Yearly Archives: 2015

Daily Life, Home Projects, Project 365

Garage Work Continues On

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I know, I know, we’re behind just a bit in our blogging. I missed a day or two last week when Tim was gone. It was a lot of pressure, having to blog every day.

I did, however, make sure to take a picture each day. So the integrity of the Project 365 is intact. I just need to go back and write a few missing blogs. All will be in proper order soon. Sarah and I are determined to make sure 2015 has 365 blog posts. Don’t worry, Sarah, I’ll make things right before the end of June!

Today I worked for hours and hours on the garage. I got up early and started organizing while the kids (and Tim) were all still asleep. I stopped (briefly) for meals, one trip to Target, and an afternoon break to help a friend revamp her homeschool/rec room.

After that, it was straight back to the garage. It didn’t bother me that it was hot outside. I had a little fan to stir the air, plus my wireless earphones and plenty of Netflix shows to watch while I worked.

I will take pictures of the progress tomorrow. Today I was just too busy working to snap any pics. The cats are tortured by my labor because I open the garage door and shut them up in the house. No running down the street for them. We caught them trying to sneak out the screen door several times today. Sarah finally propped something against the door (from the outside) to prevent runaway cats.

Most of the time, in this heat, they look something like this.

"I cannot be bothered to get up right now, human."

“I cannot be bothered to get up right now, human.”

Lazy, fluffy cats might be my favorite!

Project 365 – Day 179
Kathy

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Photography, Project 365

How We Track Days in our P365

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When I was several weeks into our Project 365, I realized I wouldn’t be able to keep track of what day was what number of the year. January was easy – January 1st was Project 365 Day 1. But, um, going into February and March was going to require actual adding and calculations.

It’s not that I’m afraid of adding or subtracting (heck, I’m going on my 5th time teaching Algebra this year), but I often blog LATE at night and that is a time notorious for math mistakes.

Cleaning and sorting and laundry/dishes I can do with no problem at midnight (or beyond). Math? Not so much. Tim doesn’t have the same trouble keeping track of the calendar days. Something to do with his programmer mind, I think (or maybe he just looks at my post from the day before and adds 1).

Needless to say, I KNEW there had to be a calendar of some sort online that I could use to keep track of our Project 365. I found one that needed some modification (black and white? Seriously? We need some color!)

July 2015 016A

Bottom half

Calendar of Numbered Days

Click here to grab the Excel file:

Project 365 Calendar

This has been a tremendous help in keeping track of my blogging days. I can find the month, the day, and then know exactly what numbered day of the year it is. A simple thing, but crucial as I try to stay in sync with the days.

Swing Set Poses

Swing Set Poses from Day 178

My phone organizes pictures according to day (another huge help), but downloading them to my computer (from phone or digital camera) requires a little more labeling and sorting. It’s very satisfying work, and I’m amazed and pleased that in 2015 we have already blogged more than we did in all of 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. I’m thankful for my college kids who bugged inspired and encouraged us to blog more faithfully this year.

Project 365 – Day 178 (June 25)
Kathy

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Daily Life, Project 365, Rachel

Kayaking and Decluttering

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Rachel has developed a love of kayaking. We have some friends with kayaks, and they are incredibly generous to share with us. Rachel went out on Monday and has been itching to go again.

[Sound familiar, Shari?]

Today, even though it was grey and cloudy (sun didn’t come out until we LEFT the lake, go figure), we went to play in the water. Rachel stole off in one of the kayaks.

Go Rachel!

Go Rachel!

We came home, and I got back to work on the mess that is my garage. I made lots of great progress. No pictures yet. It was bad enough baring my shame for the internet in that other post. We stopped for a quick dinner, then it was back out to the garage for me.

So far I have filled the back of the van with bags to donate. I’ve nearly filled up our recycling and trash bins, and still have more to do. My desire would be to have some sort of a designated spot for everything in the garage. Christmas decorations in their respective bins. Tim’s tools all sorted and organized. Computer parts – check. Filed paperwork – check. Toys – organized. Homeschool materials – sorted and filed. Books – everywhere.

Okay, that last one is definitely true. Just not willing to really sort through and pare down the books.

Tim was wonderful and went through 3 old, old laptops for me. He pulled off any pictures or files that were remaining, got rid of the batteries, went through a big box of random cords, and made me a nice stack for the trash. Yay! I love it when I get help from Tim and the kids on sorting things in the garage. Teamwork is my favorite!

I didn’t stop working until Rachel came home from her shift. Daniel was closing at Chick-Fil-A, so he was gone late. Sarah and a friend were enjoying a High School Musical marathon (always fun!). Rachel and David convinced me to stop my relentless decluttering and organizing and watch a movie with them (something other than HSM). Nice to take a break.

Sisters!

Sisters!

Tomorrow we continue. I LOVE summer and having relaxed days where we can tackle projects, visit with friends, and sometimes kayak out into the blue water.

Project 365 – Day 175
Kathy

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Yard Work

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Several years ago, I built four raised garden beds for my tomato empire (which never really took off). As with many of my hopes and intentions, the tomato plants produced a lot of leaves but less fruit (or vegetable, depending on where you fall in the great “Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable” debate) than I had expected. The first step is determining where you would like to plant your tree, whether that be in the front, back, or side of your house. Different trees will thrive more in certain areas depending on the amount of sunlight they require, soil type, and amount of water. It is essential to look into the zoning and neighborhood association rules to ensure you’re following all guidelines as some place limitations on the types of tree as well as the location in which they can be planted. Determining your property lines is another factor that should be considered as the expected size of the tree in its adult life may sway your decision, If you want to know how to properly plant a tree? Then visit to KG landscape website.

My sweetie in yard-work mode.

My sweetie in yard-work mode.

Now we are dismantling the garden beds, one by one, leaving only one to house a few, paltry plants. Kathy got tired of waiting for someone else to do it, so she’s out there this evening hacking at the weeds that cover the structure.

The messy covering of hay offends Kathy, and it must be removed.

The messy covering of hay offends Kathy, and it must be removed.

Once she’s removed the hay from the garden bed, we can remove the sides and use the dirt as topsoil for our front yard (where we hope to plant some shrubs or ground cover).

Kathy's cool extendable hoe is really earning its keep.

Kathy’s cool extendable hoe is really earning its keep.

We seeded the ground with grass seed, where the other two garden beds used to stand, but one seems to have produced only weeds. There is a particularly prolific and fast-growing weed that seems to spring up wherever we leave a little unattended dirt. I only wish our grass would grow like that.

Mystery weeds

Mystery weeds

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Daily Life

Another Graduate

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Tonight we went to another graduation party. It is so amazing to watch the young people in our community grow up into such godly adults. We are so proud of Jacquelyn, who graduated high school and is going to the Coast Guard Academy! Our families have been friends since we first moved to Washington in 1999. That probably makes their family our longest friends from our beloved Washington.

wpid-20150622_180718.jpg

We love you Jacquelyn and family. Praying for you as you begin this new adventure.

Friends

Friends

Project 365 – Day 173

Kathy

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