Some good things about ND

This weekend Bryce and I went out to a national park about an hour away from our house. I was reminded that there are, despite my denials and clinging to my MN status, some good things about ND.

# 1 This guy, who takes me on adventures and is just incredible.

# 2 Beautiful scenery ( you may have to drive back into the central time zone to get there, but it does exsist!)

#3 I found TREES!!!! That alone made my day!

#4 Buffalo. When we were driving into the park I said that was one thing I really wanted to see again, and they were out in abundance. This guy was right on the trail we were on.

#5 Plenty of places for boys who like to climb things to go crazy

We started out on a nice easy nature trail, but soon ended up finding our own way. Way down at the bottom of all  the trees is where our trail was, we just took the more adventurous way throughout the park,

On top of one of the buttes it was just like you were in another world. All you saw was the crunchy rock you were on, the sides just dropped off. We started wondering what would happen if we encountered another buffalo, not a fun thought when your 100 feet from the ground and there is just no where to go but down.

Mapping out our descent

I was pretty proud of myself for making it down from there

We started up by the large rock on the left

Just loving life and the adventures we get to go on together!

Kitchen Redo

So I finally did it. I attacked the kitchen this week, and LOVE the results.  When in the middle of the painting I realized how good the blue that I picked out looked with the green that the walls were painted, its almost seemed a shame to cover it all up. Here’s what it looks like in the process of painting and the final results.

 

This funny guy felt that the walls were getting more attention than he was

I think the blue really improved the look of the cabinets as well.

 

 

Another accomplishment was finally getting well wall decorations up in the living room.

I think I’ve run out of painting jobs around the house, I’m not quite sure what to do with myself any more. I think its time to find a new hobby. Any suggestions?

Windows Weekend

Bryce and I have had the pleasure of having members of both of our families come out for a little while in the past few weeks, and we sure have put them to work! My mom and little sister made the trek out for a few days, and we tackled all the curtains and planned out some decorating. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from this adventure, but I'll try to get some shots of the rooms to show the improvements that they helped with.  They made a huge difference in the house!

This past weekend we (when I say we, it doesn't necessarily include me) tackled our largest project yet. We replaced all 4 windows on the front side of the house. The ones we had were pretty bad and leaked water in bad storms and were quite drafty. Its been wonderful to have the new ones in, and I'm sure we'll be even happier when we see the heat bill going down! The best part was that Charlie and Polly were able to come out and help for the weekend. Bryce's aunt and uncle who also live in Dickinson came over for the day to pitch in as well. The plan was to get all 4 windows done, but none of us were sure if that was possible. The guys surprised us by getting all of them in by 230 on Saturday! That allowed for us to sit back and have a relaxing evening. Here's a peak into our weekend.

We turned the laundry room into a painting assembly line for the trim boards

I had to add a picture to prove that I did do something that weekend!

And here it is, 4 beautiful new windows! 

Thank you Charlie, Polly, Monte, and Selma for all your help and for a great weekend!

The next project...  (this is one that I can do!) Stay tuned to see the results.

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Labor Day Camping Trip

Over Labor Day weekend we got to have some more adventures. Our friends Dan and Karey joined us for the weekend, we had a great time and the guys kept us laughing the entire time!Saturday evening we went out to the Rough Riders Hotel in Medora for supper with another couple and then went to the musical. The Chinese acrobats were there, and were so much fun to watch.

Sunday we went camping at a nearby campground. There were 15 of us total so a big group but a great one too. We went for a short hike, and relaxed at the camp sites, thankfully we got out hot dogs roasted before they told us we couldn't have a fire because of the fire dangers. I never realized how much of an integral part of camping campfires are until we were sitting around the pit in the dark with nothing to stare at.

Dan and Karey

It looked like a lot of fun to ford the river, but those rocks are sharp!

On the way home Bryce and I stopped at Painted Canyon to do a little more hiking.

Painting Painting Painting

This week I got to re-do the upstairs guestrooms. It is so nice to have these rooms just about finished. Heres a look at what they look at the process...


When I opened up the can of paint I just about fainted it was such a baby girl pink, definitely not the look I was going for. But when it isn't right against that green and you have a few coats it looked quite a bit better.


Still hoping that this is going to look better


Saying goodbye to those dark blue walls

There you have it, your rooms when you come visit are ready and waiting.