Wednesday, April 27, 2011

An Update on Someone Else's Kitchen

Whitney and I have been hard at work on our projects around the house. I feel like I've had a paint brush in my hand any chance I have a free second. We've completed painting the entire downstairs and have moved upstairs to the guest bedrooms. But, we've hit a wall.


At times I've felt like hanging this on the blog and checking back later.

Here's the problem - We're officially over painting. Perhaps its because I've tried to do it all at once, but I've had all I can take for a little while. I had big plans to finish both the guest bedroom and master bedroom before my girlfriend's come into town this weekend, but that's not going to happen. Hopefully, they'll overlook the plain white walls and less than exciting decor in their room. Whitney is having a guy's weekend at the beach house so I'm hosting a girl's weekend at his house. I'm in need of some girl time and hope they'll help me with some suggestions for decor. I've been collecting fabric samples for a month now and I've got to start picking out drapes, window boxes, etc.

In the meantime, I saw Erika's posts (from Urban Grace Interiors) about her own little kitchen remodeling project and it made me feel like I wasn't alone. I've mentioned her before when I was drooling over her nursery. She's also the twin sister to my blogger girl crush, Darby. (It's amazing how blogs can make you feel like you know someone you've never met.)

She posted her before pictures this week of her own remodeling project and I felt like I was staring at our own mess.


I would swear this was Whitney's house if I didn't know better. Granted we haven't taken off the cabinet doors (yet), but it feels like we've had the same piles of stuff staring at us for months now. I've politely invited friends to meet us out for dinner instead of having them over. 


And, while Whitney has become quite the sheet rock repairman, this isn't exactly what your friends have in mind when you invite them over for a good time. But, I would like to take this opportunity to say how much fun it has been to see Whitney get so good at something he didn't have a clue about before we got started. He now owns his own sheet rock knife, knows how to patch holes and can spread mud with the best of them! 

But, until I'm ready to post pics of my own before/after I'll leave you with these. We can drool over her kitchen together. Maybe I could hire Erika to come and finish our projects. 



Tuesday, April 19, 2011

We're Empty Nesters

It's official. The birds have flew the coop.



I snapped these pictures of them just yesterday after their mom had finished feeding them. I told Whitney that it wouldn't be much longer until they left us. As we watched from the window you could see them flapping their wings and trying to fly. Unfortunately, when I would get close enough to snap a picture they would quit showing off and looked extremely scared of me and my camera.

Today he texted me at work and said they were gone. No note, nothing... Just like kids, huh?

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Signs of Spring

We've been working diligently around Whitney's house both inside and out. The painting and remodeling is progressing and as soon as I get my act together I'll share some of our before/after pictures. In the meantime, we've also been sprucing up outside as well.

I bought 2 ferns for the front porch a few weeks ago. As I was watering them one day I was scared to death when a bird flew out of the fern. Upon further inspection I found this.

This was when we only had 1 egg. She laid 5 total. 

That mama bird was guarding her nest. Whitney has since become equally as protective of this nest and has forbid me from watering my fern for fear that I'll disrupt this nest. I wasn't as happy about this as he was, but after a little google searching I now know all you need to know about wren gestation.

Here's what that egg is going to look like in about 6 months.


I did the math and based on when I found our wren nest I figured we should be having babies yesterday. Sure enough, Whitney helped gently move mama bird out of the nest so I could see how our babies were doing. (AKA - knock on the bottom of the pot while being prepared to do some karate chopping). Yesterday we had some baby birds!

All 5 babies!

Based on my calculations they'll be with us for about 2 weeks before they'll "spread their wings and fly". (Sorry, cheesy, I know). My website says they usually fall from the nest before they actually learn to fly and may live on the ground for a day or two. So, we're working on  creating a nice, soft landing for them on the porch so I don't end up with a crime scene. 

As most proud parent's do, I'll post an update on the kids long before they move out and leave us with an empty nest! (sorry, again!)