Rock On

My parents saw Paul McCartney in SLC. They thought his show was so awesome that my Dad told Colt and I if we were willing to go to Kansas City that he would help us by the tickets.

 

We made our way down on a Saturday morning and met some friends. They recommended Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ. We waited in a huge line in a gas station (yes, it is in a gas station!) but it was well worth it.

The BBQ was awesome and I think they had the best fries I have ever tried. Don’t be fooled by the atmosphere, it was the best BBQ I have ever had. Evidently it was featured in a magazine as one of the “13 places to eat before you die.” Totally agree! If you are ever in KC, MO you need to go to Oklahoma Joes!

The concert was held in a huge arena downtown.

Colton and I had awesome seats. We were on the floor on the 17th row if I remember right. I grew up loving the Beatles but never thought I would see any of their music performed live by any of them, let alone be so close!

 

Poor Abe had a seat all the way in the rafters but we couldn’t get seats together for 3 people.

It was awesome to see one of the most influential song writers of all time on his last ever tour! My favorite songs were probably the ones he played on the piano. He even had this psychedelic one. Maybe I should paint mine like this.

Some of my favorite parts of the concert were:

Hey Jude (while he played the piano)

Yesterday solo (on the original guitar he recorded the song on)

Blackbird solo (he told us he wrote this song for the Civil Rights Movement)

Helter Skelter (man this old man of almost 7o can still rock!)

Something (played on George Harrison’s ukulele)

It was really amazing to see the composer perform these songs we all know so well. I was very sad to see the show end but am so glad we got to experience him in real life!

FYI

Sherwin Williams gives university discounts from 10-40% off. All you need to do is show your ID when you buy your paint and supplies.

 

I saved a ton of money with this. For example, I purchased some stain for $21 instead of $36. I also got a gallon of outdoor premium paint plus a bunch of other supplies and a quart of paint for less than the cost of the gallon of paint.

More changes

Remember this baby? This is a picture before we moved in.

Well, I felt a little sad to sad goodbye to this retro piece, but as I said before, it was a little too SCERA PARK ELEMENTARY for me. So, we upgraded to this  instead. I think it gives the bathroom a much more modern look.

 

Before

After…

 

 

More pictures

I continue to get requests for pictures of the house. Since today was a rainy day and nixed my plans for outdoor painting and yard work, I was forced to spend some time inside. I finally got our room completely unpacked, or at least all of the boxes out of there.

I was a little unsure if we should hang curtains but now I am glad we did. The wall color is blue which seems like a strange choice, but in the end I really like it. It is a nice and relaxing color.

I thought I would include a few pictures from the previous owners to compare what we have done.

(unfair to them, really, we took these pictures without any prior notice)

Before

After

People who have been in our old place laugh because this bedroom is almost exactly the same configuration. De Ja Vu.

I have almost put all of our living room boxes away. This does not mean I am finished with this room. I still need ideas, particularly for over the mantle. I am taking suggestions.

Before

After

I eventually want to repaint this room a grey-blue, maybe like the bedroom. I also want to refinish the fireplace. Glass tile?

 

 

 

 

I only had one set of curtains. I am wondering now, do I leave the other two windows bare? Do I buy some other curtains (white or black?) and accent with some matching fabric that I have? Or should I make a boxed valence with the matching fabric? I could use some input. (If you look next to the bookshelf you can see the other curtain rods in their boxes. I need to know if I should take them back or not within the next month or so.)

 

Landscaping Before and After Pictures

March 2010

June 2010

 

Aug 2010

After some frustration, time, and a lot of help we were able to finish some  landscaping. I am really pleased with the end result. As you can see, in the winter there was only one bush to keep some greenery around. Now we have some extra bushes and a tree to spruce up and cover the base of the house all year with some perennials that will come back every year to fill in. Unfortunately, it was late in the planting season so the plants aren’t up to their potential—some are looking a little wilty and the beds wont be as full. I am excited to see what we can do next year.

A closer look at the right bed. We pulled out each front bed with a scalloped border.

We accented with day lilies (perennials) and marigolds

We also have some hostas (the green and white leaved perennials) and peonies (which will bloom hot pink in the spring).

The left bed. This side has some more mature plants. I think this side looks almost perfect as is.

The backyard has a very clean look now. This is along the back of the house.

Another view:

A bed around the tree for easier mowing.

By the garage

This pile of sod behind the patio got turned to

This… It feels more tropical now.

Remember this poor baby? Also notice the pergola which is very weather worn.

It perked back up and started blooming again! And I started painting the pergola a fresh white. If I can ever finish it (it rained today when I planned to tackle some more) I think it will make a huge difference.

Blueberries

One fun thing about living in farmville is the farms. We like going to the local apple orchard and blueberry farm. I think it is great to support local farmers and we also benefit from a family activity and fresh fruit and veggies.

We went blueberry picking with our friends the Oriens on July 4. Caroline is living in St. Louis right now so it must be a great time if she agreed to spend her short time in IC in a berry patch filled with mosquitos in the rain in the early morning.  We miss you Caroline!

You pick the berries and can eat what you want while you pick. Then, you pay by the pound.

 

What do you do with the berries you ask?

I like to give mine to Abe.

Breakfast with friends is good too!

 

 

You can find some of Abe’s blueberry recipes at his blog:

www.ironsheff.blogspot.com

“You say its your birthday, it’s my birthday too yeah”

That is what I have to stay to Amber on the phone now on June 30. It is a little strange to have individual birthdays now. For my birthday this year we had a small family party after a work banquet that I had (no, not in honor of my birthday). It was nice to have the Sheffields as well as Colton there. I will miss Colt when he leaves in about a week.

The Sheffield's bought me some plants for our yard. It was cool to get flowers, but ones that will continue to bloom…if I can keep them alive. I haven’t done great so far. Look how green and luscious they WERE.

I was excited for this gift from Abe. Can you figure out what it is? Here is a hint

Look at this beautiful cake Abe made for me. What a presentation!

Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting. Yummy!  Here is the recipe

Happy late birthday sister! Wish you could have tried my cake.