We bought a house.

Well, we did it. We took the plunge into homeownership. It's a bit overwhelming, but more than that, it's exciting. We love our house, and have been busy making it our home.

We're not totally done decorating & settling in, but here's what we've got so far: 

It's here...

It feels like winter is suddenly here...

and I don't mind one bit.

Time to pull out my thick scarves & sweaters,

and wear tights with every outfit.

Oh, and knitting with chunky, soft, heavy yarns.

 

We haven't gotten our gas turned on yet, so it's really cold downstairs.

Upstairs is heated electrically, so we can snuggle up warm in bed.

Last night we were too cold to stay downstairs,

so we played Yahtzee on the floor in our bedroom.

Cohen really wanted to play with the dice.

 

When Cohen gets cold, he curls his little body up into a teensy tiny ball.

It's probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Maybe I'll make him a sweater....

cold little pup...

Happy Home.

Some things aren't great right now. But other things are. Like my pets. They don't care what other shit is happening; they just want to cuddle.

The health-conscious dog.

The pup-school graduate.

The co-existing couch-mates.

The bone pillow.

The "I'm ready for dinner, guys" head-cock.

And this is why I like being at home so much. Because of these guys.

Saturday Success.

Saturday was a really, perfect day in so many ways. One of those days where, at the end of it when you're lying in bed next to your best friend in the whole world & a pup at your feet, you just smile thinking of all the wonderful things that fit in such a small number of hours. Saturday was one of those days.

We slept in, so you know it was bound to be a good day. I woke up with a pup stretched out next to me, got up, and hobbled sleepily down the stairs to see my husband in the kitchen busy at work making fresh ketchup. Have you ever made/eaten fresh ketchup? It's not even the same category of foods as the regular stuff. Such complex flavors all binding together to make the most perfect condiment/topping/sauce ever.

Homemade snack: ketchup & fries.

After we finished making ketchup & cleaning up the mess (it was a big mess), we did yard work & planted our fall garden. I love sweating in the sunshine and getting my hands literally dirty. And I am so excited about our garden for the fall. It was kind of a bust this summer; we started too late in the season once we moved in, and then it was just too hot for much of anything to live. Not to mention the mess of bermuda grass. But after a summer of sitting under cardboard and straw, our beds are full of rich, moist, dark soil, perfect for growing a fall bounty. We planted radishes, dragon carrots, arugula, & onions in the first bed. Hopefully this week we'll finish forking the second bed & get our kale & more radishes planted. I'm really optimistic that we'll get something out of this season's crop.

Our rose bush bloomed! 

Be still my heart. Basil basil basil.

Looks like we've got some tomaters!

After our wonderfully productive morning of gardening & yard work, we cleaned up, napped, ate an amazing lunch with our ketchup, and headed to the DOG PARK! Happiest place on earth. Plus, Cohen got to play with one of his two girlfriends, Nova. We met up with Nova's mom, Heather, and our other human friend Cayla at the park and giggled as the dogs frolicked & played. After Nova & Cohen tired themselves out a bit, we all went to Hillsboro Village to meet up with Cohen's other girlfriend, Bella, and her mom Marie for the Pup Crawl I had been excited about all week. Well, I think the rain earlier in the day may have ruined the pup crawl, cause there was not much of a crawl going on. Nevertheless, we had a great time chatting and spending time together at Fido with our pups. 

Bein' a pup.

Once we returned home with our tired pooch, we made our snack of fries & ketchup to enjoy while watching the movie Stardust. Ummm, how have I never seen that movie? It was seriously one of the best movies I've ever seen. I want to watch it again ASAP. It was so magical and wonderful! Plus, they all have British accents so you know I loved it. 

Beautiful story, beautiful people, beautiful costumes.

And then of course, after my wonderful, perfect Saturday, I got to lie down next to the love of my life & wake up to a whole new day with him. 

Because I love photos of my pets.

And I hope you do too...

Shoot. He's stinkin' cute.

cat & dog, on the same bed.  (this was after Cohen tried to lick Fiero's butt hole)

Lookin' goofy. THOSE EARS. Love them so.

I swear, he is the best model.

And Corduory was probably hidden under a piece of furniture or awkwardly crammed in a cubby-hole somewhere at the times these photos were taken.

Farmer's Market, Gardening, Food, & Friends.

Yesterday was basically my ideal day.

To start my awesome evening off, I went to the East Nashville Farmer's Market for the first time! I was so overwhelmed and happy by the collection of local famers, bakers, crafters, and shoppers. It was awesome. It's probably now my favorite Farmer's Market in Nashville. I've been disappointed with the downtown Farmer's Market because they sell more imported, non-organic produce than locally-grown produce. I really want to eat in season, and it's hard to do that when I see tomatoes in February and mangos from Mexico. But the East Nashville market features only locally-grown crops in season. It's awesome. So I bought the most beautiful basil & garlic, some amazing Kenny's gruyere cheese (YUM!), and a dozen eggs from grass-fed chickens (about which, I recently read in an article on Mother Nature Network: "According to Penn State University research and other studies, eggs from hens raised on grass pastures contain twice as much vitamin E, two and a half times more omega-3 fatty acids, a third less cholesterol, a fourth less saturated fat, and two-thirds more vitamin A than standard supermarket eggs that come from tightly confined caged hens"... plus they seriously taste better!). YUM YUM YUM. It was really fun. There were cute kids running around, and dogs soaking up the sun. It was perfect.

Then I came home to my awesome husband & we got to work on our garden. We dug up the garden & turned the soil with a broadfork we borrowed from Nathan's workplace, The Nashville Food Project. While Nathan finished turning the soil, I knelt down in the dirt and pulled the weeds & bermuda grass out. I got really dirty... it was awesome. Then, when I went in to start on dinner, Nathan planted an herb bed of mint, basil, and cilantro next to our beautiful rosemary bush; he also planted a bed of tomatoes and bell peppers. We still have watermelon, and beans to plant. Oh, and we got our beautiful yellow rose bush planted in the front yard! Nathan drew out plans for the rest of the garden space, and we made a list of supplies to buy at Lowe's. It is so exciting to be able to look out the window and see a little garden. It's life-giving in so many ways.

After gardening, we ate the most delicious dinner, and with the most wonderful friend! Marie came over to update us on her life and share in a yummy meal of roasted red-pepper risotto topped with fresh tomato slices & fresh pesto, some roasted fresh summer squash, and fresh-baked bread toasted with local gruyere cheese. It was a meal of dreams.

I love days that end the way yesterday ended. I love food (anyone who's seen the size of my tush would know that), and I love enjoying in the process of food, from seedling to finished meal, all in the midst of a community of growers, eaters, & admirers.

I wish I had some pictures to share of the Farmer's Market, our garden, or our yummy meal, but unfortunately I can't find where the heck I packed away my camera battery charger. Ugh.

Oh, and in other news, today is Sarah's birthday!!! Thank goodness for wonderfuly women like Sarah. She's smart, passionate, talented, funny, cute as a button, clever, reliable, and just plain awesome. Thanks for being my friend, Sarah. And tonight we're spending the evening celebrating her birth & life by going to the 90s themed Way Late Play Date at the Adventure Science Center! YES! :-)

Me & Nathan with Sarah & her girlfriend Lauren. Love them.

Nathan's New Toy

Anyone who knows my Nathan knows how adorable nerdy he is and how much he loves space. I remember him wearing his jean jacket covered in NASA patches the first time we kissed. And I remember thinking how awesome that jacket was (babe, why don't you wear that often anymore?). I remember the giant moon poster hanging next to his bed in his old apartment. And, of course, I remember all of the computer backgrounds of space photos rather than photos of his girlfriend/fiancé/wife. So he must really love space, right?

Well, for his birthday this year, a much-deserving birthday boy got a big ol' telescope through which to look at all sorts of cool stuff out there in space. And tonight he took it out in the lawn to gaze at the sky. He showed me the craters of the moon & the rings of Jupiter. It was really neat. And he looked super legit doing it:

Home Sweet Home

It's hard to believe we've only lived here a week, considering how much work we've already done to get settled in. I'm so happy with how our new house looks & feels. It is a very life-giving space... So many windows, grass all around us, friendly neighbors. Oh, it is so wonderful. I hope that all of our dearest friends & family can come spend time with us in our new home, but for those who are too far away, here's a peek at what it looks like:

So, we'll start at the front door. Here is the living room (my favorite room right now), just inside the front door:

Next, we'll move into the kitchen...

Past the kitchen, we have a laundry nook that leads to the backyard:

Back through the living room, we have a hallway that leads to a full bathroom, a tv room, and our office. First, the bathroom (with an awkward window into the laundry room. Haha):

Then, the office, which is not finished yet, so I'll just show you our awesome DIY wall bookshelf:

And then, the TV room:

From the TV room, there's a stairway up to the master suite!

On the right, the oddly-shaped bathroom:

And on the left, the oddly-shaped walk-in closet (which I love):

And of course, the master bedroom:

From the bedroom, we can step right out onto our balcony and down the stairs into the backyard:

And when we walk around from the backyard to the side of the lot, we'll soon have a big garden full of veggies!...

And back around to the front porch:

So, that's our lovely home! We hope you can come by sometime :-)