All In The Family

This is my niece Ella. I'm not sure how old I was when I started loving pickles, but I'm thrilled that at only 17-months old, Ella seems to like them as much as I do. We were visiting Portland this weekend and had lunch at a NY style deli on Sunday and I think little Miss Ella took me pickle for pickle. I think I know what she'll be getting for Christmas this year!

Anniversary Part Deux

Has it really been another year? This year flew by almost faster than last. The day after our first anniversary, I flew off to LA where I spent the better part of the next six months for a big work project.

I've been back home (not travelling) since April and it feels good.

Last year I shared my top 12 reasons for loving my husband. This year I'm posting 12 more reasons for 12 more months. 1. He makes me coffee every morning (still)

2. He is fiercely loyal

3. He's sentimental

4. He's resilient

5. He loves learning new things

6. He built me an awesome table, garden beds, and a new house entrance

7. He prepped and painted our house by hand

8. When I say 'we' did something to our house, he rarely corrects me

9. He rode his bike 185 miles for fun

10. He pours a mean Gin & Tonic

11. He's still considering letting me get chickens (even though I have to sign a contract stating I'll clean up after them)

12. He's worked incredibly hard to make us a home; something that he knows means the world to me

This year hubby and I are taking the weekend off of house painting and going back to San Juan Island where we got married. Here are a few pictures of that weekend.

Before & After

Before

After

Progress Report

We're making serious progress on the house paint now. It's day 4 and if the rain holds out we should have the entire house covered with at least one coat of paint by the end of the day. The trim is completely finished. Now just the body and edging need to get done.

There's No Crying in Painting

That's what hubby said after all the windows had been primed and we were finally ready to start up the paint sprayer and it started raining.
So we'll wait. Inside. With no view to the outside because all of the windows have been perfectly taped. On a positive note, the new gutters work.