Lately.

Just a few pictures from Thanksgiving, our home, and a few things we've been eating. Enjoy!

The final product of our bathroom renovation. Even though this project has been complete for several months now, I don't think I ever posted a final picture for you all! 

A re-store find. Not sure what to do with these cute little things, but I thought they were pretty and they were only $5 each. Open to suggestions! Right now they're just on display in our living room.

Oma (that's Grandma in dutch) and two of her Grandbabies at Thanksgiving. She's the most fun to play with. Too cute.

Uncle Jacob and baby Ian taking a little snooze.

Dakota and her new baby brother. 

Blue mason jars! These guys aren't the "real" blue mason jars, but they're close enough for me! I love them. We're keeping some grains in them for now but will probably use them for flower vases in the summer time.

Granola day!

Roasted asparagus with parmesan a couple nights ago.

Tilapia tacos with pineapple salsa along side asparagus pictured above. Recipe coming soon!

Happy Wednesday!

Bathroom Renovation

I had already started a blog post about our latest house project: turning an old dresser into a vanity for our guest bathroom. Here are the pictures of Jacob working on it a couple weekends ago.

I had figured this would be one of those projects that lasts forever. We knew we wanted to tear out the old vanity and replace it, but we also needed to re-do the floors, get a new toilet, and put up bead board on the walls. We were excited about the project, but were in no huge rush.

While I was gone to Michigan over the 4th of July, Jacob told me he was working on a "small project" that had something to do with barn wood from the barn that sits on our property. I was excited, and figured he had made a frame mirror or something similar. Funny thing is, he didn't do anything with barn wood over the weekend. Instead, he ripped out the old vanity and floors in the bathroom, laid tile, put in a new toilet, installed bead board, and put in the new vanity. 

When I got home, Jacob was out of town but he had left the bathroom light on so I would be drawn to that part of the house first. Let's just say, I was shocked. It looks amazing. He had left a note on the vanity that said "Sorry I lied, I was not making anything out of barn wood".

We're still working on finishing touches, but I couldn't WAIT to share this with you all! I'll post more pictures once we get the rest of the drawers finished and put in. But for now, I leave you with the before and after pictures:

Before

After (very first sighting for me, with Jacob's note still on the vanity)

The pictures are not the highest of quality (iphone), but like I said - I was too excited not to share this with my readers right away! More to come very soon.

House Projects Round #2

Since we put in the wood floors, we've been itching to get some more things done around the house. We have a long list to tackle, but here are some of the things that have been done lately (P.S., I am really bad about remembering to take "before" pictures, so for those of you who have not seen our house in person, just imagine that these things we've been working on looked much a little worse than the pictures posted here):

Cedar exterior framing, new door knobs, wooden screen doors:

We wanted to give the exterior of the house a little makeover, so we decided to stain some cedar a gray (barnwood color) shade to frame the windows. While we were at it  we also decided to put up wooden framed screen doors and new door knobs. I am still planning on painting both the front and side door one of these colors.

Here's the progess picture.

The windows on the outside of the house got the same cedar framing treatment.

Jacob at work on the front door.

Landscaping:

In progress picture, post weeding, trimming, and mulching.

Close up of the cleaned up rock walkway. I love this walkway - the rocks have moss growing on them, it's great.

Interior:

On the interior, we hung some really cool wall art. This stained glass beauty was given to us as a wedding present. I love how it warms the living room and gives such character!

The red window. We found this guy at the Re-Store in Boone for $10. Can't beat it! Looks like it was a side window to a front door at one point. We did nothing to this except hang it up!

Love ikea frames. Love wedding pictures.

This one is an ikea print that I framed and put above the toilet in the master bath. I think it gives the toilet area some class, don't you think?

And finally, my favorite little spot in the living room. It's been fun discovering all the wildflowers plant varieties in our yard. We moved into the house in September of last year, so this is our first spring here! 

Coming soon - painting the exterior doors, more on the landscaping, and (hopefully) a newly stained kitchen table! 

Scenery Lately

This post is completely without food. Just some snapshots from the past few weeks in Boone, Cary, and Hampstead. Enjoy!

Our niece, Dakota, trying to imitate my brother making a monkey face at the dinner table.

Brother in law and his friend giving us a private concert in the breezeway during the fiddlers convention.

Friends!

A February day without snow!

Mossy rocks live near us.

Top of the bowl.

A night in Raleigh at Boylan Bridge Brewpub with the Padres and Brother/Sister in Law.

Rainy day.

Weekend time with Dakota in Hampstead. Sporting her Duke t-shirt that her Uncle Jacob got her.

Morning sunrise at Junaluska.

A bright refreshing break from the cold.

Iphone photo alert! Cyclocross Worlds snapshot.

That face. Such a sweet girl.

The wood pile one night while Jacob was gone on an overnight business trip. I was proud of myself. This kept the house warm for a whopping 15 hours!

Stay tuned for some cool new recipes and house project posts later this week!