Repurposed shower curtain

This morning I finally got to try out the new sewing machine, which works great. I turned the old shower curtain we used in the apartment into two new curtains for the windows in the kitchen. With some pretty satin ribbon, I think they turned out really well.
A little girly, maybe, but still pretty nice. And the green and tan stripes go perfectly with the light green walls. :-)

Flowers

As a congratulations for getting a job, I picked out some flowers for me from Chris. lol I figured he wouldn't have time to get them since he works all day, but I knew he really wanted to get me some. hahaha

Updates galore!

A lot has happened since the last post. Chris became ladder-holder and bee-killer extraordinaire last weekend so we could get some more painting done on the trim. Now all we have left is the front section on the porch. Phew! Almost there.

Let's see, what else? I got a haircut ... First time since March, I think. haha So that was good. See picture at left.

I planted a bunch of bulbs along the garage so that we'll have a pretty little stretch of flowers in the spring. Hopefully it'll detract a bit from the sight of the ugly leaning garage. lol

My mom bought me a sewing machine as an early Christmas present. Can't wait to use it. My first project is turning our shower curtain from the apartment into curtains for the kitchen. After that, it's on to the bedroom curtains.

Oh, yeah, and did I mention I GOT A JOB!!!!! After months and months of searching, I finally found someone willing to hire me. lol It's nothing glamorous. Just a full-time position at Brueggers, but with promise of a promotion to Shift Supervisor in a few weeks, it's definitely not the worst I could do. And Brueggers actually seems like a good company to work for. And the other employees and managers are great. So for the time being, I'd say I'm pretty happy about all this. :-) It's just so nice to have an income! Pretty soon I'l actually have health insurance too! Woo hoo!

So there it is. Lots of updates. I'll try not to go this long again before the next post.

Oh, and happy early birthday, Katie!

Bad Idea

Want to hear a really bad idea?

Climb up on a 16-foot ladder while holding a paint scrapper that has a pointy edge jutting out like a knife. Oh, and make sure the roof where your face will be inches away from has bees living under it. And also, spray that area with hornet spray so it's dripping down getting your ladder all nice and slippery ... not to mention toxic.

So after reading that, are you surprised I'm alive to tell the tale? I sure as hell am amazed. Ironically, the worst that happened to me is that my nerves are completely shot from being scared out of my wits and pissed off to such an extreme measure. I did manage to fall/jump off the ladder once when a bee flew in my face. I stabbed myself in the thigh with the knife part of the scrapper, but that only drew a little blood. Not as bad as the agitation I'm experiencing right now.

Worst of all, I couldn't paint all of the trim because of a fear of heights I apparently have. So there's still exposed wood out there, waiting higher than I can reach from the sixth rung on the ladder to get ruined by winter.

I wonder if it's too late to back out of this whole home-buying thing and move back to the apartment. Sigh ...

Oreo celebrates

Oreo was so happy to have us home after our week in Michigan. He followed us around for hours, we played with him and his Goofy toy, and then he pretty much passed out from the excitement.

Painting the trim

After putting it off for way to long, I finally got started on painting the trim around the house. It was in pretty bad shape, and sadly the home inspector didn't make the previous owners paint it before selling it. :-( Bummer. So now I get to climb up on our new 16-foot ladder and battle the bees to get the painting done. Fun fun!

Here's the before pictures of the trim around the back door:





And the after pictures:Amazing what a little paint can do, right?

Labor Day Party

Some pics from my parent's Labor Day party. Lots of good food, games and people.

Here's me and my cousin Jayda.

The family playing bocce ball.
Jayda again.


This is a picture Jayda took with my camera. Haha, I love the perspective. I think she might grow up to be a famous photographer.
My uncle Lewis, my dad and my cousin Robby.

Cascades

For Labor Day, they were having fireworks at Cascades Falls, so I decided I had to bring Chris. Cascades is pretty much the coolest thing thin Jackson. It's the world's largest man-made waterfall and it has colored lights that change to music. They shoot the fireworks off the top so they explode right above you.

Best of all, even though we got there kind of late, I managed to find a parking spot right outside the gate so we didn't have far to walk. Sadly, the same can't be said for the car toting the rest of our friends. They had to walk "like five miles" according to my friend Katie, who wore 4-inch high heels. haha

Aaliyah's Birthday Party

My little cousin Aaliyah had a birthday while I was home, so Chris, my mom and I made the trek out to see her and the family.
I think Aaliyah was happiest to see her brother, who also had quite a journey to get there.

Here, my mom, my aunt Debi, Aaliyah and me.


Aaliyah and her friend Bell being silly.

Boating on Wamplers Lake

My parents took Chris and I out on their boat a couple of times while we were visiting them in Michigan last week. The second time Chris and my dad did a little fishing and my mom and I did a little sunbathing. :-)





Chris caught a large-mouth bass. Not bad for not going fishing in years. This was the second fish he reeled in that day.
My dad caught one fish. He was pretty small so we played a little camera trick to make him look bigger. haha

New York State Fair

Last weekend, Chris and I went to the New York State Fair. Pretty much the best part of this event is all the cute animals.

Here's pictures of the sea lion show, which is my favorite.







In the barns, there were cute little baby pigs ...

... and a baby calf.

They also had duck races, which was sort of weird and funny.


The cutest animals were the baby bunnies, which were only a few weeks old. Unfortunately, being so black and fuzzy and inside a cage, they were more or less impossible to photograph.