GET IT TOGETHER

I love organization! I get a thrill from looking at organizational products, planning a project and the thrill of completing something that ultimately, makes my life better. I also love our movie collection. Over the years we have transitioned from VHS tapes to DVD's and then eventually to Blu-Rays. I have accused Dave of being a "Blu-Ray Snob" but even I have to admit, the clarity of some of our movies can't be beat! I was discouraged every time I opened the doors to our movie cabinet and looking at the picture below, you can see why! All our Blu Rays were stored in the bottom with our TV Series' and Documentaries while regular DVD's were in the top section. My Type A personality just couldn't handle this any longer!

I looked on PINTEREST for some ideas; have I said that I also LOVE Pinterest? Electronic hoarding without the guilt and clutter, but I digress! After seeing some options that were on there, I got a general idea of what I wanted to do and what types of products were out there. I found these sleeves on Amazon, they come 25 to a pack and cost less than a dollar per sleeve. Each sleeve holds 2 DVD's or Blu-Rays and you can insert the liner notes from the old plastic cases so you can see what you have and it looks very neat and tidy.

I had an enormous stack of empty disc cases which I threw into the recycling bin. Not all of our movies were transferred to the sleeves, we have some nice boxed sets or metal specialty cases (Harry Potter series, Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, Band of Brothers, etc) that I decided to leave as is. Once the DVD's had been transferred, I purchased 6 photo storage boxes from Hobby Lobby at only $2.00 a piece (on sale) and divided our movies in between them. All Westerns, whether DVD or Blu Ray were alphabetized together as were our Christmas movies and everything else was appropriately organized, including those boxed sets or specialty cases. I took a disorganized, hot mess and transformed it into a well-organized thing of deep, personal satisfaction! Can you believe that there are 300 movies in these boxes?

All of our Boxed TV Series and Documentaries are stored neatly now in the bottom of our cabinet. If I can only convince Dave to discard his old VHS tapes from all the Stanley Cup 1999 playoff games when our Dallas Stars won the Cup... One step at a time!

BE OUR GUEST (Part Two)

In September we drove the van up to the Mountainview Hideaway, loaded up with boxes but my Dad had also gotten us a generator and a log splitter which we needed to get up there. We were joined by our best friends here in Texas, Randy and Lynette. We were eager to share our home with such special people, near and dear to our hearts. The leaves on the Aspens as well as the needles of the Larch were beginning to turn golden for their annual Autumn ritual which is spectacular to observe!

We drove up to Logan Pass where Dave and Randy took a short jaunt up the Hidden Lake Trail for some overviews of the area.

Naturally, we stopped at "The Huckleberry Patch" on our way back!

Our neighbors had invited all of us to come over for their last cookout for the season and we were more than happy to take them up on their offer and enjoy some tasty elk burgers!

There were nice breakfasts to start our day, both at home and Montana Coffee Traders...

On our way to the Many Glacier area, coming back over Logan Pass, the clouds were making for some really interesting photo ops:

We stopped at the Wild Goose Island turnout, which is a favorite spot for photographs.

We had lunch at the Many Glacier Hotel's Ptarmigan Dining Room before riding the boat across Swiftcurrent Lake.

Besides the gorgeous Aspen trees, we saw bears!

Randy helped Dave assemble the second of the two new rocking chairs we had delivered.

Lynette and I are only 3 days apart and we celebrated turning 55 by going to dinner at The Lodge At Whitefish Lake.

You know you're best friends when you unknowingly get one other the same exact card!!

Wonderful memories made with special friends...

BE OUR GUEST (Part One)

One of the things I am anticipating most about being at the Mountainview Hideaway, is having visitors. We have a quiet retreat, tucked away in the beauty of Northwest Montana and we enjoy sharing it with others. A lot of thought and detail has gone into creating a guest bedroom where people can have every possible comfort as well as a peaceful place to just relax and recharge. I've also gathered recipes for hearty breakfasts to start them out for whatever adventure the day might hold.

This summer in particular, the Hideaway saw its most guests yet! In July, our daughter Laura and her boyfriend Jake used it for several days as part of a three week vacation out west.

They left the morning after we arrived but not until after having their photo taken and enjoying a breakfast at one of our favorite spots, Montana Coffee Traders.

Our oldest daughter Jennifer and her family came to Montana after hitting Mount Rushmore on their family vacation. Dave and I wanted them to experience all the reasons why we love this area, so we came up with some ideas to hopefully entice them to come back again. For the grand kids, we set up our 2 backpacking tents and a pup tent so they could "camp" in the safety and comfort of our house. I say safety because there are bears and wolves in the area and we didn't want them to be scared of what might be out there. Everyone SAYS they want to see a bear, it's just that they don't want to see one looking right at them! We also had personalized tee shirts made for them, got them each a stuffed animal "mascot" and little lanterns for them to use at night in their tents.

Dave and I purchased a fire pit from Cabela's which we initiated with hot dog roasting and making "camping cones".

We took them into Glacier National Park and shared one of our favorite hikes, Avalanche Lake.

This past summer saw numerous wildfires and unfortunately, Glacier had one along the Going To The Sun Road which prevented us from going up to Logan Pass where there are mountain goats all over the place. We still had lots of other activities available, one of which was to go to Big Mountain in Whitefish. We rode the chairlift and had lunch at the Summit House Restaurant and rode alpine slides afterwards.

There was swimming at the public beach at Whitefish Lake...

Playing Baggo and Ladderball at the house...

Dave and Corey hiked to the Ptarmigan Tunnel while Jennifer and I took the kids on a white water raft trip...

We enjoyed The Huckleberry Patch numerous times...

The kids earned their Jr Ranger Badges...

We went to the Montana Vortex...

And did family pictures...

Montana is waiting and we are glad to be your guides!