Finished!

For the last three months (since the day I got engaged actually) I have been painting and redecorating Rob's apartment (with his help) to make it ours. This weekend we spent 4 straight days on the living room and are DONE! There are some minor organization things to take care of, but the apartment is finished. Here is the living room.

The before / during picture. See the tv on the right edge...it is gone. (there are some tue before pictures in my Thanksgiving post.)

The final product. The fancy new screen for the projector and the room did a 180. And Monkey got a new home under the pinball machine, which doubles as a crafting table.

Where the TV used to be. We gained so much space.

You can see my "office" in the background.

Photographer I am not

I saw in a magazine recently some photos of three rings, (the engagement and wedding bands) I thought it was in Martha Stewart Weddings, but now I can't find the article. But there were some cool photos of the rings on rocks and plants, and just in some interesting combinations. I tried to do the same. I am really excited about the wedding bands we bought. Our rings are all from different places, and each is unique. I attempted my own photo shoot, with my point and shoot camera. Rings are a tough subject, but I think you can get the general idea.



PS - Tomorrow Rob and I will have been engaged for three months. Is that all it has been? It feels like forever (in a good way) that it is time to get married and we have such a long time to wait. Three more months. But it also feels like we've been together for so much more than a year.

Gymnastics

These are from Christmas, I've been wantign to share them, and now that I know how to post video and Rob said it's ok. For your viewing pelasure...Rob the Gymnast!

An evening at the Powers's

These were shot last week. But it's a pretty common evening entertainment.

Quotes of the Day

Today we went to New Jersey to interview kids and find out what they know. Here are some gems? My questions are in italics.

How can you tell it's Spring?
Look outside.
Leaves coming out.

How do you take care of plants?
Seeds then water! And sunshine.
Will it grow in the closet?
No!
Why not?
Nothing grows in the closet.

What can you tell me about trees?
Things grow on trees.
Poison Apples.
Trees grow on flowers.

What lives in a tree?
Squirrels. Ants. Spiders. Birds. Leaves.

What kinds of things come from trees?
Leaves. Pickles. Apples and berries. Plants. Pickles. Flowers.

What kinds of things are made out of wood?
Houses.
Woodpeckers.

What is recycling?
You do it by yourself.
When you watch a movie.
Popcorn.
The old stuff goes to somebody else.
Garbage.
You give it to old grandmas and grandpas.
Throw it in the dumpster.

Kitchen Improvements

Rob and I have spent the past few weeks working on a drop leaf kitchen counter for our very tiny kitchen. I got the idea when I saw this type of table at IKEA a year or so ago. Our first plan was just to buy that one. But they weren't exactly the right size and the stores near us kept saying none in stock. After an internet search for another counter or table of this sort, I kept getting routed back to IKEA, so we decided to build our own. The first plan was to use butcher block.
But that plan was quickly derailed when I found the price of butcher block. Instead we bought a large sheet of Maple (I think) from Home Depot. They cut the first piece for us in the store. 29 inches long. When we got home, the planning began. Rob spent a couple of days measuring and sawing. The pieces were then stained at Industrial Craft Night, and Polyurethane was applied just before we left town for the weekend.

Upon our return the counter was ready for assembly.

The space before:

Assembly:More assembly and drilling:After the pieces were put together and the holes drilled into the wall we did a test. Unfortunatley the shelf support that we added was not strong enough to support the table! Tob had the idea to take apart an old tripod and use the extendable legs to support the outside of the counter. This began another phase of planning and building that was prolonged when the drill broke and we had to wait for the new piece to come in.

New legs:

The finished product:

Now I have so much more counter space for food prep and baking in a convenient space saving size. Now on to the next project!

Friendship

My friends are an important part of life. They are always there in good times and in bad. Doesn't that sound like something from a wedding vow. But it kind of is; a true friend is a relationship that lasts a lifetime. I've recently reconnected with some old friends. And it doesn't matter that we haven't talked in maybe a year or two, it's like we never parted. And I have made some wonderful new friends, who I think will be in my life for a very long time.

My friends know who I am. I don't have to put on a facade to make my life seem something it isn't. I am thankful to have people in my life who truly care for me and wish the best. I hope I am just as good a friend to them.

At Christmas I bought two mini-desk calenders. One for me and one for Sara. We often buy the cute things for each other we'd like to have ourselves, but can't justify. I thought the calender was a nice idea because we would be reading the same quote every day. Here are some of my favorites:

"A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil - but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small silly presents everyso often - just to save it from drying out completely." -Pam Brown

"Your dresses should be tight enough to show yo're a woman and loose enough to show your're a lady." - Edith Head

'Never try to make anyone like you; you know, and God knows, that one of you is enough." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Real sisterhood is a bunch of dames in bathrobes throwing back M&Ms and making each other laugh." - Maxine Wilke