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.

Closing and the last 12 days

Closing went so quickly.  We were worried that since it wasn't until 1pm we would be bored and anxious until then.  We were so busy all day long from 7am until we finally laid our heads down at 11pm.  

I do believe we had the quickest closing attorney out there.  Shout out to Dodds and Hennessey!  They were great.  It took us all of 29 minutes to close on the house. 

We had been planning for several months for my sister-in-law Alinda (Chris' sister) and her son (our nephew) to move in with us sometime in February.  They were going to bring my brother in law Greg (Chris' brother) with them to help with some of the projects around the house.  They ended up coming on closing day instead of a few days later which actually worked our great because we have 4 more hands to help unpack boxes and get things in order. 

Everyone that comes by the house keeps telling us that we have gotten so much done but we are still living in chaos so it doesn't feel that way.  I've taken pictures today of how the house looks.  The only thing I did was put a little windex to the storm door because we had not cleaned it since we put it up. 

Here is what we have accomplished: 
*All blinds are up.
*All ceiling fans have been installed.
*Only one set of curtains have been put up.
*The fence is 98% complete.
*All furniture is in the house.
*The apartment has been cleaned and the keys have been turned in.
*Replaced outdoor lights
*Installed Storm Door
*Installed Baby Gate

Here is what we still have to accomplish:
*Complete the HDMI to the TV on the porch
*Curtains up
*Crown molding
*Determine which rooms we want to paint a different color and paint them
*Hang art work
*Finish decorating
*Put Cabinets in the Laundry Room
*Finish sealing grout
*Kitchen backsplash
*Install garage opener

I'm sure I've forgotten about 8 projects.  We will probably delay the housewarming until May simply so we feel like the house is put together by that time. 

Here are some things I love:
Our Dining Room - I love that room. It is so elegant and classy and our craigslist furniture fits in their perfectly. 
I continue to love Magic Erasers.  No worries about marks on the walls during the move I've been walking around magic erasing the walls to keep it looking new. 
Our Bathroom - I took a bath the first night we moved in because my muscles were so sore.  I sat there looking around thinking, 'I don't even think I've stayed in a hotel with a bathroom this nice.'
Our Back Porch - We have a screened porch and an open patio.  I'm so glad we spent the extra money on both. 
Natural Gas - I love it!  Cooking with it is great.  The gas dryer drys our clothes quicker than it takes to run a load in the washer. I use to wait on clothes to dry after the washer was done.  Now it is the other way around.   We connected our new grill directly to the natural gas outlet we had them install during building.  That is nice! 
Our Kitchen - The kitchen has always been my favorite and it still is but I'm in love with my convection oven.  If you have to replace your microwave anytime soon and you like to cook, I encourage you to spend the extra money and get a convection oven.  It is great!  I have made pizza, pork chops, garlic bread, and then of course we have used it a lot as a microwave. 
Our Fireplace - I'm so glad Chris was so passionate about getting the fireplace.  There is nothing better than waking up in the morning while everyone else is asleep, getting coffee, turning on the fireplace, and enjoying some Amy time.  By the way, I mentioned in a previous post that Chris was admanant that we would need a blower to enjoy the heat from the fireplace.  Not true.  That bad boy puts off some heat so unless you plan to move somewhere freezing cold . . . a blower is not necessary.  It heats up our open floor plan very quickly. 

Enjoy these pictures. I've been sick this week and dragging with little energy.   I know some of them are bright but I was too lazy to close the blinds. :)

The new storm door.  Along with Buddha Frog and Maxwell blessing and protecting our home. 

The first foyer.  Chris hates this rug.  We will get a new one but need one there since this is a high traffic area. 

The second foyer.  We decided to put my Mom's piano in this room.  I love it! We need to finish the crown molding and put up art work. 

The view from the foyer into the family room.  We have gotten so many compliments on this sofa table.  Can you believe that came from one of my Daddy's storage sheds? Think American Pickers!

I love the ceiling fan we picked for this room.  We still have to determine artwork and finish decorating the entertainment center.  We also need to buy a rug for the floor. 

The dining room is almost complete.  We need to complete the crown molding and paint the room a different color.  This is a room I need to get a picture of at night so you can see the colors of the rug and window treatments. 

My office is a hot mess right now but at least I can work from it.  I have so much to do with this room.  Blinds, bookshelfs, paint the desk, put up art.  The furniture piece you see in the corner is not going to be in the office long term.  We just had no clue where to put it when we moved in so it is holding hard drives and curtains right now. 

My kitchen.  This is a picture while standing at that sofa table in the family room.  It will be done after we put in the back splash, more under counter lighting (we only have two under counter lights right now and need two more) and figure out if our pull out trash can will fit in one of our cabinets.

 We replaced the outdoor lights that were standard with these pretty quickly after moving in the house.  We love the lighthouse look of these and they are motion detectors. 

Our three rocking chairs barely fill up the front porch.  We may get a swing or another rocking chair to balance it all out.  That is low on the priority list right now. 

The garage is still a mess but actually looks better today than it did last Saturday. 

 

The last few weeks before closing we went all over town trying to find outdoor furniture.  We ended up buying a couch from Home Depot but buying 3 extra chair pieces to make it a wrap around on the porch.  We still have room for a bistro set which we are going to get from Lowe's that will allow us to eat outside on pretty days.  The TV has been installed on the screened in porch but the company that did the surround sound and cable has to come back to finish up the HDMI cable so the cable will work on the porch. 



 



Kudos to Chris and his brother Greg for building a great fence.  It looks so good but is not finished just yet.  They still have to finish up the caps on the top of the posts.  Eddie and Cooper love their yard.  While it took longer than hiring a fence company, it saved us a lot of money doing the labor ourselves. 

 

That's about it for now.  I'll take some more detailed pictures of the rooms after we get everything finished. 

 

We are still very happy and in love with the new house. 

 

Until next time . . .

Amy