Three Minutes of Humor - The World's Worst Music Video

Swiped this from another blog. Lots of great moves here!

Mercy's Uncle Skip sent her this bib. It makes me laugh every time I put it on her!

The Undecorated House: Bonus Room Edition

Welcome to our bonus room. Our bonus room is upstairs, and is intended to be the t.v./family room. The couches in our bonus room are old couches of mine that I purchased during college. Tyson and I continued to use them for a few years until we broke down and bought nice stuff last year. We kept these old ones in storage, just in case we bought a bigger house. Using the old stuff up here is perfect- I don't care if it gets beat up. I would, however, like to eventually slip cover these couches in a neutral color and add overstuffed throw pillows for added cushioning.

We scored this large flat screen the day before Circuit City announced they were going out of business. We actually got it for a better deal than during their liquidation sale. It seemed huge in the old house, but it is pretty proportionate to the size of the bonus room.

We would like to add a recliner or two to this room along with a few end tables. We're really going for comfort up here. It is, after all, where we watch movies, play the Wii, and goof around. In the right corner is Tyson's old mini refrigerator that he used to keep at his Boise office. We thought it might be nice to have a some cold drinks on hand while we have parties or guests upstairs.

This is the view of the hallway from the bonus room. Four of the bedrooms are upstairs, along with a full bathroom, a linen closet, and another closet that we use for storing games and t.v. trays.

I do have plans for decorating the bonus room. I would like to go with a travel theme. I found several vintage travel posters of places we have visited that I would like to decorate with, along with various other things. I would also like to paint (along with the rest of the house), but I'll probably wait on that.

Next up: Outdoor Edition!

The Undecorated House: Master Bedroom Edition

Okay, this is the only bedroom I'm going to feature. This one isn't even that interesting, so I know the other four would be a bore. In case you're wondering, one of the other four bedrooms is Tyson's office, one is Mercy's room, one is the guest room, and one is full of boxes right now. There is so much I would like to do with our master bedroom. All in good time, right?

This is the view from the doorway. I would love a new bedding set and real nightstands that can hide some of the clutter. The master bath is on the right.
I think it is pretty cool that we have sliding glass doors in our room. You can't see it in this photo, but there is a fire pit just outside the door.
I need something for the wall above my hope chest. I meant to close the door to my closet..oh well, I guess you get a sneak peek!

Yup, we have a t.v. in our room. Which is funny, since we don't get cable and we rarely use this t.v. It's nice to have as an option, though. I would like it better if I had a way to hide it when we weren't using it.

Up next: Family Room/Bonus Room

More 6 Month Photos

I know I'm biased, but isn't she pretty?
Mercy has a great laugh! Her giggles are punctuated with lots of girly squeals.

She looks innocent enough, right?

Now she's pulling Tyson's hair. She looks pretty ruthless.

And then she bites his head (or is it gumming since she doesn't have teeth?) while pulling even more of his hair.

The Undecorated House: Kitchen Edition

Welcome to our kitchen! I love this room. It feels so open and cozy. See the baker's rack on the right? I'm planning on painting the metal parts. It is currently black with speckles of bright green. I think it will go better if the metal parts are all black. Once I've painted it we're going to use it as a coffee bar.

The two pictures hanging on the wall used to be in our bedroom, but I think the black frames and red accents look better in the kitchen.

I love my refrigerator.

This kitchen doesn't have an island, but it does have this nice little bar area for extra seating. The corner seemed a little dark, so I moved a lamp in here (it used to be in the living room in our old house).

This room needs window treatments too. The kitchen gets a lot of sunlight in the morning, which I love. I may not put curtains or blinds up in the window above the sink, but I'll definitely be getting some drapes for the sliding doors.

Next up: Master Bedroom

6 Months Old

Mercy is 6 months old today! I can’t believe how quickly time goes by and how fast she has changed. Mercy seems to be right on track developmentally. She can roll, sit with a little bit of support, pulls her knees up when she’s on her belly, babbles, squeals, and laughs. I absolutely love this stage of babyhood! She is just so much fun. A few things Mercy loves right know include games of peek-a-boo, being outside (she talks to the trees, even when we’re driving), and eating. She eats like a champ! She eats whatever we put in her mouth, but she especially likes pears and sweet potatoes. Did I mention that she is a social butterfly? Anytime she is around other people she lights up. She is quite the flirt!

Mt. Rainier

I took these down the road from our house. What a beautiful day!

The Undecorated House: Dining Room Edition

Welcome to our dining room! It is nice to not have our dining room table shoved up against one wall, like it was in the old house. Now it can be the center of attention! Our dining room, along with the breakfast nook in the kitchen, is carpeted. At first I didn't like the idea, but since I absolutely despise mopping (it is my least favorite chore), I decided that I would much rather vacuum and occasionally steam clean the carpet. Plus, I get the added bonus of picking out area rugs. I also need to pick out some drapes for this window. I would make drapes myself, but I wouldn't like them. I'm too much of a perfectionist.

I don't know what to do with that big blank wall. I'm thinking antique and thrift store visits are in my future. Wouldn't a display of a variety of china plates or silver serving ware look nice there? Hmm.....

Right now my hutch is empty. I have my eye on a set of white china that has been discontinued and is dropping in price on overstock.com. But it can wait. I'm in no hurry to do any of the decorating. I think dreaming is half the fun anyway.

Up next- the kitchen!

The Undecorated House: Living Room Edition

I want our living room to be a quiet, relaxing room for visiting with friends and for reading. Therefore, there is no TV in our living room (it is upstairs in the bonus/family room). We placed our newest, nicest couches in this room along with a bookcase of classics, an original canvas painting, and the piano. I am waiting to finish decorating this room until I find some drapes that I like. That will help me determine what I'd like to do with the rest of the room. I wish I had a wide angle lens for my camera. It was hard to get good pictures of this room. Oh well, you'll get the idea!

The carpet in this house is sage green, which I actually really like, though I would have picked a more neutral color. My olive colored couches make it look just a tad minty, but I don't think it is too noticeable. The ottoman will double as a coffee table. I'm on the lookout for a cute tray I can place on top if needed.

I'm not sure I'll leave the fake plant and the digital picture frame on the piano. It will do for now.

I mentioned yesterday that this house has lots of windows. I love that this smallish room has two large windows. Don't we have a great view? I love all the trees.

This is one of many bookcases we have in our house. What can I say, we love books!

Up next- the dining room!

The Undecorated House: Entryway Edition

I have had several requests for house pictures, so I decided I would drag it out into a blog series over the next several days. My house is a blank canvas right now. There is so much I want to do to pretty it up around here, but I want to take my time and, of course, add new things. So instead of running around and just throwing our old stuff up on the walls, I am forcing myself to endure blank off-white walls for a while. In the meantime, I'll whittle away my non-decorating time entertaining you with pictures of my blank walls, because you all have nothing better to do, right? :)



Welcome to my entryway. This house has lots and lots of windows that let in natural light all day long. I love that this entryway has a long window and little windows in the door. I also like the natural wood trim throughout the house. Not the fanciest stuff, but nice.

Okay, so my walls aren't completely blank. This cute little entryway bench was such a steal! It was fifty percent off, but the floor model was the only one left. Since it had a few blemishes, we got even more off the sale price. I heart Fred Meyer! I think I'll paint it black....the white on white walls just doesn't do it for me.

This is the view as you walk through our front door. I love my yellow vase! I love seeing a splash of yellow as I walk into the house. It seems so friendly. I did have some fake plant stuff in it in the old house, but didn't like it anymore. I'll fill it with something...I just don't know what yet. I'll know it when I see it.

Next up- the living room!

Random Photos

I had a few pictures on my camera from before the move and figured I'd better get them uploaded. Coming soon.....pictures of our new house!

Things That Go Bump in the Night

If a tree falls in the forest, and the forest happens to be your backyard, you most definitely hear it. A windy, rainy storm blew through late last night, and around 4:30 Tyson and I were awakened by a thunderous splitting and crashing sound. It sent us straight out of the bed, peering into the absolute darkness of our property, and then up the stairs to check on Mercy (who slept through the whole thing). We couldn't tell what had happened, and the house was fine. However, this morning we noticed from the upstairs windows that a tree blew over towards the back of our property. Not near the house, thank goodness, but close enough to get our adrenaline pumping this morning! It is going to take me a while to get used to the new sounds (though I hope falling trees is not an everyday occurrence).

I hope to start posting some pictures soon. Pictures take longer....and right now time is a hot commodity around here!