for lettering ... you may need some other

sweatshirts or tee shirts ... just for the correct size and color of letters.

There are lots of options for lettering here ... get creative ... or use what you have

around the house.  

***Be careful not to get caught cutting up your husbands clothes though***

Start by  cutting off the sleeves  from your sweatshirt ... 

hold it up to your puppy and decide how long you want it ... recut to the proper length.

With the  seam on the bottom ... determine where the little guys legs would be

...  and mark it.

I actually slipped it over his head to get a more accurate measure.

Next ... cut some oval openings for the legs.

*** please make sure you remove the dog before cutting***

Decide on your lettering.  

Since I was in a hurry ...  I used what I had on hand.  I cut up another shirt

that had some letters that would fit.

After  pinning the letters  on the shirt ... I quickly  sewed around the edges 

... and  cut off the excess.

The fleece will only look better after washing ... I love the way it eventually 

rolls up a bit and fuzzes on the edges.

You could also use  iron on letters  if you have some on hand ...

or had the time to pick some up.

These are just vinyl letters to give you an idea ... of course these couldn't be washed.

In under 30 minutes Blake was ready for the game.

Me in my hoodie and Blake in his new turtleneck.

The Superbowl is coming up February 5th ... are you ready?

What are you doing to stay warm?  Link up and show us ...

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