Dana Burland

It is with a heavy heart and pile of shattered mercury glass I announce this year’s Christmas ornament casualties: twin antique family ornaments. Originally crafted in the early 1900s, these oblong silver and radiant pink ornaments traveled through generations, from home to home, tree to tree, finally immigrating to our home by way of B’s grandmother. These vibrant colored, paper thin glass ornaments weathered many a holiday season, withstanding the test of time, gravity and harsh glares of parents desperately warning small children to be careful by the tree! Alas, BOTH twins met their demise on Sunday, November 24, 2024–mere five minutes apart from each other–by the hands of one overzealous four-year-old. Despite warnings of gentle handling and silent prayer, they were unsaveable from young enthusiasm and desire to hang multiple ornaments at once–always the most fragile ones. Survivors include: Several other beautiful, antique ornaments from Grandma Kay (thankfully!) Neighborin...

Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she wonderful? Isn’t she precious? Just a few weeks old. Sitting in this room, a year after deciding to “go” on this project, 5 months after living through construction–what an addition! The great room was motivation for the whole project. Our family room before was small, and our kids + desire to host family/friends keep growing. This 400ish square foot room was the exact footprint of our deck before. The deck was great for summer hosting, now this room is great for hosting year round. A big sectional was my dream. Colorful and comfy we can seat 5-7 here. My brother and I built the table behind the couch, and the hanging light was totally his idea. You should see the light pattern it casts on the walls at night. Speaking of light: I was worried about natural light in this room. Turns out it gets great light and privacy. You can stand anywhere in the room and only see trees/sky out the windows. I think we need a side chair in the place of the pink ottoma...