when you own a home you have to do yard work

On Saturday Jon and I slept in and then decided we should take advantage of the nice weather and work on our yard. I post a lot of pictures of the inside of our house, but not too many of the outside. Not because I don’t like the outside of our house but because our yard sucked! Hiro pretty much managed to destroy the backyard. We call it the place where toys go to die. It kind of reminds me of the neighbor’s backyard in Toy Story (ya, it was that bad). Then the front yard…it wasn’t in very good shape when we bought the house and we haven’t done much in the past 2 years to make it any better. We got some kind of weird weed that basically took over and killed the grass in the front yard. In December we sprayed some stuff to kill the weeds and it worked. So Saturday we pulled up all the weeds (we filled up 7 huge trash bags of weeds). About halfway through the project we impulsively decided to re-sod the whole front yard. We headed to Home Depot, rented a truck and bought a palate of St. Augustine grass. We spend the weekend laying it in the front, cleaning up and laying the extra squares in the back. It looks great! We have been watering it twice a day. We are also trying to bring back the two Magnolia trees we planted in the back last year (unfortunately we planted them at what turned out to be a huge drought for Austin and we weren’t very diligent about watering them). After putting in a full weekend of work on our yard we are hoping to keep it looking good!

On another note we picked out some wood floors on Friday! We are going to order them soon. Since we are getting laminate flooring we are going to save money and try to put it in ourselves…I am sure that will be a number of blog posts. :) At least we work well together…when we first moved in we installed 2 ceiling fans in our extra bedrooms without any chairs or ladders to stand on. We had not bought furniture yet, in fact our mattress and box springs was on cinderblocks and we even had classy cinderblock shelves in the living room. Its hard to believe that was 2 years ago…

Catch up post

Okay, so this week I have been slacking on the blog postings…sorry! This will be a recap from our week in a nutshell. Its going to be a long post so feel free to just skim. :)

First I’ll start with some crafts…I did these over the weekend but I have been too lazy to move the pictures from my camera to my computer.

I had all this blank wall space above my new desk area. I thought about buying a picture, but then I remembered this idea that I saw a few months ago. I can’t remember where I saw this, but I didn’t make this up (I wish I was that creative). PS, we do plan to paint the very boring white walls this summer. :)

I started with 2 sheets of thin styrofoam. I was going to get the thick sheets but they were twice as much and since I had never done this before I thought I should spend as little money as possible. Next time I may try the thick foam, but I will have to use cardstock to cover the edges since they will be more noticeable.

The foam was 36 by 12 and I needed 12 by 12 squares so I cut each piece into 3 blocks.

I bought a book of scrapbooking paper that I feel in love with. I found 6 sheets that I thought would add some color to the wall and go together.

I used double sided tape to stick the paper onto the foam. Then I used sticky tack to put the blocks on the wall. All in all it was pretty easy and quick.

I also made some quick mistreatments for the window. I got the fabric for $3 so I couldn’t pass it up. Its a little too short for the window, but you can’t really tell. Eventually when we paint the room I will find some other fabric.

Okay, now for the week recap. Monday and Tuesday I was in a pretty blah mood. Not really sure why. Monday night I went out to dinner with my small group girls. When haven’t been able to get together in a long time. 2 of the girls just had babies and another one is due any day. With our busy schedules it was nice that we could all get together for dinner. Hopefully this summer we will start back with our regular weekly meetings.

Wednesday was our 2 year anniversary! I can’t believe it has already been 2 years. I had to work all day and when I got home Jon said he wanted to take me out somewhere (he loves to take me out an surprise me as to where we are going). He will even drive a round about way so that I don’t guess where we are going. Anyway so we leave and of course he doesn’t tell me where we are going. As soon as we pulled out of our driveway it started pouring! First we drove a few miles because there is a new housing community near us and I have this strange obsession with looking at new homes. When I get bored at home I just start looking at random floorplans online. So as we drove by the pouring rain turned into pouring hail. Ultimately Jon told me where we were going and it was way across town. Needless to say we decided it would be better if we went out another night and just went home. So we ordered pizza and enjoyed a quiet night together.

We are planning on going out tomorrow night. We are going to go look at wood floor options (our anniversary present to both of us) and then we are going to check out The Grove. Its a wine bar/restaurant.

I hope everyone has a great Friday tomorrow!

-Lauren-

Its been 2 years

Since we said “I do”.

SXSW

Jon and I have gone to ACL festival every year for the past 3 years. We love it! Being outside and listening to great music with friends is one of our favorite things to do.

We have never tried SXSW (South by South West) out until this year. We are not super trendy and we rarely fight the traffic and crowds to go out to be squished into a crowed club to listen to music. Its just not our thing. This year we heard about the free concerts they were doing out at Auditorium Shores. They have been doing it for several years, but for one reason or another we have never gone out. But this year we heard that one of our favorite bands, Explosions in the Sky, was going to be playing…of course we were up for seeing them, especially outside at Auditorium Shores for free. Jon’s job for the weekend got cancelled so we headed out both Friday night and tonight to enjoy some good music and some beautiful weather. Usually we are burning up in the September heat at ACL so the warm days and cool nights of March are wonderful. We were able to ride Jon’s motorcycle and park basically at the front gate, which was nice. We found a spot and laid out our blanket. At these music festivals you can lay out a blanket and no one will move it, its like an unwritten rule. So after enjoying some good food (all local vendors) and some great music and weather, Jon and I decided this is something we will be doing every year. ACL in the fall and SXSW in the spring.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be beautiful again and since I finally finished my research outline (which was my goal for the weekend) I am going to reward myself with some relaxing time in the sun at Barton Springs. It will be too cold to get in the water, but not to cold to lay out with a good book and start building my much needed summer tan.

-Lauren-

picture time

Okay, here are some pictures from the room swap. I am too lazy to go and find before pictures, but I am sure there are some in pervious blog posts somewhere.

This is my new office/craft room. I know the walls look super boring right now, but I have some plans. I need to find some fabric to make some curtains mistreatments for the window and then I am going to use the same fabric to make a checkered bulletin board for above the desk. On the wall next to the bookshelf I am going to make some cool wall hangs. And then on the wall next to the floor lamp I am going to hang some pictures. Hopefully I will get a few of those projects done by this weekend.

Here is Jon’s new TV room/office. This is where he can be found most of the time. The room works well for him because he can have his laptop out and keep up with emails while playing Left for Dead. I think I lose brain cells just by typing the name of the game. Sigh.

So do you all ever have a hard time uploading pictures to blog posts and then getting them situated exactly where you want them without messing up the text you already wrote? Well I do! So I downloaded Windows Live Writer. I am trying it out and so far so good. I was able to quickly add these photos, change my font, and time my post in no time. I like it because you can see more of the post instead of looking at it through the small editing window Blogger give you. I am thinking this will be very helpful!

Tomorrow Jon and I are hoping to take Hiro to the Greenbelt. Since it rained all last week we are hoping there is water in the creek and with the weather so nice we just have to get outside. Jon has the day off and I only work until noon so it should be a great day!

spring break so far

So far the week as been great. Jon got tied up at work on Saturday so I spend the day at home. After cleaning up after Woodrow and Hiro...who made quite a mess during their sleepover Friday night, Hiro and I got comfortable in the living room and watched lifetime movies all day. We did make it outside for a quick walk around the neighborhood but other than that we enjoyed a relaxing day of nothing. It was perfect!

On Sunday Jon and I went to his grandparent's house to visit with his family (we missed his Grandmother's birthday party the night before because of Jon's job). It was good to see everyone and enjoy a few rounds of Sequence. Sunday night our good friend Jason came over for dinner, we took a group trip to central market and then made some gourmet hamburgers and potato skins...yum!

Yesterday Jon and I decided to rearrange our office and TV room. We did a big swap. Now instead of sharing and office and Jon having an Xbox room, I have the old TV room with our office furniture and Jon has the old office with the TV room furniture. I use the desk more than he does anyway so it works out perfectly. Now I have lots of space on the desk to work and space on the floor for crafts! :)

Jon had to go to Houston this morning...he is just now driving back. :( He has been working some really long days and it sucks because the jobs are mostly out of town. I was pretty productive today, I had a meeting this morning, ran some errands (which included new candles from Bath and Body works), cleaned the house, took Hiro to play, gave him a bath, and did the grocery shopping. Unfortunately none of my productiveness made it to my research paper...oh well there is always tomorrow...right??

Jon and I are spending the day together tomorrow and having lunch with my grandparents. We are blessed to have so much family in town. We are usually so busy with work and school, so we felt like it was important to spend some time with them this week while we have a break.

If I have some time tomorrow I will post pictures of our new spaces.

relaxing weekend here i come!

I finished up my last team meeting at 6 this afternoon and now I am relaxing on the couch with a blanket and a glass of wine...perfect.

Jon had to leave for Laredo tonight, but he will be back tomorrow afternoon. My plan is to relax tonight and catch up on some TIVOed shows and the last session of Weeds. Tomorrow I am going to sleep in, run some errands and clean our muddy house (Hiro's friend Woodrow is staying over tonight and the two of them plus rain and mud equals house disaster!). Tomorrow night we are going up to Jon's aunt's house to celebrate his grandmother's birthday and then we are having lunch with his parent on Sunday. All and all it should be a pretty relaxing weekend.

Next week one of my clients is out of town so I am only have one session on Monday, Thursday and Friday. Plus no school! It should be a great week. My goal is to get ahead on my research project and some other upcoming projects. That should put me in a good position to finish out the semester without too much stress...hopefully! Only 7 more weeks!!! :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

good for our marriage

Jon and I have been pretty busy lately and with very different schedules we haven't been spending as much time together. We decided we needed to be better about spending quality time with each other. On the days that we are able to have dinner together we typically eat while watching TV. Growing up we both remember eating dinner at the kitchen table every night with our families. We both know that is the kind of thing we want to do when we have kids. So we decided why not start now. On Monday and Wednesday nights we are going to eat together at the kitchen table (I have class Tuesday and Thursdays and Jon typically works Friday nights). We started this week and it was so nice. We made dinner together and then sat down to eat together. This is our dinner from last night.

Jon found a recipe for Thai chicken and we tried it last week. It was great and super easy to make. We decided to make it again but add some veggies and it was perfect! I am having the left overs tonight for a quick dinner before class.

Here is what you need:

1 chicken breast; cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup of garlic; smashed not chopped
3/4 teaspoon of white sugar
3/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1 & 3/4 teaspoon of light soy sauce (the recipe called for fish sauce but soy sauce tasted great and we already had it)
1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1-2 tablespoons of water

Here is what you do:

Rinse and cute the chicken into bite-sized pieces
Smash garlic and remove the skin
Heat oil in a pan and add garlic when oil is hot
When lightly browned, add the chicken and cook until done (add the water if it starts to get sticky)
Add sugar, soy sauce and pepper and mix well

You can stop there and serve over rice or you can add some veggies. We added fresh spinach, green onions, bean spouts and snow peas. Just throw the veggies in the pan and let them heat up then serve over rice. Enjoy!

Oh did you notice the fresh yellow flowers on our table? Check out my sister's blog where she talks about how fresh flowers make everything better. :)

brrr

The rain came this morning and so did the cold front! It was 70 when I woke up this morning and by the time I left for work and hour later it was 40! I glad we got another cold front...I'm wasn't ready for it to get hot yet. No more humidity and I got to have soup and grilled cheese for lunch...yum!

I have to go back to work in about an hour, but until then I am going to curl up on the couch for some TV time. I went to bed too late last night...I'm exhausted!

waiting for rain

To rain or not to rain? I feel like that is the question the clouds have been asking themselves since last week. It has been nothing but cloudy, humid and warm around here and I am tired of it! Mostly the humid part is what gets to me...my hair looks crappy, my makeup doesn't last as long as I need it to, and I get headaches (which I am not positive but pretty sure are a result of the humidity). Thank goodness tomorrow the rain is finally "supposed" to come and then a cold front is coming through...that should get rid of this humid air...at least I am hoping it does! Of course rain means mud in the backyard which translates to mud all over my house! Ugh.

At least spring break is just around the corner...there is a light at the end of the tunnel! I am so ready to be done with school...9 more weeks until the end of the semester!

Sorry nothing interesting to write about...since I will have a slow week next week I may try to tackle some more craft projects...stay tuned. :)

glad to be back home

I got back from the TX ABA conference yesterday afternoon. I was exhausted! We had a lot of fun and learned some new things. It wasn't as good as the conference I went to in November, but it was still well worth it. Since we do mostly 1:1 therapy we don't get to see each other much outside of team meetings with clients it was helpful for us all to be together with lots of time to bounce ideas off each other and think about new things. We are thinking about starting a social skills group over the summer...I think it will be really fun. We are thinking 4 kids and 2 therapist...we would discuss things like making friends, conversation skills, and dealing with bullies.

When I got home my new iphone was waiting for me. I have been playing with it ever since and I LOVE it! It is so fun and the apps are endless. I don't think I will ever be able to go back to another type of phone. Jon is thinking of getting one when his plan is up...he is very anti Apple so that means this phone must be cool! :)

Jon and I slept in today, ran some errands and then took Hiro to play. We have a little bit of cleaning to do this evening and then we are going to make dinner and relax. A great way to end the weekend. We both have busy weeks coming up, but then next week is Spring Break. :)

i'm leaving on a jet plane...

Okay not really on a jet plane, more like in a car.

Tonight I am leaving for the Texas ABA conference in Houston with 3 other girls that I work with. I think its going to be a fun trip and hopefully we will learn lots of new things. :)

Guess what will be waiting for me when I get home?!

Yup, I now own an iphone! My nano, which was new about 4 years ago, has just about hit the dust. My current phone...an old blackjack has decided to randomly not work whenever it feels like. So...I talked Jon into solving both problems with an iphone.

I was up for an upgrade and we ordered a refurbished iphone from AT&T for MUCH less than a new one would cost. The only disappointing thing is that it has already shipped and is in route to be delivered today. But around here UPS doesn't come until 6:30 or 7 and I am heading to Houston around 6. Which means I probably won't get to play with my new phone until I get back in town Saturday night. Oh well.

Time to go pack! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

i should be...

I should be editing my research paper...but I have read through the thing about 10 times this weekend. Each time I read it I find something else to change or fix. Ugh. It doesn't help that my professor seems to be more concerned with the formatting of the paper that what is actually written. For example...if you have an extra space after a period, at the end of a paragraph he will count off. How will he know this, you might be wondering...well we have to submit the paper electronically and in person. So he is going to go through each persons paper and check every space and indention to make sure it fits with APA standards. I have nothing against APA standards but to be THIS nit-picky...come on.

So instead of reviewing my paper for the 11th time today I have cleaned the house, done laundry, and now I am updating my blog. Now I think I am going to make some lunch and watch another episode of Weeds (I have become addicted, and Jon downloaded all 4 seasons for me). Maybe my paper will get done sometime tonight...maybe.

hiro and dexter

Today we went to the kite festival. It was ok...the main section of Zilker was closed off so it wasn't as good as it has been in the past. I took some pictures but they were all too bright and washed out. We met up with our friends Aaron and Stacie and decided to take their dog Dexter with us to Auditorium Shores for play time. We picked up a new squeaky ball at Petsmart this morning and it was a big hit.

Aren't they cute together? :)