Opening a New Window

We've had a lot of new things taking place in the Regan household, lately.  It feels like we're opening a new chapter of our lives together.  We've now been a family of three members for 10 years!  Can you believe it?  And we have lived in Arvada for almost 7 years, now.  So, we're finally at a place where we feel the need to tackle some new projects around our house.  One of the things that we decided to do was to invest in some new windows.  While they are still not cheap, we did get a good deal on these new windows.  It was time for the old, plate glass windows to go.  They were almost 50 years old.  Although they were double paned, some panes were stuck.  Some wouldn't open, some wouldn't close.  Some screens were duct taped in.  Penny once broke a window when her hand went through the window.  I think that our new windows will not only help us see the world better, but also save us a lot on our energy bills.  Here's a picture of the front of the house with the new windows.  Below are some before and after pictures.  Later on, there are pictures from some special celebrations we've been taking part in...

Bedrooms...

Living Room...

Now we can see our roses, better.  This year is the best year we've ever had for our roses blooming!

 

We went to downtown Denver to celebrate the Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Festival.  It was cold!

Taiko Drummers

Dancers

And Penny enjoyed meeting new friends.

Speaking of Penny, she wanted to go out to an Italian Buffet for the day that we celebrated 10 years together as a family.  It's been quite an adventure.  We've all grown in so many ways.  We're so thankful to be together as a family.  We pray that God will be with us and help us to grow even closer in the next 10 years!

Shine Your Light and Bloom

Since my last post my husband did a fun DIY project which resulted in a warm glowing light in our basement family room.  He took down the dingy, old lamp hanging on the wall just outside our laundry room door and replaced it with an antique bronze nickel sconce.  The results were outstanding.  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some before and after photos to show you the transformation.

First, there are pictures of the old lamp from when I painted the adjacent wall.

Here is a closeupsof the ugly, old lamp shade.  In fact, there were even paint spots from when I accidentally dripped paint on it when I painted the old wood panelling that was on the wall where the lamp was mounted.

And here is the new, beautiful scone, which has an antique style bulb with filaments that give off such a nice, warm hue to the room.  And this DIY project only cost $44 and Jay's time.  Also, note the light switch below is also newer, since Jay replaced all of the switches and outlets downstairs when I painted.  Just those simple little things make a big difference and I'm sure add value to our 1970's bungalow.

In addition to the DIY project in the basement, I have been busy potting flowers to make our outdoor space more inviting.  Here are the results.

 

Below is a plant given to me by one of my students.  I love it!

Now I'm thinking about my next DIY projects.  I'd like to repaint our garage door.  And I picked up this little table that I would like to paint to use outdoors on my back deck.  And the best news of all is that I got it at the Goodwill when they were having their half off sale.  So, the final cost of this table was $4.50!!!