Transforming the House

The most important room to decorate is the bedroom--at least that is what I once heard from some designer on HGTV. Thus the first room Brendt and I tackled at our new abode was our bedroom. Brendt had the idea to have the bedroom take on a bit of Asian flair without being obvious. I, on the otherhand, have wanted a blue room in my house for the past couple of years. The result? Well, see for yourself.

We found these shelves at the thrift store. After three coats of black paint, they look fabulous.

My dresser also got a healthy dose of black paint. That calendar on the wall was actually made by Japanese monks.

Where the wild things sleep.

The bathroom upstairs didn't really need much as far as painting or cosmetic work. Here are a couple photos of it after we hung curtains.

Everything in the bathroom is pretty new and in excellent shape so we don't really need to update anything right now.

OK, now for our living room. First, I took a few 'before' photos so Brendt and I would remember how it looked before we got ahold of it. Pretty bland, eh?

The problem with painting is that our furniture is bright red and yellow...that leaves us having to choose a more neutral paint color for the wall to avoid looking like PeeWee's Playhouse. According to a pamplet I swiped from Lowe's, green is nature's neutral. Who knew?

And now for a couple of coats of Crocodile Tears and some skillful bric-a-brac placement.

And, of course, a bonus picture of Rufus relaxing with his dad.


The house is really starting to shape up. Our next big project? The office. Our inspiration? Old school arcade.

Hiking in Fontenelle Forest

Brendt and I finally got out long enough to start exploring the Bellevue area. We heard rumors of excellent hiking in Fontenelle Forest so we decided to check it out for ourselves. It was a blast! Turns out they have miles and miles of hiking trails--we didn't realize what we were getting into and ended up hiking for almost 3 hours! And that was only a slice of the park. We didn't see much wildlife,--just some wild turkeys and millions of orb weaver spiders that were EvERyWhERe. It was kinda like something out of a horror movie.

The bridge off the main lodge.

They had a very pretty outdoor lounge area.

OK, now the real journey begins.

This was an exhibit explaining how we are continuously
expanding into forested areas and how that impacts the environment.
Naturally, I made Brendt pose for a quick snapshot.

We came to a clearing where we could see the railroad tracks off in the distance.

This water looked a wee bit stagnant.

A closer view of the sludge pit.

OMG! What a foxy forest creature!!

We hiked uphill for so long we thought we would never reach the top,
but when we got there and saw the view, it was totally worth it.
This is looking over the Missouri and into Iowa.

OMG!! We got a shot of bigfoot!

And of course a bonus pictures of Rufus!

The Adventures of Rufus

Ok, for my first blog ever, I am simply doing a kaleidoscope of adorable photos of my favorite furry beast.