Electrician Update

We finally have a light over the kitchen sink! And outlets in bedrooms! And recessed lights for the hall and stairway!

It has been awhile since the last update, but we haven't been totally slacking! We added 12" of blown-in insulation to our attic, putting us at approx. R-40, and currently have an electrician at the house doing a variety of things that should make our house much more functional and enjoyable. In the meantime Andy turned 30, and we started working our compost into the garden, and planted some lettuce. You can check out the cake and garden below, plus see a swatch of the fabric that my mom will be making roman shades with for the baby's room.

After donating 3 hours to figuring out assembly instructions written in broken English with bad illustrations (and having to take it apart and start over again 1/4 of the way through), we now have a storage bench for our shoes, and an additional place to sit. I am looking for fabric to put over the cushion, but fabric searches have been less than fruitful. Even with the variety of swatches sent from my mom (thanks! keep em coming!)

Snow!

After a month of really cold and dreary weather, we finally got some snow! It makes the cold somehow justifiable, and makes our backyard and house look really cool.

Brown Coat to the Guest Room

This is the look of our new guest room. What do you think? Erin's mom stayed here over the holidays and relatives Mike and Dottie recently stayed here the night before the frustrating inaugural swearing in ceremony. (Frustrating, because, try as we must, the four of us sadly did not witness it on the Mall). Anyway, this is where you will be staying if you come visit. 

A New (Old) Piano

Much to our surprise, we had a Price and Teeple piano from 1910 delivered to our house this Saturday. We got the piano for absolutely no money at all, and didn't even have to pay for the delivery! How did this come about you ask? Erin and I got this prize piece simply through a friend of a friend of a friend that didn't want the antique in their possession anymore. Well, truth be told, the piano wouldn't have fit in their slim style 3 story townhouse and they wanted to give it a good home. So, in our dining room, that is slowly resembling a saloon from the wild west, it sits. We are thrilled to have a new addition to the family, even if it is only slightly out of tune. Now, I should just learn how to play it.

Cross-Country Drive!

We recently drove out to California. Here are some photos from the trip.