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9.30.2012

Front Yard Landscaping

We spent a lot of time in our front yard last week.  We have always hated the look of our front bed, so we finally decided to make a move and get it looking better.

Here are some pictures of the process.

This is before removal, but after doing some trimming.  Sean has always hated the 2 rose bushes on either end, and I have always hated the front smaller shrubs.


Sean got busy removing some things...both rose bushes gone and a few of the front shrubs :) 


While he was busy removing, I was busy cutting the stuff down so we could fit it in our yard trimmings bag to set out for trash pick up.  Yes, we compost, but this was WAY more than our compost can hold right now!


Next, we bought some mums, daffodil bulbs, and some texas sage (my favorite)!  We started by laying it all out and making sure we liked it.




SP planted the texas sage, and I planted the daffodil bulbs and the mums.  Texas sage is a TX native, so even though it will not have purple blooms year round, it will still have a nice pretty greenish white glow in the bed.  And mums will come back every year!  And so will the daffodils :) (assuming I planted them correctly and they will pop up!

Purple and Gold are GOOD colors :)
Bulbs in the ground
So pleased with how it all turned out.  It's so nice seeing some color up there!  Now I just hope those bulbs show their beauty this Spring :)

The blue potted plant on the left is now in the backyard :)
Next up, stone!  I have really always wanted to outline our beds with some natural stone.  I just think it looks so much better and more finished.

Friday afternoon, we headed out west to a nursery to find our stone.  We knew it was supposed to rain, but we didn't realize it was going to dump on top of us before we were finished!

It was sort of fun being out there watching the rain move in!
This is the coloring we chose

We had to lay out what we thought looked like the correct size.  We forgot to measure :)


We estimated pretty well!
When we got back with the stone, it was still raining.  We wanted to finish this project so bad, we decided to do it in the rain :)  I put on my rain boots and hat and we went at it!

That's me, in the picture.  Don't I look FAB?

The finished product!

I think finishing this project in the rain just added the finishing touch :)  It made it that much more fun.  When is the last time in your adult life you went and played in the rain?!  We finished the day off with beer in the driveway with the neighbors, and then we even managed to get ourselves looking presentable enough to go grab dinner with SP's parent's.  Hope your Friday was as fun as ours!!

9.27.2012

NYC in January!

In late January, SP and I will head to the Big Apple!  We've never been together...so I'm really looking forward to it!  We will be going for his little cousin's Bar Mitzvah.

As of now, we are planning to arrive on Friday (as early as possible) and having the majority of the afternoon on Friday and all day Saturday.  The Bar Mitzvah will be Saturday evening.  On Sunday, we will head to DC to visit our East Coast family :)  Yay!  Not sure if we will take a train or plane just yet, but we will figure that out later.

So, back to NYC...we are trying to find an awesome affordable place to stay in the city.  If any of you have any recommendations, please pass them along!

If you have other recommendations of things to do in the city, send those over too!

I love planning fun trips :)

Garage Organization.

Sunday we tackled the garage.

We don't necessarily have that much stuff, we just have no storage which makes it looks messy.  We we went to our favorite store for the week (it's been a week of lots of house stuff), Home Depot, and purchased a set of plastic shelves.  We also got a peg board to hang tools on, and some other bins to help organize.  Here are some before and after shots of our garage.

Before

After :)

After

Another After

I don't have a before shot of the area above, but just picture all of that stuff w/o those handy shelves!  Exactly, CLUTTER!

Now, when we open our garage, it feels so good!  Everything has a place!  So glad we got this done!!!

9.25.2012

Aaron & Katie Richie's Wedding Reception in TX

Two of SP's best friends got married a few months ago by eloping to an island in the Caribbean.  They celebrated with friends this past Saturday on Lake Lewisville.  We met on the dock at 12 for a Mi Cocina catered lunch, then we boarded the Chamonix II, which is a 70 ft catamaran, for an afternoon of a whole lot of fun!  The boat had a slide off the back, and also HUGE rafts for us all to float on together in the water.  I think at some point there were even golf balls being hit off the back!  

Party Boat!!

Pier 121, Lake Lewisville
Me, Melanie White, Kelly Smith, Shelby DeLoach, Katie (the bride) Richie, Lori Hooper, Jaime Rabroker

Me + Mel after lunch

Aaron (the groom) Richie, John Rabroker, Ryan White,  SP, Aaron Hooper, Brad Smith

Ready to board the boat!  It was hot!


Here we go!!!
SP and I after floating in the lake for hours :)

Mel loves me...A LOT!

Lots of catching up with friends :)

Best Friends!

Me + Shelby scheming something, I'm sure!

Everyone off the boat!  Lori, Jaime, Me

Katie prancing back to the party after saying goodbye to some folks

Love this guy!

We had such a great day, Saturday.  It was so nice being with so many friends and catching up.  We are ready to do it again!   

9.24.2012

Bye Bye Velma...Hello Wilma!

It's been the talk around our house a lot lately.  Maybe even longer than what qualifies as "lately"....for a LONG TIME!  My poor Velma has just turned a bit, well...ok.  I'll just say it... "ghetto"!!  The fabric on the inside of the roof was starting to fall down, the leather on one of the seats got destroyed by rain, and just other small things, like OIL LEAKS!  It was time.  She has 7 years on her and almost 80 thousand miles.

This past week, we said goodbye to Velma...


And hello to Wilma :)  My new Volvo S60!



We test drove the XC90 SUV, but when it was all said and done, I've just decided for now, I'm a sedan sort of girl :)  Welcome to our Volvo loving family, Wilma.

Velma, I will miss you.  You were a good car (well, until you had to be in the shop the entire month before our wedding last year!).  Just a little added stress :)  Bye bye, Velma!!!

PurpleStride AUSTIN

Two weekends ago (9/15) SP and I headed down to Austin for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Networks Purple Stride 5k!  My parent's drove over from Houston.  Adam drove over from Shreveport.  And we of course made our way from Ft. Worth!  It was a great weekend.  My cousin John and his girlfriend did the 5k with us, as well as my friend Jaimie who now lives in Austin.  Here are some pictures from last weekend :)

Sean, Adam and I stayed with Sean's brother, his wife and our cute little nephew Asher :)  He is so silly!  We taught him how to give a thumbs up!

Uncle Sean with Asher
This kid LOVES his hats!
More thumbs up, and more hats!
6AM wake-up call!

Mom and I getting ready!
TEAM TRAYLOR: Fred Traylor, Sean Parks, John Beadles, Lesley Reed
Jaimie Pierce, Linda Traylor, ME, Adam Traylor, and the 2 Cancer Ass Kicking Cows!


Almost halfway there!

They did so good!


Being silly on the way :)
WE DID IT!!!!


Me and Dad...What a trooper!




After the race, we all went back home to rest.  We had the TIGERS to route on later in the evening!  We went to the Shoal Creek Saloon and ate amaaaaazing cajun food and watched our TIGERS with lots of other purple and gold fans!!!





Thanks everyone who came to this event with us.  We raised over $1000!!!  I am one proud Team Captain!!!!