Barnwood Planters

I was looking online for some planters that would fit around some ugly planters I already had.  I couldn't find any for the price I was willing to pay.  So my DH built 2 of these for me one night.  This picture is from my phone so sorry for the graininess.

They sat by my front door for awhile before I figured out what they really needed... stain!

I started on them Saturday afternoon.  Jake warned me that it felt like rain and that I should probably hold off.  I looked at weather.com and it only said 30% chance of rain- so I told him he was crazy, it wasn't gonna rain.  ha. ha. ha.

About 10 minutes later this rolled in.

Then this.

Then this!  Maybe my husband should have been a weather man?

So I had to grab everything and move it to the garage.

You can't really tell here, but one has its first coat of stain and the other hasn't had anything yet.

After 2 coats of stain...

I love how it looks.  It is the same stain we used on our porch swing so it helps tie in the front patio area.

The mums that survived from last year.  There was supposed to be 2 in each planter but only one made it through :(

Old Fashioned Dinner Bell

In the beginning... this dinner bell has always been on the farm.  We asked Grandpa where it came from and he said it had been there as long as he can remember.

A close up of the bell.  It looks like originally it was silver and Grandma had painted it white.

It needs a lot of TLC.

This is what it looked like all over.  We used a steel brush and scraped as much paint off as we could and roughed up the surface.

Jacob painted the pole section while I painted the bell

A work in progress...

The finished product.

I am SO glad I went with black.  Jacob didn't think he would like it so I was kind of nervous that it wouldn't end up being what I had pictured in my head.  I LOVE how it makes the lights and hardware on the garage pop!

5 Year Anniversary Trip

On our way down to Branson, we stopped at Lambert's Cafe in Ozark.  For those of you not familiar with this place, it is the home of the throwed rolls.  They can throw rolls clear across the room and get them to you every time.  They are super hot and buttery and oh so delicious.

Our mega mugs they brought us for the drinks.

The yummy goodness of their legendary throwed rolls.

I ordered this smothered hamburger steak- they serve it to you in a frying pan.  It was so good and I was rather disappointed when I realized I couldn't take the leftovers with me.

We couldn't check in to our Bed & Breakfast until after 4:00 so we stopped in and saw Jim Stafford for a little bit.  Amazingly talented on the fiddle and his 2 kids are awesome on the piano!  

Our bed & breakfast cabin (Crystal Cove Bed & Breakfast).  It was like a duplex cabin.  Highly recommended!

Our whirlpool inside the cabin

We did not have 1 picture of us together on our honeymoon so I told Jake we were either going to be taking a lot of selfies or get used to asking other people to take our picture... we took a lot of self shots.

On our cabin porch.  It was such a beautiful outlook area.

Supper was at the Shogun Hibachi Grill- one of Jake's coworkers suggested this place and I'm so glad they did!  It was an entertaining supper and oh so good if you like Japanese.

They cooked the food right in front of us and put on quite the flaming show.

After supper we saw the Presley's comedy routine.  It was hilarious!

This little boy was so adorable!

This was the picture I took in case I didn't live through Friday... you see, my husband of 5 years conned me into going ziplining with him for 3 hours!  I will admit I was really nervous and didn't sleep very good Thursday night.  However, it was all in vain and Jake was right.  It was a blast and I would do it again.  It only took the first time to jump off the platform and I was fine after that.

This was Jake's favorite part of our trip.  He LOVED it...

...as you can tell!

Beautiful Table Rock Lake!  This was just a short walk from our cabin.

Saturday we went to the Trout Hatchery by the dam.  Like I told the hubs, it was really impressive but I was finished within 15 minutes.  However, my knowledge fact loving husband was not.  I patiently waited for him to read. every. sign.

and some more interesting facts.

... because I knew the next stop was going to be the Tanger Outlet mall and I wasn't going to burn any bridges :)  It's something you learn about marriage.  You have to compromise.  I was too busy shopping, so I didn't get anymore pictures of our trip.  We came home after shopping to a nice much needed rain. 

We had a wonderful little get away and enjoyed spending time with my best friend.  Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband!  I love you!

Graduation Card

Front of the card

How I folded the card- I just used a 12 x 12 piece of paper and scored 2 opposite squares diagonally.  I would recommend using a smaller square- it just seemed kind of oversized when I got it done.

I cut out a banner with my Cameo and just glued each end down so it would act as a money holder.

The last one in either of our families to graduate!  Congratulations Matthew!