Spring Has Sprung!

Call me Mrs. Bob Vila or else....I don't know what it is about spring arriving this past Friday but since then all I have wanted to do was work on my house(or maybe it's the fact that April 4th marks the 1year of being a homeowner).

After one fellow blog reader always talked about my squeaky door I decided it was time to spend some money and buy WD-40. That stuff is like sugar...it's addictive. Nothing longer squeaks and I am taking it to work tomorrow for squeaky doors there.

Speaking of sugar...since happy hour doesn't start on Friday till 5pm, I generally bake for friends. This week I tried a new chocolate chip cookie recipe that required Sea Salt on top. Everyone seemed to enjoy them but I thought the salt ruined something usually so good.
After playing some golf and beach volleyball on Saturday, I was ready for some dirty work outside.
this picture makes my garden look dead but give me three weeks when things will be blooming.
My chive plant came back! It's been transported from 3 houses.
To the average person this looks like a picture of my kitchen but I took this picture to show my parents the under cabinet lights I installed. *If you plan to do this yourself buy/burrow an electrical snake. I had a funny moment when I was stuck under the kitchen sink and knew my roommate wouldn't be home till Monday night.

I love to have people over for cookouts...so Welcome to my fake roof top deck(aka my backyard concrete slab.
But in order to have the pretty lights outside, I had to install an outdoor outlet. I thought this would be a simple project but when you are dealing with a 100year old house nothing is quick or simple.

The following pictures are for my sister...but enjoy if you care to look!
No holiday is ever complete without something turtle related.
I finally have a house where I can put out my lovely Easter dishes my mom bought me three years ago! I am currently crafting something for the center.
My new ottoman from Target with the Easter egg lights in the background.

My door can never go a season without a wreath...here's what I bought from JoAnn Fabrics.


Next update will hopefully be the crown molding put up with my latest toy!

*Reminder*

This is something I need to do more often! Where is your favorite place to get lost?

What was I thinking

Have you ever had that moment or many moments in life when you ask yourself "What was I thinking?"


It's 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday and I'm wide awake with a headache(b/c of last night).



This is one of those random posts....just because I told some random stranger last night that I would update my blog. *Let me correct myself, he isn't a random stranger anymore because I now know that he reads my blog.


What was I thinking recap of this week...


Sunday-driving to Richmond to stay only one hour(dinner)


Monday-playing soccer outside


Tuesday-bailing out on the amazing Wake Forest basketball game b/c of a headache


Wednesday-signing up for my last two graduate school courses


Thursday-going to Sullivan's Steakhouse and ordering salmon


Friday-Hanging out with Kevin again and agreeing to Tuaca shots


Today- Running 7miles






No post goes without a picture...this is a picture from Broomball. I wish this was a sport when I was in high school!

Unannounced Trip Update: The plane tickets have been bought:-)

What are you doing?

Today is that Holy Day when you are suppose to give up something for the next 40 days and not eat meat on Fridays. Will you be giving up anything? What have you given up in the past?

Part of me is torn on whether or not I should still participate in this holy idea of giving up something for 40days. Last year I gave up running because it was something that I was addicted to doing, but really it was a good reason to give my body a break from an injury I was ignoring.

I just got back from receiving ashes at church but nothing feels spiritually different, just emotionally. I normally go home to Richmond for Ash Wednesday with my family but due to lack of time (saving up my vacation days for the "unannounced trip") I wasn't able to go today which makes me sad.

Well for now I will still eat meat on Fridays and enjoy every aspect of what a wonderful life God has given me.

The sunny view outside my work window today and tomorrow it's suppose to be warm enough to ride my bike to work!!!! And yes, those are binoculars at the bottom of the picture.....

Would you follow?

Would you read this blog if I changed what I focused on? In 2008 I took a chance at rehabbing a house and now I'm ready for something new in 2009.

Have any suggestions for me?

What is one of the craziest things you ever took a chance at doing?
What do you want to find time to take a chance at in 2009?

I need a project..

It looks like the first quiet weekend in 2009 is ahead of me and I would like to do something to my house to make my roommate happy. So I am going to attempt to find the time to make the stairs presentable otherwise I will have to do things on my "to do"list that are outside.

In the future(once I find more money) I would like to replace the risers, treads, and railing but until then I need some suggestions. Should I paint the stairs black and hide all the imperfections or make a dusty mess and sand the stairs?

I like this banister for the top and bottom of the stairwell http://rowhousecreative.blogspot.com/2007/08/refurbishing-our-stairwell-banister.html

But I also like this more modern look.

Or this traditional look from a house two blocks over.

If I could replace my current iron railing with this one I would love my stairs.

Since storage space is lacking in my home, I thought this would be a neat idea.

Tis the Season

This photo is long over due but here is a picture of my Rivah Family at Thanksgiving! (missed you-trevor)

I finally got tired of looking at white walls...so I let my Little(Jen) pick out the new bathroom color. I like yellow but this yellow turned out to be the color of the rubber gloves you buy at the grocery store for cleaning.

before:
After:
after
Before

This was an empty recycling container before my holiday party this past weekend.

Well that's all for the christmas decor...this is a little snowman I made at work.