How Much Could Happen in Six Months?

It’s almost June. We're almost six months into the year.
How did that happen? This year has been absolutely flying by!
I’m convinced that time starts to pass faster and faster every year.

This feels like an oversimplification of what our lives have been like over the past few months, but here's the highlights:

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

Before

After an hour or two of demolition!

The "almost" finished bathroom. We had a delay with the plumbing on our vanity. Now we have to do a few minor adjustments and install all the finishing touches!

Before: April 2011

After: The roses looked decent after some pruning and
mulching, but our cold winter did them in, which gave us the
perfect excuse to start from scratch!

Can't wait to see everything grow in!

Still three more sections in the backyard to overhaul.. Ugh!

FAMILY & FRIENDS

Apparently I have been having a too much fun because I failed at documenting all of our visitors! Alex's parents and his brother Adam came down to visit for a weekend and then shortly after my college roommates also came down for a weekend to visit! I also got to visit with my friend Karleya in Columbus and we spent Easter in Cleveland with my parents. At the end of April my parents and my Grandma Peterson also came down for a weekend. My Grandma was last at our house in April 2011 right before we had closed on the house, so it was exciting to show her the inside this time! I also can't believe we have been in our house for three years already... 

    

Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill

Dinner at Windy Corner Market

GRADUATIONS

So far May has been the month of graduations! 

Eileen's graduation from Point Park University
Pittsburgh, PA - May 3, 2014

Eileen blowing us a kiss!

Eileen and her Dad at the post graduation celebratory dinner!

Alex's graduation from University of Kentucky!
May 10, 2014

Alex Janesz, MBA!

I surprised Alex with a pinata at our family cookout!
Here's the end result after he had a go at it! 
There's a video to go with this...

Happy Mother's Day! My parents and Alex's parents and siblings met up for brunch the next day. 

As Alex was wrapping up his classes, I started some classes of my own! A couple months ago we switched churches and I started the RCIA program to join in full communion with the Catholic Church. Our new church has already been such a blessing in our lives and we are both really looking forward to getting involved together. One of the best parts is that the church is about a three minute walk! We've already met quite a few people that live in our neighborhood. 

This weekend we will be in Cincinnati for Memorial Day for the Annual Harshman picnic (Alex's mom's side of the family). The rest of the summer brings wedding and lots of traveling! And if all goes according to plan, a property to flip! Stay tuned for more on that journey later.

Being a Homebod and a Traveler is Not Mutually Exclusive

As is evident from my posts, Alex and I travel A LOT. And we love to do it. A weekend trip is always a nice opportunity to get away from it all and spend time with people that are important to us. It really puts life into perspective. Not to mention, our trips usually involve tasty food, exploring new sights, friends and family and too much fun {You know it was a great weekend when you get home and feel the need for a full day to recuperate and catch your breath}.

As much energy as we have, it's a difficult pace to keep up, and we don't always want to. Often when we have that lone weekend sandwiched between two traveling weekends we become total homebodies and spend all of our time just the two of us. This past weekend was no exception. And I LOVED it. It's absolutely rejuvenating.

Friday I got home from work early {which is always a bonus, especially on Fridays} and I convinced Alex we should head to Whole Foods for Flights After 5. I think I've referred to this before, but basically Whole Foods features a brewery, or sometimes several, and has five different beers that you get to try with food pairings. The whole shabang is only $5; actually only $4 per person if you bring back your beer tasting glass! It's always an interesting crowd and this time it was a local brewery {for Craft Beer Week} and the owner/brewmaster was on site. I got my fill of beer and food while Alex got his fill of answers {well, let's be honest, he probably would've stayed and talked even more if I let him}.

It's such a great value and a really good time. I also love it because it's early. On Fridays I don't usually have too much energy to spend the whole night on the town, so an hour or two is perfect. They also had wood fired pizza outside, so after our tasting we picked up a little more food for a light dinner {sometimes the tastings are filling, but usually you leave even hungrier than when you came in because of all of the beer you've had!}. We had a margherita pizza and split a salad from the salad bar, a double chocolate chip cookie and a sparkling peach izze soda. It started to drizzle, but that didn't stop us from enjoying a few minutes of the live music outside as well. I cannot resist any opportunity to eat outside. All in all we had some delicious food and met some new people while only spending $20!

Then we headed home and camped out on the couch to be lazy and watch a few episodes of Sons of Anarchy on Netflix. The show was recommended to Alex by someone and somehow I got sucked into it. Sometimes it feels good to just sit and not worry about where you have to be next. It also feels strangely luxurious to be able to watch a couple episodes right in a row.

The next morning we got up pretty early to drop off my car at the dealership and to drive to Shelbyville for a 10 a.m. appointment. We finalllllly had an appointment at a lighting distributor/showroom to pick out some new ceiling fans! I had been wanting to replace our ceiling fans since the moment we moved in. Two years later... We found three ceiling fans for the bedrooms and a complimentary one for the living room. Then we ended up picking out some outdoor fixtures as well. Might as well do it all in one swoop right? Since we had driven out that way we decided to stop somewhere nearby for lunch.

One of the culprits. See what I mean?

We ended up at Wallace Station which I had been wanting to try. They were actually featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives, which is one of my favorite shows to watch when I have nothing on my DVR. It was a beautiful scenic drive and we both had yummy burgers. They were the type of burgers that you really don't need all of the extra stuff piled up on them because the burger itself is so juicy and melts in your mouth. I was a little upset at my pimiento cheese for trying to steal the thunder.

On the way to Shelbyville

Versailles, KY close to Wallace Station

We finally made it back to the house and started installing the outdoor lights. Everything went smoothly with the four towards the front of the house. It became a little sticky when one of the old screws broke off in the outlet box out back. My car gave us the perfect excuse to step away for a minute and brainstorm, as well as make a stop at Lowe's. We found a new outlet box and Alex had to do a little mortar chiseling to get it to fit just right, but man he did a great job problem-solving. Of course big projects like these can sometimes cause some bickering, but I am always so impressed by how well we work together and how much we can accomplish when we set our minds to it. We make a heck of a team if I do say so myself.

In the left picture the bronze light is the one we used next to the front door and side garage door. The brass one next to it is what we removed from the side garage door and also out back.

We replaced the one out back and the two next to the garage with the ones in the picture above. They are more of what you would call statement pieces. They reflect the light beautifully and as a result you get a bright light without looking at just a plain light bulb! It's difficult to tell in the pictures, but I was instantly wowed by the difference. There's also a certain satisfaction that comes to doing home improvements yourself too. Then we moved on to the inside and we decided to tackle a ceiling fan. The first one is always the most challenging because you have to figure out the instructions and where all of the pieces and parts fit! We replaced the one in the office without too much trouble and then decided to break for the night.

Alex made panko-encrusted tilapia with green beans and broccoli-cheddar flavored brown rice {made from the leftover soup from Soup's On that we attended on Thursday}. Then we went for a nice walk through our neighborhood and split an icee {Alex's idea, not mine}. After a relaxing night we got up early again and got right to it. You definitely do not want to lose your momentum because that's when a project can easily drag out for months or maybe even years! I took everything out of the boxes and dealt with the trash so it was all prepped once Alex returned from his workout. Then I played assistant while he did all of the actual installations. He's a little bit taller than me and actually knows something about electrical wiring so he was the chosen one on that. We installed the fans in the other two bedrooms which were easy because they were the same as the one we had done the day before! Although, the fans we removed were not necessarily the same.



Then it was on to the big guy, the one in the living room with the drop rod! We decided to go a little bit nicer with that fan just because that room is the focal point of the house. I was very surprised when that installation went pretty smoothly as well. I could hardly believe we were done! My next task was to get rid of the evidence. While Alex mowed the lawn and got busy outside, I cleaned up all the trash and thoroughly cleaned the house for a few hours. I love love love to clean the house. {Okay, I don't always feel that way, but usually I do}. That was my therapy alone time as well as Alex's. We like to share the chores around the house, but it's still nice when the other person likes to do something that you don't really enjoy too much.



Then it was time to get ourselves cleaned up to head over to church! Having a 5 p.m. mass is really nice just to change up our schedule a little bit, and I love that service because they have a praise band so it's a little more contemporary. After church we hit the grocery store together and split the list right down the middle {It was literally one of those weekends were we did everything together}. Then we made a Buffalo Chicken Salad for dinner using this buffalo chicken tender recipe. We cut the chicken into even smaller pieces so it would cook faster, because by that time we were STARVING. We added a little ranch dressing, some diced celery, mozzarella cheese and that was it.

After a "it hit the spot perfectly" dinner we capped off the weekend with a few more episodes of Sons of Anarchy and some cookies and cream ice cream. Then to bed early! It was a very productive and rejuvenating weekend spent together. We had some fun, got a lot done around the house, and just enjoyed each others' company.

The only thing missing was some time with friends. We made up for that last night though when I hosted book club at our house. Up next on the docket is Memorial Day Weekend in Cincinnati! It should be the perfect mixture of travel, yet being at home at my parent's house and Alex's grandpa's house. The two are definitely not mutually exclusive, and what I love most of all, is the fact that whenever I am in the mood for a weekend spent mostly at home, Alex usually is too.

Hostess with the Mostess

I mentioned in one of my recent posts that I am still trying to find my passion in life. I should re-phrase that. I have quite a few things I am passionate about, but I'm not sure how to swirl them together into something that I could potentially make a career out of, or maybe even just make some part-time dollars from once we settle down and have kids!

I have a had a wonderful experience working in Marketing and Human Resources for the past five years, but so far it's not what I want to do with my life for the next 30 years {I figure that kind of time frame does give me a little wiggle room to figure it out, but I am sooo impatient and want to figure it out now!}.

So far, I have found one thing that brings together a lot of my loves, which is hosting friends and family at our house! Here's why I love it:

• Alex and I get to introduce people to Lexington and all of the wonderful things it has to offer. 
• I get to plan activities outside the house and choose restaurants that fit the personalities and tastes of those coming to visit {Just ask my husband, as much as I love cooking, I love picking out just the right restaurant}.
• I have the opportunity to make interesting food and get creative with menu planning and cocktails. I also get to break out all of my vintage {and some new} serving dishes, pitchers, bowls etc. I love making the simplest things feel more special with such a small touch. Here's one of my new favorite cocktails to make for guests, especially with Spring here! Thank you Karleya Chard for introducing me!

• I am motivated to have a cleaning spree. A clean house just brings me so much personal satisfaction. {Lately, Alex has been complaining that I want our house to be "too clean" all the time?! Huh?! Oh well, I don't understand all of the things that make him tick either}.
• I also get to showcase all of my hard work in decorating the house, and I have the opportunity to play up my detail-oriented nature with small additions that create an inviting and homey atmosphere, such as seasonal candles, fresh flowers spread out throughout the house, blankets and throws within reach,  and just the right amount of natural light vs. lamp light. {This might be a little bit of the marketer in me}.
• It gives me a really good excuse to get crafty. In the past, I have printed menus, created agendas and activity sheets, decorated bottles of water and planned other little thank you gifts for my guests! Although, I am hosting them at our house, they've also taken the time out to come visit us and made the drive down, so I like to say thank you! {Last time I checked, gas isn't cheap}.
• And last, but not least, I get so pleasure out of taking care of others, giving them a mini vacation and just spending time with the ones I love.

A couple days before St. Patrick's Day Weekend we hosted Alex's cousin Fran for one night. Although, it was a short stay we had the most amazing time for a Thursday night. I was only sorry that I had to work the next day because I could've stayed up all night talking to him and Alex. It was such a lovely, impromptu visit! Sometimes the short ones are the best. Come back soon Fran! Bring Jeff too!

About a week later I hosted some of my college roommates for a short weekend. They came down on Saturday morning and we had a wonderful day together. Luckily, the weather cooperated for us too. We had lunch at the house and then hit the town to do a little boutique exploring. After a few tiring hours of shopping we bopped over to a local winery to have a wine tasting and feasted on some cheese! {I cannot think of a better afternoon snack}. 

Then we changed for dinner and visited a historic restaurant in Lexington. After dinner we headed back to the house for some birthday cake, games and girl talk. I love that we don't have to do anything outrageous or party all night to have fun together. We love to just be.

After the weekend they told me that they had decided I should run a bed and breakfast. The funny coincidence is that I am currently reading two books simultaneously that have to do with running a bed and breakfast. Not sure I could handle working nights and weekends, but definitely something to file away... As a result of their stay, I also added another quinoa recipe to my repitoire, a delicious Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad recipe from my friend Amy that I made almost immediately. Easy, on the healthy-side and delicious!

Eileen and I at Sausage Making

This past weekend we headed up to Cleveland for Easter and my in-laws were the hosts with the most! Every year they host 30+ people for the annual Holy Saturday Sausage Making {Let me tell you, that is no small feat}. My father-in-law makes the most delicious breakfast sausage {first place!} and my mother-in-law is the ultimate at Easter baskets.

Of course, they have many other talents, but I love the way they're so inviting and loving. They have a way of making everyone feel included, including my own parents! However, even more important, is the way they help us keep the main purpose of the Easter celebration in the forefront of hearts and minds. We had a wonderful time as always with the family, although I was exhausted by the time we made it back to Lexington last night. Luckily, I'll have a pretty low key week to get caught up before we host another small group at the house this upcoming weekend. 

April = the Keeneland Spring Meet! Our friend is turning 30, and in honor of his birthday they're renting a party bus. {There might be such a thing as too much fun}. So we've got a couple newbies coming to visit us and experience the wonderfulness that is a party bus + Keeneland in the Spring time. The weather is set to be in the 60's {Wohoo}! A couple of our guests live quite far away from their families so I have a little Easter surprise already waiting for them {That's me needing an excuse to be creative again}. And, we have another birthday to celebrate so I have the perfect excuse to whip up a Bourbon Fudge Cake. If you haven't heard about that, you must check it out here! It's become one of my go-to recipes. 

I am so looking forward to relaxing in Lexington this weekend and letting off some steam with friends. Here's one of my favorite pictures of Alex and I at Keeneland right after we got married and moved to Lexington in 2012. It will be one of the places we remember fondly once we make our move back to Home Sweet Ohio in a couple years.

October 2012

Mark 16:6 - "And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him."

It's Been a Year Already?

This upcoming weekend the Derby will take place in Louisville. This time last year we had just moved into our first home together. I can't even believe how fast this past year went. I am absolutely convinced that each year of my life will go faster than the last; I hope that'll be due to the fact that I'm having fun and doing the things I love. It has been a year of fun and quite a few changes.

One of the things that has certainly kept us busy, and that we've definitely had fun doing, is alll of our home improvements. We have officially painted every single room in the house (minus a few closets), organized all of our things and made room for new pieces too, mounted curtains and artwork in every room, switched out door handles, door stops, air vents, painted bathroom vanities and baseboards galore, pulled weeds, seeded and fertilized the yard, chopped branches and trimmed bushes... phew.. the list goes on and on. Still yet to come..  a landscaping overhaul, a garage re-organize, a house painting project, bathroom renovations and well, let's be honest, that type of list never shrinks!

Moving into our home has also brought us new friends, including a canine one for me (Alex likes this because it's gotten him off the dog hook for a while longer). We've also continued to grow our other friendships as well as gain new ones. Before moving into our house, we'd only been in Lexington for six months and were still trying to get involved. Now, we seem to have so much on our calendar that we have to opt out of things. I have to say, it's a much nicer predicament to be in then the former. Along with beach volleyball, the Women's Guild Meetings at church, the Brewer's of Central Kentucky meetings, my involvement with Awesome Inc, and our recent membership to the Andover Golf & Country Club we have no shortage of avenues to meeting new people.

We were originally introduced to Andover through some co-workers of Alex's. Now it will be a great way to relax (golfing for Alex, poolside for me) and meet new friends as well as work contacts. Alex is also in the process of applying for the MBA program at UK in order to expand his work opportunities and quench his personal interests in business. After undergoing a period of self-exploration, I started a new job in a small town outside of Lexington. Everything from the office location, to my co-workers, to the job duties and the office itself are in stark contrast of my last position with Resource Interactive. After the initial shock to my system, I've settled in and find myself being challenged as well as challenging my colleagues.

Now that our schedules have gotten so hectic during the week with work and our social lives we do cherish our weekends that much more. We have had so many friends and family members in to visit and it's been rewarding to play hostess to them and show them around our new home and city. When we aren't entertaining on the weekend, we're either running errands and working on our latest home improvement project or we're visiting family and friends out of town. Looking back at the past year it feels like we've been out of town at least half of the weekends, but it's a different feeling to come home to our house than to a rented apartment.

There's something to be said for our home sweet home. It's been quite a lot of work, but well worth it and I couldn't imagine going through this crazy journey with anyone other than Alex. [See our journey through pictures].

One day, we'll look back at all these adventures and this time in our life and we'll say... Remember our first house when we lived in Lexington?

I'll Toast to That!

This past weekend my friend Karleya and her fiance Bryan came to visit. It was wonderful to have them come to visit for quite a few reasons; it was Bryan's first visit to our house in Lexington and it was also their first visit as an engaged couple. The weather was beautiful and there was also some wedding planning to be done!

I planned a weekend full of quintessential Lexington spots and activities. {A few might just have been quintessential in my mind, but never mind that}... Karleya and Bryan arrived in Lexington Friday evening. After some relaxing and fueling up {I made the Spinach & Artichoke Dip that I mentioned in my last post} we headed out to The Beer Trappe. Alex and I had been once before, and the entire time we were there I kept thinking that I was so excited to take some of our visitors there! I finally had my opportunity.

"The Beer Trappe is dedicated to providing the best beer experience in Lexington. We have a beer bar with eight taps of rare craft beer, specialty glassware, beer signs, collectibles, and a large selection of hard-to-find bottled beers from all over the world."

We had a low key evening trying all of the different beers on tap and swapping stories & memories. The next morning we had a sweet breakfast of cinnamon rolls and raspberries. We lounged around, got ourselves in order, and finally had lunch {homemade paninis and not so-homemade soup} and then it was off to Activity #2.  We piled into the car and headed to Versailles, Kentucky to visit The Woodford Reserve Distillery. Along the way we passed Keeneland and picturesque horse farm after horse farm. We toured the gift shop and then went on a short tour of the facility.

"Distilling on the site began in 1812 and the distillery building itself was erected in 1838, making it the oldest of the nine bourbon distilleries in current operation in Kentucky as of 2010 – although the site has not been continuously operational as a distillery during that history. In 1995 the distillery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 2000 it was designated a National Historic Landmark."

The history of the distillery, and bourbon/whiskey making, is astounding to me. It's fascinating to learn about the history of my new home State. After the tour we took our samples outside on the deck and attempted to enjoy them {also known as sipping}. We're not quite that refined yet apparently as we resorted to the quick and easy way of knocking them back. We then drove into the historic downtown area of Versailles and did some old-fashioned shopping. Sadly, I didn't have any luck, but Karleya did! They were having a special holiday weekend so there was festive music, food and lots of people milling around.

We stopped at Doughdaddy's Donuts on our way back home and grabbed a few donuts and some pumpkin lattes {talk about choices, there are over 60 different donut flavors freshly made}. When then had to make a stop at the famous Liquor Barn to explore and pick out some more craft beers for the evening {don't laugh, it's truly amazing}. We finally made it back to the house to have our donut snacks and regroup before our dinner reservation at Merrick Inn.

"For over 30 years, the Murray family has owned and operated Merrick Inn, located in the immaculately maintained manor house of Merrick Place; for years, one of the finest thoroughbred farms in the Bluegrass region."

We had delicious food and a lovely evening by the fireplace. We also came across a wine by Dave Matthews, which was a fun surprise.

"Matthews himself has teamed up with award-winning Sonoma County winemaker Steve Reeder to produce The Dreaming Tree Wines, a collection of high quality wines developed in partnership with Constellation Wines U.S. If you're a DMB fan at all, you know that "The Dreaming Tree" is a track from their 1998 album, Before These Crowded Streets.

The line, which is available nationwide, contains a 2010 Central Coast Chardonnay, 2009 North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 North Coast Crush red blend."

It had been such a lovely day I couldn't let it end, so I suggested we head over to Drake's for a drink, more specifically a Pixie Stick Martini. Of course that led to more drinks, dancing and shuffleboard.

Pixie Stixx Martini Recipe:

3/4 ounce DeKuyper Island Blue Pucker

3/4 ounce DeKuyper Grape Pucker

3/4 ounce vodka

Splash of sour mix

Splash of 7-Up

Serve chilled in a martini glass garnished with pixy stix candy. Makes 1 serving.

The next morning we ate brunch and Karleya and I spent the early afternoon looking up things relating to the wedding while the men sat on the couch and watched football. It was a perfect end to the weekend. I love having visitors so we can take them around Lexington, but I also love just having them in our home with us, doing those normal weekend things. It makes me feel like they're aren't so far away after all.

All in all we spent the weekend toasting to Karleya and Bryan's upcoming wedding and also to friendship {everlasting love}. I'll toast to that any day.

Domestic (& even Non-Domestic) Bliss

Alex and I are finally home after being away for over a week. It was an amazing chance for us to get away from work (and house work) and have some quality time with family, friends, as well as each other. It was truly a perfect trip and somehow we packed every possible thing in including:

Reds game in Cincinnati with my parents (& fireworks), outlet mall shopping, drive to Cleveland, dinner and drinks for a friends' birthday, church, picnic set-up, golfing, grocery shopping, shopping at Crocker Park, fabulous haircut, baseball and football in the front yard, watching the sunset and eating ice cream at Huntington Beach, hitting balls at the driving range, 4th of July picnic and fireworks, stop in to Magnificat to see JFE in action, drive to Niagara Falls, Canada, dinner overlooking the falls, Maid of the Mist, Old Town Niagara-on-the-Lake, Konzelmann's Winery, drive back to Cleveland, detour to Magnificat HS, golfing, dinner and drinks at the new Market Garden Brewery in OHC with a friend from Cincy, hike at the MetroParks, a beautiful wedding ceremony, dinner and drinks at Bar Louie in Legacy Village, reception at Landerhaven with dinner and dancing, drive to Cincy, pick up furniture at my parent's house, dinner and drinks with college friends at Teak Thai Cuisine in Mt. Adams and finally home by Midnight (it certainly felt like a fairy tale).

Today was spent catching up on yard work, grocery shopping and cleaning. The evening definitely calls for a movie night on the couch.

So thankful for all of our friends and family, and especially thankful that Alex and I think along the same lines. It's rewarding to continually learn new things about one another and make all our own rules.

Thank you God for our wonderful life together.

Coming Home...

Alex and I have both been doing some traveling, for business as well as pleasure lately. There is something so cathartic about coming home after being away. It doesn't matter if its been a day or a couple weeks. There always seems to be those things that we look forward to doing when we come home.

I look forward to relaxing on the couch, sleeping in my own bed, and drinking my own coffee in the morning. Sometimes coming home after being away can also be stressful. If you left a mess, or unmade bed when you left, you may feel like you're coming back to a pig sty. I have definitely found that I feel much better coming home to a clean house.

This can be challenging for some people. Clean can mean two things.. Freshly cleaned as in mopped floors, shiny windows, and the lingering scent of Lysol. For others, clean just means all the clutter is put away and not visible. Usually there is only time for 1 out of 2 of those. I find that you can better enable yourself to do 2 out of 2 of those things all the time (not just when leaving for a trip) if you plan and organize your home from the get go. I find this process very rewarding.

A home is also about surrounding yourself with pieces and colors that you love as well.I happen to love that process as well. I've been thinking about starting a side business (or maybe just a hobby) of interior design and organization (did you know that it's possible to become a Professional Organizer?). As part of my pondering, I'm looking for guinea pigs! If you have a space that you hate, either for it's aesethic or functionality, please let me know!

Everything Happens For A Reason

This is one of my favorite sayings. I find truth it in constantly, but am always surprised to see the connections. Alex had been working on our table for quite some while. I had been thinking about chairs, we'd even looked at chairs, but there didn't seem to be anything that really spoke to us. We moved the table into the house and were pretty content to continue using the metal folding chairs until we found some more permanent options.

Last week my Dad was given a dining room table by a friend that's moving out of town. As a result of this, there were some changes made to my parent's dining room and they no longer needed their own set. The table is a drop leaf style so they were able to repurpose it in another part of the house. The chairs were destined for storage in the basement. The set of 4 chairs happen to fit perfectly with our new table, and are even the same color wood stain. We'll be able to reupholster the seats in order to personalize them for our space which will be an exciting project!

The chairs, which my parents have had my entire life, will play a part in our first house. It seems fitting that our chairs have signifance to us, since the table obvious does as well. Our entire table set holds memories from both of our families. After moving the chairs into the house, I had the realization that this domino effect of events would not have been significant had we already bought chairs to go with our new table. Considering my impatient nature and desire to have a completed dining room/kitchen set, I can now see the reason behind us not finding any viable options...



Chairs with reupholstered cushions



A Table to Gather Around

A couple months before our wedding Alex decided he wanted to make me a dining room table for a wedding present. He conducted research and made a plan and sketched it all out. I knew he was making me something, but I had no idea what type of furniture it was going to be until right after the wedding. Since he knew it wouldn't be done in time he decided to let me in on the secret.

Due to the fact that we were living in an apartment and didn't have any extra room for woodworking projects; the project was being housed at his Grandpa Harshman's in Cincinnati. Following the wedding we had both moved to Lexington so he was only able to work on it about once a month, if that.

Alex and his Grandpa would dedicate entire days and weekends to working on this table. Normally Alex's visits to his grandpa's also involved many other family members being in town, so this gave the two of them a chance to bond and share some quality time with one another. Finally, after more than six months the table is where it belongs, in our new house!

I was able to join the boys and help with the finishing touches, which seemed fitting. Although it rained the entire weekend the table made it down to Lexington withoult any mishaps (maybe it was all those coats of polyurethane...) My parents were gracious enough to allow us to use their truck. They joined us for the ride down to Lexington and we all had our first dinner together in the new house.

It was definitely one of those weekends that made me feel grateful for my family, and the family I have become a become a part of. Since I'm not a woodworking expert it's difficult to comprehend how many hours and how much TLC went into making the table, but I know it'll be around for a lonnng time and it'll always hold happy memories.

Here's to making many more memories gathered around this table made of and for love.

 

Housewarming & Derby

Last week Alex and I finished moving all of our furniture into the house. Everything is organized as much as possible considering there is still quite a bit of painting and furniture to purchase.

We accomplished our goal of painting the kitchen and living room before Derby. We moved and painted (with all coats.. 3x over) the largest area of the house in less than a week. There were also about 5 trips to Lowes in there as well... Knowing that we would would be having 10+ people staying at the house was a motivating deadline!

Our friends starting coming in last Thursday evening and stayed through Sunday. Although the initial plans were made solely for Derby, the timing of our move was perfect. We definitely needed the extra space, and it allowed our friends to celebrate our new house with us. The weather cooperated and everyone had a great time. Alex and I are so thankful for our friends, new and old.

Lexington is starting to feel a lot like home. There is still tons of exploring to do, but the beautiful weather should stay around for a while... finally!

It's Really Really Official..

We closed yesterday afternoon (almost a week early!). We now have the keys in hand and have already started moving in! I'll try to upload more pictures of the house as we progress through the moving stages and the painting, decorating and landscaping stages. It's always fun to have those pictures to look back on.

There are quite a few things that we would like to do to the house already. Although we weren't planning on getting a house quite so soon it corresponds to the weather beautifully! And wow is the weather beautiful in Lexington. We can't wait to get some of the hard work out of the way so we can sit in our backyard and enjoy it.

It's Official.. We're Homeowners!

Alex and I will be closing on our first house in less than two weeks! The beginning of the house buying process is challenging. There are so many pieces and parts that can fall through on the deal so you have to be optimistically cautious.

Luckily, everything has gone very smoothly and the last piece will be showing up for our closing with the check in hand (not technically even that since it'll be a wire transfer haha).

We feel so excited to have found such a great house for us and to start this next journey together. There are so many possibilities and for planners like us it's ridiculously fun to brainstorm and dream.

The seller has already moved out so the house is empty. Unfortunately, the only pictures I have are of the house when she lived there so all of her furniture is pictured. Can't wait to paint and get our own furniture in there. The entire house will have a completely different vibe once we're done with it! Let the work get started...

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