There's Always Something

One of the first things you learn after you buy your first house is there's always something on the to do list. Which, is sometimes fun (decorate family room) and sometimes not (dust the blinds).

Andrew and I had zero plans for this weekend after completing the marathon family room fireplace project. I figured I would do the normal weekend stuff - clean house, do laundry, grocery shop, etc., and maybe watch a few movies we haven't had time for.

Yeah, right. The husband called from lunch today and told me Lowe's had our cypress mulch on sale for 99¢/bag.

Guess what.

We got 50. BAGS.

Look what is waiting for me in my backyard for Saturday morning? Don't worry. There's more in the garage... We will be mulching all weekend!

There are a couple of gross flower beds in the back that I've been wanting to upgrade with some extra landscape edging rock we have accumulated. I don't know. Only if I can get 50 bags of mulch spread around my house, too.

Priorities, people.

Meant to Be

I have to admit I'm surprised to be saying this, but our fireplace project is done!

I am just so excited after all of these months of hard work that we can actually start using our family room that has only been empty space for 9+months. Yeah, that's a long time.

So, here we go. Our family room pictures before:Remember this ugly haphazard cabinet?And, these horrible ledges?And, this great flooring surprise?It's all gone. After re-tiling...Patching the wall and painting...With the help of our good friend Mitch, we hung our mantle...
And built a cabinet that looked like it was meant to be in our family room all along, one piece at a time.
And, I upgraded my skills from paint brush and am now able to use the miter saw and Andrew's sander. Impressed? I really felt like I should be wearing safety goggles, but Andrew said he didn't have any. But, guess what I found yesterday when we were cleaning out Andrew's work stuff from the trunk of my car?

He was holding out on me!But, on to the main show. Isn't this cabinet fantastic!Love these antique bronze knobs... And, the pretty crown molding!
I just love everything about it! One more shot of the before and after. So pleased and what a great hubby!


Stay tuned for more pictures as I FINALLY get to start decorating. :)

It's Time

That's right, people. It's time to get started on the last part of this fireplace project. I'm not expecting miracles. I don't think we'll be completely done after this weekend. But, I fully anticipate our mantle will be hung and the cabinet and shelf unit will be built and in place.

The people at Lowe's must be really glad we moved in. We made our 4th trip in the last week to buy supplies for this weekend. So, so excited! And, I'm really glad I decided last minute to use beadboard for the backing of the cabinet and shelf unit. It's going to be so cute and such a great way to make this new addition cohesive with the rest of our house since we have beadboard in our living room and master bath. Plus, I just love it. It's one of the favorite things of our house. :)

Let's go through the list:
Plywood - check.Beadboard - check.Crown moulding - check.Mantle - check.

Hardware, supplies and screws - check.
Pretty spring flowers for my table - check. Oh. Bought these for myself at the grocery store earlier this week to help brighten our house. Yep, you read right. Bought them for myself. Hmmm...
Should have major updates by the end of this weekend! Keep your fingers crossed!

Busy Bees

Andrew and I worked like crazy to re-do our landscaping in the front of our house on Saturday. And, our next door neighbor Bill did his best to drive us crazy as he stalked us every time we stepped out of our house. Probably spent four to five hours with Bill on Saturday. Definitely glad to move onto our backyard on Sunday to avoid him.

Anyways.

We used to have these sparse too-big bushes for our front flower bed. We hated them. They looked like they were dead during the winter and just collected so many leaves all year round. Barf.

We really wanted something a bit more appropriate for the space and that looked a little neater. So, we tore everything out...... and then planted some boxwood bushes and hostas that will eventually grow. Please don't die plants!

Before:
Afters!

As you can see, we also added some potted annuals and my favorite - four boston ferns. I love them. I will be so sad if they don't make it. I am paranoid everything we just planted will die.
And, there are lots of other pretty things blooming around our house. I have no idea what they are, but I love them. Mainly because I didn't have to do anything to them. :)

I don't have before pictures, but we added a ton of of colored pea gravel to our current rock area. Literally, one ton. We hauled it in Andrew's truck from the nursery and then had to unload. What a job, but things are looking much fresher, especially since we lined up the random limestone rocks in our flower beds around the house to separate the grass, err soon to be grass, and rock.

So, after three trips to Lowe's, one trip to Home Depot and one trip to Tree Top Nursery our house landscaping is in much better shape. Still have a long ways to go, but this was a big to-do we can cross off of the list. Now if we could only get our grass to grow...

Life is Crazy

What a crazy, busy, incredible weekend! Started out normal on Saturday morning, drove to Kansas City and attended the wedding festivities of the now Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Carter! What a fun and beautiful wedding. It just feels so good to see your friends so happy. :) Congrats to both!

And, we managed to sneak to Nebraska Furniture Mart in between the wedding and the reception to buy a couch for our family room. Some how I feel like the Carters would be proud...there's nothing like getting near the end of a good room makeover, something Jimmy and Brittany can definitely understand!

We had a great time at their reception dancing, drinking and catching up with friends. We decided to drive to St. Joe to stay with Andrew's older brother Luke and his girlfriend as we needed to be in Hiawatha the next morning for Brynnan's baptism. Little did we know what they had in store for us.

Got to their place around 11:45pm on Saturday night and were greeted by Luke who announced that they may be going to the hospital that night. Yep, baby time!! Long story short, Andrew and I slept for about four hours, got to the hospital about 5am and waited with the soon-to-be grandparents and well-wishers until just after 1pm when Baby Moore arrived!

Leyton Cole Moore, 6lbs and 9ozs. What a cutie, and the nurse was right; he is such a squirt. :)

Andrew and I are so proud to be his Aunt Ali and Uncle Andy. What an experience.
We completely missed Brynnan's baptism, but were able to drive through Hiawatha and stop for a few hours to check in and pay her some attention, too. She is getting so big and is just as cute as can be.

Quinn helping Brynnan smile. :)
We got back to Wichita last night about 8:30pm. Adele had been back in town for the weekend and had puppy-sitted for Frank. He just loves her. And, we do too. Duh. She was a tremendous help, and we could not have managed the weekend without her.

I still think Franklin has separation anxiety, though. The past couple of times we have been gone, the night we get back he won't sleep in his kennel. We put him in there, won't go to sleep, barks and sets off the house alarm. He has to sleep in the same room as us for the first night. How did he get so spoiled rotten??

What a Trip!

Andrew and I got back Sunday evening from an awesome vacation to visit the Dawson's! Seriously, probably the most fun string of five days in a long time. And informational. Between Andrew and Lauren, I got a great history refresher. They got to hang out with me as I tried to figure out my new camera. And, now you all get to bear with me through the pictures below. :)

On Wednesday afternoon after arriving in DC, Andrew, Lauren and I walked around Old Town Alexandria. What a beautiful area! So many charming row houses, lots of history just around the corner and pretty blooms all over the place. Lucky us!
Thursday we planned a full day in DC beginning with Andrew's first train/subway ride!
Next up on the agenda:
Washington Monument
Lincoln Memorial
WWII Memorial
Vietnam Memorial
Smithsonian - American History
Hot dogs from a street vendor
White House
Etc.
We had intended to stay in the city all day, but by the time we got our hot dogs our own dogs were pooped! Definitely needed a break, and the weather was perfect to hang out for a bit.
Afterwards, we took the train back to Chris and Lauren's apartment to grab a few drinks before heading back into DC for dinner. We ate at Old Ebbitt's Grill - a historical restaurant right by the White House where lots of historical figures frequented for drinks.
And, isn't the White House even more stately at night. Even from the back. Which used to be the front. There's today's history lesson for you.
And, hello. You know we can't turn down a photo opp like this.
There was somewhat of a scuffle on the subway ride home where I overheard that I might get slapped, but that's another story.

Day 3:

Arlington National Cemetery
And then we decided on late afternoon/early evening drinks, which turned into more drinks and dinner at O'Connels in Alexandria, Old Town. A lot of great conversation, good food and even better company!
Next stop - Philly! And obviously, as we arrived at lunch time and had to get a Philly Cheesesteak! Yum - my first ever. And, Bon Jovi ate here so of course I am interested.
What's a vacation without an impromptu K-S-U? :)
Throughout the day, we toured Powell House, who were the city's entertainers and hosted George and Martha Washington for their 20th wedding anniversary, Benjamin Franklin's grave, the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross' house, the first bank of the U.S. the "Rocky Steps", etc. And, yes I made Andrew run up them. Duh.
Philly has lots of beautiful Cherry Blossoms like DC, too!
We had a very entertaining dinner on Saturday night that included a GoldenDoodle and a homeless man, and wrapped up the weekend with breakfast on Easter morning on South Street. My vacation buzz is already fading, and we can't wait to come visit again!