House Before and After

This past month our house project has been the house. We needed to reside the front of the house, and decided to paint the whole house too. Polly and Charlie came out to help, which we are so very thankful for!

Here's the house before: 

 With the wrap on:

 This was the view out of all the front side windows for several weeks until we got the painting done. Fun isn't it? I am so glad that that is done now, and we can get sunlight streaming in!

 Putting up the new siding

 Starting the painting. Such a long day(s)! We got all the base color done one day, and Bryce did all the trim around the top of the house the next weekend while I was back in Fergus

 And its all done! We still haven't decided what color it really is. When you're close up to it like in this photo it looks much more blue. But when you are driving up to the house it looks more greenish/gray. So who knows. I guess you'll just have to come and judge for yourself.

And just because I can't resist showing off my puppy, here's Bentley after he spent 6 hours running around in the mud with Tess (Charlie's German Shepherd)  Isn't he cute?!?

Fresh Sweet Corn and Year Old Cake

This past weekend, Bryce and I got to go back to Fergus Falls to pack in so many activities into a few short days. The main reason to go home was to celebrate the wedding of my friend Karla. It was so fun to see her getting married, and her happiness and love for her new groom.

I also got to go out to the farm to participate in a yearly event, that I will admit I dreaded every year living at home: Corn Husking Day! Where my family sits around in a circle on the lawn and husks sweet corn for what seemed an eternity, so we can freeze it an enjoy it throughout the year. This year it was better, although I don't seem to mind those things as much now that I am out of the house, and the fact that it is going into my freezer makes it a little better. We did a smaller batch because it was just for me and Bryce, so that was nice to get it done in just a few hours.

I also got to meet my parents new dog, Knightly. He is such a sweetheart!

The best part of the weekend was getting away for a night to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. We went up to Fargo and enjoyed some shopping (and I have to point out that Bryce bought more than me!) a wonderful supper with my favorite desert Coffee Lovers ice cream at Cold Stone, and a relaxing evening hanging out at the hotel.

When we got back to our house, we pulled out our cake topper that has been taking up space in our freezer this last year.

We were oh so happy to eat year old cake!

                          Ok, so maybe our expressions were more like this:

We weren't overly thrilled with the cake on our wedding day (however my chocolate fudge cheesecake was delicious!) and it didn't improve over time!

But we did it, we participated in that time honored tradition

and now we can look forward to many more years together. Thank you darling for such a wonderful first year of marriage.

Family Camping Weekend

My family came out to ND for a quick camping weekend. We stayed at a nice campground outside of Medora, that I really like because there are lots of trees around (decent bathrooms don't hurt either!) which reminds me of MN.

Friday night Bryce and I went out for a hike around sunset before my family arrived.

Then on Saturday we were able to get out hiking around the campsite. We started hiking around on one of the trails and then decided to just pick a more direct line over the fields to get back to the campsite. There were a lot of random large rocks that were fun to climb on. Even Bentley got into it!

 

 

It was such a hot day so the afternoon was spent sitting around in the shade hanging out.

Sunday we went to Medora and drove around the National Park, and did a little hiking as well.

 

 

 

As usual we ran right into a big herd of buffalo. It is also so fun to be in the middle of the herd as they walk around the car, so scary close!

 

To wrap up the weekend we went to the Medora Musical, which is always fun. They had an illusionist as the featured act who was fun to watch and very funny. Thanks for a great weekend family! It was great to be able to spend a lot of exploring, laughing, hiking, chill time with you all!

Come take a walk with me...

Want to go on a walk with us?

One of the things I've been enjoying since not working full time, is the extra time to take Bentley on walks. We get out a couple of times a day and go down to a beautiful field that is at the end of our block. It is a nice excuse to get myself out of the house and walking 30-45 min   2x a day, and I don't think that Bentley minds it either!

You still keeping up with us?

It is so great to have the field so close, this way we don't need to pack him up and drive across town to the dog park. You can sort of see the houses at the edge of the field, we live just down a couple of houses.

It is such a great place that B can just run around as much as he wants...

Jump as high as he can...

and stop and smell the flowers,

So there is your Bentley fix for the day. He's as cute and ornery as ever.

How to build a fence

As our little puppy grows bigger, more curious, and social we decided we needed to fence in our back yard to keep our little guy on our property and not running around visiting all our neighbors. (our neighbors do actually like Bentley as he is such a cutie and likes to run up to them and say "hi" if we neglect to put him on his chain when he is outside) Its been a fun project for the most part (at least on my end, but I haven't had the hard work of digging holes, filling them back again, and doing all the figuring to make the fence work!) and we've had some nice days to work on it. So here is my photo tutorial - or maybe more like a photo journal of our fence adventure

Step 1

Buy a boat load of wood

Step 2

This was one of my favorite steps because I could actually do it! Spray the bottom of the posts with black rubber concoction to seal the wood against rotting. Bryce was given this pick up from a friend who didnt have any use or space for it, and it has proved to be quite handy in this adventure, here it is used as a stand, painting surface.

Step 3

Dig a whole lot of really big holes.

And stick your wife down in it to show just how deep they are

Step 4

When you run into annoying things like scoria rock and big tree roots, pull out the man tool and hammer your way through them.

Step 5

Have a photo shoot with your adorable little, but not so little, puppy. This is an important step because it was a) keeps the puppy happy and not barking and whining that he is not getting enough attention, and b) keeps the wife happy and not pestering the hard working husband who is trying to dig holes!

Step 6

While digging holes and not quite sure if they are deep enough or in the right place be sure to always consult your supervisor and get his approval!

Step 7

Always keep said supervisor happy by letting him sit in his favorite vehicle. Bentely absolutely loves going for car rides! Yesterday Bryce and I were doing a few errands around town and brought Bentley with us and we couldn't get him out of the car, which is not an unusual thing. I have had quite the humerous and frustrating time pulling/yanking/dragging him out of vehicles if he doesn't feel like he has had a long enough ride! Anyways, he didn't want to get out of the car so we left a door open and shut the garage door and just let him stay in there for a few minutes as we went inside and changed to get back to the fence. When we got back into the garage Bentley was still sitting in the car happy as could be , not barking or freaking out that we weren't within 2 feet of him as he usually does, but just sititng there enjoying "his car" It was hysterical, especially if you've witnessed what he is like if one of us leaves the house without him!

Step 8

When you get tired of digging through roots, old fence posts that were cemented in place, and get to the easy holes, rent a two man fence post digger and invite a friend over to help. I did help on one hole to say that I did help dig a hole, but that was enough for me and Bryce as I wasn't quite strong enough to be of much help.

Step 9

When the posts are up, standing straight, and tamped in as much as you can, you get to the much more fun and easy job of putting the 2 x 4's up.

Step 10

Line up the pickets so you can get a feel for what it is going to look like when you finally get finished!

Step 11

(You don't really need to take your dog for another drive, but I just like the picture!)

To be continued as we finish up the fence