Earth Day

Coincidentally, we planted our first greens in our yard.  Yay!

But first ~ Saturday,  uncle came over and rototillered the front lawn.  Big Thanks!!

Doug and I weren't home.  I had a ladies day with Doug's mom, sister, auntie and mom's friend.

We went to a Japanese fashion show where they raffle off prizes.  Check it out!  We won stuff.  =)  Mom got a whole slew of Angels memorabilia ~ included were four premier tickets!  Auntie won USC gear ~ on top of that a giant t-shirt origami made out of one dollar bills totaling possibly $100!  =)    I won 8 bags of Senbei.  Not as exciting.  haha

The guys went to uncle's house to spray texture on the ceiling.  We've been going weekly to help clear everything out and renovate.  So far, all rooms have been cleaned out.  We kept some stuff.  I'll show you later a couple finds we got from them.  Ceilings scraped and textured.  Next up, painting!  Great job guys!

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Earth day!  We planted a couple bushes.  These are the first greens we put into the ground of our house.  Yay!  I took pictures of the whole process.  =)

So it begins...We finished digging out these roots.  

Wheelbarrow is on standby for excess dirt.

Doug rototillering the dirt.  

Just a closer shot.

Stamping the dirt flat.

Leveling it off.

We planted Hawthorns.  Our neighbor asked if we could put in the same bush as theirs so it'll match.  Sure, why not?  I'm still undecided on all the other plants, so this is a good start.  I think they were originally marked for $5.98 each, but we got them on sale for $3.33 each at Home Depot.  Gotta love getting a good deal!  On top of that, we bought Miracle Grow, and they gave us a $2 rebate.  The bag cost us $2 after rebate!  Yay, Earth Day!!

So we positioned the plants.

Dug holes twice as wide and twice as deep as the pot.  Filled with Miracle Grow, native soil, and plant soil.  Mixed it all up.  My hole is the messier looking one.  haha I'm not very careful with things.  =P

Insert plants.

Water well.  

Done!  That took us less than an hour to do.  Felt great!  Now, we just have the rest of the yard to do....till then!

My very own bag!

My bag has been falling apart, and I felt so embarrassed carrying it around.  I was looking around for another one, but I couldn't find one that I liked.  So I decided, to make one.  =)

I learned how to install a zipper in the process!  It's not as hard as it looks.  =)   You may recognize the print.  I had made a present for my friend awhile back.  This bag is a variation of the Cinch Bag from Sweet Verbana.  I made mine smaller cuz I really only need to carry around an ipad and a book.  Since the bag was smaller, I tried cinching it, and my ipad wouldn't fit anymore.  That's okay.  I still like how it turned out.  Till the next sewing adventure!  (or yard)  I'm not sure what we're doing next.  =)

Yard Layout

Here's our plan!

Traditional graph paper =)  Yes, my lovely little flowers...

Into digital...

Okay, still not the greatest convert, but this is all I had to work with.  Simple, but manageable.  What do you think?

A new buddy!

I took this photo awhile back.  Don't mind the tape.  Yes, I need new curtains for the door.  We're replacing the door after we finish yard work.  Anywho, that's another day.

This post is about pillows!  See how everything is really neutral?  I received a brilliant idea from Lisa....why don't you cover up the pillows? 

About two months ago, we went to Ikea and I picked up this gray fabric.  Perfect!

This past weekend, I finally decided~ this guy needs a buddy.  Welcome new pillow!  Just not too sure which way i like better.  This way?

or this way?

It's a quirky one.  =)  Actually I originally had it all circles on the front with black on the back.  It looked a bit too circular, so I switched it two half and half.  Much better.  What do you think?

It's a start!

We're lacking in our social life, but this is what we have to show for it:

It's pretty faint, but we have string outlining our future courtyard.  We planned out a draft of what we want it to look like.  The concrete is going to span to the second pillar, and we're going to have two planters each side with a bench in the middle.  I'm going to try and draft a picture of it, so you guys know what I mean.

Doug started digging out the main water line this weekend.

He's half way there!  Okay- I'm being optimistic.  =)  Sadly the rain came on Sunday, and filled it all up.  Luckily, the sun came out Monday, and dried it all so the ditch is still there.  =)  Gotta love Cali!

Meanwhile, I dug up weeds. 

This patch was a pain in the rear!  I was a happy camper when it finally came out!



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On another note:

I succeeded in my first ikea hack!



I was using a ghetto cardboard box, but stumbled upon this tutorial.  Seriously worked like a charm!  I bought the half circle in the As-Is section just like she said.  I clear coated it, so it wouldn't get water damage.  I didn't realize that I had to drill holes into the wood.  I thought the board would come with the spot where to put the legs.  Then, duh!  It's a hack!  You're putting two parts together that weren't pre-designed this way.   haha  I'm a smart one guys!  Anyways, I got the job done!  *pats self on back*

So we're back inside...

Short post update~

I've been sick for the past couple weeks.  That's the second time this year!  I wonder if it's all the dust flying around, or the drastic weather changes.  Anywho, we've been taking it easy.  The past few weekends were filled with rain, so we didn't do much outside. 

Instead, we stayed in and started watching STAR WARS!  =)  I finally saw Episode 4-6, and Episode 1.  We'll probably watch 2 tonight, and 3 in a couple days.  4-6 are soooo good!  It's such an epic story.  I was super surprised by the ending!!  I can't believe all these years, word hasn't gotten to me that.... **************!!!!!!  Okay, so I didn't want to spoil the ending, if someone were to watch it.  =)

I worked on one thing this month.  Not much to show you guys, but my big reveal is we put up curtains in the living room!  *hoorah!*  We have privacy!  Actually, it's more because we have stacks of bricks on the patio, and I just wanted to cover it up.  What do you think?

I would have taken a wider shot, but we have a bit of a mess in the living room.  In the daytime, we don't get a lot of sunlight in here, so these thin curtains are perfect.  I used 3 sets of curtain panels.    I was thinking about only covering the two sides, and leaving the rest open.  However, our sliders and the stacks of bricks are somewhat unattractive.  Certainly a lot of work!  Who knew it took so much energy to iron?!  I IRONED for you guys!  =)  Darn, I should have cleaned up the mess.  =P

Monthly Check-In

It's going to be March in a few days.  Wholy cow!  I've got to admit, I've been lazy...again!  Must be the cold that makes me lazy during the week.  Weekends are a different story.  We're working like crazy to clear our yard. 

Check it out!

If you guys remember...the before...

We rented a bobcat, but took pictures on the good camera.  All I have is uploaded is an after photo from my camera phone.  Why do we have a good camera if I don't use the photos?  =P

I trimmed the palm tree too! 

We have an inspiration photo for our front now!  I pinned this courtyard that Doug found.  Both of us fell in love with it, so we're going to hopefully recreate it in our front yard. 

Pinned

We even started looking at concrete.  $3.55 a bag at Home Depot.  1 bag only covers 2 sqft @ 4 inches deep.  Yea...that's not a lot.  We're still deciding on how much area to cover.  Definitely exciting tho!  It'll be built in stages cuz seriously we still need to be able to put food on the table!

Moving along to the back yard...

Why are we digging out this tree?  It's right next to our bedroom.  Not good.  Hopefully it doesn't get under our foundation. 

haha  Couldn't resist!!  Yep, those french doors lead to our bedroom.  =)

Aside from yard work, I've been working on my cooking skills.



I made this Dutch Baby!  MMmmm....so good!  Recipe found on Simply Recipes.

Chicken cacciatore from Pioneer Woman.  Didn't even know what this was before we tried it.  Soooo flavorful!  I think it's from the stewed tomatoes we used.

Lastly, we made fried rice.  I've been craving this, and it came out really good!  I improvised with what I had, loosely following the allrecipes version.  One reviewer added oyster sauce instead of soy sauce.  I tried, and yum!  This made the flavor!  I used frozen veggies, chinese sausage, and ground pork for my add ins.  Good stuff. 

I put in the crock pot this morning Chicken and lentil soup.  We'll see how that goes.

Out of 28 days, I managed to try and make something new at least once a week.  Yay!  Hmm...maybe I'm not so lazy after all.  :) 

Oops!  Almost forgot!  February is Vday.  My hubs bought me flowers!  No one ever gives me flowers... this was a pretty wonderful surprise.  =)