Xmas 2012

This week we spent time with Nick's family for the holidays.  It was fun; lots of laughing.  I've decided that a baby is often more entertaining for family than anything on TV.  Our niece, Abigail, was the center of attention. 

 

This was "Abigail Model Shoot Time"  She doesn't sit still, so it was difficult to get these two pictures of her.   She is so adorable in the tutu.

 Nick and I got her the little Razorback teddy.  She held onto it for quite a while during gift opening. 

Abigail got a haul.  The pile of toys was huge, and this isn't even all of it.  We got her the Razorback teddy, sensory balls, and 4 books.

On New Year's Day,  I will be reviewing 2012 resolutions, and revealing our 2013 resolutions.

Guest Bedroom Update

With guests over this week, I have finished the guest room.  I've done some updates to the guest room.  I changed the artwork, and duvet.  I also changed the side table as well. 

In the new year, I plan to paint the walls, replace one of the blinds, and add curtains.  In the meantime, this will be where our guest will rest over the holidays.

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Prep

The past couple weekends have been spent preparing for family during the holidays.  We worked on many unfinished projects that have been piling up for a little while now.  Here are the items we completed in the last couple weeks:
Fix closet organizer in guest closet
Add shelf to my office closet
Pulled weeds/manicured front landscaping
Added shelves to outdoor shed
Organized laundry closet
Cleaned laundry room
Cleaned my office
Moved dirt to low spots in back yard
Wrapped gifts

This week, and next weekend we will be cleaning, and getting the guest bedroom prepared for guests.  Nick's family will be flying in on Christmas Eve, and staying most of the week.  We are looking forward to spending some time with them.

Have you been finishing up any projects before family arrives?

Bathroom Reveal

Over the past couple months I have been improving the guest bathroom.   First, I removed the old medicine cabinet.  Then, I added a shelf and artwork.  In November, I decided to paint the walls, because I hated the old color (Behr Eggnog).  After all that, I was left with a nice bathroom with ugly tile flooring.  So I decided to paint the floor. 
 I used Behr Porch and Floor paint.  I followed the directions on the can, using the recommended Behr primer.  So, down went two coats of primer.

Then I used the Porch and Floor paint, which I had tinted to Behr Ionic Sky.  Three coats later, and some touch up to the grout (which is the white primer), I was done.

I am OK with the floor.  It is suppose to be low luster, and I was expecting eggshell or satin appearance, but it seems nearly flat.  I am thinking about adding a clear coat to give it the feel that I want, but I have read that some clear coats yellow over time, and that would make the floor a little green.  I am a little unhappy with the color.  It's a little light, compared to what I had in mind.  But overall the bathroom is much better looking, and will do until we redo this room in several years.

Here's the before and after:

 These changes will do for now, but I'm looking forward to gutting this bathroom eventually.

Nick's Razorback Haul

While we were in Arkansas, we were on a mission to find as many razorback items we could.  We tried to avoid things we could get online, or cheaper elsewhere.  We started in Little Rock, at The Crown Shop.  It has a small Razorback section, but it has many items that aren't readily available everywhere.  Nick got a metal sculpture, and a print (football player), and I got two metal Xmas ornaments.

In Fayetteville, we went to the mall and found a plethora of items; A metal razorback sign, a pennant magnet, an Old Main framed print, a razorback basketball and football, as well as a football book.  I found more ornaments and a razorback shirt at TJ Maxx.

A quick stop to Walmart (I think it's obligatory when in NW AR) for tailgating drinks, resulted in a razorback flag, helmet "sculpture", and coasters.  We also stopped at Hawg Town, in Fayetteville, which was the surprise of trip.  It looks like it isn't open, but it is.  It's a mess, and it's awesome.  Lots of older items, unique things, and odd items.  There is even a small section of things that aren't for sale, but just to look at.  We found a sweet razorback business card holder, a Big Red football statue, and a gift for our niece.

We also found a metal razorback sculpture at Rick's Bakery, and planned on picking it up after Thanksgiving, but they were closed.  After emailing Rick's Bakery, I found out they could ship it to me.  This is Nick's Xmas gift, which I should get this week.

Overall, I think Nick got plenty of things on this trip. Now we just need to frame the print, and arrange the items. 

Razorback Christmas Tree

Nick and I were driving back from Fayetteville yesterday, so that's why this post is late.

This year I decided on a Razorback Christmas tree.  I've been collecting pig and razorback ornaments for a couple years.  I also added some football ornaments as well. 

 

I have a couple new ornaments from the trip, which will be added too.  

Have you put up your tree yet?

University of Arkansas Campus

We went on a walk around campus this morning, and I took a couple pictures

It's a pretty campus. Much larger than where I went to school.  We are going to the basketball game tonight, and heading back to his parent's place for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  We will be back for football game on Friday.

Hunting Camp

I went to my FIL's hunting camp in Arkansas this morning.  It was the first time I had seen the new camp.  His hunting land floods every year, and a couple years ago a flood destroyed his elevated camp.  His new camp sits on foam, and can float as the waters rise.  There are four 25 foot tall posts that help guide the building up. 

Here's the neighbor's camp; a more traditional elevated building:

Here's the floating camp:

It's a great solution for the flooding problems they have.
There weren't many deer out today, but we saw a nice buck, a couple does, and about 10 turkeys.

Nick and I will be driving up to Fayetteville, Monday.  We will be there for a couple days, and then we will be coming back to his hometown for Thanksgiving.

Off to Arkansas

Today we leave for Arkansas today, arriving Saturday at noon or so.  We will be spending the night in Mississippi or Alabama.  I have spent most of the week making treats for the trip, including candied almonds (which I failed at twice, before getting it right) and cashew brittle (which I learned FL is too humid for good brittle)

I also made white chocolate peppermint candies, and chocolate mint bark, and baked chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal rum raisin, and kitchen sink cookies.  Nick made his Chex mix recipe.

We have a busy week including driving to and from Fayetteville, AR twice, watching a Razorback basketball game against Florida A&M, and a Razorback football game against LSU, and spending Thanksgiving with Nick's family.

I'll keep you updated with pictures and projects we finished this week. 

Side "Yard"

Along the North side of the house we have a walkway, and two narrow "yards" flanking it.  I have never taken a picture of it because it's UGLY.  Nick and I have decided that we are going to plant Hostas along the fence-line, and put rocks down along the house.  Nick did all the work on this, and I'm amazed how well it turned out.

 

Nick raked up all the leaves, and pulled the weeds first.  He sprayed a herbicide along the exposed dirt, and  put landscape fabric down next.  Nick then put an even layer of pond pebbles down, which we chose based on size and color.  

Since I have no before pictures, you'll have to take my word for it, but it looks so good.  

We leave for Arkansas on Friday, so the next couple weeks we will update you on other projects we have been working on.

Two Changes

After last weekend's project break, this weekend we worked on two projects.  First, we worked on lighting in Nick's Razorback office. 
Before:

If you look in the corner, you can the ceiling fan that was previously in the office.  It had a lot going against it.  The blades were too small to properly move air, the pull strings hang in the way when walking through the room, and one 40 watt light bulb hidden inside a frosted, textured fixture.  It barely lit the room.  I had Nick live without the fan for a couple months, to see if it was needed.

We installed the much hated, but perfect for this room, track lighting.  I don't find track lighting the most attractive, but it serves the purpose in this room.

We have lights directed towards specific areas.  Mostly towards artwork, and the bookcases.

The new lighting showcases Nick's Razorback artwork collection, which should get some additions when we get back from our trip to Arkansas.  The room is 10 times brighter, but also doesn't have any dark corners.

I also started working on the bathroom.  I painted the walls with the left over paint from my office.

Here's a side-by-side that shows you the difference:

Neither of these photos were edited.  You can see how the original bathroom looked faded and dirty with the eggnog paint color.  The new color makes the white look crisper, and cleaner.

We will be working on the floor in this bathroom in the coming weeks.  It should really transform this room into something good.

Project Free Weekend

This weekend was relaxing and project free; not that we don't have projects to do.  We did some planning this weekend though.

Arkansas Trip:
We are driving to Arkansas during Thanksgiving week, to see Nick's family, and to go to the LSU-Arkansas game.  We have an itinerary for the week, and a list of restaurants we are interested in.  Doe's Eat Place (Greenville, MS location) is definitely on the list.  We have most of the pre-trip preparations done. 

Bathroom Floor Project:
I hate the hall bathroom floor.  It's suppose to look like a red stone, but I keep thinking it looks like lava (and I'm reminded of my childhood). Options are to paint it, or cover it with vinyl wood flooring.  To be completed before Arkansas Trip.

Add Second Shelf in My Office:
An extra shelf would add storage, and a double rod would be more sell-able in this room.  I have all the supplies, just haven't completed it.  As I've said before, I start projects, but lack the follow through.  To be completed before Arkansas Trip.

Overall, I enjoyed a weekend away from projects.  I am looking forward to working on something next week though.

Wisconsin Office

I have been working on my office this weekend.  As you might recall, this room was the small guest room.  I painted it gray, installed curtains in place of closet doors, put in a desk and chair, and added window coverings.  This weekend I added this:

I moved some of my items from the laundry room here.  But I think I need a bobblehead, a sweet pennant, and autographed baseball or football too.  I'm looking for some chairs now.  I've got my eyes on a couple.  I will keep you updated of the progress of this room.

New Blinds

When I walked through our house the first time as potential buyers, I noticed that only the front windows have faux wood blinds, and the rest of the rooms have the usual thin plastic blinds.  When you're outside, you can't tell the difference, but once in the room, it's obvious that the windows have difference blinds.  The blinds behind the dining table were the cheaper plastic kind, and it provided a bad glare on the TV.  Nick does not like glare.  This weekend we installed a matching faux wood blind for the window. 
The original cheap plastic blinds:

 New faux wood blinds:

It's not an obvious difference in the pictures, but it now matches the other windows, and cuts down on the glare.  We are happy with new blinds.

For those interested, these are the Home Decorators White Faux Wood Blind with 2 inch slats. 

Gym Update

I have been asked to show the gym, which has been in this condition since the beginning of the year, but haven't taken pictures of it.

As you can see, this is not a beautiful room.  But it functions fine.  We are planning on replacing the roof next spring.  The roof is in horrible condition, and desperately needs to replaced.

I added a house tour to the top navigation bar, where you can tour the house all in one location.