happy [late] birthday to me!

Just in case you weren't aware, my birthday has already come and gone. Sad, I know...no one wanted it to come to an end. Seriously. I mean...even though it was in May...

And for this year's monumental celebration (which I will add this was during the beginning stages of the blog), my in-laws came up to celebrate and also gave me some money to use on anything my heart desired. Nothing leftover from the wedding or not to go into savings...but something fun for me to splurge on.

I pondered for a while on what my funds should support...a new cozy rug for my feet this winter, greeting me each day as I arise from bed? Or what about a mantle above our fireplace to display that perfect wedding photo? And after thinking, and milling over the perfect addition to the Voight home, I stumbled upon an item I had seen before- but never really considered buying for myself.

And with this, I proudly introduce you to my new ledges from pottery barn. Yes, a little more cream than the perfecly painted trim done by my mother, but perfect nontheless! I even shopped around for a variety of awesome frames to sweetly greet our house guests. I hope to spray paint the ledges to match before fall...and of course get some photos in the frames!

come on over!

Well friends...it finally happened. We up and got domesticated and purchased our dining room table!! Though it is taking some time to get used to eating at a table..you know with napkins and silverware and all...but is has already come to good use entertaining family and friends

You may notice that right now we have only four chairs, but the husband has insisted he search for two MATCHING chairs with arms - I told him he has 'till Christmas until we complete our set. Afterall, I was insistent during the whole process the table could grow with is by having a leaf and more than a few chairs.

All in all, it is a perfect arts and crafts addition to our wonderful home - but as with all things house oriented, the completion of one item opens the door to just one more...so hello saving for a fancypants rug to go underneath!

landscaping duty

have you ever rolled out of bed in a haze confused as to what you did to your body the day before to make it ache the way it is at that very moment? that was me this morning. from my neck all the way down to my ankles –as i lied in bed this morning, waiting to muster the energy to move, i couldn’t quite put it all together. but after the grogginess faded, i soon remembered it was the hours of landscaping the husband and i did on sunday.

now before i get too far, i must mention my in-laws were in town this weekend to celebrate yet another family birthday. this is going to be a common trend in life, as we are packed full of birthdays in the voight clan from april to july. it is important i bring this visit up for two reasons. 1. a large chunk of blog readers are from that side of the family and 2. i believe they would feel slighted if i didn’t mention their contributions. or perhaps blame is a better word. :)

on sunday morning, while the husband and his dad mounted our new bedroom tv (not to mention their unsuccessful attempt to hookup cable….that can be another blog) my husband’s mom took me to the local hardware/gardening store and bought us two new plans for our flower bed. and that my dear friends is where the can of worms was opened! apparently, weeding tickles her feathers. so knowing we had at least another hour before the cable went out the window via the men's skills, she and i began to go from flower bed to flower bed pulling up all the weeds. lucky for her they only had about an hour to spare before running other errands and heading back home.

for you homeowners out there, you know you can’t just weed one little part. after my mother-in-law left, i recruited my husband for some assistance (and also to help take his frustrations from his hate for Direct TV – yes, another blog entry will follow on this) so the day of planting, pulling and stump removal in the front yard officially began. by the time it ended, we had spent hours shoveling weeds, planting the two new plants, buying four more to complete the front yard, removing stumps the previous homeowners left behind and attempting to drown out the pesky mole that is burrowing holes in our yard. and no, sadly i don’t believe it worked.

compliments of my new birthday iPhone, i am now able to take some photos on my way out the door to work and upload.

the final product: a weed-free and flower friendly house!pink indian feather i believe

i can't remember, but we bought this because there were a few others existing that needed to be "fluffed up"

can't rembmer either - but should look good with all the daylillies about ready to bloom!

the never ending story...

….and we’re back! i know, i know, some of you have been worried us voights had gone MIA on the blogosphere and that it would soon fall on its shortcomings like the roman empire…but fret no more. we are back. and ready to blog. well, sort of. i must sadly report cooking has taken a summer vacation from our home - with all the weekend cookouts and a hectic schedule of after-work happy hours. and after the husband's post below, perhaps it is good to take a break (though if you must know, the voights are taking a 30 day "live long" affair to health begining june 1)

and well, to be honest, our yarkwork to-do list is growing just as fast as the weeds along the back fence. so we hope this weekend will bring us some positive reinforcement of getting back into the groove of being responsible homeowners. not that i doubt us, but with keeping such a busy social life, i fear we have slowly become “those people” who start a million projects and never actually complete them. along with that awesomely cracked toilet seat we are still sitting on, we also have half of a power-washed fence, a fence that is a quarter of the way to completion on painting and 4 of 20 bushes that have been tended to. needless to say, i hope monday's weekend update will bring us a good pat on the back and some well manicured solutions to our home!

watch out ladies, he is in his "prime"…

the voights have of plenty of house projects on the horizon, and i fear we will soon discover we both may be “those people” who start and stop projects before completion. our first home project is so close to the final product i can barely take it – our new gate.

at the first of the year, we solicited my brother-in-law to come out and build us a new wooden fence. this immediate need came just a few weeks after closing on our home, when the previous two-post swinging gate plummeted to its death. we needed something quick to help keep the pup under wraps in the backyard.

but our only problem came when our idea for a one-post gate just got a little too heavy, and thus, the gate was permanently shut and no longer open for business. this weekend, my husband and brother-in-worked to install this heavy duty, rotating wheel and boy letmetellyou it is the greatest thing since sliced bread! that bad boy opens and closes like it is its job….which is great, since that is what we needed to allow our cars back in the comfort of our garage.

so last night, my husband thought he would go out and prime/paint the newly completed fence in all of 20 minutes – in just enough time before a new How I Met Your Mother came on. so after about 10 minutes, he walked back in with paint on his face.

my first mistake was asking if he was done – because i honestly think he believed he was. the second mistake was going outside to see the job only to find the paint he had spilled and/or dropped on the driveway - thinking that it would wash off? which i must ask, “isn’t that the whole point of paint – to stay on after you put it there?"

to add to the manhood, he had the notion that we only needed to paint the front of the fence, and neglect what it looks like from the inside for the visitors we actually know. wrong-o. long story short, we both ended up with tiny paint brushes jamming them in little holes trying to fill in all the gaps with paint. going over six minutes into HIMYM, we called it a day, let the primer dry and plan to go out another nice day to finish the back of the fence.

oh, and i plan to break it to him soon this fence will need a second coat….

go green or go home

as of late, it seems everyone in my life is talking about being "green". people at work have noticed that i usually do not recycle my diet coke cans and given me their spiel about how that is just absurd (i do admit it is just laziness - they even have bins here at the office). ive also been meeting people one after the other who are pursuing careers in the environmental sector of the world. and im sure it doesn't help living in the ripple with all the "granolas", but the more i think about it, the more im finding i am actually "green"and the voights do fit into the neighborhood...

for example, one of our friends came over last week to test out our new lawn mower. as she navigated our circa 1960s "reel" red mower (see photo below), she said she liked the idea of no gas and no electric to help the environment. so i thought - "wow, take that people - do you take it to that level at home? i think not. sure, your cans are helping...but really? really how much does your coke tab collection contribute to stopping global warming? i push my mower in my yard and have yet to use any sort of pesticide or insecticide on our yard". ok, so maybe my push mower won't stop the melting of the polar ice caps, but i am at least helping in my own, small way just like all those other can collectors....

so in effort to find of picture of this awesome purchase, i found the photo below lurking on the internet - i just couldn't help myself when thinking of the husband tending to the yard in this fashion...

since the weather is getting to be nice, we've started walking a bit more, supporting yet again the whole "green" initiative. true, it may not be like back in the good 'ol days of living downtown, but it is as close as you can get here in the circle city. in fact, yesterday we walked to the hardware store to purchase some more yard decor. (below is a photo of the really pretty dahlias we planted by the front door) after my experience last week with the fresh market in the neighborhood and a "green" sunday afternoon, i'm feeling inspired. not to mention i have some things to contribute to the betterment of society aside from turning the lights off after my husband 24 hrs a day...

oh how i've missed the delivery men...

ok, so i lied. i know - only day three of the blog and im already not staying true to my commitment to post on subject. however, last night was filled with a cookout and corn hole with friends and i just didnt have time to read up and report on the bulbous plants we are finding in our yard - compliments of the book brandt "rented" with his new library card. we'll save that topic for another rainy day...

that being said - i had two surprises at home for me yesterday after work. yup, TWO! i must admit that it was great coming home to big boxes with my name on it - something that i truly miss about the whole wedding process :)

one was long overdue - our nightstands. wooohooo our bedroom is finally complete! im working on the finishing touch, a tv on the wall, until it completely becomes my domain and officially my favorite room in the house. i may ruin the credibility of the new blog by admitting that i again took pics on my camera but forgot to bring the cord to upload - so compliments of value city, here is a fancy-pants picture of our stands.

my second surprise was my new alarm clock, compliments of free shipping from pottery barn. yup, you guessed it - it was in that photo actually sitting on top of the new nightstand...so ill just leave you wondering on that one - perhaps you'll have to swing by the house to check it out in combo. it has the whole pocket watch, silver and beaded look all rolled into one...topped with a little glow in the dark action.

all-in-all the house is slowly coming together - compliments of many wonderful wedding gifts too (be glad i havent yet blogged about our new wine chiller - it is a thriller!)