Sunshine, Freedom, and a Little Flower

The holiday weekend started out a little rocky as the weather was inclement and I wasn't feeling well. After falling into bed as soon as I returned from work on Saturday, I woke up about an hour later to discover that two of our three furballs had snuggled up with me. Best medicine ever. I felt better when Sunday (and some sunshine) rolled around so we headed out for a day of wandering and a hike up Table Rock.

Since we didn't make any plans for Memorial Day other than relaxing, I took the opportunity to whip up a quick tour of our home.

Entryway/stairs

Kitchen/entryway

The kitchen!

More kitchen

Kitchen/dining. Excuse the ugly table and chairs!

Living room/dining

Living room

Living room from the stairs

This one is actually from a couple nights ago when Chris let a hornet in the house.
The dogs and I took refuge in the office until it was dispatched.

Master bedroom

Backyard

Play time!

Project of the Week: Mantle Art
Free shipping and 20% off at Art.com plus a 40% off coupon to Joann Fabrics meant that I was ready to implement my plan for an addition to our living room artwork. I found a print online and purchased an appropriately large canvas and some Tacky Spray at Joann's. The edges of the canvas were prepped with black latex paint, and spray adhesive was used to secure the print to the canvas (smoothing out any bubbles along the way).

In other news...

We lost our first softball game last week, but it was to a team that had requested a transfer into a more competitive league. I had a bit of a rough night and ended up with bruises from getting in the way of a couple line drives. On the bright side, I earned the respect of the "serious" players on our team by continuing to play after taking a line drive to the forearm that ricocheted directly into my throat. Luckily those areas didn't bruise as much as my leg.

Softball: 1, Me: 0

"But the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for,
Is their monument to-day, and for aye."

Thomas Dunn English

To Drink the Sunshine and to Dream at Night

It was a gorgeous weekend here in Boise - although I may be a little biased since it was also my first Saturday off in a month! We took the dogs out to Camelsback Park, wandered the foothill trails, meandered through downtown, and spent some time with friends.

Methodist Church

Cute town homes

Capitol building

Project of the Week: Sandbox Rehabilitation

I have a few projects in the works, so after bouncing between them I settled on prepping the sandbox in our backyard for its conversion to a raised garden bed. We were able to kill two birds with one stone and refill the fire pit area with the same sandy soil that we removed.

All we need is a load of garden soil!

Puppy prints

"To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring - it was peace."
Milan Kundera

Of Diets and Decor

At the end of April I decided to go gluten and sugar free for a couple weeks in an effort to figure out what's been throwing my digestive system out of whack. Two weeks and a few experiments later, I've discovered that gluten is a large part of what has been causing the issues. Sad day.

The good news is that it doesn't appear that I will need to be strictly gluten free, but avoiding any obvious sources of gluten has proven helpful. Aside from Al Fresco chicken sausages, I haven't really been experimenting with foods that are specifically marketed as "gluten free" - instead sticking to fresh protein, fruits, vegetables, and plain dairy products with an occasional serving of rice to satisfy any carbohydrate cravings. Since Chris and I normally eat a pretty "clean" diet it hasn't been too much of a challenge, but I do miss my spaghetti...

Project of the Week: Ugly Vase Makeover
A recent trip to TJ Maxx concluded with me becoming the proud new owner of a hideously painted vase, and earning some major side-eye from Chris, for the bargain price of $3. The shape of the vase was good and it had a nice pattern on the base, so with a few coats of Dark Bronze Rust-Oleum it turned into a charming addition to our mantle. I forgot to take a "before" picture, but imagine the vase below in glossy puke yellow and orange colors. Pictures of the finished mantle will be coming in the next week or two - just as soon as our newly purchased artwork arrives!

"Sanity is madness put to good uses."
George Santayana

Pleasant Monotony

The past week has been uneventful, and it was a relatively enjoyable change of pace. My softball game was rained out, I worked a Saturday shift for a coworker, and then spent the remainder of the weekend working on a graphic design project and catching up on stuff around the house.

The only legitimate piece of excitement was that I hit the 90 day mark at work recently and they gave me a new camera to celebrate! Our previous camera, purchased shortly before our wedding, was so outdated that the iPhone has been our camera of choice for quite some time.

Project of the Week: Front yard tree rings
I'm not a huge fan of tree rings, and I'm even less of a fan of rock beds as a form of landscaping. Considering that our front yard contained both, something had to be done. We decided to switch out the rocks for mulch until we make a solid plan for updating the yard.

Yikes, right?

Halfway there...

Not perfect, but definitely improved!

"Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets 
used to it."
Author Unknown