Goodbye July

You came and went without any warning and now I must bid you farewell. It's nuts that July is over, folks. I didn't get much accomplished this month; The Hubs did but me...not so much.

Now that July is coming to a close, The Hubs and I are going on vaca! WOO-FREAKIN-HOO!!! I can't tell you how stinkin excited I am; there aren't enough happy, warm fuzzy words to describe this joy. So I will be gone for a week, starting Monday, but I promise when I come back that I will have plenty of pictures and hopefully a new found passion for all things beautiful.

Where are we going you ask!?!?! To the Oregon Coast, baby! Oh yah! Now it's nothing like the Mexico trip that we took in January; with the warm sun, white sandy beaches and turqouise waters but it will be special and fun and it's still a beach.

~Pics from a previous Oregon coast trip~

Isn't that sunset loverly. Ahhh...I can't wait!

Breaking Ground

We have started the shop project, which I am so incredibly thrilled about I can't even contain myself. This means so much to my husband but for me...I get my office back and my guest room floor and closet back. WOOHOO!

So far, like most big projects, The Hubs has done the majority of the work (with the help of male friends and family members) but I have helped a little. After The Hubs dad and him dug the holes (I think 4 feet deep by 3 feet wide, or something like that) I helped set a couple poles. Oh my goodness, I was freaked out. Not only are the poles like seriously 500 pounds each but they are 20 feet long and on top of it I was using a really heavy duty piece of machinery (I believe it was a bobcat). So we did 2 poles (level, spaced correctly, secured so they wouldn't fall) and then called it quits for the night.

The Hubs soon realized that while I was valiantly attempting to help it just wasn't going to cut it. I simply do not have the natural construction instinct or the muscle to fake my way through it so he called in the calvary. Then all the poles were set, braced and ready for concrete, which should be coming tomorrow. YAY! We are one step closer to clearing more clutter from our home; I simply cannot wait but I can guarantee that my husband is WAY more excited than I am. It's rough being a very handy man and having your tools in several different places. I do anticipate helping a little over the course of this project and I am looking forward to seeing what I can do and proving my own strength and skill to myself, although it wouldn't hurt to impress The Hubs along the way. :)

Sprinkler System

Hi there! I know it has been forever but it has been an absolute circus at work. I mean seriously, bring out the big tent, call out the elephants and clowns...c.i.r.c.u.s- CIRCUS!! I really hope you understand.

Anyway I am so excited to share this post with you. The Hubs and I have been dreaming of a sprinkler system for over a year and this year is finally the right time to put one in. We haveclose to an acre of a backyard, for real. It is GINORMOUS and we (okay, I give myself WAY TOO much credit, The Hubs does all of this) are tired of lugging the hose and sprinkler head around the entire area.

We started pricing this project out and I think at one point if we were to contract this out it would cost us between $3k-$5k. Yes, that is thousands of dollars! Eeek! The Hubs has never put a system in but he and I were both confident in his handy abilities that this would be a piece of cake. Mmmm, cake! :)

Typically I don't assist on these large projects but after he put in the valves, crawled into the pit of darkness (aka 'under our house') and hooked up the water line I wanted to contribute; afterall this was my house too and I was definitely benefiting from this upgrade. It was probably only a matter of time before The Hubs was too fed up with dragging the hose around and made me suggested that I do it, and let's be perfectly honest here-that wasn't happening. :)

First we laid out the flags, these will be where the sprinkler heads will go. We picked out 50 foot heads so we measured them 45 feet apart from one another to ensure that there was plenty of water coverage.

Next The Hubs dug the ditches for the pipe to go into. Then we laid out the pipe; this stuff was a tiny bit difficult because of how it was rolled onto itself. I may have cursed and stomped my feet just a few times...maybe.

Once the pipe was laid into the ditches, we hooked it up to the valves. Oh yah, I forgot to mention-The Hubs put in the valves and built a wooden box to go over it.

I had every intention of this project being a dual effort but (head held in shame) I didn't do the rest. The Hubs did of course; I am not positive what I was doing at that time but it clearly wasn't executing the remaining part of the project. Sorry Hon!

The Hubs attached the heads, crimped them off, set the head spray and filled in the ditches. It's ALIVE!!! woohoo!

This time next year our yard should be plush and super green; it will be the envy of the town. Okay, maybe not so much but it will be plush and full and we will definitely utilize this space more for entertaining. What projects have you completed around the house this summer? Have you worked with your spouse before and does he/she always do the work or is it a true dual DIY project?

So HOT it'll melt your popsicle

The weather around the Pacific Northwest has been absolutely beautiful and I have been soaking up the sunshine!

I was bored and what better way to waste time then to check out the blogs. As I was perusing It's The Little Things I happened upon her genius idea for homemade popsicles here. Now I don't know about you but I always have great intentions of eating right and getting in my dairy. You see, I don't drink milk and I always forget to take my calcium pills so I leave it to chance that I get enough calcium from cheese, yogurt and ice-cream. ;) While I may have the best of intentions I seldom have the will power to see it through. I typically will buy anywhere from 6-8 yogurts and only eat maybe half of them and then I end up throwing the rest out. Well not any more thanks to this genius woman!!

Today I had 4 left over yogurts and I had my fill; the texture and the thought of stuffing one more spoon full of yogurt into my mouth made me wince. So I decided to test out her idea and it totally worked!

This is such a guilt free dessert and if you have kids they don't need to know that it isn't packed with sugar or that it is pretty good for them. I grabbed a pop, headed to the deck and decided to enjoy some more sunshine.

Hope you all had a terrific weekend and found a way to keep cool!!!

In the Gutter

Our house never came with gutters, I know it's crazy, and every time it rained (which up until recently felt like for eternity), the water would rush down the front windows and the back patio door. It felt like we were, at times, under water.

I talked to The Hubs about getting gutters and we determined that it wouldn't be too expensive if we did it ourselves, and by ourselves I really mean him. :) The next day he brought home all the materials. Awww, I love him....he just gets me and my pushy persuasive manner and hardly ever questions it or puts up a fight.

Look at that gloomy sky! Blech! Anyway The Hubs did all the work on this project; god love him. I am not sure if I have told you all before but I'm quite lazy in comparison to others, like my husband, and besides this job required getting on a ladder. Ummm, nothankyou; I prefer to keep my feet on the ground. So first he grabbed the ladder and the drill and every two feet started screwing in the supports for the gutters.

Once he had the supports layed out (see above pic) he then grabbed the gutters and attached them to the supports. That was it...well almost. There is still the matter of the down spouts but right now the ends over hang until we get them. This is (so far) preventing the water from gathering near our foundation. WOOHOO!!! Success-you rock babe!

It's a beautiful thing and such a simple amenity that some might take for granted. If you, like me, don't have gutters and you live in rainy and unpredictable weather conditions (like the Pacific Northwest) then I recommend pushing persuading your spouse, significant other, brother, uncle or father into putting them up for you. Oh heck, do it yourself (if you aren't a scaredy cat like me). :)

Before (pitiful ok, ok-mildly sad):

After (wonderful):

It's like they were always there. Oh and see how green the grass is?!?! Oh yah, there is a reason and another DIY project to show you. This one I even helped with...a little. :)