Ebb 'n Flow

Cheers to 2009!

2009-12-31T11:36:00.004-06:00

This has been a really great year! I promise to write a better re-cap soon, but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that made this year great and I am looking forward to an even greater year in 2010.

The husband and I are heading to the country with some friends to ring in the new year. I am excited to see the billions of stars in the Texas sky and hang out with friends. It is just a short trip, but it will be fun!

Happy New Year and talk to you then!

'Tis the season...

2009-12-01T20:20:00.003-06:00

...for being completely overwhelmed!
I feel like there are a million things that have to be done at work and no time to do them. It is only the first of the month and I don't think I will be able to get everything done that I have to do before the end of the year. I was looking over my current to do list today and it just overwhelms me. I feel like I should spend some extra hours at the office, but then I won't get all of the things that I want/need to get done at home complete. Finding that balance is going to be hard.
I was really hoping for a relaxing holiday season. We had a great Thanksgiving, my family came over and the husband and I were able to use our china for the first time. It was exciting to do most of the cooking and really great to just have a day to hang with the family.
But now as I look ahead to the Christmas holiday, I only have dread. I was originally going to take several days off before Christmas, but it looks like I will likely work at least part of the week of Christmas.
I feel like I have been completely out of touch. I have so many friends that I barely get a chance to talk to...or rather can't seem to find time to call. So to all of my friends that I have not seen or talked to lately...hello and I will try to get better about calling.
I am going to try this week to get things under control so that I can start to enjoy the holiday season. Especially since we might get snow this week...for Texas especially coastal Texas, that is rare and very exciting.
So here is to taking a big deep breath and lots of effective planning. Have a great week.
By the way, I hope you like the seasonal color change!

and another

2009-09-20T10:18:00.005-05:00

Now we have a pair of Carolina Chickadees!
I love all the new fall birds!

New wildlife sighting

2009-09-19T16:18:00.002-05:00

So the husband and I were sitting down to a late lunch of homemade corndogs (who knew such a thing even existed), when I looked out the window and saw a new type of bird. After a little investigating in our "Birds of North America" book, we determine we had a pair of Dark-eyed Juncos. How very exciting, it has been a while since we had any new species.

Here is a picture for those that are interested.

Ready for Fall

2009-09-18T11:38:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I know that this is probably wishful thinking, but it is really starting to feel like fall. For those of you not in Texas, it will sound crazy, but we are only supposed to reach 90 one time in the next 10 days. I am taking this a clear indication that fall is on its way. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy warm summer days as much as the next person, but this summer has been brutal. We have had some of the highest temperatures on record and a drought on top of that just to make it fun.
So needless to say, one of the things that I love most about summer has been sadly missing, the flowers! I love the flowers and all of the colors and how it just brightens everything up. But this summer the only color that seems to be standing out was brown. Everything just keeps dying.
So one of the things that I am excited about with fall is that maybe just maybe we can have flowers. Fall flowers are not quite as exciting to me as summer, but at this point, anything that is not dead or dying will make me very happy. So hopefully we will have some fun plants soon.
Hope you are all having good weather where ever you are.

What a difference a year makes

2009-09-15T21:31:00.004-05:00

The last few days have been fairly emotional for me. As many of your remember, on September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast and caused unbelievable damage to our home and changed our lives in a dramatic fashion. Well the anniversary of the storm hitting was Sunday, but honestly that was not the big anniversary for me, and although it was something to stop and remember, it was not the event that makes me emotional. Today is the day, one year ago today we were finally allowed into our town to see our house. You know how somethings are forever etched in your mind, the first kiss, the loss of a family member, well for me it was the afternoon of September 15, 2008. The husband and I got a phone call from his sister that we could finally get to the house. When we jumped in the truck we were filled with relief that we would finally know what happened and at the same time filled with dread of what we would find.

As we drove to the house from my parents, the husband was on the phone with his sister (who got to the house first) and was told that it was bad, but he did not tell me what she said. Instead, he stopped our truck right before we were about to turn down our road and told me that no matter what happened and no matter what we saw when we got to our house, that the most important thing was that we were both fine and we would make it through whatever we found. This is only one of the thousands of reasons that I love him. And then he told me that we did have a little water in the house. Talk about the understatement of the century!

So as you are all aware, we did get to our house and had about 4 1/2 feet of water and sewage in the house during the storm. I don't know that there are words for what I felt at the moment we walked into the house. I think it was a mixture of sadness, shock, and worry about what to do first. I remember crying immediately and just about falling down. As we walked through the house trying to see where everything stood, we got to the extra bedroom where the cherry blanket chest my father, brother, and grandfather made for me as a wedding gift was kept. I think that was the second worst moment of that day and honestly, I had not gotten over the first moment. But that is when my husband became an incredibly strong man and carried it out of the house to the truck, all by himself! He was convinced that if he could not fix anything else that day, that he would save my blanket chest...and he did. Again, just yet one more reason I am lucky to have him. We got it back to my parents and he and my dad clamped it together and after several months in traction it is back to nearly perfect. It was a very important thing for me because of the sentimentality attached to it with the wedding and the effort that went into it, but now it is even more important because of the additional memories associated with it.

As I sit here writing this, I am crying, not so much from sadness but as a memory of all of the things that the husband and I have been through in such a short time. We were married 18 months ago today, 12 months ago today we lost nearly all of our earthly possessions to a horrific natural disaster, 6 months ago today our fantastic contractor gave us the keys to our home and we stayed in our brand new old house for the first time (sleeping on a futon-one of the three pieces of furniture that was delivered in time) , and today we are sitting in a beautiful home with furniture and memories forever thankful that we have each other to support and take care of each other.

So needless to say, it has been quite a year. Thank you for indulging me in the memories, it just seemed like this day needed to be commented on and honestly, I think I needed to talk about it but just don't want to talk, so here is to blogging my way through.

I don't know that any words will ever be able to express our gratitude to the friends, family, and strangers that did so much for us during the very difficult times following the hurricane. From offering us a place to stay during the evacuation, to helping us throw away everything in our house, to helping us try to save the few things we had left, to helping us find a contractor, giving us a place to live, helping to make our new house feel like home, or just supporting us on the hard days and helping us find the good days. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart, and please know that if you ever need anything, I only hope that I can be there for you as you were for us.

And last but not least , I want to say something just to my husband. I am so thankful that I had you there to be my rock, I can't imagine how I would ever get through something like that without you. And I am thankful everyday that I will never have to know. I love you!

Congratulations!

2009-08-09T17:33:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to say congratulations to the SIL and her new husband. They had a beautiful ceremony and a great reception!

Here's to a wonderful life of happiness for them!

Welcome Benjamin

2009-07-24T08:44:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post to say welcome to baby Benjamin! He is very early, but we are very excited that he is here safe and sound. Shout out to the great parent's that he is finally able to meet. If you want to see pictures or hear his story, go here

http://web.mac.com/jasonandkimbo/Site/What_the_IVF/What_the_IVF.html

Congratulations Ellis family!

Very exciting

2009-07-15T21:28:00.004-05:00

Ok, so the husband and I have just finished with the install of our brand new patio. It is way better then I could have even hoped for...it is just so pretty. And we now have a cohesive patio area with a lot more usable space. The husband also got a fire pit. It is 100 degrees here and now he wants to build a fire. So far the burn ban has stopped him, but I am sure as soon as it is lifted there will be a fire!

Enjoy the pics and I will chat with you soon.

Settling Back In...

2009-07-13T21:16:00.005-05:00

First I have to give a little shout out for my favorite holiday...Fourth of July. I did not get a chance to blog about it, so if you will indulge me for a moment I would like to reflect. Fourth of July is my favorite holiday, because it does not have all of the stigma of other holidays nor has it lost its true purpose like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I love that it is meant to celebrate freedom and all that it means. I love that it usually means friends and family gather for no preconceived ideas of getting gifts. And I love that it is usually picnic food that can be easily put together. And most of all I love the fireworks. This year we went to a Fourth of July party at the SIL's and at dark we headed out to the small beach on the bay and watched all of the fireworks along the coast, probably about 20 different cities. I just love that we have a country where we can get together and celebrate the freedom we are provided and work to remember the freedom we hope to continue to keep. Now on to the actual post...

Well I am now officially off of vacation. I returned to work today and it was a hectic re-introduction. I find that it is very hard to get motivated to go to work off a 10 day break. I had off the Friday before July 4th and then did not go back until today.

The husband and I took a trip to the Lake house, for just some quiet time away. The Lake house is in a small Pennsylvania town about 2 hours north east of Pittsburgh. We did visit a little with family, but mostly it was just the two of us. We had a great time, we hiked a little, rode bikes, played on the water, and golfed. The weather was incredible. The temperatures ranged below the mid 50's and the mid 80's with almost no humidity. It was a strange and wonderful change from the 100+ weather in Houston! The fun thing is listening to all the locals talk about how hot and humid it is...and we just giggle. In fact, it was actually hotter in Houston when we landed at 10:30pm then it was the entire time we were in Pennsylvania.

We went to a beautiful place in upstate New York called Watkins Glen State Park. If you are ever up there I highly suggest you go. I used to live near there and it is even more beautiful than I remember.

We also caught a couple of movies...Gran Torino, Ice Age 3, Public Enemies, New In Town, and Bedtime Stories. It was nice to catch up on movies and most of them were really good.

Well like I said the vacation is over, but it sure was fun. Hopefully you are all having a great summer. Here is to surviving the hottest summer in Houston and for a few more mini-cations still to come.

New blog pieces

2009-06-24T20:51:00.013-05:00

If you look to your left you will notice a new part has been added to the blog. I have added a "Wildlife Watch Report" to log all of the wildlife that have decided to visit our home.

So the husband and I moved back to our home in March and since then it has been a crazy menagerie of animals visiting the front and back yards. It started with a pair of nesting Green Backed Heron, and then a set of three babies that made it to adulthood.

We have had a wide variety of birds in the back yard, but the most exciting are the woodpeckers...they are just too cool. This is a picture I borrowed of the Red Bellied Woodpecker and a Downy Woodpecker.

And then the piece de resistance of the last few weeks are the mammals. One night we had up to five of the raccoons in the yard and a few days later a opossum joined them. Now I apologize for the pictures but here is my raccoon.

So as you can see it is never dull in the yard. So I decided to include a list that will be updated as we find new friends of the animal persuasion!

How you enjoy the list and the pictures!

Mixed Emotions

2009-06-11T23:08:00.003-05:00

This has been an interesting week when it comes to emotions. We (the husband and I) have several friends that are expecting babies. The first one had a healthy baby boy earlier this week. We are very excited for them and wish them lots of luck with the brave new world of having both a toddler and a newborn...hope they are not expecting sleep anytime soon!

Today was just the opposite, we have a friend that was pregnant with twins, and this morning she lost one of the babies. Luckily she and the other baby are still doing well, but our hearts are breaking for them. They moved away and so we can't even stop by and try to comfort them through this incredibly difficult time or offer any real help, just . I can't even fathom how you begin to deal with the emotional side of that kind of loss. I just want them both to know that we love them and will do anything we can to help during the extremely difficult time. Here is hoping that this in the last difficulty they will have with the pregnancy. They are in our thoughts and prayers.

Check back early next week for an update of the weekend trip to Corpus and Port A...

Ta Da!

2009-06-02T19:49:00.010-05:00

Ok, so I have promised pictures, and I am finally delivering. Sorry it took so long, but I had to download pictures and then remember to use the right computer to post them. Enjoy the photo tour of our "new" house.

First we have the kitchen, which I love because the cabinets are beautiful with great tiny details and I have granite counter tops!!! Very exciting.

We added the pendant lights and a bookcase to the peninsula the separates the kitchen and breakfast nook.

This is a look into the breakfast nook with our beautiful bay window. You can also see the new living room furniture, this is one of my favorite new furniture purchases, because I really really disliked the husbands' coaches. These ones are beautiful and probably the best napping coaches I have ever been on.
Here is a view of the other side of the living room. We purchased a new TV, it is a mere 52" flat screen...that was the husband's decision. But I have to admit it is very nice.
Here is a look at the entry way. That is a brand new beautiful mahogany front door that we found on Craig's list from a local door maker. Not sure if you can see it but is has wrought iron scrolling with a Texas star in the center. The secretary desk was a piece of furniture that we found at an antique store and worked on to refinish, including having it gel stained by the SIL.
This is our dining room. The furniture is the same as we had before the storm. The chandelier is new and wonderful. We also installed a dimmer switch, so we have a very beautiful room of furniture and now it is well lighted.
Here is one of our favorite new rooms. This is the room that has had the most design changes with regards to color and set up. We decided not to go back with the plastic preformed shower/bath thing and instead put a nice and roomy stand up shower. We also decided to give the room some extra space by placing a stand alone vanity instead of a built in sink and cabinet. We think it turned out perfect. It is like a little spa retreat in the house.

So that is most of our house...the hallway is painted and the master bed and bath are just about done. Hope you enjoyed the tour and we look forward to showing you the house in person, next time you are in town.

Wait for it...

2009-05-04T21:03:00.003-05:00

It is almost time! The husband and I are hosting the first party in the "new" old house. We are having an open house this weekend to show off all that is new and improved. We are really excited about having a chance to have people over and to host a party.
We have kept the pictures to a minimum because we are hoping to surprise people with the changes, but I promise after this weekend we will post pictures of all of the rooms.
We are making great progress, we are pretty much set in all of the rooms except the hall and the 2 extra bedrooms.
I think we have gotten a huge amount of work done in a relatively short time, we have only been back for about 6 weeks. But with the party coming up I just keep thinking of more and more I want to get done before Saturday. I have to shout out to the husband who has been incredibly helpful and understanding of my neurotic need to do more projects. I am very lucky to have such a handy man for a husband.

On another note, I set up a Facebook account. Some will think wow, it is about time and others will think I am a sell out. I have to been honest, I am not sure what all the fuss is about. I understand that it is cool to chat with people, but it is really no different than instant messaging. I am not sure that I have figured it all out, but I am somewhat annoyed by the wall idea and the fact that there are just weird random things posted on it by anyone. I am not sure how long I will stick with it, but I will give it a little more time to see if it grows on me.

So Nice!

2009-04-08T20:18:00.002-05:00

So last night the husband and I had friends over for dinner. This was the first time that we have really been able to have non-family over for dinner and conversation. It was great to spend some time just catching up with them, but also was fun to show off the new house. Neither of them had seen anything in the house since it was finished, in fact I think we barely had walls last time they stopped by.

We had a nice dinner and then sat comfortably on our living room furniture...that is right we have living room furniture. It is beautiful and very comfortable. I napped in the couch a little on Saturday and it was great.

We had a pretty busy weekend but still managed to get a lot done.

Friday the living room furniture was delivered

Saturday the master bathroom was painted and the bath hardware was installed (thanks Husband)

Sunday the kitchen got painted and a few decorative knick knacks were placed

Sunday night we attended this...it was fun and also funny to people watch.

Monday we did Opening Day with the Astros, they did not win but it was still a lot of fun and a good evening shared with the SIL and her fiance.

So overall things are going well, there are still a few new sad issues, but things seem to be going pretty well.

Tally board is too heavy...

2009-03-31T21:16:00.002-05:00

So it feels like overall 2009 has been a pretty good year. It definitely started out better than 2008 and is seemingly progressing along on a positive note. But the past week has jaded by view of things. I am trying to keep in mind that this is just a blip on the map and that things will get back to the good, but for right now I am in a funk and having a hard time getting out of it. Here are just a few of things that have made the bad side of the tally board a little heavier than it should be...
*Friend battling breast cancer, she is a superstar and has been incredibly positive throughout the whole ordeal, but she sounds incredibly tired on the phone and I worry about her constantly.
*SIL is dealing with biopsies to see if there is any chance that she might have to deal with breast cancer
*Lady that I used to sit next to at work was murdered by her husband this weekend, not sure how to deal with the idea of losing an co-worker to murder
*Two of my great aunts passed away in the last couple of weeks
*Personal issues with regards to health (nothing serious, just something that has to be dealt with)
*Two bald patches that have reappeared and don't seem to be responding to the medicines (for those that don't know I lost all of my hair for about 7 years, I would like to avoid a repeat)
*Frustrating projects at work, it seems that the harder I work the crappier the projects that are handed to me and the worse condition they are in
* A very old and dear friend and his wife moved to Florida last week, so instead of being 15 minutes away they are now 10 hours...
*Fighting with the furniture store to get delivery of final piece of our bedroom suite
So needless to say I am just in a funk and not sure what to do to get out of it. I try and think of the positives, but just when I start to make a breakthrough it seems like one more thing gets added to the tally board.
In an effort to try on look on the bright side, I will list the positives of the last couple weeks:
*Final payment from mortgage company of remaining insurance money
*Friend came into town to help get the house back in order (including helping to paint the living room)
*Looks like we will be getting a supplement from insurance company for things they screwed up
*Delivery schedule for final bedroom furniture piece and living room furniture
*Saw Les Miserables for like the sixth time in a whole new way

Well thanks for reading my ramblings, I know that it will all be ok and that things will get better, but for now they seem to be more loaded on the negative side. Here's hoping to happy events to follow.

Picture Post

2009-03-16T21:31:00.012-05:00

Ok, so here are a mish mash of pictures that I have promised. Enjoy!

For our anniversary my mother brought us breakfast...quiche, muffins, champagne, and orange juice.

She also brought us a tiny cake to represent our cake topper from the wedding...

Here is the awesome sea glass necklace that the husband bought me

Here are just a few of the wish cards

And the anniversary cards

More pictures to come. Enjoy!

Milestones

2009-03-15T21:30:00.002-05:00

Well this weekend the husband and I celebrated two major milestones in our life. The first was moving into our own home. We got the keys to the front door on Friday and stayed for the first time in over six months! We stayed on a futon the first night (actually even smaller than the bed we have been in for the last six months at my parents! On Saturday we got our bedroom furniture and a new mattress...so we slept in our own bed for the first time.
The next milestone was today...our one year anniversary! We made it through one of the longest years and have a wonderful new house to celebrate our anniversary in. As if that was not enough the husband got me a beautiful necklace. It is a piece of sea glass, to remind me of our honetmoon in Mendocino where we walked on the Glass Beach (http://www.fortbragg.com/fort-bragg-attractions.php).
I will post some more tomorrow night with pictures as soon as I find the camera cable...

Way too cool...

2009-03-11T21:52:00.004-05:00

So I have now been married approximately 362 days...just 3 days until my one year anniversary. As most of you know the husband and I had a perfect wedding and were living in wedded bliss until September 15, 2008 when our world got jumbled. I consider us one of the luckiest couples that I know...we found out in our first year of marriage that we can overcome horrible tragedy and come out stronger. I figure it we can make it through everything that 2008 threw at us, then we have little to worry about for the next 50 or 60 years.

I can't remember if I ever really told everyone about what was really lost in the hurricane, but one of the hardest things to lose and least likely to get back was our wedding stuff. My dress was fine but most of the mementos were lost. One of the things we lost that I thought was irreplaceable was our Wish Book. Instead of having a sign in book we had a Wish Book (people write down their wish for the husband and I). You then put them all in a really pretty book and can go back and read them down the road. Needless to say ours was lost, or was it...

Apparently my mother, being a very sneaky women, worked to get our Wish Cards replaced. She tricked me into helping her import all of my wedding list into address labels, telling me she needed an address list to start with to send out Easter Cards, since she missed sending Christmas cards. And let me tell you she tells a very convincing story, even invoking how much my great aunt loves to receive the Christmas letters. Anyway, she is reality sent out a letter to all of our wedding guest telling them about our plight during our first year of marriage. She then asked each person to complete a wish card and send it to us at our house for our anniversary. All of this unbeknownst to the husband and me.

So far we have received about 10 cards and it has brought tears to my eyes. So here is a shout out to my awesome mother, who has not only given us a place to stay for 6 months but has also gone above and beyond to make our first anniversary and move home even more special. And also a shout out to all of you that have sent us the wish cards...you have no idea how much the husband and I appreciate it.

Just a little different

2009-02-28T18:45:00.002-06:00

So last weekend was perfect. The husband and I really enjoyed the quite weekend away. It was nice to have a space all to ourselves with no one else to worry about. I would love to write about all the exciting things we did...but we didn't. On Friday night we hung out in our room and ordered a pizza. Then on Saturday we went to see "Taken" (I would highly recommend it) and then had a little pasta back in the room. It was great, not quite home but it works.

This week at worked was really busy at work and at the house. Just a quick recap on the house. The tile in the kitchen is all done including the back splash. We just need to have it grouted. The wood floor is almost done in the whole house. The painting is finished, almost. The kitchen granite was finished. The AC was installed. According to the contractor we might be in by the middle of the week! That would be awesome.

We have ordered all of the appliances, they are being delivered tomorrow. Picked out our living room furniture, ordered a futon for the library, and just ordered our TV stand.

And one final note, the contents people finally were able to finish reviewing our list and approved it! Amazing, I know. We are hoping to get the money by Monday or Tuesday.

This weekend has been busy cleaning up the yard and taking stuff to the dump. Not as relaxing as last weekend, but much more rewarding.

Big Plans

2009-02-20T10:34:00.002-06:00

I am very excited about this weekend. I am sure after reading what I am planning, you will think wow what a dull life if this is exciting. This weekend the husband has two days of classes for his principal certification. Since we have been living with my parents while rebuilding the house we are always looking for a way to get away. I think it is good for everyone in the house for there to be time away. So the husband and I take the opportunity to stay in a hotel when he has classes. Now the classes are just on the north side of town, but we have two full nights of just us. The first time we did this we grabbed a bottle of Boone's Farm and watched a movie. Exciting I know.

With everything that is going on we are just ready for a quite weekend with no other people. We will probably ordered in a pizza and snuggle in for a good movie.

Here's to no big plans in a nice little quite hotel!

Have a great weekend.

Who knew doors would be so much fun!

2009-02-04T20:57:00.006-06:00

Ok, so it has been merely three weeks since we had our new contractor start, and here is a quick recap followed by the latest pictures:

Accomplished:

Insulation
Drywall
Taping/Sanding of Drywall
Texture on walls
Tiling of shower and floor in the Master Bathroom
Tiling of shower and floor in the Extra Bathroom
5 interior doors hung (today)
Trim around 5 interior doors (today)
Framing of master bathroom cabinet (today)
Framing of nearly all kitchen cabinets (today)
Purchase of new front door
Refinished laundry room cabinets
Repurposed old kitchen cabinets to garage storage

In Progress:

Ordered new storm windows (way more efficient)
Ordered carpet
Picked out wood floors and remaining tile
Picked out all appliances
Picked out extra bathroom vanity
Purchase new attic ladder (finally able to access the storage space in the attic)

On the List:

Pick out cabinet face design
Pick out granite for cabinets
Finish install of cabinets
Finish floor install
Paint walls

So now for the pictures:

Master Bathroom with framed cabinet and new tile

Newly framed kitchen cabinets

Extra Bathroom with tile in shower and floor

Changes

2009-01-30T23:32:00.003-06:00

Well I thought since just about everything else in my life is new, I should try something new with the blog. So here is the newest version of the blog, let me know what you think.

This has been a very strange week. We had a very important audit this week at work and I was having a bad day and made one of the cardinal mistakes of auditing...I argued with the auditor. You know how they say in retail that the customer is always right, well in auditing the auditor is always right, even when they are ABSOLUTELY wrong. He was a brand new auditor for our program and the first time he met me for my interview he starts with "so you must not do very much," which needless to say I took as an insult. I take a great deal of pride in my work and to have a person that doesn't even know me question my work product was more than I could handle.

Obviously in a normal life situation, I would have been angry about it but been able to keep it to my self. But one important thing I have learned through all of this hurricane recovery effort is that I am like a raw nerve. I seem to live at the extremes of emotions, and feel like I have very little control of my emotions or reactions to situations. This was a perfect example of it.

So needless to say I spent the rest of the day upset with myself, worried that I would harm the outcome of the audit, and made at the way I was reacting to it. Luckily I was able to meeting with the auditor again the next morning in a much less emotionally charged environment and clear up some of the issues. The best news is that we passed the audit, so in the big picture it was not a big deal, but I am still bothered by it a little.

I just keep telling myself that once I get to move home and live with only my husband that I will settle down and be back to normal, a more emotionally even person. Here's hoping. My husband has been incredibly understanding and helpful, but I just feel bad that he has to keep picking up the pieces, especially this is all just as hard on him.

Wonderful Walls!

2009-01-21T22:23:00.003-06:00

I have had a request to put up some new progress photos. Hopefully you are not tired of the house related posts, as that seems to be the most common thing on my mind. For those of you not in the email loop...we now have walls and they are taped, floated, and textured!

As of today we have boxes of tile sitting in the house ready for installation in both bathrooms!

The other really fun thing is that on Monday the husband and I got to fulfill a childhood dream...drawing on the walls without getting into trouble. We met the contractor at the house and drew all of the kitchen cabinets that we wanted on the wall!!! How fun is that!

More pictures to come...

Progress

2009-01-07T21:45:00.003-06:00

Enough said!

10 Things I Want to do in 2009

2009-01-06T20:55:00.003-06:00

Ok, in the spirit of blogging more here is Ten on Tuesday!

10 Things I Want to do in 2009 (in no particular order)

Move back into my own home!
Make going to the gym a habit.
Stop biting my nails.
Visit the Carolina coast line.
Make a decision/progress on my dissertation.
Learn how to really use my Apple laptop.
Take a class to learn how to use my new digital SLR camera.
Blog on a more consistent basis.
Paint my house a new color on the outside.
Read Wuthering Heights all the way through...I can never get through it.

Ok, see you again soon...now I have to work at coming back since I have now made #8 known to all.

What a Year!

2008-12-31T15:57:00.006-06:00

Well, I know that it has been a very long time since I last blogged, so I thought a quick post to end the year was in order. This is a very hard post for me to compose. This has been a tremendous year of ups and downs, so it is hard to figure out how to write something that captures the year, but does not dwell on the sad or b

ad.

So I will quickly mention that the year started off very difficult with the loss of my grandfather, followed shortly by the lose of my best friends father. It is hard to see people you care about go, especially when it does not come with any real warning. The year ended with a major hurricane that caused serious damage to our home and has made the last three months an emotional roller coaster. So that is how the year bookends, but as with any story there is the middle, and in this case that is the very best part.

The greatest day of my year was March 15, when I got the privilege

to marry my wonderful husband. I have no idea where I would be without him in my life, he brings me such happiness and balance. Which given the way everything went this year I have really needed. We had an absolutely perfect wedding that was everything a girl could hope for. I am putting in a couple pictures because I never got around to doing it on the blog. I had planned to do a big six month anniversary post, but the hurricane got in the way.

We then traveled to Mendocino, California for a honeymoon. We loved our little bed and breakfast and really enjoyed all of the outdoor hiking. We then travelled south to San Francisco, which was very different from our quiet little B&B, but a lot of fun.

We headed to Pennsylvania in July to spend the fourth with family and friends. My parents hosted a summer reception for us so that all of my family and our friends that could not make it to the wedding had a chance to meet the husband. We had a lot of fun, but the trip was too short.

The last thing I want to mention about the year is Christmas. The husband and I headed back to Pennsylvania for a few days of quiet away from the bustling world we are currently living in. We got to see fresh snow, go sledding, go skiing, snuggle in front of a warm fireplace, and spend time with family.

The year has been very full and there are lots of things about it I wish I could just forget or at least undo...but there are also many things that made it a great year. I am choosing to remember 2008 as the year I pledged to love my husband for the rest of my life, and found a way to get a fully remodeled house without having to save a penny (thanks Ike!).

Here is wishing everyone a wonderful New Year's Eve and a very happy 2009!

Week 5 and counting

2008-10-17T09:33:00.001-05:00

Hopefully this will be a short and sweet email regarding our progress. Things are finally starting to really move along. So here is the quick story of progress:

Since I last wrote we have turned in our elevation certificate to the city and it was approved.
We have "patiently" (not really but we are trying) waited for the flood adjuster to come back to the house. He finally made it out to the house on Monday. We scheduled an appointment for 3pm and at 2:50 they called to reschedule for the next day. FOr those that know me, I am sure you can imagine my response. I informed them that there would be no rescheduling, that The husband and I would be waiting at the house, with flashlights if necessary, to meet with them on Monday. They did finally make it to the house at almost 5pm. We completed the walk through, so now we are waiting on them to provide us the draft scope which is where we will start to see the amount of money insurance will give us to rebuild...we are trying to be patient. The adjusters seemed very pleased with all of the efforts we have taken, but did ask to have the ceiling sprayed with the anti-microbial stuff. Not something I had thought about, but we are going to do it in the next week since I agree that it is a great idea!
Monday we also had an appointment with a plumber. He came out, looked around, and we are waiting for his estimate. He assures us that the price will include a "Hurricane Ike" discount. It is really great to see how people are willing to help and work with you.
Wednesday we met with the Air Conditioning guy about replacing our 4 month old unit. He seems really nice and was very easy to work with. He is also going to get us prices on about 3 different systems, so that we can decide what we want. The AC will be one of the last pieces, since we don't want all of the debris and dust from the construction process getting sucked up into the new system. So we are waiting for the paperwork and then we will have him do the work in two parts, removal of the current system (to allow better access for drywall work) and installation of the new.
Wednesday we also met with our contractor, Ray. Ray is chomping at the bit to get started and I think he is as excited as we are that we get to rebuild. We went over all of the information from the plumber and AC with him and I think we are all in agreement.
Thursday we met with the electrician. He feels pretty confident that he can pull and replace all of the necessary wire in a week. So we are going to pull the permit next week and hopefully by the following weekend we will have new wire. He is also going to replace the circuit box. He is the husband of one of the people I work with, so he is being great about the price. He will come back after drywall is done to install the actual switches... the idea is to leave them off for a while so that they don't get messed up during the construction process.
One last thing is about the cars. I have found a used Infiniti to replace my car. I have requested that it be sent from Austin and hopefully it will be here today! So I should soon be in my new car.
Oh, and we went out and got a new MacBook so we now have a computer all our own. We are very excited to back in the technology world, without having to wait our turn at the computer.

I think that is what is going on in a nut shell. I know I keep saying it but really appreciate all of you kinds call and thoughts. We are finally staring to see the light at the tunnel and I am almost convinced that it is daylight and not a train! We will keep you in the loop on progress. On a final note, Ray says if we get started in the next week or so we should be in the house by the end of January.

The next chapter

2008-10-06T21:30:00.000-05:00

Let me first start off with an apology. I know many of you have tried to get in touch with us or have been patiently waiting for an email with an update, but to no avail. We are sorry it has taken so long to get to you but to say it has been crazy has been an understatement and I am sure you can all understand. The husband and I are still doing fine, but this has been two very long and difficult weeks. And to be blatantly honest, I just did not have the strength to write what was going on for most of the time. I will not go through the blow by blow, but below is a quick account of what has been going on:
-We met with FEMA, the gentlemen was very nice and told us to expect our denial letter within 7 to 10 days. Apparently FEMA has way too much time on its hands and denies all claims the first time and then once they receive the appeal they actually review the claim. We are still waiting for our denial letter, but are more than ready to fight the denial.
-The car insurance person came to see the cars. Only my car was covered by the policy because we only carried a limited amount of coverage on the Corvette. The insurance company totaled out my car (for obvious reasons) and is paying more than I owe, which means I have a down payment. My car was towed off last Monday and I got the check in the mail today. So we should be able to start car shopping soon. As for the Corvette, the husband decided to sell it on Craig's List due to the lack of time and money to fix it right now. He sold it today and I think it has gone to a good home. The people that bought it plan to restore it and give it to their 87 year old mother. They promised we could go visit it! And just because life is fun, my rental car had a completely flat tire last Monday on the driver side and now has a slow leak on the passenger side...will the fun never stop!
-The flood insurance adjuster made it out to the house Friday a week ago. He is a delightful gentleman that informed us that it would be between 60 and 90 days minimum to get an insurance check and that there was a good chance our house would have to be demolished and rebuilt at a higher elevation (more on this later). He finished the assessment part of his work and then headed out. He informed us that he would be in touch in 7 to 10 days to schedule the scope portion of his work. He further stated that we were not to do any more work on the house until he returned. Needless to say he has not returned and we have done no further work. Our house was deemed "unlivable," shocking I know, but unfortunately given everything that was not a foregone conclusion. We are also entitled to emergency funds to help cover immediate costs...we are still waiting (I am not sure what the exact definition of immediate is, but I am certain it is shorter than 22 days.)
-The wind insurance adjuster came to the house last Monday with no appointment and apparently did the whole inspection without us. We spoke with him this weekend and he is going to provide money to replace 100 feet of fence, 5 days of mandatory evacuation, and food loss due to power outage. So now we are just waiting for that check.

So that I think catches us up on all of the people that have been to visit the house. We are still at the same point with the house; it is down to the studs and has been drying for about 2 weeks...so now we just wait for the flood person.

On to the discussion of having to tear down the house and start over. Apparently following the devastating hurricanes in Florida and Louisiana prior to 2007 there were some changes in the laws regarding base flood elevation. I am not going to get into the details, but if your house is below base flood elevation and has substantial damage (damages are greater than 50% of the value of the home) then you must elevate to at or able the base flood elevation. The base flood elevation is determined by a flood map from the National Flood Insurance Program and the elevation of the homes are determined by survey and recorded on an Elevation Certificate. To make a long story short the base elevation for our area is 12 feet and our house is 12.74 feet. So we are good to go. But there was a lot of back and forth about what year the certificate had to be and whether the benchmark changed...and so it has been nearly two weeks of not knowing whether the house could be rebuilt or if we would have to demolish the house and start over.

So today we got the good news that our elevation certificate was accepted by the city and now we just have to get permits when we are ready for electrical, plumbing or air conditioning. Needless to say a great weight has been lifted.

The husband and I want to say thank you to all of our friends and family for your willingness to help, listen, and offer kinds words and big hearts. This has been a very traumatic time, but it is much better surrounded by some many people that love us.
We will be in touch!

A week in review

2008-09-23T21:24:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! Well it has been a little over a week since we first got to the house. It has been a ridiculously busy week. I thought we would post a quick update and a link to some of the photos so that people can start to see what the house looked like. I think it is best to just start at the beginning and go day by day. The beginning will be a small recap for the new people.

Monday
The husband and I were able to finally get into the house late Monday afternoon, where we found out that we had about 4.5 feet of water and sewage in the house. The water had all drained from the house, but left a disaster in its wake.
We were able to get to the house and begin removing furniture and trying to grab the things we could save. We called the insurance and registered with FEMA (who ever thought we would be doing that.) Thank you to Detroit friends for helping us register long distance.
Tuesday
We started bright and early removing the rest of the furniture and most of the carpet, tile, and trim board. We also met some of our neighbors that had made contact with a contractor that was willing to work solely for our street. We were able to get the contractors name and called him to discuss the possibility of helping with our house. He indicated he would be in the area early the next morning.
Wednesday
The contractor called early on Wednesday and we met him around 7am. The contractor and his crew started to work and helped us get the last stuff out of the house. We started to tear out drywall and insulation and our interior doors were all removed.
The contractor also took the Husband and I to Lowe’s to start picking out things for the “new” house. We selected very pretty granite known as “St Cecilia Ext”, it is a yellow granite with black, brown, and copper flecks, a beautiful beige tile, and cabinetry. I think it is all going to look really good together…it is just crazy to make all of those decisions in less than an hour!
Thursday
The contractor and his crew got an early start and were able to remove all of the drywall up to 6 feet and all of the cabinets and appliances. By the end of the day we had decided to take the drywall off all the way to the ceiling…just to be safe with the mold concerns.
Friday
We got the house and the contractor had his crew working to remove the last of the drywall and insulation. The Husband then power washed all of the exposed 2x4 to remove any remaining debris. The contractor then came in to spray the first round of anti-microbial material.
Saturday
The contractor sprayed the house for a second time with the anti-microbial material. The car insurance guy came and totaled out my car. Friends from Little Elm came down and helped get the last bit of work finished with the shed and the entire yard. We were able to get everything onto the debris pile. Saturday night, the Husband spoke with the flood insurance people. The insurance people said we could get rid of the pile and that they would be out on Friday morning.
Sunday
We rested!!!!
Monday
I returned to work and the Husband returned to his volleyball practice. He was able to stop by the house and get started on salvaging some of the hand tools. He was also able to remove the big sign that read “DO NOT REMOVE DEBRIS” which is very exciting!
I spoke with the car insurance company and will hopefully be able to get into a new car by early October.
Mom started with dishes and we are going to be able to save most of our everyday dishes and china.
Tuesday
So as of today the contractor was spraying the house for a third and final time and spraying the shed. The contractor was also going to get the building permit, so that as soon as the flood insurance people finish he can start hanging drywall.

I think we are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am almost convinced it is not the train! We have slowly started to go through the clothes that so many wonderful friends and nearly strangers were able to wash for us. Many things are not going to be salvageable but it is nice to at least have some of our clothes still be good. We were able to go shopping on Sunday for some new shoes and clothes.

Overall things are looking up and we hope to continue to bring good news as we start to rebuild our home and our memories.

The link to the pictures is:http://www.flickr.com/gp/26839164@N04/988c3j

Thank you all for your love and support. We have truly appreciated your kind words, willingness to listen, hugs, drying of tears, and gifts. We will be in touch soon with more news!

Post Ike Photos

2008-09-17T07:58:00.001-05:00

I don't have time right now to blog about any of this but I have promised many people at look out the husband and my house following Ike...so here you go. These are not for the those with a weak stomach!

Frustrations

2008-09-08T21:40:00.003-05:00

So the last few days have been very frustrating...both internal and external groups have pushed me to the brink of screaming at work. I take my job and responsibilities very seriously... sometimes maybe too seriously.

I find it interesting how sometimes that when you are in the moment of frustration, or in my current case the days of frustration, the universe or a higher power (which ever you happen to believe in), steps in and repeatedly hits you over the head until you finally start to listen. That is how I am beginning to feel.

The husband and I are still trying to figure out some of the things that go along with being a married couple and coming from different religious backgrounds (I am Methodist and he is Catholic). Neither of us were very good about getting to church before we got married, but are making a concerted effort to go each week to some sort of service. Right now we are doing the one week Methodist, one week Catholic thing trying to see where we fit.

Anyway, the point is that this weekend we attended a local Catholic church and the priest spoke about not dwelling on the negative and not tearing down other people to make yourself feel better. He might as well of started the sermon with "NDC please listen to the following closely as it is very appropriate to your current situation!!!!!" As I said above there have been a lot of frustrations at work and I have noticed that my "venting" is focused on identifying what everyone else is doing wrong and dwelling on everything bad the people I interact with are doing. I do acknowledge my lack of perfection, but again the point is I am dwelling.

Then today at the gym I was watching TV while riding the stationary bike and just flipped through channels and ended up on Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture." And he was at the point where he says that he was inspired by a gentlemen with the Disney Imagineering company that used to say "Wait long enough and people will impress you." What a positive way to look at things...I am going to have to learn patience. I have decided to read the book based on Pausch's lecture as my next book, one of my best friends gave it to me for my 30th birthday. I think it is perfect timing.

So between the book, the priest, and the professor I think the universe is telling me to take a deep breath and follow the infamous words of the serenity prayer...change the things you can change and accept those that you can't.

I am definitely a work in progress, but hopefully I can learn to slow down and not get as frustrated by those people that I find difficult to deal with at times...here's hoping!

Also I am very excited about blogging before the 10 on Tuesday (even if it was on Monday).

Ten on Tuesday

2008-09-02T20:37:00.005-05:00

Ok, so I continue to be a bad blogger, and as you can clearly see from the previous blog that I have not in fact blogged since last Tuesday.

But alas, I am back to the 10 on Tuesday.

"10 People You Wish You Could Meet"
(I am making it dead or alive...just for the record)

Michelangelo--cuz really has there been a more "savantish" person ever!
Ronald Reagan--I was not a big fan of his politics, but the things he helped to accomplish on the global scale are truly amazing
Alexander Dumas--I love his books and think he would be intriguing
Victor Hugo--ditto to #3
Clay Walker--if you know me you will understand
Jesus--to ask him a couple basic questions that are currently a topic of discussion in my household
John McCain--I have liked him long before he was running for President and think I could learn from him
the person that invented cubicles---then I could hit them and explain what a terrible idea it really was! (by the way I work in a cubicle and it can be miserable!)
the Founding Fathers--I know that is more than one person, but it seems wrong to break them up. I would like to ask them questions, specifcally "what did you really mean by the 2nd amendment" and why did you include religion is places but not in others.
Franklin D. Roosevelt- Again I think he had a huge impact on this country, most I think very positive, but some in the long run no so much.

By the way these are truly not in ANY order...just what popped into my convulted thoughts! I have also realized that it is very politically charged...I guess that is what happens when you ask a political science major to list ten people to meet.

So that is all for now, hopefully I will have something for you before next Tuesday.

Ten on Tuesday

2008-08-26T20:22:00.005-05:00

Ok, so I have been a bad blogger...hopefully this week's 10 on Tuesday will kick start me. So here is the new 10 on Tuesday.

'10 Things You Didn't Like About School'

Having to wear saddle shoes. Throughout all of elementary I was required by my mother to wear them everyday!!!!

Group recess. I never liked the games, I was much happier to swing or make friendship bracelets with my friends.
Geometry. I really just don't see the purpose of proofs.
Team sport initiations. I was on the softball team for a little while and the "initiation" to the team was horrible.
Moving to new schools. Having to start from scratch three different times at the start of school because the family moved...just not fun!
Not having a Homecoming Dance. My high school cancelled homecoming dancing the year before I started...what a rip off!
Labels. It seems like there is just no way for people to just get along, everyone had to be labelled as part of a group. At my high school there were kickers, gazebites, tree people, etc.
Stairs. My middle school was a five story building and we were only allowed to use the stairs. Did I mention there were hundreds of students and only three minutes to change classes.
Math Teachers that didn't know math. I had several math teachers that were often wrong, and I spent hours doing homework trying to get to there wrong answers. Time I will leave get back.
And just to end on a happy note...My favorite thing about school was getting to be in class. I love being taught and learning new things!

Hopefully you will hear from me before next Tuesday!

Ten on Tuesday

2008-08-12T21:36:00.006-05:00

10 Best Movie Villains

as suggested by my SIL...(see the itty bitty things blog)

In no particular order...

The Joker (The Dark Knight)
Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs)
Ursula (The Little Mermaid)
Voldemort (Harry Potter)
Wicked Witch of the West (Wizard of Oz)
Alien invaders (Independence Day)
Tom Ripley (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
Porter by Mel Gibson (Payback)
A majority of the cast (The Departed)
Commodus (Gladiator)

This was a really hard list to come up with...but it was fun to think about!

One World, One Dream...

2008-08-11T20:17:00.006-05:00

Ok, so I have become an Olympics junkie! It is the first thing I look for when I get home from work, and it doesn't really matter what the event is.

I have to say that the opening ceremony in Beijing was the most impressive performance I have ever seen. I am also completely amazed by the facilities. My mother had an opportunity to visit China recently, while they were preparing for the games. She was surprised at the lack of progress they had made toward being "Olympic ready"...and now here we are a few months later and it is truly amazing to see and watch.

I was sitting tonight watching men's synchronized diving, who even knew that was a sport, and I got to thinking about how amazing it is that we are watching an Olympic games in China. It just amazes me that we are seeing a country that has been known for centuries for their privacy and secrecy has opened their country to the world and are letting us all stomp around on their land and judge them more openly that usual. I would like to say that I believe that the experience of hosting the Olympics will really make a difference in the Chinese approach to the world, but I guess you can call me a cynic, because unfortunately I think once the world games are over things are likely to return to normal. But that is enough of the politics...no matter what happens I love the Olympics.

It is the only time that you can see three US young women sweep the medal count in fencing, watch two people dive off a platform in nearly perfect harmony, watch male gymnast stop their entire weight with just their biceps, and most excitedly watch the women of the US gymnastic team fight injury and misfortune to move forward in the series towards the gold!

Yeah for the Olympics and Go USA!

Ten on Tuesday

2008-07-29T20:11:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I am going to try something new...old to many but new to my blog...10 on Tuesday
The topic this week is "10 things to do when it's too hot to go outside"

Read a good book
Have a really cold glass of lemonade
Eat a big bowl of ice cream
Plan a trip to a cooler locale
Go workout
Catch up on DVR recordings
Do house chores
Take a long cool shower
Take a nap in the air conditioning
Work on the long delayed dissertation (it may never get hot enough for that to be a top choice)

That was fun...I am going to try and commit to doing this on Tuesday.

By the way...happy 50th birthday to NASA!

A Week in Waco

2008-07-16T19:44:00.005-05:00

Well I have been in Waco since Monday and I am leaving tomorrow. I am here for a work conference and I have to admit that it would not have been my first choice for locations. It is an EPA sponsored conference for our region and I figure we should be able to find someplace between New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana that is not quite so desolate, but apparently not!

So I probably did not come into the city with the best attitude, but I have to admit it is kind of a neat city. I did not spend much time driving through Baylor, but from what I saw it is a beautiful campus. I am also impressed that there seems to be so much redevelopment in the downtown area, I am a big fan of revitalization of cities.

Here are a couple of the neat things that I did while I was in Waco:

The Cameron Park Zoo

It is a really neat small town zoo. I of course forgot to bring my camera, so all of the animals were crazy exciting. There was a black bear swimming in a pool, big tigers using a log as a scratching post, a capybara just hanging out under the water fall, and meerkats that were just too cute.

The Dr Pepper Museum

I had a plan to just go to the gift shop and skip the museum, but I am glad that I went through it. It was really interesting. I found out that Dr Pepper was invited at a drug store here in Waco and originally people would come in and ask for "a Waco." The museum explained how soda pop became known as soda pop, why the first soda fountains were in drug stores, and why there is no period after Dr in the name. And the best part is at the end you can go into the Soda Fountain shop and order an original Dr Pepper. It is made with the syrup and then soda water is added...it is the best Dr Pepper I have ever had!!!

So I guess the morale of the story is you can't judge a city by its lack of reputation!

Fabulous Fourth with Fantastic Fireworks!!!!

2008-07-09T20:37:00.005-05:00

Let me just start by saying that the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. I love it for several reasons...

1) Fun food that you get to grill

2) Celebrating with family and friends

3) No pretense of gifts that take away from the real meaning

4) It celebrates independence, which being a political science major is a pretty amazing concept

5) Almost all Americans agree on this holiday, it is not overshadowed by race or religion or any other opposing views

6) Fireworks are super fun and I never get tired of seeing them!

This Independence day my husband, sil, sil's boyfriend, and I headed to Pennsylvania to hang out with my family. My grandparents have a house in a lakeside community that my parents have recently inherited. The lake house is one of my favorite places because it is surrounded by huge trees, deer, whistle pigs (also known as groundhogs), and has good recreation. We have a boat and typically spend a lot of time cruising the lake or riding on an inner-tube.

This fourth weekend we headed out on the boat to watch an amazing fireworks display over the lake. It was a great time and I really enjoyed spending it with my family and friends.

We also had a post wedding reception at the lake house. It was really great, I got to visit with people that I seldom get to see at a happy event. One of my oldest friends drove in from upstate New York...we met in sixth grade, hard to believe we are even better friends now then we were then. In the recent past I have only seen most of them at my grandfather's funeral. It is nice to have new happier memories. I also got to see, or shall I say meet, family that I have not seen since I was very young. Isn't it strange that after 25 years, the most original thing people can find to say is "I remember when you were this big" (visualize a hand being held out a waist height). Sadly, I say the same thing when I see people younger than me! I guess it is all part of being an adult.

Although there were trying moments during the weekend, spending time with the extended family while dealing with places that I associate closely with my grandfather, it was really a great weekend. I am glad that my husband and sil were able to see the lake house, since it has so many great memories for me.

Oh, and one random shout out goes to Troyer Farms Salt 'n Vinegar Potato Chips. I know many of you think not only who are Troyer Farms and why would anyone eat Salt 'n Vinegar potato chips. Troyer Farms is a small little potato chip company from Waterford, Pennsylvania (home of my mom). And they have the best tasting Salt 'n Vinegar chips ever!

You can only find them in a very limited area in Pennsylvania, so I had to make a special request for my aunts to bring me some. And boy were they good! They never disappoint.

And do you know what is even better, my husband went online and found out that I can order them online! ROCK ON!

New Addiction

2008-06-22T12:34:00.003-05:00

Ok, so as I said below the husband is off traveling around Europe...while I sit at home going to work. So this weekend I hung out with my sil (sister-in-law). We ran some errands and just hung out. The sil has a boyfriend that owns a Wii and for his birthday he got Guitar Hero. At the time I thought well that is nice, and I am sure he will have fun with it, but probably not a game I would choose for myself.
Well the sil and I decided to just hang out around her house since it was pouring down rain and she asked if I wanted to Wii. I said sure, thinking it would be a fun way to pass the time. She put in Guitar Hero and let me just say first off it is really hard! There are color coded buttons that have to be pushed in time with the symbols on the screen...and they have them in a strange order, green then red then yellow. I had a really hard time wrapping my head around that since my head thinks red, yellow, green is the right order. But I persevered and after more time than I think it should have taken to learn, the sil says..."I think you are ready for your own band!" That was a very exciting moment for me! So now I have become addicted to making it through song after song to make my band famous! Just what I needed a new addiction...now I just have to figure out how to convince the sil's boyfriend to leave the Wii here so I can keep practicing!
But I think the best part is that I am at least for right now better at a rocker guitar game than the husband!!!

Being a girl

2008-06-16T19:26:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I have never really thought of myself as a girly girl. I was not one of those girls that cried at movies. But apparently I have become one of those girls. This weekend has been very emotional and difficult for me.
As many of you know my grandfather passed away in January. He was an incredible man, and I can only hope that I have just a few of his many great characteristics. He was the ultimate granddad, he would do whatever he could to make me happy. From making he dentures move around his mouth like they were toys, despite getting in trouble with my grandmother, or letting me drive the four wheeler or getting me my first color television with a remote (even though my parents had said no). He was just a wonderful man, and the world is a little less good without him in it. Anyway, I mentioned that is was a hard weekend, not just because it was Father's Day but also because Friday was his 93 birthday. I am still struggling with what it means to not have the only grandfather I have only know, and this weekend was really hard.
On top of that I had to kiss my husband good bye while he goes off to a wonderful 10 day vacation with some of his best friends to Germany. And here is where it will be very girly...I really miss him. I know it is just 10 days and he just let last night, but it will be the longest we have been apart since we met two and half years ago. I am really glad that he went, he will have a wonderful time and everyone should get a trip to Europe. But I miss him and can't wait to see him again. I really don't like empty beds!

So sore...

2008-06-13T20:05:00.002-05:00

This has been one of the longest weeks of work I have had as an adult...A little over a week ago one of my co-workers fell and broke her foot. Not good, but at least she doesn't need surgery. So the question becomes how does one person falling lead to a long week for me. Well here is how the story starts. There was a huge project at work that she was working on, and with her out for an undetermined amount of time there was a huge opening that needed to be filled. So my director talked to me and asked if I would be willing to step in and help. I said no problem. So the week started off slow, just gathering some information and writing up a document for the head of my company. I got all of that done and sent it out for a quick review before it was sent to the head of the company. No big deal huh, wrong we had to have public affairs review it as well as legal. Needless to say very few people met the established deadline and I was at work late that night. The next day same story, continued working on it, and had to stay late. Last night we finally thought we were getting somewhere and after a short 13 hours of work, I finally headed home. My head hurt, my back ached and my shoulders were stiff. But I felt like I had done a good job and had met the expectations of my director.
So I thought I would reward myself with a massage. Yea, sounds like a good idea right...wrong. I did the deep tissue, which is my usual and I think that it was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I don't think that I have had so many knots in my life!
At the end of the day, it was probably better to start working them out now...but needless to say my reward was not very relaxing! Maybe this will help me get that long anticipated ergonomic chair at work.

Ode to 30!

2008-05-28T21:01:00.004-05:00

Well as you probably can guess today is my 30th birthday. I would like to say that I know how I feel about that...but I am still not sure. Overall it has been a very good birthday as birthday's go, but it is weird to think I am starting a whole new decade. Today it became abundantly clear just how lucky I truly am to have the family and friends that I have.

My day started with my husband giving me my birthday present. It is an incredibly beautiful lighthouse kaleidoscope. This is awesome for a number of reasons, but mostly because it shows that he really pays attention to me when I talk. We were in Mendocino for our honeymoon and I just fell in love with a lighthouse kaleidoscope at a shop, but did not think it was prudent to get it. So he found me one very similar that is absolutely beautiful. And of course kaleidoscopes make me smile, constantly changing and always fascinating.

Next I went to work where my lovely friends and co-workers welcomed me with this...

It was awesome.

I think one of my favorite parts of the day was that I had cake for breakfast, cake after lunch, cake for dessert after dinner and then my parents came over with more cake. For those that don't know... I LOVE CAKE!!

So as I said overall turning 30 looks like it was not all bad!

She does exist...

2008-05-22T18:25:00.004-05:00

I know, I know...it is amazing. Pick your jaw up off the floor, apologize to those around you for the crazy outburst of excitement and get ready for a new blog entry! TA DA!
Ok, so when I decided back last summer to have a blog, I knew I would not be one of those people that updated the blog daily or even at a highly predictable interval. But even I will admit that I did not think it would be over nine months between posts. As my last post (I know it is hard to think back that far, but just scroll down) said I got engaged...and boy was it engaging. There are a ridiculous amount of decisions and details that come along with that little ring! Needless to say I got all the details handled and had the perfect wedding in March. I am currently working on uploading pictures to send around to friends and family from the event and I will post some on the blog!
I am going to try very, very hard to blog more consistently. So hopefully you have not given up on me completely and will check back from time to time to see what is going on.

What to do first!

2007-08-05T10:44:00.000-05:00

Well now that it is sinking in that I am engaged, I am starting to think about all of the planning ahead! There is certainly a lot to do when thinking about planning a wedding! I am beginning to think or rather starting to accept the fact that I am not your typical bride. When people ask simple questions like "What are your colors" or "What type of dress do you like" I have no answers. It is not something I ever really thought about...so I am finding that these are difficult questions to answer if you are the oddball girl who never really had the perfect wedding dreams. The funny thing is that I have long hoped and dreamed of being married to this man, but have not really ever thought about the ceremony that gets us married. I was not the little girl that had huge barbie weddings or dreamed of the Princess Diana event...I was the tomboy more interested in dirt and trouble than all those "girly" things. So now I have to work extra hard...I don't even know what some of the words mean! It is like learning a whole new language, sweetheart line, A-line, Empire waist....this is just crazy.
I am lucky though, I have an amazing mother, friends, and a soon to be sister-in-law that I am sure are going to make planning a breeze. In fact, after a four hour round trip drive with my soon to be S-I-L I think I have some ideas about color, theme, and bridesmaid dresses! So next step is to see if the crazy ideas I have come up with look okay in reality!
I will keep you up to date on how things...on more than just wedding stuff I promise!

On Cloud Nine, Maybe Ten!

2007-08-01T17:52:00.000-05:00

Well so here is how my day went yesterday. I went to work, generally not a highlight of my day lately, but I had a really great meeting and I may get to start working on a really cool new project! So that was good. Spent the afternoon away from the office doing some field work, always a bonus to be outside. Especially since lately it has only rained!!!! And yesterday was sunny, a little hot, but most importantly sunny! So then at the end of the day my boyfriend texted to see if I wanted to come over for spaghetti. I of course said yes, as it is my favorite meal! So I headed to his place after work and walked in to find a beautifully set table. He had put out a tablecloth, bought me a dozen roses, a great bottle of wine and the food was on the table waiting! I was somewhat surprised by all of this, because although he is an amazing boyfriend none for surprising me, I could not think of an occasion. So I posed the questions "What is all this about?", to which he replied that he knew I had been stressed lately and just wanted to cheer me up! Well did it ever work.

So then we sat down for a great dinner and wonderful conversation. After we finished he said he was going to get dessert. Dessert...could it get any better! Well just keep reading!

So here I am sitting happily full from pasta, dreaming of cake...when he comes around the corner with a small silver platter with a small box that appears to have a shiny object in it. Before I could even wrap my mind around what I was seeing, he asked "Will you marry me, baby?" And through the tears I said YES! At which point I jumped up and hugged him. He then asked if I would like to see my ring, which he had to hastily put down when I jumped up into his arms. I said yes and he put it on my finger. This has got to be on of the best moments of my life. So, that is why I am still floating in the clouds. And if you will look over there, you will see my beautiful ring!

Trying a Alaska Picture post...

2007-07-08T11:31:00.000-05:00

So here are just a couple pictures from the trip. I promise some better ones once I finish going through all of them.

The water at night in the Inner Passage

Pictures at sea
Totem Pole in Ketchican
Whales in the distanceMountain in Skagway
Mendenhall Glacier- Juneau

Ahh Alaska...

2007-07-08T11:23:00.000-05:00

Well I have returned from an amazing two week vacation to Alaska. There are just not words to described it...beautiful, breathtaking, cold, hot (depends on where you are). Overall I am just awestruck. We were able to sail through the inner passage and then head to the interior by train and motor coach (fancy name for BUS). We saw just about every animal possible (no polar bears...sadly they only live North of the Arctic circle). So here is a quick list of what I saw:

Seals
Humpback whales
Orca whales
Stellar sea lions
Harbor Seals
Sea Otters
Birds galore (including puffins)
Brown bears
Moose
Caribou
Musk ox (in an animal rescue center)
Grey Wolf
Red Fox
Bald Eagles
Golden Eagle
Vole (not sure what kind)
Ground squirrel
Black bear (in an animal rescue center)
Porcupine

I am sure I am missing some, but we saw lots...it was great. We have a mere 3000 pictures from the trip. I can only take the blame for about 900, the rest my father took and I subsequently copied and are keeping as my own.

The only problem with taking a two week vacation, is coming home! I will blog on that next time!

I'm Free!

2007-06-14T18:35:00.000-05:00

It is finally here...the vacation I have been waiting for! I am taking a full two weeks off and I am ecstatic! I have already scheduled myself a 2 hour massage for tomorrow. And boy do I need it. So I planned this week to try and tie up loose ends before leaving, but as usually things do not go as planned. I even went so far as to mark myself as busy on the calendar all day...which you would think would mean I would not get meetings scheduled, but alas I had 5 meetings today. So I did my debrief with my boss and tidied up the office and left a huge stack of things that should have been finished today, but now have to wait for July! Oh, well...what is a girl to do! Certainly they don't expect me to go in on my day off or over the weekend, and even if they did I made it very clear that as of 5:30 today I was off the clock. So I think I am going to order some dinner, pour a glass of wine, and watch my favorite summer show. Cheers!

Something New

2007-06-09T15:43:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my new blog! I have thought about blogging for awhile now, but have not taken the time to just do it. So as is my usual modus operandi...I am procrastinating from one thing to do another. I am hoping to post to the blog regularly...but I make no promises. I can't wait to hear from people and hopefully this will be a good experience for us all!