Surprise piano!

I play piano.  I have wanted a piano since moving out of my parents' house and leaving behind the green beast upright that weighs a bazillion pounds.  Well, on Saturday, April 26, 2014, I came home to a piano in my living room!

Piano as I found it when I came home!

My darling husband surprised me with this beauty out of the blue! He coordinated with our friends so that he could (1) get the piano to our house; (2) get me out of the house; and (3) have help in getting the piano up our hill and through the front door.  Well, he succeeded on all fronts.  I had NO idea that this is what he was doing!  

Earlier in the week Ben mentioned doing lunch and beers with a couple of our guy friends at a nearby bar he had been wanting to try.  I thought that sounded great and I would either chill at home or see what Johnna was up to.  Johnna beat me to the punch by asking if I would want to run errands with her and Maelynn. 

Saturday I showered and headed out with Johnna.  Ben was getting ready to leave at the same time, too, and when he forgot the address to the house so he could pick up the piano, he was sure I thought something was going on.  I didn't think anything of it.

When we were getting close to the house after our errands, Johnna had me call Ben to see if he'd help carry in the bags.  Danny and him were sitting out on the patio waiting for our return.  They helped us carry in the bags and when I walked in I did a double take and exclaimed "WHOA!".  My initial thought was, "Who are we storing this for?".  

What surprised me almost as much as the piano, was that Ben kept it a secret! He did say something midweek about how now that he has his guitar, we need to get me a musical instrument.  He also had told me that on Saturday he would have a surprise for me, but I had completely forgotten.  He received the piano from a student's parent.  They asked him if he knew anyone who wanted a piano and he said that he would take it.  He explained that I have played for years and have wanted one for a very long time.  The piano was in her family for three generations, but her sons didn't want it so they were looking to get rid of it.  Now it is ours.  :)

Doesn't this just make you want to snuggle up with a book and tea? 

Now we have the piano set up in our entertaining area and it has made the room that much more cozy.  I love it!  I especially love my romantic husband who so thoughtfully orchestrated all of this!

My happy place! 

RULES: 

1.  NO pounding on the keys.

2.  NO food or drink to be set on the piano. Anywhere.

3.  NO chop sticks. 

4.  NO making fun of my doily.

:)

Easter Weekend +

I have not been very faithful to my posting the past few weeks.  It has just been non-stop going!

A few weekends ago Ben and I decided to paint our main entertaining room & bedroom.  We finally narrowed down our colors, bought the samples and tested them out.  We used French Grey and Warm Caramel for the walls in our entertaining room and Atmospheric for our bedroom.  The results are beautiful!  I'm hoping in the next week or two to do a post with pictures of our house and I will include some in there.  As a preview, here is the following before/after pictures in the living room:

Before

After

Grover appreciates the new set up and has happily found his perch:

After our exhausting weekend of painting and clean up, we headed into a short work week.  Ben and I had Good Friday off and welcomed my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, & wonderful nieces into our home for some respite from their drive down from Minneapolis.  We enjoyed smoothies and play time at the park.  They headed down to Ft. Madison around 1 p.m. and Ben and I followed later.

Our time in Ft. Madison was fun and relaxing.  We went to a candy-pick up in the park with the girls for Easter, shared delicious meals, and enjoyed the outdoors.  It was a perfectly beautiful weekend.  Unfortunately, I didn't take very man pictures, but I did find this gem on my phone of Nina & me:

A little blurry, but still so sweet! :)

On Easter Sunday, we had lunch with my mom, Clif, my brother and his girlfriend.  We have the tradition of feasting on ribs on Easter and thankfully we had gorgeous weather for grilling.  Before, during and after dinner we enjoyed each other's company and conversation. 

Ben and I both enjoy all of the time we spend with our families.  There never seems to be enough time with any of them.  The weekends pass so quickly and then we are back up to Cedar Rapids and to work.  On our way home from our Easter weekend, Ben and I both agreed that while we would have enjoyed being somewhere besides the mid-west, we love that we are able to take a two hour trip south to see our parents/siblings.  Ben's siblings are a bit further away, but with social media we are able to stay in touch a bit more easily. That will, of course, never replace our face-to-face time, but it helps us to stay close.

Another thing we have discussed is how lucky we are that we both truly enjoy our in-laws.  Thanks, families, for being awesome. :)