Outside

I haven't had time to keep up with the blog the past few weeks because we've been soaking up the beautiful warm weather outside.  Who wants to stay inside on their computer when the sun is shining outside?

Our main priority outside has been working on the landscaping.  We have been very fortunate that one of the previous owners had the yard professionally landscaped.  However, more recent owners did not upkeep the landscaping.  If there was once mulch, we don't see any signs of it.

We decided that the best way to battle the weeds threatening to takeover the plants is to lay down weed fabric and mulch over it.  We decided which areas were most important and are doing small sections at a time.  So far we have two main areas in front of the house completed (using 3 rolls of fabric and 24 bags of mulch).  We know it will take us all summer to get all of it done, but we're working on it.

Most people don't put their lawn as a priority (especially the first summer they're in their house).  However, our neighborhood has several old houses with very extravagant lawns.  We feel in order to fit in, we have to have a semi-decent yard.  Since moving in, we've done little things around the yard that have made positive differences.

(These are the two areas in front of the house that have been weeded, fabric-ed, and mulched.)

(I should have take the pictures sooner when all the roses had bloomed.  You will just have to look at the previous post about Gabbie to see the roses in bloom.  Also, the bush in the left of the picture is need need of much help.  I have no idea what it is, and it once was full of leaves and beautiful, most have died and there are weird seed pods in the middle.  Any advice on caring for this plant is appreciated!)

(View of the sidewalk between the landscaped areas.  One of our lights along the path bit the dust.  The rod broke and it no longer stood upright.  Me tripping on it while pruning the trees may have been the culprit. . . )

(Here's an updated picture of the yard.  No more dandelions!!  Now we just have to kill the clover and wild violets and it will be perfect.)

(Here is the patio area in the backyard.  I spent one day cleaning it up, trimming the bushes, and reattaching the roses to the arch.)

For Memorial Day, Steve and I headed went to Colorado to visit his family.  While in Colorado, we got to spend lots of time with his family, visit some friends, and enjoy the beautiful Colorado weather and scenery.  We went on a couple of different hikes -- one nearby his parents' house and the other up in the mountains.  We also got to go to a Colorado Rockies baseball game (which was the first baseball game I have ever been to).  We had awesome seats thanks to Steve's dad!  It just so happened that we were in town the same time as Steve's best friend growing up (whose name is also Steve) was in town, too.  We got to meet up with him and his wife for a delightful breakfast.  It was so good to see them!

Now that we're back home, we're back to our various projects.  Steve is back to work and has to be in Cincinnati a few days this week, leaving me to tend to the house alone.  Yesterday, I tackled fixing our grill.  Our grill is only two years old but looked a little worse for wear.  We got it when we moved to TN (thanks mom!) and we didn't take the best care of it.  We had a little porch off the back of the house that we just stuck it under, even in the winter (which I was told it didn't get cold or snow in TN, so I didn't think about winterizing it).  After being outside constantly for over 1.5 years, the grill had accumulated some rust.

We decided that a grill should be a lifelong investment (especially since we grill out 2-3 times a week in the summer) so we bought a grill cover and are taking much better care of it this year.  So back to yesterday -- I sanded, washed, and dried the grill really well in prepartion to paint it.  I covered up the areas I didn't want painted and I used a high-heat spray paint from Rustoleum.  Our grill is back to looking brand new (okay, maybe more like a year old) and protected under its cover.

(Here's the grill after I sanded, washed, and covered up the parts not to be painted.  The lighting doesn't show how rusty the grill looked, but don't worry -- I got some closeups.)

(Here's the rust on the front panel of the grill.)

(Here's the gross left side table.)

(This is after I've painted and removed all the coverings!  I was truly amazed at the paint.  I was afraid you'd be able to tell it was spray painted, but it covered so well!)

(No more rust on the front panel!  Woohooooooo!)

(This is the right side table top.  It was hard to keep the lettering around the nob without it looking bizarre, but it is what it is.  You can see it's original state surrounded by the new paint around the know and on the warning table on the panel top.)

(The grill is now nicely tucked under it's cover.  Hopefully, I won't have to repaint the grill again.  I also had to get a new propane tank for the first time in 2 years.  So we literally have a new grill to use this summer!  I'm already planning grilling out steaks sometime this weekend. Visitors are welcome - ha ha!)

A Special Visit

This past weekend, we headed west and stayed the weekends at my parents' house.  While there, we got to enjoy time with my family and celebrate my mom for mother's day (even though she didn't get what she wanted -- peace and quiet!).  On our way back to Ohio, we stopped at my sister's house and picked up her youngest daughter, 3 year old Gabbie!

Gabbie has stayed away from home several times at my mom's and her other grandma's house and she's stayed at our house before but either my mom or her mom were here.  This marks her first solo trip at our house.  I wasn't sure how she would do or how long she'd be able to stay, I shouldn't have worried at all.  She did great!

(On the ride to our house, she was supposed to take a nap.  Instead, she talked the whole time and ate all the ice out of my drink.)

We stopped for dinner at Wendy's on the way home and got to our house in the evening.  We had just enough time to play with her favorite baby doll (which was mine when I was younger) and watch a movie.  Sunday night was the Survivor finale, so Steve and I watched it on our tv while she watched High School Musical on my laptop.  She thought it was cool to wear headphones.

(All ready for bed and watching "Troy Bolten" -aka Zac Efron - sing "Bet On It" from HSM 2)

On Monday, we woke up and watched some Beethoven's 2nd (she calls it the one with Missy) before heading out to go shopping.  We had to get some groceries and find a new slip'n'slide.  When we lived in TN, we bought a small slip'n'slide for the girls to play on when they visited.  I didn't take care of it (it was only $5 and wasn't worth my time - ha ha) and didn't want to mess with packing it for the move, so it got thrown away.  We went to Meijer first for the groceries and to price slip'n'slides.  We of course got slushies to start off.  Meijer didn't have a good selection of slides, so we headed to Walmart where we bought the "Double Wave".  We opted for a 2 lane slip'n'side with 2 inflatable boogie boards for $14.  We'll make this one last longer.

(Waiting patiently for the slip'n'slide to be all set up.)

(It was kind of breezy and the hose water was really cold, but that didn't stop her.  However, towards the end, she claimed a spider was on her -- there was one in the water -- and she had a freak out.  She was done with the slip'n'slide and was convinced that spiders were everywhere.  She wouldn't do the slip'n'slide the rest of her stay because of that little spider.)

(One more shot before the spider freak-out.  She enjoyed playing in the pool at the end.  She would use her "surfboard" to escape from the "sharkies" on the slide.)

After playing outside some, we went inside and played Chutes & Ladders.  After playing it the normal way and then with her made up rules we at a snack and watched Hairspray, which is now her favorite movie.  She absolutely loves Link Larkin  (Zac Efron).  Throughout her stay, I think we watched it almost 2x a day.  After our break inside, we went outside to plant and water flowers and wait for Steve to get home.  When he got home, we headed to a nearby Park to swing and slide (that's all they had to offer).

(She tended to water small spots in front of the flowers instead of the actual plant, but she wanted to do it all by herself!)

(How cute is she??)

We of course ended our day with some more Hairspray and popcorn.  I make my popcorn on the stove the old fashioned way.  I also have different toppings you can sprinkle on your popcorn.  She ate "popcorn with the cheese" every night while watching Hairspray!

On Tuesday morning we played with her baby doll and went to the neighbor's house to play on her swing set and see the fishies in her "pond".  For lunch, we packed up a picnic lunch and met Steve at his work.  From there, we found a spot nearby and ate our lunch.  We brought bubbles and blew them after we ate and watched a groundhog in a field.  We took Steve back to work, made another stop at Walmart for groceries I forgot, and went home to take a nap!  The previous night, Gabbie didn't sleep the best and kicked me all night long (so I didn't sleep the best either!).  We slept on our guest mattress on the floor in our bedroom while Steve had our bed all to himself.  My other neighbor had stopped by and gave Gabbie some books and toys.  Among the books was a Cookie Monster book that we had to read before every nap and going to bed.  After she woke up, we went back outside to have a water gun fight.  Mine didn't work the best, so I guess you can say Gabbie won.  We ended our evening with more Hairspray and popcorn with cheese.

(Playing outside on the neighbor's swing set.)

Originally, Gabbie was supposed to go home on Wednesday, we were having too much fun and she wasn't ready (and neither was I) to go home.  We negotiated with her mom to stay an extra day.  With our extra day, we played American Girls, went to the park (without Steve), met the neighbor's animals, took a nap, played more on the swing set next door, did some laundry (involving Gabbie slipping down some stairs in the basement), more Hairspray and popcorn with cheese, and painted each other's nails.   Gabbie picked all the colors (a different one for each nail).  I painted her nails, and she painted mine.  She didn't do too bad of a job!

(Swinging at the park!  The park also had a really tall (20+ish ft) curly slide that scared me to death.  I was terrified she'd slip and stumble down all the stairs or slip at the top and topple down.  But she was a big girl and did it all by herself.  I stayed at the bottom to "catch" her at the bottom of the slide.  When we went with Steve, he was supposed to catch her once and didn't and she shot off the end of the slide, landing in the dirt. Ooops :)!)

(Check out all those colorful nails!)

On Thursday morning, we got in one last viewing of Hairspray before cleaning up all the toys and packing up her stuff.  I was an emotional mess and wasn't ready to say goodbye.  We had so much fun and I enjoyed having a little companion 24/7.  She, too, was a mess.  Only she is an introvert and just shut down.  She had her shoulders cowered and sat on the floor in my bedroom and wouldn't talk or look at me.  We had a little talk and I explained I was going to drive her to meet with her mommy and we'd eat lunch together.  She seemed okay with that and proceeded to get ready.  We met halfway at a little town that had a Subway sandwich/gas station combo.  When she saw mommy, she shut down and just held on to me.  I told her I wouldn't leave until after lunch and she perked up and went to mommy.  We got lunch and then headed over to a play area across the street to eat outside.  After we ate, we headed over to a little park where Gabbie played on a jungle gym and swings while I got to catch up with my sister.  After a couple hours, we headed back to the gas station and said goodbye.  Luckily, she was distracted by freaking out about a fly in the car to realize I was leaving.  I found out later that she had a fit in the van about going home. and is still not happy about leaving my house today.  The feeling is mutual.  

A New Endeavor

I generally don't share health issues on the blog (other than "we're sick"); but recently, health issues have been popping up with us.  Since we share all of our "antics" on here, I guess we can share the health stuff, too.  (Especially since I will need some encouragement in my new endeavor!)

In the past 6 weeks, I've been to a doctor 3 times for various reasons, and have another appointment today.  The first one was for a sinus infection upon returning home from Europe.  I was given a 10-day antibiotic which cleared up the sinus issue.  A few weeks after that, Steve and I had a joint "new patient" appointment to get set up with a doctor here in Lima.  Steve was given antibiotics that time for sinuses, but I was cleared with "good health".  Not a week later, I was having some crazy lower abdominal pains and a fever so I went back.  I was diagnosed with a bladder infection (even though I had no regular symptoms and know what that feels like because I've had several) and given another round of antibiotics.  The doctor thought the abdominal pain was deferred from the bladder; however, after being off the antibiotics for a week, I still have that constant pain, which is what today's appointment is about.  Plus, the antibiotics the second time really hurt my stomach.

Now we need to go back in time to set up my overall health.  When I was young, I had an unexplained seizure that left me unconscious and in a coma for 3 days.  I snapped out of it and had to do some therapy to relearn basic motor functions.  5 days later, I walked out of the hospital on my own with new explanation of the experience.  A few months later, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism -- meaning, my thyroid not only doesn't function but is slowly killing itself.  For 15 years now, I have taken a small pill everyday to help my thyroid function (okay, I will admit not everyday because I forget a lot -- you'd think after 15 years I'd remember, but nope!).

Recently, I've done some research on Hashimoto's and have discovered that 9/10 people with Hashimoto's also have Celiac disease. That hit close to home since my mom has been diagnosed with Celiac and my brother & niece both are gluten intolerant.  When I went to the doctor for the new patient appointment, I got tested for Celiac Disease (via a blood test) which came up negative.  I have decided to go ahead and try a gluten free diet for a few weeks just to see if I can notice a difference.

I've always fought my mother on the fact that I don't have celiac symptoms; however, after research and talking to other "normal" people, I've discovered I have quite a few on the list.  Just to name a few, I get lots of stomach pains at various times, I have constant skin rashes,, some other digestive issues, and just general lethargy (which can also be from my hypothyroidism).  I figured, I'll never know until I try it.

Now, this is a new and very difficult endeavor.  I LOVE wheat, I LOVE a good crusty bread, I LOVE pasta, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE cakey desserts and brownies!  I know that there are several gluten free substitutes for all of those things, but let's face it.  Eating gluten free is less convenient, more expensive, and doesn't taste quite like the original wheat products.  OH well, I am reminding myself to stay positive on what I can eat.  (By the way, I'm still pretty positive right now because it's only day 2.  I'm expecting to hit a wall during week 2).

I plan on continuing this diet through the end of May.  After a few weeks of no gluten in my system, I'll introduce it back in and see if I notice a difference.  I have no idea if the current paint I deal with is tied into the thyroid/digestive issues I have or if they are unrelated.  I get pretty frustrated over health issues because there are so many different variables when it comes to health.  I'd appreciate prayer and encouragement during this time as I try to figure out the crux of all my health issues.

New Space

After 2 months of waiting, frustration, and more waiting, our new furniture has arrived!  Back in February when Steve's parents came to visit, they took us furniture shopping and bought us a new coffee table and end table.  We were finally able to retire our college iKea tables from the living room (which was about time since the iKea coffee table was in need of some more glue).

We were originally given a 2 week delivery date, but a few weeks came and went before we heard form Ashley Home Furniture.  Our Europe trip was quickly approaching, so I contacted the store to let them know we would be gone in case the furniture showed up.  When we got back from Europe, I had no messages on the phone about the furniture and had forgotten all about it.  Luckily, an Ashley commercial came on one day which reminded me that we still were waiting for our furniture!  I called and found out that the furniture was on back order (nice of them to inform us-- ha!).  They gave us a date for delivery in April.

Halfway through the month of April, I went ahead and called again, just to make sure we were still set for an April delivery.  I was informed that we were put on priority and should get the furniture within the week.  Lucky for them, they were true to their word and it showed up a couple days later!  After all that waiting, we had forgotten what the furniture had looked like, so we got to fall in love with the pieces again.  We're still toying with room set-up.  Our living room is an odd shape (rectangular) with our tv as a focal point on a long side.  It's hard to use the space appropriately while still being able to see the tv (without glare and craning your neck).  We're trying another layout now, we'll see how it goes. . .

(This is the couch that I tend to lounge on.  I know it doesn't really make sense to have the biggest couch perpendicular to the tv, but it does when you lay on the couch to watch the tv.  I don't know if you can see, but on the big window in the upper right area is our newly purchased bird feeder.  Because of all the squirrels, we had to buy one that suctions onto the window.  We just put it up and are anxiously awaiting for a bird to use it.)

(So here's the conundrum -- our furniture is now placed on 2 sides of the living room, and they feel very far from each other.  If we move them closer, it cuts the living room space up funny.  I need a layout intervention.  Any suggestions??)

(The coffee table has a hidden compartment that can hold lots of chotsky)

(Here is where Steve usually sits -- in his favorite iKea chair.  During the day, I tend to sit on this couch since it is straight on from the tv.  However, at night, the chandelier puts a bad glare on the tv from this angle, which is why I only sit there during the day.)

(Here you can really see the awkward layout.  Steve likes to point out that the middle area of the floor is just wasted space.  Eventually, we'll get a big area rug, but it's still an awkward set-up.  Although, Ramses does enjoy having the lay of the land to roam around -- in his ball, of course!)

(I don't remember if I ever showed the tv mounted on the wall with it's permanent set-up.  All the wires have been neatly tucked away -- through the wall and into the bottom of the bookcase/built-in.  Since we don't have cable, we watch our tv via rabbit ears.  Right now, we have them sitting on the furthest right of the mantel (pictured), but when people come over, we can tuck them away behind the tv.  When the ears are tucked away, we lose 3 of our 9 channels, so when it's just us, we like access to those 3 channels and don't mind the ears on the fireplace.)