Nick and I love to entertain... and last weekend we were delighted to have Nick's sister Sarah come to visit, with her 3 children, Draven, Alyssa, and baby Haleigh, as well as Grandma Judy! They drove up all the way from Muscatine just to see us and our new place!! After a tour of all 3 stories of our house... we had sloppy joes for lunch and got suited up to go ride horses down the road. ... [ Read More ]
Vehicle Upgrade
When it comes to vehicles, I'm a fairly low maintenance kinda girl. I don't care how old it is, or what color. As long as it gets me around, and I feel generally safe in it... like it's not going to break down on me at any moment. This character quality that I possess was of utmost importance to my husband when choosing a mate, as he is very opinionated when it comes to automobiles of ... [ Read More ]
Bonfires and Boardgames
This past weekend, we had the great privilege of having my family out to the homestead for a little meatloaf and bonfire action. Only about 6 of them were able to make it, but we'll take what we can get. On that front, I'd like to give a little shoutout to my far away siblings whom we love and miss. Nathan, Kelly, and my best buddy Miles (almost 1!!) are staked out in New York ... [ Read More ]
More Backsplash
By request, more backsplash photos: ... [ Read More ]
Initiation to Country Living
Let's for a moment discuss my man-boy's innate need to be a cowboy. This man has done gone and got his-self a daggum burning passion for the rodeo and all things horse and Carhart. In all my glorious wifishness, i agreed to attend the rodeo with him this past Saturday. According to my wifish research, it's imperative to show interest in our spouses interests... as hard as it may be. Not only did I ... [ Read More ]
Painted Backsplash Tutorial!!
I know you all are giddy with anticipation to see the new and improved PAINTED backsplash! I'm not into real tile backplashes... because it's hard to clean, expensive to install, and you have limited color and size options. So I've created a faux painting technique to look very similar to porcelain or natural stone tile. Check it out: This is a 'before' shot. The original backsplash is the ... [ Read More ]
The Homestead
For those of you that haven't made it out to the homestead, I wanted to take some pictures of the place to share with you all! The last month has been a wonderful one, getting settled in and enjoying all the new little things that come with owning a house and some land. Reuben has gotten much bigger and has turned into a NIGHTMARE. But we still love him. :) Since we haven't gotten much rain the ... [ Read More ]
Home Improvements: Wallpaper Border
When we bought this house, the previous owners were generous enough to leave us their shower curtain, towels, rugs, soap dispenser and trash can that so vibrantly match the neon daisy wallpaper boarder and corresponding neon wall color. It wasn't our fave, though I know if I were 12, I would have chosen this exact color combination.Now THAT'S enough to wake you up in the morning!In an effort to ... [ Read More ]
Rodents
There are some things a girl never has to worry about until they acquire a piece of land in the country. One of those things would be Ground Squirrels. Now, I consider myself to be an Iowa girl, born and raised (if you ignore the fact that I lived in 6 states since high school), as well as considering myself to be a fairly intelligent individual (luckily spell-check just ... [ Read More ]
Home Improvements: Headboard
Granted, I'm no interior designer (though I wasted a lot of money thinking I could become one) I still cruise around my house looking for little things I could improve or update to make our home as beautiful and personalized as possible... on little to NO budget. So, as i stood at the foot of our master bed, I sadly look up at my lack of headboard. The dilemma being: I have a super cute comforter, ... [ Read More ]