Squirrels Drive Me Nuts!

The check engine light in our car came on a while ago and the mechanic in town determined that the engine computer was telling a valve to stay open, which was causing the fume leak. They were sure this was a warranty fix. We just had to take it to a Toyota dealer.

The closest Toyota dealer is in Ontario, almost 1.5 hours away. I called a dealer and they said they could squeeze us in to Dylan and I ran out the door to get there in time. I mapped it on my phone once we were on the road......and I accidentally called a place in Ontario, CA, not Ontario, OR.

 Needless to say we weren't going to make it there in time. Dylan got a hold of someone in the RIGHT Ontario and set up a meeting for Monday. We didn't know how long it would take so we wanted to get there as early as possible. We set up our appointment for 8:00am. Not only is it 1.5 hours away but it is also another time zone. We had to leave at 5:30am to get there in time. Blah.

We get there and the problem wasn't the problem we thought it was. We still weren't sure what it was though. By 10:00am we had our answer. Small rodents had chewed holes in the hose that runs from our gas tank to our engine.

Seriously.

They didn't have the part but could have it rushed from Boise and get there by noon. They could have it installed by 4:00pm. It was still 10:00am. Luckily they took good care of us and gave us a loaner car, free of charge and full of gas, and we went to Boise. We walked around the mall, went to a bookstore, and drooled over bikes and tents at REI. However this just served to further depress us as we spent every last dollar in our bank account to fix our car that we couldn't afford any of the things we were lusting after. (Another remote control helicopter for Dylan, some new books for me, urban bikes for both of us, and a 2 man backpacking tent).

We got back to Ontario around 2:00pm and the first good thing that day: our car was ready! We drove it home without any hiccups or lights turning on. Thank goodness.

Now Dylan has his heart set on purchasing a pellet gun to discourage the stinking squirrels from munching on our car any longer. We haven't come up with a better plan yet.

Happy Birthday Dylan

Happy Birthday Dylan! I sure love you. Thank you for being such a wonderful person. I am so grateful to get to be a part of your life. You mean so much to me. This past year and a half that we have been together has been some of the best times in my life. Happy Birthday Love!

Oh, Good Morning MAY!!

It snowed so much so fast that it broke branches. When we drove

into town there were fallen branches all over the place!

Yes, May 16, 2011 and we wake up to THIS! Unbelievable. It snowed 3 or 4 inches last night. The gall. Dylan and Dad cut down the broken branch and as I type it is pouring down rain. Talk about flooding. At least it meant Dylan had a day off of installing pivots in the fields!

p.s. I definitely stole these pictures from Dad's blog....I didn't get my camera out this morning. Thanks Dad!

Haines City Wide Yard Sale

Today was the Haines City wide yard sale. Definitely couldn't pass this up! Carly, Shem, and I walked around the whole town going from yard sale to yard sale. I'm pretty excited about what I got!

I LOVE this chair. It's in really good condition too!

This will probably be turned into a lamp

I can't believe I found this Polaroid film!

Vintage clothing patterns. Some of these Vogue originals might be worth some money! I haven't decided of I'll try to sell some of them or not. But there are definitely some dresses and coats here I want!

The bill: $18.75

Tie-Dying

Yes, this is a little old. I'm behind.

Kimberly sent me to a blog where they did this. http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/04/silk-dyed-eggs-aka-tie-dyed/

You need silk ties so Dylan and I went to Salvation Ar

my and found a nice little selection. Some of the ties I had to fight

Dylan for. He seriously owns over 200 ties. Why would he w

ant more?? Then we cut the liners out of the ties and opened them up.

Then we cut them out big enough to wrap snuggly around the eggs. Wrapped those in pieces of pillowcase (which, by the way, we used a new one. Dylan is attached to his pillowcase haha) and put them in a pot. Filled that pot with enough water to cover the eggs then added 1/4 cup vinegar. Boiled for 20 minutes and......

We had a really good time! I didn't get very good pictures but the eggs looked amazing! I think we will do it again next year but maybe let them boil for a bit longer to try to get more color. Thanks for the idea Kimberly!