Nate turned 29!

it was nate's birthday 9 days ago ... thanks to the counter over there yonder i didn't have to hurt my brain and think about how many days ago it was.

we are super lame and moved over his birthday weekend ... but we are planning an August party to make up for it.

oh ... and i made him a three tiered cake that leaned pretty far to the left. so far that it eventually fell over. i am that awesome. we kind of decided that nothing would top our wedding cakes made by my oh so very talented sister-in-law that we should just give up on cake making and stick with the things we are good at ... cookies (for me) and ice cream (for him).

i hope to get my act together by his NEXT birthday (the big 3-0) and celebrate it right ... i just hope he knows how much i really do love and appreciate him.

love you babe ... happy belated.

one of our sexy wedding pictures ...
isn't he sooo dreamy ...
i love this one of him ...
he totally pulls sexy off ...
i on the other hand, am not doing so well.

a change ... will do you good

the n&b soelbergs are in the midst of a change ... a change that has been long awaited for me and hastily agreed to by my dear sweet husband. WE MOVED. not countries or states ... ACROSS TOWN ... technically, we moved cities ... back to eugene (YAY!)

the thing that really sealed the deal for nate was fourth of july sunday. we did not sing ANY patriotic songs at church. no "my country tis of thee," "america the beautiful," or ... gasp ... dare i say it ... no "star spangled banner." he leaned over and whispered those words i had been longing to hear ... "your right, its time to move."

but let me tell you the back story so that you might be as excited as i am ... because you should be excited. and let us remember what our current apartment looks like

here goes.

we lived in springfield, on mill street, in a small (and as of late ... very very hot) one bedroom apartment. its not a great part of town. let's just say that when we tell people where we are moving to and where we are moving from they immediately brighten up and say things like: "oh, you are moving to a much better area" and "have you had your car broken into?" ... so yeah its not the best.

why have we lived here for the past 9 months? IT IS SUPER CHEAP and we had almost NO MONEY. we have fond memories of 10 months back when we got married ... let us remember that nate was still in grad school and i had just graduated and planned a wedding. i was desperately looking for work and we were basically living off of the generosity of family and friends (aka wedding money). our post-wedding plans were to get nate graduated by december while scoping out english teaching jobs in south korea. in the mean time, i would look for work in any form.

as we all know ... we make plans and the Lord laughs and gives us other options. we really were going to go to south korea ... cross my heart we were! i became gainfully employed in nov and just as soon as we updated our passports in december in prep for going abroad ... nate was offered a job teaching at the UO. ... we couldn't say no (not because the pay is so great but because the opportunity was great ... we are talking resume building here people ... teaching at a university looks nice on the resume.) we of course are grateful for the Lords intervention and recognize that He knows much better than we do ... so we go with it.

so the point is this - we were to be living in our current apartment for 2 or 3 months ONLY. this is why i agreed to the conditions and location ... and lets be honest ... i didn't have much of a bargaining chip being unemployed.

so our plans changed but we weren't sure how long the teaching would go on ... so we stayed in the mill street apt ... until two weeks ago!

we moved into a two bedroom townhouse with a patio and TONS OF CLOSET SPACE. i have never seen such deep closets in all of my life (that are not walk-in closets). and i have 3 of them! it seriously is a dream.

i have been decorating the place in my head for weeks now but its taking me longer to get our stuff organized and in its spot than i thought it would ... come to think of it - this is my first time having an entire 2 bedroom apt to organize and decorate myself (with input from nate of course ... hehehe)

we have already purchased a super cool kitchen rack that has made our kitchen sooooo super great. before - lots of counter space but not a lot of cupboard space (a bar like area with no storage underneath) but with our new rack we can display all our pretty dishes and mixing bowls, as well as our not as pretty microwave, pots, pans, rice cooker, wok, blender, etc. we even hung a plant to make it feel all domestic like.

but as soon as i wrangle everything into its spot ... the decorating really begins! this means i have LOTS of DIY projects planned. i.am.super.excited. it also means that we have an extra bedroom and bed for visitors! we hope this will encourage weekend trips!

here are a few things that will be made over:

• a new "buffet/hutch" ... post on this soon as it is becoming quite a frustrating project - a cool "caribbean blue" ... soooo excited
  
• tv stand - i am trying a cool new stencil/painting process - dark grey
  
• painting dresser drawer fronts (the base was painted months ago) - two tone paint here
  
• painting my night stand to match nate's - dark grey
  
• painting a new dresser for the guest room - light grey
  
• hang curtains as a back drop in the living room
• HANG PICTURES, etc.
  

domestic bliss is well on its way. the best part is that my husband is a skeptic at times but once he sees it come together he really likes it ... but of course i knew this about him already, which is why i insist on such things as moving to a nicer apartment/area, or buying a new bed, or painting the furniture.

(sigh) life is good (pictures to come)

more diy home improvements ... its coming along

the weather broke ... for a week or so ... and we had some sunny days - hip hip hooray! SOOOOO i had the chance to use my valentine's gift (the power hand sander ... in case you forgot how romantical nate and i are) and sanded our cool kitchen table in preparation for a new paint job.

And shockingly ... i photographed the process ... sort of ...



i made sure to sand all the really visible and "vulnerable" areas really well (places that could be easily nicked and scratched) and only roughed up the less vulnerable spots.



halfway done on the table and i actually thought ... i should photograph this! i am super proud of that fact.

the final product ... i am pretty happy it turned out so well!


no that is not a rug ... it is my painting drop cloth ... i am still deciding if it needs one more coat of paint or something ... should i seal it? i don't know!


psst ... see those cool pictures in the back left ... those frames are new too ... i framed my friends fabulous screen prints ... i just love them ... and shhhh don't tell nate ... he doesn't notice stuff like that (truth be told he has already noticed these but it took him over a week ... he's just not too observant which i have decided will play to my advantage ... hehehe ... enter devious laugh here)



a view of the legs ...


and check out those awesome plates! thanks mom ... when she came to visit with my dad last month she bought me these pretties ... the plates were only $2! the down side ... only two of them in the store ... but they are soo pretty. don't you just love moms and stores like home goods and ross ... that is where the bowls, plates, and the yellow trivet came from.


the lighting in our place is not so good ... wish it was better and showcased my pretty wares sooo much better. sigh ... hopefully our next place.

in the rear view mirror

the nathan and bethany soelberg family is not too good at the picture thing. we bring our camera, we just don't ever use it. we joke that in this day and age - having the ability to visually document your life in numerous ways - our relationship is somehow less legitimate due to the lack of pictures. we don't really think this ... this joke just illustrates how ridiculous it is that we don't ever bust out our camera during the fun times.

road trip turned international

speaking of the fun times ... we went on a road trip to seattle a few weeks ago for a friend of Nate's wedding. we had all day saturday to do something fun so we tried to plan ahead to fill the day up with fun things. we had heard the week before in general conference about the open house of the Vancouver, British Columbia temple located here:



and it turned out that the open house started the friday before you were headed up! so we packed our bags and made sure to have our passports on hand and planned a lovely day of driving to the temple (super close to the US/CANADA boarder) and over to Vancouver to maybe check out the Olympic venues or attend the aquarium.

Unfortunately we left later than expected and we did not plan for a wait on both sides of the boarder (coming into and leaving Canada). the temple was beautiful and wonderful and the drive wasn't even so bad ... but traffic on they way back into seattle was awful as well and we were scared that we would miss the reception - the whole reason we were in seattle to begin with! we were sooo late in showing up to the reception that we ran into it in jeans and t-shirts (needless to say i was soo embarrassed!) but happy to have caught the happy couple before they left for their honeymoon!

visiting parents and the northern oregon coast

my parents came to visit last weekend so we decided to take a drive up the oregon coast. it really is beautiful country round here and as spring is coming (slowly) to the pacific northwest the trees are a beautiful shade of green and the flowers are blooming. we headed north through junction city (where my mom's parents used to live and we use to visit everyother summer growing up) and then to corvallis (which I think is a really really cute town with great architecture) and then over to the coast. we were able to chat and take in some great views of the coast and some light houses. my mom took some pictures. we did not.

one of my requests on this trip was to go to the Tillamook Cheese Factory ... it was super fun and yummy ... Tillamook cheese and ice cream is sooo good. we kept heading north up to seaside where we spent the night and spent a few hours at the beach watching people fly kites and clam digging. i had never before seen a live clam and its weird little "foot" that it sticks out ... totally freaked me out! the water was super cold but the sky was clear so we were happy. we look forward to going back when the weather is warmer. farther north we drove through astoria and saw some really beautiful buildings. the interesting thing about the oregon coast is that it is still remote and kind of rural. there is something about the small coastal town that intrigues me - like seaside, oregon ... home of seaside high and the seaside gulls ... what is it like to grow up in a tourist spot like that? its not overly touristy ... but it does get a lot more croweded in the summer i am sure. and Tillamook ... that town is adorable! sigh ... i am super facinated by places and situations i have never lived in. while i still really like the city, i do enjoy visiting small towns ... so many fun places to explore!

correction on ... A Word of Explanation

Thanks to the eagle eye of a friend ... I have corrected the error ... looks like I put in the year I was born!

So yeah ... he really is 28.

A Word of Explanation

I know at first glance the ticker above will make some of you gasp ... either out of excitement or shock ... so let me first get this out there: WE ARE NOT HAVING A BABY.

That ticker up there is keeping track of Nate - my husband, the "N" of the N&B - and his age. Why? You might ask. Because of this conversation:

N: What you looking at, babe?
B: Oh, just a friend's blog, babe.
N: What's that on the side, with a picture of a baby on it?
B: That is a baby ticker ... it counts down how many month, weeks, or days until your baby is born - or at least until the due date you put in ... whether or not you have actually had the baby is a different story. You can also have tickers for how old your kids are.
N: So why don't you have one for me on our blog?

Lots of laughing out loud by ME takes place, after which I say:

B: You are not serious are you?
N: Why not? You call me babe all the time - its like I am your baby right now.

B: Let me get this straight: You really want one to say Nate is 28 years, X months, and Y days? And you do realize that all of my friends will:

A) now exactly how old you are,

B) at first glance think that we are pregnant, and

C) will think - "wow he is almost 29, they better have a baby before he gets really old."*

And he still wanted me to do it. So there you go. My husband is just a little bit ridiculous ... but he makes me laugh a lot.

* p.s. .... this quote is not meant to offend anyone in my "vast" readership ... "to each his own" on the marriage and baby front ... however, I do admit to sometimes using the "we are old" argument with my husband when we are talking about the future and he makes it sound like we are going on 20 instead of the reality that we are going on 30.

before&after: gray is the new tan

my very first before&after (a la Design*Sponge) ... and boy did i learn a lot! as mentioned before, i had to redo these chairs, but i am happy that i did.

here is what happened:


BEFORE:

two free chairs in great shape from our dear friends Ben and Jill

structurally sound and good shape to them

the cream fabric is a bit worn and well, we all know how hard
it is to keep 'cream' or white looking fresh over time

I REMOVE THE SEAT AND BACK CUSHIONS, PICK OUT FABRIC AND MATCHING PAINT AND THEN GOT RIGHT TO PAINTING ... IN THE EXCITED STATE OF MY FIRST TRUE DIY BEFORE&AFTER I FIGURE "WHO NEEDS SANDING WHEN YOU PAID EXTRA FOR THE FANCY PAINT WITH PRIMER ALREADY IN IT?!"

... AND NOW TO REMOVE THE FIRST ATTEMPT AT PAINTING:

although they looked good - you could scrape the paint off with your finger nail and since these were going to be kitchen chairs for everyday use, i knew i would first be devastated and then annoyed every time we bumped or scratched one of these guys ... and thus the scrapping and sanding began ... this is what you get for rushing ... yes mom, i have learned my lesson

bare and beautiful ... but not as beautiful as they will soon be!

AFTER:

not the best pictures ... but i am really happy how they turned out in real life

(ignore my messy in the background please!)

i chose the light gray of the leaves, which was an accent color
and not one of the main colors of the fabric

i am in love with this fabric ... i got it at JoAnne's for like $5 a yard ... i was going to get some other fabric that i was less enthused about when i came across this! the minute i saw it i knew it was what i was looking for - even though i didn't know it until i saw it.

i like how graphic-y (not a word, but go with it) the floral print is ... very modern and bold and not too girly ... nate likes it too! ... and i like the variation of size, shape, and shade that the flowers come in ... also i love love love yellow but have a hard time picking a shade i like for clothing or decor ... i didn't want anything that had a straight pattern in case i couldn't keep the lines straight and then i would hate that it looked all weird and off ... this worked out perfect!

Next before&after ... two more chairs! different shape and fabric but same paint color - to tie it all together. The cushions are done but the sanding and painting are slow coming ... hopefully in the next two weeks it will get done ... crossing my fingers for good weather and the motivation to just get it done.