Monday, April 19, 2010

Scott's pet orchids

We've had two orchids since moving into our home on Sweetbriar Street (about six months before we got married -- so three years ago?)

Of course we purchased them blooming but we could never get them to do anything again. The leaves were healthy and reproducing, they were potted correctly, but... nothing!

We inherited a small pinched off plant from an Orchid we gave Scott's mother for Mother's Day a few years ago, and we threw that in it's own pot. It began to grow large leaves but would never grow a stem. Scott followed all of the watering "rules" but we just couldn't figure it out! I finally told him that if they didn't bloom this year, we would throw them out and start fresh. Two years of non-blooming orchids does not make for a happy wife!!

The orchids may have realized they were wearing out their welcome, because near the end of the year last year, they began to grow stems! Here are some shots of our very loved orchids:


before the flower


flowering


from Sweetbriar Street

Sunday, April 18, 2010

a few new things

I've purchased "a few" new things since my last update! I found and fell in love with this bedding -- and bought it -- just to realize that it is the exact same bedding my brother and sister-in-law are using for my nephew Preston! It made me think of something my friend Brittany told me when she was buying furniture for her new home. She chose the same entertainment center her sister was using at her house, but decided to go with it anyway. Great minds think alike, right?

When we painted the bathroom, we chose the paint color for the nursery. It was sort of a muted greenish color... we thought! We bought three gallons (just in case) for around $100. For a few weeks it's been sitting in our storage area outside waiting to go on the walls.

This weekend, Scott pulled out the paint. As it began to go up on the walls, we decided it looked blue!



We both love the color, but it's not quite what we were expecting! Seeing as how we'd already purchased three gallons (and my sweet husband spent so much time being the wonderful painter that he has become) we decided immediately to go forward and stick with it.

All in all, Scott did a beautiful job! We ordered Tyler's dresser this week and also bought a glider from a friend -- so the nursery will soon be coming together!

Here are some shots:



please excuse the large maternity pillow on the glider :)

Saturday night I was invited to a Planned Parenthood fundraiser. I had the opportunity to meet the CEO of Planned Parenthood and Julie Powell, the author whose movie was turned into the movie Julie and Julia. Because of my past involvement with Planned Parenthood and my very obvious planned pregnancy, I was selected to choose winners for the door prizes! I was told afterward that my performance as Vanna White was "just perfect" :)

Here is a photo of me before the event:


and Julie Powell with the CEO of Planned Parenthood:

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Revisiting "the list"

I was talking with a girlfriend last night about things she wanted to do to her house in the next few years... which leads me to revisiting our own list. We have a "new" one now -- conveniently stuck to the refrigerator -- but here's our original (with updates)

Working on our list!
For a refresher, here are the things still on our home "to do" list:

Paint office -- done
Paint laundry room -- done
Paint pantry -- done

Paint master closets -- done
Paint master bath
Paint guest bath -- finally complete!
Replace fixtures in guest bath -- still looking...
Replace mirror in guest bath -- priced, but not done
Replace toilet seat in guest bath
Replace shower head in guest bath -- ordered and in the mail!
Figure out what's wrong with guest toilet (done) and fix it (not done) as a side note, this mysteriously fixed itself after we purchased the repair kit. i guess we won't be needing to repair it now! so, done!

Fix drains in guest bath
Paint outdoor arch (done!!)
Replace frilly curtains on front door--done!!

Replace light in kitchen
Add mechanical arm to iron gate -- DONE!
Repair grout in kitchen -- instead, we are removing the tile and having granite and new appliances installed. this one item now requires it's own list!
Caulk cracks near roof -- done
Remove huge ugly Sago palm -- finally done!!
Clean dryer vent --done!

Replace ridge vents
Remove attic vent and patch hole (we just fixed it)
Remove tree close to house (we are trimming it and not removing it)
Plant trees to replace all of the stuff we're removing :) (done!! we planted two!)
Paint hallway -- done


Seeing our original list makes me feel like we've done quite a bit... although there have been many more lists :)

Over the next two months, my goal is to complete the kitchen remodel (counters and appliance conversions) and complete the nursery. These will be our biggest projects to date (as well as the most expensive) but if we don't do them now, will we ever?

Friday, April 2, 2010

bathroom painting day!

we HATED the color of our guest bath, so painting has been a to-do for about 14 months :) Nothing like a baby on the way to get these projects going!

We used the Valspar paint plus primer, but it looks like we still need another coat of paint in the second half of the bathroom. Here's the finished color in the first half:


Before



After

I have to thank my painter again -- Thank you Scott! The project actually took all day, but we rewarded ourselves with DeAngelo's dinner and Abita Strawberry beer (for Scott). When the bath area is finished, I'll take a photo of that area.

Next project? Painting the nursery!

UPDATE:
Scott finishing the back part of the bathroom:

rain barrel

Scott actually did this the day after we dug the garden, but I've been slacking at taking the photo and posting it!

We bought a 10' strip of gutter and a downspout at Lowe's and Scott cut and hung it. When the water comes off of the roof, it goes down the downspout and into the barrel. The barrel has a mesh hole in the top to keep out debris. The spout at the bottom uses the pressure from the weight of the water to power fill the hose... and water our plants!

Enjoy: