A little project

What a week. We had a nice trip to Chicago. There will be some pictures, but I am still getting them into order. So, until then, here is a little project I did last week, after we came home.

This was our knife block. 

(Excuse the mess around it. I was creating!)

We had wanted to get a new knife block and knife set after we got married, but that didn't happen. There were other things that took priority. So, we have kept the same old, ugly knife block. I didn't like it. I figured, if we have to keep it, it can at least be made to fit in with the style we are going for in the rest of the house, right?

So I fixed it.

I painted a coat of cream, and when that dried I painted the green over that. Once it was dry I took my trusty sandpaper to it. You get little hints of the cream and the wood underneath that. I think Andrew even likes it, even though he calls it "perfectly distressed", which isn't really his style.  I think it fits in much better now and I love it.

Rest and Relaxation

I am going to be away from the bloggy world for the week. Andrew and I are off on a small vacation. Well, I'm off on a small vacation; he is attending a conference for work and I get to tag along. I will only have my phone with me, but will have lots to share when we get back!

Before you get worried or ask...

Yes Oliver will be well loved and taken care of while we are away. One of my cousins, whom Oliver loves, is coming to stay at our place to keep him company. Not only are we assured that Oliver is being taken care of, but our house is being watched as well. So reassuring! 

Have a great week!

I'm curious....

I am curious. If you are seeing this post will you comment? I am wondering how many lurkers are out there.

To the museum!

When we got married, one of our gifts was a membership to Frederick Meijer Gardens. We live about 15 minutes away, so that membership got lots of use. When that expired we started to think about what else we could get a membership to. As it was winter, we were thinking indoors. 

Since I love history, my first choice was the museum, which we went with. It, too, has already gotten lots of use. We are about 5 minutes away from out local public museum, so every once in a while we go and hang out there.

I am currently working a long stretch of days at work, so after I got done Saturday (I worked the early shift, 3:30-11:15) we headed out to the museum. I needed to relax and unwind after a crazy stressful day. 

 This whale skeleton hangs over the main walkway. He is huge!

We enjoyed a cup of coffee, watched a planetarium show and wandered around my favorite places. After all that we had to take a ride on the carousel!

Andrew was in the horse riding spirit. He plans on wearing cowboy boots and hat next time to pull it all together.

What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Garden of Honor

This is a part of the park in the town I grew up in. Andrew and I had some time to kill before picking up pizza Sunday night and heading over to my parents. So, we grabbed some Arizona iced tea and headed to this quiet little place to relax. 

There is a statue for every war.

Revolutionary War

Civil War

World War 1

World War 2

Korea

Vietnam

The gulf conflict

There is also one in honor of all the women that have served and one for the Spanish American war, but somehow I missed them. I am always amazed at the detail they have. The artist was very talented. I cannot imagine how long it must have taken to make just one of these statues. 

Fashion and Tea

 If you know me at all, you probably know that I love history. I got it from my dad. We could spend hours in museums. (My siblings did not inherit this love, and did not like family vacations that involved museums!)

Where my dad tends to gravitate towards WWII type stuff, I love the older. Anything pre-1950's is great in my books. However, my favorite time period is the Victorian era. It was all fabulous back then. I'm starting to ramble, aren't I? Sorry, I tend to do that when I start talking history. Moving on...

Saturday I got to go with two of my aunts, my dad's two sisters (who also like the Victorian era), to our local museum for an event. It was called "Tea and Fashion". We had a blast!

We were brought to a little classroom where we were greeted by the presenter.

She made that dress herself. (Here's a little secret: it's just shower curtains!)

We sat at tables with lovely china and tea type goodies for us to enjoy while she talked about women's fashion in the 1800's. Specifically from 1860 - 1920's.

She started with the undergarments. Did you know that back then they had to get all new undergarments every time the fashion changed? That was often, too. Every 5-10 years the fashion trends changed and you had to stay current. You couldn't let your friends and neighbors see you in last years clothes! 

A fairly basic corset. Hooks on the front and a tie in the back. Contrary to what Hollywood, most women did tie it themselves. You didn't need the foot in the back, pulled terribly tight, look.

Any guess what this is?

That's right. Underwear. How else do you think they used the bathroom in all those layers?

This was my favorite dress. It is from the late 1860's. It was terribly small. It would fit someone maybe 4'8" with a very small waist. 

This dress was funny. It is from the early 1900's. Every time fashion changed they would emphasis a different part of the body. This one was the bust area. Not only did you have that one large pouch in the front, but...

They had to wear what is called and s-curve corset. It shoved the top part of your body out in front of your backside and legs. I would think that would throw off your balance!

Of course there was the bustle dress. Another very odd trend, emphasizing your backside, trying to make it appear bigger. Very odd.

She also had a bunch of stuff laid out on tables and hanging up.

The best part about it all, was that all of the pieces that she had there were considered to be not of museum quality or they knew nothing about it, so we got to touch it all! We were very excited when we found that out!

We had a fantastic time and are hoping to be able to go to something like this again!

A day at the beach

Andrew and I surprised my parents and showed up at their church yesterday for mother's day. We had plans to get together with the family for supper later, so we decided to spend the afternoon at the beach in Grand Haven. 

It was a beautiful day. Sunny, but with a cool breeze. We spent some time walking the boardwalk, got some ice cream, and lounged by the lighthouse.

(It would seem that taking a selfie and smiling at the same time is not something I can do!)

There were even a few boats out on the lake.

I have to imagine that it was chilly out there!

It was a great relaxing afternoon. I need more days like that!

It's a Wedding!

I planned to have this post up on Monday, but time got away from me, and suddenly it's Thursday!

As you may have seen on my mom's blog this week, my cousin got married. The two of us are very close, so when she asked me to be a bridesmaid I immediately accepted! I was able to get some pictures during the set up and I had Andrew get some pictures during rehearsal.

Seating chart

Their guestbook was the box. They had everyone sign it and they also used it at the gift table for cards.

This was at the back of church for the programs.

I was unable to get a picture of the cake table with the cake, but trust me, it was a beautiful cake!

Table decorations

Nathan's, the groom, niece and nephew, the ring bearer and flower girl.

I cannot in any way take credit for this next one. This was one from their photographer. Isn't it great?

And now they are Mr. and Mrs. I am so honored to have been a part of their big day and cannot wait to see what God has for their future together!