New Yard

As I said earlier, we had a busy weekend. Yesterday we spent the morning going to nurseries and the afternoon planting new plants in the front yard. Our yard was landscaped when we bought it, but the more I looked at it the more boring it got. Last week I drew plans of what I wanted it to look like and picked the plants to go with that plan. We also had a certificate for free pansies so I planted a few more to thicken the rows already planted. We'll see how we like it once everything grows in.

Back row: alternating Indian Hawthorn and Razzleberri plants

Middle row: red New Zealand Flax and green Morea Iris

Front row: purple Verbena

(For some reason my computer will not make this photo smaller. It's really annoying.)

Pumpkin-Carving Party

Last night our neighbors Jim and Kellie had a pumpkin-carving party. There were about 25+ people there and everyone had a good time. Most people used fancy stencils for their pumpkin designs but Chad and I decided to rock it old school.

Tarantulas

• We had a busy weekend and managed to fit a lot into two days. Saturday we drove to Coarsegold to check out the annual Tarantula Festival. It was...interesting. On the way back to Clovis we stopped at an newish Indian gaming casino called Chukchansi. We won $20 at the blackjack table and got to play on their money for about 30 minutes. Fun! Later that evening we played tennis for a little while until rain started falling and we had to go home.

Tennis

The high school a few blocks from our house has 20 tennis courts. The public is free to use them when the kids aren't in school so Chad and I scoped out the area and decided to get rackets. The one I bought is purple and pink and Chad's is bright blue, as you can see from the photo. Last night we walked over to the courts and played for an hour. We had a great time and I only lost one ball. That's good, right?

Blinds

No more living in a fishbowl for us--we finally got our blinds installed today. Yay! We ordered white 2" faux wood blinds throughout and we love the way they look.

Guest Bath

The guest bathroom is finally finished, with a big thanks going to Mom for the help. We found dark brown Nicole Miller towels and shower curtain and I think they're perfect for this area. I chose light blue as an accent color, if you can tell from the photo, and once we find the right art for the wall, it'll really stand out.

We Got Booed

We came home from Shaver Lake this afternoon to find out we'd been "Booed". Haven't a clue what that is? Don't worry, neither did I! Turns out it's a suburban Halloween tradition. Since it's been awhile since I've lived in suburbia, this surprise was all new to me. On our door we got a Halloween bucket, candy, pencils, fall-themed oven mit and a little pumpkin figurine. Fun! We also were given instructions on what getting "Booed" is all about. Now we have a little sign in our window that says "Boo" so no one else in the neighborhood can get us. Here's more information on "Booing", if you're new to this like I was: http://organizedchristmas.com/youve-been-booed

Shoes

Today Chad installed shelving in our closet for our shoes. I'm excited because for the last month they've been in boxes--less than convenient, to say the least. He did a great job and I'm happy to see our many shoes again.

Shelving

Tonight we decorated our shelves in the living room. What do you think?

Anniversary

Two Years!

Furniture

After an extensive search we finally found our new sofa. We ordered a chair and ottoman to go with it and we're looking forward to their arrival. Because they're all custom-made it's going to take some time to get them. Early December is the estimate and we can't wait. Our sofa is dirty green with dark brown piping, but this is the style.

Flowers

I planted pansies in our yard today. I think they look cute.