When it Rains it Pours

Literally. 

Last weekend, August 20th to be exact, I planned to show off to the blog world our very cute Woodward Dream Cruise BBQ.  For those that do not know.  Woodward Dream Cruise is a 16 mile cruise event where old/new classic cars cruise Woodward Ave in Michigan.  Basically it turns into a traffic jam for 12 hours.  Since I live so close to the event, we have a BBQ every year with a few friends and watch the cars drive by.  Ok, I people watched more.  This year, the theme should have been, "I survived Dream Cruise 2011."

The day started off normal.  I made cute cupcakes with cookies that looked like wheels, and made super cute car themed decorations.  I had planned to photograph the whole thing to show everyone.  Well, things didn't go as planned.

As I set up the BBQ and Clint grilled, we noticed the clouds rolling in.  While our guests played ladder ball, the thunder started and they quickly moved to come inside our home.  Out of no where, a sheet of rain flew in!  We all ran in laughing and soaked.  As I grabbed towels, instantly, the power went out and the wind picked up.  I then heard someone say, "Oh my god!  Did you see your car??"  I ran to the window to see our car covered under a tree.  The tree then blew over to our neighbors car, where it landed.

Luckily, it is drivable and this was all that was damaged.

I then heard someone yell, "Look at your back yard!"  I ran to the back bedroom window to see this...

and this...

and this...

This explained why the power went out.  We could not even begin to express the shock.  All of this happened in a matter of seconds and was over before you knew.  They called this a straight line storm.  65 mph winds caused all of this.

It is now day three without power.  We had to throw away almost everything in our fridge and freezer, and still can't fully access our backyard due to downed power lines.  Try explaining this to two doggies that love roaming their yard.  We also have to shell out a big deductible for our home owners insurance.  Not only did trees fall in the backyard, but they fell on the fence, and branches dented our siding and gutters that flew against our home...

Our neighborhood looked like a war zone, filled with tree branches in the roads and power lines on the sidewalks.  Most of the storm damage has been cleared, by now.

One thing I want to point out about power outages.  They surely do bring people together.  We are so blessed to have wonderfully helpful neighbors and each other.  We are so lucky no one was hurt in all of this and thank our lucky stars the trees missed our homes!  Things could have been a lot worse...I don't even want to think how!

Front Door Redo

Thank god paint is not permanent.  We painted our front door a color we thought would be perfect!  

First off, thank you for all your advise over this situation.  The color was so-so.  Nothing special and a little too pastel for my taste.  It needed more of a wow factor. 

 

Take two



Much better!  This color made our wood work pop!  Exactly what we were looking for!  Also, looks great with our fall decorations.

What do you think?

What Was I Thinking??

I convinced Clint not too long ago that our front door color needed to be changed.  I had even asked you fine folks for your opinion.  I got some great suggestions, but Clint was not convinced we needed to change the color.  I pulled about 4 or 5 swatches at Home Depot that I thought would make a bold statement.  Clint, reluctantly picked a very pretty blue color with me.  This weekend, I decided to paint the door.  Here is what happened:

Ugh...The color is a little more baby blue than I wanted.  I will say though, it does show off the hardware nicely.  AND....Clint actually liked the change, but not the color!  So, we will be making another trip to Home Depot this week to find a new color.

What do you think?  Are we headed in the right direction, as far as blue-wise?  Or should we think about another color?  HELP!

Our Biggest Enemy

Tree Roots! 

I am sure some of you remember me mentioning a basement problem we have been having since we moved into our paradise 3 1/2 years ago.  Our basement likes to flood.  With no warning either.  The first year I moved in, I had to have the drain snaked about 3 times.  I just figured it was because it was an old home and nobody maintained the drain for years.  Well, that was part of the problem.

Then, in 2009, we got 2 backups in less than 2 months.  We were told at that point that a camera needed to be put down the drain to see what the issue was.  Lets face it, the money just wasn't there.  We decided to try root killer all winter to save a little cash. 

You would of thought this would of brought us good luck.

Then, a month ago, Clint came home to find our entire basement filled with about a half inch of water.  We called out the plumbers again.  This time, we listened and had them out with the camera.  Good news, the pipes were ok.  Bad news, the problem was going to keep happening if we didn't have an outside drain installed.  

$2,000 later (Yes, you read that right), our front lawn went from looking like this...

To this....

I have to be honest, we were both pretty scared about spending the money on this.  I mean, who happens to have $2,000 extra sitting around for something like this?  But we knew it would be worth it to not live in fear anymore about our belongings soaked.  Plus, the pipes could of collapsed, which could of cost us about $10,000 to repair.

Things We Learned:

1. Insurance does not cover this.  They consider it "maintenance", and therefore, it's your problem.

2. Drains should be snaked once a year.  Don't wait for a back up to happen.

3. Even cutting down trees wont stop roots from entering.  Did you know roots can still live up to 10 years after the tree is cut down?

So fellow bloggers, do not neglect your drains!

*Thanks to Paul C. Scott & Sons Plumbing for their excellent help and professional manner.  Anyone living in the Southeastern Michigan area, this is the company I would call for your plumbing needs!

Our Newlywed Paradise Through the Years

December of 2006, I bought our paradise.  

It was my dream home.  My little, fixer upper.  In 2007, my dream home became our dream home when I met my sweet Clint.

Wasn't she cute?  She was built in 1948, and we are the third owners.  Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of the before.  It was the real estate picture.  I remember seeing this picture after my real estate agent sent it to me and thinking, "What, is she nuts?"  But then I fell in love.  

The problems that needed to be taken care of right away were the very over grown shrubs.  The shurbs were so bad, that they ruined a few of the original wood windows.  I had to replace the large front window right away.

Our Paradise in 2007-2008

Much better, right?  No more bushes eating up our home!  We added decorative concrete edging, new plants, repainted the front door, new mail box, new porch light, and new windows. 

Our Paradise in 2009-Present

We have done a lot in almost 4 years!  Last November, we painted the areas that were wood and the garage door.  The wood around the windows was rotting, so it had to be done asap!  We also painted the foundation, got rid of a tiny bush that was dead, and added a flower box under the front window.

Things we love:

The original wood front door, bay window, The small window at the top, trees surrounding the house.

Things we plan to do:

Get rid of the awning and rod iron railings.  Number 1, they are falling apart.  Number 2, I don't think they do anything for the house.  I have always been in love with large porches.  Our very far away future goal would be to do this, only on a smaller scale:

Source

Things we don't like:

The gray roof.  It is just so boring.  This will have to wait to be replaced, since the roof is newer.

At first, I hated the painting we did.  Clint loved it.  Now it has grown on me, but I am not digging the color of our front door anymore.  I feel like it clashes now.

Need your advise again, what color should we paint our front door?

Update on the bathroom:

We have taken all of your advise into consideration and are going to take down the shower doors and find an adorable shower curtain...look for the future post in the fall.

Awesome Find!

I have been all over town searching for a buffet for my dining room.  We realized we needed some extra storage to put my grandmother's china and little odds and ends away for safe keeping.  I really wanted to find something I could refinish and make my own, instead of paying a ton of money for a new one.  But everything I found was HUGE or over priced!  Then I found this one at Target for $170, with free shipping and an additional 15% off !

Cute, huh.  I really thought this was it.  It was a little smaller than I wanted, but I thought I could make it work.  Clint wasn't totally convinced this was it.  On Saturday, I went to 3 antique stores and 1 thrift store with my mom and came home empty handed.  Then Sunday, I fell in love.

Clint and I went to a couple antique stores and didn't find anything.  I remembered one other store I wanted to try on the way home. 

It was fate!

The best part, it was $48!

It needs a little work on the very top and I am not very crazy about the finish.  I would also like to change out the handles and knobs.  So, spring and summer, I may be sanding and staining.

I've seen a few of my blog friends with some great finds lately!  Anyone else been having luck with great finds?

 

Halloween/Fall Decorating

Over the weekend, Clint and myself finished putting up our holiday decorations inside and outside our home.  Thought you would like to take a peak!

Let me start off by telling you our family tradition of apple picking.  We go to the same apple orchard every year, Apple Charlies.  Below are a few pictures from the trip.  Of course afterwards, my mom made an awesome apple pie!

First picture is of Clint reaching with all his short might :-).  The middle picture is of my brother, his girlfriend, and my parents.

Of course, no trip would be complete without a trip to the Barn of Blood! 

So the reason I am telling you about our apple picking trip first is because we picked pumpkins there as well.  My family all decided to get with normal looking pumpkins.  Not me!  I found this little guy sitting all by himself and had to have him! My family thought I was nuts!  Why would I want a green pumpkin?!?!  Duh!  Because!  Look how incredibly cute it is next to Clint's on our front porch!

On to our house:

We put up a few gravestones, cornstalks, hail, spider web, and spider lights.

Go Blue!  Anways, back to decorating...

Inside, I love using our fireplace as a focal point in the room.

 

Next is our book shelves.  I do not over do it on the shelves because I hate clutter.  So just some fake leaves spread out is enough for me.

On our dining room table, I decided to use the corn from the corn stalks as a decoration, as well as some of our apples from apple picking.

So that is our house all falled out!  O I almost forgot!  Many years ago, I bought this very funny pillow that Clint thinks is evil.  You tell me what you think....

Operation Curb Appeal

All summer I have said I would work on my yard and exterior of the house. Well, I think it's safe to say that time has passed. Since the weather is still nice, I am able to get a little work in before the cold hits.

On a recent trip to Home Depot, I scored an awesome deal on paint! That's right...$5 big ones! It was on the counter where paint is mixed. It was an "oops" can that needed a home.


Since our foundation could use some prettiness, we snagged it up!

I am pretty happy with the results. We still have some areas to finish up, but it's a start.



Next was the yard. We have this very sad looking bush in the front of our house. It's half dead and not very attractive.



A recent trip to a florist on Sunday fixed this problem! 50% off! I got it for $12!


There is still plenty to be done. Mostly painting. Will keep you posted.