Finally - A New update

After maybe the longest winter in modern recorded history we have skipped spring and gone straight to summer around here! That means many hours spent working thy land and greening thy thumb. We had some quality expertise and labor to get the ball rolling on the foundation shade garden, seen here along the front of the house. Hello hydrangeas and hostas...There existed red mulch, so we changed it all to brownYard work is just not the same without a wheelbarrow (dragging soil on a tarp can be arduous at best)Finally a rhododendron is anchoring the corner of the foundation (after 8 months of mulling over which exact species of rhodie to get) 'Round ye olde mailbox will lie a plethora of black-eyed susans come mid-summerThe finished product, mulched and ready for some shade-lovin' growthSomehow, a 7'x4' three season garden looks very small on an 21' foundation expanse. Maybe we should have tripled the order... I guess we'll have to add a brick paver patio to fill in the voids!

So, besides house renovations, we haven't posted much about us in the last few months. It's been a roller coaster of events over the holidays. But we do have to post about the positives. We were blessed to spend great time with our families. After much discussion and Chris's great persuasion, we decided our house needed a Wii.

Boxing is really intense, and besides the "ohh" when you step on, telling you that your BMI is way too high and hi-lighting the work you need to do to become healther, Wii fit is really cool.

For Christmas Chris was VERY spoiled and well deserved. He enjoyed the year of the tools:

Here's to more fun in the new year, including more time with friends and family!

Bathroom Almost Finished

So after 7 months of having a very torn-apart bathroom, we finally got the new toilet and vanity put in today, and I am finally posting a new entry. I had a ton of fun getting the old toilet flange out and putting a new one in, as well as making sure the wax ring set properly (it took 2 tries). Now all thats left is the accessories (like towel rack, TP holder...) and oh yeah, the tiles in the tub. This series shows some painting, installing baseboard heater cover, toilet, and vanity. As always the before-sies and after-sies...

kids, always remember to say no to crack

Lets see if this works