Weekend Wrap-Up

Well...it's Monday again. Why does this day always come so fast? Maybe it's because we seem to always have great, fun, busy but productive weekend? Yep, that seems like a good reason so I'm just gonna go with it. Anyways, how was your weekend?

If you have been reading my blog or even looked at it recently, then I bet you could guess what we did this weekend...

LANDSCAPING...again!

Friday night we had our every two weeks dinner and grocery shopping date. We ate at The American Table in Warsaw and then shopped at Aldi's, Big R, Lowe's, Kohl's and Wal-Mart. We were busy and had agenda!

Saturday we were up fairly early and hit the road running. We went back to Wal-mart to pick up bikes that we had been eyeing AND I got a couple more perennials to plant. I think I have a sickness, really. Recently it has become near impossible for me to walk through or even near a garden center without purchasing some plant! After this quick shopping trip (and a lunch date) we loaded the bikes in the back of the CRV and headed home with landscaping on our brain!

Our big project and goal this weekend was the add a flower bed by our front walk (which you will see later in this post) but we also had topsoil and mulch to add to existing beds. Oh, and we bought a new plant hanger thingy so I could hang my newest hanging basket too. Here are some random photos:

This little bed by our mailbox has taken off, it's so pretty!

The newest hanging basket, which is by our back walkway now.

Our newest perennials-I LOVE the coneflowers! Oh, and in the middle of this bed was a big holly bush that we were able to remove on Saturday. It was ugly, so we are glad it is gone. We plan to add something there...just not sure what yet!

See those green plants that look kind of like sea creatures or chi pets? I got those at Lowe's on clearance for $1 AND they are perennials. SO excited about that!

And the front bed...I didn't take a before picture, but just imagine it with grass. Digging up all that grass was a job!

The front bed looking down the walk from our front porch..

And looking at it from the side.

I love what flowers add to our house. This whole landscaping thing started out as an idea to add some curb appeal, but now I am really enjoying it. I can't wait to plant more this coming weekend!

After hours of landscaping we headed to El Mez for dinner...we had planned on grilling but since it was raining we obviously had to go out to eat...right? Ha, that's our excuse anyways! After dinner we went for a very first bike ride on the new wheels. Louie did not go with us because he did not like being in the bike basket:

I'm hoping that we can train him to enjoy it, but who knows if that will happen. We did put him in the basket on Sunday for a little bit too to try and get him used to it. In the meantime, we will be leaving him at home while we ride!

On Sunday we went to church and then grilled lunch at home and ate outside. The weather was so nice on Sunday! After a lazy afternoon and a nap or two we headed out for another bike ride! We snapped some pictures:

North Manchester covered bridge...

See how blue the sky was?!

Riding down our street...

...and using a park bench to take a self timer picture!

All in all, it was a GREAT weekend. I love the landscaping we added and the fact that we can do bike riding around our town now. I will say that my legs are a little sore today though...probably a combination of shoveling, weed pulling and bike riding. And honestly? I kind of like it...being sore isn't always bad!

Oh, 25 days until FLORIDA!

Happy Monday!

Weekend Wrap Up :)

Thank you for all the readers and blogging friends who left sweet, encouraging comments yesterday when I was feeling down and homesick. Your words brightened my day and I am so thankful for our friendships!

First of all, let me say that we are forecasted to get 2-6inches of fresh snow here today! I am excited about this because the snow is so pretty and I still like it! I love brushing snow off my car in the mornings! Well, maybe not love, but it is definitely better than scrapping ice in the morning!

So now I have my sweetened with sweet-n-low sweet tea in hand, which means I am ready to recap our weekend as promised! Here goes nothing:

Friday night we were planning on having a date night, so once we got home and changed we were back out the door. Our first stop was at the jewelers to see about having my ring sized. They determined that my ring was a whole size to big, so they are sizing it down and I had to leave my wedding band and engagement ring with them. I cannot wait to go back on Friday and pick them up-I think I may be having some separation anxiety! After that we were both hungry so we set out to Ruby Tuesday's (LOVE their salad bar!) but stopped at Hallmark before we got there. This Hallmark is not just any Hallmark. It is HUGE! So huge in fact that they have a Hallmark Christmas Ornament Museum with ornaments that date back to 1980! It was unbelievable. We had a good time looking at all the ornaments and talking about certain ones. We had to take some pictures to share with you because everyone knows how much I LOVE Hallmark and all things it encompasses! We actually spent quite a bit of time in the store and were definitely starving by the time we got back in the car.

Do you see all the ornaments? It was so fun to look at all of them!

Me and "Maxine" We are buds now :)



There are some pretty funny ornaments, like this skiing hot dog!



I LOVE all the Barbie ornaments. I actually discovered a love I did not know I had. I can see me one day having a vintage Barbie tree...I would not be surprised to see that in my future!

Check out that computer!?!

Me in Hallmark Heaven!

How cute is this one!?

Oh yeah, Ruby Tuesday's? That was a bust! The place was packed...apparently everyone in our town like to eat there on a Friday night! So we opted for Chinese Takeout and a movie at home. Fast forward to us with our rice and noodles watching Despicable Me. Usually I am not a fan of animated movies unless it is Disney and includes a princess of sorts, but this movie was totally cute!

Saturday...I got my hair cut! I had not gotten it cut since the day after our wedding 10.3.10, so it was really needed. I absolutely love getting my hair cut and was pretty much in heaven for that hour! Also on Saturday we were headed to the extended family Christmas gathering. This was our last Christmas gathering and included a lot of delicious food! We had a great time eating and then Tim and I sat down for another knitting lesson. I have gotten quite a bit done since then-probably about 5 inches! Not saying I am a pro, but practice does make it easier! I also got to talk to Natalie who is a foreign exchange student from The Netherlands and is staying with The Mr.'s cousin and her family for this school year. It was really great to talk to her and get her thoughts on education here vs. education there and different things. She really misses the cheese and chocolate in The Netherlands she said! :)

Snow falling while we were driving. There was way more, it is just really hard to photograph falling snow. No? Maybe it is just me...

Sunday we went to church at LMCOB and then were able to come home for the afternoon! We did all of our laundry on Saturday during the Christmas gathering so we had Sunday afternoon to ourselves. It was so nice to come home and put comfy clothes on and just snuggle up to a movie. I love lazy Sunday afternoons and girlie chick flicks! After the movie, The Mr. started watching football and I either knit or read for the rest of the evening.

That's all I have for today. I will leave you with a shot of the parking lot where I work...

"Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!"