last night in Kamas

Cell phone photos: I missed half of Kammra's face.

Then I chopped off Dad's sweet cowboy hat.

Finally, he took the phone and got us all in the frame.

There's no place I'd rather be than Kamas, Utah on the Fourth of July. Ironically, I spent Independence Day this year in Great Britain. And I'm missing out on another wonderful patriotic weekend: Pioneer Day and the Kamas Fiesta Days events that always come at the end of the month. I'll be on an airplane flying Down Under while everyone at home is watching our little town's world-famous demolition derby. In fact, I was asked to sing the National Anthem for the Bull Wars and this event, but I had to cancel. Turns out it takes several days to fly to our Southern cousin continent: AUSTRALIA.

So last night, as a farewell, we went to the Kamas Rodeo so I could catch a bit of my favorite time of year. Bull riding, cowboys, country music, grilled burgers and fireworks--it's my favorite kind of night. I loved watching my neice Rachel cheer for the events. Every time they announced a bull's name, she would repeat it with an incredulously raised eyebrow and then giggle.

 "So-and-so on a bull called Scene-of-the-Crime."

"Scene of the crime???? Bahahahaaa."

She's funny.

It was also great to hear Kam talk about the days when she was a rodeo queen, barrelling and making lots of money, training horses and beatin' all the boys' scores at the rodeos. We came home and looked at some of her photos and trophies--that girl was a cowgirl, through and through, and she kicked some serious butt--she was great at what she did!

I may be a classy lady who wears high heels and spends half her time at the airport, but in my heart I'm still a small town girl who loves hoopin' and hollerin' at the cowhands.

p.s. I have more stories about my trip from the UK coming....plus I'll have some new adventures from my trip to Australia. I've got to run and catch the flight now! Have a good day, mates, be back in two weeks!

shoe smithing

Summer calls for easy-to-slip-on-yet-incredibly-adorable shoes. Summer holiday (I get one of these, I'm on it right now!) calls for getting together with friends you haven't seen in ages because you moved to North Carolina but you get to spend some time visiting Utah for a few weeks. This is how it is in my life. Maybe in your life, you could use some summer shoes, too!

Rather than buy new shoes, we decided to make one-of-a-kind crafty summer shoes. Inspired by this post by Joy the Baker and my sister's recent shopping spree at Michael's, my friend Bre and I set out to create the perfect pair of summer shoes.

I absolutely adore mine.

Bre's also turned out fantastically:

HOW WE DID IT

and the pictures to prove it...

We started with these cute, unembellished flats.

Then we went to Michael's and browsed the aisles for sparklies, charms, and any other doodads that caught our fancy--man, I love that store! I could make ten different kinds of shoes with the plethora of delightful things they sell. I'm also always amazed at how organized they keep the place.

First, I sewed red lace around the top.

Then, using thin wire, I "sewed" this fabulous firebird charm

and a strand of red jewels to the fronts.

I have an avid affinity for all things sparkly,

so I took the time to glue little rhinestones

around my firebird.

The blue matches the glittery bird patch I sewed on the back side of the other foot. 

These shoes are color-coordinated for style and extra flair.

I glued this little guy in place and then sewed around the edges to reinforce--because we don't want him falling off while we run around the streets.

I love the jewels in the back. Like surprise bumper stickers!

These I glued on using a hot glue gun, but about a week later, I worried about them beginning to come loose. So I re-glued them with Gorilla glue, and then left them overnight to dry. Now those sparklies will never fall off. Never, never-ever-ever.

Michael's had some black glittery ribbon tape for scrapbooking. I cut out three star-shaped pieces, glued them on, and then sewed them in place with bright thread.

There's a corresponding star sewn

on the inside of the opposite shoe.

At this point, about 2 o'clock in the morning, Bre and I have run out of apple slices smeared with maplebutter, topped with pecans and chocolate chips. We've listened to half of Carrie Underwood's albums. Are we finished? No, sir. That's when we started doodling. When you're this invested in a shoe, you don't quit until you're sure you've given it all you've got.

Bre drew a baby pink elephant:

We also drew on each other's shoes, for good luck.

I colored a lovely monster on the bottom of her shoe:

 

And she drew a perfect Eiffel Tower on mine.

 They exceeded our expectations--look how great they turned out!

 



Scarborough

I didn't go to the fair (hehe)....but Scarborough was lovely all on its own.

I stopped by on my way up the coast to visit Scotland; even though it was a quick stop, I had a great time seeing the main sites.

I drove through a very colonial, New England type town, which was ironic, because you know, I was in Old England, England England. But I related it to what I know. On a returning trip, I would like to walk and shop and eat among the shops that overlook the bay.

I parked on church street and began to walk up the hill on the other side of the cape.

The view looking back at where I had come from; can you see the water?

The castle's info and shop building also looks like a castle. Fitting.

Paid my admission, took another look at the bay and then hiked up to the castle.

It was on the top of the hill overlooking a cliff that juts out from the coast.

I'm pretty excited; I love me a good castle ruin.

 It was so windy! The location reminded me of those movies where the British troops discuss their battle plans while shots of the enemy ships approaching the shore intermittenly flash across the screen to build the intensity.

Beautiful sky.

I walked down the hill, past squished-together houses to the beach.

There were carnival rides and fish'n'chips shops all along the road.

This would be a very fun weekend getaway with friends.