An actual Minnesota Winter?

After last winter's lack of snow we have been waiting to see if we will be blessed with another mild winter!  We had so little snow last year that we weren't able to bring out our new snowshoes once!

We had our first big snow of the season in early December.  I hate driving in this kind of weather but it sure does make the house look pretty!

 

Now that we officially cannot do any yard work, it is time to focus on the inside of the house again!  We did so much yardwork this summer that we neglected all the inside projects we wanted to do.  On our list is:

• basement entry way
• basement
• front entry way
• downstairs bathroom floor
• mudroom floor
• upstairs bathroom

I think our first goal is to make our basement not a scary-cellar anymore!  It will also give us so much more space.  I love having projects like this in the winter.  It makes spring seem to come a lot faster!

The Holiday Season!

I love Christmas.  I mean, I  REALLY love Christmas.  I have always tried to decorate my house as soon as possible (normally the day after Thanksgiving) into the holiday.  The few years I haven't decorated early into the season I have started to feel weighed down by the holiday-blahs.

I have always focused on the tree and the Christmas village, but this year now that I have a set tradition (although I change up some of it for variety), I have been able to focus on the outdoor decor.  We live in a house that is 110 years old, so there are no outdoor electrical outlets to do a ton of Christmas lights.  We have to put lights in the inside of our windows and have them shine outside.  To add some more impact to the window lights, we got battery powered candles for each window that we bought on after-Christmas sale last year (literally for $0.25).  They add so much character to the home.  It really makes it look warm and inviting.

I also put together a homemade spruce-top-like arrangement.  I love the way they look but they can get some expensive depending on where you buy them.  So I found a long planter box, grabbed the clippers and cut a few pine branches, strategically placed a few unbreakable Christmas ornaments and some floral accents, and voila!

I have to admit, I was pretty proud of my ingenuity on this one and how fast it was to put together- after the soil thawed, that is.  It literally costs nothing and took about five minutes to put together.  This might have to become a staple outdoor-decor activity that I do each year.

 My DIY Christmas decor. Success!

Friendsgiving!

Our annual Friendsgiving event was a success!  This was the first time in 6 years that I have been able to fully enjoy myself.  Sometimes being the hostess can be really hard: the worry about the food, cleaning the house, making sure everyone has a good time, trying to mingle with everyone... it is frankly a huge job!  The first two years we were cramming all of our friends into a small, upper-level duplex with a kitchen that was barely big enough for a turkey, let alone an entire Thanksgiving meal.  There were a few Friendsgivings where I actually was in tears near the end because I felt it was a disaster, even though everyone had a good time.  During those first few events, not only was there the worry about fitting everyone in our house, we were also doing all the cooking and entertaining. 

This year I relinquished the cooking work to the experts, also known as our friend, and best man at our wedding, Matt.  I love cooking, and get a lot of joy from showing off what I can whip up to my friends.  However, when it comes to cooking for 20+ people, I gladly gave up the stress of prepping the meal.  It was the smartest thing I could have done- even though I love to show off my cooking skills!  The meal turned out excellent (I will admit, he is a better cook than I am), and I got to enjoy decorating the house before everyone arrived was able to entertain our guests without feeling like I should be doing seven things at once!

History of the West Side

Back in November we won a walking tour of the West Side.  Ever since moving here we have fallen in love with the neighborhood.  We love walking around and looking at the old houses.  There are some spectacular properties in this area.  Being on the bluff, I am sure that there is so much history of some of the original residents of the west side of St. Paul.

We got a wonderful history lesson on the West Side from one of our neighbors.  He lives in a house that was actually designed by the same architect who designed the State Capitol!

Back in the late 1800s a farmer by the name of Dawson had a huge farm where Cherokee Park begins before crossing the high bridge and going into Lilydale.  Our house is on the land that he had owned.  We had the chance to look at old maps from back in the day and hear about how the neighborhood developed and changed.  What was really cool was to find out what houses are the oldest in the neighborhood.  Our guide even pointed out how many of the oldest houses still have barns that they converted into garages.  There also used to be streams and creeks running through and were part of how the road landscape was eventually formed.

After our history lesson we went on a walk where we were able to see all the different architectural styles that make up the different eras that have created our neighborhood.  It was really cool.  I am now obsessed with going on the MN Historical Society website and looking at pictures in the archives.  Here are a few of my favorite historical photos of the west side.  Eventually I want to order these pictures and do a gallery wall of them in our entryway or in our one-day library upstairs.

This picture is the closest we can find to getting a picture of our house when it was first built.  It was built in 1903 and this was taken of our neighborhood in 1904.  This is probably three blocks off from where our house is located. 

This picture was taken a block down from our house on Congress St. in the early 1900s.  We walk by this house all the time!

New entryway floor

Our front entry has had laminate tiles that have been falling apart ever since we bought our house.  The design on the tile has literally peeled off.  It has only accented the ugly red carpet that goes up the front stairs.

Nick decided that it was time to lay a new floor... a mere day before we were having a party.  We decided to do a sheet vinyl that looks and feels like a wood floor.  It is easy maintenance and the install was easy as well!  Here is the almost finished product before the new trim.

 Nick finished laying the floor an hour before people were scheduled to arrive!  What a hard worker!

The new floor is a million times better than the old one.  Now we are motivated to redo the stairs and get new lighting in the entry way.  It is the first thing you see when you come in and it needs more work!  At least we have a good start!

Vacation: Tofte and Grand Marais

We spent Labor Day weekend up near Lake Superior at the Chateau Leveaux in Tofte, MN.  I think all Minnesotans have a love affair with Lake Superior.  A mere 2-4 hour drive results in beautiful views, sparkling waters and the feeling of being a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  We had such a great vacation with our family.  We did lots of hiking and exploring of the North Shore including the Cascade River and Grand Marais.  It was perfect weather for a Labor Day weekend getaway and the "unofficial" end of the hottest summer on record. 

Artist's Point in Grand Marais, MN

Nick and Hilary: One Year Later

Our fabulous friend and photographer, Rebecca Zenefski of By Rebecca Studios did a a First Anniversary shoot for us.  Here is a sneak preview of the photos!  More can be found here.

After dating for 9 years before we got married, we never had a real "anniversary" date.  We never had a chance to commemorate or celebrate our relationship.  Now that we have our wedding date we are excited to start a tradition and do something special each year.

We received a beautiful anniversary memory book from my childhood best friend.  There is a place next to each year for a photo.  We thought it would be great to  take a picture each year in the park where we did our wedding photos.  We found the same bench and had our photographer recreate the shot.  And then we got creative and decided to take a picture of us with the picture of us sitting on the bench, while sitting on the bench.

We can't wait to continue this tradition for years to come.  It will always be a great reminder that even as we get older and have our anniversary each year, the day where we vowed to spend our lives together is always there in the background.  The first picture in the series of many pictures to come. 

Our first Anniversary photo. Phote credit: By Rebecca Studios

Vacation: Keeweenaw Peninsula

For our Anniversary we drove to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the Keeweenaw Peninsula.  We had the best anniversary trip.  We enjoyed a wonderful bed and breakfast in Laurium, MI, explored ghosts towns in copper country, took a sunset boat tour of the Copper Harbor Lighhouse and sat by the Lake, taking in the beautiful scenery.

Keeweenaw Peninsula, MI

We even brought an anniversary cake with us from Jerabek's to enjoy our first anniversary.  We came back feeling relaxed, having driven across the entire peninsula and with 13 pounds of fresh-picked, Michigan blueberries to enjoy for the rest of the year!

1-year Anniversary

One year ago today we got married!  What a happy day!

Cucumbers!

The garden is exploding.  I have cucumbers coming out of my ears- well, not literally, but there are a lot of cukes and my house now smells like the Gedney factor.  I think that 6 cucumber plants was 5 too many.  I have stocked up on vinegar and pickling spice and I have pickled myself into a frenzy.

I hope everyone likes pickles, because I can't eat these all by myself!

Sunflowers

It is funny how you can be so meticulous and intentional about something, to then be completely surprised by how easy it actually should have been, with just a little luck and sunshine.

I really wanted sunflowers in my garden.  I tried to plant some last year and the squirrels decimated them, even the seedlings that were nearly 8 inches tall.  I was determined to have some, so I babied a bunch of organic sunflower seeds indoors for over a month, finally planting them in my garden when they were big enough to survive the ravaging squirrels.

After all my work and efforts, I discovered pockets of sunflowers around the yard that were haphazardly planted by none other than the squirrels and the birds of the neighborhood.  Without my efforts to detour the squirrels, I found the most beautiful sunflowers ever!  It was such a nice surprise!

Corner Patio Project

So instead of a duck pond (although I still really want a duck) we devoted our energy to building a new corner patio for our bonfires and gatherings with our friends and family.  After the world's hottest summer and losing about ten pounds after moving bricks and laboring in the 100 degree heat, Nick completed the patio right before the 4th of July.  Sadly, it was a million degrees, so we could only sit in the shade and look at the beauty of the patio instead of enjoying all the hard work that went into it.  We never really paid attention to the fact that it is the sunniest spot in the yard- which will be great in the Spring and Fall.  The Summer, eh- not so much.  At least it is done now!  We are going to try to construct a pergola over part of it, but need to be careful because the bonfire pit is going to be housed there.  It makes the yard look spectacular!

Finished patio, sans firepit

Operation Garden: Day 2

The garden has been watered today and (obviously) there are no signs of sprouting yet, as the seeds germinate.

My one worry is that the basement is too cold. The tutorial we saw recommended rope lights underneath to keep the seedlings warmer. I will have to see what happens. The good news is that the cats can't get down there and eat my seedlings like the previous years!

I will update with a list of what we are growing tomorrow!

Operation Garden: Day 1

We are trying to truly make our gardening a sustainable, organic and cost-saving endeavor this year. The past three years we have bought a variety of seedlings from my neighbor's greenhouse (all of which are organic and amazing!), but always have supplemented it with seedlings from Menards and other nurseries (at least $75 worth). We have done seeds in the past but they have never worked out with the exception of the beans and peas. They either die or don't get enough sun or get eaten by the cats.

This year we set up a growing station in our basement with a full spectrum light and mini-greenhouses. In addition to starting all our herbs and a few of our veggies, we are trying to start all of our annual flowers. Each summer I spend at least $150 on my annuals and dirt for my container garden and around the house. We are trying our hand at starting them from seed to see if we can do it and save some money in the process.

So far I think we spent about $50 on everything (dirt, seeds, greenhouses, light bulbs, chain for the light). With the help of Melissa and the sidelines cheerleading of Ryan, Miles, Nick and Amy we got all of our seeds planted and tucked away in the basement. So far we have over 100 cells planted.

I am hoping to keep a journal of what works and doesn't work for what we are lovingly calling "The Basement Garden."

Stay tuned!

6 Months

We probably owe everyone a post... eh?

We celebrated our 6-month anniversary of our marriage on February 13. When you have been together since high school without a real anniversary it is fun to "celebrate" on the 13th of every month.

It has taken us 6 months to finally start to relax after all of the hectic craziness of the summer and getting married. Nick has now been at his job for over a year now and I am finally getting the hang of my new job. We have our finances under control and are working on paying off our debt which is a really nice feeling! We have had a winter that has been non-existent, which we are more than happy with. Speech has flown by ridiculously fast (maybe having only 4 students this year has something to do with it). And we haven't done any "big" house projects.

I hope that as spring approaches we will get re-energized to get our yard taken care of! Last summer, even with all the crazy planning and spending of a wedding, we built a deck, got a driveway (finally!) and built stairs to come up from said-driveway. So far we have already set up a growing-station in our basement to start our herb garden seedlings so that we can plant our garden as soon as the ground thaws- which could actually be as soon as the end of March this year. We are going to continue our journey around the yard and rip up the corner area under our silver maple.

Our summer plans also involve a small waterfall, a pond, and a duck. Yes, a duck. I already have named him and I want him to live in my garden. Spring cannot come soon enough.

Where do you buy a baby duckling, anyway?