2 Years

Wow. I can hardly believe that I have been in my house 2 years as of yesterday.

I arranged for measurements to be made to add a screen/storm door to my front entry last week and as I was adding the cost of that addition to my basis in the house, I realized just how much I have done!

Here are all the projects I have done (or have contracted) in the past two years (at least the ones I can remember off the top of my head!!):

• re-convert garage
• insulate all pipes beneath house
• replace locks on all exterior doors
• remove non-functioning ice maker in kitchen and replace with cabinet
• remove hot tub and convert area into outdoor entertaining cabana
• install bird bath and plant flowers
• replace front porch light fixture
• replace door bell
• paint front door
• paint office
• paint master bedroom
• remodel master bathroom
• put down scrap wood in attic to serve as flooring
• install additional smoke detectors
• replace HVAC unit (indoor and out)
• install lights in closets
• chop down unruly bushes in front yard
• install shelving in garage
• build headboard for guestroom bed
• removed interlocking foam squares from garage floor
• removed crazy built-in cabinet above guest room tub

And of course, there are still projects on the list (in no particular order - and I'm sure there are more to come):

• replace all windows in the house with ones that are more energy efficient
• install sprinkler system
• rework living room to back yard doors/windows
• replace all ductwork in order to fully appreciate the efficiency of my new HVAC unit (add vents at the very least in both bathrooms and additional vents in kitchen)
• landscaping work in back yard
• repair fence
• landscaping work in front yard
• replace entry hall light
• replace blinds on all windows

Yikes - that is still quite an intimidating list! But I am thoroughly enjoying all the new things I've learned to do.....and enjoying have the space to entertain family and friends. I am truly blessed.

Catching up.....

Last weekend and into the week I had a house full of family.....Daddy had a conference, so Mom, Heather & Emily tagged along.


Miss Emily had a bath each night in my kitchen sink......















enjoyed wrapping up in her pink towel after each bath.....















got to officially meet Cookie Monster (bought when I was a baby for my grandparents house) -- one of these days, she'll enjoy cookies at Aunt Jenni's house from the Cookie Monster!
















Mom & Heather worked on planning several sewing projects.....one of which is a high chair strap thing that would work in any chair.....Emily wasn't real excited to be used as a measuring tool!





























I enjoyed all my sweet Emily time.....including showing her off at church! My house sure was quiet after they left!



























Little miss also turned 14 weeks while she was here, so the weekly photo was taken in my rocking chair. Mommy has a better photo posted on her blog but here is one I snapped.


























another little house project this weekend......one of the fun things I love about my kitchen is the undercounter lights. However, as with many other things in the house, the previous owners just didn't do things quite right. These lights are installed okay, but they had brown duct tape over the cords. While I appreciate the idea to camoflauge the white, it really was tacky looking. In several places there were also thumbtacks holding up the tape.

So, I finally decided to rip the tape off. The tape was old and crusty, so it shed lots of dust. Thankfully, it only took a little elbow grease, a razor blade and plenty of Goo Gone to get all the tape residue off the visible cabinets! Then I just stapled the wires up. While the white wires aren't real pretty, I think it is a marked improvement over the tape and thumbtacks.






































I didn't scrape all the residue off from under the counters that aren't visible. But did staple those wires up too. Oh, and between the cabinets, where the cords run up to be plugged in? There was plenty of tape and thumbtacks as well. So, I took a thin sheet of cardboard, cut to size and stapled to the base of the cabinet.

Fall into Reading

Since Monday is the official start of Fall -- it is also the official start to Fall Into Reading over at Callapidder Days.

I have a small list going already of the books I checked out at the library last night (which now has self checkout! how long has it been anyway since I went to the library?!)

So, I will add books to this list. But here is my list "to-read" as of today:

• Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon


• "A" is for Alibi by Sue Grafton (heard about her for a while, so I thought I'd start at the beginning!)


• Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers


• Hunter by James Byron Huggins


• Cain by James Byron Huggins


• The Fourth Perimeter by Tim Green (anyone read any of his books? there are quite a few and they sound interesting....)


• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini


• I'd also love to read the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, but they are all checked out.....

Looking forward to seeing what other folks have on their lists as well!!

Fall TV

I will admit.....I watch a fair amount of TV. I generally try to not add too many hours to my TV watching each fall when all the new shows premiere. Most shows won't start again for another several weeks. However Fox and the CW are both starting shows now.

Last week, One Tree Hill and 90210 premiered. I watched them both. I know I am hooked to OTH (my friend Sarah and I even text each other through the show) and whether 90210 holds a permanent place in my TV watching is still to be determined.

Tonight I am watching a new show by J.J. Abrams on Fox called Fringe. So far it is pretty freaky. Notwithstanding the cuteness of Joshua Jackson, I'm not sure this show will make the cut. We'll see......

4 Years

So, I missed my blogiversary back in August -- August 16, to be exact. I almost can't even believe that I have been writing on this little piece of cyber space for 4 years.

Wow. 4 years sounds like such a long time. Until I stop to think that this is my 10 year college reunion, which seems completely unfathomable.

So, thanks for reading and participating in my life by way of your comments. I really appreciate all of you.

A new toy

I got a new toy last week....and it has been so fun!

All summer long I wanted to have an ice cream maker. But, they are awkward to store, messy to run, etc. So, I procrastinated....and was rewarded!

My sister mentioned that there was an ice cream attachment to our stand mixer. I found one (on sale!) last week and bought it. So far I have experimented with two different recipes (family: you will be the guinea pigs this weekend!) and early taste tests are very positive!

Oh, and this is post number 600! I can't even believe I have written 600 posts over the past 4 years. Thanks for reading and walking through my life with me!

It's reading time again!!

Labor Day

Spent most of the weekend down at Panther Creek.....couldn't miss time with my sweet Emily who is 12 weeks old today!! We also celebrated my mom's birthday, explored the stores on the main street in Coleman and just enjoyed being together.