Where to Start?

The hiatus in the blog posting was initially due to the ending of the school year -- I was busy with grading and tying up loose ends and so there really wasn't much progress being made on the house.  But on top of that, I've been having ISSUES with my internet company .. grrr... and so it's been hard to do blogging from my blackberry.  Lots of little things have been done (like cleaning the inside of the back door with a magic eraser (magic!!!) etc).  So I'm going to just try to post pictures of the new things I can remember?

Right now, there is an ice cream truck driving by -- ahhh to live in a cute little neighborhood again... :)

Ok, so here is the new laundry room color.  I bought this gallon of paint at the Habitat for Humanity Restore for $3, and figured it was close enough to the color I wanted.  It's bright and crisp -- good for a laundry room!

My friend Becky knew I was on the lookout for a "new" lawn mower (I was previously depending on the goodwill of my neighbors to mow my front lawn and my mom who lugged her mower out here a couple of times for the backyard) and spotted one at a garage sale for me.  It was only $8, and the couple told me that they were the only owners; it was one of their wedding gifts.  It's easy to use too!

This adorable little entertaining set is a gift from Nancy C -- a dedicated (and kind) follower.  I can't wait to use it this weekend (4th of July) as I'm having friends over!

After our Glen Arbor trip -- I decided that I really wanted to focus on the front of the house.  I was sick of the faded navy blue shutters and barren dirt/grass/weed front yard.  I was between black and white for shutter colors, and narrowed down the accent color to a deep periwinkle and chartreuse.  The girls at Home Depot were SO patient with me and helped a ton -- I asked them to remix these about 8 times on top of choosing colors that they didn't 'have' offered...

The yellow/greenish color was too neon from the road, so I went with the purply blue and really like it.
My dad stopped over earlier in the week and helped me take down the shutters from the highest window (scary!) and I climbed up on a ladder to detach the bottom two windows.  He also attached the flower boxes I found on craigslist (5 for $25!).  I got right to work painting the shutters -- easily the least favorite thing I've EVER painted in my life.  3 coats and it's probably still not perfect.

Dad detaching the upper shutters.

Spraying them clean in the backyard (also notice the bikes!!)

My mom helped me finish the final coats the next morning... it was a LONG and tedious process.  Lots of opportunities for drips!  As soon as we had everything painted, we were anxious to hang them and see how they looked -- however, we weren't tall enough, and neither was the ladder, to reach the top window, so it's flying solo until I can figure something out...

 And most all of the 'big' plants are from my friend Jeni and her mom -- they let me (with Jeni's help) dig up and split lots of their greenery.  Naturally, Jeni and I decided to do this on the hottest day of the summer thus far.  So, I've been watering them as much as possible and crossing my fingers they don't die on me...

And FINALLY ... carpet in the first floor bedroom!