hammock.

Mike and I bought a hammock in Mexico over two years ago. Well, we finally got to lay in in last weekend. :)

It was great. I think we spent a little of 4 hours in it. We just read, drank wine and took several little snoozes.

It was the perfect afternoon getaway right in our backyard.

wyatt's quilt

Mike and I became Aunt and Uncle for the first time last April. Mike's brother and his wife welcomed Wyatt into the world. We were very excited for them and couldn't wait to meet him. Unfortunately, with them living in North Carolina and us in Missouri, we didn't get to meet him until Christmas.

One of Wyatt's gifts was a quilt from his grandma (my mother-in-law) and me. We decided it would be special if we were able to make it together. So we found a pattern with 2 colors of blocks; she did the red ones, I did the blue ones. Once they were done, she brought her blocks to me and I piece the quilt together and sent it off to get quilted. I think it turned out pretty well, with 2 people doing the piecing. I don't know if I would do it again that way, but Wyatt sure got a special quilt that I hope he will enjoy for many many years.

pagami creek fire

While everyone sat and watched the fires in Texas this fall, I was a little more concerned with the one going on in the boundary waters of Minnesota. The reason was.....my better half was there fighting a wild fire.

We got a call the last weekend in August. A fire was developing up near Ely, Minnesota after lightning struck. Mike, of course, got so excited. See, foresters kind of live for their fire trips.  Not that want to put anyone in danger or lose their homes; it's just exciting. We talked really fast right after he got the call and about 10 minutes later, he was on the list to go. At 10a.m. the next morning, Mike was gone.

I was able to talk to him the next night, but he had some bad news....no more phone calls. There were going where there was most likely no phone service and the crew chief just didn't want phones; the rule was to keep it in your truck. They were going to be roughing it....camping for 14 days and canoeing everywhere between islands in the boundary waters. I knew Mike was excited for the adventure, I was a bit nervous about not talking to him for 2 weeks. We have never not talked for 2 weeks since we met 7 years ago.

I did, however, find a federal website that updated on the fire once a day. That was my life-line while he was gone. It never said anything specific about people, it just noted how big the fire was, what they were doing for the day, etc. It was a nice relief to get some kind of information daily.

Mike made it back all in one piece with lots of pictures and stories. I'm very proud of my wild-land fire fighter.

the bed that mike built.

The back story::

• I love pottery barn.
• I want I could live in their catalog.
• Mike know this, but thinks their prices are CRAZY.
• Mike also knows that I've specifically been in love with a certain bed of there's - but he won't budge.

the farmhouse bed. Need I say more???

So, about a year and a half ago, I came across a blog. A woman who makes knock-off furniture plans. Before pinterest. Before everyone knew her name.

Do you know who I'm talking about yet?
Ana White

If you haven't gone to her website - GO. Right now. You can finish reading this later.... :)

Anyway, I found this bed - Ana's version of the PB farmhouse bed. It wasn't exactly the pottery barn bed, but it was going to be a close as I could get. So there. Mike agree, and said when we buy a house, he would make a bed for us.

The present day::

• We have bought our home.
• We have remodeled our master bedroom.
• We still need a bed......

Mike held true to his word, he was going to make our bed. We revisited Ana's website to find she has "blown-up" in the Internet world. She has tons of plans for anything and everything. We then found this "fancy-fide" farmhouse bed and we fell even more in love; we knew that was going to be our bed.

All of Ana's designs call for construction grade pine, but we wanted a bed that would last forever. Mike then found a small business that sells solid wood and ordered some Ash. It took about a month to get the wood in. He ordered quite a bit - enough for our bed, 2 bedside tables, 2 living room side tables and a new entertainment/t.v. stand. 

early stages of the headboard.

day of staining.

Finished product!

with and without pillows.

simple foot board. love it.

After letting the clear coat fully dry, Mike put the bed together on New Year's Eve. It's very symbolic to me; new year, new bed. Back in October we bought ourselves a late anniversary gift, a QUEEN sized mattress. Yes, our first 3 years of marriage we slept on a full sized mattress. It was enough room, but now we have a little extra elbow room in the queen. It's nice.

Mike did an amazing job on this bed, I wouldn't ask for anything different. He is now working on our 2 bedside tables. I'm going to be so excited when those are complete.

bedroom built-ins :: complete

Soon after I stopped blogging, we finished our master bedroom's built-ins. Once the doors were added, they completed the look. The whole look changed once the doors were there; they were no longer just bookcases, they are built-ins that will stay with this house forever. When I think about leaving this house (at some point), I know that they will be something I'll miss.

 This is where we left off six months ago.

MY built-in.

Necklace tree.

I love that we have "His and Hers" built-ins. Mine is great for a "getting ready" station. I have my perfume, jewelry box, etc. I recently got this necklace tree for Christmas from my sister. I love it. :) I'm on the hunt for a small tilt mirror, nic-nacs and I'm wanting a new jewelry box. Again, with all decorating, it's going to take time. For the closed off area, it's great for an extra blanket, and I have my travel bags hidden away down there.

HIS built-in.

 Mike's side doesn't really have too much on it yet; just his cell phone charger and a little of his own decorating stuff. I'm not really sure about what he's put on it, but since I have nothing to put on there right now. his stuff will stay. Plus, if I leave his stuff there for a while, that might be a bargaining tool when I do want to change it. :) 

One thing that will stay for him is this "charging station" he made. We found this leather basket and then he made the wooden shelf out of solid Ash. I thing he did a great job! He didn't have any plans to go from, just numerous examples we keep seeing in magazines and online.

 We do have plans for Mike's underneath storage. It's going to be our little linen area for the master bathroom (whenever that gets complete). We pretty much know the layout of the new bathroom, and it doesn't come with much storage, so this is out solution for that. His built-in is deeper than the one on my side and that was done on purpose. It will fit at least 2 rows of towels deep, and leave us room for extra soap, hand towel and all the other random toiletries .