Wednesday, July 31, 2013
family vacation at the lake
If a picture's worth a thousand words, then I'm just going to let all of these pictures tell the story of our fun and relaxing family vacation at the lake last week! We are already booked to go again next summer!
Friday, July 19, 2013
a.j.e. weekend
What better way to spend a weekend than with two great friends? Our time together over the last few years has been limited ... so many times when we were together, we were crafting for a.j.e.less designs (which we love!) ... but it's also nice to have "down time" together too. Especially when the money we've worked hard for by crafting can fund our vacation time together!
We spent 2 nights on Long Island -- shopping at the outlets, wine tasting, enjoying delicious food and great views! Of course, there was plenty of girl talk and laughs too. Can't believe we've been friends for 12 years already! At times, we lived just minutes apart. But for the past 8 years, at least one of us has been in a different state. Though we kept in touch despite the long distance between us, you can just imagine how glad I am to have them both in NJ again. Hoping this is just the beginning of more and more time together!
Sunday, July 7, 2013
one step at a time
Now that it's summer, I finally have some spare time to tell you about a house project we took on a couple months ago. :)
As my husband often says, there's always something you could be working on when you are a home owner. Since that is most certainly true, especially for our very old home (our list is endless), we have to prioritize what we want to accomplish.
As soon as we moved in 3 years ago, we knew the huge bush out front had to go. It was no where near attractive, and it made backing out of the driveway quite difficult because we couldn't easily see if someone was walking by on the sidewalk. So, this spring, with help from our downstairs neighbors, we decided to remove the bush and replace it with some shrubbery that was more appealing (and low to the ground).
The boys figured ripping out this giant bush would be a tough job, but nothing a truck with a chain couldn't handle. Boy, were they wrong. They spent most of a Saturday just trying to get the bush (and its massive root system) out of our front yard. We had hoped to be on our way to Home Depot picking out new plants after lunch, but this bush wouldn't have it. My brother and husband tried tool after tool, and strategy after strategy, but nothing would tackle this disaster. They eventually resorted to hacking at the underground stem with an ax in hopes that its mutilation would prevent it from growing back. (Hopefully it will at least take many, many years before we see it peek above the ground again!) After filling in the hole with dirt, we were finally off to buy something new around 3:30 in the afternoon.
This is where us girls came into the picture. It was fun to choose which plants we liked best, and imagine what they may look like years from now in front of our house. A couple hours later, the plants were in the ground, mulch was laid, and this was the finished product!
As my husband often says, there's always something you could be working on when you are a home owner. Since that is most certainly true, especially for our very old home (our list is endless), we have to prioritize what we want to accomplish.
As soon as we moved in 3 years ago, we knew the huge bush out front had to go. It was no where near attractive, and it made backing out of the driveway quite difficult because we couldn't easily see if someone was walking by on the sidewalk. So, this spring, with help from our downstairs neighbors, we decided to remove the bush and replace it with some shrubbery that was more appealing (and low to the ground).
The boys figured ripping out this giant bush would be a tough job, but nothing a truck with a chain couldn't handle. Boy, were they wrong. They spent most of a Saturday just trying to get the bush (and its massive root system) out of our front yard. We had hoped to be on our way to Home Depot picking out new plants after lunch, but this bush wouldn't have it. My brother and husband tried tool after tool, and strategy after strategy, but nothing would tackle this disaster. They eventually resorted to hacking at the underground stem with an ax in hopes that its mutilation would prevent it from growing back. (Hopefully it will at least take many, many years before we see it peek above the ground again!) After filling in the hole with dirt, we were finally off to buy something new around 3:30 in the afternoon.
This is where us girls came into the picture. It was fun to choose which plants we liked best, and imagine what they may look like years from now in front of our house. A couple hours later, the plants were in the ground, mulch was laid, and this was the finished product!
So much better, right?! This picture was taken just a few days after planting back in May, and it is amazing to see how the plants have already grown since then. I love taking steps like this one that make our house more of a home.
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