I Have the Coolest Husband in the World.

I am in love. He surprised me with this last week. I can't explain how cool it is to me.

...and then the next day, he painted a mural of a mummy with a laser gun, shooting a T-rex, whilst pterodactyls fly over the pyramids. Uh... you can't beat that.

Someone's desperate for attention...

...yes, she got up there on her own.

...and this is just adorable.

How Old Are You?

Age is a quality of mind.
If you have left your dreams behind,
If love is cold,
If you no longer look ahead,
If your ambitions' fires are dead--
Then you are old.
But, if from life you take the best,
And if in life you keep the jest,
If love you hold;
No matter how the years go by,
No matter how the birthdays fly--
You are not old.

- H.S. Fritsch

We Had Fun Yesterday...

Jake went to a figure drawing class yesterday, for the first time in a few years. And I stayed home and painted, for the first time in a few years. Turns out, we both still really like them. This is what I painted. It's the van we lived in when we first traveled around New Zealand. So many good memories.

I'm not sure if Jake wants me to post photos of his sketches, I'll have to ask him. He sometimes doesn't give enough credit to his own work. However, the argyle piece you can see on the van was something he spray-painted. We miss it.

A few Pictures of a Sunday Morning...

A roaring fire...

A playful kitty...

A hot cup of tea and some creativity...

And a super cute puppy...

They're Getting Closer...

...a nap in the sunshine is worth it to them.

On to the Bathroom...

...got the walls closed and painted, the electrical and light fixtures in, and the window framed. Now onto the tile. Here are Jake and Austin working on the shower tile.

Looking into the New Bedroom...

...I love this room.

A Little Taste...

...yesterday, the light fixtures... today, the blinds.

This room is coming together beautifully. We love it!

Progress on Our New Bedroom...

Looking through all the earlier photos, makes us anxious at being at that point again. So glad we're much further along, and it's looking great. We're doing paint and electrical now... final photos coming soon!

First, here's the original bedroom...

And, onto the demolition and rebuilding...

Happiness...

...seeing Jake this happy... with an awesome dog is my favorite thing to watch lately. She really is awesome. And she freaks out with happiness every time we take her to the park. And then Jake freaks out with happiness with how awesome she is. It's all very awesome.

I really should mention that in these photos, Jake is purposely exaggerating his excitement...
...no one runs like that. :P

Oh, and lately, Bugsy has found a new toy... Tana's tail while she sleeps.
Montana loves the slightest bit of attention from Bugsy.

P.S. Montana's Halloween Costume...

...a Lamp Shade! Ta-Da!

(She fits in so well with the rest of our interior.)

Jake Wrote a Book!

I can't believe we haven't mentioned this on our blog until now. We must be living life somewhere. :P Well, here it is, Jake's first book: Aerosol Techniques.

As a brilliant spray paint artist, he's put so much of what he's learned into this new manual for people interested in trying it for themselves. He teaches all kinds of methods to achieve the best results for whatever style of painting you want to do. He evaluates all the different brands of paint on the market, and suggests the right ones to use. It has a chart outlining the types of caps and uses that are needed for different styles of painting. It even includes really cool stories about the history of the medium and the forerunners of spray painting. It's pretty awesome!

Jake's Halloween Mural...

This is Jake's latest spray paint creation.

Jake's friend Kasey just put new siding on his house, and all that was left was for it to be painted. Jake asked if he could paint something on it for Halloween. They decided it would be best if he painted it with primer, and that way the wall would be all set up for final painting. So, this amazing mural is painted only with primer. It made for a great background for their Halloween party.

A Fireplace is so Quaint...

I've always wanted a wood-burning fireplace. There's something so satisfying about it. Well, we just opened the chimney and piled up a stack of logs, and fired it up. It's so awesome!

Bahahaha...

I found this idea online and had to make one.
It's the coolest and funniest halloween decoration I've ever seen.

Sharing The Sunshine...

We really didn't expect them to be this comfortable around each other so soon.

This is just cute.

What's Becoming of Our 1917 House...

Being this old, a house has it's unique qualities... THIS house has scary character, thanks to Sherm, the previous owner and self-proclaimed (but highly unqualified) handyman. Let's just say, it's lucky it hadn't yet caved in. It now has studs where studs were not, and are most definitely needed. It also has a hot water heater that won't kill us. It has a concrete footing underneath a column that holds up a heavy porch roof. And, there's much more that could be added to the list of saves we've made, but you get the idea.

Things are coming along slowly. I can't wait to post "after" photos. :)

Three Batches Should Do...

...this, plus the previous two batches, should keep up with the craving all winter for the best soup in the universe. This batch has fresh oregano from our garden. Oh, and our very nice neighbor shared some of her peaches with us. Awesome!