So it's not completely done....but I could not wait to post some pictures **excuse the dirty camera lense, someone with golden hair licked it, and it has never been the same**. The color is a bit hard to see, but it is olive green with cream trim and black accents. Both doors will be black, but I think I have to get different paint, or an additive because they are aluminum. The chimney will come next. It is in pretty poor shape, so we have to get a mason out here to fix both of them. So I am sure I will post another picture when it is completely done. Wait, is it possible to be completely done.....I am not sure we would know what to do with ourselves. Oh wait, thats right, next year comes the landscaping. FINALLY!




I thought I would show my next project. My mom gave me this antique dresser, which I am going to use as a sideboard for the dinning room (a.k.a. the new place to lean the chuckit up against). I am thinking I will paint it black and get some cool knobs. What do you think?

And finally, my Grandma gave us bar stools for our birthdays....pretty cool grandma! We love them!

Those Parkert's sure are busy folk

Nick and I have been frantically trying to get our house ready for the winter. We are officially done putting the siding up, whoo hoo! And we started painting last night. I decided not to put up any of the paint yet because I want to show off the final product. But just so you know, Nick and I love the color. So you will have to wait for the surprise. Or you can drive by our house and see what it looks like, I can't stop you from doing that, he he.

We are still trying to decided what to do with the chimney. I think I am going to paint it. It is not in very good shape....

Next summer: Landscaping.....finally =-)

I hate coming up with titles....

So to make a long story short, our camera is not the most reliable and really needs to be replaced. So here are some pictures that I have taken with my phone.

My good friend Katie stopped by for a short visit from Portland on Tuesday and brought her new puppy Kerby. She is just a little dolly and I really wanted to keep her. Gage and Olive really liked her too. Gage was a bit overwhelming for her but Olive was just her size. Here are some pics. She was really fast, so these are just a few pictures that are not blurry.



Gage finally calmed down a little bit and Kerby got used to the idea of a 90+ pound dog, and they did well together, but here is poor Gage longing to be outside playing with us. He is inside looking out the window, whining. We finally gave in and let him have a try at being gentle. He did very well.

I also have to share my new toys with all of you (all two of you who read this). I received two new very cool toys for my birthday. I already mentioned my awesome new phone (from Nick), which I would take a picture of if the camera was not stuck to the back of it. And I got a new vacuum from my mom. My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told her a new vacuum, and I told her the one I was looking at down at Costco (it was $80). She went down there to buy it and came home with the below model instead.....
A Dyson Animal....I have to say I am in love with it and the attachments are so amazing for my really hairy dog. If only he would let me vacuum him (I tried....it did not go over so well). Anyways, I recommend it for anyone with pets, and who really appreciate great cleaning tools. I am so spoiled, and so blessed!!

Fun Birthday at the lake...

Nick, Gage and I went to lake Cocalala for my birthday. It was wonderful. Not only did we get a break from "the house" but we relaxed and just hung out together (which has not happened without a hammer in our hands for a while). So we read and played and had fun. Nick also got me a new phone for my birthday (a palm/phone). What I did not realize was that even if the palm is on, that does not mean the phone is on. So I had my phone turned off for two days and did not even realize it. I felt selfish, but it was weird that no one called me on my birthday. Then I realized on Saturday that my phone was off. So once I figured out how to turn the phone part on, it told me I had 8 voicemails. So thank you to everyone who called! Sorry I didn't answer, I didn't even know how at the time =-)

Anyways, here are a lot of pictures from our weekend o' fun.

Even though Nick and I had a blast, I think Gage had the most fun of all. He finally figured out how to NOT splash himself while he swam. And lots of rolling, rolling, rolling.
My first attempt at a self portrait
Second attempt, almost got it.
Yeah, the third time is a charm
My boys
Gage had lots of dry land fun too.
I love this picture, especially the tongue
The turtle I caught
The turtle Nick caught.
Thanks for a great birthday!

Is it really already July 6th?

I cannot believe the year is already half over. Especially since Nick and I have so much work to do on the house before it snows!!! Wait....wasn't it just snowing? Anyhoo.....

Here is what we did on our relaxing 4th of July weekend. Not much too say except I have a lot of cuts and bruises, siding looks a lot better when it's level and a skill does not work properly when you cut through the power cord...whoops. But Nick still loves me, and he is proud of me for using the skill saw, the nail gun (which is sooo heavy that my right shoulder is now 10xs stronger) and all the caulking that I did. So enough construction talk, look at my pictures.

This is our house the day we bought it. So this is the "before"


This is after Nick and Brad and Morgan tore off all the original siding. And that is me down at the very end putting up the Tyvek paper.Here is the house all wrapped up ready for trim and siding!!

Just a close up of what it looks like.
Here is after the siding is done on this side. You really feel like you have accomplished something after you see this. Now it is ready for paint!
Here is the a picture to compare to the first one from the day we bought the house. A pretty big difference huh?
And here is my cute husband!

The Craziness of Spring or is it Summer

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous this past week. Spokane is a small portion of the country where there are absolutely no natural disasters. But man has the warm weather brought so many projects!!! I have not stopped moving for two weeks! I wake up at 5am to go running, then I go to work, then I get home, walk the dog, make dinner, water the lawn (yes, manually, no sprinklers yet!) usually do laundry then go to bed. But lately we have had small group, barbeque's, birthday parties, good bye parties, and more taking up our weekends.

Nick and I rented movies from the library and we had them for two weeks, and did not watch a single one. Such a bummer, they were due today. Also, I have been waiting all year for the third season of "So You Think You Can Dance" and I have only seen a half hour of one episode. I believe that it and "Project Runway" are the only good reality shows out there (okay fine, I will admit I occasionally watch an online episode of "The Hills." Don't Judge).

Anyways, I feel like this is an email more than a blog but...I am going to L.A. this weekend to attend my sister-in-laws baby shower but I will be back on Monday, and hopefully things will have calmed down a bit. So enjoy or dodge the weather where ever you are, and I will post more pictures soon. Hopefully of my cute pregnant sister-in-law!

Blogging is not just for the young folk...

This is actually in response to my friend Ivy's blog about getting old. I know that I am not "old" by any means. But can anyone tell me where the point is that you forget how old you are?

Nick and I were at Costco for our weekly browsing/samples/lunch when I saw a woman with Fruit by the Foot samples. I walked over amazed that they still made the highly processed and heavily died fruit impostor and exclaimed "I used to love these when I was a kid" not realizing what I had said to a 75 yr old woman, she shot back very quickly, "How old are you?" Now I had to think for a minute but I confidently answered "25," to which she replied "Honey, you are still just a kid!" She was right compared to the years and experience she was carrying, I am just a kid.

When we got home, Nick looked at me and said "you are not 25 you are 26." My own husband could not remember how old I was. But I did the math really quick in my head to make sure I was indeed 25 and threw it back at him. I reminded him that he married a young spring chicken, and we were only the same age for 2 months, then he passes me up. So he was 26, but I was still 25 for one more month.

So back to my point, when did it get difficult to remember my age? Does it get worse???

My furry babies

I wanted to share really quick, how cute my dog and cat are. They are best buddies and olive (the cat) follows Gage (the dog) around like a little brother. This was after a long afternoon of chasing each other around in the yard. Olive is 11 pounds now....wow, he sure grows fast. Enjoy!

A few things you should know......

And if you know me at all you know that I am a sucker for animals! My animals are my little children. I am pretty sure our dog has more pictures of him than my first child ever will. Nick told me he was going to build our cat (Olive) a cat condo. The first thing I though was "NOOOOOOOO, they are so tacky!" But once he finished it, I really liked it. He matched it to our furniture and color scheme (he knows me so well). So here are a couple of pictures of Olive enjoying his new condo.



Even though it takes up most of our dining room, we have a happy cat, that doesn't get on the counters as often, whoo hoo!



Some books and papers are laying on the floor in our office at the moment, and somebody made it his home. OKAY, a lot of books and papers are lying on the floor, maybe he is laying there because my house is a mess and there is no where else to lay.


And here are some pictures I took of Gage, because I can't help it, and I don't have kids to pose yet. He got a bone because I just gave him a bath and he didn't create any tsunamis this time. You can tell his face is still wet.

Nothin' like a Montana Spring

Nick and I had the pleasure of driving 7hrs Friday after work (3:30pm) to Big Sky, MT for a glorious day of skiing. Spring skiing has never been so wonderful. Even though the wind and the temperature (12 degrees) felt like January, the 4 inches of brand new powder clouded that fact. Nick's sister, Libby, won two nights in a condo in Big Sky. This condo was three times the size of our house, with heated floors. Needless to say, we did anything but rough it. Oh just look at the pictures...I don't feel like typing anymore.

It's hard to complain when this is the view...

Who ate my tulips???

Nick gave me these once beautiful tulips. When I woke up, this is what I found.



Now I have my suspicions, but so far no one has been charged with the crime because I have yet to see anyone (see below) on the counter that is not aloud....I think I am going to install a kitten cam.