Absent

This summer was crazy, fun, and did I mention crazy?! I obviously got off of blogging, but now that it is officially winter, I better put up some updates. We have been living in the house and are loving it. We don't go very long without something happening, reminding us we are still in an old cottage, but we are finally mostly settled. This summer included lots of nights of beautiful sunsets, dinner parties, gardening, swimming, and wonderful house guests. Here are some pics of what we were doing this summer instead of blogging. This time of year makes me nostalgic for summer days and anxious for winter to be over (yes, already...).

Zeus

We decided (the day after I finished painting the garage last summer) that we didn't like the exterior house color anymore. It was too fleshy. We had a beautiful weekend for weather this spring and spontaneously decided it was time to paint the outside of the house. It was the perfect time since it wasn't too hot and Michael wasn't crazy busy with work yet. So, just like any project we do, we worked well past dark trying to finish ASAP! Our neighbors have to think we are crazy...
We spent Friday night putting different color swatches on the house and garage so we could get paint first thing Saturday morning. One trip to Sherwin Williams, two trips to Wal Mart, 1 date night, and 12 hours later we had a color. The color is called "Zeus," and we love how it is not gray, not green, not blue, not brown, but just the right color. The trim is painted a version of white that I can't remember the name of! Here are some pics of Michael hanging over the roof of the house in the dark (we were VERY determine to finish!), and the house from the lake once it was done.

Who are these cute people?!

So, I am apparently the WORST blogger ever.  We are moved into the house!!  We have been so busy organizing and trying to clean up the inside and outside of Maywood in preparation for summer that I have totally fallen out of the blogging mode.  I promise I will get back at it!  So, just in case you have been missing us, here's a pic of us painting the bathroom/kitchen tile floor (yes, again--this time in a 'flat' finish..that 'semi-gloss' finish always made the floor look wet) and the guest room wood floor looking oh, so cute in our plaid work shirts!

The paint reeked, but we are having fun!

Getting between the cracks...very important!

Go, Michael, go!

Rockin' my kneepads and having fun!

Please join us at our table...

One of the important projects I wanted to do was build a dining room table out of the wood from the trees we cut down.  We had already been able to use some of the wood for the new mantle above the fireplace and for the trusses in the guest bedroom.  We were able to make everything for the table from our tree wood, but had to get wood from another Okoboji tree for the top.  The wood on the top was quater sawn--aka it looks like it was cut like an open book.  The cool thing is you can see the grain drift and connect from board to board across the table. 

We wanted a big table since we love to have a lot of people over for dinner parties, but we also wanted it to be able to withstand the parties.  We didn't want it to be a table that would be ruined if it got a scratch on it.  We both wanted it to look as natural as possible, so, we made our own stain for the wood.  The first mixture was too white-washed, so we had to sand it down and start over.  The second time we got it right.  We love it.   Here are pics of the process.  Now we just have to find the right chairs for it, and we will be ready to entertain! 

Wood getting laid out for the top

Solid wood legs from our trees

See how the grain drifts and connects into the next board?

Another image of the grain.

Getting close to being done!

Almost done--too white washed though!

Too white washed, but we are excited!

Done, and we LOVE it--looks great next to the butcher block!

Done!

DONE!!!

Beautiful West Lake Sunsets

Not a bad view while doing yard work...

Murphy

Our guest bedroom is pretty small, especially since it is also Michael's office.  To get the most out of our space, we decided to add a murphy bed.  I was a little unsure of this when Michael first came up with the idea.  Luckily, I didn't put up much of a fight on the idea, and now that it is done, we love it!  We bough the mechanism, and then Brian built it.  Here are some pics.  Everyone is welcome to stay!  

The beginning..

The handles lift up, which release the mechanism for the bed, and are also used as the legs for the bed when it is down.

The final product!  Still needs some paint...

Leakage

We were woken with bad news this morning. The upstairs toilet decided to overflow all night long. Brian got to the house this morning, heard water running, and started running around to find out why he was hearing that. Michael and I were at the house until 8:30 last night, and everything was fine when we left. The downstairs bathroom took the hit. We will have to possible replace Sheetrock on the ceiling and then repaint. Oh, and get rid of the odor. Great. Just our luck! We are literally only a few days of cleaning away from moving in, and now this. Classic Maywood!