Guest room bed

I have been watching for a box spring for our guest room.  A lot of people now have platform beds so they don't need a box spring and they are so expensive to buy on their own.  We bought a new mattress for Ethan but it didn't come with a box spring.  It was kind of a mess.  But I found one in Washington.  When we got there, the woman gave us the box spring, a mattress, a mattress pad, and a bed frame.  And we only paid $25.  I wasn't ready for all that, so I had only taken our truck. Courtney wasn't sure it would all fit, but we did it and got it home from Washington.  I was nervous but we did it!

Fat Man's Misery

Courtney and Bryan love hiking Fat Man's Misery.  This year, Julie and her kids came along.  They all had a great time, the weather was great, and they didn't struggle too badly (sunburns don't count, right?).  Here are some pictures from their adventure.

The crew:

Taking a break:

Courtney getting roped in for her rapel.

The happy face before the rapel:

Not quite sure at the beginning of the rapel:

Loving this rapel

The tired hikers at the end:

The hike takes all day to accomplish.  The left around 6 am and didn't get home until late.  They stopped and got Wendy's for dinner (a tradition).  I'm glad they were able to go on Fat Man's again this year.

Countdowns

Courtney has been keeping track of how long Ethan has left on his mission.  She keeps a count each day on her mirror in her room and also has a countdown chain.  She is excited, as we all are, to have him coming home soon!

RIP our table saw

Our table saw was no match for our basement.  After cutting a ton of boards for closets and baseboards, it decided it didn't want to work anymore.  I don't know if it was all the saw dust that clogged it up or if it was because it was 20 years old, but it decided not to work anymore.  We still had a bunch of baseboards and closet shelves to cut.  We went to my parent's house and used my dad's saw, but it took a while and was such a mess. \\

It was then decided that we would go to the college's MakerSpace and use their table saw.  Bryan and I went through their training so we would know what we were doing.  We then signed up for a time to go over and cut boards. We were amazed at how quickly and quietly we were able to cut the boards.  And they have a dust collection method that makes it so there isn't much of a mess.  We decided this was well worth the small amount of money we had to pay to use the saw.

Cute Courtney

One of Courtney's favorite places is in a hammock in our backyard.  When the weather is beautiful, she will take her book outside and lay in the hammock for hours and read.  It is such a nice thing to do!

Nightstand

I wanted to get a nightstand for Ethan's room. I couldn't find anything that I liked that wasn't too expensive. I finally found something that I liked on Facebook Marketplace.  It was for $15 and so I decided to go take a look.  It turned out to be in great condition, just needed a good cleaning.  I took it and decided to see what I could do with it.

This is what it looked like when I got it.

I cleaned it up, sanded it, filled in some holes on the top and side, then decided to paint part of it and shellac the other parts.  I think the final product looks pretty good and it matches Ethan's bed exactly.  

Stairwell

I wanted to get the painting done in the basement.  The last thing that I needed to do was the stairwell.  It was tricky because I had to cut around the stairs and the handrail. I realized when I started that I would need to caulk each of the stairs to make it look nice. It took a couple of days to get it caulked and painted, but I think it turned out really well.  It certainly lightened up the stairwell.

Work smarter, not harder

Courtney was helping me get the exercise room put together.  The drywall guys and the paint guys had done a number to our treadmill.  It had paint and mud all over it.  We took washcloths and soap to it to try and get most of it cleaned off.  It looked great, except for the tread part.  It was dusty and we couldn't get it to look good.  That is until Courtney figured it out.

Certificate

Courtney needed .5 of a CTE credit for graduation.  She decided to take Entrepreneurship at SCHS for the credit.  When she signed up she had no idea that it was a concurrent enrollment class.  She was able to get college credit while taking it, which is a huge plus for her.

She wasn't a huge fan of the class.  They had to sell cookies for one project and ended up passing because they made 1 cent.  They also watched a lot of Shark Tank.  When she finished, she passed the state certification for the class and was given a certificate.  I took her picture but she gave me her fake smile.  

Courtney's room

Since there was carpet and a working bathroom, Courtney decided it was time for her to move downstairs.  She moved her bed, got her photos on her wall, moved her dresser down there, and got all moved in.  She is so excited and is going to start sleeping down there.  It is exciting.

This is what her old room looks like now. We need to get it ready as a guest room, but for now, it looks sad without Courtney's stuff in it.

Ethan's wall is done

I got Ethan's accent wall finished.  It looks so good!  I am excited to put the bed in there and get things on the walls.

Shower door

Our basement shower got a door!  It looks so good.  

Now, we need to finish the accent walls and put in baseboards.  Then the bathroom will be finished!

Senior sunrise

Courtney and some of her friends from Success Academy decided to do a senior sunrise.  After they finished all their finals, they got up really early and went to watch the sun rise on their senior year of high school.  We bought donuts, juice, and chocolate milk to contribute to their fun morning.

She is now a senior!