blown away, well almost

There's a dust storm blowing through west Texas right now, and specifically through my neighborhood. Apparently this is what everyone warns you about when you move to Lubbock. "Wait until the dust storms!" they say. (Emily, I'm sure there's a ton of MLA errors all over that quote.) Well, they're here, and I'm not really enjoying them. The thing is that we're right on the outside edge of town, so there's not really anything between us and the wide open plains. Meaning, that the wind comes at the front of the house with full force. This will be better as they continue to build more houses in our neighborhood. My office is the front room of our house, and so all day long I hear the wind howling at the window. The sky is no longer beautiful TX blue, but a general tan color because of all the sand blowing around. I'd describe it as a brown-out, non-electrical of course.

The back porch is covered in dirt, and the butterfly chair covers are filthy. ugh. Oh well, they needed replaced anyway- guess that'll be my next project, sewing new covers. The front flower beds are void of the mulch we put down this summer, which is why they use landscape stone in southwest instead of mulch like the Yankees. It can be pricey, but the end result is savings since you only lay it down once, instead of having it blow away every 6 months.

Love-crazed.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. A day not previously enjoyed so much on my part until I met my Joe. And now, I'm definitely love-crazed, especially during this cold month of February. This is our third Valentine's Day together, and each year is more meaningful. The cool part is, that it's only #3! I've got big hopes for #10, 20, and so on. I always considered myself a romantic, and I think that's accurate. However, my hubby out-romances me every year on this big day. And I'm not complaining. It's a great thing to realize that he knows how to get me, and how to woo me, because I don't think I'm all that easy to read. To which I think he would heartily agree. :) Honey, I think you're the BEST.

In other news, I've finally got curtains hanging in the dining room. I also finally made up some shades for the sky lights in the guest bedroom, so a person can actually sleep past 6am in there now. Rooms left on my list of window coverings are the master bath, office, and kitchen. My goal is to have all windows dressed by the time we've been here a year, if not sooner - hopefully sooner. This reminds me of the TLC cable channel's Life Lessons figurines, titled Save Enough Money for Curtains in the New House. And an appropriate lesson at this Valentine's season I might add. Luckily we don't have a lot of neighbors yet! (I'm only kidding) Here's pics of the dining room curtains, with an up close focus on the material since it's hard to see with the light of the window. It's a sheer material with stripes of green, blue, and tan. It's got a shimmery sheen to it also.


I'm currently working on a baby shower for my friend Traci this weekend. She's due in April, about the same time as my good friend Emily. It should be lots of fun, and gives me an excuse to try out some new recipes that I've been wanting to make. I'm also planning to help get some curtains made for Traci's nursery. Her theme is Puppy Plane, and it's so very cute. They're having a little boy, who we can't wait to meet. We'll be having a work day soon to get the room painted, and curtains hung. I'll try to get some pictures uploaded when we're finished with that project. Well, I'm off to shop baby registeries... look out for the estrogen. ;)