the value of a good lamp...

We have a new addition in the living room -- a table lamp! To some, it may seem a little weird that I'm so excited about a table lamp, but I have been looking for one for awhile now. I've been saving for one for awhile, too -- some lamps are so stinkin' expensive! All the ones that I seemed to be looking at were, anyway.

But one day recently, Jeff and I were at Lowe's having some keys made and Jeff told me to go look at the lamps while we were there. So I did and I found this lampstand on clearance and the shade that I chose to go with it really wasn't overly expensive either (though it was more pricey than the stand). The shade is actually a pretty similar color, though lighter, to our accent wall color in the living room now, so I wasn't sure how it would look once we got it home but we both like it a lot. I like the height of the stand, too, because it's up high enough for my frames to still sit on the side table and for good reading light, etc.

Yay for my find! Now I can save for something else...Lord knows, there are tons of other things I want to do/buy for our house! :)

rock corner -- part III

It's done! Our "rock corner" is complete! Jeff took some time the end of last week to go get the rock and finish up the rock corner while I was at work. I am so happy with how it turned out and I think Jeff is, too. We've already had our first somewhat heavy rain since it's been done and it worked out great. We had a little "ponding", but I'd rather have it on the rock than on our grass.

Once Jefff got it done, he took photos of it empty first, but then also took a photo (with his phone) after he made a few adjustments. He moved our grill over to the rock from the patio and we have a steel table that was sitting on the patio, too -- it's now up against the house on the rock. We have the trash can sitting on the rock, too, although that cramps things just a bit when we want to grill. An easy fix, of course, but I like having the trash can right there by the door when I need to throw something out. We can always move it when we get ready to grill.

The only thing on our patio now is a couple of (sorry-looking) chairs and it just makes everything looks so much bigger and more open out there! I really like it. What do you think?

Voila!

rock corner -- part II

The temperatures have been a tad bit cooler recently and this morning was actually pretty cool compared to the breath-taking heat we've had, even at 6 or 7 in the morning...

So we decided that we should tackle "phase II" of the rock corner in our backyard. After gathering our tools (wheelbarrow, shovels, rake & hoe) and working for about 2 1/2 hours, here's what part II of the rock corner looks like: