Walk in the Park

Weekends vary for us. I work every other Saturday until 2:30, so sometimes we have just an afternoon to do something and sometimes we have the whole day. Sometimes we will do nothing but relax or go to the beach and sometimes we will deep clean our apartment or do some sort of project. 

This weekend, we spent Saturday packing, which we've really intended to do after work basically every night. We have a lot of organizing and purging to do, so it's a task that's been pushed back a lot. With the move looming over us (less than six weeks away!), it was time to get moving. So Saturday we got a lot of things out, some of it organized, some packed, and some things didn't have a home yet. We got overwhelmed and "took a break" while Carson worked on his paint by numbers and we watched far too many episodes of Parks and Rec. 

So Sunday came and the apartment was looking pretty awful. After church and takeout for lunch, we set ourselves to the task of finding homes for our orphaned items, and got a few boxes packed and a couple of donation bags made so we are also getting rid of things - yay! 

The weather was nice all weekend! They called it a "cold front" but all that meant was that temps were down to the extremely chilly 88 degrees (that is indeed sarcasm). Because it was nice, we decided to spend time outdoors on Sunday afternoon, since our Saturday had been spent largely indoors. 

We took a walk around Cascades Park for a little bit and then went the opposite direction to Lafeyette Heritage Park. I've never been (Carson has biked the trails before) but people keep telling me to go so it was about time! The loop around the lake took us about an hour of walking at a moderate pace with several stops to take pictures and look around. It was mostly shady which was nice! It's a great park with some pretty great trails and I only wish I'd listened to people sooner when they said to go out there! 

IKEA Lack Table Update

When we first got married, we used a black leather storage cube for a coffee table. It wasn't perfect, but it worked: it was a place to put drinks, our tv (and by "tv", I obviously mean "laptop"), and most importantly, it was small, and so was our little apartment. 

In Cleveland, Carson found a secondhand chest that we used as a coffee table for about three and a half years. It was slightly larger and could hold some appetizers for community groups, doubled as seating, and held extra blankets. We stripped and stained the chest earlier this year and even though I liked it before, I really love it now! 

I wanted a real coffee table though. A big reason was that the chest was obviously used for storage, and it was a little annoying to have dinner (oh yeah, we also used it as a table) sitting on the table and then need a blanket. It was also a little small. 

We looked at thrift stores for coffee tables but I really wanted something pretty big, nothing with glass, and a fairly simple design. I was drawn to something industrial or farmhouse - and nothing at thrift stores caught my eye. 

So in February, we bought the IKEA Lack Table. It was cheaper than buying the supplies to make a whole table, but we'd have the ability to modify it if we wanted. We'd been meaning to get around to modifying it since then, but our weekends have been full, so we finally got around to it in June... what's four months? 

We picked out 1x4s at Lowes (Carson inspected to make sure they were mostly straight). 

We got nine boards, and they didn't have to be cut at all, which was terrific!

Carson put one coat of Minwax Dark Walnut on the boards and wiped them off. He'd paint it on one, paint it on the next, then wipe off the first one to give it a little chance to soak in. 

The nice thing about Carson running point on this project is that he does things a lot more carefully than I do. Like measuring instead of eyeballing, and knowing to buy the gun thing for the glue. 

The cheapest place we found clamps was at Walmart. Carson seemed to think that they were a screaming deal. So go there if you need clamps. 

The glue might have been good enough alone, but to be safe, Carson drilled some screws into the bottom of the table to secure everything. Genius.

Here it is! Isn't it pretty!

We put some weight on the table to prevent any warping. I have no idea if it helped (and we did put more weight than just this), but better safe than sorry. 

Mom's Visit

The same week that Morgan came for a visit, my mom also got to drive down! Carson was gone all week for conferences, so having people stay with me was a welcome change.

She got there before I was done with work, so she stopped in the bank and grabbed my house key and was there waiting when I got home! We went on a walk pretty soon after she got there and it was a great night for it! 

The next day, after I got off work (boo, working on weekends!), we went out for some shopping. 

Mom made some delicious salmon for dinner and I roasted asparagus and chopped up a pineapple to go with it.

After church the next day, we had lunch at home, shopped a little more, and then got pedicures.

We picked Carson up from the airport that evening and then we had chicken salads for dinner. Very tasty. We watched Fiddler on the Roof while we ate. 

The next day was Memorial Day, so I didn't have to work, but Mom did have to go home, so we took a picture before she left. It was too short, but still a great time with Mom! 

Carson's Week of Conferences

Carson presented at two back to back conferences for a week at the end of May. 

The first one was at University of Texas - Austin. 

He stayed in a dorm for the first time ever!

Ready to go!

The second conference was the North American Patristics Society (actual acronym people use when talking about it - NAPS - this does make me laugh) in Chicago. He stayed with friends from Moody in Wheaton and commuted into the city for the conference.