I had a pretty great 4th of July! I woke up in the morning and headed to Ames at about 9 am. I met Shannon and her cousin Matthew for a pretty sweet breakfast of biscuits and gravy that Shannon made. Then I headed over to Jen and Derrick’s to… Read More »4th of July
It is often, most likely, mistaught to the children of America that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree. The story is used as an example of George Washington’s veracity. I’ve heard the story, but what is most intriguing about the story to me is why he would chop down… Read More »I Can Not Tell A Lie
Today is Shannon’s birthday. Last night, for the 2nd straight year, The Burnin’ Sensations sang her Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday Shannon! To view even more pictures of Shannon, click on the link below the picture. More Pictures of Shannon
I have a bush in my backyard. In fact, I have several bushes in my backyard. But one of those bushes is special. That one bush holds a nest. Recently the eggs in the nest started to hatch. Out of those eggs came baby grackles. I’m a long time hater… Read More »Memorial Day Backyard
On May 23, I had my housewarming party. I would consider it a success on some level. 10-15 showed up for it. I would like to thank everybody that made an appearance: Baier, Jason Bardole, Shannon Bennett, Charlotte Brannen, Suzie Daniel, Jeff Derner, Geri Degeneffe, Scott Gorshe, Derrick Gorshe, Jen… Read More »Shindy
I had a housewarming/birthday shindig on May 23. I made individual invitations for those that were invited. I’d like to share some of them. Willy The Kahlers Nader Sara Shannon The Roberts Family The Hiatts The Howards Jay Jeff and Yin The Gorshes The Baiers Bethany and Rebecca Casy The… Read More »Housewarming Invites
I thought I would share a few pictures of the action that is going on in my backyard. I still don’t really know what some/most of this stuff is going to turn out to be, so if you know, don’t be afraid to shout out the answer.
In case you didn’t look through your Ames Tribune on Saturday, I would like to draw you attention to an advertisement. I can say that I gave a small bit of help with this advertisement and if you still haven’t switched over from the evil corporate soap monopolies to a… Read More »Saturday Ames Tribune
The following transpired on March 27. Shannon and I went to see the Blue Note Records 70th Anniversary Tour at Stephens Auditorium. The show consisted of an all-star lineup of current Blue Note musicians playing the songs of some of their greatest composers. One of the performers in the Blue… Read More »Friday Night Jazz Club
On March 19, I got a simple 3 word text message from Shannon in Florida: “I got it.” The “it” that she “got” was a Horiuchi Memorial Award for being an outstanding State Program Manager for the Iowa Jaycees. PHOTO LOST Contributed Photo AKA I wasn’t in Florida Although admittedly… Read More »Another One for the Awards Wall
I have one loyal subscriber that incessantly complains whenever I post too many posts without pictures. He often sends me an email that in essence “boos” me. I usually tell him that he is a big boy now and that he needs to use his words. But I’m quite certain… Read More »Saturday the 14th
I actually struggled quite extensively with picking out colors for the living/dining room. I wanted to do the accent wall thing and I didn’t want to match any of the colors in any of the other rooms. Red, blue, gray, yellow and green were all taken. I was heading towards… Read More »The Great Room
The guest bedroom. I view it as my library, but most people view as the cowboy room. When I got around to picking the color for this room, I had already picked blue for my bedroom, red for the kitchen, gray for the office and green for the bathroom. I… Read More »October Leaves
There are no pictures from moving day, but I would like to thank the people that gave some effort to make moving day work out. The Friday before moving day had spectacular weather. The Saturday of moving day was not scheduled to have spectacular weather. I returned to work on… Read More »Moving Day
The very first color I decided on was for the bedroom. I was kind of partial to Dutch Boy paint because an old high school chum used to wear a Dutch Boy hat around. Plus, I like the plastic paint jug with a pour spout. Plus, I picked up paint… Read More »The Master Bedroom
On Monday Shannon and Jesse came over to help paint the kitchen. This concludes all the pictures I have of people helping with the new house. It took 6-7 coats of paint to paint the kitchen. That is lots and lots of paint.
Although Carla and Alexis did a wonderful job of taking pictures, one of the downsides of not having taken any pictures myself is that I didn’t get pictures of everybody that helped. So thanks to my incredible painting crew on Primary Painting Day: Jason Stensland Carla Stensland Alexis Stensland Jason… Read More »Primary Painting Day
More pictures from paint prep night. I got those green chairs from my Aunt Linda to with a sweet white table she was throwing away. Those chairs are surprisingly popular. That is also Shannon showing off her taping skills. Carla painting the bathroom. Life Lesson: When working on a ceiling… Read More »Friday Night Paint Prep Club – Part B
Day 3 of home ownership consisted of paint prep and lots of it. Her are some pictures in no particular order from that night. Teresa eating. Shannon would want me to point out one thing in this picture. Well maybe two things. One she is a master taper. Two she… Read More »Friday Night Paint Prep Club – Part A
Negotiation isn’t the sharpest tool in my skillset. So after I had made the decision to make a move and try to buy the House with the Cute Backyard, I was a bit worried about the negotiation part of the process. To not bore you with the details of the… Read More »The Ballad of House Buying: Part 5 – The Art of Negotiation
On Sunday, January 10, I looked at the House with the Cute Backyard with Jason. I had seen the house with my Mom, Carla and Jay. Plus Teresa had seen it earlier. I wanted Jason’s far more practical perspective. Jesse also dropped by to look for a lead pipe. A… Read More »The Ballad of House Buying: Part 4 – A Closer Examination