I think hell just froze over

When we moved in, our side yard was crazy overgrown, and other than keeping our side trimmed at the fence, there wasn't really anything we could do about it. Our neighbors, whose overgrown bushes were encroaching into our yard, always somewhat sheepishly said that they were trying their best to get everything fixed up, but it would take time. We bought the house with the yard looking the way it did in the picture above, so we knew it may never get any better, but had hope. Over the 6-9 months, the neighbors have started making improvements to their house, replacing windows, exterior doors, redoing their breezeway, kitchen and bathroom (so we have been told), and most recently, started to tackle the back yard. We don't talk to the neighbors that often, as their back yard got even worse this year - to the point we couldn't even really see into their yard!

A couple of weeks ago, Joe and I woke up to the sound of chainsaws humming. When we looked outside, we noticed these neighbors had a tree trimming service working in their front yard, taking a tree out. We crossed our fingers that they'd get to the back yard, and a few hours later, I discovered the workers starting to cut down a tree that was growing over the fence and brushing our roof, directly over the power lines to our house! I was so excited I was almost stunned, and sat watching as a few workers continued to take their heavy duty chainsaws to the bushes along the fence line. Although I would have really enjoyed watching this continue, I had to go to work. That night, we returned home to find that a good portion of the bushes along the fence had been cut way back, and a few trees that hung over our property were gone. While we were excited about the developments, we quickly came to the realization that now we could look into their yard, and the sight wasn't any better than the green, leafy 8' privacy fence we'd actually come to enjoy somewhat.

That was then. This morning, as Joe and I got up to go swimming before work, the tree trimmers pulled in the neighbors' driveway. Knowing that there wasn't anything left in the front yard to tackle, we could only assume that they were back to (hopefully!) finish the back yard. You saw the before picture above.... here's how their yard (and our view) changed and looks today....


We have never been able to see their entire fence, and it's amazing how large their yard really is, compared to what we've been used to seeing. Here's hoping that they continue to work on it, and maintain it so it doesn't get all overgrown in the coming years!

First attempt at sewing

Well, it finally happened. After my doctor's appointment this morning, confirming everything's going well with the baby, I decided I needed to pull out the sewing machine I got for Christmas and start practicing. I went to Hobby Lobby looking for patterns that looked easy for a serious beginner like me, and that wouldn't take too long. I opted for a selection of baby clothes; shirt, pants, gown, hat, onesie, and diaper cover. After selecting a fabric I thought was cute and forgiving for crooked seams and whatnot, I got home, ate lunch and started reading the manual for putting the sewing machine together. Turns out, it's quite user friendly!

Once I had the bobbin filled and needle threaded, I set out to try the diaper cover - it had the fewest steps of all of the patterns, so I figured I couldn't screw it up that much.
Figuring I'd need a lot of space, I set the fabric and pattern up on the dining room table, with the sewing maching in the living room. As you might notice from the above picture, the girls are totally bored with this sewing stuff! I got a lot of extra fabric so I can practice a few times, but the initial stitching went really well. After looking online for some terms I wasn't familiar with, I felt ready to stitch in the elastic around the legs and back. While looking online, I found a website to make an identical cover, with easier to follow steps. However, I had gotten too far involved with my pattern to make the changes, so I charged onward. The cover looked really good until the elastic, when I didn't leave enough space to tuck the elastic into the little pocket, so I had to sew it on the outside of the cover. It would work fine, except I couldn't master the zig zag stitch evenly around corners, and keep the tension on the elastic consistent. The bottom picture shows the (almost) finished cover - I didn't remember to pick up the velcro fasteners, but I'll probably try again to get the elastic down pat before calling this one done. Not too shabby for a first time project, and it only took me an hour or two once I'd put the machine together!

Another year older

Saturday was my 28th birthday, and unfortunately I had to work. On the other hand, we had a pretty good day at the store, selling a kayak, some lessons and general store merchandise, so at least I wasn't bored! Joe made the day great - I had breakfast in bed before work, he brought me lunch, and then after work we went to The Legends to do some shopping. Now that I'm at 11 1/2 weeks pregnant, my clothes aren't fitting as well as they used to! I have gotten through the first trimester really lucky - no morning sickness, only little bits of nausea, and no real food aversions. Unfortunately, that means that my appetite has been healthy, but the fatigue has lessened my ability to work out, which doesn't mean good things for my waistline! So it's time for the maternity t-shirts and my first attempt with maternity jeans. After shopping we ate dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise, which was actually quite good.

I had asked Joe to bake my birthday cake himself, as opposed to buying one from the store. I actually prefer homemade cakes anyway, and I couldn't tell you the last time Joe made and decorated a cake, so I wanted to see what he could do. When we got home from dinner, he set about icing, assembling and decorating my cake, using the new cake plate I got from my parents for my bday. Joe's gift to me was a new camera, which I'm really excited about - it's so much faster than my old camera, with a digital screen that you can actually see pictures on! When Joe finally announced the cake was ready, I grabbed the camera to take a few pictures - he did a fantastic job! It not only looked great, but tasted delicious!

I'd love to report that we went out on the town later that night, but the dinner, cake and not enough sleep from traveling all week apparently took its toll, as I was falling asleep on the couch by 10pm! Oh well, it was still a great birthday!