Donna Hawkins- September- Closet Doors

My goal for the month of September was to finally install closet doors in the master bedroom and the kids' bedroom.  I did neither.  I'll use the excuse that it was going to be a lot more complicated that originally thought.  They originally had these ugly gold, mirror, sliding doors, that were all broken (the hardware, not the glass) and were all sold on ksl.  The casing is all still there and it looks like a nice, finished opening.  For the last 4 years almost, we've had no doors, and I've loved it!  It forces me to keep the closets looking nice, I can easily get to everything, and the casing holds oodles of hangers of line-drying clothes.  I want hinged closet door eventually, but to do that, I need to take out the casing, buy the doors, and figure out how to install. and finally re-install the casing.  Sounds like a good project for the middle of winter.  Right now the sun is shining!  It doesn't look that bad, right?!

So here's my major accomplishment for the month... Dallin went to nursery!  Okay, he's not technically 18 months yet, but he's close!  Our friend is the nursery leader and she totally allowed me to bring Dallin in for play time!  We weren't planning on staying the whole time, but he was having so much fun with all those new toys!  I was able to duck out for YW opening exercises and made it back in time for snacks.  They had about 14 kids with only 3 leaders, so I stayed and helped out.  It was awesome!!!  I think this will be a reoccurring thing, at least until the end of the year, when the new sunbeams move out.  If I can feel useful, then Dallin and I will both be happy!

Donna Hawkins- July- Garden Update

My July goal was to fix our garage floor, but like all projects, when it gets busy enough, you have to sift out what's really important.  July was crazy busy for me, therefore the garage floor will be put on hold for now.  Instead, I was also able to finish a smaller project that I've been planning on for a year:  a sandbox!  We had this dead space next to our garden that would be perfect, and some ugly pink concrete edging we pulled out of our beds when we first moved in.  We dug it down and bought some sand. Note: GOOD, beach-like, play sand is expensive!  13 bags cost almost $60!  I'm used to ordering landscaping sand by the dump truck-full and the whole load would cost that much!  Sheesh!  This stuff is quality and from the first moment everything came together, the kids haven't been able to stay out of it!  They love it!  If they're ever outside, they're in the sandbox.  Maybe it's just because it's new?

I also have an update on the garden.  At the end of last season, I thought I had it all figured out.  What to plant and when to plant it.  Our growing season is so short up here.  Any time after Labor Day is fair game for frost!  Here's a few tips for any prospective gardeners...

1. Plant peas and lettuce EARLY!  Like, as soon as the snow melts.  Lettuce turns bitter the instant it gets hot.

2. Plant only ONE squash plant of each kind.  It's hard to pluck out that second plant start, but it has to be done!

3. Tomatoes need to be BIG when transplanted.  I don't think I'll get many red ones by frost time.  We'll see.

4. Get GOOD tomato cages, not those flimsy one that can't stand up under any weight.

I'm pleased how it turned out, but I'm still worried that I won't have tomatoes and peppers.  You always get a ton of what you don't want, like summer squash.  It pretty much does what it wants.  Here's some before...

and after...

Donna Hawkins- June- Run a half marathon

This goal is an interesting one because with all the running I've done in my life, I've never done an official half marathon.  One time in college, my sister, Monica, and I were supposed to run a half marathon on a Saturday morning.  We hadn't preregistered, but planned on registering that morning.  Back then, races were less official, without all the fancy timing equipment, so registering day-of was no big deal.  Well... we slept in and didn't make it to the race.  Instead, we pulled out the map in the Logan phone book (before google earth) and planned out 13.1 miles and started running.  It was an out and back, but by the time we got all the way out, it started raining and raining and raining!  I remember being very wet and my shoes made that funny noise, but I also wasn't very thirsty, so there you go.  We made it.  My roommates thought I was crazy.  Fast forward 12 years and I'm finally running my first official half marathon!  The American Fork Canyon Half Marathon!

The timing was great.  I just weaned Dallin about a month earlier.  Running with a flat chest is so much easier, right?!  There's one thing it's good for!  It was early in the season, nice and cool in the morning, but the longest day of the year, so it's special.  I also felt good about the cause:  the fight against cancer!  They had so many sponsors for the race that every dime of the runner's fees went to cancer research in Utah County.  They raised $250G that day!  It made me feel good.  Unlike Ragnar, which is ridiculously expensive and isn't helping anybody.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Choosing this race was also a matter of convenience.  Bevan ran it twice and knew the course very well.  His parents live 2 blocks from the bus load/ finish line at American Fork High school.  We left the kids sleeping at 4am, and made it back by the time they were finishing breakfast.  Can't beat that!

Now comes the training.  I did none.  Too busy, sick kid, stressful work, too hot, blah blah blah.  Well, I did get out about once a week, twice when the race got closer.  Most of the time, I was pushing both kids, so that counts for something, right?  I even printed this fancy training calendar, but neither Bevan or I really followed it.  Bevan doesn't need to train, he's a natural athlete, so he decided to stick with me on race day.  I was happy about that!  I was a little nervous about my feet.  When "training", after about mile 5, they start going numb.  Huh, hopefully that doesn't happen.

Race day came!  We stayed up way too late the night before, but still managed to get up and catch a bus on time.  No more worries, right?  Half way up American Fork Canyon, our bus broke down.  We were sitting in the back listening to a "career" runner telling us about ALL his races (we all know one, right?) and we just sat there.  Bus after bus came back down, driving right past us.  Some would stop and talk to our driver.  How complicated could it be, right?
"Bus broke down"
"Should we use my bus?"
"Alright"
After 40 MINUTES our driver finally announces:
"We've decided that the best solution is to load you all on another bus"
You're kidding?!

We were all getting a little nervous.  The race planners account for stuff like this, but time was slipping away.  By the time we got to Tibble Fork Reservoir, we only had 10 minutes to get undressed and get to the start line.  I kinda felt bad for everyone else, they've all been shivering for the last hour!  It was COLD at the top of the canyon.  I felt a little lucky.

BANG!
Here we go!  Whenever I run downhill, I get cramps behind my rib cage, which means I need to breath harder.  It felt funny.  People thought I was huffing and puffing in the first mile.  They probably thought, "she'll never make it".  The cramps finally went away.  It was a beautiful race!  Narrow canyon, tree canopy, cool air, slight downhill, motivating signs every half mile, water, gatorade, raspberry power gel (nasty!), and my hubby by my side!  He really stayed with me!  I was secretly not expecting him to.  He's VERY competitive and doesn't like it when people pass him.  Well, he did, and we had a good time!  I felt alright... until mile 13.  Bevan told me to push it!  I started sprinting.  I felt like I was on the high school track team again.  What a mistake!  Totally NOT worth the extra 20 seconds it saved me.  When I crossed the finish line, I felt terrible.  Lesson learned!

I got a super-heavy finisher's medal, found a portapotty, ate some french toast, and felt a whole lot better!   Not a bad time either, 1:52!  I sure paid for it later!  I couldn't walk normal for about 3 days!  Especially down some stairs!  I've realized something... training isn't just for the race, it's for the recovery afterwards.  I also realized I need some PRETTY running shoes!  I have these old asics that used to be white, but are now gray.  Everybody at the starting line had neon blue, hot pink, vibrant purple, electric yellow, and so on!  Bight running shoes are the rage right now.  Maybe I would've trained more if I had pretty shoes.

I've realized one more thing... a half marathon is the LONGEST race I will ever do.  Period!  Bevan is itching to do another marathon, but I just reminded him about the arduous training schedule.  It takes a lot of time, time I don't have.  If I was still single with few responsibilities, sure I might poor the time into training for a marathon, but not now.  Also, I've visited the finish line of a marathon, and it was not pretty.  Bodies all around, vomit, tears, etc.  After finishing my race, I still felt alright, not on the verge of collapse.  I also don't think our bodies are meant to run that far anyway.  That's when injuries start happening.  If I want to become one of those crazy running grandmas, I need to take it easy!

Donna Hawkins - May - Plant Garden by Memorial Day

Ah, the garden.
I have a love/ hate relationship with our small garden.  Last year was it's first year and I went crazy and over-planted everything.
Who needs more than one zucchini plant?!
It had issues.  I really loved giving produce away.  It made me feel like a good neighbor.  But I hated how much got wasted.  I filled a 5 gal. bucket with bell peppers, chopped them up, and froze them.  Let me tell you, there are 0 recipes that call for thawed, slimy, limp bell peppers.  I left the onions and carrots in the garage over the winter and it ended up hard freezing in there.  Tossed them out!  I couldn't get my Anaheim peppers to roast correctly.  Blah!  Tomatoes?  I spent all day making red sauce and only came out with 4 jars!  We did have some success:  fresh lettuce salads with every dinner (until it got hot), sugar snap peas all summer, butternut squash pasta, and lots and lots of zucchini!  I was actually looking forward to frost.

2014.  New Season.  Fresh Start.  Clean slate.  Tilled Dirt.

Once again, Projects Connect has motivated me to do something quickly!  As with common practice, we were outside, on the last day of our deadline, planting the garden.
Midnight Landscapers Strike Again!
Good thing the headlamps had fresh batteries!
I'm not one to "hand-water" anything!  If it's not on a timer, it will die.  Last year, we used soaker hoses with our system, but they all excreted water at different rates.  There was no rhyme or reason to it.  Some things would get lots of water, and others would hardly get any.  It was part of the reason I had varied success.  This year, I bought pressure regulators and Netafim emitter tubing.  Unlike soaker hoses, these have holes every 12" with a standard flow rate (.6 gallons per hour).  You plant seeds NEAR the holes, but not directly under them. You can plant seeds already thinned out to 12 inches.  Brilliant.  Good thing I had 2 weeks to monitor the success before this posting was due.
So far so good.
Midway is technically zone 4.  There are some things you HAVE to start inside earlier, like tomatoes, chili and bell peppers.  These take forever to ripen!  I have a sunny window sill that housed several narrow seed trays over the spring.  I get ansy and start my seeds in February.  Too soon.  The starts are screaming by the time they're transplanted.  February is just so bleak there needs to be some life!  Anyway, I hope this year I can better manage my crops.  I need to study more on preserving and canning.  Maybe the ol' garden will be more productive!

Donna Hawkins - April- Bark Mulch!

So, I'm going to make this one short.  I've been short on time lately.  I've started working full time, at least for the next 4 weeks.  I don't know how other people do it, but I'm having a VERY hard time prioritizing.  It was a blessing finding a job that would take me for the time that Bevan was off from the ski resort.  The only thing I'm looking forward to is going part-time once Bevan heads back.  I'm VERY anxious for June! (well, my bosses aren't, but they'll just have to deal with it).

Anywho... We bought our house back in December of 2010.  The landscaping had been neglected for years.  No sprinkler system was ever installed.  Lots of the plants had died.  The large aspen trees on the corner of our property are still making a recovery.  I saw it as a blank slate!  We had a complete redo!  I used many of my resources and connections to create a yard perfectly suited for our small lot.  Almost everything was installed that next summer, and the garden went in the summer after that.  The only thing lacking was the final touch, the bark mulch.

In a landscape, mulch plays an important roll.
- It adds a finished look to your yard
- It covers the surface drip tubing
- It prevents weeds (when at least 2" deep)
- It insulates the root zone and regulates the surface soil temperature
- It contributes to the nutrient cycle.  When it decomposes, it adds nutrients to the soil.  The absolute BEST mulch out there is the stuff that comes out the back of a green waste chipper.  Shredded wood and leaves.  That's right, Nora!  That stuff you got back in west jordan (that I totally turned up my nose at) is the best stuff for your garden and beds.  In nature, there's usually a layer of decomposing leaves and brush on the forest floor, constantly adding nitrogen back to the soil.  Of course, finer mulch is harder to keep in place, but it you don't mind the extra work, the benefits are wonderful.  On top of that, skip the weed-barrier fabric.  It doesn't do much anyway.

Saying that... I didn't order the fine mulch.  I got a small bark chips combo, with a little bit of shredded in it.  It was a good compromise, but a lot more expensive than chipper mulch.   Non-died, but has lot of natural colors.  It was hard to find but Woodstuffs in Springville had it.  I needed 12 cubic yards for our 2-3" coverage everywhere, so the best way to achieve this was to fork over a $75 delivery fee to haul it up.  I probably would've spent more than that going back and forth.  I made sure they dumped it right in the middle of our driveway, to give us extra motivation to move it quickly!  With Bevan being temporarily unemployed, he had lots of time to work!  A couple days later, viola!  Final cost $600.  Ouch!  But we won't have to do this again for many, many years!  We justified it with my generous hourly pay.  Our yard looks so chiseled!   It also makes for good advertising... not that I have time right now for extracurricular designs anyway.

Here's a tip for y'all.  Get some cheap mulch.  Dress your beds.  Your plants will thank you!

Donna Hawkins - March - A BLOG BOOK!

I know this has been done several times already on Projects Connect, and I know it'll be done several times more.  I was so excited to start on this blog book.  I knew from reading other's posts to plan more time than you'd think!  They were right.  I also wanted to use a different website than the other two, just to branch out and see what else was out there.  I also wanted to find a cheaper solution than Blurp or Blogs2Print.

I started a blog back in 2007, after Bevan and I had been married for a few months.  It was totally the thing to do back then.  Now, not so much, but I'll get into that later.  I was pretty religious about posting, even though we didn't have any kids.  The posts were mostly about our adventures and special moments of being newly-weds.  I was thinking at the time, I wanted to also start a family scrapbook, but I like having descriptions of what we were doing and not just solid pictures.  I had a lot of just plain writing and some posts don't even have pictures.  I mean, what was there to take pictures of? Us?!  Got PLENTY of those already!

Anyway, I searched online and found several companies that do online book publishing.  All you have to do is create your book in a pdf format and send it to them.  I chose Lulu because there were several recommendations online and their prices were very reasonable.  Now, comes the format.  I wanted it to be more like a "book" and less like a scrapbook with tiny descriptions.  If I had a copy of Adoby InDesign, that would've been nice to do fun, creative, multiple-page layouts.  I was so inspired by Sharon Thacker's blog-book pages.  Alas, the only program that would work was plain ol' microsoft word.  I had to copy and paste EVERYTHING... which I didn't mind because I made several revisions anyway.   Lulu is SUPER EASY to work with and have several options of sizes.  There was quite a price difference between 12x12 and 8.5x11, so I did the latter.  Once you choose your size, you download their free page template for Word and start copying and pasting.  I later found out there are free websites out there that will covert your blog to a pdf format, ready for a book.  I probably should've researched that a little better!

I wanted one book for the time before we had kids (aka, our 4-year-long honeymoon).  I also used some free online photo collage-makers for the posts with lots of pictures (roadtrips and stuff).  After about 20 hours of copying, pasting, formatting, moving, picture-switching, etc. I finally had a draft to export to a pdf and send to them.  I chose a book cover, the glossy hard-cover was standard,  found 15%-off coupon (which pretty much covered shipping) and ordered it.  They said it could take up to 20 days but it was A LOT faster than that.  Publishing took 2 days and shipping took 3.
Viola!
Final cost :  $31.15
Total pages:  80
Was it worth it:  YES!

In the end, it sorta resembled "Ackerson Kids Grow Up".  Huh...

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with the final product.  It's not the super-nicest quality out there, but for the price, it can't be beat!  The look and feel reminds me of a hard-cover Dr Suess book.  The pages were thick enough and had a touch of gloss to them.  After reading through it, I found MORE typos and wanted the pictures to be even BIGGER.  For a couple extra dollars, I could've had them bigger (meaning more pages).  I might do it again someday and make those revisions, but for this writeup, it'll do!

I also regret not putting in the comments from other people.  I loved re-reading all those old comments and remember old friends that don't blog anymore.  Sure they announce stuff on FB every couple of years, but I really miss the in-depth family goings-on!  I like seeing a friend and knowing somewhat what's been going on with them (important stuff, new babies, etc).  I'm sad that the majority of people in my original "blog following" list haven't written anything in years.  A moderate example is Nora.  She took a little break, but then got back into it!  She didn't stress about back-logging all those missed posts, she just picked it up again.  Like there was no break at all.  Because people really are interested!  Go Nora!  I probably have the most boring life of all, but I'll let others decide that!

Donna Hawkins, February- Something on Every Bare Wall II

I'm glad I had 2 months to do this, because it really took that long!

First of all, the MASTER BATH!
Each of my bathrooms (not implying that I have a huge house with many bathrooms, I actually have a very small house with 3 full bathrooms, which I love) has a different color scheme.  I needed some guidance for decorating each one and I felt that if I found a shower curtain that I loved, everything else would fall into place.  Anyway, I decided on red for the master bath, which was tough because I couldn't find a lot of red decor.  But thanks to Walmart, Home Goods, Ross, DI, and Amazon, we pulled it together.  Sorry I didn't include many "before" pictures.  Just imagine nothing on the walls.

 I especially like the corner rack stand thingy, which is perfect for diapers.

 That washcloth holder/ shadow box above the toilet I ended up making, to offset the over-budgetness of the rest of the bathroom.  I'm really not that crafty, but each of us reach that point when we're staring at an overpriced piece of painted wood nailed together and say, "I could make that!"  So I did.

The last issue was the mirror.  It was a small mirror before, like only one person could stand in front of it at a time.  It drove me crazy on Sunday mornings with all the hair-doing and teeth-brushing.

I traded with my parents, who had a large plain mirror they took out of their new house.  Sure it's not as fancy, but I was going for big big big!  Did I mention that it makes the bathroom look bigger?


Now we head to the KIDS BEDROOM!
I'm making my 2 babies share a bedroom.  Anna (3 yrs) can sleep through a hurricane (as well as Dallin's (9 mos) screaming) so I thought, why not?!  I like keeping a guest room downstairs, because people come visit you! (can you tell I'm starved for company?)   I also like having the kids closer to our bedroom.  Therefore, I needed a gender-neutral theme:  Animals!  Perfect!  Lots of animal decor out there.  I wasn't about to stick vinyl all over the walls, but I just needed something for each bare wall.

The first-initial-hangers were a mistake that came out looking kinda cool.  Paining them ruined them, so I just wrapped ribbon around them instead!  (warning: it takes more ribbon than you think!)

Most of this room was brought to you by Hobby Lobby.  The counting poster came free with it's matching floor puzzle.  I just found a cheap poster frame for it.

WaLa!  It's not done yet, but at least there's something on each wall!


Honorable mention goes to the GUESTROOM!
It has this lovely shelf wrapping around 2 sides.  Great for fake plants and picture frames.  I was heading for a pioneer/ cowboy theme, but right now, it's all jumbled.

I love the broken square mirror.  It can't be hung, but can stand up just fine!

I'm still waiting on a few items to get hung, like window valances (notice the curtain rod waiting patiently) and artwork, but for now, it works!  I feel like my house is being lived in!  Thanks to Nora and her motivating blog, something finally was done!  March's goal is a blog book and from what I gathered from others experiences with blog books, I need to get started NOW!

Donna Hawkins, January, Something on Every Bare Wall

Shortest introduction possible (since my post is so long):

I'm Donna.  I live in Midway.  I'm married to Bevan. We have 2 kids, Anna (3 yrs) and Dallin (8 months).  I'm Nora's little sister (how lucky am I?!)  I ski, I hike, and I dig in the dirt.  That's me!

As many of my friends and family know, I can be kind of an anit-horder. I attribute this to a simple life growing up with not a lot of “stuff”.  The first 4 years we were married, we lived at my parent's cabin. I didn't really collect anything, even though I knew we'd have a house some day that would need to be furnished. I guess I was afraid that if I had stuff, then I would be “settled” and I didn't want to be settled. I was so proud of myself in college that everything I owned could fit in a car. My décor was posters that could be all rolled together and shoved in a tube. Even on my mission I had less stuff going home than coming in. I gave away a lot of my clothes and only kept my most favorite study materials and souvenirs. I spent my last evening in the garage of the mission home playing ping pong with the elders while the other sisters were busy redistributing the possessions in their luggage to fit under the 50 lb weight limit. This doesn't count the boxes they already shipped home. True story!

When we bought our home in Midway 3 years ago, it was pretty bare inside. It took months to buy beds and years to buy rugs and décor. I still had mostly bare walls in most of the rooms, with the exception of the kitchen, living room and our 2 main bathrooms. Once again, my anti-horder tendencies prevail. I didn't want to spend money on something that I absolutely wouldn't LOVE and stare at forever! This is why my walls are so bare. With Nora's project motivating me, I buckled down and got serious with just finding anything. I knew this would take more than one month, which is why I assigned 2 months in the schedule for this project. I won't spend time in all the details of it, but I will focus on a few things that I thought would be of use to my fellow man.

1.  Poster Frames. I love these posters from college and some of them I wanted to decorate our family room with... but I didn't want to spend $30-$40 to get these funky-sized posters custom-framed at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. They're posters!

I found a couple companies on Amazon that specialize in custom frames. They're not super nice frames, composite wood and plexiglass, but for posters... they work (especially for the price). Craig Frames and ArtToFrame. Every weird size you can imagine. I guess if I was more crafty, I could just make frames... but that's what Prime is for!

2.  Use what you have. I have this old leopard painting from growing up that I snagged from my parents house when they moved. Ironically, one of Nora's college roommates painted it for me because I was obsessed with leopards. The clock came from Bevan's Grandpa's house when he died. Leopards and old clocks go together, right?

Not really, but at this point, who cares?! Not every room needs a “theme”. They both have meaning and that's what matters.

3. Crafts. Alright, I DO have time to be crafty, but not very often. You can't find these on Prime.

My grandma used to make these and several of them hang in the cabin. I didn't dare ask Mom for them, so I decided to make some of my own. I also have an interest in flowers and plant identification. Last 4th of July, we were hiking with Nora and her kids in the mountains and Paige and I just starting picking flowers. We dried them and made a display for Paige. There were extras and I got the idea to make 2 to go above our bed, sandwiching our Willie Holdman. Ya know, nature-theme, right?

Whatever. The hardest part was finding out what some of the flowers were. Anyway, the point is that wall décor doesn't have to be a science. Next month: the kids' room and the master bath!

Donna Hawkin's Goals & Projects for 2014

I'm Donna.  I live in Midway.  I'm married to Bevan. We have 2 kids, Anna (3 yrs) and Dallin (8 months).  I ski, I hike, and I dig in the dirt.  That's me!

January: Decorate the house (at least SOMETHING on each bare wall)

February: MORE decorating, because this will take more than one month

March: Do a blog book, after 6 years I should have one, right?

April: Put bark mulch in all planting beds.  Our landscaping has been in for 2 years and the drip tubing still shows.  It just needs to be done!

May: Plant the whole garden/ window boxes by Memorial Day

June: Run a half marathon

July: Fix the garage floor.  It's chipping, cracking and should be sealed

August: Pull off an awesome family reunion! and not wait until the last minute

September: Install the last 2 closet doors, because we've only gone 3 years without them

October: Finish reading the Book of Mormon

November: Run another half marathon.  Why not?!

December: I haven't found anything worthy of December, but I will have a goal soon!