The Construction Begins

Fortunately after demolishing our porch and then leaving for the weekend our contractor did come back and actually start building things.  I was slightly worried we may forever have a pile of rubble to greet our guests.

All weekend people were trying to leave out the front door.  It was pretty hysterical when they were greeted by this.

No worries though.  Now they will be greeted by this.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate today so he can get the posts and roof up.  I am getting so nervous to see it with the gabled roof.  What if it doesn't look good on my house?  Or the proportions are off and it is too massive for our small home?  What if my windows now look funny? Ahhh....the stress and excitement.  We will just have to see.

Trying a Tri

Today was a big day for me.  A huge day.  Today I competed in my first sprint triathlon - really there was no competition just a fight to finish but finish I did.  Fortunately I was not alone in this adventure; my aunt-in-law Sally bravely battled this beast with me.

A sprint triathlon is a 400 meter swim, 22k bike and a 5k run.  Breaking it down it really isn't too intimidating - at least until you sign up and have to wake up at 4:15 am to get there with your bike and gear.  My stomach was tied in knots the entire time.  Plus everyone looked sooo professional and we looked so like first-timers.  Putting our bikes on the racks wrong, mixing up our numbers, putting our chips on the wrong way.....it wasn't pretty.  We did prepare well when it came to packing our gear though.

We made fabric decals for our tank tops.  We surprisingly got a lot of compliments and questions on where we got them!  Yea fabric paper that can go through the printer.  They took like 10 minutes.  We also wrote on our shoes all sorts of encouraging and inspirational words.

I even wrote on the soles of my feet to see how worn down it would be by the end.  I was way too tired to take a photo after.  Defeats the purpose but oh well.

And you can't forget your helmet.  They won't let you race without one.  I borrowed a helmet from one of Sally's friends but the day before the race Lola found it and destroyed it in a matter of seconds.  I would hate to see what those helmets look like after a bad fall......hope they hold up better against cement than they do against teeth.

Fortunately Target had one last matching helmet and it was on sale!

Going into it I was the most nervous for the swim.  I am not a strong swimmer and well there have been some recent fatalities in the swim section of triathlons which the guy opening up the race so kindly pointed out.  Not exactly encouraging as you are standing in the most ridiculous spandex gear with rubber heads and shivering bodies.  It was pretty cold this morning and I was worried the water would be freezing but it was actually perfect!  Very very nice and kind of on the warmer side.  The swim was not as bad as I was anticipating and we made it through quickly and without issue.  Fortunately there are no pics of us in our makeshift "tri suits", swim caps and goggles. We looked quite hysterical.

However, the bike was a different story for me.  I struggled all the way through the bike for some reason.  Like really struggled.  I went into it least worried about the bike.  It just seemed like a piece of cake.  Which I think it was for Sally.  She did great.  Apart from pushing through the crazy winds it was a nice route and Sally just kept on pedaling.  I never lost sight of her (thank you Sally for not ditching me) but it took everything in me to keep up with her.  I was so nauseous for the entire bike ride.  I was so glad when we reached the transition area to start our run.  I've never been so excited to run.  I may be done biking for a long while.

The run was great though.  Granted it was only a 5k but I thought that it would be horrible after the swimming and biking.  I really felt strong and fairly fresh for the whole run.  We powered through the it at a very nice pace and actually crossed the finish line!!  We did it and we did it running, not crawling.  We have no idea what our time is.  Really no idea.  Somewhere around the 2 hour mark.  I hope they post the results soon.

The time on the clock isn't what we finished in because we didn't start our swim till way later.  I know we definitely hadn't started swimming until at least 35 minutes into the race.  Very curious.

I am really proud of Sally (and myself) for sticking to our training, for being brave enough to actually sign up and show up and especially for completing it.

I think I got it out of my system though and may just stick to running.

Off to bed.....I'm way tired.

Porch Demolition - finally

This morning I came home to see this.  My porch completely demolished.  It was a pleasant surprise though, one that we have been waiting for all summer.  I have mentioned several times on this little blog that we are re-doing our porch and after many delays it is finally happening.

Well it better be happening now that you drop 3 feet when walking out our front door.  Can you imagine if our contractor never came now?  I am not sure what would be better.

This.

Or this.

Ok, so probably the first but I think it was only a matter a time before it looked like the pile of rubble above.  Bran was out there helping with the demolition for awhile and he said that they gave it a few good blows and the whole thing caved in on itself.  Not the sturdiest structure.

I wish I had the plans for the porch to show you but I don't and unfortunately I really can't find a picture of what we are doing which is so strange since it really is simple.  We are adding a gabled roof a few columns and hanging light and some nice vertical slat molding on the base.  I guess you will just have to wait for the big reveal.  Hopefully it turns out the way we are envisioning it - or maybe even better.  

In the meantime I just have to remember not to leave the house through the front door.

Adorable Baby Headband

I have been waiting forever for this photo to make it's way to me so I can share with you my newest baby headband.  I even made one for myself.  I just love the polka dot fabric.  I did close my etsy shop for a time but hope to build the inventory back up and this little bow will definitely be in there.

And of course everything looks so much better with such an adorable baby to model it.  But even more so is the beautiful work of Erin Tole - my favorite newborn photographer.

I wish I could see all my baby accessories displayed in such a wonderful way.

I stripped a Pottery Barn table

Don't kill me.......I had to do it.  

I had to strip my PB dining room table. Before you get too disturbed let me tell you that it was a floor sample that we got for $300 when we first got married.  It has served us well but I really can't stand how dark it is.  Our house is so small and has teeny, tiny windows that are totally blocked by trees so we don't get much natural light and all the dark furniture in our house totally just sucked the life out of the room.

Here is the original.

Besides the fact that the original picture was taken at dusk and this is in broad daylight, I think it makes a huge difference.  I definitely could have stripped more of the stain but I really love the look of the old, dirty wood.  I would hate for it to look new.  I want it to kind of look like an old farm table I found at a flea market or even an old, abandoned farm house.

Some day we are going to replace the hardwood with something darker and more contemporary so I think the table will pop against that.  That isn't happening for a long time though.

It really was not hard to strip the table at all.  I used an electronic sander for the top of the table and then stripper for the rest.  I just slathered it on with a paint brush and scraped away.

It came off in one easy swipe.

Gloop.

I ended up buying some metal, scratch pads for the legs and that was the best way to strip the stain in those tight spaces.

So for a few dollars and a few dollars you can transform any piece of wood furniture in your home.  

You can even make something new look old.

Now I just need to figure out something with the chairs and that bench oh that light too.  A few ideas are running through my head.......

Thanks for stopping by!

Colorado Trip

So before I tell you about our fun, little trip to CO this past weekend I have a confession to share.

I  bought the camera I have been saving for before I officially saved all the money.  Well actually it was my sweet husband's idea.  He bought it for us knowing how badly I wanted it.  Plus what fun is it to finally buy it after the summer is nearly over.  So I am still saving for the last $200 but we get to enjoy it in the meantime.  Especially on our recent trip to CO.

The Keith family all went to CO this past week with the Harrisons, our relatives visiting from Scotland, so we flew out for the weekend to spend more time with them all.

There was 16 of us out in Colorado.  It was a pretty crazy group but we had a lot of fun.

We went on a cattle drive.

Say hello to my horse, Crockett.

This is Rebekah on Belle.  Crockett had a major crush on Belle.  He would not leave her alone.

Mr. Keith on Joker.  Voted most beautiful horse.

Carly on Star, Samuel on Badger and Connor on Sweet Pea.

The treacherous single file journey through the barbwire field.  We all made it!

Crockett driving the cattle to the water hole.  When I drove him close enough, he would bite them on their bottoms to keep them moving.  So crazy.

Water break for all.

After the break at the water hole was over it was time to keep moving them.

The bull was MASSIVE and slow - and old.  His brother is one of the top rodeo bulls.  Scary.

Allison and Sally heading home on their horses after a long day wrangling. 

Connor and Sweet Pea. They rocked the range.

Tyler on Tiny.  They were buddies.

Since this was a whirlwind trip we jumped to the next item on the itinerary - family pictures at Peak 8 in Breckenridge.

Sorry that is a lot of jumping pictures....I just like them.

Then we finished the weekend with an incredible hike that culminated in a waterfall and lake.

It was so beautiful.  My favorite thing to do in CO.

The most incredible waterfall.  I cannot tell you how large and powerful it was.

Once you got over the waterfall it lead to a gorgeous lake with lots of mining remnants.

We had an amazing weekend.  It totally refreshed us (and wore us out at the same time).

And I think the camera performed quite well!