Day 27-Staining

A couple of months ago Jon got a new deck put into his backyard. This replaced a patio with sinking flat stones, and a flower bed. Of course we knew we would have to stain the deck! Our plan was to stain it sometime in the month of May. Now, many of you know in order to stain a deck you must power wash it first, let it dry, then stain, AND it cannot rain within 48 hours of the day you stain...so as you can imagine herein lies the problem with the month of May. 

We borrowed the power washer from my Daddio, and power washed away! It didn't take too long, and we were super stoked to get the stain and STAIN! But...you can guess...it rained that night! I know, right? It just freaking figures! I mean I guess we could have looked at the weather forecast, but who does that? Before we knew it the month of May had gotten away from us. So now we were already in June and the weather is progressively getting warmer, but we had other things that topped the priority list. Finally, Jon and I decided we HAD to get the deck stained before the end of June. Leave it to us procrastinators, we get it finished on June 30th! Ha-Ha

Jon had to work this morning from 8am-12pm, so our plan was for me to go to the store, get the stain, come back and only stain the railing. Easy! So, I woke up this morning, drove to Sherwin Williams, got all of the supplies I thought I would need and headed to Jon's house. It took me around 3 hours to complete just the railing with spindles. By this point it was around 100 degrees outside. I was sweating like a pig, literally, and I was exhausted! I had already completed more of the deck than Jon and I had thought I would get done, so I decided I would surprise him by having the whole thing finished! It was a giant goal, but I thought I could muster the energy and get it finished! Plus, it was my first time staining a deck, so I thought it would be a good memory if I got it finished all alone! I set to work, and did touch up paint on all of the railings, and then set to work on the floor of the deck. I was taking frequent water breaks, and checking my phone when I did this. I checked my phone at one point and it was 12:30pm. I had a text from Jon that he was leaving work...I hurried up and painted the last stroke when Jon pulled up in the driveway. 

His face was priceless as he walked up to a fully, finished, stained deck! Hooray! Success! He was so happy, I was glad I pulled it off! Staining a deck is quite rewarding I realized after today. I also realized how great it makes your deck look! As Jon and I were driving to my house I was noticing decks and how some decks aren't stained and how the ones that are stained look 100% better!!! Lesson learned, experience gained.

Before stain, you can tell I started staining the handrails

Finished product!

Enjoy the pictures below!

Day 26-Delta Zeta Alumnae Chapter

Kristi and I on Bid Day for Delta Zeta

Today I began reflecting on my college years. I started flipping through pictures on facebook and many pictures triggered specific memories and emotions. The one thing in college that was like a light that lit my path was Delta Zeta. I realized today how much it truly meant to me throughout college. It was a constant. If I was sad, there was someone there to comfort me, if I was happy, there was someone to laugh with me. Any mood I was in, I could find someone to talk with . There were times when we would go to the store with 15 girls. We would pull all of the tables together in the house for dinner because we all wanted to eat together. I became so involved in my chapter and on campus because I wanted to give back to the organization that helped give me so much. When I graduated from college, I was ready to move on. I was ready to embrace the next chapter of my life and leave Delta Zeta as a collegiate and accept whatever was to come my way. 

Now that I've completed my first year of teaching, I started to think about what I can do now as an alumnae of DZ. I know there is an alumnae chapter in St. Louis, so I began searching for information of how I could get involved. Today's new thing was contacting the person for the alumnae chapter as well as getting in touch with Epsilon Nu, my chapter at Missouri State University. I messaged the current president to gather some information on upcoming events and how I could be involved and help the chapter out. 

I'm hoping to hear some information of how the chapter is doing, as well as ways I can help! I shall keep you posted on this!