House Tour- First Floor

Enjoy a tour of our first floor!

View from the front door...

Livingroom....

Office....We need to do some finish work...and decorating (obviously!). The fireplace in the livingroom is two-sided...the opposite side being in the office.

Breakfast area...

Kitchen...We need to finish the crown molding and we're debating on the backsplash.....mosaic tile or beadboard?? Any suggestions??

Dining room....think it needs anything?? :P

Foyer....

View of circular staircase...

Mudroom. We want to add a bench, coathooks, normal mudroom accessories. Currently it houses Ike's litter box....yes, Ike is litter trained...it's a beautiful thing!

Hallway to mudroom (We are in the process of ordering curved trim for the circular area...now what to put there???)

Powder room...only a sink and toilet...Nate needs to hang a mirror...hint, hint! :)

The tour will continue this week. Thanks for visiting...let us know you were here!

Our Child

Ike will be making many appearances in our blog. He's the funniest dog. What we love best about our Ike is that he is ALWAYS happy...every second is the best second of his life. He makes us step back and realize what is important.

We got Ike in April 2007. He was a naughty puppy...as all puppies are.







But also one of the cutiest....





Ike has been our best bud for the past 2 years....our child. We love him to pieces. Lately we are beginning to realize that our child is going to need some schooling.....dog school. The price is reduced if you and your dog fail the first session. School starts in August. Wish us luck!


Why the need for obedience school?


Ike has made some costly/bad luck mistakes in the past month. First....a root canal for Michelle. She bent down to pet him and he jumped straight in her face. Her front tooth was dislodged. She had to call the dentist....on a Sunday...of Memorial Day week-end. She went for her check-up a week later and got the bad news....her tooth was dying and she'd need an emergency root canal. Bummer Ike.


1 week later.....while getting ready for a week-end evening out.....Ike was left alone in the closet (our mistake!)....he was found chewing Nate's shorts.......and his Samsung Delve phone in his shorts. Bummer Ike (and Nate). (Luckily for Ike, US Cellular has discounted phones for situations like this. We also now have insurance on our phones.)


These mistakes...along with some walking issues have brought about the need for dog school. His cute face tries to persuade us otherwise...

Introductions

We're going to do it. We read blogs on a daily basis and we've been meaning to start our own. Today is the day.

Our 3 reasons to blog:

1. Stay in touch with family and friends.

2. Make new friends.

3. Motivate us to finish some projects around the house. :P

Who are we?

Two 27 year olds and a wire fox terrier from eastern Iowa (Quad Cities)

Michelle is a pharmacist by day. She works in a medical clinic that serves those in need (lack of insurance, language barrier, etc). She loves her job but it can be quite stressful. So to relax...she likes to take nightly walks Nate and Ike, do home improvement projects, decorate, read books, golf, watch movies, drink lemonade on the deck....you get the picture.

Nate is an accountant. He doesn't get stressed about much. He enjoys most of the activities above (minus decorating. :P). He also likes yard work and bad Discovery channel tv.

Ike is our wire fox terrier....our source of joy, root canals, chewed up phones, stolen blankets, and smiles.

Our house (see above). We began building it last summer (2008) with the help of our parents, family, and friends. The title of our blog stems from people always asking us if we are "that young couple that lives in the big blue house." We did a lot of the work ourselves and it has paid off. We still have MANY projects left to do. The thing about being your own contractor is that you do things as you have time....and with both of us working 40+ hours a week...the time is limited.

We hope you enjoy our blog and upcoming posts!