Our Backyard

For a while, our backyard looked like this...

It has definitely been a work in progress for the past couple years but this summer we finally got somethings completed.  Three major projects we finished have completely transformed the way our yard looks.  The painted house, patio and back deck have made our yard go from boring to waaaayyyy better!

The gray paint really makes the house pop where the green blended into the grass and trees.  The deck really makes the french doors the focal point of the back yard, and the patio really sets the tone of the space by creating a hangout area where before it was all grass.  I failed to plant anything in my pots because it got too late in the season, but next year I hope to have lots of color in them.

The gray really makes the windows stand out too. We obviously need a new roof.  We are hoping to do that next spring/summer.

Here are some detail patio shots...

The eating area...

The deck.  We wanted to create long steps to double as extra seating for people.  We didn't want to make the deck big because from the top landing you can see right into our neighbors yard so wanted to keep the patio and entertaining spaces on a lower level for more privacy.

BBQ.  We plan to build a nice built in outdoor kitchen area along the edge of the basement stairs you can see behind the BBQ.  It will double as a guard for that scary edge.  (don't worry mama friends, we will build a temporary fence till then)...

On this wall we have plans to build a pallet bar to place drinks or whatever else.   You can never have enough serving surfaces!

Another plan we discussed is running the patio all the way over to the dog run. 

The dog run is still awesome. We love having this space to put the pups if people are over or when we're gone during the day.  They have access to the garage too so they can be warm and dry.  We built them an elevated pallet area to lounge (see left end of dog run).  We used all scrap wood and I wanted to build this so that they weren't laying in their own poo poo.  They like to sunbathe so it gives them a potty free area to hang.

The elevated flower beds are a new addition as well.  We haven't landscaped (obviously) but I want it all year round green and I will just plant a few perennials to add some color.

We're going to add gravel along the side of the house where the scaffolding is in this picture and all along the fence line between the fence and grass.  We also need to stain the fence but that will all have to wait until next year...

Until then we have a great hangout space for us and the pups and whoever wants to join us!  We had a great summer with lots of outdoor projects but I'm ready for fall and to hibernate.

We have a few little projects around the house we'll do but I mostly want to organized, sell and donate all the stuff we have in our basement and garage.  Until all that I feel very accomplished in our summer projects and am so thankful for a husband that works sooooo hard!

Stairway Stories

For the past three years we have lived here, our stairway has looked like this.  I painted it "vanilla milkshake" last year but let it sit idle while we tackled other projects around the house.

 I really love the character of our stairway.  The light was left from the previous owner(s) and is what I believe to be the original fixture of the house.  I love the light.  I also love the ledge that is there. It is great for setting up my Christmas village, setting up seasonal decor and adds a little voom to the space.

That was the life of our stair way pre-carpet install.  Once the carpet was in I thought about how I wanted to decorate this area.  I knew I wanted something different but something that I really loved since I would be walking this way numerous times in a day. 

The idea that made most sense to me was another photo wall! I had a collection of black frames that I wanted to use.  I knew the black would be an awesome contrast to the "vanilla milkshake" walls so I decided to give new life to the existing fixture and spray it black as well as the stair rails.

A lot of people have asked me how I go about hanging a photo wall.  There are a few steps involved in my method and I think it's a pretty low stress way to get a bunch of frames onto the walls.

Step 1:  I take two measuring tapes one to measure the height and one to measure the width of the space you are using.  Lock the measuring tapes to those dimensions and place on a surface such as the floor to decide your layout.

Step 2:  Lay the frames out into whatever pattern is desired.  Space them out to fill the area and be sure to mix bigger frames with smaller ones.  Another thing I do is to leave the pattern random.  I don't like the stress of having to use a level and making sure two frames are exactly symmetrical.  I just go for the scattered look. My main rule is to start with the biggest sized frame in the center and work around it, that way your wall is always centered and allows you to create a "full" look without having too big of spaces between the frames.

Step 3: Grab a friend or in my case, husband, to help you transfer your frames from the floor to the wall.   In this instance, we took a board from our scaffolding set and set one edge on the photo wall ledge while the other rested at the top of the stairs.  This made it so much easier to hang the higher frames.  After he was on the ledge and ready, I would hand him a frame and tell him where to hang it.  As we added more frames, I just eyeballed the spacing.  Eyeballing works for some, doesn't work for others but it's the method I find easiest for me and so far has worked for the frame we've hung.

Here is what our photo wall ended as.  There is still space around the tops and sides to throw in some more frames.  This is where my "start with the center" rule worked perfect because the frames are all centered in this space but I have the ability to add more and still have it look balanced.

Most recently, I found a few more frames and added to the bottom. (see right photo).  Still looks balanced.  I could get away with adding more frames to either the top or bottom but if I wanted to add more to the sides, I would need to add to both to keep the balance,

I also threw in my vintage camera collection and printed a quote I found online.

When deciding on what photos to hang here, I knew I wanted something that made me happy and that is my family, but I wanted to jazz it up a bit, make it a little more interesting then your basic yearly family photos.  So I decided to go vintage and do all old photos from the 50's, 60's and 70's.  I wanted pictures of my parent's youth and grandparents honey moon phase.  The past year I was assigned with the task of digitizing my maternal and paternal grandparents' photo slides so I had access to some great photos.

Here is one of my maternal grandmother, uncles and my mom in the stroller at Disneyland in the late 60's...

This one is of my paternal grandfather (at the podium) with Senator Kennedy and Jackie...

and here are my dad and uncle scoutin it up.

I still have quite a few empty frames but am waiting on some photos to come in from Justin's side and I have a few more I need to print off. 

I adore this wall with my whole heart.  It tells a little bit of my story, where I came from and the story of those who have raised me and shaped me into the person I am. Every time I walk up the stairs I smile.  

What makes you smile?

Three Trips, Three States, Three Posts - Post Three

Our third and final trip in the three week, three trip saga was a weekend with friends and their kids and a family cabin on Vashon Island.   The weather was perfect, the food was delish and the company was so much fun!  Here is a shot of our home for the weekend. :]

We took the ferry over on Friday night and took a take home pizza from Saucy Sisters and it was SO good!  If you ever want pizza on Vashon, go there!  We all turned in semi early that night, everyone was tired from the work week so after a glass of wine and some laughs, we hit the hay.

I love the room we get when we stay there because of these guys. :]

The next morning we were up and at em and BBQing by 10 am.  We took walks on the beach but mostly just sat around talking and eating! We brought over a bunch of pig out in the park sausage from Spokane that we grilled up and snacked on throughout the day.

We spent all of Saturday and Sunday out on the water.  It was so relaxing!  We played music all day, had a constant flow of snacks and food, spent the day SUPing and had fun conversation!  It was a great weekend!

 

 

 The dogs had a blast too...

 

 

We ended our nights with smores and a campfire...

 

and the mornings looked a little like this! :]

So that sums up our summer travels! Nothing fancy but lots of fun!

Three Trips, Three States, Three Posts - Post Two

Our second trip of the Dobson Summer vacation marathon continued on a camping trip to Lake Cushman.

I don't have as many photos of this trip because I wasn't allowed to document the "no makeup" "haven't washed my hair today" look.

This trip marked the maiden voyage of the Dobstar with whom we fell in love and made part of our family!

It also marked Crusie's first camping trip and just like Flat Head, the overstimulation resulted in lots of sleep :]

We cheersed ourselves with Rainier beer at 9am...

Played ladder ball with British accents...

And we're constantly yelling for our pups.

We had campfires, ate a ton of good food and have so many fun memories. Justin and I still laugh out loud at some of the events of the weekend :]

Abu and Ace needed some R&R on their aunties lap from all the swimming and ball playing!

It was a pretty ruff weekend for them!  :]

We're already looking forward to next year!  Cheers!

Our New Family Member

We have a new family member in the Dobson house... The tent camper! 

Some family friends of ours were selling and let us borrow it for a weekend of camping and we fell in love!

It's big for a growing family and will make camping easier and more enjoyable for us :].  Here is a little tour!

The outside of course. It's a 1999 Starcraft, we'll call it the Dobcraft, is super clean and much larger inside than it looks from here.

After entering the door (you can see on the right) and turning to your right we have a king bed behind a comfy couch  (that can turn into a bed) and a dinette area (that can also turn into a bed. Underneath the couch is an self draining cooler that you can keep drinks etc in.

Now walking in the camper and turning to te left we have the "kitchen" with a pop up sink and mini fridge (under the Tupperware drawer). The metal bit on the floor is a propane stove top that connects to the outside of the camper. 

What you see in the back is a generous queen size bed and a full view of the left side of the camper.

We love it and I can't wait to get my hands on it! I've already been on Pinterest looking to see how to maximize storage and might even update it a little.  I will definitely fill you in on all that We decide to do.  Until then, welcome to the family little Dobstar, we love you!