Don't Come in We're In The Bluff!

My grandma told me that what happens in Bluff, stays in Bluff! And most of the late night jokes and story telling will remain a secret. However the adventures had to be documented.

We headed down to Bluff, Utah this weekend. To participate in the building of a cabin. Dedicated to my great great great grandpa Jens Nielson. My Utah Curiosities, book came in super handy once again. On our adventures through Utah.

We don't make it down to the four corners area of the United States as often as we should. So we had to make the most of our drive down there. First stop Utah Curiosities led us to was Ray's Tavern in Green River. A local hotspot for river runners.

The walls hold shirts from river runners all around the world.

It was a quaint little place and we had fun with the ketchup squeeze bottles. Well... I did. Next stop Arches National Park!

We did a hike up to delicate arch! Beautiful!!

Seriously more beautiful then I can describe. And it was a nice 2 hour hike to break up the driving.

Then our tour guide book told us to check out Newspaper Rock.

We tried to get a picture with the ancient petroglyphs. Too much wall...

Too much us...

Ahh just right.

We cruised through Blanding. Got a drive by picture of the local family store;)

We pulled into Bluff and grabbed a quick bite at the only open restaurant in town. Yes it was 9:30 p.m. Why would any place stay open that crazy late?

Best cups I've ever sipped out of! What a beautiful town!

So Long and Farewell

We live in a house that is dwarfed by two huge Evergreen trees. In fact our neighborhood was apparently infested with these trees. Everyone has a story to tell about the enormous trees that they removed from their yard. Well this is our story.

I forgot to take pictures of our house with the trees infront. So google maps came to my aid. Above is a satellite view of our house. The road infront during the winter was always just ice because the road rarely saw sun.

Our house is in their somewhere.

Don't mind the construction debry on our back patio. You can't miss the trees towering over the house.

One of the beasts.

We have been getting bids on tree removal and some places have been outrageous. We got a bid from Discount Tree Removal and they gave us a great deal. They infact just showed up on our front porch one day ready to work. No appointment needed! Haha

Can you see how itty bitty our house looks underneath those trees?

One tree down.

And voilà. A house emerges! It doesn't even look like the same house. It's going to look so amazing when we get the lawn all put back together. You can finally see all of Drew's handy work.

...Inspiration...

So we are about to paint our house. And as usual I like to scoure the world for examples. We go on drives, walks, cruise the Internet, look at blogs, buy magazines! I obsess! But I thought I would show you some of the ideas I like for the house. I am terrible at siting, so please please let me know if you know where the picture is from so I can give them credit.

Here are some shingles we really liked. Some people like them jagged and wavy, it reminds me of ToonTown in Disneyland. So we did ours in even horizontal lines like this.

And I am still not over my yellow kick! And I think a green house with a yellow door sounds amazing!

So here are some of my yellow doors...

This one is my favorite, the pale yellow is what I am leaning towards.

Who wouldn't want to visit someone with a yellow door. It just radiates happiness.

I thought about gray for the house color. But just for a moment. I think a green door on a gray house is beautiful.

A yellow door, but the shingles were too even for me. There is a fine line with shingles.

I love it, they painted the trim around the door yellow too. I think it looks good here, but I like doors that are trimmed out in a color. To make the door pop more.

This is how we were thinking about doing our posts, but I don't love this style, it's a little too busy for me. I think it is very well done in this picture.

I take back what I said before, this one is my very favorite. The color yellow, the shingles, the color of the house. Or green is a little more green and less gray. This picture captures everything I want and love!

She's Had a Birthday!

Hooray! Cleo turned 1!

Our pudgy little puppy has grown into a pretty little lady.

She got a new collar, and a beautiful bow. Inspired by her best friend Dotti the Labrador!

The pooches on the porch.

Happy Birthday 'Cleo'patra! We love our pups!

Mice...

I was picking up a collar for Cleo at Petco, and these mice caught my eye. Mice creep me out but this little guy on the left was hilarious.

Little Mighty Mouse thrill seeker.

Portico Update

Drew put the finishing touches on the trim for the portico. And it looks better then I could have ever imagined!

He put a belly band on the bottom of the portico, and individually cut the shingles for a more authentic look.

As Drew was ripping off the aluminum siding, we found some very nice wood trim that was original to the portico. It worked perfect for the moulding around the shingles.

This is our test patch for the paint color for the house. We got the paint sample from one of the families I work for. It is the color of the house they used to live in! I think it will be just perfect!

Better After... Feature

My leather chair makeover was featured on this awesome blog, betterafter.blogspot.com. I love before and afters, and what's better then a blog dedicated to just that! Check out Lindsey's blog! It's super fun!