I May Have Skydived

The last few months have been very busy around here. As you have noticed I haven't been blogging as regular as I should, I have promised to catch you up and I haven't.

There's just not enough hours in the day, along with poor time management, and - it's possible that I may take on more than I can realistically finish.

The last month or so has been busy getting ready for my first Junk Junket to Barn House.

I announced that I was DOIN' IT!

Well, I DID!!!

This last weekend was the maiden voyage.

We had the best time!

Barn House put on a fantastic show and the luncheon was incredible.

Kathrine did all the food and it was DELICIOUS!

I can't thank these people enough for putting on such a lovely spread for my first Junk Junket.

You will have to visit

Come Junk With Us

to get all the details about the trip.

I think coordinating this first trip must be what

Skydiving is like.

You talk yourself in to doing it,

You go up in the plane,

You freak out,

"I can't do this!"

"This is nuts!"

" I have bit off way more than I can chew!"

"I'm going to die, if I jump!"

All of the things that go through your mind before you jump out that door at 1500 feet.

Then some one pushes you out!

No turning back now...

So you enjoy the ride, do a free fall, can't believe this is really happening, pull the ripcord and just marvel in how cool it really is.

Your feet land safely on the ground

"OH MY GOD!" "I did that!"

Then you have a complete meltdown and can't even explain your experience without crying.

I know?

Odd!

But I'm sure all of the planning, worrying, execution, and the final results, in addition to being everything you dreamed it could be, must be EXACTLY like Skydiving.

And now I can't wait for next jump!

One of the guests of the Junk Junket brought me this very cool hostess gift. When I pulled it out of the gift bag and looked at it, my was thought "oh isn't that beautifully decorated bottle! What a great idea for a hostess gift." Then Julie, (my new BFF) who gave it to me said "Oh there's a pen in the bag for all of us to sign it for you." WHAT A STINKIN COOL IDEA! It almost brought me to tears right there on a bus in front of everyone.

I'm so going to steal this idea next time I need a special gift for someone.

Thank you Julie!

You rock!

We had a lot of fun stuff going on.

We also had some really cool gifts donated by local businesses for door prizes.

Here are some that I wanted to share with you.

This wasn't a gift but it was such a pretty picture of the Fabulous Frost Doughnuts I had to share it with you. If you live my area and haven't been there yet......DO SO!

Tell them you read it on my blog.

It won't get you a discount or anything but it might get me a free doughnut one day!

Frost

As soon as we got to Barn House and everyone was shopping, one of the handsome Barn Boys said "I have some packages for you."

REALLY??? How exciting!

This was what was in those packages

A box of these cute mugs with fancy chocolate from Celeste at Chaps for me to give to our guests on the bus.

(they had straw in them and they looked a lot cuter but Franklin got a hold of if before I could get a picture)

How nice was is that?

That Celeste!

If you have never been to Chaps over in the Spokane area you need to make sure you stop in there the next time you're visiting. It's a great little resturant.

In the next box was a whole box full of these cute little chocolate mints wrapped all cute with a cookie cutter. They were from Suzette who has a booth at Catty Wompus in Centralia.

This was one of Donna's and my favorite stores when we took the train down to Centralia for a day of junkin with Lisa and Isabell.

How nice was that?

Both those ladies, whom I have never met but they had read about my upcoming trip on blogs, sent those gifts to Barn House for me to give to my guests.

I was so touched.

It meant a lot to me to have that support!

Thank you

Celeste and Suzette!

This was my gift that I put together for the give away. A Martha Stewart Cast Iron Enamel Dutch Oven with "Mastering The Art Of French Cooking" by Julia Childs.

I bought 2 of these dutch ovens last year and love them! Then when I read the book "Julie & Julia" I decided I needed to use it more. Then I saw the movie and was IN LOVE with everything about it! So I decided this would be the perfect gift.

Ashley was the winner and it turned out she was in love with that movie too. I hope she enjoys her dutch oven as much as I do. I found an original copy of "Mastering The Art of French Cooking" at a garage sale this last spring in Long Beach. I'm thinking this winter I just might master the art!

My friend Kari from Tastefully Simple sent this cute little basket over for me to give away. It was super nice of her. You know what else was very nice of her?

She also gave all the guests of the Junk Junket a Tastefully Simple exclusive offer. Then..................She told me to go ahead and extend it to whom ever I wanted to so I"m extending it to all of you.

Tastefully Simple, the nation's original taste-testing company, offers over 30 easy to prepare gourmet foods that you and your friends can taste before you buy. Host a fun Taste Testing Party and mention Timi's name and I'll have a "special" gift for you!

Contact me to find out more about: Hosting a Party, Placing an Order, Ordering Personal or Business Gifts, Arranging a Tastefully Simple Fundraiser, Learning About Our Business Opportunity.

Our seasonal offerings change twice a year, so there’s always something new at a Tastefully Simple party. Contact me today to find out what exciting things are happening with Tastefully Simple.

Kari Fausey

I look forward to hearing from you!

Even if you don't live close to her you can have a catalog party. Tastefully Simple has some fantastic gift boxes that are reasonably priced. They make really nice Christmas gifts for those on your list that are hard to buy for.

Amber was the big winner of the Tastefully Simple basket.

Let me share a little something about Amber with you.

Amber bought a seat on the Junk Junket and I was really excited. It was going to be fun to spend some time with her.

Then she made it even more exciting. She says "I'll take pictures for you"

Have you seen Amber's work?

She takes great pictures! I was so excited to have her taking pictures. I wouldn't have to rely on my crappy pictures. She did a fantastic job and I can't thank her enough.

So I'm going to plug Amber.............If you need senior pictures, family pictures for Christmas cards, pet pictures, pictures for your business, wedding, engagement, barmitza, family reunion, company Holdiay parties...........Whatever...........Amber is your girl!

Go check out her photography page and book her NOW before she has no time.

Here's something else very exciting that has happened...

The Hubs and I like to frequent a little place in Snohomish called Collectors Choice Resturant. It's a cute resturant in the bottom of the Star Center Antique Mall

I love the swiss dip sandwich that they have on the menu but lots of time (most of the time) I'm not in the mood for beef, so I switch the beef out for sliced turkey. Then add some bacon. It's fantastic and it's my favorite sandwich. I could eat one every other day.

Well, I started pestering the owners about putting my sandwich on the menu. They kept giving me some lame excuses about cost of adding something new to the menu; You're crazy; Stop e-mailing us; Stop commenting on Facebook about the sandwich; Stop trying to get customers to picket outside the restaurant; We will call the Sheriff...the remarks go on.

I said "Your going to be sorry! One day, when I'm rich and famous and you don't have the Timilicious Turkey Dip on the menu!"

Check it out!

Can't see what I'm talkin about?

Look closer...

That's right! Right there in black and white at the bottom of the lunch special!

The Timilicious Turkey Dip!

Doesn't it look good?

It is!!

When you come to Snohomish, (Cuz' you know you have to now) you need to eat at Collectors Choice Restaurant! Go in and ask for the "Timilious Turkey Dip." It's not on the permanent menu but they will make it for you!

Tell them I said it was ok.

Hey! Remember the nurse that saved my life?

The night before the Junk Junket, it was her birthday. I think it was her 29th-ish.

So all of us girls that have been friends since 4th grade got together to celebrate.

The Nurse got some fancy rubber gloves.

I know! She's going to be Fancy Nancy Nurse on her floor!

This is Beach Girl, she moved to New Jersey and became a New Jersey Housewife many years ago. We watch for her on the Real Housewives of New Jersey all the time, but so far she hasn't made an appearance.

We were lucky enough to have her come visit for this get together. We have not laughed so hard, for so long, in quite awhile. Probably since the last time she came home for a visit.

It was great to see her! We miss you Beach Girl!

My girls!

The Nurse and I doing the sorority pose. We learned it from WSU Laura at Farm Chicks this last spring.

Well that's what's been happenin around The House of B's for the last month or more. As well as I got some shameless plugs in for my friends.

I'm planning another Junk Junket in October, I'm working on "Jesus Loves Casserole" blog posts, and The Hubs finally took a step in life that will probably save our marriage.
I'll keep you posted!

Barn House

Saturday morning I sprang out of bed at 5 am! The day had finally come. I had read about it, heard about it, and today was the day I was going to get to see it with my very own eyes.

I got up, pretended that I felt like a million bucks (so The Hubs would give me a hall pass) and got ready to go. Michele was at my house bright and early 7 am and we were on the road to pick up Donna. Then it was on the road 3 - 4 hours (depending on how many stops)to Vancouver WA destination..............................

Barn House Sale. I had been wanting to go to one of their sales all spring and summer but things were just to busy. Today I was going hell or high water, dead or alive! The drive out was beautiful. None of us had ever been out to the Battle Ground area in Vancouver. It was a gorgeous fall day. The trees were beautiful, sun was shining and you couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

Michele in the cute little floral CAbi Sweatshirt, myself, and Donna

Yeah, I'm the dork with her eyes closed. It's my picture thing. Some people don't smile, some people always look beautiful, some people make faces. Me......I close my eyes!

As soon as we arrived we were greeted in the parking lot by these fabulous ladies. Fellow blogging buddies. Lisa, Joy, and (a new friend) Shelia. Isabel was also there but she was super busy with the camera. Thank you Isabel! So we chatted with the girls, meet the hosts of this shin dig.....Joe and Jermonne. They were all dressed up and looked verrrrrrrrry scary. Did I get pictures? Uhmmmmmmmmmm NO! Why? Because........I was so busy talking to everyone, coughing my lungs out, and looking around I forgot. Go over to

Isabel's blog for some fabulous photos. She always does an amazing job on the pictures. Shelia has some great photos too so go visit her too. I saw Joy with a camera a snappin like crazy so I bet she will have some great photos also.

This is the entry way. It was so inviting, you could see the beautiful food spread and lovely Mimosas from the parking lot. It really looked beautiful. Made you want to jump out of your car and run right up there!

The barn entrance. Spectacular!

Some of the many displays






I tried to get a good picture of the ceiling. It was really cool. Very woodsy, spooky and romantic all at the same time.


Loved the little test tubes hanging all over in the trees with mini pumpkins in them. Great idea!

We had a wonderful time! There were all kinds of other antique shows and craft shows in the area and we hit all of them. It was just fun to drive around and sight see. We even saw a camel standing in the middle of a field in the middle of no where. It was just so funny and odd all at the same time. Then we ventured up to Portland to Monticello Antique Marketplace for lunch and a little looksie. I had heard about this place and all it's fabulousness but had never been there so while I was so close I was going!
What a great place. One should put this on their list of MUST VISIT places in Portland Oregon. It's right off The 205 at Stark St. Super easy to find. We had lunch there with Joy and Sheila. The company was wonderful and the lunch was very good. Thank you Joy and Shelia for joining us we had so much fun visiting with you both of you.
Then it was the long drive back home. We chatted about politics, gossiped about high school classmates, talked about husbands, old boyfriends, and how our parents still drive us nuts and which homes we should think about putting them in. KIDDING!
I got home about 8 pm, tired, more sick then when I left and excited to tell The Hubs all about the trip. When I put down my handbag on the counter and looked downstairs to my shock and horror you will never guess what I saw.

Any guess of what The Hubs did all day unsupervised?


Stay tuned, tomorrow I'll show pictures......................