June - Dinner and a Remodel

Only things of note I can remember about June: a fabulous dinner and a basement remodel!

We had Carl and Deena over for a joint Father's Day/belated Mother's Day dinner.  It was so much fun!  I wanted to use all the cooking-related fun stuff they've gotten me over the last couple years, so I pulled out all the stops.  You can see my menu here, which I had printed up and on every plate.

Got out the china...

...used the heat lamp they gave me to warm my homemade rosemary bread, made recipes out of the Ina Garten cookbook they gave me for most of the recipes, and used the individual crocks they gave me for the chocolate melting cake dessert.

Wish I could go back to that moment and eat that whole meal right about now!!  Of course, all these pictures of the food and none of Carl and Deena.  Ugh.  I'll work on my food picture obsession and try to get more of people! :)

So Ben took it upon himself to remodel our basement.  After a few conversations with my dad, some guidance from my brother Wes, and many youtube videos, Ben was ready to frame the wall:


...cover up the concrete with water-resistant drywall:
...and even tile!

Ben painted the ceiling and walls himself (I'm no help!), we had the carpet laid, and the end result?

LOVE!  What used to be a cold, uncomfortable basement with basically no use has turned into a whole new living area and a new office for Ben.  We are down there constantly and love it!!!  Ben did such a great job!  Only things left are to put a white cabinet door over the electrical box, have my dad build a white column around that pole by the stairs, and do some decorating! :)

Oh, one last thing - hit my 5 year anniversary at work!  Woah!