Our First Anniversary!

I can't believe it's been a whole year since Anthony and I finally tied the knot! The time has absolutely flown by, and it feels like the wedding was only a week ago. Probably a good sign! Since we couldn't have a full blown anniversary celebration on our true anniversary (gotta love weekdays and work!), we spent all Saturday and the first part of Sunday celebrating. And what a perfect weekend to celebrate! It was the first truly nice weather of the year, and we took advantage by taking a family bike ride.
We stopped off at the canal around the corner so Lucie could cool off before we ran her around in the hot sun, and she just ate it up.

It wasn't long before the heat was too much for Anthony and he jumped into the water to play with Lucie.
A quick photo-op, and we were off on our bikes.

Later that evening Anthony had a surprise for me. A romantic dinner at a fancy restaurant, and then a night at the hotel we spent our wedding night at. Fancy restaurants aren't part of our everyday life, so we decided to go all out.
Now don't we clean up nicely?? Dinner was ridiculously delicious, and the two of us waddled out of the restaurant vowing to return next time we find ourselves sitting on a small fortune. Afterwards it was off to the Destinations Inn. Many people would call this hotel cheesy (each room is themed after a different location), but we enjoy a bit of cheesy in our lives. We stayed in Venice this time, and thoroughly enjoyed our jetted tub, steam room/shower and breakfast in bed.

The one and only minor hitch to the weekend was my clumsiness on a bike. That's right, I had my first bike crash in about a decade, and gave myself a nice little sovenir in the process.

And what anniversary would be complete without a gift exchange? As a combination birthday/anniversary gift I got Anthony a scooter alarm system. It's really cool actually. The alarm will go off if the scooter starts, gets nudged or even if someone sits on it. It even comes with a remote for your key chain (yes, just like your car) that will work up to a mile away! Depending on how well it works, I may have to get my scooter one...
Anthony got me a wonderful purple orchid. Anyone who knows me knows I absolutely LOVE orchids and I'm so excited to have this one in the house! He also gave me some gorgeous picture frames. They're made locally, and are solid wood. I've never seen anything like them before. They're very simple, but I love the rustic look they have to them.
All-in-all it really was the perfect way to celebrate our anniversary.

Home Improvement

It has been nearly a year since Anthony and I moved into our home and the transformation is incredible. It took four people working 12 hours a day, 2 weeks straight for the inside of the house to become livable. We were so focused on getting the house up to code, we didn't think to take before pictures. We've got great after pictures though!
The bathroom had a huge makeover. The tub was so worn the bottom felt like sandpaper, and no matter how hard we scrubbed it was a permanent gray/brown color. The faucet in the tub and the shower nozzle were rusted out, and neither Anthony nor I wanted to touch them. Turns out there was no insulation in the shower, which explains why we would freeze in the middle of June. So we installed insulation, put in a new backsplash, replaced the window (so the neighbors couldn't see us and we wouldn't have metal blinds in our shower), put in new hardware, and refinished the tub. We also put in new lighting, a new vanity/mirror, new baseboard trim and re-painted the whole bathroom.

This is our guest bedroom, and it was in the best shape out of all the rooms. It had brand-new carpet when we moved in, which was a definite plus. After patching a few holes and repainting the whole room, it was good to go.

Our living room required even the ceiling to be painted. The bookcase had wooden doors and non-functional shelving that we removed/replaced. There were holes all over, especially around the heating vents. Since our house doesn't have air-conditioning we put a new window on the front of the house. The old picture windows were installed poorly, had paint on them, and wouldn't open, so at least one new window was essential. Of course painting the walls and baseboards were necessary.

As far as the kitchen goes, we have a brand new one! The only things that remain from the old kitchen are the sink and the stove. Even the windows are new.
We don't have any great pictures of the old kitchen, but if you look in the background of this you'll get the general idea. When we pulled the drawers out to begin sanding, we found there were 7 different layers of paint on them.

We had the entire kitchen redone about a month after the wedding. New cabinets, backsplash, countertops, lighting, windows and refrigerator. We also added an island along one wall to add some storage space. Oddly enough, the kitchen looks bigger now.
The outside was pretty bad too. There was no landscaping at all, and the yard was in rough shape.

The Front Before
The Front After

The Backyard Before
The Backyard After

We planted three "flower" beds in the back, put in fencing to hold Lucie, planted trees and added flagstone (by hand) to the end of the patio. The biggest chore was weeding through the lilac bushes in the back. Vines had grown over them and killed about half the bushes, but we pruned them enough that the lilacs are actually blooming this year! It may not look like much, but we've worked so hard and are proud of the change!

A Rainy Saturday

Our fair city was caught in the midst of a severe thunderstorm earlier today. This is the most rain I can remember since I was about 8. Sewer drains all over town were clogged, including the ones in our neighborhood. Anthony made fun of me, but I was in shock at how much water was sitting in the drains.

This was the smaller of the two puddles next to our house. Anthony decided to take Lucie for a romp at the church, which just so happened to be where the BIG puddle was.


Of course, the moment Lucie saw the puddle she decided playing in it was a necessity. It was then we realized just how much water was pooled. At the deepest spot the water hit Lucie's chest! Getting the Luce out of the street was a chore.
Despite the rain, the fam was able to finish the last of the landscaping. Pictures of all our home improvements are soon to come; both indoor and outdoor. We are just waiting on the inside of our home to become...ahem..presentable. Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend!

Kitty's First Beach House

Anthony and I decided to surprise our kitties this week with their very own beach house! The girls are always climbing up and on everything, so we thought a little playhouse of their own would be perfect. Our good friend (and now roommate) Ross even came over to help with the assembly.The kitties weren't sure what to make of the new toy at first, but once Anthony showed them the cubby holes they couldn't get enough of it. Jade's favorite part is the palm tree conveniently placed at the top.

Charly preferred the bottom half, and when the two were inside they would attack each other through the holes or the nylon separating them. Lucie insisted on joining in the fun too.

A Car Show, A Sister, and A Niece

We had a most wonderful surprise mid-April. A quick visit from our favorite little "sister" and her baby girl, Bailey.

Bay is such a character! She's 14 months now, dances to any music that might be within earshot, and keeps us all on our toes. She was at our house for about 30 seconds before she figured out the remotes.

To add to the excitement, Pocatello decided to host a fantastic car show full of our favorite classic cars. So the whole family piled into the 'Burb and made the 45 minute drive to see the beauties.

Mom and Dad may say they're not ready to be grandparents, but they both love Bailey to pieces. Despite Messina's protests, the two of them kidnapped Bailey for the majority of the car show. Dad spent the time explaining the cars to her (focusing on the Corvettes, naturally), and Mom entertained the Boo with a stolen balloon.

Who could have bought Bailey that rockin' shirt I wonder??

Even Uncle Tony has to spend some time with his irresistible niece.

It was an absolute treat to spend the day with two of our favorite people. Of course a trip to visit the horses was a must after we had finished with the car show.

Patches has always been quite the lover.


Beyond a few pets from everyone, the horses were ready to make a break for the open pasture, and we were all ready to head home and call it a night. It'll be interesting to see what antics we get up to next visit.