Seriously, why?

Okay, I have been thinking about this for several weeks now and just need to take a poll to get to the bottom of this nagging question hanging around my aura.

Why do people get so upset about painting wood trim and woodwork? Please, enlighten me.

I think it's obvious where I stand because since we moved into our first house we've painted two of our rooms' trim a beautiful creamy white color, and they are awesome even if it's a pain to do.

Reasons why it's okay to paint wood:
1. Sometimes, it just looks better. Brighter, cleaner, fresher.
2. It's not like we have beautiful woodwork and trim in our house. It's all in good shape, but it's not anything any other house wouldn't have. It's plain. And, I could go buy a pile of it at Lowe's right now if needed.
3. It's not just a fad. This excuse is really annoying. Everyone knows the AMC hit drama Mad Men is critically acclaimed for it's accuracy when portraying the Draper life/residence from the 60's. They have beautiful white molding and woodwork. Not a fad.
4. Today's paint colors look fantastic with white molding. Hence our guest bedroom project.

Just had to get that off my chest. Better now. :)

P.S. If you don't watch Mad Men, you definitely should. Kind of quirky, but very dramatic and funny in a dark way.

Where did the summer go?

It's official - fall is here and the warm weather of summer has slipped away. I really, really hate cold weather so this makes me very sad.

I try to like fall, but it just reminds me that winter is coming and then I start to resent fall again.

However, I made a list of things to help me like fall. Because there are some great things about this season.

1. Football, especially purple people. :) And, nostalgia for high school games.

2. If you are from Hiawatha, the city of beautiful maples, you can really appreciate this one - the leaves changing colors. They are just starting to change in Wichita, but Franklin and I see a few red leaves falling every now and then on our morning walk. They are beautiful! And, I really love the crunchy sound they make when you walk over them.(Photo credit, cityofhiawatha.org)

3. Again, Hiawatha-reference...Halloween! Our small hometown has the nation's longest standing Halloween parade. It's kind of a big deal. :) Andrew and I have our costumes lined up for this year and are going to wear them while handing out candy to trick-or-treaters in our new neighborhood. I can't wait. We almost got Franklin a costume yesterday, but then decided last minute not to because he will only get to wear it this one year and never fit into it again. Sorry, but that is a huge waste of money. We're just going to get him a cute Halloween bandanna to wear around his neck for the big day.

4. The holidays are coming! Andrew and I are hosting Thanksgiving this year in the new house so we're trying to get a bunch of little projects done around the house. I really need to make a list so we keep on track. And, I love Christmas. The decorations, the music and wrapping. Wrapping presents is my favorite. I can't wait to pick out my paper this year. :)

5. Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Lattes - could use one right now.

6. Andrew getting really excited to go home and help with harvest. There's just something about that combine!

7. Crisp jeans and t-shirt weather. If only the temp wouldn't go any lower...

Baby on Board

It must be baby season!

Our friends in Wichita, Mitch and Jenny Brown, also awesome Hiawatha natives, are having their first baby, due February 15th.

My brother and sister-in-law, Noel and Hillary, are due with baby number two March 18th.

And, Andrew and I got great news on Saturday that his older brother, Luke and GF Lori, are having their first little one, due April 18th! Really excited for them. Now we will have a new niece or nephew on the Moore side of the fam. So fun!

And, I have three wonderful excuses to buy cute, cute baby clothes. :)

Be Our Guest!

We finally got our guest bedroom painted. What a chore. Painting is not so bad when Andrew and I do it together, but he was just not interested in helping that much with this room. (He decides how much he's going to help by how much he likes the paint color I choose. Definitely didn't love this one, but I think it's be-a-utiful!)

Okay, so if you remember the before picture I posted a few weeks ago...
Not a horrible room, but just so blah with its white walls.

And, now without further ado...our new guest bedroom!
Ahh, what a difference paint can make. We painted the walls a cool grey-blue color (Crucible from Valspar) and also painted the woodwork and trim around the windows (Creamy Delight from Valspar). I just love it! Curtains from World Market. I'm working on adding a few more decorations, and just found these from Hobby Lobby last week.

So cute.
I have this really fun idea for a photo collage on one of the bare walls, but won't give it away until we're finished!

So, someone should definitely come visit us in Wichita.

You can sleep in our comfy bed...
Watch this great bedroom-sized TV...
And, maybe this little bugger will wake you up in the morning. :)
Okay, seriously, he is soo cute.
Headed to Manhattan on Saturday for the game. Go State!

S-P-E-L-L

Today when I got back from Cargill, I told Andrew he should take Franklin on a walk because I didn't have time this morning and Andrew did because he's on second shift for his training the next two weeks and didn't have to go to work until noon.

I asked Franklin if he would like to go for a w-a-l-k, and Andrew said, "You want to take Franklin to yoga?"

Seriously?

Expecting

Good news to share!

(Not mine - had you going, though!)

My brother, Noel, and sister-in-law, Hillary, are expecting Boye baby number two on March 19th, 2010. We are very excited for them! Andrew and I will get to be Aunt Ali and Uncle Andy to another cute, cute child.

So excited!

Funnies

Random funny things that happened yesterday:

1. Andrew and I were driving to Lowe's to pick out the paint color for the guest room (which I am going to try and paint this weekend). We are almost there when he says, "Shoot/sh*t (whichever you think Andrew would actually say), that Pizza Hut is fancy!"

Those are two words you didn't ever expect in the same sentence, huh? I bust out laughing and tell him he is really white trash if he thinks a Pizza Hut can be fancy. Joke of the night. Funniest part, we ate at this FANCY Italian Bistro Pizza Hut for dinner. :)

2. Franklin loves baths. I think it's because he spent so much time in the tub when we first got him because he was a flea-ball. He hadn't had a bath in a while so Andrew and I decided to give him one last night. He just can't wait to get in the tub!

Home Sweet Home

We're back! I have decided it's always nice to get away and experience new things and places, but there's no place like home. I must have been in Kansas too long - like the Wizard of Oz reference? :)

For our one year anniversary, we traveled to the Dominican Republic and stayed at an all-inclusive resort for six days. There is just nothing like laying by the ocean with nothing to do but watch the waves roll in - such a great way to relax! I still don't know why I live in a land-locked state. Also a great reading background...I sped through the Time Traveler's Wife while we were laying out. Has anyone else read this book - so good? Can't wait to go see the movie. I just always have to read the book before I see the movie - books are always better.

Check out some pics...our view last week:

There were palm trees everywhere so you could spread out and get sun or shade on the beach. We did both, but more shade for a few days. We both got burnt the first day. I know Mom, we reapplied our sunscreen, but the sun is hot! Glad we took that new bottle of aloe with us!






More pictures of the resort:
Just hanging out in a tree.
Showering after a jaunt into the ocean.
Now for a few random pics:

Fresh of the plane - get me to the beach! Waiting for our luggage...
There were topless mermaid statues everywhere...little did we know this was the norm. We were literally the only American tourists at this resort. Everyone else was European and loved to show off their tatas - little, big, you name it.
Wish you were here photo...
Just a little mid-day snooze...
Okay, now for some of the details. We really did have fun so keep that in mind after you read the next points. So glad we were able to go somewhere to celebrate our one year anniversary. However, not so sure if our expectations were off or what, but there were a few random/weird things about the resort/DR:
1. Right after you get off of the plane, you have to pay a tourist tax, $10/person. I think this is weird, but government enforced so we pay and each of us gets a tourist card. Okay, so maybe we give this back when we leave. Nope, just walk literally five feet and hand it back. They should have saved their time and just asked for a $20. Welcome to the Domincan!
2. Our electricity went out (and stayed off for a while) twice in three nights. No explanation. Weird.
3. Some of the staff was very helpful and friendly. Some of the staff not so much. I'm not asking to be waited on hand and foot, but please at least acknowledge my question.
4. On our second to last day, Andrew and I woke up with rashes, exhibit A and B.

First thought - we have bed bugs. Second thought - we have heat rash. Third thought - we are allergic to something at the resort. Still have no idea what happened...but they are getting better.

Cheers to more happy anniversaries. Love my hubs!

Beach Time!

Andrew and I are headed to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic early on Wednesday morning for our one-year anniversary trip! Yipee, I am so excited for our vacation!

We are going to try and take a lot of pictures on this trip...we were huge slackers on our honeymoon last year. Here's a preview of our all-inclusive resort.
We will be there for six days so plenty of time to catch some rays and relax by the ocean.

Hard to believe we have been married for a year (next Sunday). We got our wedding cake out of the freezer and our going to eat it for good luck; hopefully it's not gross. :)

Have a fantastic week!

It's So Not Formal

More pictures of the house!

This is technically our "formal" living room, but it's not formal at all. It's our TV room because Andrew's huge TV fits best in this room as opposed to the family room.

We bought this couch as a wedding present to each other right before we got married. It's a good Sunday afternoon nap couch. :) We'd really like to get an area rug to place in front of our couch to make this room a bit more cosy, but we'll most likely wait until Franklin is potty-trained. He currently has a habit of peeing on the floor mats and bathroom rugs in our house. Not good.

Pictures on our shelves (which P.S. are soo hard to hang!) - framed save-the-date from our wedding and a great picture of Andrew and I heading down the aisle after we said our I-do's. Here's a little closer pic: I'm looking to add more decor to this room eventually - need a few more splashes of green.

Franklin and his toy basket. :)
Really the only thing we had to do to this room is paint. The beadboard used to be white, and I'm just not a white wall kind of girl so we painted this room a nice khaki color. The trim and crown molding needs to be touched up, but that's definitely at the end of our project list. Too many other things to do before then!

Entryway table - the vase of flowers is actually my bouquet from our wedding. My mom was a rock star and dried them for me. I love, love them in our house.

There is a really cute paper store in Wichita, and they always have very unique pretty paper, plus fun cards and gifts. I bought this paper and the matching frames (from Target) a few weeks ago. The paper has great texture, and I like the pattern - kind of looks like roses.

Love this feature of our house - great big windows in our front room looking out onto our small front porch and street. Trying to add a bit more of the white accent with our drapes.

Okay - this is an upcoming project, and I thought it would be a great before and after story for the blog. This is our current guest bedroom. I bought the white iron frame from Nebraska Furniture Mart during one of our numerous trips to Kansas City this summer for weddings. It's really cute, but just looks so blah right now because of the drab walls. I am going to paint the walls and trim in this room - SOON! Hopefully. I'm thinking maybe next weekend if I have enough energy when we get back from our vacation.

This is what I'm thinking for a color-scheme. Maybe paint the walls a dark-ish blue/slate color. And, then accent with just a bit of orangey-red and more creamy white and khaki. I just don't want to go too Americana - I don't want a themed room. By the way, the footboard bench was a DIY project. I got this cedar chest from my grandma as an 8th-grade graduation present. Just this past year I painted it and re-upholstered the seat. Turned out soo cute.

Anyways, this is the inspiration for my future guest room. Cute curtains from World Market. Pretty much encompasses the colors I want to incorporate.
Send me positive thoughts for motivation to get this room done!

Overdue...

Okay, I am way behind on new posts.

Last weekend was so great because the weather was beautiful! I am very sad to see summer go since it's my favorite season, but it was awesome to be outside and enjoy the cooler temperatures. Plus, cooler temps only mean college football season is back! Woohoo!

Andrew and I stayed in on Friday night to tackle a project that's been on my to-do list since we moved in - painting the trim and woodwork in my office. Now, for the record, Andrew is totally against this. He thinks painting over wood is dumb. But, it looks so bright and fresh, plus several of the rooms in our house already have painted trim, so we need to finish what the previous owners started to get consistency and better flow. After 3+ coats, we finally finished on Sunday! It was a lengthy project because of all of the intricate taping - we have cute paneled windows that equal lots of detailed taping. But, now that it's done I can finally start hanging curtains and other decor I have been putting off.

A few pictures to show my fun new office!

New wall color - Valspar Olive Sawdust, with new trim color - Valspar Cream Delight.
New curtains - World Market (Side note - I can't show you the other window because I accidentally only bought two panels of curtains instead of four - so annoying. When I went to buy the remaining two, they were out. So, came home and ordered them online. I'm hoping they come tomorrow!)


New rug in front of my desk - World Market


Office file storage - we actually used this cabinet in our apartment bathroom for towel storage, but found a new use for it once we moved. :)
The cute black and white hat box is from Hobby Lobby and it has lots of fun wedding memories in it - wine corks, cards, notes, etc.


I think these vintage postcards are so cute, so I decided to start collecting them - one for each place I've lived. Now that I've noted this, I'm realizing I don't have one for Oklahoma - my birth place. Need to track that one down! These are hung right above the light switch to the left when you walk in the room.

Red leather desk chair - bought that from Abode Home in downtown Wichita before we moved. Love it!

Still need to hang these things up - I love that engagement picture! I'm thinking of hanging this stuff up on the wall to the left of my desk and finding a cute white-framed corkboard I can use to hang pictures, notes, etc.
I will try and remember to take more pictures once the office is 1)clean and 2)complete with everything on the walls so you can see the finished product.

We also went to the Wichita Air Festival with our friends Mitch and Jenny. It was a really fun way to spend Saturday afternoon.

We grilled steaks (#7, of course) on Saturday night. Sunday, Andrew and I were finishing up the painting in my office and just couldn't stand being inside when it was so pretty out, so we played catch out in the backyard for a while.

Franklin was not interested in our game so made up his own. He loves running through the landscaping along the fence in the back of the yard. He is so cute when he pops up in between the plants. Here's a few pictures to prove it, and I don't think I'm biased.



I know everyone thinks this, but my dog really is the cutest. :)

A Greeting From My Office Assistant

Franklin just wanted to say hi! :)