"Where's your TV?"

Well, I don't have one.

Nor do I want one. 

If I had a dollar for every time somebody asked

me where the TV was in my house....

I could buy, well, probably something that was about 10 bucks.

But, that's besides the point.

I DON'T WANT A TELEVISION!

What a waste of time! There are so many other great things I would rather be doing. Namely...

Reading a book on my Kindle.

Playing my guitar.

Finding new music.

Sewing something.

Going for a walk on the beach.

Riding my bicycle. 

Looking for good recipes.

Cleaning my house!

I just think it's such a shame that so many households are focused on a little box in the corner of the room. Some people can't eat a meal, do household chores, sit alone with somebody, or go to the bathroom without the TV on in the background. 

So, if you come over to my house and ask me where my TV is...

I will refer you to this post. 

And...the following poem by Roald Dahl

(in case your wondering who the cowboy kid is, it's Mike Teavee)

"Mike Teavee..."

The most important thing we've learned,  So far as children are concerned,  Is never, NEVER, NEVER let  Them near your television set --  Or better still, just don't install  The idiotic thing at all.  In almost every house we've been,  We've watched them gaping at the screen.  They loll and slop and lounge about,  And stare until their eyes pop out.  (Last week in someone's place we saw  A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)  They sit and stare and stare and sit  Until they're hypnotised by it,  Until they're absolutely drunk  With all that shocking ghastly junk.  Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,  They don't climb out the window sill,  They never fight or kick or punch,  They leave you free to cook the lunch  And wash the dishes in the sink --  But did you ever stop to think,  To wonder just exactly what  This does to your beloved tot?  IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!  IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!  IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!  IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND  HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND  A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!  HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!  HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!  HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!  'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,  'But if we take the set away,  What shall we do to entertain  Our darling children? Please explain!'  We'll answer this by asking you,  'What used the darling ones to do?  'How used they keep themselves contented  Before this monster was invented?'  Have you forgotten? Don't you know?  We'll say it very loud and slow:  THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,  AND READ and READ, and then proceed  To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!  One half their lives was reading books!  The nursery shelves held books galore!  Books cluttered up the nursery floor!  And in the bedroom, by the bed,  More books were waiting to be read!  Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales  Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales  And treasure isles, and distant shores  Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,  And pirates wearing purple pants,  And sailing ships and elephants,  And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,  Stirring away at something hot.  (It smells so good, what can it be?  Good gracious, it's Penelope.)  The younger ones had Beatrix Potter  With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,  And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,  And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-  Just How The Camel Got His Hump,  And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,  And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,  There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole-  Oh, books, what books they used to know,  Those children living long ago!  So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,  Go throw your TV set away,  And in its place you can install  A lovely bookshelf on the wall.  Then fill the shelves with lots of books,  Ignoring all the dirty looks,  The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,  And children hitting you with sticks-  Fear not, because we promise you  That, in about a week or two  Of having nothing else to do,  They'll now begin to feel the need  Of having something to read.  And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy!  You watch the slowly growing joy  That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen  They'll wonder what they'd ever seen  In that ridiculous machine,  That nauseating, foul, unclean,  Repulsive television screen!  And later, each and every kid  Will love you more for what you did.  'Nuff said.

A little more progress.

Believe it or not, I've been EXTREMELY busy and have hardly had the time to even unpack the THREE boxes with all of my belongings in them. Unfortunately, the before and after pictures of my studio are not all that different...

There are a few more pieces of furniture AND a couple more little knick knacks...so let's just say this is the in between

 "before" and "after". 

And...pardon the poor quality of photography.

It's a camera phone as my REAL camera decided to retire early.

I added one more curtain panel so the neighbors can't peep...

Found an amazing antique dresser on craigslist.

Now I just need to find some skeleton keys so I can lock my underwear drawer.

FREE couch, just bought a slipcover. 

I've noticed that since working at EDITION, my love of whites and earth tones has dramatically increased. 

In case you hadn't noticed. 

I guess you start to reflect what your surrounded by.

Miniature Kitchen. 

Still working on the powder room...

Also, in good news: the couch is SOOO comfortable and doubles as a bed. For those of you who haven't come to visit me yet...now's your chance!

If I may, I would just like to share why I was inspired to paint a red wall in my bedroom. Here are some photos of places that have red accents that I fell in love with. Coupeville, Washington is apparently quite a fan of this delightful hue. As well as San Francisco.

Now I have one of my very own. 

Ciao!

Freedom.

Do you ever want to jump in 

the water in your Sunday clothes?

Just do it.

It's Kind of a WIP (Work in Progress)

Well, I moved again.

By MYSELF :)

With a full size bed that finally makes me feel like a grown up.

I've been working on the place a lot in order 

to make it "Holliesque".

Here's a few of the "before" pictures.

Hopefully soon I'll have more "after" pictures.

Time just doesn't seem to permit yet...

My favorite part of the house thus far...

 The Red Wall.

to be continued...

Flipped.

I think I just found one of my 

new favorite movies.

I loved the story

and the music was awesome.

PLEASE get this movie 

next time you have an empty 

slot in your Netflix queue. Enjoy!

Miniola.

This past weekend was bittersweet.

My sweet grandmother,

Minnie Ophelia Jones Gordon,

passed away.

We had found out only three weeks 

prior that she had cancer. 

I was talking to my brother about all of the wonderful things

that were said about Grandma at her Memorial Service.

She was truly the most charitable, wonderful, loving woman

I have ever known. And that is what EVERYBODY said. 

She loved everybody with her whole heart and NEVER judged another person.

She met my grandpa when she was working at the Bureau of Yards and Docks in Washington D.C.

They were married on March 11, 1954.

My birthday (32 years earlier:)

They lived all over including Charleston NC, Naples Italy, Norfolk VA, 

London England, San Antonio Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, Arizona,

and finally Oak Harbor Washington. 

My favorite memory of Grandma was the way she would greet you.

She would have this HUGE smile on her face and squeeze you so tight.

Then she would pull back, keep holding you, and look you straight

in the eye and tell you how much she loved you. 

(She did this with everybody)

She was never shy to tell you how much she loved 

me and how proud of me she was. No matter what I was doing in life.

The sweet part of the weekend was seeing ALL of the family

in one place for the first time in about 15 years.

Ten of her eleven grandchildren were there and I KNOW

she was smiling down on us that day.

I also was able to visit where my Grandfather on my Dad's side is laid to rest.

 They are in the same Cemetery in Kent, Washington.

It's times like these when I am truly grateful to have

the knowledge of the gospel and to KNOW that I will

see them again. No doubt in my mind.

Rest in Peace 

Sweet Minnie.

Quarter Century Club.

This is a little late...

But, I had a great birthday.

Here is a recap of some of

the great things that happened

for my 25th.

*Breakfast with Kari at Ted's Bakery.

*Giant birthday balloons from Tevita, Malia, & Shalye.

*Nice long nap for the day. (Still working the occasional overnight...)

*Chicken fajitas/delicious birthday cake with a million candles

from Doug, Becky, Jake, & baby Tucker.

* And, oh yea, a TSUNAMI. What a treat. Luckily 

our island wasn't hit too hard, but there

was definitely a scare. I was working overnight and 

got to hang out in the Penthouse all night due to our

being evacuated at 1AM. Thanks for all the texts/phone calls
from those of you concerned for my well-being.
* A fun-filled weekend at Ko Olina for some sand, sun, and waterslide...and food. Way, way too much food.

We were having so much fun, I wasn't
able to snap any pictures of us actually
DOING anything.
But the view was AMAZING!
They actually gave us a top floor room.
Penthouse. Even with my measly associate rate.
Only catch, it was an ADA room. So there
were bars everywhere and the kitchen
counter was unreasonably short.
Which in turn,
had short lamps that we kept banging
our heads on.
I'll take it!

Then there were a couple of other birthday
treats that came later in the week.
Stephen took me to this adorable
little cafe called the Cream Pot
and I LOVED IT.
I felt like I was in a little dollhouse
the whole time.
Every thing was so dainty & cute.
Thanks Stephen! You are the best.

Mint Lemonade. Yum.

Overall, I feel extremely loved &
 blessed to have so many great
people in my life. Thanks
to everybody for making my
25th year so superb!