A Creative Flare

I have been preparing for our move back to Ann Arbor. I have a lot of time on my hands, and have a thousand thoughts in my head about how to have a more design flow in my home. I am grateful for all of the contributions we have received/gathered over the years. Especially, since we have been going through grad school for three years and have two years left. Money is tight. Despite my feeling of gratitude, I usually come home, look around, and feel frustrated. "nothing goes together" Well, I have researched, perused decorating blogs, copy and pasted tutorial links for projects, and am ready to go.

Here are some of the things I would like to accomplish in August:

Refinish my dining room table and chairs

Make curtain rods (the cool kind with finials and all)

Upholster my dining room chairs

Refinish the coffee table

Paint the nursery and determine an accent color for the wall in the living room


These projects will hopefully allow me to feel less frustrated in my home.

P.S. Does anyone know a good home organization blog? I need some ideas.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Yesterday we went to the Omaha Zoo. Supposedly it is quite famous and the #2 zoo in the country. We packed a lunch and got everything ready to go. So, maybe Saturday wasn't the best time to go. I have never seen so many lines! Parking, admission, exhibition centers. At first it was pretty bad but then as people began to spread out throughout the zoo it was better. Isaac of course was a little young to appreciate all of it. However, when he did manage to fix his sight on an animal he would watch it for awhile. It was really sweet. We had fun doing something together just as a family.

July 4th and Extended Trip

We took a trip to Minneapolis for the Fourth of July. We celebrated Charlotte and America's birthday. We went to Charlotte's parade and Charlotte's fireworks. We stayed at the Empty Nesters house. It was awesome to spend time with our niece and nephew and hang out with Phil, Roxann, and her family. Here are some pics!

After the weekend my Aunt Heather picked me up in Des Moines and drove me to Iowa City. My grandpa had been in the ICU for a week in critical condition. After a week of practically living in the hospital and spending time with family, Grandpa finally got better and is now in a step-down unit recovering. Poor Jonathan. He had to go another week this summer without his wife and son.

I don't have any pictures, but we did spend time with Isaac's cousin Jacob and had fun memories with other cousins and family.