Rainy Day Shoes

Spring is just around the corner, and we are getting particularly excited about gardening. I have all sorts of plans for the yard, including growing a serious number of moonflowers and morning glories, which I hope will grow quickly and vine and flower all over the fence surrounding the back yard.

The moonflowers are a new thing, not planted in our original garden. I am going to borrow an idea from Cottage Living (a super-cute magazine that J's mom got me for Christmas) and plant some of these on the front porch like so:
Most of the things in the garden seem to be growing okay, but there are a few, for example, the poppies, that grew and then toppled over and died. Any thoughts on why? My current theory is that the basement may have gotten too cold at one point and killed them. Jason suggested that they grew too tall for their root system. Either way, I'm attempting to grow more.


One of my weekend projects was making a window garden for the two windows on either side of the fireplace. I have to admit that I copied this idea from a magazine, too. I think it's a fun and cheap way to bring some spring cheer to the house, and once the seeds grow big enough, I'll probably plant the flowers in the yard once they get big enough. So really, it's a double whammy.



With spring, we're anticipating a lot of rain. We're hoping that it won't come in the basement. Also, we're trying to figure out why one of J's shoes always gets wetter than the other.

Ogres have layers (and so does our house)

On Saturday, we set out to repair the study ceiling and we quickly learned that there were several layers of paint and wallpaper between us and the plaster. Yes, wallpaper on the ceiling. I've seen it successfully pulled off in smaller rooms, like the bathrooms in my parents and Jason's parents houses. But in a study? Hmm. So, we peeled it all off:

Then, we had to get some chemicals to peel the final layers of paper and glue off:



Finally, a clean(er) ceiling. Luckily, the plaster ceiling is in REALLY great shape, with only a few small cracks that we're not going to even bother repairing since you can't really see them.


This week, we'll be washing the ceiling with water + the wallpaper remover chemicals. If all goes well, we'll be priming and painting the ceiling this weekend. The Lowe's man suggested that we do a faux finishing technique on the ceiling, but I suggested we go sistine chapel-style on it.

a good look for our study ceiling?

Karl the California King

I am proud to announce the arrival of our new housemate, Karl. He's black and white, about a foot long, and as big around as your pinky.

Check him out:

Karl, the California King Snake

Cute, isn't he? Not a great picture, but he hasn't come out of hiding tonight. Last night he was all over the cage, and we even watched him drink some water.

Yes, I've completely lost it. What female is actually excited about having a snake in her home? Scary. What's even more scary is that I even bought the snake - as a Valentine's Day present for Jason, of course. Jason was really surprised since he thought he was getting homebrewing equipment... I was just excited that I managed to keep it a surprise - I am usually horrible at keeping these things a surprise from him (or he checks the history button on my computer and figures it out a la Christmas 2004 - sneaky).

Jason's Valentine Surprise

Karl has brought on all sorts of fun, especially because he tells us things. For example, Karl likes it when I go shopping. Karl wants me to finish the curtains for Jason's room (Karl lives in Jason's room, and yes, his cage is double- and triple-secured so that he can't escape). Karl wishes it would snow more. Jason claims that Karl told him that he likes J better than me, but I don't think so. Karl enjoyed tonight's episode of The Office. Karl thinks this week's episode of The OC was lame. Karl wants me to stay home from work tomorrow so that he doesn't get lonely.

You get the point.

Curtains and Other New Additions

The dining room curtains are finished! Yes! Here are some pics:

Dining room curtains open.

Dining room curtains closed.
(the seam at the bottom is not quite as noticable in person... I think the lighting and camera are playing tricks with us.)

So this works, no? I think it will keep a little of the cold out - and boy has it been cold here recently. We've been walking to work in 8 degree weather (Minnesota weather, if you will). However, the Kentuckians are not quite as used to this weather - schools were cancelled today for the 4th day in a row, since we got 1/2" of snow last night. 1/2". Seriously. Is this why Kentucky's education rates are some of the lowest in the US? Because they never go to school?

Anyways, in the midst of last night's "blizzard", we managed to hang up a new shelf and put some things on it. I'm particularly excited about the metal star, as I have been eyeing them up for months and only recently allowed myself to purchase one. The picture is actually a photo of the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. We like it because it reminds us of our Minneapolis roots. And because it reminds us that we can eventually move back (or at least, we're crossing our fingers that it will become a possibility at some point).

The new shelf above the TV, complete with metal star and cherry on a spoon picture.

Kitchen Curtains

I love sewing. Love it.

My mom, brother, and grandma came to visit me last weekend, and we had a blast. They helped me make a quilt, which I still have to finish, and that will be the subject of another blog. Suffice it to say, I am fairly certain that it will not be my last quilt (although, I suspect that I haven't gotten to the tricky parts yet, so I reserve the right to change my mind).

Since then, I have been hard at work sewing up some kitchen curtains. Check them out:

The big window over the kitchen sink.

The butler's pantry window.

The back hall.

My next project: the dining room curtains (see below). I hope to have them done before tomorrow night's birthday party for J and our friend, Dustin. I also love throwing parties.

Hard at work on the dining room curtains.

Another Important Lesson

Earlier we learned to say no to drugs in the hillarious spider video.

Another important lesson (to be learned on YouTube.com, of course) is gun safety. Here, a DEA officer teaches us more about guns. Note that he is, "the only one in the room professional enough to know how to carry" the gun. Excellent.


Just for fun, here are some pics of our living room/dining room.

Living and Dining Room

Cavemen: 1, Jason & Jen: 0

We finally managed to get a real fire to burn in the fireplace this evening. Mind you, the fire alarm went off 3 times and we had to keep the door open to get rid of some of the smoke in the house, but we (and by that I mean, Jason) got it started.

Look how cute it is:

Also, I just uploaded some pictures from Sarah's wedding in Minneapolis last weekend, so check them out (below). The wedding was a blast, and it is always good to get to Minneapolis to see friends/family again. Also - I caught the bouquet! You know what that means... (though, I'm not really holding my breath - sorry, J). And we danced like madmen and sang "Um Ya Ya" (the St. Olaf fight song - Jason had a field day with that one...)! It was a great time!

Sarah and Adam

Christmas Lights

In honor of the first full day of winter and the fact that we've successfully made the first leg of our Christmas 2006 Tour, I thought I would post some pictures of the house. We were really excited to put Christmas lights on the house (okay, I was excited, but since it was another "boy job" and JT had to do most of the work, I think he may have been substantially less excited about it). In fact, I was reminded several times that the largest number of injuries during the holiday season comes from people falling off the roof while hanging lights. Fortunately, JT is an exceptional ladder/roof climber!

Here's a photo of the living room, all decked out. You'll notice that my stocking is about 3 times bigger than J's... it's because I am 3 times nicer and thus, deserve more presents from St. Nick. Also, the star is falling off the Christmas tree. Next year we may have to invest in an angel, or at least a better star.