A bit of a recap ...

Summer is in full swing and we have been BUSY!  The weeks seem to be flying by and we end each night exhausted but looking forward to what is to come the following day. 

So far we have spent time out on the sail boat ...

Meeting new little ones ... 

Doing a poker run ... 

Taking the little loves for a dingy ride ... 

Enjoyed the 4th of July with friends ... 

And with family ... 

Hung out in the sail boat ... 

And took the pup for his first dingy ride ... 

Which he LOVED! 

And there's a lot more fun to come! 

A trip to Dewitt ...

Seeing as my sister-in-law works weekends, we hardly get to see them.  So, when the hubs was invited down to look over some state wide curriculum information and it just happened to be near my brother - we invited ourselves to stay the night! :)

What made it even better is that they have Otis' brother from another mother {they have the same dad} so they told us to bring him along too so the dogs could see each other again.

Otis is a GREAT travel dog {probably because we take him everywhere} so he was very excited about taking a car ride! 

And I was SO excited to spend some time with my nieces who I definitely do not see often enough. 

Selfies are always a must! 

And when you hand your camera over to a little love, you never know what you'll get! :)

I'm happy to say that these two pups got along pretty well too.  We started off a little rough with Otis pulling out a pretty good chunk of hair from Kona's ear {naughty boy!} but then they were wrestling and rolling around like BFFs.

We have really tried to bring Otis around other dogs but he is very protective {of me in particular} and therefore always barks and growls at the other dogs like he might take their head off.  He's gotten a bit better - but jeepers we're hoping with our constant "No!" and "Hush!" he'll pick up the hints soon!

And this little one - on she is just so smooshable! 

Otis absolutely LOVED the little loves & of course their toys! 

He was a little confused about the balls in this one that would shoot up - it was hilarious to watch him and A together! 

And then there's Kona who looked adorable in his preferred spot to sit - one of the girls chairs - haha! 

A fast but fun trip indeed!  My sister-in-law and the girls are coming up to visit us at the house {which she really wants to see} next month.  Can't wait for s'mores and ice cream runs with them! :)

Home Improvements ...

One thing I {and the hubs} knew we wanted to accomplish this summer were some house projects.  We knew we couldn't do everything we wanted right away {like the garage that we both desperately can't wait for!} but we thought it'd be a good idea to chip away at some of the little projects we had on our "wish list" to complete.

First up was some yard work.  Now mind you, I told the hubs that I would gladly do this by myself, or that I was sure my mom would come down and help me.  Of course, it didn't help to pick the hottest day and to do the work right smack dab in the middle of the afternoon - but I'm thankful that the husband helped {who am I kidding, he did the majority of it!} and we now have edging all the way around the house! 

Here's before in the front of the house ...

And after!  I can't wait for the hydrangeas to bloom here! 

And what is the side of the house {but we use it like it's our front door}

We will be inheriting some plants from my mom to go here.  Some daisies, hostas and a rose bush - and another family friend has offered us some plants that she wants to divide up!  So very thankful for that! 

The hubs let me know that he is done with outside work - he'll cut the grass but no more planting so I guess that will all be up to me!

Another item on the list was trying to figure out where we would put the boxes and boxes of books we had.  The hubs and I had tried to figure out where we could put bookshelves, if we would build some or get premade. I giggled to myself when I saw the hubs looking up ideas on pinterest - gotta love it!  Since our house is so old {and nothing is straight} we ended up with shelves that could attach to the wall. 

 A before shot of our "office" area at the top of the stairs.

During construction.  One of these boys was a little more motivated than the other ...

And after! 

We both LOVE the way this turned out.  Funny thing is though - the shelves are not level at all! Originally we hung the shelves so they were level.  We got the first one up and noticed that on one side of the window there was about a one inch gap, on the other - a 5 inch gap ---- so that wouldn't work!   We ended up making it level with the window and thankfully no books have tumbled off yet! :)

However, with all of these shelves we still needed more room for books - so we turned around and figured we could make the room cohesive by putting smaller shelves on the other side as well. 

Before

 After

This gives us some space to grow with books {as the hubs has an addiction to buying books I'm pretty sure!} and I stuck the picture up of Otis to reserve my shelf for books that are still at my parents. :)

I was also so excited to find what the hubs and I both thought was the perfect spot for our "Our Story" sign.  I always pictured this going on a gallery wall of some sort but our house just doesn't have the perfect space for that - so we made our own little gallery wall above the window if you will. 

We filled the frames with pictures that explain us {as of right now} - us sailing on the Salty Dog, on the ferris wheel at Cherry Festival, an engagement picture, and our first Christmas married {with puppy Otis of course!}

We were both really happy with how it turned out.

And we end with a picture of the hubs and Otis.  Because honestly, this picture just makes me giggle with how Otis sits like a little toddler :)

One Year {a little late} ...

It's almost a month ago that we celebrated our one year anniversary - but I figure better late than never to document it on the blog world right?!

The hubs and I decided that for our anniversary gifts we would each get something for the house - which ended up both being something for outside! 

I got the hubs a new grill.  It was raining when we got it, but he was so excited so grilling in the rain would do :)

The hubs got me a patio set. We were both pretty picky about what we wanted and the hunt was on to find an affordable non-glass top table.  Luck would have it that we found one at Meijer one evening when we were grocery shopping! I love it and already many nights have been spent eating dinner outside now.

On our actual anniversary we made our way up to TC to my parents {father's day was the following day}.   A perfect back drop for our one year picture. :)

And of course Otis wanted in a picture too!

We left the pup with his Grandma and Grandpa and headed downtown to eat at Franklin's.  We had heard great things about the restaurant but had yet to try it - we were not disappointed and will be going back again I'm sure!  From the drinks & appetizers, to dinner and dessert - everything was mouth watering good! 

We did each take a bite from our wedding cake too {of course we wouldn't do this for breakfast one day would we?!?!}.  We'll just say that it wasn't bad - but was definitely better the day of! 

It is so hard to believe that a year has already come and gone!  It has been a big year for us - getting a fur baby, buying a house, going to Disney, and so much more! I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us! 

Tigers Game ...

It seems as if this summer we literally hit the ground running!  Starting back the weekend after school got out {Yes I'm slacking on the blogging according to my mother} we headed down to Detroit for a Tigers game. 

The hubs and I were so lucky to be able to stay with D, one of my science girls.  She not only opened her home up to us for two nights, but also said to bring along the pup!

D and I spent the morning going to Ikea, Penzey's, and the farmer's market --- you know all the touristy things that we could fit in! 

And I must say Otis LOVED D!  While we were gone at the game she walked him, and loved on him, and we couldn't ask for more! 

Otis and his new friend D :)

The main reason why we headed down "south" was to catch some baseball!  My parents have never been to a game and it was on their bucket list so we had to fulfill that request!  The hubs has also not been to a game in Comerica Park so we were checking something off for him too! My sister, bro-in-law, parents, hubs and I had a blast! 

Mom, Dad, Hubs, and Me

We started the game out in right field.  While we were enjoying ourselves, the people behind us were having tons of fun if you know what I mean - like not seeing straight and we were worried we might have their lunch on our backs, ick! 

We were in survival mode - haha!

Sisters

The whole gang

We made the most of it though.  And to top the evening off we ended up in Box Seats!  That was a first for my parents, the hubs & I.  Boy were they GREAT seats!  Many thanks to my bro-in-law as it was his company that was up there. 

Quite the view! 

My mom did inform us that if she could have this view she'd definitely come again - haha! :)

My parents

We ended the evening with a yummy dinner - walking around Greek Town - and taking touristy photos.

The hubs & me

Selfie with everyone! 

A great little get away to kick summer into gear! 

{and yes mom, I'll hopefully get caught up here soon!}