Before and After - Alley Lamp

Before

During

After

Cost: $16 for shade and spray paint

I LOVE IT!

Lancaster, PA

Brad and I, along with three friends, left Chicago last Thursday and headed to Pennsylvania. We were headed for Lititz, where my dear friend Linsey lives and got married this last Saturday.

We arrived Thursday evening and Brad dropped us ladies off in downtown Lancaster (which is much more advanced than we had anticipated - we were expecting horses and buggies, but they have public transportation...) We met up with Linsey and her sister, Brittany and went and painted pottery for Lins' bachelorette party. Linsey picked out the pieces and colors she wanted and then all of us got to get dirty and be creative. Kim painted a candle holder, Miriam a honey jar, Zoe a sugar dish, Brittany a large serving bowl, Linsey a vase and Me a pitcher. It was so much fun making pretty pieces for Linsey's new home.

Friday was busy with wedding preparations and decorating. Brad and I ran a bunch of last minute errands for the Zimmerman family - it was fun helping out at a wedding and not stressing about planning it ourselves! Lancaster is such a beautiful area! Rolling hills, little farm houses and of course, who couldn't be intrigued by the amish and their simple lifestyle. We also got to see Linsey and Joel's new home - it is so fun to have a friend who is experiencing the same things, marriage and home ownership! I only wish we lived closer to each other!

Saturday morning, the ladies and I reported for duty at 7 am to get our hair done. The wedding was at 11 am. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception- I was honored to be involved in Linsey and Joel's special day. I don't have any pictures from the wedding - but when some are posted on facebook, I'll make sure to put some up.

Saturday evening, Brad and I went out on a date - it was really nice, after a few days of constant contact with others and helping out, to get away and spend some time with each other. We found a cute restaurant in Lancaster that was on a river. We sat outside and enjoyed the quiet.

These were cool tiki torches set up around the deck of the restaurant - sadly they were not flaming.

My handsome man.

Me :)

Here is the back of my hair - it looked great! Linsey's new mom-in-law is a beautician, she and a few of the ladies at her salon did the bridal parties hair.

It was a really fun trip, we are happy to be home - 24 hours in the car over the course of 4 days is not that fun, but thankfully the car brought us safely home. Oh and we got to have Chick-fil-a and Sonic over the course of the trip - so fun!

Wanna be my Caddy?

A few Saturdays ago, Jenny, Brandon, Brad and I all went golfing!

Jenny and I driving our golf cart.

Brandon - silly as always. :)

Brad, practicing his swing

Brad and Brandon in their golf cart.

Brad has applied for a few Mystery Shops* at golf courses, he hasn't been accepted for most of them, but a few weeks ago, he was asked to go to Sugar Creek Golf Course with three other friends so he could analyze the service and condition at the course.

We played 9 holes. Brad against Sarah/Jenny/Brandon's best ball. Brad, of course, won.... for those of you who don't know, he played golf in high school.

I was recently given a set of golf clubs from the family I babysit for - THANKS PAMELA!!! - so hopefully Brad and I will be able to get out a few more times this summer/fall to play. There is a golf course two blocks north of our house.....

* Mystery Shopping is a service that analyzes/critiques how a business is doing (i.e.. customer service, cleanliness of grounds/building, quality of service rendered). Brad has been picking up a few jobs whenever he gets time and making a bit of extra spending money. Usually the business reimburses you for a pre determined amount of money and pays between $10-$15. In the case of the golf course - they reimbursed us for the game and $20 of money spent in the club house.

Our Chloe Cat

I was looking through pictures the other day and was shocked to see how our kitty has grown - when you witness growth on a day to day basis, I don't think you notice it as much.

Chloe last summer,


Chloe this summer,


She does love that laundry basket....

Summer Update

Good Afternoon All,

We have had a busy few weeks and have some adventures ahead of us in the next few.

This last weekend we were excited to be able to attend my cousin Jessie's wedding in St Paul, MN. We had a great time visiting with family and catching up.

On the way home to Chicago we were able to pick up my sister Jana from the airport in Madison, WI and have dinner with her before bringing her to her friend Mollie's house where she is going to be for the next week and half. We went to Prime Quarter - a grill-your-own-steak restaurant. It was really fun to see Jana and spend some time with her before heading home.

We have established a routine here in our new home - it still feels surreal at times, but we are feeling settled.

This next weekend is free, we hope to get some projects done here around the house. Then the following Thursday (July 30th) we head to PA for my dear friend Linsey's wedding. We are road tripping it with three of our friends - it will be a full car! I am sure we will come back with lots of fun pictures from that trip - start getting excited. :)

Well, that is an update on our lives! We would love to hear from you! How is summer treating you?

Before and After - 2nd Bathroom

Before

After

Its amazing what a gallon of oops paint* will do!

*For those of you who do not know what oops paint is - Man! Are you missing out - Oops paint is the paint that the nice guys at your local-friendly-hardware store make up for picky people who then don't like it! The rejected paint then goes to the "oops shelf" for loving, adventurous people like myself to buy for a HUGE discount! (I got this gallon for $1! And it was premium paint - I go for the deals)

Our Porch

We have thoroughly enjoyed having a porch on which to grill and eat, read and relax.

Grilled Goodies for Summer 2009 (so far): Chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, salmon and potato rounds (didn't work as well as anticipated - but hey, we tried!). Next we are going to try some Mahi Mahi.... We'll let you know how it goes!

I found that window in the ally! I am going to use it to decorate somewhere.... haven't decided yet. :)

Pretty flowers! Thanks Mom K!

Who'da thunk that we would use our outdoor chairs on our porch before we took them camping?

When we eat outside we bring our step-stool out. It functions well as a little table between our chairs.

We use the back stairs as our entrance, its closer to the garage, where the car lives - the stairs are to the right in this picture and the one above. So this is the view we get when we approach our house on an every-day basis. I love the star on the door - it says "Howdy" :)