Chicken Coops and Tree Forts...Among Other Things

The previous owner of our home left some presents behind for us. 

Like this chicken coop in our back yard. 

Not going to lie, I'm pretty excited about the chicken coop. Some little chicks chirping around that will eventually lay me some delicious brown eggs? That sounds amazing! However, the building is in pretty ill repair and won't be a suitable home for some baby chicks for quite some time. {Chicken coop fixin' isn't very high on Steven's do-to list. He's more interested in weed eaters, fence repair, and beginning construction on his man cave in the garage.} But I would love me some chickens..someday. 

And then there's this pretty intense tree fort in our backyard. {tree fort? tree house?} It's technically not in a tree just surrounded by a lot of foliage. 

This baby is coming down! Don't get me wrong, I too can appreciate a well constructed tree fort, but it seriously just takes up so much space in the backyard! With a massive chicken coop a lot of space is already taken up-- so the tree fort is history. 

Along with a hutch type structure that the previous owner possibly used as a shooting target filled with hay and a miniature out house that was obviously made for the umpa lumpa's from Willy Wonka. 

There is a lot of yard work to be done, folks!

Lots-and-lots-and-lots of yard work.

Friday Letters

Dear House - You so pretty. I love you. Dear Huckleberry - The garage is now your new dog kennel. I know it seems scary right now, but soon I think you'll love it. You have so much space! And so many toys to play with in there. Your mommy must love you. Dear Work - You're really getting annoying. I just want to go home and do crafty like things to my house and plan my wedding, but nooooo, you demand my person every day. Rude. Why is growing up such a bummer? Dear Wedding - You have been slightly neglected with all the house craziness lately. But that shall all be changing soon. {Well, hopefully. Since my wedding is only 1 1/2 months away!!!} Dear Pinterest - We were already close, but now that I actually have a huge home to try your greatness on, I believe we are going to become the best of friends.

Happy Friday!

Tour De Casa

First off, let me say that I am embarrassed by the quality of these photos. I wanted to take pictures of our home before the mess of boxes and disorganization took over! But darnit, I was too excited to get moved in so these pictures were taken in haste. I apologize. 

Anyways, enough with the pleasantries. Welcome to our home!

Front entry way. There is a storage closet immediately to the left. You can see the hallway past that which leads to the two guest bedrooms and guest bath.

Immediately to the right of the entry way is our kitchen.

 Oh, pantry, you have been greatly missed. 

The kitchen flows into the living room.

 French doors take you out to the back deck. The large brick fire place to the right is one of my favorite features!

 And then the ceilings...LOVE. THEM. We have the same exact wood, vaulted ceilings in our master bedroom.

To the far left of the living room is another hallway that leads to the master bedroom. Also in that hallway is our laundry room. I decided not to take photos of the bedrooms/bathrooms just yet because the lighting was so terrible. Soon though, my friends! 

And here is our three stall garage..aka Huckleberry's new dog house while I'm at work. It has 3 skylights and windows all along the back and sides. The upstairs is going to be converted into Steven's "man cave" in time. I think it makes sense that the dog and the hubby share a play room ;) {Men and dogs just have so much in common, you know?}

Our to-do list is already a mile long but we are so excited to start this new chapter in our lives! I simply cannot wait till we are married and living here together. {There are a lot of spiders crawling about that I need Steven around to kill.} 

Priorities, people. Priorities.

Happy Birthday {yesterday}, Lover Boy!

Sorry for my absence yesterday. It was a certain amazing fiancé's birthday. 25. Steven has lived a quarter of a century! Old man.

We celebrated his birthday this weekend at my lake house with some BBQ goodness and friends. And yes, there was cake. And yes, I ate about 3 too many pieces. 

But the big birthday thrill came yesterday around 6pm when we got the keys to our new home! 

This has definitely been a crazy year for Steven and I. Me moving out to Seattle last July, getting engaged, planning a wedding, moving the wedding up by 4 months, buying a home...so many changes!!! I have been so incredibly blessed it feels unreal. Seriously, will someone pinch me just to make sure I'm not dreaming? Thinking back to just one year ago I never would have imagined this would be my life. That I would be engaged to the boy I met while working at Cracker Barrel. That I would move across the country to pursue this romance. 


Honestly, spontaneity is not in my blood. I never would have taken this step had the Lord not given me peace and strength. He is amazing. And His plans are so much greater than our own.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 

Jeremiah 29:11

Ah, do not fret my lovelies. More pictures to come.

Friday Letters

Dear Steven - Sorry I freaked out on your this week while finishing up the wedding invitations. I know you were just trying to be helpful, but some things in life are just meant for a lady to do. Like lick envelopes. It looked like you were molesting those things. I just couldn't allow it to continue. Dear Huckleberry - You have been such a good boy lately! Thank you for sleeping in past 5am. Dear sunshine - I know this is going to be a good weekend because you are going to make yourself visible every. single. day. With you around, Washington really isn't that bad. Dear Comcast - you are terrible, terrible, terrible. Dear home - you are almost ours. Steven and I should be getting the keys to your front door on Monday and we couldn't be more excited!!!

Home Owners.

It's official. Steven and I are homeowners. All that's left to complete is some closing paperwork. And then we get the keys. Oh, and then you will get some photos --no worries :)

The closing date is May 14th. Which happens to be Steven's 25th birthday!

How perfect is that?!

I'm feeling very blessed today and excited about my future with this man!

Hope you have a lovely Tuesday, friends =)

My Week

This past week...

1. I made some yummy pizza bubble bread and realized it was a HUGE mistake..because I've been munching on it all week!

2. Steven and I found a house we absolutely love. We hope to make it our home.

3. I learned that people in this world can be cruel and heartless (as evidenced in this post). And that makes me really sad.

4. I realized that forgetting to bring my cell phone to work makes me feel incomplete. And then I scolded myself for my silly first world issues. 

5. I began to feel the sting of Fantasy Baseball season. Just like Fantasy Football, I  know it will completely consume every free moment in my fiancé day...and I don't like it. Because I'm selfish, and apparently needy.

6. I learned that the .99 box of brownies doesn't taste as good as the $2.49 box of brownies. It really doesn't.

7. I learned (just this moment actually) that there is not a "cent" key on my computer. Didn't they use to have those?? Or am I imaging that? Does my phone have one? Rats, I can't check because I LEFT MY PHONE AT HOME! 

8. I decided that giving up coffee, or even simply cutting my coffee intake, is silly and absolutely ridiculous and I refuse to do it any longer. Long life coffee.

9. I realized that I have way more photos of my puppy than my fiancé. That's why I can always post new pictures of Huck but have to recycle pictures of me and Steven...

10. I decided that I'm going to work on reversing that.

Have a happy weekend, friends!

:)

This Weekend..

I did hot yoga.

Which is improperly named.

It should be called 'volcanic' yoga,

or 'prepare to die' yoga.

"Hot" just doesn't quiet suffice.

Luckily, I didn't throw up.

And I'm going again tonight.

I went house hunting with Steven.

It was kind of fustrating --because, for the most part,

the homes in person were nothing like we anticipated from the photos online.

I watched a lot of TV.

And am not proud of that fact...

...but I did love the cuddle time with my fiancé and pup.

I went for a walk 

and took this picture of Huck.

He found that stick and kept it the entire walk.

Cute. He makes me smile.

And that, my friends, is the only photo I took all weekend.

Sorry to disappoint.

Now let's hunker down and get through this Monday, shall we?

House Hunting & Zombies

Steven: I really like this house by Crest Airport.

Me: No, it's too close to those huge power lines. And your parents scared me talking about the negative effects of living near power lines.

Steven: Well...What if there was a zombie invasion and the power lines...

Me: You lost this argument at "zombies"

Does anyone else have a significant other completely obsessed with zombies? I really don't understand it. If Steven has his way, our engagement photos are going to look like this.

Photo via Pinterest

I'm praying for the zombie epidemic to swiftly pass on by.