Home updates

On Thursday we headed to the new IKEA near Denver. It. was. awesome. We spent an entire afternoon walking through showrooms and adding to our wish lists. We did, however, come out with a Subaru full of stuff: a bookshelf, a desk, and some kitchen storage items. Yesterday Nate and I spent the entire day putting together furniture, cleaning out our spare room, and moving boxes and boxes of books from upstairs to downstairs (and for the record---we should've bought a bigger bookshelf. Our new one is packed with no spare room---so, we'll have to buy another!)

The spare room was once an office and is now a spare room (really...it's more of a wanna-be baby room) with a love seat, rocking chair, and a few near empty book cases. Hopefully we have it cleaned out enough so that if we do get a call to pick up a baby, the transition will be as easy as possible.

So here are two photos of our finished product. It's now my favorite nook in the house!

Kitchen Reno 2011 Update

It's finished! Our kitchen renovation is complete thanks to help from my parents. A few weeks ago they made the long trip to Ogallala to help us install new counter tops and a new sink. There were a few bumps along the road, but it looks great! Our next project: office overhaul. We'll be taking a trip to IKEA in Denver (it just opened this week) to purchase a new desk and bookshelves for our basement, so we can slowly start to clean out and empty our office in preparation for a hopeful adoption placement.

Here's a before and after shot of our counter tops and cabinets:

First Week of Summer= Home Projects

This was our first full week of summer. And what did we do?

1. I planted a few veggies and herbs in pots---spinach, cucumbers, dill and chives. I'll soon have a cherry tomato plant that I can grow upside down in a hanging basket--I know; it should be pretty sweet :) My mom came across the handy contraption and is dropping it in the mail this week. I'll have all the basic fixings for a mean salad....

2. We began our kitchen renovation. We painted our cabinets and changed the hardware AND painted one kitchen wall...orange! I LOVE picking out paint colors. In our basement we have a bright green and two shades of gray, our living room sports a dark brown and a khaki, the master bedroom a deep red and khaki and our bathroom is a bright aqua and white. All of the colors are unique---and I love them. :)

Here is a "before" shot of our cabinets:

A "during" shot of the process (and Nate's terrible sunburn):

And a few "after" shots:

Though the green has kind of grown on me, in July we plan on replacing our counter tops with something a little more modern.

Tomorrow we're heading out to Boulder with another couple to do a little shopping and then hike the Isabelle Glacier trail not far from Boulder. I can't wait to get on the trail--even if the temperature is a high of 43 with wind and possible rain!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I am always looking for new ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle. A few months ago I was watching a Good Morning America type show and they had this interesting segment on cleaning your home with eco-friendly products. They had some great, create-it-yourself household cleaners. But one that really caught my eye was recycling used fabric softener dryer sheets by using them to dust your home. They also work great on the Swiffer sweepers. Since that morning, I have been using them to dust. I have started the habit of dusting after I remove clothes from the dryer that way I don't have to save the old dryer sheets...this saves me money by keeping me from buying expensive cans of Pledge, plus those fumes can sometimes be hazardous to your health if breathed in too much. Win-win situation :)