Friday, December 23, 2011

'Twas the Twelfth Day of Blogging

'Twas the night before Christmas Eve, when all through the house not a creature was stirring...except Anya. She was coughing and wheezing. The stockings were hung on the artwork by care, in hopes that they wouldn't look tacky or lame.

The Waters were nestled all snug in their bed, while visions of turkey and pie danced in their heads. And Nessa with her eye mask and Stephen sprawled out, had just settled their brains for a long, long, long winter's "nap" (if you can call sleeping that long a nap).

When out on the lawn their arose such a clatter, we sprang from our beds to see what was the matter. Away to the front room window we flew like a flash, tripped over the laundry and knocked over the tacked-up towels used as window treatments.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen slush gave the luster dullness of mush to objects below. When, what to our annoyed eyes should appear, but an animal getting into our trash, again.

With a dancing tail, so lively and quick, we knew in a moment it must be the stray dog. More stealthy than a ninja he came in the night, eating only our trash.

"G@& D@^^!&! Now, S&!%! MotherFather, I hate that stupid animal! He's always on the porch, next to the wall, then he runs away, never to be seen."

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky. So up to the house that dog ran, with a beard full of left-overs, and tissues too.

And then, in a twinkling, we heard on the roof the prancing and pawing of tiny feet. As we looked up and Anya barked, the neighbors cat ran across the stoop.

He was grey and white, from his head to his foot, and his fur was all tarnished with mud and with poop. A bundle of fuzz he had on his back, and he looked like a stray, just opening his mouth.

His eyes-how they twinkled! His claws, how sharp! His whiskers were like needles, his nose like a turd. He sat on the porch, just taunting our dog. And Anya just whined and danced and barked.

The stump in the front yard twitched and we saw, a small little squirrel that had jumped off the roof. He had a broad face and a round little belly that shook in the night, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old furball, and we laughed we saw him, in spit of ourselves! A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, and Anya went crazy, and we were filled with dread.

We spoke not a word, but mentally resigned, as Anya jumped at the window, and turned with a jerk. And pushing her face to the cold window glass, she gave a nod and the cat yowled back.

The squirrel sprang up a tree, and the cat ran away. Anya gave a yelp. And as she finally quieted, we crawled back to bed, wishing a Happy Christmas to all, and to all a quiet night!


Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Pipers Pipping More Songs

In similar fashion to Vanessa's post (found here), here are my eleven favorite songs from 2011:

- "What the Water Gave Me" - Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials
- "Darken Her Horse" - Austra - Feel It Break
- "Defiance" - Incubus - If Not Now, When?
- "And a Ways to Go" - 311 - Universal Pulse
- "Mustache Man(Wasted)" - Cake - Showroom of Compassion
- "I'll be Waiting" - Adele - 21
- "Soul Wars" - AWOLNATION - Megalithic Symphony
- "Walk" - Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
- "Little by Little" - Radiohead - The King of Limbs
- "Lover to Lover" - Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials
- "Dust Bowl Dance" - Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More


Good stuff, huh?

-Stephen

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Guest Blogger - James

This post was written by our bestie, James. He's currently a graduate student at The University of North Texas. In his "spare" time, he works at the campus library. And he's the funniest person we know. - V & S

Happy Holidays! This time of year means a lot of different things to different people. For many, the last two weeks have been filled with family get-togethers, last minute gift shopping, and spreading Christmas cheer.

And, as I’m sure you have noticed, most people during the holidays fall into one (or more) the following three categories. This first type of person loves Christmas. And, when I say love, I mean L.O.V.E  This person starts shopping for next year’s Christmas gifts at New Years, and will stop at nothing until all 738 people on their list has a gift. This person starts listening to jingle bells in May, has their tree up by Halloween, and spends their child’s college saving fund on a yard full of tacky inflatable lawn ornaments.  Their living room might end up looking something like this man’s over-the-top north pole scene. Please note the life size Mrs. Claus and nutcracker in the background.




We all know a Christmas Party Hopper. These characters tend to show up at every party, every dinner, and every holiday outing if it means they can escape being trapped inside their house with their own family. 


Lastly you have the Grinch; these coal-hearted stick-in-the-muds will do everything it takes (including getting you a fruit cake) to put a damper on your Christmas Cheer.  These sad-sacks find no point in putting up a tree to only take it down in three weeks, there is no joy in wrapping presents for people to only rip up their meticulous wrapping job, and can usually be found spiking every holiday drink they can get their hands on.


However, for most twenty-something college students, the holiday season doesn’t start until they’re done cramming for that last exam, done filling in that last circle on their scan-tron, and done filling their car with laundry to take home and wash for free at their parents house. And until each student has reached this blissful sensation of being done for the semester, they go to the one place on campus that they feel they can be productive and get away from all the distractions of dorm life – the library. Let me be the first person to tell you how wrong that is.

For many, finals week is the first time they’ve stepped foot in the building that before only existed in their imagination. They can be easily spotted as the group of people that are bumping into each other as they clumsily navigate the library floor plan. Once these first-timers unpack their lap-tops, their notebooks, their three course meals (the whole point of coming to the library was to avoid studying, right?), and their caffeinated beverages (exhibit A) they proceed to fall asleep. 


Exhibit A: 8 beverages for three people is totally necessary when studying at the library.



Let me just explain to you the different type of sleepers you might encounter at the library. The first kind are the desk-dependent sleepers. What might start as a closer look at that six syllable organic compound turns into a twenty minute snooze:




The next type, and my favorite type, are the desk-independent sleepers. These people can sleep 
anywhere, anytime.




These nappers are among my favorite library patrons because nothing gets in the way of their sleep schedule – not even their academic success.  


Whatever role you find yourselves in this holiday season, whether it be the holiday crazed Santa-lover, the family-avoiding holiday party-goer, or the Grinch, I hope you get to spend at least a couple hours with the people in your lives that your truly matter to you.  Because, after all, it’s spending time with the people you love that truly make the holidays special. Even if it does feel like you’re living in crazy town.

James (aka: Hamez)

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Nessa Dancing

The ninth day of Christmas involves ladies dancing, so here's my top nine favorite songs to dance to during 2011 (in no particular order):

"Turning Tables" by Adele
"Shake It Out" by Florence + The Machine
"Echo & His Brother" by Hopewell
"White Blank Page" by Mumford & Sons
"Sunset in July" by 311
"Home" by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
"Changing" by The Airborne Toxic Event
"Jump On My Shoulders" by Awolnation
"Whirring" by The Joy Formidable

And of course, many of those artists I just really loved the entire albums...they can be found here, here, here, and here.

Love,
Vanessa

Monday, December 19, 2011

Milking Maids = Cream Sauce

Here's one of our favorite recipes: Vodka Cream Sauce. Stephen always makes this for me for special occasions, and it's become sort of a staple for Valentine's Day and our anniversary.

Vodka Cream Sauce


1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 c. vodka
1 c. chicken stock
1 can crushed tomatoes (32 ounces)
salt and pepper
16 ounces pasta
1/2 c. heavy cream
20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn
crusty bread

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil, butter, garlic, and shallots. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes. Add vodka. Reduce by half (2-3 minutes). Add chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

While sauce simmers, cook pasta.

Stir heavy cream into sauce. When sauce returns to a bubble, remove from heat. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves. Serve!

Mince shallots! Be sure to wear protective
eye gear. 

Saute shallots, and garlic in butter and olive oil. 

After adding the vodka, tomatoes, and chicken stock and
simmering that, add the heavy cream. 

It turns a pretty coral color. 

And tastes so yummy. 

Pasta  -  we ran out of basil, but it was still delicious. 

This was like my third helping of the evening. 

We definitely recommend this recipe; it's simple and delicious!

Love,
Stephen, Vanessa, and Anya

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Simple Syrup

Chai Spiced Simple Syrup

2 inches fresh ginger
1/2 T black peppercorns
4 small cinnamon sticks
10 whole cloves
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 c. white sugar
2 c. water

To Make: 

  • Peel the ginger and cut into thin slices. 
  • Combine all the ingredients except the vanilla in a pot and bring to a boil. 
  • After it boils, reduce the heat to medium low and let simmer for 30 minutes. 
  • Cool at room temperature, strain, stir in the vanilla extract and pour into a container and store in the refrigerator for up to a month. 
Simmer for 30 minutes.

Let cool and strain. 

Keep in refrigerator and enjoy! 


To Use: 

  • Add 1 fl. oz. of the chai flavored simple syrup to 8 ounces of tea, coffee, soda, or milk. 
  • Mix with club soda and whiskey or vanilla vodka for a cocktail. 
  • Drizzle over ice cream for dessert. 


This recipe came from Beth over at Budget Bytes...she's totally awesome and if you're not reading her blog, you need to be! Especially if you're a penny pincher and like to make food from scratch. 

Enjoy!

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Shiny.

So when I was analyzing the old Christmas song for our blog, it was easy for me to pick today's: Six Geese A-Laying...naturally I thought Christmas ornaments. Am I the only one? Probably. But here's a little ornament fun!


Start with plain glass ornaments (six bucks at Target).



Add a little sparkle and feathers? Oh yes, feathers. But tasteful feathers. 



So then I funneled some pearls into the glass ornaments. 



It looked awesome, but the ornament was way too heavy to hang on the tree. Sad day. 



So, take two: feathers. 



I started with cutting the boa, but that led to lots of fluffy white feathers all over everything, so then I started pulling out the prettiest feathers, as such: 



A couple ornaments I put just a few feathers in, and others I stuffed full. The effect was pretty fun: 



And then we just put them on the tree! 



So pretty, right? Don't be afraid to check out the awesome Michigan and Bicycle Rider ornaments. 



So there you go. Fun, super easy ornaments. Originally I was going to put the toothpicks with the sparklies on top inside the glass ornaments, but I couldn't find those festive toothpicks anywhere, so I went with the boa. And if you were wondering, the rest of the boa is resting on the back of our toilet with some sparkly holiday candles. I think it looks like snow, Stephen thinks it looks like Anya killed a goose. Thoughts?



Happy Holidays!

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya

Friday, December 16, 2011

Five Golden Things

There's nothing more golden than being charitable. People are always trying to give during the Holiday Season, but we believe people should give all year long. Here are five of our favorite charities:


Project Night Night, which provides homeless children with a canvas bag filled with a blanket, a book, and a stuffed animal to help them sleep at night.

The Heifer Project, which gifts livestock and training to help families around the world provide for themselves and make a living.

Wayside Waifs, which is a local animal shelter, because we love to help needy puppies and kitties!

Harvesters, another local charity, which provides food to needy families around the Kansas City area. In fact, it's the only food banks in this area. I know I don't like to be hungry, and I certainly don't want anyone else to be, either.

Save The Music, (an obvious choice) which donates money and instruments to music programs in public schools around the country. Music programs = awesome.



Try it out...it's nice to help out others!

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Even MORE Christmas Birds

Even though the title of this post suggests more birds, it's not about birds. Even the last post wasn't related to birds. In fact, this song (which is super repetitive, btw) has way too many birds in it. Who wants that many birds, anyways? Not me.  No, thank you.

So instead, we're going to talk about one of my favorite Holiday traditions... FOOD.

Oh, yes, food. Here are some things every holiday needs (according to us and you):


Grandma Mary's Sugar Cookies
Richard's Fudge  (3 people want this)
Sue's No-Bake Cookies (2 people want this)
Canadian Shortbread Cookies (2 people want this)
Grandma Rao's Cannoli Shells with Mark's Cannoli Filling (3 people want this)
Brucholuna
Manicotti
Cream Royal Tea
Biscotti (3 people want this)
Turkey
Ham
Ham from Costco
Mashed Potatoes with Gravy
Pumpkin Pie
Cordial Cherries
Gingersnap Cookies (2 people want these)
Shepherd's Pie
Pie (3 people want this)
Puppy Chow (apparently a midwest classic, where you can find it in the store already made)
sweet potatoes smothered in marshmallows
green bean casserole
Christmas sugar cookies with powdered sugar frosting
Pistachio Jello Salad (Kendalynne for the win)


I know we missed a lot...so what do you guys want? Those of you who didn't bother to answer the call.

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, Anya and their hungry tummies.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

More Christmas Birds

Update: In completely unrelated news, the only version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" I can stand is the Muppets' version. SO. GREAT. - V


As most of you probably know, I'm a major stickler for tradition (I guarantee my mom's laughing as she reads this). I do not like change, especially regarding holidays. However, here are a few new things you might try for the holiday season:


Do something a little different with your Christmas Tree. I particularly like what Sherry and John Petersik over at Young House Love did with their tree a few years ago...it's totally citrus themed with orange and green and yellow. Talk about different, but really fun.


Donate to charity in someone's name. You can pick their favorite charity if they have one, or find a charity that does the type of work they might believe in.


Sick of the same old holiday letter? Make a card like we did on Shutterfly.



Decorate with something not-so-traditional. Like corks, or uncooked rice, or even gift tags and feathers. Oh yes, I said feathers. Check it:

From a future blog post. Be ready for it. 

Have an un-Christmasy-themed party. Moroccan (The Office, anyone?), Asian (Stephen and I had chinese for dinner last Christmas), or even Mexican. Oh yes, my yearbook staff is having a party with tacos, salsa, and lots of queso. Sure it's a little crazy, but so are we. I did have to draw the line at the pinata though, I've watched enough of America's Funniest Home Videos to know how that ends. 


Try decorating a tree other than the traditional evergreen. Palm? Birch? Fern? A large shrub? I dunno, it could be kinda awesome. Be sure to send me pics if you try that. 


Does your family always have a big Christmas dinner? You could try doing a brunch (like we usually do), or vise versa. Trade turkey for ham, rolls for scones, mulled wine for mimosas...you get the general idea. 


Do any of you have any unconventional traditions for the holidays? Are you trying anything new this year? Any winners? Anything bomb? Please share! 

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Dear Santa,

Two Turtle Doves? How about two christmas-wish lists instead. We played the game called "Let's Pretend We Have A Lot of Money and We Can Get One Another Whatever We Want".

Stephen's List


- 1987 BMW M6 Black with Tan interior
- Samsung 70" LCD LED HD TV
- Pioneer SX-1280 Stereo Receiver
- Pearl Reference 5 piece drum set with Zildjian A Custom Cymbals
- 12 core Mac Pro with 2 30" monitors
- 80 Gallon 2 stage air compressor
- Plasma Cutter
- 2 post 10,000lb automotive lift
- Sennheiser HD 800 headphones
- 5 Axis CNC Machine








Vanessa's List

- This amazing white shag rug from Crate & Barrel.
This sweet vase for the coffee table.
- This modern and minimalist (our two favorite things) bed frame. Gorgeous, right?
- A DeLorean, of course.
- A job as a film historian...
- A brown betty teapot.
- 11 more Christmas trees, at least.
- This spectacular ring. (Stephen's suggestion, too)
- Another trip to Vancouver.
- SNOW! (how's that for unrealistic)


Basically, we thought you guys might be interested in the types of products and goofy things we want. What's on your unrealistic Christmas wish list?

Love,
Vanessa and Stephen

(P.S. Am I the only one who doesn't even know what a couple of things on Stephen's list are?? - Ness)


Monday, December 12, 2011

Birds of a Feather

Merry Christmas!

Last year, we gave you our virtual Christmas card here, and so we are starting out our Twelve Days of Christmas in similar fashion.

This year began with Stephen continuing his job at Garmin and my continual unemployment. The biggest change of 2011 was my current job at North Platte (where I did my student teaching), teaching Junior High Media, Junior High Reading, High School English RTI I, High School English RTI II, and High School Media. I'm also Junior Class sponsor. It's busy, but fun. But back to the beginning of the year. I had a part-time job at the Library (again) working as a page (again), and I hated it (again). But we had a wonderful summer, traveling to New Orleans, Gulf Shores, Georgia, and Michigan.

In New Orleans, we visited my old friend Josh and his new (and totally awesome) girlfriend, Kali. They both work at the WWII memorial, and we had a blast going behind-the-scenes at their work. It was also fun hanging out in Josh's apartment on Frenchmen Street in The Quarter. After two days visiting them, we continued our trip on to Gulf Shores with my family staying in my Grandma's fantastic home in Orange Beach. We sunned and relaxed and ate to our heart's contents. I'm still dreaming of the grilled shrimp from Doc's...

After the beach, we went to my Aunt Jess and Uncle Shayne's wedding in Atlanta, Georgia. (That's an on-going joke because Shayne, Stephen and I's new uncle, is only a year older than me, making him a year younger than Stephen). Shayne's an awesome addition to our family - it's only a shame he and Jess live so far away! (we miss you guys!) The wedding was one of the most beautiful we've ever been to, and it was a blast being a part of it.

About a week after that long all-in-one-trip, Stephen and I headed to Michigan to visit his sister and her husband Chad, daughters Destiny and Allie, and to meet our new nephew, Isaac. I adored going to Michigan after hearing so much about it from Stephen, and we had a ridiculous amount of fun visiting. Another family that lives too far away... Hopefully we'll get to visit again soon!

The rest of the summer was hot, and when it ended, school began, which was nerve-wracking and terrifying and totally awesome. The fall was relaxing for the most part, hanging out with friends, celebrating my new job with a visit to Crate & Barrel and a new couch from Nebraska Furniture Mart after Stephen finished the dining and living rooms. He also started a blog, which is totally awesome, but we need more questions submitted! If you have questions about anything, Stephen is your man. Head over to his site or email him and he'll blow your mind with his knowledge!

The beginning of winter has been nice: a huge Thanksgiving at my mom's with her family and Stephen's mom; tree decorating and hanging out with James; Christmas shopping and day dates; and getting ready for Christmas Eve at our house with family and friends.

In recent news, I may or may not have a weird food allergy or a bad gallbladder. We're not really sure on that, so we'll keep you updated (hopefully with pictures from my ultrasound on it - fun, right?). Stephen says he doesn't have anything to share because he doesn't even remember what's happened this year, but to let people know it's been a long year. James is still in Texas, being an awesome musician. We watch his concerts online and he sends us recordings of his playing - it's amazing to hear him play. He's so talented and dedicated; we only wish he weren't so far away! We do love when he visits. He's trying to decide what the next step is, so if you know of any openings in top-notch symphonies, let him know!

If you're a regular reader you pretty much know what's going on and what's been going on, if you're new to the blog, check out the tabs at the top for different sections or our archives. It's fun even for us to go back and see what's been going on.

Hoping your Holiday Season is as fun and magical as ours is! (Corny yes, but oh-so-true) All we need is some SNOW!

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya (and James, too)

The Watersbrook Family. 

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Twelve Days of Christmas Blogging.

So here's the dealio all you devoted readers who have undoubtedly been missing our regularly scheduled posts (right? oh, maybe not...well anyways). We're going to make it up to you by offering up twelve days (in a row, mind you) of holiday spirited blog posts, just for you!




So be on the lookout starting December 12th for all the Christmas fun!

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

NaNo No More

Today marks the end of my trek to write 50,000 words in 30 days for National Novel Writing Month. That's right, today I wrote my 50,147th word on the 118th page of my untitled little piece of work. I really thought my brain would melt yesterday (when I was on word 38,000 and I had to write 12,000 words in just three days.) But apparently I'm a total beast, because I finished with a day to spare. Here's to hoping my students' writing is just as fun to read as mine was to write!







Maybe next year you can join me in thirty days and nights of literary abandon (most call it crazy-town). It's been fun.

And now back to your regularly scheduled blog posts.

Love,
Vanessa,
Jas Harwode, Wendy, and Slightly (oh wait, they're not real people, just kidding!)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

NaNoWriMo

Today marks the beginning of National Novel Writing Month, so for the next 30 days, I won't be blogging much because after all, I have 50,000 words to write! (Wish me luck! Wish me motivation!) 

Happy November!

Love,
Vanessa (and all of her characters)

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Saving money, one mouse click at a time!

So as you're all well aware of, we're all about saving money. Over the summer, Stephen's sister Jen mentioned that she buys all her household stuff online, so today we tried checking out drugstore.com for our household cleaning stuff (that is, the stuff we don't make ourselves). We thought you might be interested in seeing our savings:


Buying things at Target (based on what we've payed in the past there):


2 Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Liquid Hand Soap: ($3.99 ea.) $7.98

1 Tom's of Main Whole Care with Flouride Natural Toothpaste: $4.25

1 Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Room Freshener: $4.99

1 Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid: $4.99

1 Seventh Generation Automatic Dishwashing Detergent: $4.77

1 Organic Wear Duo Eye Shadow: $9.74

1 Seventh Generation Natural Liquid Laundry Detergent: $29.99

Total: $66.71 plus sales tax = $72.05



Buying it at Drugstore.com



2 Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Liquid Hand Soap: ($2.99 ea.) $5.98 (a $2 saving)

1 Tom's of Main Whole Care Natural Toothpaste: $3.99 (a $0.26 saving)

1 Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Room Freshener (instead of febreze): $4.99 (same price)

1 Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid: $2.89 (a $2.10 saving)

1 Seventh Generation Automatic Dishwashing Detergent: $4.39 (a $0.38 saving)

1 Organic Wear Duo Eye Shadow: $6.39 (a $3.35 saving)

1 Seventh Generation Natural Liquid Laundry Detergent: $19.99 (a $10 saving)

And, we got free shipping - hello bonus.

Total: $48.62




And that means that by buying online, we saved $23.43, which in our book is completely and totally awesome. Plus, we got to shop from the comfort of our couch while everything is shipped to our front door, saving energy, time, and gas money. Win.

Do you guys buy anything online? Are you planning on starting? Has anyone switched to organic products lately?

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya 

Friday, October 21, 2011

So Fresh and So Clean Part 5!

This is one of my favorite organic cleaners, because it accomplishes something that I've always desired - germ-and-icky-free food. That's right, this is your recipe for a fruit and vegetable wash.




Fruit and Vegetable Wash #1
1 c. water
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. baking soda

spray on produce; wipe off after five minutes.


Fruit and Vegetable Wash #2
1 c. water
1 c. white vinegar
1 T. baking soda
20 drops grapefruit seed extract

spray on produce; wipe after five minutes.



Combine the ingredients into a spray bottle, spray the cleaner on any fruit or veggie, and let it sit for five minutes before wiping it off. The first time I tried this I almost cried when I saw all the grossness that came off the apples and bananas I was cleaning. It's always disgusted me that I'm just supposed to eat an apple that's been handled by who-knows-how-many people after going through machinery that hasn't been cleaned in who-knows-how-long-if-ever after growing on a tree. So. Much. Nastiness. And then this cleaner was brought to my attention and sweet, sweet relief for a germaphobe like me! Now, whenever we buy veggies and fruit, I wash them with this cleaner before throwing them into our designated "fresh produce" container in the fridge (a colander). We don't keep it in a drawer because we tend to forget about it, resulting in the delicious produce going bad before we use it. This way, we always see it first thing when opening the fridge. :)



Happy (clean and sanitized) Eating!

Love,
Vanessa

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Falling Into Place

Today was a typical fall day at Casa Waters. I spent the day cleaning the house and baking while Stephen raked and tended to the yard (we're so 1950's-domestic). We all know he has the worse end of that deal. Wanna see why?


The left side of the fence is the backyard brush and
the right side is the front yard. Keep that in mind for later. 
 The leaf pile is looming.

And the best part is, this is just part of what's left in the back yard...


And here's the tree in the front yard. (Remember, everything on the right side of the fence is from this tree...) 


It's a joke, right? That tree doesn't even look like it's lost any leaves. But, in completely related news, if anyone wants to jump into enormous piles of leaves help Stephen bag all these suckers, well, you know how to reach us. 

Also, Anya wanted to say hi: 




Happy raking! 

Love,
Vanessa, Stephen, and Anya

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Les Toilettes

So I'm not 100% sure why this is the third remodeling post we've done, because it was the first room done. But it is, what it is, so let's just get to it.

The Main Bathroom.

BEFORE (aka terrifying):


The floor and the tub give me the heebie-jeebies. 


Okay - the whole bathroom gave me the heebie-jeebies. 


So we thought we could just do cosmetic stuff to fix the bathroom, but as tear-out continued, we realized the bathrooms just needed to be redone completely. 


So Stephen tore it all out - both bathrooms actually - so that at one point you could stand in the hallway and see to the backyard. And this was two months before our wedding. We're awesome. 

Stephen's dad, Richard, doing the plumbing!

I mean, you don't even have to know anything about plumbing and home stuff to know this is bad:


Stephen says there's something like over 120 2x4s in our two bathrooms (which are right next to one another). It's undoubtedly the sturdiest part of our house. We have a constant debate about whether or not we'd be safer in the basement or in this bathroom during a storm. 


And naturally he did all the re-wiring and plumbing stuff necessary for two bathrooms. He also tore out the ceiling to give the bathrooms more height since they're so tiny - that helped immensely. 


It was a good day when the tub walls went up. 


This picture was taken from our hallway probably a month (or less) before our wedding day. 


Thanks to Aaron's help, Stephen was able to get the drywall up pretty quickly. 


And my man is an expert tile-er (Official term? I think not). Seriously, he's good. The tile in that bathroom is perfect. Oh, and we moved the toilet to the other side of the bathroom because this bathroom got small to make room for a shower in the second one (more on that later). 


He ended up setting the toilet the night he moved into our house (Thursday night before our Saturday wedding), and then the bathroom went without a door for probably six months (meh - at a certain point you just don't care about silly things like bathroom doors). But it's been completed now for over a year:



Yes, that is a picture of Carl, Nathan, and I (childhood friends) dressed up when we were young.


The extra lighting Stephen installed definitely helps brighten up the small bathroom. 


And here's our pocket door (which, admittedly, still needs to be painted...). 


And as usual, the before and after shots:

BEFORE:


 AFTER:


It's nice having a clean, fresh bathroom (especially be the germ-freak that I am). Now I'm just waiting on that second bathroom... ;)

Love,
Vanessa and Stephen