It's Growing!!!

Two years in our house now and our poor yard has never had grass. Thanks to the huge trees in our front yard we live in a super shady spot of the neighborhood. It is great in the summer because it keeps the house cool, but it is really hard to get anything to grow (or survive). I've done ok with the garden; shade flowers are not very exciting but they do exist. "Shade" grass on the other hand doesn't really exist.

So last year after Drew put down grass seed with little results, our neighbors told us about this seed they used that was guaranteed to grow ANYwhere, even on concrete. We decided to give that a try this round, and it is working beautifully!! The seed is Scotts EZSeed. If it works for us, it will work for anyone. I'm so excited!

This is the front of the yard where the grass is just starting to grow:


And this is the side yard:

The Big 3-0

Drew has turned the big 3-0!! There have been mixed emotions about this big number. Leaving the 20's behind is not exactly a fun step. I still have a few more years to go and I can tell already I'm not going to be happy about it, so I don't blame him for feeling a little down. It was, however, a really nice day!

I surprised him with a wakeboard, his dad gave him a new set of golf clubs, AND my parents got him tickets to a NASCAR race (with pit passes). We're really excited for those! Talk about some nice gifts! Thank you! We had dinner and cake with all the people we love. Low key and lots of fun, the way he wanted it. I promised him I wouldn't make a big deal of it, but I couldn't let it pass without mention.

Happy Birthday, Drew!

Happy Home Owners

This May will be our 2 year wedding anniversary. It also marks the 2 year anniversary in our home. We have been taking baby steps to improve/upgrade the house, a little bit here and there as we can afford it, but mostly paint so far.

In February we decided it was time to do a little more than just paint. The powder room on the main level was in desperate need of a face-lift, with all original fixtures from 30 years ago. Even the floors were a dingy looking tile. We also had AWFUL wallpaper in the master bedroom with unknown animals and tomahawks all over it. It wouldn't have stayed up this long except wallpaper is a task to take down. There was also wallpaper in the basement bathroom, worse than our bedroom. No one will ever buy this house with that wallpaper - although somehow we did. So with 3 major projects in mind, we decided it was time to get it done.

We finished a few weeks ago but just got around to the picture taking.

I don't have finished master bedroom pics yet, but look at the color we found under the wallpaper!

Power Room before:

After:

Here is the new floor. I can't seem to get it to load right, but you get the idea :)

New vanity, mirror, and potty too!

Valentine Rescue

Drew gave me a beautiful Cymbidium Orchid for Valentine's Day, and since then I've been trying to figure out how to keep it alive. Our neighbors gave us one last summer, which I promptly killed, so I've been careful to pay extra special attention to this one.

But.

Our house doesn't get much in the way of natural sunlight, which is one major requirement for these suckers. Strike one. It is also winter time, and very dry, leaving my once-a-week waterings a little lacking. Strike two. I still haven't had time to buy fertilizer. Strike 3. And sure enough one of the two stems has started to turn yellow and limp.

I think I can still save it. I'm going to try to buy the plant food this weekend, but I hear the tricky part is getting it to re-bloom next season. It doesn't look like I'm off to a very good start.

Aren't they pretty? Drew wore these flowers in our wedding.

Not Sure About This...

Well it looks like I've joined the masses. Now the question is... what do I say?