Hidey Ho Neighbor! : Part Tres

We have had our fair share of neighbor issues since we moved into the Bungalow last August.

The house to the south of us is a rental house. You have read about our rental house neighbors here and here. Sadly (I think?), Neck Tattoo and his medley of women moved out about a month and a half ago, and the house has sat vacant since then. Over the past week, four girls and their cute Yorkie puppy have moved in next door. We haven't heard a peep from them. Fingers crossed. But this neighbor story isn't about the rental house, actually. It's about the people who live behind us.

First, let me educate you a little on the lay of the land around the Bungalow.

Bungalow 'Hood

A. The Bungalow

B. Andrew & Liz's house. We love them.

C. The rental house, obvious by the overgrown state of it.

D. Old Guy's house. He's got to be at least 95.

E. I don't know these people, but they have a nice house.

F. Insert expletives here.

G. These people have a really cool backyard. It has a waterfall. I can see it from the master bathroom window. 

H. I don't know these people.

So let's focus on Neighbor F. Neighbor F's Labrador Retriever has stomach cancer. This is very sad. Neighbor F decided to get two German Shepherd puppies to ease the pain of losing their family dog. Understandable. Neighbor F leaves two German Shepherd puppies outside all day/night long to bark. NOT COOL DUDES. 

The neighborhood must be in complete silence for these dogs to not bark. Need to go outside? Better not use that side door, it makes a squeaky noise sometimes. Want to talk to your next door neighbor? Nope. Better call them on the phone. And don't even THINK about trying to open your garage. Far too noisy.

Tuesday night they were outside barking until well past 11:00 pm. Wednesday morning they were up bright and early at 6:00 am barking their faces off. Whenever we hang out in the backyard, we have to yell to hear each other over the barking.

Some people have said that "German Shepherds just bark. It's what they do." False. Our next door neighbors Andrew and Liz have a 1 year old German Shepherd and I have never heard her bark. Not once.

Omaha's noise ordinance states: "Maximum permitted sound levels in residential areas is 60 to 65 decibels from 7 am to 9 pm, and 55 to 60 decibels from 9 pm to 7 am." The average dog bark is 100 decibels. Also: "It is unlawful to permit an animal to unreasonably obstruct the use and enjoyment of property held by others in the community by allowing such animal to habitually bark, howl, yelp, bay or make other noise which by loudness or frequency causes a breach of the peace."

I don't want to be THAT complaining neighbor, but at some point enough is enough. What would you do?

Ladies I Love

Let me introduce you to the lovely Melissa and Justyn. I'm sure you will love them just as much as I do.

Hello Bungalow readers! I'm Melissa and I blog over at House Sweet It Is.  I started my blog last fall after moving in with my boyfriend so I could document our home renovation progress for friends and family.  We met when I worked with his sister in law on a political campaign and it took him about 2 years to get up the nerve to ask me out.  The rest of the details are on the blog!  It's been an interesting, but amazing, experience thus far and I've learned a lot about myself; such as just how little upper body strength I actually have when it comes to replacing ceiling drywall.

I am a political fundraiser by day, but I like to spend my nights and weekends working on whatever crafty things I find on Pinterest, baking treats for my sugar addict boyfriend, and losing entire Saturdays to great literary works like 50 Shades of Grey and The Hunger Games.  You'll find a little bit of all of the above on my blog so come on over and say hi!

blog | twitter | pinterest | facebook

Hidy Ho Neighbor, I'm Justyn. Yes, Justyn. As in Justin Timberlake, Justin Theroux, just in time...oh, except I'm a woman. When I was younger several boys {that I ended up dating in high school} called me bark bark, and then as I got older my friends called me JP. I blog over at thoughts by a... petite brunette, which is also misleading because although I am a brunette, I'm not that petite. Childbearing was hell on my hips and I am no longer as...we'll say svelte {to be polite to my alter ego} as I once was. I'm working on that though, I recently hired a personal trainer who cut almost all of my carbs. So a more accurate title for my blog would be thoughts by a bitchy brunette, but I'm sure that title is already taken. 

Me and the fruit of my womb.

 I support Shannon's blog on a daily basis. We met through our friend Jes, or it might have been Dusty... Childbearing has also ruined my memory. One thing they don't tell you is that pregnancy brain never goes away. Excuse the digress... Regardless we met, skyped, and fell into a blogationship. That might be a word that I made up, but you'll go along with it because I'm Shannon's friend. Something I don't have to tell you, since you are already reading this on the Bung's blog is, She's pretty freaking fabulous. Recently she encouraged me to improve the air quality in my home by having succulents around, she's a tricky minx with some clever ideas. Then I saw what her cats did to hers, so mine is in my office.

My office plant.

Another digression. And yet again I apologize. 

Anyway you can stalk me here, here and here. 

Stop by and see me sometime, you're guaranteed for a few good laughs and random rants.

Don't I have gorgeous/funny/smart friends? You can be jealous, it's okay. Make sure you check out their blogs! xoxo - Gossip Girl

Memorial Day Weekend

I know I'm supposed to show you a bunch of pictures of food I ate over the weekend, but the food didn't last long enough to have pictures taken. I was far too busy shoving it in my face. The menu over the weekend included blue cheese covered steaks, taco dip, asparagus, sub salad, cheesy garlic bread, baked potatoes with heaps of sour cream and bacon, bacon wrapped jalepeno poppers, gelato cupcakes, and homemade ice cream. Diet starts today. I'm sure I gained 10 pounds from all that deliciousness.

It was a steamy weekend in Omaha. Temperatures around 95° with 95% humidity (at least that's what it felt like).


Please excuse my sorry excuse for hair in the second picture, the humidity got the best of me that day.
Friday I was down for the count with a migraine. These little critters kept me company all day.
Snuggle buddies | Crabby Abby | Angelic looking Bella. Key word, looking.
I also got to spend some time with my two favorite little dudes yesterday.
My real boyfriend. He brought me a flower yesterday. | Tucker and some pugs. And my shadow getting in the way.
Yesterday I also managed to do 6 loads of laundry and clean the house. Winning. Did you have a spectacular weekend like I did?

Three Day Weekend!

Catching up on dvred shows is super important. I haven't gotten to Grey's Anatomy yet SO DON'T TELL ME.

Happy Memorial Day weekend, homies! Having Monday off is going to make a world of a difference, I can tell you that right now. I'm going to spend some time washing everything in the house with my new best friends. I might even clean my kitchen and do a little Skyping. Who knows. There are infinite possibilities!

The best thing that happened all week was by far this. We all know how I feel about Fun.

I am SO excited for this movie. The book is one of my all time favorites and I cannot wait to see Baz Luhrmann's take on it.

I'm remembering ALL OF THIS.

This is pretty much the same as when Andy asks me if I want to go for a bike ride.

Just yes. To all of this. JUST YES. I cannot say yes enough. P.S. Butter IS a carb.

Are you a green eyed goddess like me? Learn how to play up your eyes with different shadow colors.

Now this is teamwork.

This article amazes me. Like jaw dropped amazed.

Who doesn't need a gingham spatula?

I know I'm in the minority, but I don't like/watch the Bachelorette. I would like to keep my brain cells thankyouverymuch, but Kelly Oxford does it again with her recap of her husband's reactions to the show.

Do you have any big Memorial Day plans? I feel like it's not Memorial Day without hot dogs, so I'll need to eat some of those.

Sponsor the Bungalow in June!

It's that time again to round up some sponsors!

For the very special month of June (it's my birthday month!), I will be giving away promo codes for a free small ad or $5 off a large ad to the first 6 (6... like the month of June, get it?) people who sign up to be a sponsor for June. Want one of those codes? Get to emailing me!

Hello Gorgeous

Antiques.

We have been struggling with our washer and dryer since day one. Even when we looked at our house, we were suspicious of them. They are OLD. We estimated them to be around 25 years old. Which is a dang miracle that they lasted this long.

When we first moved in, the washer would fill with water after you were finished using it and it was off. This led us to turning the water to the machine on and off between every use. Also, it had an ancient agitator in the middle that would literally rip up your clothes. I've lost many a tank top to that washer.Then the dryer started to crap out. One dry cycle to get everything completely dry turned to two, and then finally to three. Andy thought maybe the inside was full of lint, so he took it apart last weekend, but nope, the inside was clear.

So this meant only one thing.

NEW WASHER AND DRYER!!!

Say hello to my new best friends.

Sorry it's a bit glare-y, the basement does not have the best lighting (understatement of the year).

They are both by LG, and we got a heck of a deal on them from Nebraska Furniture Mart. Those guys are the best.

We had to take the side door off the house to fit them through, which meant corralling los chats while the deliverymen were doing their thing. 

Trying to figure out her escape plan.

I left them unattended for 5 minutes to go check the progress, and came upstairs to an open bedroom door and a missing Bella. I promptly freaked my freak right out. But, she was just hiding under the nearest car and ran right inside as soon as Andy yelled at her. PHEW. 

I did my first loads of laundry last night with my new friends, and holy cow is there a huge difference. I was able to do 3 loads of clothes and a load of towels and blankets in under 2 hours. That is ridiculous. And everything came out of the dryer fluffy and fresh, instead of damp and nasty. The machines even play music when they finish their cycle instead of that horrible buzzer sound.

You could say I'm pretty happy right now.

It Happened

Next month I will be 24 (June 14th, in case you were wondering). People I know are getting married and having babies ON PURPOSE. Which is crazy to me. It means I am a real adult. I sure don't feel like a real adult. I laugh at inappropriate things, I like to color in coloring books, and I love to take naps.

But then the horrible thing happened to confirm the fact that I am indeed getting old.

 

Do you see that little guy peeking out from inside my bangs? That lone GRAY hair? You better believe I ripped that thing out like my life depended on it and brought it to Andy to look at it for confirmation (men in his family turn prematurely gray, so he is an expert on gray hair). He tried to tell me it was just bleached. Dude. My hair is brown. There is no such thing as a bleached hair on my head.

You guys. A GRAY HAIR. I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. I really am getting old.

I guess it's back to coloring my hair so I don't see any more of these effers. I know this is only the first of many.

My dad used to call his "highlights" when he was in denial that he was indeed turning gray. Maybe I should just call them that to make myself feel better.

UGH.

Peep This: Fridge Edition

It's time for another rousing round of Jes and Crystal's Peep This! This time, it's fridges. Which is terrifying.

Meet Stanley the Frigidaire. Andy so cleverly named it because it's stainless. He's so creative.

Let's take a closer look.

Here we have a half finished bottle of sangria, some Vitamin Water, about 3 different kinds of mustard, some egg beaters egg whites, shredded parmesan cheese, a bottle of champagne from when we moved into the Bungalow, and who knows what else is hiding back there.

Some red pepper hummus (delish), a random chicken breast in a tupperware container, butter, leftover veggies from whole foods, applesauce, soy coffee creamer, a boatload of Chobanis, and the baking soda filter thingy that fell off the side of the fridge.

Two random lemons.

Smoked gouda slices and a wedge of blue cheese.

Condiment town. Minced garlic, ginger paste, sriracha, buffalo sauce, bbq sauce, taco sauce, and ketchup.

More condiment town. Frank's Red Hot, sweet chili sauce, two different kinds of jelly, and some salad dressings.

Best lemonade ever, yardwork Gatorade, and some blood orange Italian soda.

Andy affectionately calls this the froyo graveyard because I may or may not be known to stick half full containers in there. So there's some of that, some gluten free bread, some sort of ground meat?, some waffles, and I have no idea what that box is back there.

More ice cream graveyard, some frozen veggies, a Healthy Choice that I will probably never eat because it's full of chemicals, and a bottle or two of some delicious vodka.

Some tropical fruit popsicles and some soy ice cream sandwiches.

The side of Stanley. Grocery list, meal planning, some pictures of my sister Allison, the nephews, Andy and his boy cousins, some takeout menus, and a notice that a cat needs it's shots.
So there you have it. What a mess.

Weekend Happenings

My weekend started off with a little acupuncture. Everyone who says that's scary or it would hurt needs to try it. It's not scary and it doesn't hurt one bit. I don't even feel the needles going in. I walked in with my neck and shoulders inflamed beyond belief, and left with no inflammation whatsoever an hour later. It's amazing.

Weird rock lamp thing in the room that I see every time and can never figure out what is is/what it's supposed to do.

Saturday (after a Skype sesh with my LT) we ate at our favorite neighborhood pizza place and I walked past these condos that I LOVE in Dundee. We looked at renting one before we bought the Bungalow, but they were super pricey. 

The Roycroft.

We ended up getting stuck in my favorite bar during a thunderstorm. Dang, how inconvenient. We met some neighborhood people at dinner and saw them again at the bar. We traded old house stories (theirs is 104 years old!) and it ended up that Andy had been in their house before because it previously was owned by his mentor from college. Making new friends is always fun.

New friends at the Dundee Cork and Bottle.

Sunday I awoke to our dryer in pieces on the basement floor. Andy was attempting to "fix" it. It died a valiant death yesterday after 25 years of existence, which is a dang miracle. This means... new washer and dryer for me! We're going to pick some out tonight.

I put this picture of my mom and I up by my desk at home while I was doing homework yesterday. It's probably my favorite picture ever.

Stunna shades from a young age.

Yesterday also involved a baby shower for these sweet girls. Andy's mom made jalapeno poppers and I ate about 30 of them. They were so good. I needed a baby shower for my food baby that I ate there. I'm so glad I was wearing a dress, otherwise I would have had to unbutton my pants.

Baby shower attire. Another day, another maxi dress (from Target this season). Also, don't even try to get your hair to behave in Nebraska in the summer, the humidity will drive you crazy. Hence the curly mess.

How was your weekend? Do anything exciting and fun? Wear any maxi dresses?

I Took Her Out, It Was A Friday Night

I wonder what happened to Tom from MySpace...

Hello friends! It's been an exciting and tiring week. Tuesday the little bro won a state championship, Wednesday I had a migraine, Thursday I was buried under a pile of work, and I am SO happy it's Friday!

Did you have a Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper like I did? This is an awesome interview with Lisa Frank's head designer.

This is so unbelievably true.

Are you having a rough day? Do you need the Calming Manatee to help you settle down?

I am loving this Free People maxi (shocking, I know) dress.

I am totally trying this braid on my hair this weekend.

I need this chandelier. So badly. So, so very badly.

Buzzfeed claims you need to see these pictures before the world ends. I happen to agree.

With all the work we're doing the Bungalow backyard, I am digging (haha, yardwork pun!) these garden ideas.

I'm having serious Maui cravings right now. I'm trying to figure out how I can get myself back on this beach.

3 months until I can shove a Bacon Maple Doughnut in my face.

This weekend involves yardwork and homework. Sounds like a barrel of laughs, right? As long as I get to sleep in, I'm a happy girl. What do you have planned for the weekend?

We Are The Champions

Tuesday night was kind of a big deal. The Boz (aka my little brother Dylan) was in the state soccer championship. To say the game was intense is an understatement. There were near fights (involving people holding each other back), dirty plays, and lots of screaming. I got in trouble with my mom for yelling a little too loudly when the ref made a bad call (which was often, and I swear I didn't say the F word mom, I said "freaking"). I think my heart stopped multiple times during the game, and towards the end I couldn't even feel my legs. But the Skyhawks prevailed 3-2. And I've never been more proud of my little dude. He has worked so hard to get where he is.

The Skutt Catholic Skyhawks (my alma matter)

Duh, winning!

Sibling love.

The McHale fam.

The Greg and The Renee are proud parents.

Probably the best picture I have ever encountered of the three of us.

The State Champ.

Congrats Dylan Baasan-face. You deserve it.