Underneath the green and peach and pink
there is a house.
Underneath the bricks and rocks and logs
There is a yard.

Above the wooden floors and creaking boards
There is a home.
Above the cracked cement and moss filled yard
There is sunshine.

Inside the peeling mahogany exterior walls
There is an eccentric couple
with two lazy cats and two obnoxious dogs
all filled with dreams.

Yesterday Eric and I got into a heated discussion about the screen door while we were outside. I was making a point, that maybe it would be a good idea to *consider* hiring a professional to cut the wooden door and hang it for us, and Eric wouldn’t hear of it– although the screen door is way way down on his list of priorities. Eventually he told me to come inside, where we could “discuss” behind closed doors and away from the neighbors. We still haven’t settled our disagreement.

As any houseblogging couple will probably tell you, you really can learn more about your partner while doing home improvement projects than any other activity. It becomes like a well-known song and dance, each knows his/her moves intuitively. Eric moves into the kitchen to do detail work, I move out. If he is doing something that might not be right, I know when to let it go, and also how to step-in without causing any major drama (when we worked on our first house I often gave my opinions continually…bad idea). Eric knows never to say “hurry up” because large gallons of paint might come toppling off step ladders (this happened once). Eric knows that when I’m on a mission, it’s best to just let it happen, even if it is somewhat shoddy in the end. Really, if you want to make your union strong right in the beginning, I suggest buying a fixer upper. It truly would help to build a lasting foundation (no pun intended).

Yesterday we had the pleasure of turning on our retro Vornado fan for the first time…we bought it with our Christmas money back in January. It packs a powerful punch for such a small fan. It’s just too cute!

They also make a really cool retro colored Vornado.

Today was a gorgeous day in Corvallis. I think it might officially be the time of year that lasts 6 months and keeps us here the not-so-great other 6 months.

Tige and Ellie came over to pick up some rock. We’re somewhat amazed at how easy it has been to unload our “materials”. Does anyone want the basketball hoop that is cemented into the ground?? I wish.



And, Eric continued work on the side path. He needs to dig 8 inches deep and then we’ll have Trevor over to lay the gravel and set the path in cobblestone or brick.

As you’ll recall, we had a vote on the outside lights for our house. Light number two won with 42% of the vote:


Eric and I will be heading up to Portland in two weeks to pick up the lights from Schoolhouse Electric. We’ll most likely get the base in chrome, since I’m a huge chrome fan. Nothing could be more 50’s. We’ll be getting two lights, since that’s the total number of lights on the front of the house. However, we’ll probably add one light a year for a total of three more. Oh, and I haven’t told Eric yet, but I also want him to put lights beside the two other french doors on the back of the house. I’ll wait to tell him in the Fall, after he’s done with all the yard work and stripping the Mahogany on the house (seriously, he doesn’t read the blog).