Big Project this weekend!

Doug is in Seattle on a business trip so I haven't told him yet but we are making over our bedroom this weekend!
This is pretty much how it looks except we have a boring brown comforter on our bed instead of the one in the picture. (I'm too lazy to take a new picture right now, plus there are paint "swatches" painted on all of the walls.)

I've purchased a new bedding set and as soon as I get off this computer I'm going to buy the paint. We tested a pretty blue color from Restoration Hardware but I *may* go a shade or two lighter. We also bought two new bedside lamps so the pink ones my mom bought for me while I was in nursing school are finally being replaced.

Window treatments, yeah, better get us some. We've been here almost two years and I haven't been able to pull the trigger on window treatments. But now, we have neighbors that can see in our windows so time to do something about that. Doug wants plantation shutters but I've been resisting because 1. they close out too much light and 2. they are soooo expensive! I'm trying to go for a relaxing, calming effect. We will see what we end up with.

I'm still trying to decide on artwork for beside the bed. I'm considering enlarging and framing some of our pictures of the beach in Hawaii - not sure just yet.

Craft Projects and other fun stuff

Niles catching some warm rays of sunshine in my office.

I've actually been doing a few craft projects and making some cards. Although I should be completing my long list of house projects right now I tend to be getting sidetracked.
Hobby lobby had some unfinished little fairy doors that can be painted and embellished any way you like. They have different styles but I really liked this particular one. Lately I seem to be gravitating towards a pink, turquoise and bright lime green color palette so I'm just having fun with it. I love those cute little red birds too - they were on clearance at Michaels so I had to have them. The lighting in my house isn't very good so I had a hard time getting a good picture.

Somewhere out in blog land I saw an idea for a sign for my craft room although now I can't remember where I saw the original sign. The picture makes the turquoise look much more electric than it is in real life and again, the picture quality is not so good.

My office is in the front of the house and I have a hummingbird feeder and a bird feeder in the flower garden outside my office window. I love to see the hummingbirds, the butterflies and the birds coming around all day long. The other day I was sitting at my desk and something caught my eye - it was a little mouse trying to get to the bird seed! I kind of felt bad for him since he kept climbing all the way up and as he would get to the edge he would slip off and fall to the ground. He tried everything to get to that seed - he tried climbing up on the hummingbird feeder and jumping over to the bird feeder only to fall short. After about 20 attempts I think he decided to give up and I haven't seen him since.

I know the mice live under the rocks and usually get the birdseed that the birds knock to the ground. With the heat being so intense and a being so busy we ran out of birdseed for a while and there was just a little seed in the bird feeder that the birds couldn't actually get to. I think the mouse got tired of waiting and was trying to help himself. As long as they stay outside they can help themselves to all the birdseed they want!

What a weekend!

Doug and I headed to Texas this past weekend to celebrate Katie's and JD's wedding on Saturday night. The rehearsal dinner was very nice on Friday night and the wedding itself went great but after the ceremony the weekend started going down hill rapidly.
The photographer was taking pictures when all of a sudden, Doug's mom (Carol) fell and immediately had pain in her hip. To make a long story short, we ended up with her in the ER. After a long and stressful evening they diagnosed her with pneumonia, a broken hip *and* a mild heart attack. She is having surgery on her hip today and we are praying for a speedy and uneventful recovery.
So we never made it to the reception and I didn't end up getting any photographs. Katie looked beautiful (of course!) and we wish Katie and JD all the best for a happy life together.

After being at the hospital all night long and not sleeping we are completely exhausted today. We are up in the air as to when we may have to go back to Texas.

On a different note - I did manage last week to complete a few projects. I'm going to try to take some pictures today and post later this week.

Since my brain isn't functioning on all cylinders right now this is it for today's post. If you pray, please keep Carol and the Arms family in your prayers.

Last Pictures of Rome

This is the last set of pictures I'm going to share of our trip to Rome. I know, I know - you want to see *ALL* 800 or so pictures *plus* the video clips we took but it would take me forever to upload all of that. So enjoy these final pics and my next post will be about something new.
Checking the map (once again) - I was continually reviewing our map and the guidebooks - always wanting to be sure we were where we thought we were and making sure we weren't missing anything along the way.

This is one of the Domes inside St. Peter's Basilica. It is in the foyer with Michaelangelo's Piety sculpture. The scale of this place is absolutely amazing and as always pictures just cannot do it justice.

Looking back on Hadrian's castle also known as Castel Sant'Angelo beyond the Tibere river.

Doug is standing just inside the entry of the Colosseum. Just enormous - How on earth did they build stuff like this way back then? I mean, now we have cranes and modern technology. Unbelievable.

Pretty good picture of us inside the Coloesseum that we took using the timer on our little camera. Not bad!

This is the Arch of Constantine which is right next to the Colosseum. Used to be that you could walk up to it and around it but now it is fenced off. Looks like it is slowly crumbling and is probably too dangerous to allow people too near it. Again - the scale is massive. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you will see that I am standing in front of a pillar that is in front of the arch.

The Italians are wonderful people. Everyone so friendly and gracious and helpful. The only time we had any trouble in Rome, and it wasn't trouble really, was with the foreigner's from one of the middle eastern countries. I don't mean to offend anyone - I'm just not good at pinpointing where people are from nor am I the most politically correct, so it is just my perception of who these people were. Anyway: At the Spanish Steps, every night these people were trying to unload roses on all the tourists. We eventually learned that as long as you didn't make eye contact with them and kept walking and saying "No thank you!", you could avoid them. When we were riding around town on the double decker bus at each of the stops some of these men were also trying to sell the little parasol umbrellas to shield from the heat. At one stop they were particularly aggressive so Doug took a picture of them to remember how funny it was. The more we ignored them, the louder they were yelling. I think they got angry when Doug started taking photos of them.
They were yelling: "HELLO UMBRELLA! BELLA! HELLO! HELLO UMBRELLA!" Over and over and over again each time getting louder. Annoying at the time but funny now that we are thinking back on it.

Rome was awesome and I would absolutely recommend it as a must place to see.

More Rome Pics

Beautiful doorways all around Rome

My handsome husband - he looks good! He looks real good!

The Italian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Enjoying a lovely pastry on the backside of the Spanish Steps. The beauty of this place is just amazing...

The Trevi Fountain. Very hard to get good pictures here because of the crowds. The fountain itself is huge and is kind of wedged in between several streets.

Knock, knock! Is anybody home?

Where have we been?

Doug and I went to Rome this past week for an amazing vacation. Our hotel, the Westin Excelsior, was located in the Via Veneto area of Rome which at one time was where all the celebrities used to stay during the 50's and 60's. Now it is almost all tourists but it still is a luxurious area of town not too far from the Spanish Steps.
We had a nice room with a nice big bathroom and also a fabulous balcony. Not the best picture but here is our view:

We arrived in Rome early in the morning last Sunday and made our way to our hotel. Our room wasn't ready yet so we took a walk to the Borghese Park which was just north of our hotel. We grabbed some lunch at Harry's Bar and I have to say, that was probably the *worst* meal that we had the entire time in Italy. It was way overpriced (I guess that is what you get for eating at the touristy places) and Doug's club sandwich was completely inedible.
When we finally were able to get checked in we took a three hour nap, took showers and then headed out to see the sights.
First stop - The Spanish Steps:

We would make our way back to the Spanish Steps every single day of our trip. It was an excellent way to easily find our way back to our hotel - not to mention the workout our legs got from going up and down a couple times a day.
Our usual "self-portrait" on the Spanish Steps:

Just ignore the fact that we both look so tired - between flying all night, a long day waiting to get checked in to our room and a nap - this is what you get.
Our dinner that evening was FABULOUS! We ate at a little restaurant near the Spanish Steps and had bruschetta, a pizza and pennette ala vodka. The ingredients were so incredibly fresh and was one of the most delicious meals of our trip.
This is Doug sitting near a monument in Piazza Spagna just before we went to dinner.

I have lots to share, pictures, stories, etc. and I will post over the next couple of days.