Day 333

When we moved into our new house better than a year ago, my father-in-law took one look at our television and stuff hanging out in the nook over the fireplace and told us he could make it neater for us. He took some measurements and pictures, and I didn't really think much of it over the past year.

We found out a week or so ago that he'd been hard at work creating a unit for us, and this afternoon he came over to install it.

It is amazing! It fits so perfectly in the spot above the fireplace. It's modular, so if we were to replace the television to something bigger (not sure why we would), we could just take out the cabinets and it will fit. I just love how neat and clean everything looks now.

Here's the nook before...


And here is after...


It is 1,000% better. Thank you!!!

Day 312

In the middle of the summer we had some birds in the tree just outside our window. I was noticing that we have a much clearer view to their lovely home now that most of the leaves are off the tree.

Day 296

My mom called me last night to tell me that she found some mugs from our dishes on clearance for more than 50% off. I was so excited because these craftsman mugs are ones we've wanted to get more of for years. Even though it gives us an odd amount, I asked her to pick up all five of the ones they had on clearance.

Yay!

Day 295

The boys and I were up and out of the house early this morning, so I had a chance to take some pictures I'd been wanting to get for a while. I just love the dew in the spider's webs.

Day 291

We were loading up in the car, and I happened to look up and see this pretty nicely composed picture. It may be fall, but there are still some blue skies to be found.

Day 290

Paul and I went out to get the mail and on our way back to the house, we spied this little snail. I don't see snails around here very often, so I had to snag a picture.

Day 288

This morning was not what I would have considered one of my best mornings. Before 7:30, I had cleaned shampoo up off the carpet, cleaned up doggy poo, and rescued my youngest from being locked in our bedroom.

Sometime in the process of cleaning up the tools I used to save my little guy, starting the laundry, and getting breakfast ready, I lost my cell phone. It was on silent, but since I couldn't even hear it vibrating anywhere while it rang, I was sure I must have gotten it caught up in the sheets that were in the wash. But even after I went through the dripping wet sheets and towels, I still couldn't find it.

After having exhausted every other possible location, I finally searched the tool box in the garage. Sure enough, it was in the box. I'm not sure if I have a child or my stressed out morning to blame for that storage location, but I was quite relieved to find it.

Day 282

There was this amazing sunset this evening, but I missed the very best part by about five minutes while I switched lenses on my camera. Still managed to get a pretty good shot of the show.

Day 275

This evening turned out to be fairly interesting for our family. We had just put Paul to bed and I was working on Matt when the smoke detectors started going off. We went into the hall, and while we could smell a hot, electrical smell, we couldn't find any reason for the smoke detectors to be going. I thought for sure it was the dryer, but the smell was not coming from the laundry room.

I suggested that there was no reason not to call the fire department because we could not determine the source of the smell, and I was afraid of fire behind the walls that we could not see.

They came out and were very nice and professional. It was suggested that maybe the furnace, which was just turned on a couple of days ago, had kicked up some dust into the detectors. They went around the house with an infrared camera and didn't find anything to be concerned about.

We were instructed to call again if the alarms went off. It was when we sat down to watch some tv that we noticed the light in the stairwell was out. When we inspected the bulb we discovered that the light almost literally burned out. The lighting element on one side got extremely hot.

It has helped us to breathe a little easier since we were able to determine the cause of the smell and the alarms. I wish we could have realized it when the firemen were at the house, so at the very least they could see we had a legitimate cause for concern.

Day 258

I go through two valleys on my way to work most mornings. Often on cooler mornings, there is this almost ethereal fog in one or both valleys. I'm always telling myself that one day I'll stop and take some good pictures.

This morning, I was heading straight to work and not to drop off the boys, so even though I was running a bit late, I stopped for about one minute and took a few pictures of the valley closest to our house.

I was so pleased with the results that I'm sharing two pictures today instead of one. Again, I'm amazed with the quality our little point-and-shoot is able to get - if it's in the right mood.

Day 224

The excessive heat from a few weeks ago has done a real number on our front yard. I was surveying the damage this afternoon and found this cute little flower poking up through the browned out leaves in our center planter. Maybe if we get some good rain in the fall, some of the plants will make a recovery.

Day 219

This is my workspace, and as you might notice, it's a bit on the messy side. One of the downsides of our new home is that there is not a huge amount of built in storage. I've kind of taken over this nook in the bonus room, but I don't have a lot of places to put my stuff.

I'm working on a plan to change that. I have to do some research and pricing, but I thought a before picture would be the way to start.

Day 217

These are probably past their prime, but I noticed these little flowers on one of the shrubs that lines our driveway. It's the sort of shrub that I wouldn't have thought had blossoms, but I was pleased to discover that it did.

Day 216

The fog was really cool in the valley as I was heading to work this morning. I nearly dropped the camera out the window of the car, which would not have made for a good start to the morning.

Day 208

I sitting on the couch, looking out the window this evening and thought this view made a nice picture for the day.

Day 181

I was really pleased to see we had a Hydrangea when we moved to the new house because it's one of my favorite plants. With all the cold and snow we had last winter, I thought for sure that it was dead. I was very surprised when I noticed it was blooming and looking quite healthy.

Day 174

For probably about the last week I've been admiring a bush by the driveway when I pull into our house. I keep thinking, boy that's a nice bush. The neighbors are lucky to have such a pretty bush in their yard.

It wasn't until today that I had this "ah ha!" moment as I drove in. That bush I've been admiring is actually on our property. How lucky are we?!

If you look at the picture, the marker is the property line between our two houses. Our property is on the right. I don't know why it took me so long to make that connection.

Day 157

Today was the Duvall Days parade, which literally ran down the street from our house. The boys had never been to a parade before, and since we could walk down to see it, there seemed to be no reason to miss the parade. Towards the end, there were some prancing horses and gals dancing. I thought the flow of their dresses was so fun to capture.

Day 131

Today in the Pacific Northwest we have been holding our breath while enjoying the weather between storms. The sun was out this afternoon, but as we were driving home this evening, these storm clouds were on the horizon and reflecting some awesome colors from the setting sun. I had to pull over and capture a few.

Day 126

Another view of the valley from our street. I thought the misty clouds in the trees and storm clouds were awesome!