Projects

Check out my concrete urns. These are cast-offs from the previous home owners and are hideous and white. I think that it was a bad choice to put white potters next to a white house with a light gray roof surrounded by a white fence, (one of the obvious bad choices the previous owners seemed to make). Its so unappealing, I thought about dumping them somewhere, but when the siding blew off the house and we had the prospect of new pale yellow siding my first thought was to warm them up.

I found terra cotta spray paint at a craft store but noticed it was about 3-4 dollars cheaper at Lowes. Since there were plants in the potters already I wrapped them in paper and sprayed both the urns. The can barely covered two medium sized urns but then again the surface was awfully porous and it was windy the day I painted them. All in all I think they turned out nice, despite the fact they aren't exactly my style. With brighter flowers in them and better placement I think they may just brighten and cheer up the front of the house. The siding should be done this week. I'll post a better picture in front of the house when its looking pretty!

Whisp

Our new kitten...Whisper...aka Whisp

Some things get better with age....

...and somethings definitely do not get better with age. For example here is a list:

Things that get better with age(usually):
*wine
*cheese
*decision making skills
*cars(vintage, classics, need I say more?)
*sour dough
*roller coaster rides(well you can go on more exciting ones when you grow up)
*retirement
*CDs, not the kind you listen to, the kind that accrue interest and make you some moola!
*leather items
*growing gray hair(this list is pathetic, I know)

Here are some things that do not get better with age:
*cheese left outside of the fridge
*decision making skills(I know! It's ironic! It does and its doesn't)
*cars(Fords, VW Golfs, Pintos and Nova's)
*roller coaster rides...again, its ironic!
*Keeping your natural haircolor
*Slip'n'Slides

Slip'n'Slides???? That's right, I have the bruises to prove it. As fun as they are and as much as I love it, the older you get the further from the ground you realize you are, the less padding you have and more aches and pains it exacerbates, its still worth it. Check out this kid trying it out:

She seems to spring back from it better than Chris and I!

Time

I think its sort of crazy when you are young time creeps by so slowly and you can't wait for things. Then you get a little older and time goes by a little quicker. Still not quickly enough though, you can't wait for the next step in your life and you can't wait to get past the mistakes and the awkward years. And then you get a little older and you realize you still have the same amount of hours in the day but they are flying by at a pace that you can't quite comprehend until you get just slightly older and you realize its warp speed...and that's where I am right now.

I find it strange as well that Chris and I do the exact same things we did before we got married and we have less time to do those same things. It makes no sense...marriage=time zapper. I feel like more than ever I have a certain amount of time and I am not a very good manager of it. I think it has something to do with my attention span which is shorter than Chiclet's on a good day, but also I think I have too many things and not enough focus.

I suppose this next year will be full of a lot of things I have to do. This year its things that the house requires of me. Chris doesn't require much at all. In fact I think he still feels like a bachelor. He comes home and has a dinner I make...usually...and does what he does. I think he thinks of me as a bonus. Haha, what a lousy bonus! I guess sometimes I am a bonus, but I work on my little projects too. We combine forces when the house gets out of hand, or when there is a project we both want to work on, like the yard for example. Or sometimes we realize we don't know what the other is doing and we go investigate and it leads to something fun like a trip to Klines on the motorcycle, or to blockbuster or to the park, or just for a walk. But rarely do we just sit together for hours at a time to do what who knows what people do together...haha.

I guess from time to time I need him to hammer something I can't reach and he needs input on a logo he is designing, but I am wondering what powers we will unearth when we actually work together. He is working on a web site for Tim and Sasha right now and for Jodi too. And I suppose when he's done with those he'll dust mine off and get cracking on that. I want to help him get some part time work with his web design etc. I think that would make him feel more satisfied creatively...but all this makes me wonder, where is all the time going?

I am posting this thing at 1:40am(approx.) and I am about to go upstairs and clean the guest bedroom even more and finish setting it up. And I have to be up very early tomorrow and I have four projects I have to finish tomorrow. I am swamped but I am not seeing results. I wonder when things will slow down a bit and I can get caught up. I feel like this warp speed has put me in a time warp and I am unable to get out of it. I guess I'll let you know when I am caught up.

Summer Has Begun

So after a lot of work, things are starting to look like they are coming together. Chris replaced outlets, switches and light fixtures, as well as the kitchen faucet. Here he is hard at work...


We both painted, although I painted more, because that's what you do if you don't know anything about electrical work. Here is me painting, I mean, goofing off...

Here is the old living room color...

here is the new...


Here is our bedroom color...I don't have a before picture because the previous color would have broken the camera for sure...it was hideous!


Here is part of the guest bedroom. I think this looks way better in real life. I chose green and pink since I have so many items that are green, pink or both and no where else to put them. The other half of the bedroom is my studio. I am painting that a darker pink....more photos of that will come.

The green fabric draped over the chair is what I am reupholstering it with, also I am making a little skirt to hide my shoes under Corrie's old futon. And the trim needs to be painted white and the blinds changed out to white...all in good time:-).

Here is the kitchen, note the pan rack/light fixture Chris installed, we also added an Ikea counter/shelf thing, fits great, low price, we happy:-).
Also notice the amber lights above the sink...that's Chris' handy work as well!
Also, the island was 3 bucks...Dad finds good deals too apparently!

This is the best though! Here is a picture of a rug I found on the side of the road.

It smelled like cat pee and was wet. I spent 7 dollars on cat pee remover and now have a several hundred dollar persian style rug! I rather work for the things in my house than just buy them. If I can find a piece of junk and fix it up and make it cool I am much happier. I love having a cheap outlet for my creativity. I want to start a business doing it sometime, although I'll want to keep everything I find...haha.
(Bad light)
This is our sweet little house, before long it'll be pale yellow with white trim...I can't wait! And to think the insurance company is paying for it:-)...that's a deal.


I hope you enjoy the pictures of all our hard work...they aren't the best pictures, because I took them, but I think you'll get the idea. After all that work, I think I'll do this and work on my double chin:-)...
Except it'll be on a lawn chair back here...

Beginnings

I've been meaning to do this for a while, and with deadlines looming, I figured now would be the perfect time. Chris has been working on another site for us, ever since before the wedding. However, I am antsy and want something up now to keep the rest of the world up to date as we are so far removed from the rest of society(aka Harrisonburg).

The wedding was great, just what we hoped for. Better than I had planned for. It was more than I expected. The honeymoon...amazing. One word actually does sum it up. It really was great to spend the time with him and see some places we had never been before, and get breakfast served to us in bed every morning, I needed that!

Then life back in Staunton, in our sweet little home with a white picket fence. It was rough, I won't lie. My job was painful to say the least and I was exhausted from having to plan a wedding on a tight budget, work a job over night and one all day, one that was excrutiatingly painful. I don't know how to spell excrutiatingly apparently.

So I quit! Yikes...and Chris' mom hasn't been well, and there is lots of work on the house, and then one of Chris' friends died. Its been stressful. But you know what? We are happy. We know that life will always be difficult and sometimes, yes, sometimes its wonderfully easy. God has been good to us and never ceases to provide or love us.

Also what we learned about marriage is that it takes the both of us to raise our sweet little Chiclet!