Life Right Now-Month in Review-April 2019

I thought I’d start something a little new around here! I miss the days of yesteryear when blogging was hip and cool and primarily consisted of reading about people’s lives and looking at the pictures they would share along side of it. There’s certainly a need for the DIY and the how-to posts, but I’d love to create a community here, as well, by letting you see into my world a little more! I’ll be sharing a month-in-review here at the end of each month, sharing snippets of what we’ve been up to!

How has April already flown by? The weather here in Iowa has been a little wishy-washy, so it hasn’t necessarily felt like Spring the whole time. Actually, this last weekend has been freezing…with hints of baby snow flurries in the air! Blech!

The month started with prep for the vintage pop-up I co-hosted with a friend. Haven Market was such a blast to launch and we look forward to setting-up again sometime soon! It’s fun to meet fellow vintage lovers and some of the people we interact with in the social media space!

Jason and I were talking about how it seems like #cooperthecorgi has been with us forever, but it’s been less than two months! How bananas! Did I tell you that I surprised Jason with him on a Monday and then left for over a week to go to Texas with my mom and sister on Thursday of the same week? I’m not sure how he survived that long taking care of a new puppy by himself, but I’m getting a bit of paybacks as he’s leaving for work trip in a few days. Not nearly as bad, though, because Cooper is basically potty trained and a rock-star in his kennel.

We’ve slowly been working out in our yard as time and WEATHER allows. It’s fun to see what’s coming up in the yard, since we weren’t in this house last Spring! I have lots of hopes and dreams for the yard, but we’re trying to take it slow to allow for planning and budgeting. I’ve bought a few perennials, but plan to focus, for the most part this year, on annuals and edging out some new planting areas in the yard. We have a lot of grass…that I’d like to eat up with some landscaping.

I had a consultation in Adel, IA a couple of weeks ago and was lucky enough to squeeze in a trip to one of my favorites—Harvey’s Greenhouse. It’s amazing in itself, but also has one of the most amazing cactus houses I’ve ever seen. I think it’s the most magical place and try to stop in whenever I get the chance. If you live anywhere close, it’s worth a trip…and if not, it might just be worth making it happen!

I’m working with several design clients right now, but I was able to complete two projects this month. One of the projects was working with a repeat client to create a master bedroom retreat and help to update her space (you can find a post on that HERE). I love how it turned out and makes me feel so good knowing that I was able to help her have a space that makes her happy! I also worked with another repeat client to freshen his living space. I used all pieces that he already had, moved them around, and gave his apartment a whole new look! Now, we’re ready to move onto phase two—stay tuned for details on that!

If you’re from Iowa, you’ve probably heard of Tulip Time in Pella. The whole town pays homage to its Dutch heritage with hundreds of thousands of tulips blooming throughout. There’s food, entertainment, and of course, lots of tulips! Also, it can be craziness with all the people. I prefer to go a couple of weeks before and miss out on the crowds. It’s not the exact same experience, but there are still tulips blooming and food to be had, so I’m happy with that! My friend Katie, who I’ve known since college, and I make the trip to Pella at least once a year and this year it was a beautiful day! We had fun catching-up, eating lots of good food, and walking the small-town square. If you haven’t been to Pella, I think it’s a great place to visit year-round.

Of course, following the trip to Pella, and the eating of lots of tasty treats, I decided that I need a little break from my sugar addiction, so I’m taking the month of May (I actually started a few days early) to cleanse my body from as much processed sugar as I can. It’s been ok so far, but we’ll see how I feel by the end of the month—especially since there’s a national holiday thrown in there. My body has been very achy and tired, though, for a while, so it’s time for some drastic measures. It will all be worth it if I start to feel better!

In addition to outdoor projects, we are doing a few things around the new house to make it feel more like home. I continue to get things hung up on the walls, move furniture and décor around, and we’re tackling a few DIY’s. Our most recent project was making a light fixture out of a basket. I customized the project even more by painting the ceiling medallion and pendant hardware before we hung them. I’ll have full details of this project up on the blog soon—I actually remembered to take pictures! Well, I got pictures of everything, except for Jason hanging it. He surprised me by doing that a night last week when I got home a little later in the day. Now, that’s my love language!

I’ve loved going back through my month for this post! What a blessing to see how much I’ve been able to get accomplished and enjoy doing! I encourage you to take a few moments to think back on your month and give thanks for all the goodness!