home is where my story begins...

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I always struggle a bit this time of year.  I just can’t stand the dark, gray, gloom that surrounds the Pacific Northwest during the winter months.  (Who am I kidding… it’s most months here.)  Don’t get me wrong, we have beautiful days here and there, but for the most part it’s pretty gray around here.  I love being outside and working in my yard, but this time of year everything has died and there is just a muddy mess of leaves that we didn’t get around to picking up and skid marks of mud where we once had grass.

It’s dreary, Friends.

My husband and I were chatting last week, while we were both home and vacation, and as I looked outside on our muddy lawn I said, “Well, at least we don’t feel the pressure to hurry up and enjoy the sunshine, because we know it won’t last too long, or feel the need to work in the yard every weekend.”

 My attention turns to inside this time of year and making a cozy and inviting place for my family.  I focus more on cooking, baking, cleaning, organizing, and decorating than weeding, planting, pressure washing, and dead-heading.

As I was feeling down about the gray and rain again today, I reminded myself how much I LOVE home.  I want my home to wrap my kids and husband with coziness.  I want it filled with smells of good food and the sounds of laughter.  It’s a happy place, and do you know what?  It’s not so bad to be trapped inside because of the gray and gloom.

 It’s a time to nest a bit and create as many memories inside the house as we do outside.

Home is a good place to be.

Happy Homemaking!

Front Porch Fall-ification

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Before I tell you about my front porch fall-ification, I’d like to say thank you for all of your nice comments and emails about my grandma.  She has had a very difficult few days.  My mom slept on her couch, sitting up, fully dressed, because she was sure the hospital would call in the middle of the night and she wanted to be ready to go.  Today, we packed up Nanie’s room in Assisted Living.  In the best case scenario, she would go back to Nursing, but we know she is well past that.  We were happily surprised today when we visited.  She was the most alert we’ve seen her in a week.  It was nice to see her try to eat and be able to speak a few words.  Thank you so much for your kind words.  It really makes a difference.

On a lighter note, I needed a little pick-me-up after one of our days at the hospital.  I asked my hubby to get my fall boxes down so I could do a little decorating.  The front door was my first stop.  I’m trying to add a bit more yellow to the front of my house.  I love black-eyed-susans and mums, so those were the obvious pick.  I wasn’t quite ready to change to my burlap pillows, but summery stripes just didn’t cut it anymore.

My hanging baskets are still all about summer, but I’ll be changing out a few plants to yellow or orange mums as the petunias start to die.


The leaves are even starting to blow onto the driveway.  I love fall, but I’m always sad to see summer slipping away. 

I wasn’t feeling very creative this year, so I just went with basic wreaths, garland, and mums.  My old milk crate gets to stay, just because I love it.

Fall-ification done.

How about you?  Have you started  breaking out the fall decor?

Happy Fall-ification!

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My Favorite Use For An Old Window

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Several years ago, I spotted a few old windows in my cousin’s barn.  He was happy to get rid of them and I was happy to take them off his hands! A few of the pieces of glass were broken out, so I decided to break the rest out and use the windows in the garden.

They have become my favorite Sweet Pea trellises.

I usually plant my Sweet Peas from seeds, but I’ve noticed that they’ve been getting trampled over the past few years, and not growing too well. (Dogs and kids will do that to your garden.)  This year, I decided to buy some starts at the nursery. 

I planted several plants under each window frame and I also planted a few on a trellis in another part of the yard.

I use twine to attach the plants to their supports.  Ooooh, I just can’t wait for some pretty flowers this year!

There are signs of Spring everywhere!


Happy planting!

I’m linking up at Tootsie Time and these other parties.

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The Outdoor Tour Do-Over

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***Do-Overs! I went on vacation and had this post all scheduled. Well, it posted just as planned, but posted without the pictures. Grrrrr. Sometimes Blogger is so frustrating! Well, here it is again. Hope you’ll take the time to read it and enjoy the pictures!***
We’ve had a rather mild summer in the Pacific Northwest. Mid 70’s and partly sunny has been a good day around here. I haven’t set up a single fan in my house. The air conditioner is still in the closet, and the blow up pool is still hiding up in the rafters. Summer has been pleasant, but certainly not a scorcher.
Although, most of us around here are complaining about the lack of heat, my yard and garden are loving this weather. I thought I’d take you on a little garden tour today.
This rocking chair has been in my classroom for the past several years. It needed a repair job and some paint touch ups. I brought it home, fixed it up, and now I don’t think it’s going back to school. I really like it out on the deck. It kind of reminds me of a rocker someone might have had on their porch in the 40’s or 50’s.
I brought the rooster pillow out to add a little warmth to the chair.
Our grass is still quite green and the sprinkler has only been on a handful of times.

My sweet peas are very happy out there on those window trellises.

Most of my flowers are ready to be divided.
This is the area of free plants from Carpooler Michelle. She gave me starts when I moved in. I think they’ve filled in pretty nicely.

This next little area is a work in progress. Someday I think it will be a patio. For now it’s no-man’s-land. I put my little picnic table out there last weekend, just so I wouldn’t have to look at dead space. I finally got around to repairing my old wagon. Note to self – go to Flower World and buy a few plants to put in the wagon. Ooooh, or better yet, maybe I’ll just wait for pumpkins!
My red Adirondack chairs are my favorite place in the yard. I love sitting here, in the sun, watching the kids play on the swingset or splashing in the blow up pool.
Yep, it’s my happy place. My geraniums are doing the best they have ever done! I think they like the cooler temps.

Dahlias have to be my favorite flower for cutting. Without the heat and sunshine, I don’t have many this year.

Not too bad for a yard that had zero plants when we moved in.
The veggie garden is on the left, perennials on the right. I’m thinking I may only get green tomatoes this year.

I’m hoping these plants will fill in. I bought the three perennials on the clearance table. They look pretty pathetic right now, but I’ll give them a few years to prove themselves. The urn was a roadside freebie. The stump was one of those things I just couldn’t figure out how to get rid of. What’s that old saying about life giving you lemons? Well, now I love this little corner. I’m glad I couldn’t get rid of the stump.

I was very patient and now my impatients are in full bloom. The pitch fork-plant hanger is a new addition this year.
Why, hello there, Annabelle. I’m so happy you’re blooming this year! I planted two Annabelle hydrangeas last year by my grandpa’s old plow. White hydrangeas make me happy.

I picked these hydrangeas two weeks ago and they still look beautiful in my kitchen. (Still loving my $1 milk bottles!)

Thanks for taking an outdoor tour with me! I’m off to pick a bouquet of flowers.

Happy gardening!

I’m linking up with Fertilizer Friday and these other parties.

These Things I Know For Sure

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I feel very fortunate to have such a happy life.  I have a wonderful husband, who has been in my life since I was 15 years old.  We have two fantastic kids, who are happy, healthy, and well adjusted.  We are close to our families and have an amazing support system of family and friends.  My husband and I are both lucky enough to have decent jobs and I like to think we balance work and family well. 

Home is where my story begins.  There is nothing more important to me than having a happy home life and building great memories for my children. 

When you walk in my front door, there will be good smells.  There will be a homemade snack or meal, made with love, and there will be plenty to share with friends and neighbors who happen to stop by.

I have the kind of house where guests feel comfortable enough to curl their feet underneath them on the couch.  There is nothing formal about our home.  In every room there is an art project, game, or fort ready to be made.

These are the things I know for sure.  We have a happy home, filled with laughter and love, good food to share, and a comfy place to put your feet up at the end of the day. Our home is a place where memories are made because home is where my story begins.

How I Met My House – A Repost

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Just for fun, I thought I’d repost the story of how we came to live in the best neighborhood in the state.  The tagline on my blog says, “At the end of the day, it’s all about home and family.”  I think I may need to change that and add neighbors to the tagline too.  “At the end of the day, it’s all about home, family, and awesome neighbors.”  It has a good ring to it.

AnNicole writes one of my very favorite blogs, Our Suburban Cottage. This week she has invited her readers to a linky party and asked us to share the story of how we met our house. I LOVE this idea. It really is a like meeting a new friend when you meet your house for the first time. I love the idea of sharing these stories with each other.

Here’s my story:

Just after my husband and I were married, we bought our first house.

I felt so fortunate. We had found a truly perfect house for us. It was a great price, close to work, in a nice neighborhood, with a beautiful yard and there was plenty of room to raise a family. I felt like we were living happily ever after in our “forever” house. We built a fence, bought a puppy, and the babies followed shortly after.

Life was good, but that was just the beginning of the story of our house.

You see, my sister lived in a beautiful neighborhood in Snohomish and it just so happened that my husband’s sister lives in the same neighborhood. Our kids are all about the same age and we all enjoy spending time together. My sister called me one day and told me about a house in her neighborhood that was For Sale By Owner. I told her that I thought that was really nice that she thought about us, but that we were not moving. She persisted. The next day she called again. She told me that she really thought we should just come out and see the house. Again, I told her that we were not moving and we didn’t even have time to come drive by. Undeterred, she went to the house, knocked on the door, and asked if she could come in and take some pictures to email to her reluctant sister.

This was the picture on the brochure.

The house that my sister had chosen for us was within walking distance to her house and my husband’s sister’s house. It was close to the elementary school that all the kids would attend. The house was within our budget, in a perfect neighborhood, and it was much larger than the house I thought was our “forever house”. When my husband and I opened the email with all of the pictures attached, it was all over. We didn’t even need to see it in person. It was love at first sight. We drove out that very night and made an offer.

Moving to our new “forever house” was the best decision we’ve ever made. There were, and still are, lots of cosmetic changes that need to made. We can handle that. It’s a small trade off for letting my kids grow up with their cousins and I mean REALLY grow up with their cousins. (We see them every day.) I always have someone to go to for a cup of sugar or when I’m short just one egg. I come home from work to find that my sister has “broken in” and left some things she had borrowed on the kitchen counter. We have one really tall ladder between all of us, because why would we want to store more than one ladder when we live so close together? We share dishes, childcare, good days, tough times, home baked treats, and most importantly – we share our lives together. At the end of the day it’s all about home and family. I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel that my home and family share the same neighborhood.

Check out these parties!

Loving What You Have

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When we moved into our house 5 years ago I had grand plans right away. My hubby and I thought the area above the three car garage would be a perfect space to add a bonus room.

We spent quite a bit of time discussing layout, how to reconfigure the hallway, and design from the outside. I even started collecting pictures so I’d have some ideas to show an architect someday.


Everyone wants a bonus room, right? You have the family room connected to the kitchen (where you spend most of your time), a formal living room for entertaining, and a bonus room for movies, video games, kid clutter, craft projects. I had images of Pottery Barn Kids dancing in my head.

One day I was watching HGTV and my friend Genevieve (okay she doesn’t really know me, but I feel like she’s my BFF because we spend so much time together) told me that I really don’t need any more space than I already have.

She said that so many people think they need to build an addition, when really they just need to learn to use the space they have. Hmmmm, I was thinking she may be on to something. We went from a 1,500 square foot house to a 2,600 square foot house and I thought I needed more room??? Time to rethink.

This aha moment happened last summer around the same time as the CHAIR incident. That’s when I decided to let go of the formal living room. I sold the formal lamps and replaced the “look but don’t touch pillows” with kid friendly pillows. I did some rearranging and was able to fit a cabinet with the kids’ games and puzzles in the space. One year later, I find that it’s a favorite spot to curl up and read books in the evening. There are usually an assortment of princess puzzles on the floor. The open space is perfect when you need to build yourself a fortress as protection from Nerf gun bullets. Mom doesn’t yell, “Not in the living room!” Now the living room is a room to live in, messes and all.

The idea of building a bonus room has now been crossed off the To Do list. Just like that we have saved ourselves $50,000, a lot of headaches, and a ton of stress. We are perfectly content to love what we have, live in all of our space, and enjoy our home just the way it is.

Red, White, and Blue Cottage Inspiration

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Back when AnNicole had her How I Met My House party, I wrote a post and realized I had no current pictures of the front of my house. My house has changed since we first moved in. It has evolved from low maintenance shrubs to the cottage garden I have always wished for.

Here’s the before photo (from the original brochure when it was for sale):

Here’s the picture I took this morning:

In a few more weeks the window boxes will start spilling over.

Most of the flowers are not in bloom yet.

Usually by the Fourth of July, my front yard is at its peak. Seeing the difference in the before and after, even without the blooms, made me start thinking about the transformation process, my inspiration, and how it came to be.

First off, I should say I’m addicted to HGTV and DIY network. I love watching Landscape Smart, Yard Crashers, Desperate Landscapes, and Curb Appeal. I also love to check books out from the library and browse through landscape ideas. Country Gardens Magazine is where most of my inspiration comes from. They do a perfect job of integrating found objects, antiques, and the look of a cottage, country, or farm home.

Once I had an idea of what I wanted my yard to look like in my head, I had to figure out what the flowers were called. I knew many of the names, but asked my local nursery for help figuring out what to plant and where to plant it.

I love my hanging baskets and window boxes. I think they make my house stand out from the other houses in the neighborhood. They are a little extra work, but worth it.

I decided to go with a red, white, and blue color scheme because of the red door and the color of my house. I also have a party on the Fourth of July each year and it’s the perfect setting. Later in the summer I usually add a little pale yellow, just so my house doesn’t scream, “Happy 4th of July!” into September.




But since the Fourth is just around the corner, the flag is the perfect finishing touch.


How about you? Where did your inspiration come from and what colors do you use?

Here are a few linky parties I like to participate in:
http://homeiswheremystorybegins.net/linky-parties-i-like-to-participate-in/

How I Met My House

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AnNicole writes one of my very favorite blogs, Our Suburban Cottage. This week she has invited her readers to a linky party and asked us to share the story of how we met our house. I LOVE this idea. It really is a like meeting a new friend when you meet your house for the first time. I love the idea of sharing these stories with each other.

Here’s my story:
Just after my husband and I were married, we bought our first house.


I felt so fortunate. We had found a truly perfect house for us. It was a great price, close to work, in a nice neighborhood, with a beautiful yard and there was plenty of room to raise a family. I felt like we were living happily ever after in our “forever” house. We built a fence, bought a puppy, and the babies followed shortly after.

Life was good, but that was just the beginning of the story of our house.

You see, my sister lived in a beautiful neighborhood in Snohomish and it just so happened that my husband’s sister lives in the same neighborhood. Our kids are all about the same age and we all enjoy spending time together. My sister called me one day and told me about a house in her neighborhood that was For Sale By Owner. I told her that I thought that was really nice that she thought about us, but that we were not moving. She persisted. The next day she called again. She told me that she really thought we should just come out and see the house. Again, I told her that we were not moving and we didn’t even have time to come drive by. Undeterred, she went to the house, knocked on the door, and asked if she could come in and take some pictures to email to her reluctant sister.


This was the picture on the brochure.

The house that my sister had chosen for us was within walking distance to her house and my husband’s sister’s house. It was close to the elementary school that all the kids would attend. The house was within our budget, in a perfect neighborhood, and it was much larger than the house I thought was our “forever house”. When my husband and I opened the email with all of the pictures attached, it was all over. We didn’t even need to see it in person. It was love at first sight. We drove out that very night and made an offer.

Moving to our new “forever house” was the best decision we’ve ever made. There were, and still are, lots of cosmetic changes that need to made. We can handle that. It’s a small trade off for letting my kids grow up with their cousins and I mean REALLY grow up with their cousins. (We see them every day.) I always have someone to go to for a cup of sugar or when I’m short just one egg. I come home from work to find that my sister has “broken in” and left some things she had borrowed on the kitchen counter. We have one really tall ladder between all of us, because why would we want to store more than one ladder when we live so close together? We share dishes, childcare, good days, tough times, home baked treats, and most importantly – we share our lives together. At the end of the day it’s all about home and family. I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel that my home and family share the same neighborhood.

Check out these parties!