YEAR IN REVIEW

It's hard to believe we are getting ready to wrap up 2013, such a cliche but where on earth does time go? Here's just a quick look at our last year, one filled with so many blessings!

January - We decided to tackle a renovation on the first floor of our home. What started as an innocent trip to look at flooring turned into a project we won't forget! We spent the last 2 weeks in January ripping out all of our flooring and sanding and painting our cabinet bases white.

February - Renovations continued with sanding, sanding and yes more sanding. After 3 weeks of that routine we found ourselves with beautiful white cabinets. I am happy to report almost 1 year later, we are still chip free! After 6 weeks without a floor we had beautiful handscraped looking laminate installed on the first floor as well, it was a glorious sight, and we were happy to no longer wear shoes while at home. We also made it to BaconFest, making it the most delicious month of the year!

March - We were sick. Man that was a rough month. Fevers, cough, congestion, misery. That's how we lived. Our biggest accomplishment was installing cabinet hardware. We wrapped up the month by spending Easter weekend in KC with Murph's family.

April - This was a fantastic month to say the least. Our biggest accomplishment of the year was fully paying off my student loans. We both took some time off for a mini-staycation and enjoyed beautiful Spring weather. Murph went to the Drake Relays, we got our bathroom 100% in working order downstairs and we moved one step closer to our renovation project nearing completion.

May - We celebrated our first anniversary with a night out at Johnny's. It was hard to believe we had been married a year. 

June - Murph ran Dam to Dam and I ran the 5k. Our kitchen finally started coming together with new chairs to go around our loved table from my Dad's store, and finally 6 months later we were able to install the trim on the first floor and call our renovation a wrap! Murph and I also headed back to KC to enjoy a concert together and spent some much needed time with his brother's family.

July  - July started off with a bang and a long 4th of July weekend. We went hiking with the pup and watched him swim for the first time. Murph also turned the big 3-4!

August - Another month of fun began by celebrating Murph's Grandpa's 90th birthday! We also celebrated my 29th birthday along with my bestie Nic's 30th with our annual boat trip on Big Creek. I decided to train for the Des Moines half-marathon and was sidelined early in the game with some neck troubles, but made a full recovery by the end of the month. We also enjoyed DSM's Restaurant Week with a night at my favorite place, Alba. 

September  - This was a quiet month. We pretty much laid low, enjoying lots of college football and a couple of trips home.

October - Time for some vacation! We headed to northern Wisconsin for a week of relaxation ... and a car accident. After taping our car together we spent a few days hiking and attending a wedding in the Minocqua area. We also made a stop to visit friends in the Twin Cities and went to Minnehaha Park and the Nook in St. Paul before heading back home. After returning home we had just a couple weeks until our big half-marathon. It was one heck of a cold morning but we were both happy with our finishes. 

November - We spent November being humbled because our car was in the shop for 6 weeks. This may sound trite but, having two vehicles is such a blessing and we were reminded of that daily in November. We spend Thanksgiving in Lake City and celebrated Murph's Grandma's birthday that same weekend. Murph and his Dad also took down some trees at Hawthorn Drive, making a big impact to the front of our house.

December - We celebrated the season with our good friends by having our 2nd annual holiday progressive dinner where I proved to everyone I can still slam a beer college style ;) We also were able to spend the Holiday's with our family which was fantastic. My Gram turned 94 on Christmas and we were blessed to be with her for the majority of the day.

Clearly 2013 was a year of wonderful happenings for us, here's to a 2014 that will be even better!

BYE BYE BIRCH

Saturday Murph and Denny tackled a big project on our radar, tree removal. We had a group of birch trees on the west side of our house that were always cause for a little concern. The birch seemed pretty weak and were generally taking over the side of our house. So Denny manned the chain saw while Murph did the pushing and I went and got my hair done so I didn't have to watch any trees land on my loved ones or our house ;) We are glad to have a few less leaves in our future, more light in our bedroom and a cleaner look to the house in general. This makes me even more excited to the exterior done because now we will be able to see it! Thanks again Denny for helping us out.

Summer: LOTS of tree going on here

Before

After

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON

This week we got a call from our siding guy letting us know the product we wanted for the exterior of the house was going to go up in price. After some discussion we decided to go in and get a contract signed to have the work done next spring / summer to lock in our price. We picked out the stone, siding, shakes and roofing and modified the original design I posted awhile back. Let me just say I am getting so stinking excited!

What do you think?! I initially wanted to wrap the posts in stone, but after seeing the cost we decided to just go up the front of the house the entire way across. We landed on a black roof too, which makes me happy, especially since the exterior guy said it will wear the best. I also added in some black barn lights, and other goodies to our porch area. Murph got me some great planters I can't wait to stick out by the front door next spring and I am thinking a little red bench would be perfect out there too. I also got the go-ahead to get rid of the octagon window HOOOOORAAAAYYYY! so I made sure to mock in all new double hung windows since those will be coming in another year or so too. Changes are coming and I am going LOVE pulling up to this beauty :)

FINDING CONTENTMENT

For the most part I think Murph and I are pretty great together, we are polar opposites on lots of things, but that seems to work in our favor. This week we about lost our minds together, no seriously we did.

One of Murph and my hobbies is perusing Iowa Realty's app on the Ipad. We look at houses, get ideas for our dream house, laugh at terrible paint jobs and tiny yards and respond harshly to the realtor comments on the property ... it's a good time. This week though, we fell in love. I will say we fall in love with a house a month and usually we forget about it ... not this house. This house checked all of our boxes, and I mean all of them, ok it was only a 2 car garage, but it didn't matter.

• Walk-Out Ranch
• Over an acre in size
• Mature trees
• Large deck
• 3,000 sq feet +
• 4 bedrooms +
• Room to grow a family
• Room to improve it and make it ours
• Good condition, liveable for now
• Located in a neighborhood in the country

It even had some great bonuses:

• Pond
• Basketball hoop 
• Room for an art studio in the basement
• Room for a man cave in the basement
• In a small school district but easy access to interstate
• I could have multiple dogs here

I could go on and on, I mean just look at her:

So what was the harm to just go do a drive by? Well the harm is that you fall even more in love! We drove out of town about 10 miles and I swear to you we found a slice of heaven, in fact I think the mailbox already had our names on it. There were deer lying peacefully in people's yards, it was quiet, we couldn't see into the neighbor's windows and did you see that POND that would be in our YARD ^ oy vey. We got really excited, I found a video tour online and lo and behold it was even more magnificent than the photos showed! We crunched numbers, we talked logistics, I looked into school ratings and then we got REAL.

Yes, this is exactly where we want to "be", it's where we truly see ourselves going ... one day. But soon we were canceling cable, tearing down and remodeling a kitchen, finishing 1/2 of a basement, asking ourselves what heating 4,000 sq. feet costs, looking at the cost of a riding lawn mower and an invisible fence and it was clear we weren't moving here ANY time soon.

I looked at Murph from our couch and said, "we are home, we are blessed to be in this house, we can live here for a VERY long time, we need to find contentment". While websites like Pinterest and blogs provide endless inspiration I find myself soon thinking that they are the standard. Parties must be fully decorated with calligraphy, dinners become 4 course meals, and soon we are talk ourselves in to homes that we could technically afford, but not truly enjoy. It's a scary place to be. 

This year my focus has been on less. Less makeup, less clothing, less stuff, less stress, less spending, less hustle and bustle, and it has been hard but very rewarding. I am slowing down, I am spending more time being content and doing the things that matter to me and Murph the most. We are prioritizing and attacking problems together and while we would LOVE that house in the country, we know now isn't the time, and that we have more than we ever need right here on Hawthorn Drive.

So we decided to delete the apps, and I vowed to quit stalking the ARL website for a second dog, because yes, even our mutt WillyDog is enough. When the time is right I know we will leave this house, we will find our slice of heaven with woods in the back yard but in the meantime we will remember this life is more than enough, this place in time is more than enough, and we are so blessed to walk down this road together.

HALFSIES

We did it! We ran the Des Moines 1/2 Marathon on Sunday, and we are both glad it's over :) This is the most I've trained for a race and I am spent, I think Murph feels the same way. For the last 10-12 weeks our Sunday's have been filled with long runs, my alarm went off at 5a too many times, I snoozed that same alarm too many times and my body has hated me for most of it by retaliating with stiff and sore muscles, but I am still glad I did it.

We were both not happy with the initial weather predictions for the day and when I checked my phone I saw this:

That's right 13 MPH winds. WHAT?! But we bundled up and headed downtown.

Both of us felt like we had great runs! Murph killed it clocking in at 1:41:29, with a pace of 7:45 min / mile. Overall he finished 416/5,169 (top 8%) and in his age division he was 51/262 (top 19%). Compared to last years results of 1:42:37, with a pace of 7:50 / mile. Overall he finished 366/4,257 (top 8%) and in his age division he was 283/1522 (top 18%).

He looks fast, and oh, so handsome too :)

I was super happy with my end time of 2:07:23, and 9:44 min / mile pace. I was planning on a 10 min / mile pace so beating that by 16 sec / mile was amazing for me. Overall I finished 2375/5,169 (top 46%, hey it's better than 1/2 of the people!) and in my age division I was 224/572 (top 39%). Compared to my longest race before this which was Dam to Dam in 2010 (only 12.4 miles) I ran in 2:13:41 with a pace of 10:45 min / mile.

Happy to be done, clearly swinging my arms in front of me though, wasting energy, right Murph?

And the obligatory funny I look like I am walking photo, haha

I am not sure how people do marathons, nor do I really ever want to find out because I was so stiff and sore after the race it was humorous. I also don't know if I will run a 1/2 again, I think 10k's might be my race of choice :) 

WE BE DREAMIN'

As we finished the inside of the first floor up we moved onto a more pressing matter that needed some of our attention, our roof. After getting several estimates, talking to painters, siders, roofers and anyone else that may want our money we determined we have a big ... no huge project on our hands. Long story short we've got this glorious crap siding on our home that is in bad shape and will need to be replaced because when the roof comes off we will sustain significant damage to it. We've also got some rotten window frames due to poor maintenance from the previous owner, so eventually those will need to go too. So we are in the process of saving up for an overhaul. We know we will be at Hawthorn Drive for a long time so we think putting the money and energy into an exterior we love to look at is worth the work. This week I came up with a little mock up of what we may be looking at in a year or so.

Oh man, she looks so sad in this photo

Just a bit different!

So a few changes are on deck aren't they? Our tentative plan includes:

• New roof (I'm lobbying for a dark charcoal gray), soffits and fascia
• New gutters, see how we have none on the top level and see the rotten fascia it's caused
• New James Hardie siding (most likely in neutrals, but I dream of a deep gray/blue too) and shakes above the 2nd story windows
• New trim everywhere, matching the style we put on the bottom floor of the inside of the house and take out the beveled garage door corners, they make me gag, oh yeah make that white too, I don't know why but garage doors the same color as the house make me crazy too (personal preference!)
• Add 5 ft of stone to the sides of the garage doors and the columns
• Beef up the columns and remove the railing (our "porch" is so shallow we are hoping this will allow for some room out there)
• New exterior lighting, maybe a gooseneck barn light style?

I also would add to my "dream" list

• A new Craftsman styled door with some glass in it to add to the lack of light in our front room
• Replace the weird random octagon window with a single normal one, this will add more light and balance out the windows too

Man I'm so excited just thinking about the possibilities!

LATELY

All has been quiet at Hawthorn Drive lately, and that's how I like it :) We are soaking up the cooler weather by enjoying easier runs, a trip to Ledges and plenty of college football. This past Sunday I took Willy for his last "long" run with me. 7 miles that pup went, without breaking stride. I will be sad to tackle my first long run alone this Sunday, it's so nice to have his little booty wagging in front of me and the occasional look back saying, "are you coming or what!?". We finished the 7 mile with a 9:34 pace which I was pretty happy with considering I usually hang around the 10:00 / mile mark. I also ran a 5k race about 2 weeks ago and finished in 27:10 which was about 8:44 / mile, that was a PR for sure and I was happy with the time.

Our 1/2 marathon is about 5 weeks out and I am getting a bit anxious. The 7 miles this weekend was pretty tough on me, no feeling so confident I can almost double it yet ....

13

Another week in the books on the roads and a small increase in mileage. I didn't miss a run, even though I really wanted to skip a day or two .... or all of them :) The heat really kicked in last week so my goal became to simply finish the runs without stopping. This sounds silly when the most I took on was 4 miles but in heat and humidity that was in the mid 90's, it was a realistic goal. With a total of 13 miles in last week, I couldn't help but think how far I have to go! I mean shoot, this 1/2 marathon is 13.1 miles in one shot .... ooooooff! WD and I will keep trucking though, man I love running with that mutt and he is OBSESSED with it too.

In other news a fall clean out has taken over our house. SO. MUCH. CRAP! I've always prided myself with being able to purge, but when we decided to get our 2nd guest room in order I realized we have loaded that room with stuff .... that we don't use! So over the last 3 days I've sorted and purged and re-packed totes and organized books and realized I need to purge more.The good news is that we no longer have a crap room and that makes both Murphy's smile!

BACK AT IT

After a week's worth of visits to the chiropractor I was given the ok to hit the roads again. My neck ended up being a bigger pain that I would have imagined and I am still fighting a little soreness by the end of each day but overall I am in much better shape. Amen!

This week was a tough one as far as training goes. I managed to get two 2-milers and a three-miler in but the times were less than stellar. Total mileage for the week was 7. Overall it was pretty forgettable :) I am continually thankful for a very excitable pup though. I can't even hold socks in my hand without WD going berserk. Last Friday Murph took him on a 5-miler in the morning and I took him on a 3-miler in the evening and he was still full of spunk. It is an understatement to say he loves going on runs. He keep me moving too, so I'll be sad once I can't take him on my longer runs when I will need the motivation the most!

This week will be a big one. I did my first 4-miler yesterday and I have a week of 3.5's and 2's ahead. Hopefully my motivation will stay strong!

In other news Murph and I got a new mattress last week, which isn't really worth blogging about BUT that means I have 2 guest rooms with complete beds now. This meant we needed to do some shopping, and I have a new project or 2 at the house to keep me occupied! We spent Friday night at Target shopping for bedding, and I think I had Murph at his wits end. We already had some bedding but were trying to round out both rooms.

Our guest room now has a queen bed in it and we already had a gray striped duvet and pillows from WestElm soI added some fun printed sheets from Target. On the to-do list for the fall is to make a tufted headboard in a gray-blue like the one below. I've seen some insanely simple tutorials on-line, so fingers crossed it will be a easy, simple update! It also needs another pillow or two and a bed skirt.

Original duvet and pillows

New printed sheets

DIY Headboard

The office/2nd guest room/crap room/future Murphy baby room also got a start. Clearly this room plays several roles right now so my fall goal is do de-crap and mostly de-office the space. We put the full sized bed that was in the guest room in here and it already had some simple printed sheets on it. After much discussion and talking to myself I decided to forego a duvet or quilt and just added a thin blanket. Since we will eventually make this a nursery and plan on keeping the bed in there I didn't think dropping $100 on a blanket at this point was a good idea. So for now it will be loaded with neutral prints that can easily transition to a baby's room. We also added some a large soft white pillow and smaller white blanket too. Eventually I might try a rope headboard for in this room, or I might wait it out and upholster a fun print later. I also grabbed a neon wire side table for $17 that will be getting a coat of gold spray paint on the bottom and possibly a wooden top. Love me some gold lately!

To become gold

Original printed sheets

New blanket

Now that the main floor is done in terms of the hard work, I can begin accessorizing there too. Maybe I can finally get our wedding pictures printed?! 

SIDELINED

Well this week's training has started out on a sour note for sure. At some point over the last few days I did something that caused the left side of my neck to become terribly inflamed leaving me almost unable to look to the left. Yesterday I began losing the ability to comfortably look up and down as well so I bit the bullet and headed into the chiropractor. She asked what type of trauma I have experienced over the last few days and I had nothing to offer. She was able to adjust very little due to the swelling and I will be returning each morning this week for continued care. Obviously I will be benched for this weeks running, yoga and volleyball activities and I am bummed. Oh well, at least it's early in the game.

In other news we celebrated Grandpa's 90th birthday in Clarion this weekend, what a joy! We were able to see all of our family that lives close and enjoy some Pizza Ranch, coffee with Jan at Grounded and one of Clarion's best, RUTHIE ROLLS! We also took the pup to the lake and went for a swim. He started off a little rough, but soon realized that if he closed his mouth the swimming went much better :) WD did however not learn much about personal boundaries in the water as he used me as both a turning block and surfboard leaving me a bit battered haha.

We also are dog-sitting this week. Yes we endured a surprisingly easy ride with 3 pups back from Clarion and will have both Dude and Gary with us for the week. They are getting along much better than we anticipated and I think we are confident 3 dogs inside is too many :)

Other than that, quiet week on the home front while we await Nic's 30th birthday this Friday and our annual BC trip to Big Creek this weekend, woohooo!

THE FIRST 10

Well the first week of 1/2 marathon training is in the bag, or at least the running portion is. I surprised myself and didn't skip a run yet! I know it's the first week, but still I can usually talk myself out of a run pretty easily.

Anywho the schedule this week was:
Sunday - 2 - 18:20
Monday - 3 - 27:28
Tuesday - Yoga
Wednesday - 2 - 18:19
Thursday - Supposed to be 3 but I was sore so I swapped it with my rest day
Friday - Supposed to be a rest day but I did Thursday's 3 - 28:00
Saturday - 30 min workout.

We are headed to C-town this weekend and have plans to take the pup swimming so Murph suggested I do some "open water" swimming for my workout at the lake. This will be rough for me because I am not a lake fan and I haven't swam laps in oh ..... 10 years maybe?! BUT swimming is the best workout out there so I am anxious to see how my 30 minutes goes. I also am anxious to see WD take to the water again :)

My average mile split was near the 9:20 mark which I am honestly pretty jazzed about. I am a habitual 10 minute miler and to inch ever closer to the 9:00 minute mark is an accomplishment over here. If I can hold that pace for all 13 miles or even 9:30 I'll finish in 2 hours and 4 minutes. I won't break a land speed record at that pace BUT it would be very fast for this girl.

My coach/training partner is my best asset in this process. Willy is LOVING the exercise and I am LOVING his companionship. I purchased the IronDoggy waist leash and it makes running with an ambitious dog ridiculously easy. Now I might look silly wearing it but it really doesn't even compare to carrying our big flexi in my hands. This leash has give, knots and handles to pull Willy closer if needed and various clips and hooks for me to decide just how close he should be to me. I think the best part of having him attached at my waist is that he is pacing me much faster than I run alone. My goal is to keep slack in the leash as we go so he's not got the tension on his neck and it's working out great for both of us. Fan-freaking-tastic I say! If you want to run with your dog get yourself and IronDoggy leash.

So that's the first week, only 11 more to go!

FIND YOURSELF

"The best way to find yourself
is to lose yourself in the service of others."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I ran across that quote by Gandhi today and loved it. These past few months I have been in quite the rut, trying to listen to my heart in search of what way my path is curving. I am no good at hearing whispers so I will wait for a yell to tell mere where I am headed but in the mean time I am going to make it a point to serve more in my life.

I have found it's all too easy to get caught up in me, my life and how parts of it never to seem to fill up the way I think they should. Maybe it's time to focus on others for awhile and let me go.

There are two places I have thought about offering my time to and I honestly just never filled out the paper work so this week I am doing it, no excuses.

I also am going to begin 1/2 marathon training. I have a hate/hate relationship with running but for some reason I am really feeling called to it lately. Devoting my thoughts and time to some quiet running with my favorite training partner Willy will officially begin Monday with the 1/2 marathon race on October 20th. There is no speed goal , just the goal of finishing and devoting my heart to something that requires self discipline for the next 3 months. Oh the words self discipline, something I have never been too good at.

While I trained for Dam to Dam back in 2010 I found myself praying a lot on my runs and that is something I need to be doing more of lately too so hopefully I can get myself into some spiritual alignment and be happier in this moment

BABY-PALOOZA!

Friday was one of the best days I have had all year. Two of our best friends had baby girls in the last month, and after spending a heap of time with both of them Friday I've decided I am smitten. Like full fledged gonna steal their babies and raise them as our own smitten! These little love bundles brought so much love and joy in to my heart Friday and I am so freaking excited for all of my pregnant friends to get to experience their little ones soon too. I used to think weddings were my favorite thing but I think it's babies, cute, snuggly, chubby little babies. In. Love!

Just gettin' a little work visitor, Miss Harlow

What a sweetheart!

Harper is out for the count and slept on my legs for about an hour Friday night. Swoon.

Be still my heart! Is Murph not the cutest with Miss Harper in his arms?!

LONG WEEKEND

Due to some generosity from my boss and some PTO for Murph we were able to enjoy a stellar four day Fourth of July weekend. It. Was. GREAT! We both were able to check a lot off our to-do list including:

• Finished all painting of trim and walls
• Stained the floor of the deck a 2nd time
• Replaced and stained the rotting stairs on the deck
• Cleaned the house like crazy people
• Did a ton of laundry
• Picked lots of fresh raspberries from our bushes
• Weeded the entire back yard
• Arbor take down
• Had friends over to grill Saturday night

It is so nice to not see piles of paintbrushes and tools all over the downstairs, now I can focus on decorating :)

I think the best part of our little break was a trip to Maffitt Reservoir with the pup on the 5th. The reservoir is a little south of Des Moines and we thought a little hike / picnic sounded perfect for our day off. I'll say we were underwhelmed. We walked a little over 3 miles on a grass path through trees the entire time. Little elevation change, little path maintenance  LOTS of flies and little view of the reservoir. But Willy loved it and we got in some exercise so it was all good.

My favorites leading the way

After we saw that Wills was getting hot we broke for our picnic lunch of summer sausage, cheese, cherry tomatoes, and bread/crackers. We lounged on the picnic table and let Willy rest up.

One hot dog!

My love

Before we left for home we decided to head down to the water and see if Willy would like to play. It was the best. He ran through the water and Greg even lured him out far enough to get him to swim. He pumped those little legs of his and was a little panicked at first but eventually got the idea. I loved every minute of watching them in the water.

Swim lessons!

After the dip in the water we headed down Maffitt Road to find our future home. Seriously, the area is amazing, large wooded lots with giant homes we could never afford, I was smitten of course :) We got back home by 2:30 or so and gave Willy a bath then we all hit the deck to catch a few rays. That didn't last long as it was clear I had already gotten enough sun for the day.

When we came in Murph was rubbing Willy's belly and saw 10-15 large deep red welts. I panicked. Was it something in the water? Did he have ticks? IS HE DYING? SHOULD WE GO TO THE VET?! It was at that moment Murph uncovered some ticks and my Google search let us to believe he had some black fly bites and we shouldn't be alarmed. Phew. So we checked him for ticks throughout the night and pulled about 5 little guys off him. The bites didn't seem to bother him and thankfully are already gone, but worried me enough to want to stick to less grassy paths with the pup.

All in all it was wonderful and I think there should be at least 1 mandatory 4 day weekend every month. We would all be in a better mood :)

REMODEL UPDATE

Will it ever end? I think I ask myself this question daily. We decided to overhaul our first floor on January 12th, today is July 3rd. We aren't done :) Ah the joys of DIY right? With a nice fat 4 day weekend coming up I think we will be able to wrap this bad boy up! Because I've been a list making crazy woman on here let's do another. This is a comprehensive list, a few things we did prior to the Jan 12 date.

What We've Done in all of the Rooms:

• Painted Walls
• Kitchen, Living Room, Family Room, Bathroom
• Painted Ceilings
• Kitchen, Living Room, Family Room, Bathroom
• Tore out and replaced all flooring to a handscraped laminate
• Tore out and replaced all interior doors
• Removed all knobs and hinges and replaced with bronze ones
• Tore out and replaced all base trim and door trim

What We've Done in the Living Room:

• Painted the front door

What We've Done in the Kitchen

• Painted Cabinets
• Added Cabinet Hardware
• Replaced the lighting above the table and the semi-flush mount fixture
• New harvest table and chairs
• Took down the vertical blinds over the slider and added curtains instead
• Made roman shades for the 2 windows over the sink
• Installed new quarter round under the cabinets

What We've Done in the Bathroom

• Painted all of the trim and door white before buying new and doing it all over again
• Installed a new toilet
• Made a new sink vanity from a desk and pieces from Overstock.com

What We've Done in the Family Room

• Replaced the ceiling fan
• Took it down because it wasn't working
• Found out the problem
• Put it back up, it didn't work
• Took it down
• Installed it upstairs to see if it worked, it didn't
• Installed one from upstairs to see if it worked downstairs, it did
• Tried the original one again, without the remote sensor, it works but is always on high with the light on now
• Painted the mantle white
• Murph purchased a new soundbar and wireless subwoofer to please his wife and her hatred for visible wires running along the floors

What's Left:

• Finish painting a final coat on the trim in the family room, bathroom and closet
• Paint the inside of the front door again, it looks odd blue now, so it will go white to match the others
• Replace hardware with bronze
• Paint the door to the garage, paint the patio doors as well as their frames
• Replace hardware with bronze
• Replace floor grates with bronze ones
• Replace bathroom fixtures
• Mirror, TP holder, towel ring
• Add flexible moulding to the fireplace hearth along the floor
• Add quarter round under the garage and front doors
• Window coverings in the family and living rooms

Long Term changes:

• New countertops in kitchen - projected 2015
• Tile backsplash in kitchen - projected 2015

Wow. That's a lot. We need a break. For real. 

Throughout this process I have found out a few things about Murph and I, but the main one is that Murph is a champ. He trusted me explicitly with this overhaul from number crunching to process and did it all with a willing heart. He sanded those cabinets for hours, patched my botched holes, and never considered serving me with divorce papers. He is the best teammate I could ever ask for. I think I owe him a beer ... or 12.

SUMMER BUCKET LIST

With the inside of the house set to wrap up shortly I am excited to be able to start enjoying some summer fun! Not to mention my super pale skin could use a touch of color. Here's what's on my agenda for the summer:

• Hikes with the hubs and pup
• Ledges
• Maffitt Reservoir
• Walnut Woods
• Jester Park
• Take the pup for a swim
• Picnic at Grey's Lake
• Tan at Raccoon River Park
• Go camping for a weekend
• Work on our gardens
• Begin work on our vegetable garden area
• Maybe get some raised beds built
• Finish the Harry Potter series (that's right I'm obsessed and on book 4 right now)
• Eat
• Tropical Snow
• Snookies
• Woody's Smoke Shack
• Restaurant Week!
• Enjoy craft beers on our patio

Simple. Inexpensive. Summer. So glad it's finally here!

STUCK

I saw this today over at Oh So Beautiful Paper, and talk about hitting the nail on the head! It has been one of those weeks. You know the kind. The ones where you cry and cry and can't stop? Ugh, it stinks! I've been having one of those, "who am I" kind of weeks ... or maybe it's been months, I'm not sure. It's been this really deep ache in my gut I tell you what and "stuck" is a great way to describe it.

I've said to many people lately if it were socially acceptable I'd be the hippie type. You know long wavy hair, long skirts, tank top, no bra, showers occasionally, has a huge garden, lives on an acreage, paints in the barn, has 6 dogs and and roost chickens kind of person, and don't forget my crazy herd of kids running amuck (can you image poor Murph in that situation? haha). But that isn't the season I am in right now. Right now I live in the 'burbs, work in a law firm, and have no urban chickens. I don't paint (unless it's a wall in our house), I still shower (Murph might disagree on the weekends) and we don't have a family yet. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my life. It is so full in so many ways, but something lately is amiss and I am ready to become unstuck. I think a part of my soul is wandering around outside of my body somewhere and I want to find it.

So I did the logical thing and made a list. Thinking maybe one of these things will fill the space between:

• Chop off my hair, I mean short. Like really short.
• Dye my hair red. 
• New glasses
• New shoes
• Get a long skirt and spend the morning at the farmer's market with a scarf in my hair
• Sketch every day for a month
• Take a calligraphy class
• Get a new tattoo
• Get a puppy
• Volunteer my time somewhere
• Drink more wine
• Run more
• Become a certified yoga instructor
• Take a class at Hope
• Do cartwheels in the yard
• Write a mission statement for my life
• Do more for others
• Learn to sew

I don't know what it is, but I'm not going to feel stuck any more. I'm on a mission to find me!

SNEAK PEEK!

Things are shaping up at Hawthorn Drive and I'm so happy that I am dancing in our kitchen :) Well really I am dancing everywhere downstairs and a little upstairs too. Here are just reasons for my dancing, some of the photos are terrible but I shot them at night so forgive me.

We have NEW CHAIRS! Yippppeeeee. Seriously the best deal ever. $50 each at IKEA ($66 w/ shipping) for 6 beautiful new white chairs, the perfect bright and crisp punch for our farmhouse table

And here is a sneak peek at the vanity Murph and I crafted up out of a black desk and sink parts from Overstock.com. My dad made a wood top for it too beef if up a bit.

Oh yeah, we GOT NEW TRIM UP! Yes after months of longing we were able to have my parents come down and help us get up some amazing new, white trim. It is glorious! Well almost, still LOTS of caulking and touch ups to go, BUT SERIOUSLY AMAZING! Oh yeah, those doors are new too :)

And finally on a non downstairs related note, Murph and I quick put up some sweet wall mounted lights in our bedroom. Those bad boys were $20 each, yes $20 each. Oh how I love a great looking bargain and how I love us each having a light! Now about those pesky night stands.....

CHEERS FOR 1 YEAR!

Um what?! Can it be? We seriously celebrated our 1 year anniversary this weekend?! Eeeekkkk! Yes it is true Murph and I have been married a year, and I could hardly believe it. We decided to take last Friday off and spend our anniversary with 4 days at home, exciting I know! We did accomplish a few things though including: oil changes, painting all of the new trim to be installed, some yard work, a few runs and dinner with our friends Kyle and Sarah.

For our actual anniversary we exchanged some gifts, hit up Cozy Cafe for breakfast, spent some time on our deck, went to church and grabbed dinner at Johnny's with some dessert from the Cheesecake Factory. Pretty great day in my book!

In the last year Murph and I learned so much about each other. Since we didn't live together before we got married there was a bit of a learning curve in those first few months and we had our fair share of squabbles (i.e. banana peels go in the OUTSIDE trash!) but since this past Fall things have been sailing along pretty smooth. I truly think we can state getting on the same page with our money/debt situation as the biggest accomplishment in this first year and I am so glad we have squashed almost all of our debt in a matter of months. I also am thankful for our continued walk together in our faith. We both prayed for a spouse who would be a positive influence in our faith and we are so thankful that has been the case from the start.

So what's in store for year 2? Who knows! We have gotten some estimates for working on the exterior of our home and that is what we plan to save up for over the next 12 months or so. A new roof, gutters, soffit, fascia, siding and maybe some stone veneer are on the agenda. We have about 1/3 of the expenses saved for but will be focusing in on the other 2/3rds this year. After running through the pros/cons of full siding replacement we think that a repair is just a band-aid fix and we plan on staying at least another decade at Hawthorn Drive so we are going to take the plunge and we are so freaking excited to see what our house will look like after it's makeover.

She's beggin' for a makeover!

Cheers to a great first year and thank you to everyone who has supported us on our journey, we couldn't do it alone!

HEARTACHE

I'm emotional. I cry at every kids movie I see, the show Parenthood is close to being banned in our house, and once the sight of BabyGap opened my flood gates right in the middle of the mall. I'm emotional.

However, the older I get the more I truly see what heartbreak is, and realize I haven't experienced it. Deep sadness, yes. Heartbreak, no. The footage from Oklahoma is unbearable for me to watch, I can't imagine experiencing it firsthand. Yet somehow, this emerges. At the end she says, "Well I thought God just answered one prayer, to let me be ok ... He answered both of them, because this is my best friend." Sometimes I need a simple reminder that even in tragedy God is at work.

ADOPT!

When I was young we had a Shih Tzu, I named him Murphy, how funny is that?! He was a punk that bit me twice in the face, and "went to a farm north of town" when he got my sister ... and yes I am bitter that I got two bites and she got one! After that the Bauman's never had another pet. Then two years ago after dating for a few months I got a text from Murph with this picture in it.

Hi. Please love me!

Chief was a pup at the ARL and I was smitten. I had wanted a dog for years but the timing was never right. I saw those big goofy eyes and we had to visit! After our visit to the ARL, we knew he had to be ours (ok, Murph's, I was just the girlfriend). Murph got him the next day and we started the crazy ride of dog life, and changed his name to Willy. He was a holy terror. He bit, he barked, he was naughty, he brought us to tears more than once. But we stuck it out and did some training with him. Slowly but surely he changed, we saw he really was smart.

What a furry mess he was when we got him

Crazy dog

He was there when Murph asked me to marry him, and I was so happy to hear that were were officially going to be a family :) Soon after we celebrated having him a year. His "crazy ears" had finally laid down and he was now the happiest pup around.

Engaged. Finally going to be a family!

So dapper on the celebration of his first year with us!

Willy is a dog, this I know. But he is part of our family, and I love him like mad. He never fails to greet me at the door jumping like crazy, he's a great running partner and the best cuddler ever. He lays in my lap when I cry and makes us laugh daily. My dad is nuts about him which makes me smile, even though he feeds him whatever he pleases when we visit them. Willy is a keeper for sure. I am so glad we rescued this mutt 2 years ago, he's the best and will always be the start of our family. Happy WillyDog day! Adopt!

First family Christmas card as the Murphy's

Our General Contractor

Love!

One smart pup :)

I can't lie I melt when he is sleepy on my chest