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Wednesday, 10 June 2009

  • Home Improvements

    A few years ago, about when we found out we were pregnant, we started working on some repairs and improvements to the house, inside and out. For years we had just left things as is and not bothered with it, but we finally decided it was time to turn the house we lived in into a home we loved.

    We started with the living room. Out went the nasty carpet, and in went cherry laminate flooring. I decided I wanted orange walls, and Josh reluctantly agreed.

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    It looks great, of course, and we get complimented on it a lot.

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    Eventually, we'll ditch the old nasty couch, but right now, there are other more pressing things to get done. Next we did the baby's room, which I have blogged before I think, and over last summer we tackled our bedroom. Out went the nasty carpet and in went oak laminate flooring, and I decided I wanted the walls blue. Josh reluctantly agreed.

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    It looked great, of course.

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    We still have some molding and trim work to do, but again, one thing at a time.

    This spring we've started working on the outside of the house. Josh has developed a green thumb - or at least a green fever. Here's what it was before.

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    It was cute, but we wanted to change it. Those huge bushes were tiny when we got the house and of course, seven years later they were out of control. And I had never liked the ones one the other side to begin with. Josh spent days clearing out all the bushes and weeds from the beds.

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    We decided we needed to stain asnd seal the deck - it was looking in pretty rough shape.

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    Josh picked out a redwood stain, and I reluctantly agreed. It took us both days to stain, much longer than I thought.

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    It looked great of course. We added the lattace - I don't have a picture of it since it was all completely put on, but it now goes all the way across the front, and then we started adding plants back.

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    The bush spread over the porch railing is a climbing rose bush with white blossoms when it's in bloom; the pink roses are Queen Elizabeth, and the bush on the right is a very fussy purple Hybrid Tea Rose bush. Josh calls it the retarded cousin.

    We planted azalea bushes all along the edge of the property line to try to make it prettier, (gorgeous when they're blooming) plus establish a boundary so that our neighbor's kids don't come over and hack our stuff down, as they have in the past. The pipe has hoels drilled along it and is there as a temporary sprinkler to water the bushes all at once.

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    Today Josh worked out in the ridiculous humidity to make it prettier.

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    He dug up the earth around each bush, added in soil, lined it with a cute fence and then topped with mulch.

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    Here's what the bush looked like before.

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    And here's after.

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    We've also been working on container gardening.

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    We got about half a dozen tomatoes from my plant, and then I killed it. I don't know how or why, but it didn't survive. Josh's pepper plants, though, are started to blossom.

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    Next year I would like to have raised beds and compost. Josh has all kinds of big plans. I'll keep you posted as we progress.

     

     

Sunday, 07 June 2009

  • Summer is Here

    Waxahachie's last day of school was this past Friday; my old school ended a week ago. Usually at this time of year, I'm giddy with newfound freedom! At the moment I'm not so giddy, but summer always brings changes in schedule and new adventures, and there is a lot of little things going on right now.

    I believe that at this moment, my sister and grandmother are packing and moving from Florida to New York. I'm not sure, but my parents might even already be there helping them. Part of me is very jealous of that - part of me is not - but regardless, I'm excited to get to visit for a week next month.

    We bought Isabella a little $8 splash pool at Family Dollar last week. She and Wyatt like to splash around - Wyatt likes the actual splashing more than Isabella does. Isabella likes to play with all her ducks. But it's cute. I already feel like I've gotten $8 of use from it! I also found an adorable little belted, orange striped swimsuit on clearance at Walmart (for Bella). I'll post some pictures pretty soon.

    I'm teaching the preschool Sunday School class at the Presbyterian Church, just for the summer while their school-year teachers are on hiatus. I've subbed for them a few times already, but now I'll have the whole summer to do. Today we talked about Saul-turned-Paul. The theme of the story was how God can change people. I'll have to tell the story sometime, but for now, I will just say that I had almost forgotten how dumb preschoolers are.

    Josh has been working around the house a lot. We're working on making the house more self-sufficient, energy-efficient and eco-friendly. That last part is more my goal than his; he's mostly looking forward to saving money. He's putting together a gray water system to take all of our washing machine water and funnel it outside to water the garden and plants. We're also working on a compost bin, which I'm particularly excited about.

    I'm thinking of changing my Farm Town avatar's name to "Hire Me" so that when I'm in the marketplace and everyone is saying "hire me," I can say, "Yes?"

     

Wednesday, 03 June 2009

  • Struggling

    I've always looked forward to summer. It's always because summer is fun, and bright and sunny and happy, but it's also been because summer means trips home to see family, a break from school, and either time off, or the start of another interim job that I'm excited about.

    Not so much this year, and that's a bummer.

    We have a trip to California for Jeremy's wedding at the end of June; the following weekend, Leah and Keith are coming up for the Fourth of July, and immediately after that, I'm on a plane to NY to see my family for a week. But other than that 2-week oasis in the middle of the summer, I've kind of been dreading it.

    Josh has always been really good at making himself be happy in circumstances he doesn't like. I have always been more of the mindset that if you don't like your circumstances, change them. But now I'm in a situation where that is simply not immediately possible. Long term, yes, but for the time being my choices are to be unhappy, or to be happy.

    Ugh.

About Me

  • Stay at home mom to my first baby girl, full time wife to my husband of eight years; born traveler, ice cream enthusiast and incurable explorer.

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  • shannonmarieadams
    Hey...anyone know how to make your pulse appear? It seems that my pulse in undetectable.
  • spacekicker
    GENERAL LEEEEEEE
  • Riddlz
    HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... *cough* ... aaaappy BIRTHDAY SHANNON!!!!!
    • Posted 11/29/2007 11:44 AM
    • by Riddlz
  • friarblues
    Happy 7th babe!
  • shannonmarieadams
    I have to agree with Josh. You need another pic, Jeremy.
  • friarblues
    As much as I love seeing my brother portrayed as the geek he truly is, you've got to change your Xanga pic man. Don't you think it's time? :)
  • spacekicker
    Oooh neat I like this!!
  • shannonmarieadams
    I AM subscribed to you. For some reason it doesn't show all my subscriptions. I think it may only show the ones I have most recently visited.
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    Wait a minute. Why aren't you subscribed to me?! I think I'm hurt. *Sniff, sniff, tear*
  • sabrafox
    I like it. I think the new layout looks great.