Our New Addition

For those of you who havn't heard, our Jimmy, a.k.a. McLovin, (you must see Superbad to understand this association) has passed. The transmission finally gave way and after we couldn't even go in reverse anymore, we decided it was time to get something new. So, over New Years, we went car shopping. I shouldn't say that. I actually had the flu that weekend so Shawn went car shopping. Luckily he was off of school for break and was able to do all the research and finagling (bull-shitting) to get us a reasonable deal. The dealership even gave us money for our pretend-a-truck! So, here's our new addition, our Eleanor. It's a metallic gray, 2008 Toyota Camry LE. And, it just so happens to be MY work car. Schnazzy!

Goodbye Fishbowl

It only took nine months, but we finally did it. We escaped the fishbowl! Shark-bate, oo-aa-aa! Finding Nemo fans unite! I digress... anyway, we got curtains! The curtain rods are from Linen 'N Things and the curtains are from Ikea. Ikea is so affordable! They are cut and pinned but not hemmed or ironed yet, so set your judgement aside and just appreciate the privacy we've created.

Here are the living room curtains closed. It was a bit tricky with our not-so-beautiful soffit, but it worked. We went with a soft, off-white color to add some neutrality to our bold walls. This picture is nice and warm compared to the others because I left the camera flash off. Fancy ey.

Here are the living room curtains with everything opened and tied together. It's hard to see but the rods are a brown copper with balls on the ends. You'll also notice we added a rug to the living room in a shade slightly darker then the curtains. Last night we had a fire and sat and admired how cozy we had made it... felt like home.

Here's a closer, Norman's-eye-view if you will, of the rug. It's got a burbur texture to it so he can't claw at it or snag it. When he's tired or bored, he likes to pretend things are dirt so he can dig... not the brightest light in the harbor, but by far the cutest!

Here are the curtains we hung in the dining room that cover the sliding glass door leading out to the backyard. We hung them clear from the ceiling to add height and drama and to match the scale of the cabinets. It makes the room feel very dramatic and classy. The color is brownish, grayish, greenish... that's it's exact name. It compliments the countertops and table perfectly.


Here's a shot of them open. That nasty fan is still there but we're working on fitting a new light fixture into the budget and hopefully we'll be able to sell this one. (Sidenote: We did end up selling two things on Craig's List so far, our dishwasher and bathroom medicine cabinet. Pretty slick system.)

Finally, here they are open and snug behind their tie-backs or whatever they're called. These curtains didn't come with cloth tie-backs, so we bought a set that matched the rods and hung them on the wall. All the fixtures are black so they coordinate nicely with our pulls and knobs on the kitchen cabinets.

Signage

Over the holiday, we received a belated housewarming present from Sheena... check it out below. The interior of our house has been monogrammed! The sign goes perfectly with our warm color scheme and hangs quite nicely over our pantry door right between the diningroom/kitchen and living room. It's perfect!

The DeBoer Family Christmas Tree

On Saturday, December 1st, Shawn and I National Lampooned ourselves the first-ever DeBoer Family Christmas Tree! During the first blizzard of the winter season, we headed south to Hampton, MN to the Hampton Hills Tree Farm. Right around Noon, Shawn took the saw to the pine and before I could grab the end to brace the fall, it was down! We hauled it to the SUV, Shawn lifted it on top of the beast, we tied it down as best as we could and then we headed home.

Below is the beauty on top of the beast just after we pulled in to the driveway.


Next is the naked tree propped up in our new stand in the corner of the living room.

And finally, here it is, all decorated, lit and full of life!

To add to the ambiance of the area, we've also hung our stockings on the fireplace. Ironically there are just enough shelves for each member of Team DeBoer. Mine is at the top, hung from the "J", Shawn's hangs in the middle from the "O" and Norman brings up the rear with the "Y". You can't tell by the picture, but his stocking says Naughty, because he is.

Merry Christmas!

A-I-N-S-L-E-Y

Last week, over half of Team Cornstuble visited Chez DeBoer. It was during this visit that I determined (again), I have the cutest niece. Ever. Okay, I'm bias, I don't care. Anyway, while they were here, we had lots of family come and visit. While I'm sure I have pictures of them as well, Ainsley just took the cake (and the camera). Check out some of my favorites.

She's apparently running off with my billfold here. It's okay, I don't have any money.

Here she is, striking a pose in her new clothes. Note, Mandi was there too. See her? She (and baby Cletus) are in the background, sitting on the sofa.

I call this one, "Bed Head", a la Ainsley. Notice the nice color on the wall and how it compliments the lovely fireplace? I think I forgot to mention it, but we ended up painting the living room all the same color as the accent wall - Saucy (pronounced saw-say) Gold. That's a whole other story, and blog! And I'm too bitter yet to talk about it.

Here she is with the first member of Team DeBoer, Norman. After a hyper start, these two hit it off and were great friends by the time she left. Norman misses her. Norman needs a buddy.

Yes, I put a picture of me on here. I know. Just divert your attention to the cute kid in the front. Hey, her chin looks familiar?!

And for the big finale, here she is with her Uncle DeBoer. Aaawww, I know. On a funny note, check out Shawn showing off his left bulging bicep. Niiiice!

Fire, Fire, Fire

It's official, we lit our first fire last Sunday! In contrast to our previous house endeavours, this process happened effortlessly. No smoke-outs, nobody got burned and the fire department did not have to be called. To us, that is a success! The only obstacle we encountered was not having enough firewood. Well, that and we did set the smoke alarm off... but only once. Actually, Dad set it off, ironically enough. He was playing with the chimney flue to determine how far he could open it to allow the smoke to draft upwards but still leave most of the heat in the house. Overall, the experience was (picture) perfect and we are hooked. We will be frequenting the fire experience quite often this winter. After all, it gets mighty cold here up nort. Check out the photos of our creation. (Disclaimer: Every time I used "we" and "our", insert Shawn because he really did everything. I just took pictures.)



Above is a picture of the blaze with the flash on. Below is a more "dramatic" picture with the flash off. You probably can't tell, but Norman is at the very bottom of this picture, laying like a frog, chewing on a rawhide. He liked the fire too.

Saucy (pronounced saw-say) Gold

In keeping with the color palette of our 50s, almost faux-like, dentist-office-style brick fireplace, we, yes we, chose Saucy Gold to cover the accent wall (which used to be beige) and Ambitious Amber to cover the rest of the walls in the living room. Ambitious Amber has yet to be opened but we're anticipating it to be a wonderfully warm, somewhat pale and subtle (gasp... Team DeBoer subtle, come on people) compliment to our accent wall. Pictures of this color are to come.

Now, I have to say, I don't know if it's because of lighting or because Thanksgiving is getting inevitably closer, but this wall is starting to remind me more and more of one of the greatest contributions to Thanksgiving dinner, ever - pumpkin pie. In person, the color is only very slightly orange-ish and actually has a lot of brown in it but the flash didn't help this cause. You have to use your imagination (and pretend pocketbook), but someday soon there will be a console table spanning this wall as well.

The remaining three pictures are close-ups of the shelves we hung and the frames that occupy them. These frames were the main motivation for getting this wall painted because they have been sitting on our entertainment center since we moved in (6 1/2 months ago). Also, please note - our pictures of Ainsley and Payton are very out-of-date. If you see or here from their keepers (otherwise known as Mandi or Andy Cornstuble), bug them to get us some new pictures would ya? Also, if you happen to run in to Brad or Charity DeBoer, tell them to get going on a nephew or niece, Norman needs a buddy.

Additions

As previously mentioned, we've been rather slackers lately but that's not to say we haven't done anything...

Here's a picture of the new dishwasher. Funny story - our old dishwasher didn't die. In fact, it turned out to be fixable... by the person we hired to install the new dishwasher. Let's just say that it involved a hole in an electrical wire cap (not sure if that's the correct terminology) that neither Shawn nor I would've known to look for and the fact that we didn't even check the fuse box after the old dishwasher had it's "episode" implies that yes, we did add another entry into our "Journal of Things Learned." After some discussion, we decided since we had to pay the gentleman that was there to install the new one anyway, we might as well keep it... especially since it's much prettier then our old one. So, now we have a dishwasher for sale if anyone's interested.

This is our fabulous organizational work in the computer, slash Norman's room... a la Ikea! So easy to install and in my opinion, looks great!

Last but not least, this is the latest addition to the bathroom. I purchased this artwork prior to deciding what the bathroom color would be and it just so happened to match perfectly. So, a couple weeks ago I took my $3.99 print, which Shawn nicely removed from the cheap square it was attached to, and had it framed at Michaels during their half-off framing sale. Pretty darn schnazzy for a Wal-Mart buy ay?

R. I. P.

Although we've been complete do-it-yourself-and-blog-about-it slackers, one interesting event did happen this past week. Our dishwasher died. Not only did it die, it went out with a bang - literally! Our lights were dimming, there were popping noises and all of a sudden, Shawn saw sparks coming from the bottom right of the front panel. Pretty sure the engine or wiring or whatever electrical power that makes it run... died.

We pulled it out immediately and unplugged it. A couple of hours later we tried to plug it back in to drain the water that was in the bottom but ...nothing. No light, no sound, no power... nothing. So, after we had dirtied every dish in our house, Shawn and I hand-washed (the thought!) everything. Everything! The next day, we went window shopping for a new dishwasher. We found a great deal on a stainless steal model so although we have yet to make the purchase, I'm sure it will happen this week or weekend for sure.

The stainless steal conversion will inevitably follow when additional funds are available but in the meantime, we'll post pictures of the addition when it is up and running. Also - please read this as a warning that you may not want to run your dishwasher when you are not home. I understand this may add a wrinkle to an OCD persons face, but believe me, I was sure glad we were home when the show started... I don't want to think about what would have happened if we weren't...

Phillipsburg Blue

Since Shawn is back in school and did homework (I'm not kidding you) ALL weekend... I painted. Not-so-surprisingly, we painted our guest bedroom a calm, yet bold, Phillipsburg blue. The photos on the wall are just some of my favorites. The photo at the far left is Ainsley and Payton sittin' on a bench, the middle photo is Shawn and Ty fishing, and the far right photo is Norman giving Ainsley a kiss... I mean Norman stealing Ainsley's food. Doesn't the room look inviting? Makes you want to come visit, doesn't it? Just head north. Enjoy the photo below and yes, that is Norman's tail and ass at the bottom. The dog just follows me everywhere. If I don't have one male around me at all times, I have the other.