A Sizzling start to Summer

Here is the start of two retaining walls that will form the entrance to the garden. My coworker gave me some railroad ties, but still need more to finish. If you know anyone in the Seattle area that has railroad ties to get rid I would be happy to pick up!
Last weekend, Christopher worked his arse off. He picked the hottest day of the year to go up in our attic and finish installing the flex ducting. It was crazy hot, but he got it done! We also picked up pompas grass from his coworker and planted it in our backyard. No easy task either! Once he dug around it, they chained it and towed it out with a truck. He then took an axe and cut it into quarters. We hauled it in his truck and my job was to clean out all the dirt! I hope they survive. They are huge and first of mature plants in the backyard. Photos of pompas grass to come :)

Labor of Love

I love my house. I come home and have so much space to work with. Inside feels comfortable and cozy which I am slowly adding to. Outside is a transformation in progress. Most of my time is spent out there instead of the craft room, eek!
I will get back to scrapbooking, but for now I am manifesting my heart's desire out there.

Here are some photos chronicling our work.

1. Big grassy  rectangle of a backyard. 2. My dad came over with his tractor. (had to take part of the fence down!) 3. Christopher spray painted the area we wanted tilled and my dad went to work. 4. Bought my first plants and laid cardboard down to prevent the weeds coming up.

5. & 6. Covered the cardboard pieces with the organic mulch from Carpinito Bros and laid paths with wood chips.7. Dug a trench to start our edging. We decided on pouring concrete and then thin setting skinny slabs of slate on top. 8. Mapped out our garden into 4 quadrants. Building of the beds are yet to come.

9.Yard is coming along. All the trenches are dug. Just waiting for the concrete. Lots of moss in the back yard to be dealt with later.

10. Concrete poured and the slate tiles have been thin setted. Edging is 90% complete. Just waiting to do the curves.

There is so much more to do in the backyard. We would like to build a shed in the corner, build our garden beds, build 2 trellises, 2 round retaining walls, jack hammer the concrete patio and lay down pavers. It's a huge to do list that we are working on weekend by weekend.

One day I will get back into my craft room...one day!

This day

It has been 9 months since I was watched Skylar crash hard at the skatepark that he broke off part of his front teeth. 9 months! I hear that it's due to his dislike for brushing that the dental work hasn't happened yet. Do you know of all the things to pray for, I pray that God give him a desire to brush day and night. I can't wait for them to be fixed. I haven't had any new photos of Skylar that I felt inclined to snap some while he brushed his teeth. I didn't take any of Seth, but he is so warming up to me. I feel like he is starting to remember who I am when I visit and I don't get the crossed arms any more, victory!

As far as what I am up to, well, being a homeowner has got me working my butt off. I am the official weed eater and lawn mower. I can bust a sweat with that weed eater in no time flat.

I am hoping to show some before and after of the backyard soon...stay tuned :)

Up to my elbows in mulch

Last weekend, we ordered 7 yards of compost mulch and 5 yards of wood chips. I sure felt it in my biceps, triceps and forearms! Christopher worked the math out and it took us 180 wheelbarrow trips to the back yard, ugh!

Happy 90th and House Update

On Saturday my grandpa celebrated his 90th birthday with his first birthday party. Over 90 people rsvp'd for the party at his house. It was a family reunion for sure and he was so so happy. He thanked everyone for coming than said his next party will be at 100 and he sure hoped we would be around in 10 more years!
My camera died so I had to rely on my phone which doesn't take the best photos, but I am happy to have them. I love my grandpa so much. I got my creative genes from him.

top is me, middle photo is with my sister Linda, and the bottom photo is my grandpa's prized humpty dumpty that he has painted and sealed. He said humpty dumpty had to sit on the food table and so he did.

HOUSE UPDATE
Still been working on the house. There is so much to do! No rest for the wicked or myself.
Here's a photo of my craft room before. It was a big Ick. Christopher and I put mud on the walls to smooth out the paneling, sanded it down then painted it ultra bright white and one wall dark grey.

 I plan on taking more photos to show the whole room because the closet was so icky too.

I put my Sabrina Ward Harrison prints on the grey wall and finally got to use my spinner from Paper Zone's going out of business sale. I also scored the desk and credenza from work for free.


Here's the family room. I know the photo doesn't really show how ugly it was, but trust, it was!

 We painted the walls and ceiling ultra bright white and the lower wall dark grey plus the fireplace wall all grey. We have 2 sofas in there that form an L.

 Bought a credenza off of craigslist and filled it with plants and terrariums. happy place! also bought a fiddle leaf fig from home depot for $13 per emily henderson's recommendation.

Need to put photos in those Ikea frames, mount the tv to the wall, set up the sound system and dvd player  then figure out what I want to do with the mantle. What I have on their now is temporary only.

Dining Room

Bought a round Ikea tulip table from craigslist for $40 (originally $200), super score in my book. That light fixture must go I just haven't decided what to replace it with. Bought ombre curtains from Target and added the the bamboo blinds we used in our old apt. for the balcony. Notice those two white chairs? I still need to finish the backs, but I painted them white and love how they turned out. Will have to do a side by side of the before and after once I really finish them. The 2 other chairs will go too once I find a replacement.

 Living Room
 So far just my altar table shot. I need to get nice thick curtains. I have turquoise everywhere in that room.

Bedroom

I used the folding screen from the living room and put it behind our bed. Also used the rope tables from our balcony as our nightstands. Bought those bright orange/yellow pillows from Zara.

 Two tourquoise lamps from Pier 1 above and a shot from the shelf in the master bathroom below. I added more turquoise using a picture frame for a tray to house beauty supplies.

 More to come!

Busy = Tired

Hello all,
So much has been going for the past month. I have been house hunting since July and put offers on 3 homes all of which failed. It was so competitive in my price range that I was determined to find my house. A week after I got news the 3rd house rejected my offer, I found a house that had what I needed and put in another offer. The 4th time was the winner.
My closing date was bitter sweet since that is the day I found out my craft buddy DG had passed.
I am looking forward to unpacking and settling in to the new home. Christopher and I have quite the to do list for the new home! It's a 4 bedroom which means I get my own craft room, woot!

Rest in Peace DG

Last night heaven received a truly amazing soul. Dg was a light to everyone she met. I will miss her smile, laugh and presence so much! Love you Dg!

02.09.13

 Weekend with William. Bike riding, The Hobbit, and the Center for Wooden Boats

Hello Seth! I miss you and Skylar!

He's slowly getting used to me

i'm talking about this little guy who doesn't see me that much. i still get the crossed arms when i want a hug, but i chased him enough in circles for him to keep looking back to make sure i was following him.

The Last of the Terrariums

ok, not really since I don't think I can avoid not going to the flower shop. But these are the last of the gifts I made for Christmas.

I am going to stick with the air plants. so easy to maintain and adds lots of greenery to the home. 

i've been a bad blogger lately. super busy productive at work, not so much in the scrapbooking dept. I'm hoping to combine digital with cutting and pasting to fast track Skylar's year 5-10. Also need to get on my sister's case to take more photos of Seth since he has yet to be scrapbooked.

Had an awesome New Year's Day. Got rid of some old stuff to make room for the new. Plus, I hemmed 2 pair of jeans I got for Christmas which was a huge accomplishment for me. Woot, woot!