Buzzed and Trimmed

I just love the spring and summer seasons.  There is so much going on and everyone is always just buzzing with spring fever or has special weekend plans.  Around here and at the lake, the hours of 5pm-10pm are really the prime hours to get stuff done and hang outside.  

Here are a few updates from the last few weekends that I've wanted to share!

Yes, I've managed to keep our new hydrangea alive!  I had a friend look after it while we were in Vegas but this thing is a little sensitive and takes a lot of water!  She finally bloomed so I've enjoyed a single stem hydrangea at work and will probably cut one for the house soon.  Hydrangea ranks pretty high on my list of favorite flowers.

Now that it's warmer, that means much more regular mowing outside. We let our backyard grow longer than normal so I had to snap a picture to share with you all.  The top pictures is the "before" Jordan mowed and the bottom picture is the "after" photo.  Had to tame the jungle but it looks so much better.  Some of those weeds were taller than Abby.  You might be a redneck if...never mind.

I was so thrilled to finally finish our nightstand project!  I've posted about this thing a few times now and I think we are finally done.

In these photos Jordan is rolling paint on the top surface of the nightstand and attaching hardware.  We decided the rolled look might be best for the top so that you don't see a bunch of brush strokes.  

This nightstand went through SUCH a transformation!  Even with it all put together these colors made me a wee-bit nervous but when we got it into our room, I was very pleased.

Top Left: The final home for the nightstand and a little "hello" from Abby in this picture.

Top Right: The nightstand that was on my side of the bed was moved to Jordan's side.  He previously had a very small table so this was an improvement for him as well.  

Bottom Left: I didn't really have an "inspiration" when I decided to paint the nightstand but I did try to keep complimentary colors in mind.  These are some throw pillows from our bed.  I think they look really great with the colors we chose to paint the nightstand.

Bottom Left: I'm sure this is the least cluttered my nightstand will be for a long time.

Last weekend we had the pleasure of celebrating our friend, Mallory's, birthday!  We all went out to eat and then country dancing at Cowboy's Red River.  It was so much fun to dance in my boots!

Top Left: Mallory and I at the dance hall!

Top Right: Mallory with the gift we got her!  We are both Harry Potter fans and I loved this play on words with the Nike swoosh/lightning bolt.

Bottom Left: Mallory's birthday cake!

Bottom Middle: This is the band at the dance hall.  They were great but I'm sorry to say I don't remember who performed.

Bottom Right: Jordan and I dancing!  Sorry for the blur, we were moving quickly and cellphone pics are tough in the dark.

Later that weekend Jordan decided he needed a hair cut.  I've given him the last couple of haircuts because, well, it saves a little money, its kind of fun, and it's probably a useful skill to learn, right?  Well, about midway through cutting his hair, he heard me say "oops"!  I didn't really mess up much.  A quarter of an inch cut incorrectly isn't that big of a deal, and is totally fixable, but that "oops" got us both thinking.  I was still pretty tired from dancing the night before and I don't think Jordan wanted to wait for me to do the entire hair cut.  Jordan decided he wanted me to buzz his hair!  We had a small conversation, basically where I made sure  it wouldn't be "my fault" if he hated the buzz and away we went!  Whew, his hair was SHORT!

Top Left: Mid-hair cut before we decided to buzz his head.  I'm not the best barber because I can't hold the scissors and the comb at the same time.  Because of that, Jordan often has to hold the comb for me.  I'm getting better though.

Right: First buzz moment.  This is when I realized his eyebrows will be longer than his hair!

Bottom Left: Done.  He doesn't look tooooo bad and his head was clean.  Not to worry, his hair grows fast and I'm sure he'll be back to normal in less than a month.

This past weekend Jordan and I enjoyed a special treat of sushi!  We try not to eat it too often because it's expensive but it was a lovely little outing together.

Left: Our sushi choices.  Alexander roll, crunch roll, Beverly Hills roll, avocado roll.

Right: We've learned some fun things in our 4 years of marriage.  One of those things is that it's always handy to carry things in my purse.  You never know what you might need.  Advil, Prilosec, gum, etc.  One of the things I always carry for Jordan is what we call "cheaters".  This little yellow piece of plastic allows him to use chop sticks like a big kid.  It's the little things in life, right?

After sushi we decided to pick up Abby and we went for a little drive.  We've enjoyed the car so much that it's nice to just drive and visit together. 

Top Left: Abby and I enjoying the warm breeze.

Top Right and Bottom Left: Abby loved hanging her head out the window.

Bottom Right: Beautiful sunset telling us it was time to go home.

Sunday we decided to do a little grilling out.  I'd planned sort of an "indoor meal" but the weather was so perfect that we couldn't resist sitting outside to enjoy the evening!

Top Left: Abby playing with her ball.

Bottom Left: Rousing game of "keep away".

Right: Dinner outside!  We had brussel sprouts over rice with steak!

While we were eating we were talking about how much our backyard has changed in the last several years.  Now that it's spring our backyard tree is lush and full of leaves.  After 3 years of trying to correct this tree, we finally got it sturdy and straight!

Forgive the poor quality (picture of a picture), but here is a throwback picture of our backyard.

Top: First day we moved in (April 2010) and Dad was helping us mow and prune our backyard.  This is actually the "after" picture from that day of work.  I remember the entire back half of the yard was totally taken over by those two bushes.  If you look closely on the left, you'll see a stake in the ground to mark where we had found a nest of baby bunnies!  Those bunnies still make Abby crazy.

Bottom: This past weekend.  The bushes and tree have grown so much!  Our tree is now straight and the tree trunk is more than 3 times larger.  Our fence had been painted in 2013 so all in all, the yard has matured a lot.  Still plenty of weeds but, hey, we pick our battles not our weeds, right?

Hope you all are enjoying this May!