Our 10 Year Honeymoon!

Soon, we will embark on a trip we have been looking forward to for quite some time.  Over the summer we celebrated our 10th anniversary, with the anticipation of our special trip coming up down the road. The trip is now coming up quick and we couldn't be anymore excited. We are returning to a place that we visited years ago at another time when we really needed some pampering. We had a blast last time and I know this trip is going to be even better than our last trip. We are busier than we have ever been before, and the normal stresses of life have been hard on us lately.  I've never felt like we needed a vacation and time alone as bad as I feel we need it right now! 

I've seen this meme circulating around and it fits my vibe perfectly!  I will be getting ALL of this but instead of the Bahama's we'll be jetting off to Jamaica!  

We have so many fun and exciting things planned to unwind, relax, and connect closer to one another.  It's definitely going to be our 10 year honeymoon!  Here's a preview of what is to come.  Not feeling the fall vibe this year, we're taking off to fun in the sun!  

A Little Home Renovation

We were so incredibly blessed with this house we were able to jump in and buy 3 years ago.  It had so much going for it to feel like the perfect home for our family, but even though the price was a steal, it still needed some serious work.  Our original renovation budget went quickly on the big things - new roof, new furnace, major yard projects (like taking out an in ground pool), new fences etc.  We've had to save up and kind of nickel and dime for some of the smaller projects over the years. I've started trying to go room by room in the house for the rooms that still needed work.  When we started out 10 years ago, we had very basic and cheap furniture and I've been looking forward to starting to update some of those pieces.  Earlier this year we worked in the boys room and got it a bit more updated and now it was time for me to get to focus on a part of the house I have been sooo excited to work on!  

The Living Room Floor and Dining Room!  These are the first impression rooms you see when you enter the house.  The bones of the house made it to where these room had real potential with large and a huge vaulted ceiling.  It also had a very outdated sunken living space. The plan was to upgrade dining room furniture and to raise the sunken living room. 

Before: 

I've gotten the reputation of kind of a slave driver when projects are under way, but Peter compliments my "project management"  AFTER the fact.  I tend to joke that Peter goes to his real job to get a break and rest up from the projects he has to do at home. 

Peter reminded me several times that this was a big project and that raising the floor could be challenging.  It became even more challenging when we discovered the walls weren't level but between him and his dad they were able to push forward with a plan we were hopeful would work out!  But no way to know for sure until we started laying the final flooring down. 

The moment of truth was before us. Not only did we have to deal with it being a smidge off but also we had to try and join the flooring of two different sides of the house and hope they would match up perfectly.  This was not the case but with some pushing and shoving and some sanding we got it as good as we could!  

We pushed through the evening and into the late of night to get the floor down! 

But seeing it the next morning made me so happy!  It was beautiful and drastically changed the look of the house! 

The view from the entry:

New Dining Room with New Dining Room Furniture

Dining looking into the Living: 

I am so happy to have this project done. The end result is actually better than I anticipated!  I really wanted it to be done before Christmas and Peter went above and beyond to make sure it was done with plenty of time to spare!  He continues to amaze me with how good he is at these home projects! 

Foster Pup #15 - Salt

A few weeks ago I heard about the rescue picking up a litter of very tiny puppies that they had found posted on a local craigslist for free. For the protection of these tiny little guys the rescue stepped in and went and got them so that they could make sure they were healthy and found safe homes.

After they had been here for a little bit I got asked to take on this little guy named Salt.  He was in a foster with his sister, but he wasn't doing too great.  He wasn't eating or drinking and was described as a depressed puppy.  The foster home he was in, the lady worked and they were hoping a home where he could get a little bit more attention would help him out.  Attention would not be a problem in our home! 

I was genuinely worried about him on day one. He was tiny for his age and just seemed lethargic and completely uninterested in his puppy food and was throwing up whenever he would eat anything. He did seem sad. Eli has an incredible way with all the puppies in our home though and was more than happy to give him some extra love and attention. 

After a few days of snuggles and a special diet just for him of ground chicken and yogurt, he was on the mend and gaining some weight. His tummy was full and happy. 

Did I mention he got lots of snuggles?!?

Finally eating! 

Now as our 10 days with the little guy come to a close, he is a completely different puppy.  He's rambunctious and getting into trouble. His little tail is always wagging, and he seems to be gaining a lot more strength in his hips that we were a little concerned about being weak.  He's chubbed up and is happy! 

And tomorrow the next step in his journey begins as he will go to his new family!  I am so happy that the rescue stepped in to save these little puppies, they are adorable!  While sometimes the work of caring for them and cleaning up their messes gets old, I love the snuggle time and extra love I get to give them in the short time they are with me.  Have a good life Salt!