Rainy Days and Mondays

So it's not Monday - It's Saturday, but it's a rainy one today! April showers bring May flowers though, right? I'm just popping in while we're at home watching the Cubs game. We were supposed to get our new dishwasher delivered today (I ordered it online from Lowe's a couple of weeks ago, and it just came in), but they weren't able to deliver it until Wednesday. That didn't work for us, because we are both gone during the week working. SO..the plan was to go to town today to pick it up instead.

So right now we're still at home, waiting for the rain to slow down so we can finally pick up our dishwasher. (It's been pouring for hours now) I'm ready to get a new one, since our current one has been leaking every time we run it. It gets the kitchen floor soaking wet, so we have to put a bazillion towels down in order to run it! It's a rollaway dishwasher, too, as is the new one, since we don't yet have a hook-up in our kitchen for one.

Meanwhile, I've also been waiting for a nice day to plant these wildflowers that I got in the mail recently:

Did anyone else sign up on the Cheerios website to get wildflower seeds? It's part of their Bring Back the Bees promotion. I thought it would be fun to do!

Trent's dad just tilled up the garden last weekend for us, but since then it's been pretty rainy and chilly, so we haven't been able to plant them back there yet. I'm still itching to get some flowers for my pots, too. 

Next week, we leave for Ohio on Thursday! Trent will be a groomsman in his cousin Aaron's wedding. We are super excited to see everyone again and hang out for a few days. 

Ok, continuing to wait for the rain to slow... will keep you updated!

Cold Temps, and A Christmas Decor Update

Everyone keeping warm out there? We're in negative temps right now. It's COLD. Needless to say, I'm not stepping foot outside today if I don't have to!

This is the temp right now...feels like -25 degrees out there!

We were supposed to go to our friends' Ugly Christmas Sweater Party last night, but they decided to postpone it, because the weather was pretty bad. Blowing snow and ice on the roads. So, instead we went up town to the bar with Trent's brother for a little bit. Trent still donned his ugly Christmas sweater :) They're supposed to have the party on the 30th now instead, so hopefully we'll be able to go then, and take some fun pictures. :)

Now for a Christmas decor update! We never got any lights up outside this year. :( Trent's been working 6 days a week for the past month or two, so we've been too busy to put them up. Oh well - there's always next year.

I did get the front porch decorated with some of the usual decor items. I didn't get a picture yet, though...but maybe before Christmas I can still get one.

This weekend I've been home watching movies again. Today we're both home, and hope to get some cleaning done. Trent already vacuumed this morning. I'll be spending the afternoon washing dishes. Woo-hoo.

Most of the Christmas presents are done and under the tree. I think we're running out of space for them!

After Christmas, I'll share a little post about the gifts I put together. I did kind of a different theme this year.

Well, it's back to movies and the dishes. Have a good rest of the weekend, everyone! :)

First Snowfall

Happy Sunday! Today's my first full day being back home after a long work conference in Omaha this week. I got back yesterday afternoon. (More to come about the conference soon!) Today, after finally getting a full night's sleep, I woke up to the first snowfall of the year. 

This morning, I'm watching a movie while the snow falls down. Even though they've only been saying 1-3 inches, now it's looking like more than that.

It's so pretty when it's falling, and as it first starts to cover everything outside. But, I'm not looking forward to driving in it!

When I first put the tree up for the season, I discovered that the top lights went out. Trent thought it was a fuse, but after looking at it closer, nothing seemed to get them to come back on. So, we picked up a small string of lights from the store, and I added them to the top of the tree.

They blend in pretty well, don't you think? Now the tree looks the way it should be again. :)

I guess we will continue to watch the snow fall and see how many inches we end up with!

I have a feeling we're going to get a lot more than the 1-3 inches they say we'll get. :)

Weekend Fun in Galesburg

This weekend, a few notable things happened:

1. We had absolutely PERFECT weather! 70's and 80's and sunny.
2. We had two bonfires, and grilled out with family.
3. We saw a huge, bright meteor in the sky right in front of us - this one.
4. Trent and I walked with his family in the "Run for a Reason," a 5k walk/run in honor of his cousin who passed away three years ago.

It was a great weekend overall! It actually felt more like summer than spring, and given that I have been up since 5:00 this morning (we had the 5k earlier today), my day today has been long but relaxing. Though I am pretty exhausted, I've been getting some things done around the house while Trent is working this afternoon.

Yesterday we had some drinks and appetizers at Iron Spike Brewery in Galesburg. We went with Trent's cousin Amanda, her husband Steve and their son Eli, Trent's cousin Jessica, and her husband Dusty. Trent and I have been there a couple of times before - it's an old Firehouse that the owners turned into a brewpub.

It's a pretty cool atmosphere, and they have a large selection of craft brews, which Trent likes. Plus, we were able to watch the Cubs beat the Rockies on TV, which was also pretty awesome. We even tried moscow mules for the first time, which I wasn't too impressed with. They're kind of like ginger beer with a hint of lime. Wouldn't be my drink of choice, but I do love the copper mugs. :)

We were in Galesburg yesterday to pick up our packets for the race. This was Trent and I's first time doing the Run for a Reason for his cousin Tyson, who passed away in 2013.

Every time we are downtown Galesburg, I see so many cool old buildings that I've never really noticed before or paid much attention to. Like this big, old brick building with a giant fire escape/stairwell. I just thought it looked really cool.

Then there's the antique mall, which I wish we could have stopped at but didn't have much extra time. It's such a cool historic building and is a huge part of what makes this downtown so unique.

This morning was the 5k with Trent's family. We walked it, but we didn't do too bad time-wise. About 48 minutes. I think my legs might be sore tomorrow though, since I'm not used to that much walking. Today will be the first day since I got my Fitbit in December, that I will have logged over 10,000 steps. :)

Anyway, it's been a fun weekend, with perfect weather and sunshine all weekend long. Lots of fun, bonfires, food and grilled burgers, and Trent's uncle Mark made us breakfast this morning. (yum!).

Oh, and we picked up some new adirondack chairs for the back patio! Pretty excited to fix that area up a little this summer. More on that later!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Spring Has Hit Our Front Yard

Spring has sprung in our town. Trees are finally blooming, and my peony bush is growing bigger and bigger! Today was an 80 degree day, with tomorrow looking to be just as nice. The weather has been just about perfect this weekend.

Look how green the grass is in the yard! Dandelions are making their appearance, the trees are getting leaves, and soon it will be time for planting the garden and flowers in my flower pots.

Trent's family is here from Ohio for the "Run for a Reason" 5k tomorrow. We signed up and picked up our packets today and plan to join them for the walk/run. 

I'll share more about the weekend's festivities soon. So far it's been spent having bonfires and barbecues, and enjoying the nice weather with family.

Spring is One Step Closer to Summer

This has been an unseasonably mild March so far. A lot of times in the Midwest, there's still snow on the ground in early March, or we get a blizzard. This year, the end of winter has been so nice and springlike! Take the following:

1. We've had 70 degree days and will be getting more next week. 2. We've already been shutting off the heat and opening the windows and doors. 3. The grass is becoming green, and we can hear birds chirping when we wake up. 4. Sunday is daylight savings time, which means more hours of daylight.

I think it's safe to say that spring is already here. Now all that's left is for the trees to start blooming. Spring-cleaning time is about here, guys and gals!

I'm excited about this, because that means we're just a little closer to summer. I'm starting to think about vacations, weekend getaways, and summer sunshine...And boats, concerts, and baseball games!

So many summer memories to cherish. Time for some more!

Snow Days and Painting

Hello there..popping in for a minute before I head to bed for the night! Yesterday my work was cancelled due to weather. We didn't exactly have an ice or snow storm this time, but there were wind chills in the twenties-below zero range, so work was called off. It was a nice day at home again and I got to spend the day with Trent, watching old home videos. I had a pretty good extended 3-day weekend, I'd say!

It was definitely a cold one. Friday night I stayed home after going to the Jason Aldean and Thomas Rhett concert on Thursday, then working all day. I was a little tired by then! Trent went to the Mallards game, and the next day I had a hair appointment in the morning, then we shopped and hung out in Galesburg for a bit. Sunday was a family birthday party, and the start of watching home videos.

Saturday I painted a little bit while Trent was at his dad's to work on his car. Here's a little detail shot from the painting that I did over the weekend. This part is kind of "flowery." I'm not sure if it's finished yet. Definitely some more experimenting!

I hope to paint more this week, too. We'll see where all of my playing goes.

Christmas 2015

How was everyone's Christmas?! Hope you all had fun spending time with family and got everything you wanted! Here's a little recap of our Christmas this year, which was super busy and filled with family.

Our Christmas started out really laid back. Christmas morning, Trent and I opened all of our presents to each other at home. We each got each other lots of little things. Trent got me a couple of coloring books, which I've already started coloring! I got a few movies - Inside Out, 22 Jump Street, and Serendipity. He also got me the Kacey Musgraves and Luke Bryan CDs, and a Bluetooth waterproof speaker that I can listen to when taking a shower or getting ready.

I got Trent Chicago Bears socks and t-shirt, a scarf and beanie, Dave Matthews Band travel coffee mug, a sweater, the Thomas Rhett CD, and the new car jack he wanted. Oh, and some strong coffee and a refillable K-cup to go with it!

I'd say we did pretty good this year with our gifts to each other. 

That afternoon, we stopped by Trent's aunt and uncle's to exchange gifts there with his family. Unfortunately we couldn't stay long though, because we had Christmas with my dad's side of the family that night. Me, Haley, and Mom all wore our ugly Christmas sweaters we got in Chicago. I felt like a total dork, but they were kind of cute.

We did the annual exchanging of presents at my grandma's house, opened presents from Mom and Dad, and Haley and Dan brought their new puppy Frannie along, so we were entertained for quite a while with her shenanigans! I don't think she's calmed down much since we last saw them a month ago. She was her usual excited self!

The day after, we went back to my family's for Christmas with my Mom's side. We all went out for lunch, then exchanged presents and did our new annual tradition of Christmas Bingo. I think each year, the prize selection gets bigger and bigger! It was a good time. 

Later after most of the family left, we watched a movie and our friends Chad and Diane came over for pizza. We ate and played a Movie/TV trivia game until we had to head back home again.

After we got home that night we went back to Trent's aunt's to spend a little time with the folks who are out in Ohio that we don't get to see too often. We were there until about 2:00. What a long but fun weekend. I'm surprised I got any sleep at all!

We did get some awesome gifts from our families, too. Gift cards, jewelry, lots of cookies and sweets, and I finally got a Fitbit! Too bad I didn't do too much that was actually active this weekend! So much sitting around eating food and hanging out with family! But that's what the holidays are all about. 

Today was supposed to be back to work for me, but after some really mild Christmas weather, we had a big winter storm hit this morning. Ice, rain, and snow all fell on us today, with high winds, too. So my work was cancelled, and I got a day to relax and spend time with Trent at home! I took a long nap, and we watched a lot of movies. It was a nice change from all the craziness earlier in the week. 

So that was our busy Christmas weekend. I still don't have all of our gifts put away, but have 2 trash bags full of wrapping paper and boxes that need to go out. Anyone else getting hit by a winter storm? Hopefully the roads are better tomorrow. We'll see!

Christmas Lights

Hello all! I got back from Pittsburgh on Saturday, and I was tired. I had a work conference there last week which kind of takes a lot of energy out of you sometimes. I flew back Saturday morning and got to spend time with Trent for a little while, then went to bed at 7:30 that night! I'm still a tad tired now, since I'm back to work this week, but it's good to be back to my normal schedule.

I'll have a little post about Pittsburgh hopefully this week. For now, I'm still catching up on sharing our Christmas decorations on the house. :) So here are a few pictures of our exterior Christmas lights!

They're similar to last year's (see here and here) in keeping with the gold light theme. The porch is also pretty similar. I'll share a picture or two soon of that. It's hard since I'm not home during many hours of daylight this time of year.

As always, the view inside the side window is our Christmas tree all lit up. And there is no snow this year! We had one big snow, and then nothing! It's been in the fifties with rain here and there. Odd December weather, but I guess I'll take it.

I've been busy this month so am still buying Christmas gifts and wrapping presents! But I'll share an update of our tree with presents under it soon. :)

A Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday! Anyone do some Black Friday shopping today? Or maybe you got it all done last night? We skipped the in-store shopping this year and opted for online deals instead. It was a last minute decision! I think I was just too worn out from yesterday's festivities.

I know I'm a little late on the Thanksgiving post since it was yesterday and all, but we've been busy this week, so this is the first day I've actually been home long enough to post! We had a good day yesterday visiting with both of our families and eating lots of food. We stuffed our faces, that's for sure! I made deviled eggs for the second time ever, and will have the recipe up tomorrow for anyone who's interested. They turned out amazing if I do say so myself.

I didn't take any pictures at Thanksgiving, so I'll end this post with a few photos I took of the sunset this week on my drive home from work. After the snow we got last weekend, we had a pretty nice, sunny week.

One good thing about living in the country is there are lots of back roads to drive down and stop at if you want to get a good sunset picture. :)

I had to stop and take a few since it was so gorgeous. The entire sky was lit up with oranges and yellows.

When there is this much beauty in the world, how can you not be thankful!

5-Year Housiversary and First Snowfall

Hello all! Today marks five years to the day that we started living in this house together! How time flies. I've been calling it our "Housiversary." And how perfect to mark the occasion, than the first snowfall of the year?

And what a snowfall it was. We've heard it's coming all week, and today on this lovely Saturday, it's here. I thought I would be mad, but instead, it oddly has gotten me into the Christmas sprit. More on that later...

We've had a nice little Saturday around the house today. Trent made strawberry banana pancakes this morning. And we watched Ernest Saves Christmas at breakfast.

I took a jaunt outside to check out the snow.

It seems the trees weren't really ready for all of this!

And neither was Trent. I guess it's not so fun when you have to shovel it all.

I'm not sure how many inches we got, but I think it's somewhere in the 6-10 range.

So I guess I would say winter is finally here in full force. It is kinda pretty, though.

The sad thing is we were ALMOST finished with the walkway. Just about 5 bags short of river rock is all that's left. 5 bags! Which means, we almost made it before the first snowfall...but not quite.

Now it's a little snow covered. Trent has been a trooper this week and has gotten supplies right after work, then worked to lay it all down in the dark when he got home. We knew we wouldn't have much time left to get it finished. But it's almost done, so at least it will be so much nicer this winter not having to tread through as much snow.

Can you believe there are even still leaves on some of the trees?

Oh well.. And back to being in the Christmas spirit now, I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, and usually I put up the Christmas tree the day after, but.... I put the tree up today. :)

I'll have all the deets tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Cleaning Weekend

The house is looking a tad cleaner this week! This past weekend we stayed home most of the time, and we both got the urge to do some deep cleaning. We completely tore apart the living room to get all of those dust bunnies behind the couch, and worst of all - those pesky Asian beetles that linger everywhere this time of year. We had them around the curtains, on the furniture, the walls, and ceiling of the living room.  So, naturally, Trent took the vacuum to them!

I should have taken more pictures, but my allergies were going crazy on Sunday. Too much dust I suppose! So I just got ones of Trent vacuuming. :) We had the couch pulled out, the rug pulled out, the curtains off...it was serious business.

It was such a nice day on Sunday that we even opened the windows and let some air in. I have a feeling that might be the last nice day we have in a while! This week has been chilly and rainy, and we're expecting our first snow this weekend.

It's so weird to see our living room without curtains. Check out the hardware on those windows! I definitely follow the "high and wide" rule when it comes to hanging my curtains. Makes the windows appear tons bigger than they really are! We washed all of our white curtains in some bleach, then hung them back up. I think I did a total of four full loads of laundry on Sunday, with bedding, curtains, pillow cases, and throw blankets. 

We cleaned the kitchen, too. And tackled the pantry area. Two loads of dishes - all tupperware containers! It looks much better in there now, though, so I'm glad we got that all done. Let's just hope it stays that way. ;)