Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Happy 24th, Keaton!

It's the strangest thing...Keaton turned 24 today while I remain 29!  ;-)


We just got back from a birthday dinner at a hibachi grill.  Yum!  Keaton enjoyed his birthday presents. Matt enjoyed some wine from the chef.  I enjoyed not cooking tonight.  Happy birthday to our favorite son!!






(And it just wouldn't be a birthday celebration without a birthday video. Enjoy!)




Monday, October 26, 2015

Pumpkin Carving 2015

We took a break from working on the house (and raking leaves) to go camping over the weekend with our friends.  It was a chilly, windy, drizzly day on Saturday...a perfect day to carve pumpkins and roast pumpkin seeds over a fire.  It was nice to wake up to a gorgeous, sunny day on Sunday...a perfect day for a long bike ride to enjoy some beautiful fall colors around Yankee Springs!





The princess pumpkin had to be on a throne.
Sadly, all I had was this ugly bucket.  
Note to self:  get pink bucket for camper!


Matt's pumpkin was awesome when lit, despite the rain.
My pumpkin was pulled out of the first few sprinkles.
Princesses do not get wet!


Our Town

We're beginning to feel more 'at home' in our new house...and in our new town.  For a while, it honestly felt like we were on vacation or visiting someone else's house.  But, the more we get acclimated to the new community and continue to update the house to make it feel like ours, the more it's starting to feel like home. I can't wait to get everything painted and updated so I can start to hang pictures and put out knick knacks and get rid of more boxes!!!

We went downtown one night for Octoberfest.  We enjoyed a drink and the live entertainment...and a spot under the outdoor heater!  I love the pretty bridge with changing lights.





Matt is enthusiastic about supporting the local school district.  He wore the school mascot costume during the neighborhood elementary school's walk-a-thon and helped to make the event a roaring success!


Corn Maze Adventure

Last weekend we took a break from working around the house and visited a corn maze with our friends. It was fun to be kids again and find our way out of the corn.  We were sure to visit the sling-shot gourd area and I was pleasantly surprised that I had pretty good aim and actually could hit the side of a barn!


Luckily, we didn't see any kids from 'Children of the Corn'.

Whew...we made it!





Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Painting Break

I'm taking a break from painting to actually update the blog a little.  It's been two months since we moved into the new house...and it seems like we've been painting ever since!  We LOVE it here and our only regret is that we didn't move years ago!!  We're working on pretty much every room in the house and hopefully we'll have a few rooms finally finished soon so I can post before and after pictures.  The difference is incredible, but slow.  I keep finding things to tweak or totally change.  My latest change is all the outlets and switches throughout the house...and garage.  Poor Matt's 'to-do' list just keeps getting longer and longer. He finally gets one thing crossed off and then I add two more things to it.  But, the house is already looking (and smelling) great!  I just want everything all shiny, clean, and new.  Oh, and I just want everything done yesterday!

So, we took a break from working on the house and spent a long weekend up in Mackinac a couple of weeks ago.  We were hoping for more gorgeous fall colors, but we were a little early.  Still, it was nice to take a break from painting and spend some time outside enjoying beautiful northern Michigan.  We spent time in the U.P. at Tahquamenon Falls and then donated some money to the casino. We did some shopping and ate a lot of whitefish. We visited Mackinac Island and did a lot of walking. Our lungs were happy to breathe some fresh air and purge any lingering paint fumes from our systems.  Speaking of paint fumes, it's time to go back to painting. Today's project:  painting cabinets in the garage. Have I mentioned how much I hate painting?  I'd rather scrub toilets in a frat house than paint.  Well, maybe not a frat house. But close.  ;-)






   
We're looking fluffy in the pics.  It was pretty windy and
chilly so we wore three layers every day.

The Grand Hotel.
World's largest Colonial-style porch and summer hotel.