Christmas tree hunting

Since this is our first Christmas here in the farmhouse we decided we wanted to go and cut down our own Christmas tree, for memories sake. & also because it sounded fun to cut down your own tree! 

Hard to believe that one year ago we were in our living room doing this:

How far we've come!! 

We went right down the road to get our tree - to Lenderink Tree Farm. 

& they had free hot chocolate WITH marshmallows!

We wandered around looking for "the tree". It's pretty fun looking for that perfect addition to your house, especially because every tree is SO different. Unlike fake trees, which we've had in the past, none of the branches all fall together or look perfect. It's a fun little hunt for the tree you love.

 

& after a hike to the back of the farm, there it was! & I was determined to cut it down myself. How hard could it be? They provided you with a hand saw so I figured they had faith that you could do it yourself right?

I was done after three tries. So husband stepped in.

Took him literally five seconds (I feel like I gave him a head start) & we had our tree!

We then headed over to the "free greens" section. They actually had some trees there too, just ones that no one would want. Think Charlie Brown style. So we took one of those trees, too.

We purchased a wreath for our door, paid for our trees & we're on our way.

First Christmas tree hunt - success!! 

Winter wonderland - in November.

It is Tuesday, November 18th. It has been snowing since Sunday. Currently we have about 14 inches of snow. 

FOURTEEN. INCHES. OF. SNOW. 

but the dogs (even Maggie) are happy. & it's so pretty. So I'll take it.

This is the first time I can actually say I'm excited snow is here. I love being out here & seeing how beautiful everything becomes with snow on it. I'm still trying to figure out how to build a ice rink down in the valley. Research continues.....

A new kitchen & a fabulous wine rack

I was going to do this whole before & after montage but let's just cut to it.

BEFORE (literally the day we looked at the property):

This is when we lived in it for a few months (& demo'd what we could)

TODAY:

The rest of the photos were taken at night so I apologize for the poor lighting.

Hey, kitchens done!!! 

We have no glass yet in the above cabinets. Those panels are being made by a friend. 

The first meal we cooked was tacos. Real creative ;))

I love being able to use a counter top!!

Hard to believe that not too long ago it was this:

How far we've come!!

We also have installed a saloon type door (there are two panels) at the entrance of our basement. We went back and forth with keeping it open or not, but in the end it was better to have doors there. I really love it and I don't have to worry about our nieces falling down those stairs. 

We got to install our awesome wine rack in the dining room. 

I bought it off of Etsy. It's reclaimed wood, which I thought fit perfectly with the house. & it holds 10 (yes, TEN) bottles of wine. So it's really the perfect wine rack. 

Here's the wall before (that little bar looks tiny right?):

Had to make sure the thing was level, as we were going to screw it into the wall. & once that thing is installed, it's not coming off the wall. Measure twice drill once!

Voila!!

Absolutely. Love. It.

Hurray for house adventures!!!

The new siding is going on.

When we started to remodel the kitchen, we ran into a lot of foundation problems. This forced us to completely remove the exterior kitchen wall and all of the siding.

Siding started to go up. We opted to go with a thicker board. Eventually the whole house will be re-sided, so it was nice to start here & see what we'd be looking at.

Looks awesome!! It just needs some paint & we're good to go. 

Beautiful Fall.

The beauty of Fall on this property is incredible. 

& even though we have enough leaves to make any child the happiest ever, I love it. I love how they look around the house and I love seeing the dogs run through them. Especially Maggie, since she's just about too small to walk through. 

I know all the falling leaves means that Winter will soon be here, but I'm going to soak this beautiful weather up as much as I can!