Summer

summer this year has been all about the cabin. i've maybe been home a total of 4 weekends and we're going back up on friday morning. in my honest opinion everything is better at the cabin. the star's are something magical. these are a couple shots from last weekend and the milky way. i was pretty excited to get these. i use a tripod and a wireless remote to eliminate shutter shake, i got mine at best buy for like $10. my ISO was set to 1250, f/3.5 and 30 second shutter speed, also remember to put your focus to manual and for the love of all that is holy please please please shoot in RAW.

How I Turned a Dresser into My Entertainment Center

okay, so I have been scouring thrift stores, craigslist, KSL, yard sales and my basement for a dresser that I could turn into a tv stand. We got a new TV on black friday and we couldn't fit our cable boxes under the new TV and they didn't fit in the cubbies so I was so tacky and just used the little $12 ikea side table and tried not to look at how hideous it was, plus we had a million and a half cords showing so that corner of the living room was my dark place, I just ignored it and hoped it would go away. So fast forward like 6 months and I'm still trying to find an entertainment center that I like.

My tacky little Ikea table 

I was out on Saturday with my hubby and we were running all sorts of errands and decided to check the DI and they had absolutely nothing, but Savers was right on the way home so we stopped there and found this one.

I wasn't so sure about it at first honestly, I mean this sucker is 90 inches long and weighs what feels like 400 lbs. Husband thought it would be great though so I told him that if we went home and measured and decided it would fit we could come back and if it was still here it was a sign. Well, I guess it was a sign because it was still there and so we bought it. It took 4 people to get it in the truck, thank goodness the Savers people helped us (thank you nice Savers people!) because I don't know how I would have lifted this.


After we got it home and out of the truck I wiped it down and started sanding almost instantly. I used 400 grit sandpaper because the stain was so dark I wanted to remove as much of it as possible, half way thru the sander that I was borrowing from my husbands step dad just died on me. Like won't turn on no matter what and I tried 4 different plugs, so I had to go mid sanding covered in cherry stain weird side pony & ugly sweater and painted shorts to Home Depot and buy a new one, it was sexy.

I got a new sander and finished sanding it that night before we went out with our friends for the Mr's birthday, I finished priming it the next day. So I only did one coat of primer because the paint that I used was a paint and primer in 1. Its Cathedral Grey by Behr and I already had it on hand because its the color that I painted the dresser and headboard in my bedroom. I've been REALLY impressed with how well it stays on. I mean I'm not extremely hard on things but after over 6 months of normal wear and tear they haven't chipped at all. I let that dry for like a good 8 hours even though it claims to be dry in 1. It might have been but I wasn't home to test it so I'll never know. I put the first coat on later that day and then painted the second coat the next day so that each layer had time to dry and not get tacky.

 In between coats of paint I cleaned and then spray painted the hardware with Rustoleum satin black spray paint, I did 2 coats but you have to do them from a safe enough distance that it won't go on too thick and run. 

After the primer was dry I lightly sanded it with some 150 grit sandpaper just to smooth it out so the paint would go on even, I did this after the first layer of paint as well.

So just an FYI, I absolutely HATE roller brushes when it comes to painting furniture, I've heard that you can get foam ones and they dry perfect but I have yet to try that because I hate them that much. When I painted my desk I used a roller brush which was STUPID because now the top surface of my desk is not smooth. Its not awful, just annoying. It will take a lot to convince me to ever use a roller brush on a piece of furniture again. I use Wooster brushes and I love them. I am a total freak about my brushes, I wash them right after I'm done painting, I dry them with the bristles down and I don't put enough paint on them that it can get under the metal and separate the bristles. Yeah.. I know, I'm neurotic. I just do light strokes of thick paint and then lightly brush over them to make them all smooth and even, and it works great. My home boy at the Home Depot taught me that. Have I told you that I love Home Depot? Because I do.

So after I finished my second coat I let it dry for 48 hours. It was pure torture because I wanted nothing more than to bring that bad boy in the house and get it set up. I had to wait though because what would be the point of spending the whole flipping weekend painting this monster just to mess it up and have it chip when I put my TV on it.

In all honesty I love this piece, so much. I think it looks so good in our family room. I love that I can hide all the crap I don't need in the drawers and baskets and that our cable box finally fits inside the entertainment center! So glad my husband talked me into this dresser, he was right. Yeah, thats right, I'm a woman and I openly posted online that my husband was right. We might be in big trouble if it keeps happening!

BYU vs USU Senior Day

So with playoffs around the corner rugby season is in full swing. We love rugby in our house, I spend my extra time editing and shooting rugby games. Next week I'm off to either LA or Colorado Springs for the second round of the Varsity Cup Playoffs. For now, a little preview of USU will have to do.

Taylor Senior

My sister in law Taylor is about to graduate high school, I am so proud of her I can't even explain it. She's gotten into a few colleges and hasn't decided for sure yet but she's going to rock it. We did these pictures in 3 different sessions, one last fall by our house, the other two at the Great Salt Lake one midday and the other right at sunset. The sunset ones are my absolute favorite, she's a stunner! Love you TayTay