May It Be May?!

Holy guacamole! We're half way through May and I'm long overdue on updating this blog! Although there has never been a set schedule, I do like to keep you all updated! 

With school winding down, I anticipate more of a true update. Until then, here's a quick glimpse of our month so far...

-E

Snapshot Sunday

Not a home update, but a snapshot at what I did this past weekend. A good friend from our hometown of St. Louis visited, so it was a great excuse to be a bit touristy and take in the gorgeous weather. Here's some of the snapshots that I took while we were out and about. The links for the shops that I could locate are listed below! Most are in Lawrence, Kansas - one of the most adorable college towns. Ever. 

The flowers are from our house! The one hundred plus bulbs we planted this past fall are blooming! Beautiful flowers! I cut many of them due to the possibility of severe weather this previous week. Enjoying their beauty from indoors! 

City Market   |   River Market Antiques   |   Ten Thousand Villages   |   Phoenix Gallery   |  unknown  |  Arizona Trading Co.  |   Sylas & Maddy's Ice Cream Parlor   |   The Oread   |   Made on Mass

Are there any towns or areas that you love to shop in? I love Lawrence because of the charm and handmade goodies to be found on Mass Street!

Anxious About Spring

I don't know about you all, but I am anxious for Spring. I love all of the distinctive seasons in the Midwest, but I am craving Spring. I find myself thinking this at about this time every year. I'm anxious to start planting in our yard, growing vegetables, and hanging out in our yard. 

To help combat my anxiousness of Spring, I looked at outside patio furniture and accessories. Here is what I was eyeballing and checking out. Hopefully my online shopping and wishing will bring spring here a little bit sooner! What are you most looking forward to this Spring?

1 Year

March 19, 2013was an exciting day for us. After a turbulent ordeal with the home buying process, we closed on our first home! With both of our cars packed to the rim, we drove to the office where we would sign paperwork and get our keys. Before we knew it, we spent the first night in our house - giddy with excitement and talks of the projects we would undertake! 

Yesterday marked one year that we have called our house ours. It has been an exciting, and at times, frustrating adventure in home ownership. But - it has been very rewarding! I don't know if you celebrate a house's "birthday" or "gotcha day" but we talked about what all we had done so far in the house and our dreams for the upcoming years in this house. 

Here's to the next year, and the many years to follow in this Midwest house of ours!

-E

Snow Day Craftivity - River Rock Boot Tray

Just when you think that winter may be over, it's not! Something I love about the Midwest is our four distinct seasons. I truly believe that if I were to move outside of the Midwest to a place that does not experience the four seasons, I would miss it! I find it ironic, as I wrote that last sentence, that I have always lived in the Midwest, despite calling three states home. I suppose that the Midwest is best! 

A luxury, to some (ME!), that comes with having four distinct seasons is the intensity of each season. I was beyond thankful to find out that I had a snow day this past Monday! It didn't snow in excessive amounts like it did in February, but, it was cold enough to send the wind chills into the negative twenties. Brrrrr. Considering the fact that I truly took advantage of the snow days, I attempted to be more productive on my last one. 

Below is one of the things that I was able to accomplish! Somewhere within my thousands of pins on Pinterest, I happened to pin this super easy and cute craftivity. All it consists of is "river rocks" and a boot tray. Uber easy & cute. I was worried about finding a boot tray since it was almost spring, but Target didn't let me down!

I bought this Mohawk boot tray at my local Target. I felt lucky enough to snag one of the last ones, as I wasn't sure if they would restock for the upcoming season! Next, I went to Dollar Tree and bought 11 bags of their river rock. Other tutorials suggested you could do less, but I wanted to have more than enough than not enough. I poured all of the bags into the tray and distributed evenly. That's it! 

In all, this cost me roughly $16. It is more eye appealing and an easy way to store my boots and shoes. Even though winter is (trying) to wrap up, I still think this will be a valuable accessory come Spring with the rain! Best thing is, if it gets dirty, all you have to do is rinse out the tray and rocks. Easy enough!

You can find more examples of what other people did at these sites, too:

• Apartment Therapy
• Dollar Store Crafts 
• Martha Stewart 

Have you done any home crafts lately? If so, I'd love to hear about it! And, if not, what is catching your eyes with crafts lately?

-E-