victory rolls ???

So as I have already said I like the pin up look, but have never really mastered it myself. Last night I got a wild hair to try it. I wanted to blog about it and what came up to this. After watching several tutorials on you tube and some failed tries this is what i have discovered. Let me tell you that I have tried almost all the tutorials. Even the "cheating ones" to where they are feau victory rolls. My hair is extremely long , well too long for my taste at the moment. So i started to think none of the conventional ways would work for me. It took about an hour for my original bangs post I did a while back and even that did not turn out quite the way I wanted to. I have several splint ends right now to so just looping and rolling my hair around my fingers the authentic way was getting really sloppy.

I came across a tutorial where a girl used foam curlers and hid them well enough in her hair that she still got the look of the victory roll but my hair is also extremely thin. So every time I tried this technique I could not hide the curler as much as i tried.I also saw several tutorials with girls who just twisted their hair so it looked like victory rolls. This also did not work for me because with thin hair comes flat volume less hair. *sigh* so I was frustrated.

Then one night while playing with my hair I finally figured out a technique that just might work. Instead of starting at the base of my hair "the vintage way" I grabbed the section of my hair that i needed and used one hand to hold up the hair putting the section of hair in between my fingers (think "live long and prosper"). then i would wrap the hair around two of the fingers not to tight but not too loose. I needed room to pull my fingers out but still be able to hold the curl...tricky and hard to do I admit. Probably the long way too and if you do not get it the first couple of times your arms get really tired of being on top of your head. Pin like crazy and spray with hair spray. Since my hair is really long I did not roll my hair all the way up. i had a little over an inch on each side that I had to pin back...but here is my end result.

If anyone has some suggestions on how I can do this better and faster I would really appreciate it. I will be going as a pin up girl trick or treating with my kidlins so there will probably be another set of pictures next week.

I'll get the hang of posting these the right way eventually. Any way that cute little "comic strip" was during our trip to Lone Pine Farms about 3 miles outside of Eugene. This place is great and I jumped at the chance when my work decided to throw a little event there. On any given weekend the place is packed. There are hayrides, photo ops, tons of stuff to do and see. For the older folk there is a haunted hotel and a haunted corn maze.



Last year I ventured there with the kids by myself...huge mistake it was so stressful to try to keep both kids entertained and out of trouble. I was thnakful to have brian with me this time.



I didn't start going to pumkin patches until I was in high school but have been trying to go every year since. It is so much fun and I highly recomend it...a whole lot better then picking that perfectly round one in the cardboard box at the grocery store. Happy Halloween everyone!

My day at the cemetery

I know a lot of people that don't like cemeteries. Even more would think I am a weirdo to even want to hang around one, especially taking pictures in it and not knowing a single soul that was buried there...personally. But I am drawn to cemeteries for a few different reasons. So let me explain my favorite way by sharing these pictures.

#1 History!
Take for instance these pictures I took yesterday at the Eugene Masonic Cemetery.


The more notable historical pictures in that selection above start with the bottom picture, the first settler and namesake of Eugene. The Abbey pictured in the middle was modeled after a roman mausoleums and inside they have a time capsule that is not to be opened until 2914...it was put there by the Masons in 1914...you can only imagine what might be in there! The top left picture is really sad. Somewhere in that bit of forest is supposed to be the remains of Wiley Griffen one of who knows how many African Americans that actually lived in our area years and years ago. There is no marker to remember him and I think that is a huge problem...but a common problem at this cemetery, I will explain why in a little bit.

#2 The stones
Tombstones not only tell who a person was and how long they lived but some of them are so ornate that they really are just interesting to look at.


I tried to make the dedication on the one stone easier to read...it really is sad and beautiful at the same time and reminds me of the dedication to Hero in Much Ado About Nothing.

But alas...The Eugene Masons have a lot of work on their hands. They started restoring this cemetery about ten years ago it had not been taken care of in years. I remember the first time I stumbled upon it driving around town on a dark night and seeing tombstones on the side of the hill. It scared me at first. The next time I found it was a couple of months later in the day light...it had wild grass and bushes all over the place and you could not tell how big it actually was. Yesterday was the first time in the last ten years that I was actually able to explore the cemetery with my sister. I liked it of course but then was really disappointed to see the condition of some of the headstones.


I circled the stones in the pictures that were hidden behind brush. It is so sad to see how this cemetery seemed to have gotten forgotten through the years...and the "non historical people" are not kept up??? That is what I call disrespectful. I plan on putting my name down to volunteer next time they do clean up but it probably will not be until next spring/ summer.

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Slightly off subject I also stopped by this fireplace on the north side of Skinner's Butte. Thought I would share these pictures too because it's still kind of interesting.

Day at the Oregon Coast

50 miles west of Eugene is Florence Oregon. Florence is not as popular as Newport or Tillamook but it isn't a city to miss either.

The one bad thing about most of Oregon's coastal beach access parks is that you have to pay, usually about $5. When most people think of going to the beach though they think of nice warm weather...not so much here. It's most of the time very windy and cold. It's best to bring jackets but we also brought kites.

Seeing as how we didn't have the kids with us and we haven't been kids ourselves in what seems to be forever we decided that kites would be a great idea! Too bad we forgot how to put them together :( My sister Shari and my kite not only decided to rip very badly but they decided to spin rather then fly and get tangled together...my husband's kite (he choose Bumble Bee from Transformers) flew like a pro! And to think we made fun of his choice at first.

We also visited Sea Lion Caves, a must see at least once to get over your curiosity but only once if you can help it, the access price for this is $12 a person and for a trip down a almost 50 year old elevator 200 feet down to the cave...well that is your call. Not for the faint of heart but before they installed the elevator you had to climb down stairs , I think that would have been worse. I pay mainly for the photo ops! The adorable Sea Lion statue and the most photographed lighthouse in the west ! Heceta (pronounced ha see ta) is interesting but I chose not to venture up the coast any further...would like to take the kids to that one.

Then we went to the Three Rivers Casino, or what I like to call it the ATM.I spent $21 and walked out of there with $240 :) (my hubby won $99 and my sister LOST $60) So today I went and bought myself a new camera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So hope to be posting a lot more blogs here soon !