May and June- oh my!

Wow- there has been a lot going on here lately! I will start with the most recent events and move to the Maycation we took.  My friend Michelle and I took a road trip to Iowa a week ago and we were able to hit up the Des Moines Farmer's Market (with insane Dam to Dam traffic) and see lots of friends!

 Mary met us at the Farmer's Market- it was great to see her!

Here we are! We decided that we are really good traveling buddies- very easy to get along with!

 Also, I made my own laundry detergent recently! This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, and our trip to Minnesota was the perfect time for it!  Here are all the ingredients before we started...

 And here is my wonderful momma working very hard to help me shave the bars of soap...

 And the finished product! Honestly, I really love this stuff! It doesn't foam up as much as other soap, but you only need a tablespoon of it to do a whole load, which I love.  My clothes don't smell over-perfumed at all anymore, just a light lavender scent... lovely!

 Mike earned his first pair of waders up at the lake this year. Handsome, isn't he?

 Helping get the docks in this year...

 And of course the ice cream picture (as Mike says, "forever an ice cream picture")

 We also stayed at this incredible Bed and Breakfast called Xanadu.  It is literally on an island and the picture proves it.  It was built in the 1920s and is absolutely beautiful!  And the owners (Bubba and Margie) are a delight!

 The view from our room up on the 2nd floor!

 This is the dining room where Bubba cooked a wonderful breakfast of poached pear, stuffed french toast and pork chop!  It was amazing!

 Bubba also made us cookies as soon as we arrived and we spent the evening in front of this fire!

 It was a wonderful chance before we came back to Omaha where I started a new job.
Also, Allison came to visit and we went to one of our favorite restaurants 'Espana'

Thanks for reading- leave a comment!

Finished!

The dining room is completed! Hallelujah! Mom and Dad and Mike worked on it tirelessly during his Spring Break from school. They did an amazing job and I am so proud of the way it turned out. I even got to do the last coat of paint on the wains coating before I washed the floor, so my own blood sweat and tears went into it as well!

Isn't she amazing? Look at that concentration! Even her face muscles are working! Go Momma Jo!

Mike is showing me how much he loves painting. Isn't this shirt sexy?
And dad at his saw. It rained for a few of the days, so they had to saw on the front porch. You should have seen the sawdust on the big window out front! Yikes!
The 'A Team' at it again. They figured out how to complete the look of these windows. This window got a 1x4 and the other windows had chair rail just flipped upside down. GENIUS!
Here are some in-progress pictures when the wains coating was going up. The blue paint tape on the floor is to tell us where the studs are/should be/sometimes are there sometimes are not.
And mom's favorite part is a blurry picture! Sorry! She added these little embellishments to the room that really made it awesome!
Here is the doorframe they made from wood. Mom found the plinths at the bottom at the salvage yard (and I even got to go once... what an experience that was!)
Here is the main wall all finished!
And the opposite wall!
The light with the pendant- looks beautiful!
Getting the rug put back in the room...
Ahh... how beautiful!
And we got this table and chairs too! It looks so great in the room and we got a good deal on it. :o)
This is probably my favorite room in the house now! Hope you like it!
Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of it!

Happenings!

Well, a lot has been going on around here lately and we have started another big project, so it's time to blog again!

We have started a remodel of the dining room! We are tearing out the wainscoting, repairing the walls, painting and putting up this little beauty on the ceiling. Turns out it's harder to put up than it looks. I took this picture before I had to jump in and help myself!

So the walls look.... okay. They're not in great shape (hence the wainscoting in the first place) and they certainly are not in horrible shape. Here is an in progress shot:
And sometimes you find big holes in the wall that lead down to the basement. Hey- at least now we can see whether the light has been left on down there.
They are such an amazing team! We could not and would not do this without them!
Also, for my birthday, my mom MADE a cupboard door for me. That's right- she made it. Here is what it looked like before.
And here is what it looked like when we came home from our trip to Chicago:
Also, we found this old storm window in the basement, and of course my mom and I wanted to do something cool with our 'treasure.' So, she put this together. Doesn't it look great???
Speaking of Chicago, we went to see our friends Chad and Jana. See how much fun we had bowling???
Classic boys.
My man bowling. Also, I wouldn't let him take his sweatshirt off because his shirt is so dorky. He won eventually.
Is he happy or sad about that bowl?
Who cares when you have a tube of beer???


And in February I went to visit this beautiful girl- my sister Allison! We only took one picture the entire time I was there... but I would say it was worth it- great pic!

3 Months Have Gone By?!?

I can't believe it's been three months since I have blogged. Wowza! I have had several blog posts composed in my head, but apparently it takes time and effort to sit down and compose them into a post... plus- it always seems weird to post without pictures, and we just haven't done a lot of things lately and taken pictures.

So, without further ado, I unveil the most disguisting part of my house. The part that is not even part of the tour that we give when people come over.

dun dun dunnnnnn... the basement:

ISN'T IT GROSS??????

To be honest, I snapped some of these pictures around corners because I haven't even been in some of the nooks and crannies of the basement. Gross. We are starting a project down there and the first priority was getting the steps in better shape so that we could get stuff into and out of the basement.

Keep in mind, the steps were probably a hundred years old and felt like it too. My first trip downstairs on the new steps was amazing!!! And it was all thanks to my DAD!!!

Mike and I spent time Saturday trying to clean up the basement a little bit and better organize our stuff. We also threw a lot of stuff away (and I found a treasure too- wait for another post about that one!)

Because it wouldn't be right to not have a picture of our greasy selves cleaning up the basement.

And this is what the old treads on the stairs looked like. Mike is showing how we feel about that.

This is the top of the treads. You can see the yuck hanging off of them. Gross.

So here they are in all their glory! My dad did an amazing job! And all for $50.39! We had been quoted about $300, so we were very happy with this! My parents are amazing! And, he had to spend a full day in the gross basement. When he was coughing after being down there all day he said, "good for the lungs, Amy." :0)

The new steps heading down from the kitchen. We also relocated the brooms and vacuums from behind the door to their new home to the right of the steps so that we don't fall down the steps when STRETCHING to reach the broom (not that it has ever happened to me!)

Who doesn't love this guy?

And, we have our Christmas tree up! We have a new beautiful wonderful amazing awesome addition this year courtesy of my friend Linda. She took my wedding dress and made it into a Christmas tree skirt. I know, I know, I have heard a lot of naysaying about this project, but hey- I didn't have to get it cleaned and let it sit in a box in my attic AND I get to take it out every year and remember how amazing it is! Linda even took the halter top and made a letter "G" for us and put parts of the bodice on the bottom of the tree skirt. I'm pretty excited about it! Merry Christmas to all of you! Please leave a comment if you came by. And I will try to get a new post going before next year!