A Work of Art

Decorating our new home has not been easy.  I feel overwhelmed trying to choose something that is supposed to be cute, classy, warm, inviting, matching, etc.  Having different colored walls all over our house makes it that much more of a challenge.    I know when I like something I see, I just don’t necessarily know how to create it on my own.  I have come to realize that decorating our house is not something that is going to happen instantly, it will take time to find what we like.  Over the last few months, Rob and I have  been brave and purchased a few works of art.  Two of them hang in our bedroom and one of them in our guest bedroom.  I have to give Rob props for having a good eye and discovering these.  They really do go perfectly with the bedspread and with the wall color. 

I had purchased this bedspread the week before.  Rob found this print that looked like it came with the whole set.  It really fits perfectly.

These two pictures hang in our bedroom.  The blue green color in each matches perfectly with the paint on our walls.  Both of them are framed in dark wood which matches our bedroom furniture perfectly.

We are still looking for one more piece of art to hang in our family room. We know it has to be Large and have Red in it.  We’ll keep looking until something catches Rob’s eye! 

All in a Days Work

Last Friday night, for our date night, Rob and I went to the lumber store.  The goal was to buy materials to build a deck box. On our way home we saw this

It’s not often you see a double rainbow.  I was glad I had a camera phone.

On Saturday morning we woke up and got to work.  We finished the deck box just before this arrived. 

This is what we spent all morning working on.  I think it turned out pretty good.  We will use the deck box to hold the cushions of patio furniture.

Time to Make the Doughnuts

Last Sunday we had some friends over.  We made old fashioned doughnuts.  The recipe came from a magazine I randomly got for free in the mail.  I’d never made doughnuts without letting them rise so I wanted to try this recipe.  They were pretty good when they were fresh, but I didn’t think they were that great on the 2nd day.  I probably won’t be using the recipe again but we had a fun time with our friends Angela and Steve. 

 

While we were making doughnuts, Rob was doing something a little more “manly.”  The laundry closet door fell off the track and broke when I opened it to get the skillet.  Good thing Rob is such a handy man and was able to fix it for me. 

Another Craigslist Find

A couple of months ago, Rob and I went to pick up a table and four chairs for our smaller back deck.  It was free on Craigslist, but we saw the potential in it.  Over my Spring Break, we finally got around to painting it and making it look a little nicer.  Here are the before and after shots.

This is what the table top looked like when we picked it up.  With a little painters tape and a few cans of spray paint this is what we ended up with:

Yard Work is Work…

Over the last few days, I’ve learned that yard work really is work.  Hard work.   Rob and I have tried to start making improvements to our mess of our yard.  The weeds growing through the bark are out of control.  We’ve called several landscaping companies within the last few days to get estimates on getting us some grass.  In the mean time, we’ve decided to make some minor improvements of our own.  We have a nice planter box in the backyard that runs along the fenceline.  Here are the before and after pics.

 

We planted Hino Crimson Azaleas on either end, with flaming torch heather at both ends next to the Azaleas.  In the middle we planted a bright orange Flame Creeper Azalea.  It is surrounded by Candytuft Iberis.  We’re happy with how it looks now.  Hopefully it turns out that I have a green thumb and can keep them alive! 

Mission Flashback

A few weeks ago my phone rang at 4 am.  I don’t know why I answered it, but I did.  I was sleepy and confused when I said “hello". On the other line I heard, “Sister Buhrmester?”  I was still confused when the person began speaking Portuguese.  I was fighting to find the words when she asked what time it was.  When I responded 4 am, she quickly said, “I’m so sorry.  I’ll call back later.”

That was the end of our phone call.  I had no idea who it was.  Of course I assumed it was someone from my mission but I wasn’t sure who. Rob couldn’t believe that I would accept a long distance phone call, mutter a few phrases in Portuguese and then hang up with out finding out who it was.  What can I say, it was 4 am!

Later that day, I received a phone call.  It was from Eliete Lopez.  A girl I served with for my last 6 weeks in Brazil.  She is Brazilian but currently living in Switzerland with her husband.  Her husband is an employee of Microsoft and they were coming to Seattle for a Conference. 

Eleite and her husband arrived a week ago.  Another friend of ours, Lauranne Turner, flew in from Bountiful, Utah for the occasion.  We had a great time sight seeing, shopping and eating out.

On our first night together Eliete really wanted a hamburger, so we went to the oh so American restaurant of Red Robin.  :)

On afternoon we went a my favorite Brazilian restaurant, Tempero do Brasil.  The family that runs this restaurant is from Eliete’s home state of Bahia, Brazil.

The view from Kerry Park (our photographer did a good job of cutting out the Space Needle!  What can you expect from a 15 year old boy! oh well).

It was a fun week of reminiscing of the mission and trying to remember Portuguese.  I was glad they came for a visit.  It made me remember how important the mission was to me and the good friends I made there.