garden 2014 // the beginning

Sometimes simple things aren’t so simple. Take, for instance, our vegetable garden. It all started with my parents’s raised beds that they just built this year. They are beautiful. Although I didn’t know where, exactly, I would put them I knew I had to have some of my own. I thought it would be a great summer project for all of us, especially the kids. My parents are always incredibly generous, and they came up on a rainy afternoon and built us some beds of our own.

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I picked what I thought was the perfect location. The backyard doesn’t get enough sun to grow vegetables, so I knew I needed to put the beds near the front. I picked an out-of-the-way location on the side of the front lawn, not too near my neighbor’s property. The first major obstacle occurred when the loam delivery guy took it upon himself to be “helpful” and dumped a ton of dirt directly into the beds…which I hadn’t prepared yet. So, I spent that whole afternoon shoveling the dirt out of the boxes, putting down the landscape fabric, and then shoveling it back in. I was pooped.

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A couple of rainy days and a week of dance rehearsals and performances kept me from getting anything planted for the rest of the week. Then, yesterday, I finally made it to the store and picked up some already started plants (cheating, I know, but I’m doing the best I can here). Zane and I hauled all of the plants over to the beds, and set them in the dirt where we wanted to plant them. Then, with Zane literally holding the trowel in mid-air ready to dig the first hole, my neighbor came over and started giving me a hard time about where the beds were located. Long story short, in the end Damian and I decided that it was best to move the beds (the situation is complicated by several factors and I’m not going to go into detail). Being a good neighbor means knowing when to fight and when to compromise.

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So, last night my whole family came over and helped me to dig up the beds and move them to the other side of the house (I had previously asked the neighbors on that side if it was okay with them, and they were so understanding and supportive, which was wonderful). This morning, Zane and I planted most of what we bought (we still need a little more dirt for the second bed, since we lost some in the move). I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will turn out to be fun for the kids, and we’ll get some yummy veggies to eat, too. So far, despite the obstacles, so good. I’ll update the garden’s progress throughout the summer.

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garden collage
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christmas // daytime

This year we did things a little differently on Christmas day — it was partly intentional (working around my brother’s crazy fireman’s schedule) and partly unintentional (postponing Christmas with my in-laws because they have been very ill). In any case, here is our “home” Christmas (just us and the kids). Damian gave me a new camera lens for Christmas — WOOHOO! — so you might notice a difference in quality after the first few shots. It works SO well in low light/indoors. I can’t believe it.

Zane got lots of wooden vehicles (including a forklift!), and Lillia’s big present was a star-themed “kid cave” in the basement — it was a lot of work to get everything done in time for Christmas (thanks, Mom & Dad), but so worth it. There’s a video of the “big reveal” at the end of this post. Her reaction was priceless :) Of course, she immediately started “customizing” the space (as was my hope). She’s working on a mural of some sort on the big blank wall next to the stairs. I’ll be posting more photos of the space in a couple of days as part of my New Year’s Resolutions Review for 2013.

christmas eve

christmas // daytime

christmas // daytime

christmas // daytime

christmas // daytime

christmas // daytime

Christmas // daytime

christmas // daytime

christmas // daytime

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christmas // daytime

christmas // daytime

christmas // daytime

christmas // daytime

christmas // daytime

Lillia Christmas Day from Kelli Wilson on Vimeo.

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my new “office”

I don’t consider my blog a decorating/home improvement type website by any means, but we just finished up a project that I thought would be interesting to share, especially for those of you with small houses that can’t sacrifice an entire room for a home office. I posted a long time ago about my plans to convert our closet into an office (or “cloffice”). Well, it took a long time, but my husband really pulled through for me. This was a lot of work for him, and I appreciate it so, so much. In fact, I feel a little undeserving.

It is beautiful.

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The photos don’t do it justice. It looks so small, but when you are working at the desktop it actually feels quite spacious (the closet is about 2 ft. deep x 4 ft. wide x 8 ft. tall). Damian used 2×2 pine ledgers which we topped with poplar board shelves (they are very solid and will probably take longer to bend than pine under all those books). The desktop is a piece of 3/4 inch thick plywood custom cut for me by Damian and is supported by 1×4 ledges on three sides (back, right side, and the front on either side of the doorway). We had to do this crazy setup because our bathroom shower access is on the left side of the closet, and we wanted to be able to reach it easily and quickly. It works out really nicely, though, because the gap on the left side allows me to run cords up between the wall and the desktop. Underneath the desk I have my printer on the left side, and a cart with all of my writing supplies and stationery on the right side. It is so wonderful to have a place for all of my things.

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I added our college diplomas on the wall behind the bedroom door just for fun (you can only see them from inside the room with the door closed, so I don’t feel like I’m showing off). I also have a few more things I’d like to add, like a corkboard and some wall-mounted file storage, but I’m enjoying it just the way it is for now. I plan to do a lot of research from this space, as I seem to have become obsessed with genealogy again! I’d also like to try writing some poetry…it will all be terrible, I’m sure, but at least I have a nice space in which to write it!

Lastly, I owe a big thank you to my wonderful husband, Damian, who made this dream (and many others) come true. I feel so loved.

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