We did great this weekend. Or should I say, Zach did great this weekend.

Our once colorless house now has a painted living room.

Our once heavy, golden paisley drapes have been replaced by colorfully fun curtains.

Our once decorationless kitchen is adorned by a single, beautiful vase (that was my contribution).

After sitting in a living room plastered in newspaper, paint rollers, brushes, and other Relaxed Khaki colored accoutrement, we are ready to move on to a new color. That's not to say that the living room renovation is complete by any means. We're still eyeing up the perfect couch, looking for a hanging lamp, and saving up for one of those new-fangled flat screen TVs. And that's just what we have in mind to work on right now. In the future new carpet may be looming, and who knows what else...?

I was proud of our smart shopping today (a whole new world of coupons opens up to you when you own a home), but I was also proud of my home cooking today. We usually cook our dinners at home, but today we tried a new and unusual recipe: Stir-Fried Pumpkin. I'll admit, I didn't want to try this recipe because it sounded yummy. I wanted to try it because I was intrigued.

This recipe marks the first time I've ever bought a pumpkin for anything other than cutting eyes, a nose, and a mouth out of it and putting a lighted candle inside of it. The dish had a great flavor, but as Z pointed out, once you got to a chunk of pumpkin it was like biting into a chunk of water. So what to do with the remaining 90% of the pumpkin that was not tossed into the stir fry? I'm trying to make my own pumpkin puree. Right now the orange mush that was once a slanted pumpkin is straining in the refrigerator. I'm really excited about it, and am hoping that I can turn it into something yummy, like these Pumpkin Spice Whoopies. My sweet tooth will not be tamed for months after this.