The Wife's October Goals - how'd I do?

I love months when the goals list looks productive. While we didn't get everything done, I'm very proud of all we did this month, particularly considering that we had a big project from start to finish (wainscoting) and were busy with work and school. It's months like these that make up for unproductive months.


The Wife's October Goals
Fun:
Celebrate Ryan's birthday! SUCCESS! (Happy birthday month, husband .)
Decide on a location to visit for our anniversary. SUCCESS! (Booked a trip to Galena for our anniversary and took the week off.)
Book hotel room for Thanksgiving in Memphis. SUCCESS!
Read two books. SUCCESS! (Country Living Crafting a Business and The Book Thief )
Continue learning and playing with my new camera. SUCCESS! (I'm still learning a lot, although I still have lots to learn.)


DIYing/Crafting:
Sew something new. SUCCESS! (Apron)
Make two fall crafts. SUCCESS! (I made about four of the fall pennants , so I'm counting it.)
Paint something new. SUCCESS! (Board and batten led to a painting parade.)
Decide and make at least one Christmas gift. SUCCESS! (Hopefully I can figure out a way to share soon, without ruining any surprises.)


Gardening:
Keep harvesting. SUCCESS! (The garden is officially done.)
Compost lawn. FAIL! (We put this off and eventually decided not to do this.)
Plant transplants. FAIL! (We didn't transplant anything at all.)
Prepare new garden bed and plant fall bulbs. SUCCESS! (See the plan here .)
Pull up any garden plants that are finished and compost. SUCCESS!
Pull dahlias, ranunculus and callas and store. FAIL!
Clean up garden beds. SUCCESS!
Mulch. SUCCESS!
Write an overview of gardening - what went well, what we'll do differently. FAIL!


Home:
Wainscoting in dining room. SUCCESS! (Rock on !)
Curtains in office. FAIL! (I don't want to spend the money yet.)
Clean out bedroom, hall and office closets and organize. SUCCESS!


Cooking:
Make a new recipe. SUCCESS! (Yum yums )
Host a get-together with friends. SUCCESS! (They loved the smoker !)


Wellness:
Work out three times each week. EPIC FAIL! (Off the wagon this month.)
Go to yoga each week. SUCCESS!


How was your month?

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Halloweens past

I like holidays. I cannot help it. I think it runs in my veins. So, it's natural that I enjoy Halloween. I wouldn't say it's my favorite holiday, it's still mighty fun and allows me to eat sweets without judgement and dress up the pugs. (More on that later.) And, the fact that I can smother pumpkin seeds in butter and salt doesn't hurt.

Ryan isn't really such a fan of Halloween (or any holiday), but he humors me.

So, in honor of Halloween, I thought I would share a selection of Halloween photos of holidays past.

Ryan and I's first Halloween (2001).

And, again... (2005).

You can check out last year's festivities here. We stepped up the pumpkins a notch last year.

As you can see, I consistently carve a better pumpkin. ;)

Now.... let's move on to the real reason that holidays exist - dressing up the pugs and humiliating my husband.

Franco's first Halloween costume. He won a costume contest in this costume. He didn't mind the body, but hated the hat. (I cannot imagine why.)

Last year, the pugs stuck to a Chicago Bears theme. Franco was a football player and Lola was a cheerleader. Clearly - they should have won the costume contest, but they were completely ripped off. I'm fairly certain the judges were paid off. Darn you, Petco.

This year, I decided to use costumes from the past. No need to order a custom-fitted cheerleading uniform for a pug (because I've never done that).

So, Franco will go as a gentleman.

Lola is going to be a ballerina in the tutu made by Lauren.

We are planning a low-key Halloween weekend. Carving pumpkins, staying warm and hopefully giving candy to a few Trick-or-Treaters.

Oh... and eating myself silly and making myself sick on pumpkin seeds, of course.

What are your plans for Halloween?

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By my apron strings

A few weeks ago, I showed you this fabulous apron from BH&G. I wanted to make one. Someday.

Then, Kate commented that we could make them together. Umm.... really? Kate wants to make an apron with me?

Have you met Kate from Centsational Girl?

If you have, you know that she is a pretty talented little lady. So, when she says she wants to make an apron with you, you do it. You don't ask questions, you don't wonder if you should be making anything when you've never used a pattern or sewn a straight line. You just make.the.apron.

You drop everything, quit your day job, lock yourself in your office and stop eating or sleeping in order to get it done.

Psych! I kept my job and left our home office a few times to eat and sleep. It would have made a good story if I dropped everything, right?

Of course, it would have been a million times better if I could have actually gone to her house to make the apron. Have you seen her home? Awesome. But... I don't think that was part of the deal. I wonder what she would have done if I would have showed up at her perfectly decorated front stoop with my overnight bag on one shoulder and my sewing machine in my arms?

Where was I? Oh yes.... so after getting excited about making something with a blog buddy, I got going on the apron. Stat. I was going to make the best dang apron this world has ever seen.

I ended up changing my mind and going with the Pretty Paisley Apron from BH&G.

Lovely, doncha think?

So, I meandered into the local fabric store to pick up the supplies. Here are the fabrics I picked. I decided a Christmas apron would be cute.

I printed out the pattern from BH&G. It took me a while to figure it out. I realized that you were supposed to fold the fabric to double the pattern. (Duh.) That made it make more sense.

There was lots of measuring and cutting,

I ended up not making the pocket. The binding and ruffle took it out of me. All-in-all, it turned out pretty cute.

(Forgive the headless horseman look. Couldn't get a flattering shot... and I was tired...and it's my blog. =))

However, I'm seriously considering using it as a tree skirt. It's not nearly as cute when the model isn't a size 2 like at BH&G. =)

Regardless of how it's used, I think I can call my first soiree with a pattern a success. Bring on McCall's.

Go over to Centsational Girl to check out her take on the apron - very chic. And tell her I sent ya. =)

Thanks to Kate for pulling a dual feature. It was fun!

Is anyone interested in doing a DIY project together and living to blog about it?

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Kitchen lovin'

When Ryan and I renovated the kitchen, we compromised on maple cabinets. I wanted white, Ryan wanted wood. We went with a light wood that we both like. We are both happy with the kitchen, but that doesn't mean that I don't drool over kitchens like this.

I love the wood floors, the brick walls, the dark hardware, the island with a wood top.... Look! There's even a pug in the kitchen. This kitchen is nearing perfection.

Photo from Southern Living, via The Newlywed Diaries

Since we went with maple in this house, I think that means that the next kitchen that we have will be white. Right?

Do you lean towards white kitchens or wood-tones?

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Building a smoker 101

When I decide it would be nice to have something, I check it out online, go to a store and finally buy it.

When Ryan decides it would be nice to have something (which really doesn't happen very often), he goes to Instructables, Googles it and makes it himself. It's really quite endearing. 

Latest case-in-point. I should have known it was coming. After going to a party at Laura and Andy's house that included smoked pork, Ryan started meandering through the grill section at the home and garden section. I caught him on instructables. He ordered another case of our our favorite bbq sauce from Hotlanta. I kinda thought he was going to splurge and buy a charcoal smoker.

Then, one day I came home and Ryan was welding in the garage.

Danger! Danger!

The boy was building a smoker. To smoke meat. He was so proud of himself, it was funny.

That night after finishing his project, he stood next to the smoker (which looks eerily similar to a metal barrel) and admired his work. (He looked kinda like a homeless man, not gonna lie.)

Then, he walked in the house and the barrel promptly shot ten-foot flames out of it.

Luckily we didn't burn down the house (or the entire city). And, Ryan got it back under control and we haven't had any flame issues since.

Here are some pictures of the smoker, for your enjoyment.

"Just watching my smoker." - Ryan
"Look at all the smoke when I take off the lid." - Ryan

"Uh oh. The fire department is on their way." - Ryan

And, while I joke about it, Ryan spent part of the weekend making us smoked pork. He cooked the pork at 250 degrees for much of the day. He rubbed it in a special pork rub that he made. Ohmygosh. It was so good. The best pork I've ever eaten. I'm serious. And I wouldn't consider myself a big BBQ fan. But, this was enough to convert me. Mission smoking: Success.

So, in case you want to build one, here are the steps. (Note: Ryan wrote this. I don't understand most of it. But, I think you shouldn't attempt making this if you don't understand the terminology or don't know how to weld. Okay? Okay.)

Purchase: 

55 gallon barrel (make sure it wasn't filled with gasoline, find one with vegetable oil, if possible)

Weber 22 inch replacement grill

8- 3/8 bolts 3 inches long and nuts

2 ¼ straight exhaust,

2 ½ inch 90 degree exhaust

Some sort of mesh metal to make charcoal box

2- ¼ inch bolts and wing nuts

Thermometer

Handle

Two soup can lids

Steps:

1)   Weld in the straight exhaust pipe in to the bung on the top of the drum.

2)   Cut and remove top of drum.

3)   Cut hole for 90 degree exhaust pipe about three inches from the bottom of the barrel.

4)   Weld in 90 elbow.

5)   Install handle on lid.

6)   Weld ¼ inch bolts to ends of both pieces of exhaust.

7)   Drill ¼ inch holes in soup can lids and place over exhaust.

8)   Drill four holes evenly spaced about 6-8 inches down from the top of the barrel.

9)   Install 3/8 bolts into these holes, and tighten down nuts.  The bolts will hold your grate up.

10)  Drill a hole about an inch lower than your grate then insert your thermometer in this hole. 

11)  Make a small charcoal box out of the mesh metal.  Install the 4 bolts through the mesh box to act as legs.

12) Burn out any vegetable oil in the barrel.

13)  Cook and enjoy.

And, some close-ups of the very fancy tin can lids that Ryan used as air dampeners. 

They work pretty well at maintaining a consistent temperature (essentially, you can open and close them to maintain the correct air flow). I got a good laugh when Ryan was going through our recyclables looking for tin can lids.

Ryan's parents said that Ryan's grandpa used to do very similar things, concocting goofy gadgets and building things in the garage. I never met his grandpa, so it's kinda fun to hear stories. I suppose someday we'll tell our kids about Ryan's homemade smoker. 

Life is always exciting at the Woodwards.

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New recipes in October

Some new yummies at the Woodwards...

S'mores barsrecipe and photo by Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
suggestion via Alex and Jess
I made these when we had a few friends over. These are so good, it's terrible. I mean, it's really easy to start eating and the next thing you know, it's half gone. It's incredibly rich but tastes so good. And, what could be better than s'mores on cool far days. The next best thing to actually being by a bonfire....

Who am I kidding? These bars are far superior than hanging out by a fire.
Black beans and rice
recipe via Half of VAMH
picture via No Fear Entertaining
These are Ryan and I's favorite new meal. (It's not new to anyone else, but we had never had it before.) Easy to make and tastes so good. And, it vegetarian and made of incredibly inexpensive ingredients. Ryan said he would gladly eat this for every meal.

Sarah's creamy chicken and mushroom pasta

recipe by Clover Lane
photo and suggestion via Imperfect
This is so simple and ohmygoshitissogood. You should try it. It was absolutely warm and delicious. And, I'll be straight with you, I love anything I can throw in a crock pot.

Anything new in your kitchen?

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House hunters - in-law edition

I'm lucky and cursed that my mother-in-law has superb taste. 

Lucky because I get great ideas, have a good person to ask questions and receive fabulous hand-me-downs.

Cursed because she's just good at it... naturally. I wish I had the same innate ability to put a room together. And, I wished I liked to paint like she does. I think the square footage of their home as declined through the years because of all the layers of paint. ;) I kid (kinda).

So, I thought you may like to see her house, too. I am all about spreading the wealth after all. I took a few photos of the common areas of the home to share with you. Try not to be too jealous.

The dining room, right off the kitchen.

Window seat - check.

Beadboard - check.

Fabulous accessories (pillows, rug, sconces, velvet curtains, light fixture) - check.

Antique furniture with funky leather Parson's chairs - check

The living room

The shelves around the room are awesome, right? I also like her curtains and bamboo blinds. And, the mixture of pillows. How does it work? I can never find pillows that work.

(This room was just painted blue. It's quite airy and light. I really love it.)

Front hallway:
Do you adore the rug? I do. And the black door with a window - *swoon*. Everything just works together. It looks simple, but it's totally not. Trust me... I know. =)

And, the outside is quite lovely, too.

Here's the front yard.

And some flowers (from last month)
And, here's the change of the fall colors.

I wish I would have thought to take more photos. There's a full wall that has unfinished boards horizontally (awesome). There's a fab, warm kitchen with a white subway tile black splash. There's just tons more. I'll try to take more pictures next time I'm out there. Everything in the home is lovely. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Thanks to my in-laws for allowing me to share these photos. They are the best.

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Fall garden tasks

There are quite a few things we're working on to get our garden in order for the winter. Some is done and the rest should be finished by this weekend. If you have anything to add that I've missed, please share!

1. Plant bulbs. 

(We planted about 150 tulip and daffodils along the fence in early-October which will hopefully bloom in the spring. Apparently, the Woodwards cannot just do something halfway. 5 or 10 tulips. No siree, Bob. We need 150.)

2. Pull plants to overwinter.

(We'll cut down and pull these bulbs on the side of the house. The red ones below are the most noticeable. They will go somewhere else next year.)

3. Mulch.

(Giving the garden beds a fresh layer of mulch will help protect plants over the winter. It also looks nice, which is an added bonus. We'll add mulch everywhere, and put mulch over the area where we planted bulbs.)

4. Pull out all dead plants and compost.

(We pulled out all our old garden plants to clean everything out for winter. If you don't clean it out, it could breed disease over the winter. Yuck.)

5. Cut back plants.

(I cut back our rose bushes to right above their "elbows" - this helps them grow better and fuller. I also cut most grasses and perennials back to near the ground and trimmed the lilac and boxwood bushes.)

6. Compost.

(I've talked about the fact that Ryan and I don't like chemicals in our gardens. We just amend the soil with compost. Over the winter, we will put a layer of compost over most garden beds.)

7. Start new beds.

(Ryan wants to plant corn next year, so we are extending the garden next year. To get rid of the grass and amend the soil, Ryan covered the grass with a layer of newspaper and then a thick layer of compost. So, the grass will die and then Ryan will till the newspaper and compost into the ground in the spring, adding additional nutrients. Pretty clever, I think.)

What are we missing? How do you prepare your yard for winter?

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Get organized.

I need your advice and direction, friends. I'm trying to get our paperwork organized.

I saw a nice little file box over at Emily's and she said she picked it up at Office Max. So, off to Office Max I went. I found a file box for only $8.00. It's nothing fancy but it serves a purpose and fits right on the desk.

(Sadly, this is about as neat as things get in the office. It's a working space, right?)

Now, I just need to file things. Right now, our paperwork is haphazardly in a binder. I want to separate it into files so we can file things right away on our desk instead of accumulating piles.

I started a list (thanks to Melissa and her recent post) and here's what I have so far:

Employment

School

Insurance

Gas & Electric

Taxes

401K

Banking

Investments

Pets

Home

Appliances

Electronics

Other Purchases

What am I missing? How do you organize your files? Do you know any resources that I should check out?

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Board and batten reveal (plus basic tutorial)

This post is linked to Kimba's DIY Day and The Inspired Room's Procrastinators' Party. Check out all the projects. It could take all night. =)

Well... it's finally time for the big reveal for our "new" dining room. Thanks for giving me feedback about wainscoting for our home. The process was quite a lot of work for hubby and I, but I think the results are really worth it. I'm going to post the photos of the finished product first, and then I'll go into more detail below.

Cliff's Notes Version:

Before:

After:

And, now if you are interested or bored, the backstory...

At the beginning of September, I mentioned that I had wainscoting on the mind. You all recommended that we go with board and batten. (And, some of you were even kind enough to give me links to more information.)

Once I figured out what board and batten was, I knew I needed it in our dining room. It was life or death, people. Life.or.death.

Poor husband. He didn't stand a chance.

Unfortunately, something I didn't mention in the first post was that Ryan was adamantly AGAINST any type of wainscoting. (Bad wife. Bad, bad wife.) So, following the aforementioned blog post, when I decided that board and batten was a must, Ryan and I talked about it.

(When I say we talked about it, what I actually mean is that I begged and Ryan declined. And, then we both went back to our corners. After thinking about it, I actually decided that Ryan was right about wainscoting (but don't tell him). It would be a lot of work. Our house is about the farthest thing from level that a home can get. And, our house really is lovely as is. He's done a lot of work already. I was beginning to feel bad about begging for it.)

So, I didn't bring it up for, I don't know, an hour. Maybe two? ;)

But seriously, we both just kinda dropped it for a few weeks.

Then, on a Thursday night that will forever live in infamy, we were talking about the weekend. I asked what his plans were. He said...

"Well, I was thinking I could put up wainscoting for you in the dining room."

SCREECH..... My heart stopped. Then, I screamed. Then, I thanked him. Then, I cried. Then, I had to go hang out with Google for an hour (or four) to find out what exactly we needed to get at the hardware store the next day.

Thus began our progress with wainscoting.

We thought it would be simple. Hehe... hoho.... haha. The truth is, everyone does it a little different. Everyone's home is different. So, we used a few tutorials online and then kinda trusted our guts to finish it. It worked out pretty great in the end.

The process

Our home has textured walls. I tell you up front this because it means that the faux-paneling methods that are gracing the Internet really wouldn't work for us. Most tutorials that I found just put the boards right over the existing walls. We couldn't do this with textured walls because if we just put the boards up over the wall, it would look silly. It wouldn't look like board-and-batten. It would look like boards over textured walls.

So, we decided to use a base of plywood. It's really just an extra step.

The supply list in the words of Kim:

- (base) 48 feet of 1/4 inch birch plywood

- (vertical boards) 35 - 3/8 inch deep clear pine boards, (36 inches tall, 3/8 inch thick, 3 inches wide)

- (top horizontal boards) 48 feet - 1x4 clear pine boards, (3/4 inch thick, 4 inches wide)

- lots of paintable white caulk

- nail gun with 2 inch and 1 1/2 inch nails

- semi-gloss trim paint

- foam roller

- touch-up paint

Here's a diagram of the sizes of boards we used, for visual reference.

The process:

Begin with the plywood as a base. Ryan began from the corners and worked his way around the room.

Ryan measured each area to cut around electrical outlets, windows and corner decorative moldings. This took a great deal of time, because our home is very old and very uneven.

Measure a lot. Measure more. Measure one last time.

When the boards were cut (they are 36 inches high), he nailed them to the wall with a nail gun. I thought we should use some sort of glue, but I was wrong. The nails hold up plenty well.
The corners do not have to be perfect (even if your wife is worried that they should be). Any gaps can very easily be concealed with caulk.

You'll also notice that the boards ended up being a little different in height. It's the bane of poor Ryan's existence. Our house is that far from being level. In some places, it was a difference of an inch. He concealed the difference later with the top board.

Here's what it was looking like after a few boards were up.
Notice the pretty little corner decorative pieces. How did he cut around these?
He made a template.

I suggested Ryan cut the boards inside. It was nasty outside and I didn't want the boards to get wet. Very bad idea. Very very bad idea. I don't know what got into me. Luckily, the rain cleared up and the saw went back outside.

Keep measuring.... you are doing good.

Next, Ryan put the horizontal boards on the walls. We wanted it level, regardless of whether the floor is level (which it isn't). I didn't get any pictures of this process.

But, essentially - we did a little math to figure out that the biggest discrepancy was about an inch at the top. So, we cut a chunk out of the back of the board so that it would slide up to an inch down, over the 1/4 inch plywood. It looked similar to the way hardwood floors snap together. Then, we just used a level to put up the boards around the room. They are all level. YAY!

Following the horizontal board, Ryan cut the vertical boards and installed them 18 inches apart from each other.

Note: Everyone seems to do this a little differently (see links below). We decided that we wanted the boards equally spaced on all walls. Some people center each wall and make the boards differing distances. Some start on the edges.
I don't really think it makes a big difference. Just personal preference. I like the way ours turned out, and I know that they are all equally-spaced. That's good for a type-A person like me.

This entire process took about one day. Then, Ryan caulked all the gaps, the nail holes and in between boards.

Next, I painted the wainscoting.

It took one coat of oil-based primer and three coats of white, semi-gloss paint. At that point the coverage was good.

Here are some close-ups. Even though the baseboards are almost 100 years older than the rest, I think it blends pretty well. (I touched up the baseboards, too. It's scary how much they needed it.)

Then, we just put our room back together. And cleaned. A lot.

I think that it really brightens it up and adds to the character of the home. I'd like to believe that this is something that original owners would have done. (Although they probably didn't have a nail gun. I don't think.)

Ryan and I like to tell each other that we feel like millionaires now. The woodwork is that good.

So... if you've made it this long... I'm shocked. And impressed. But, mostly shocked. If we really were millionaires, we'd send you a million dollars. But we aren't. Sorry, friends. Maybe someday.

Hope the tutorial was helpful and interesting for you. And, I hope you like what we've done. Ryan and I are surely happy with the result.

(Actually, I'm the happy one. Ryan told me that he likes it. But, really he's just happy that I'm happy. He kinda rules.)

Appendix:

In case you are also interested in Board and Batten, here are a few links that I came across while planning. I hope they are helpful.

A Soft Place to Land (this woman can do everything)

It's the Little Things That Make a House a Home

Just Beachy

The Brown Family

Funky Junk Interiors (I want a backsplash like this)

Bower Power

There are probably millions more.... hang out with my bff, Google. He'll help a brotha' (or sista') out.

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