Rope Lighting

9 months after moving in we (ahem Chris) finally got the rope lighting in the bedroom! 

Our builder thought we were crazy when we asked for an outlet in our tray ceiling in the bedroom. He thought we were even more crazy when we told him we were going to put crown molding in the tray but not flush to the ceiling. After a questionable look, Chris finally explained that he had seen rope lighting at his cousins (Tom and Vicki) house and has wanted it ever since then. 

Chris installing. 

This is what it looks like with the other lights/lamps off. 

We know it's not for everyone but we think it's pretty cool! 

Products I Love: Bathroom Edition

I have been meaning to do a products i love blog. As I was cleaning the bathroom, I thought today might be the perfect day for the Bathroom stuff. 

A few things you should know, I love a great deal. (Coupon, BOGO, % off, $ off) I love it all! However, I am also a marketer's dream. When I find something that I love, I will buy it in bulk and tell all my friends about it.  I also trust my friends opinions (and sometimes strangers) on products like it's the gospel. 

Here are some of my favorite products from around the bathroom! 

I loved our tile shower until it got dirty. i hated it two months after being in the house. I don't clean the shower everyday but I like it to look clean. The mildew was awful and nothing would work. I got in the shower one day a scrubbed it for about an hour with regular bathroom cleaner. I googled blogs and read articles. Chris who is the king of research found Tilex Mildew Root Penetrator! I love my shower again! This stuff is powerful and no scrubbing is required. If you have a tile shower or a tile surface that is hard to keep clean, try it! The bleach smell is powerful but I clean it last and then leave the fans on and exit to bathroom. (Bought at BiLo)

I've always been pretty lucky to have small pores and pretty clean skin. However, I use to have a breakout once every month. I don't know if it is the combo of both these products or one of them but I haven't had a breakout since using them. Olay Shine Shine Go Away smells so good and works great. I only use it once a day. I use the makeup remover wipes in the evening. I put the CVS moisturizer on before my makeup. It smells like sunscreen but is not oily. What i have learned since buying this moisturizer is that sometimes the generic is as good or better than the expensive stuff. (Bought at CVS) 

My friend Terry turned me on to ION products. I was using expensive salon shampoo and conditioner. Each of these bottles were $5 at Sally's and will probably last me 4-5 months. It is just as good as the salon products for a quarter of the price. (Bought at Sally's) 

I can't remember if it was my friend Dana or Terry that told me about the Dove hair therapy. I have naturally curly hair but get the Brazilian Blowout every six months. I try to only wash my hair 3 times a week to avoid losing the natural oil and to make the Blowout last as long as possible. I use this on the mornings I do not wash my hair. It smells great (you see a trend), tames any frizz I may have, and is inexpensive. (Bought at Walmart)

I found out this year that I have eye allergies. (It sucks getting old.) My eye doctor recommended these over the counter drops. I use to rub my eyes a lot especially at night. I use these in the morning before putting my contacts in and don't have a problem with my eye itching until the evening. I'm suppose to use them at night too but I don't because the eye irritation is not that bad. They sell a two pack which I bought. I keep one in my makeup bag (which stays at home) and one in my purse. If I hear someone talk about their eyes itching, I whip this bad boy out! (Bought at CVS) 

I have always been pretty particular about my toothpaste. I can't just buy whatever is on sale or whatever I have a coupon for. I got a sample of this toothpaste after going to my dentist about a year and a half ago. I was complaining about sensitive teeth and my  dentist office recommended using this toothpaste at least once a day.  I did that and then starting using only this toothpaste when I brush my teeth. Chris uses it as well since he sometimes had the same sensitive teeth issues.  There are rarely coupons or BOGO deals for this so I buy in bulk from a warehouse. (Bought at Sam's) 

I'm not a perfume person. I've tried other lotions but they just give me a headache. I've been wearing this scent for over 10 years. Bath and Body Works "retired" it to the outlets only about 6 years ago. I was not happy because at the time the closest outlet was either in HHI or MB. They retired it to online only as a "classic scent" about 2 or 3 years ago.  I buy it once a year. I wait until they do go on sale for $5 a piece (regularly $9 and $10) and I order enough to last me a year. I can tolerate the scent and always get compliments on how good I smell. (Bought at Bath and Body Works Online) 

CVS is my favorite pharmacy store but Rite Aid can beat them on price sometimes. When shopping at CVS, always try to buy when you get extra bucks, a $ off coupon or if you have a 25% off coupon.

I dislike shopping at Wal-Mart. I don't like the parking, the crowds, or the lines. I only shop at Walmart a few times a year. 

I love Sam's and Costco. We have a membership to both and I buy things in bulk that we go through pretty quickly or  I can't get cheaper elsewhere. 

 

I'll try for the products I love kitchen edition next! 

I would love to hear about the products you love in your bathroom. 

Until next time, 

Amy 

Garden Update

I have lots to update on but more about that in another post! We have had the busiest summer but life is starting to slow down a bit and focusing on the house. (And Chris would say the boat...more to come on that in another post.) 

We had a semi successful 1st year garden. The jalapeños and okra are still growing. There is a watermelon that is thinking about growing. We decided to do round two which we planted today. I had to dig up the dead tomato plants first. 

We also decided to give the dog run a makeover. The sand was getting low and the smell was getting bad due to all the rain, poo and pee. 

I'm also really proud of my pine straw distribution skills as well. I usually leave the yard work to Chris but I helped today because we had so much to do and were worried about the rain starting! 

Here are some pics: 

The dead tomato plants! Thanks for all the good maters! 

The updated garden. The watermelon is to the left. I planted more cucumbers. Then you see the huge jalapeño plants and tall okra plants. Then I planted more cilantro and decided to plant some sweet peppers! Now we wait! 

I learned my lesson earlier this year when the squash almost took over the garden! It gets its own whiskey barrel for round 2. 

This whiskey barrel is reserved for more tomatoes. I'm waiting a few weeks to plant those to make sure we don't have anymore heat waves! 

The upgraded dog run. We added more sand and used cedar chips closer to the house where the dogs lay down. We also added some lime to the sand to make sure we avoid a smelly dog run. 

Sweet Eddie the escape artist keeps trying to get out when we are not home. 

My sweet pine straw skills. 

My pitiful flowers. I gave them some food in hopes they grow to look like the others in the next picture. 

The food our Lowe's friend recommended. I'll let you know if it works. 

And now we are on the front porch rehydrating. 

Ok! I promise more blog updates over the next two weeks. I have 3 months of updates for you. 

Until then, 

Amy 

Fire! Fire!

We had a little emergency this week. On Wednesday evening we decided to have an early dinner and sit on the front porch and enjoy the evening. The noseeums (size of a gnat but bites like a mosquito) have been awful lately so we moved two of our tiki torches from the back yard to the front yard. About 45 mins into our front porch fun, we saw our neighbor about 6 doors down out so we decided to walk over to his house to ask him a question about his porch. Fast forward 30 mins later and there is a family walking down the street and then running down the street to put the FIRE out that was occurring in our pine straw! We noticed the chaos and quickly ran to put the fire out. Thank goodness for that couple! Our cars were in our way of seeing the fire from where we were standing. Everything is ok except the tiki torch that caught on fire and a little bit of pine straw.

Chris did some enhancements to the front yard this week. He added some railroad ties to the flower beds and around the tree in the front yard. He also bought some small tables with mini tiki torches on them. Please know that we will NEVER leave a tiki torch unattended again!

The project of the day was the under cabinet lighting in the kitchen. I've got some before and after pics for you. We had the builder do the prewire and we (Chris) did the rest of it today. I LOVE it!
This little project unfortunately shows us how dirty the wall is behind the stove. We really need to get the backsplash done.

Until next time....
Amy

Long time, No Update

Ok. The last time we talked we had been in the house for a month. We have now been in the house for 2 1/2 months and loving it.

The lack of updating is not because we have been lazy and doing nothing.

Today I thought I would show you last and this weekends project! The yard!

First the front yard. We added some whiskey barrels with flowers to the front yard today along with more rocking chairs. We had 3 rocking chairs (2 of which matched). We sold the one that didn't match the others at our neighborhood yard sale yesterday and bought 2 more today. Our front porch is long so it holds the 4 chairs well. See the pics below.

The backyard has been a project since day one. The fence went up the first month. Chris finished the dog run about a month ago. Chris made a fire pit a few weeks ago. We have been able to enjoy it several times at night when it gets cooler. We finished my vegetable garden today!

Dog Run- we did a double fence with the dog door actually being on the side of the house. Those boys have it made! Check out the pictures with the nice roof, lights, and mats. Cooper is even in one of the pictures demonstrating the door. The sand was a nightmare on our floors until we had our first rain. It is much better now because it is compact. We knew they would kill the grass so we opted for sand instead. The double door is so they can't get into the backyard while we are gone.

Veggie Garden - Chris did a great job making a BIG garden out of railroad ties. He lined it with some plastic and then put cedar on the top and sides. Unfortunately, that was not big enough so we had to plant the tomatoes in barrels. I don't have big expectations but I'm hoping for success with something. I can't wait to eat the veggies out of the garden. (If they grow.)

I didn't post any pics of the patio or screened in porch. Both are still a work in progress! I'll post more when those are further along. Right now we have the grill on the patio and an L shaped couch, table, rug, and TV on the screened in porch. We are so glad we did the cable outlet on the porch. We love sitting out there and watching TV.

In other news, we've hosted two large parties and so happy at how well the house holds people without feeling crowded. We've had lots of dinner parties since we moved in (my fave past time) and had numerous house guests. This house has become our home.

Until next time ...

1 month anniversary

Tomorrow is our one month anniversary in the house. It feels like we've only been in the house a week. We are still so happy and yes we would still recommend a Ryland home!

My brother in law, Greg, (Chris' brother) left today after spending 4 weeks with us helping with projects.

Chris spent the evening tonight painting the crown molding. I spent the evening finally bringing my office together. I've spent more time in the past month in this office than any other room in the house. However, I could never get it completely organized. This is the first room you see when you walk in so its important to me that it looks organized and put together.

It is looking pretty good right now. I still have a little bit of work I want to do with it. I need to organize the files in the filing cabinets. I will eventually get two ladder style book shelves to go behind my desk and on either side of my elephant painting. I want to hang some of Chris' military awards and lastly finding the perfect spot for Big Al. He is hanging in the corner right now.

Sorry for the lack of blogging but my life had been crazy but will start to settle down soon.

Enjoy the pics of my office.

The Living Room

Update on the Living Room... We are 98% done. Just trying to find a nice 8x10 or 10x10 rug and i need to steam one more curtain. Here are some pics. I love the hardware on my curtains. Don't mind the sleepy dogs.