☼ VIRSATA HOOPS ☼: Back in Business

So, it's been 3 months,
basically an entire season, since I've updated.

Reason #1, things have been BUSY.

Reason #2, I no longer have a camera to document the busy-ness to make fun posts. My 7-year old camera now doesn't even have a latching battery cover, which causes it to turn on and off constantly, making it utterly useless. Very sad story :*(

But, regardless of the fact that I have not been able to capture ALL the changes, I decided its time to write again. Lots of colorless words. Although, I did round up a few pics from Kens camera and my phone.

So what have we been up to since the middle of summer?

1. Construction!

For a long while Ken and I had thought about fencing off the side yard...

One reason being, we wanted privacy. Another being, Ken wanted to eventually get another dog (as I believe I've mentioned in older posts). We'll, we found out quickly that the hardest part about fencing off a yard, isn't getting it done, but getting the city to allow you to. It took us about 2 months of variation applications, rejections, appeal hearings, neighborhood petitions and befriending our ward's alderman to get this completed. And it finally went up the last week of September.

And for the record, it looks awesome. Although, it still needs to be stained before the end of the year.

2. Vacation!

Another thing that happened in the end of September was our trip out to Portland to visit Kens sister Kristen and brother in law Dave. This was Kens second time out to Oregon and my first! It was such a fun time and we had the best weather while we were there. We ate amazing food, shopped at the coolest stores, and experienced inspiring nature that I missed the second we got home. This was our first vacation together in over a year and I'm so glad we made it happen. What I would give to have this kind of scenery out here.

3. Redecorating!

One thing I love about Ken is that we both can't go more than a few days without coming up with new ideas to make our place more functional. He enjoys projects as much as I do! Having a small floor plan is really an exercise in efficiency, because you have to constantly think about the best way to use the space you're given to be most beneficial. Channeling Nate Berkus in a way :)

So, over the past 3 months, we've replaced our old patio furniture, had some bushes removed to alter the patio and designate a space for next years veggie garden (as the magnolia tree has grown and totally taken over the old space.

We've sold a TON of furniture. Had a garage sale, used Craigslist, and gave the rest away to friends. We purged dining tables, chairs, buffets, couches, book shelves, and a few more odds and ends to make space, and start over in a sense.

We turned the "den" into a dining room, by selling the table in the kitchen and swapping it for a movable island for more cabinet space (we had practically none). Here's a phone pic I took during breakfast...

The table is great because it can be used small like this on a regular basis, or extended from both ends to fit 6.

Next, we took the gigantic L desk out of the "office" and into the basement, moved the chase lounge in, and turned the office into a music studio. The desk in the basement then became 1/2 my sewing station and 1/2 Kens art desk with a monitor and digital tablet.

The rest of the basement will still be the gym, and Ken even put up two huge mirrors on the wall in front of my dance mat to use for hooping! What a guy :)

In the middle of all this, we've had the entire floor plan rewired for audio, so everything is a MESS! And unfortunately we are not anywhere near done with the changes. Insert stressed look ::here::

Our work for November includes:

-Painting the dining room and studio (still debating on colors)
-Putting Flor carpeting in the dining room (think we're going with this one)
-Possibly getting new windows for the dining room and living room (bay window is a possibility)
-Having the Torii gate finished for the garden entrance.

Hopefully ALL of this will be settled by the first of the new year, because I start school at the Lake Shore Athletic Club on the 4th! I'm getting reeeeally excited. Although, I still need to get my physical.

4. Miya

Last but not least, probably the biggest change this fall has been our new dog. Instead of getting a whippet puppy as we had thought, we decided to give a home to a 2 year old who just so happened to also be a show dog from McHenry. Here's a pic of her with Kacey in the kitchen...

During September we took a few trips with Kacey out to visit and make sure they got along, and we were pretty nervous for a while because Kacey has such a dominant and sassy personality.

It has now been a month and 1 day and I'm happy to say they get along quite happily. I even think Kacey enjoys having a buddy to chase sticks with.

The only main issue we've had is dealing with Miyas level of anxiety. It's hard for an adult dog to get used to a new life obviously, so she is very attached to us (Ken especially) and has a hard time being alone. She went through 2 crates (breaking them) in less than a week, until finally we found one that she felt comfortable with and could not mutilate.

She's a huge snuggler and looooves squeekers.

So happy we have her.

Now, with all these stressful projects happening this fall, Ken and I finally decided to start taking yoga together as a way to unwind. I'm actually really excited to be able to do this together. We're starting at our park district which has a really nice facility, and after the holidays we'll probably start attending at the SunMoon Yoga studio in the next town over, when our muscles are in better shape. :)

Just got a cute new mat bag for the occasion, in brown.