Before & After

Not long after Eric and I moved to Janeric Hills several folks requested some pictures, especially of the rooms we have redecorated. We are finally to a point to reveal the office. It was formerly a VERY pink bedroom for a pre-teen girl. There are still stickers on the mirror that hangs on the back of the door, but we have most everything else done.

Here is the before picture.

Here are some of the after pictures, this one is taken from the doorway towards the opposite corner of the room

Obviously we did some painting, and the wall color looks a little gray in this photo it is actually a brighter green "Boston Fern" to be exact. This is where I go to work every day.


This view was taken from the lamp/printer you see in the above picture, towards the right hand corner. The valance is actually kitchen tiers, and the picture on the wall is actually a framed silk scarf, that belonged to my friend Jeanne's Mom, Kathy. When Jeanne was going through her Mom's things she found this and thought of me. I love all of the different colors.


This picture is the same view, just looking directly at the opposite wall.


This is the super single sofa that Eric had at his apartment. It pulls out into a twin bed, which works great for extra guests. When the Barkers stayed with us in May, Scott & Tara stayed in the guest bedroom next door, and Kira had her own bed in the office. It worked out great.

I made the fabric covered bulletin boards that hang above the desk, and hope to use the extra fabric to make a seat cushion for my desk chair, but for the most part I think it is done.


Here is a picture of me where I work. I am wearing my phone headset, I still have my Busey Bank work number, but it is over the computer. This is my typical work outfit too, lounge pants and a beer t-shirt.

The Other #15

Many of you know that I was a bit of a Jim Edmonds fan, and several people have asked how I am dealing with the fact that there is once again another #15 wearing the "Birds on the Bat". Actually I am totally loving the Matt Holliday pick up, the home runs don't hurt that is for sure. I am actually okay with him wearing #15 too. He has been around the league for a few years, and is a solid player so I think he is worthy. If he were some snot-nosed rookie, well that would be different. Also, Jimmy has been gone from STL a few years now, so it is time to move on. Plus Jimmy's nickname was Hollywood, so Holliday somehow seems appropriate.

On another Matt Holliday note, I wish his "at bat" song was Madonna's "Holiday". Normally I wouldn't go with Madonna for "at bat" music, but in this case it seems appropriate. In the meantime, anytime Matt does something good Eric and I just look at each other and sing "Hol(l)iday! Celebrate!"

Here & There

The weekend before last Eric and I headed to STL for an impromptu get away. We had vouchers from Cardinal Nation for free tix to see the Cards, and Priceline came through with an inexpensive hotel room, so we hit the road Friday after work. We slept late on Saturday, and then went and checked out Square One Brewery & Distillery near Lafayette Square. It was great. We had a long leisurely lunch which was delicious, and sampled some of their brews. All of them were good, and a couple were very, very good. It was a great place to wait out the rain. Next time we hope to sit in the nice little beer garden, and possibly explore the rest of the neighborhood. It is always a good trip when we can find a good brew pub. That evening we headed to the baseball game. The rain moved off, and we had a very pleasant night. It was August in STL and we weren't sweating! The game was great, two Matt Holliday home runs, and a complete game by Carp, and we realized it was the first Cards game the two of us had gone to by ourselves, which we thought was kind of funny. Sunday we had a big breakfast and then headed to Grant's Farm. It was a lovely day, so it was rather crowded but we enjoyed the animals, and perhaps even more entertaining was the people watching. It was a nice relaxing weekend, and just great to spend time together without the distractions of a household to get in the way.

This past weekend we stayed close to home. Mike & Linda came over for dinner Friday, and we played cards. On Sunday after church we went to Scott County Park just north of Davenport to meet our friends John, Marla and Jeremiah for a picnic. There are friends from C-U (I worked with John at the Assembly Hall) that recently moved to Tipton, Iowa. The park was very nice, a perfect halfway point to meet, and it was just fun to catch up. We talked about all things Illini without getting the "You know you are in Iowa, right?" look and Jeremiah kept us entertained. My favorite was when he pulled out a little basketball out of his bag, and was throwing it about and said "I need a hoop!", but at 2 1/2 his "h's" need a bit more work, so it came out "I need a poop!" Too cute.