Being a "Happy Girl"

This past weekend I got to run a 10k race in Spokane with some of my Moscow mom-friends ... several who also had babies in the past year.  I had heard about the Happy Girls Run last year and was immediately interested in this fun, women's only, trail run. I also knew that if I was going to get back into running I would need to commit to a race. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. Jason in his usual fashion, wholeheartedly supported me (meaning, three times a week for the past 4 months, he's been pushing the double jog stroller with the kids while I ran alongside).

Once the race began and the nerves calmed, it was a really fun day ... beautiful, beautiful course, alongside a river with the trees in their fall splendor for part of the way. Mid-way through I realized that perhaps this was my 40th birthday present to myself, a few weeks belated. A great gift to physically be able to do something like this.

Pre-race

Post-race ... not too worse for the wear, but definitely glad to be DONE!

Porch makeover

Before we purchased our home last year, the inspector had pointed out some rather suspect looking support posts on the covered front porch. We'd also noticed that the floor boards seemed pretty worse for the wear. Last winter when we had precipitation coming through the gaping, rotten floor boards into our basement, we knew we really were going to have to do something about it before too long.

Finding a trustworthy, economical & skilled contractor became our next task ... not easy in the middle of their busy season. Thankfully after several rounds of dead-end phone calls, we finally found someone with availability for the right price. Thank you!

I don't have a really good "before" photo of the porch, but came across this one of my Mom & Luke from a year ago which gives an idea of what it used to look like.

In process ...




























Support posts were definitely rotten and the lumber originally used is now not considered adequate support.




















Now that the more serious stuff has been completed, time to get stain, varnish and paint on.







































Finished ...

A happy accident & a trip to the fair

Ever have a situation that should have turned out really poorly turn out great instead?

I have known for a long time it was inevitable that I would lock my keys in my car -- I am just too scattered with trying to remember what I am doing in the midst of Luke's ceaseless chatter & juggling both of them in & out of the car.

Last Thursday was the day --

I'd just gotten milk at the store and nervously realized my keys weren't in any of their usual spots. After a few minutes of calmly trying to find them and before calling AAA, I called Jason. He answered. He usually has his phone on silent since he's in class or in the library studying, etc. Next great thing, he didn't have class for a bit, so it was no problem for him to ride his bike to the grocery store and rescue us. Then, since he had a free hour, we all got to go to our (free!) county fair together. Something we had not expected to be able to do this fair season. So, thanks God for that unexpected gift of some family fun-time together.

Picking exterior paint colors

***Warning ... this post is completely about a first world problem & I know it***

Since before buying our house, we've known it would need new exterior paint ... and we've very much wanted to update the exterior color scheme. Since our homeowners insurance was requiring us to fix some of the peeling paint, it seemed like this summer would be the right time.

We had absolutely NO idea just how difficult it would be to pick the right colors though! Or how excruciatingly tedious scraping/sanding/primering could be. Or how incredibly stressed we would already feel just trying to accomplish a few small home projects in the midst of Jason's independent study course, his job, being present with our kids and trying to have a few fun moments.

We were completely blessed by a friend who referred us to apply for a program through the university where a group college students come paint your house, for free. We applied and were one of three families accepted. What a huge praise! Although we were warned the students would likely not be as detailed in their work as we might be, we came to the realization that prepping and painting the house ourselves would have to become an absolutely all-consuming endeavor if it was going to be completed at all. We were so so so thankful to be part of this program.

So, back to picking colors ... we had decided early on that we wanted to do a beige house with white trim & a black door/accents, but we had no clue just how many beiges there are ... or how many whites! It is truly crazy.

Then, in the midst of searching for house photos with different beige paints, I came across a photo of a house with a green door and realized that while the black looked really crisp & sharp, how much more inviting the green looked to me. So that began a whole new hunt ... finding the right green, then finding beiges/whites that also looked good against it. Oh my.

We were fortunate to have our detached garage to practice on.

The before picture -- from last winter (brrr!)

Starting to narrow it down ...

A little closer ...














And, we think we have our winner -- we liked Naturel but it wasn't a whole lot different than our current house color and so went with Stone Lion. Ta-da!

























Then we really started to get serious about which white to use for trim -- Aged White, Dover White, Aesthetic White or Alabaster. While picking these out, we came across the (rather boringly named) Khaki Shade which was a great in-between from Stone Lion & Naturel. Alabaster (white) was listed as a coordinating color for both Khaki Shade and Olive Grove making the white paint decision much easier.

Here's the final decision applied to our garage. The house has also been completed at this point ... photos soon!

Turning ONE!

Mabel passed her one year mark yesterday. As it was when she was born, I really could have used one more month before this happened. Things have been a bit chaotic and we were scrambling just to get a photo of her with her birthday cupcake on her actual birthday. It was way past her bedtime and all she wanted was to sleep, not have cake. Poor thing.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! We have been so blessed to have you in our lives for the past 12 months. You bring us so many smiles :) We love you!