Hello the House!

Hallway

2007-12-05T19:45:00.001-05:00

So I have been working like a dervish on the entry way! And now it looks so beautiful!
So you have seen the before pictures, now for the after pics! Yeah, that's right...its done.

This is the hallway and stairwell, with the new trim.

This is next to the stair well...also with new trim.

Here is a comparison of the old paint and the new paint...much better now!

2007-12-05T19:42:00.001-05:00

The bathroom is far from done, and far from begun. We are squarely in the middle where it is easy to rest, complacent, without progress, satisfied in good enough. What I mean, is that the bathroom is functional. We have a toilet that flushes, a sink that runs water and a tub that fills up….wait, it is true. We finally put a faucet in the tub! I bought this great Pegasus waterfall faucet we even got a matching diverter valve for the shower….which is still not actually installed. Well the piping is, but not so much the shower head.

This faucet is so luxurious!

Even though I am surrounded by drywall and plywood and have to use a step ladder to get into the tub (because someone hasn’t built the step he promised)…I feel like a queen when I shave my legs to a cascading wall of water! Soon we will have a new water heater so I can stop heating my tub roman style, by heating pots on the stove and pouring the boiling water in the tub. Though yes, it is very 19th century, and matches the house in tactical age…not the level of authenticity I have been going for.

What a girl will do for a hot bath!

2007-11-29T11:04:00.000-05:00

So if you have been wondering what I have been doing with all my free time (Ha Ha)...well, I have been making a huge mess. I have been redoing our foyier. That has entailed, finishing the mudding on the dry wall next to the stairs. You may remember from when we first moved in, but that wall was a doorway, and we ripped that out and turned it into a wall. But it has been covered in hanging coats for so long, that we all forgot that it wasnt actually a finished wall....oops. So I finished the mudding on that. I patched the plaster. It wasnt too bad actually, just some small, fine line cracks...well most of them, there were a few that were more substantial...but they are much better now! I also had to strip off the old wall paper trim. I took a picture of that to show you what it looked like. Of all the wall paper in the house, this stuff is not the ugliest by a long shot! But it was trimming entire entry way. So I took a razer to it...there was something satisfying about that.

So now that I have made a huge mess...I will have to post the pics of the finished product. It looks beautiful.

Curtains

2007-11-29T11:02:00.000-05:00

So we finally got curtains...it only took 2 years. But wait, they are special curtains...they are thermal curtains..oooooo
At least the blankets over the windows are gone!!

New Dishwasher

2007-11-29T10:57:00.000-05:00

I was finally pushed to my limit! I had to buy a new dishwasher, ours was actually making our dishes dirtier. So I broke down and got one...and wow is it beautiful! It cleans, it looks pretty, it matches our fridge, it even has wracks to hold wine classes! For the first time ever I can wash my china NOT by hand! I am in love and his name is Frigidair pro! Le sigh!

Toronto Trip pt. 1

2007-11-29T10:21:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know I have been a huge slacker. But I am finally getting up some of the pics from toronto. We had a great time! These are the pics from hanging out at Carrie's house and then Josh and Kristina's place. They have a great place, by the way, and as you can see from the pics, we had way too much fun!

NYC with Dana

2007-11-29T10:05:00.001-05:00

In September Dana and I finally got to make a trip to NYC! For the first time since I have started with Disney, I got to visit our NYC office and meet the Prepress. The Prepress are the people I work with everyday. We talk on the phone multiple times a day. Dana use to joke that she spoke to them more than her own husband! HA! Yeah, sometimes I feel that way too. =)

Visiting the office was great. Everything was in boxes because the office was moving to White Plains two weeks later...no I haven't been to White Plains yet. Give it another 2 years and I will be allowed to leave for that trip! LOL! I finally met Tisha, who is AWESOME!, and who is the NY side of the production department. I met Kelly, who use to be my prepress contact person, but who abandoned me for a different prepress. =) I do miss her cynicism. (Love you kelly!)

We went to lunch with the girls and had a great time. Tisha took us to a really good Mexican restaurant in the city...best guacamole I have ever had! They had this funny wall of water with little diving guys . I had to take pictures.

After lunch we went to prepress. They live inside the ESPN magazine office. Wow, is EPSN different than our office in Noho. First it is way more manly. Sports and trophy's and testosterone everywhere. They have basketball hoops on the wall and a score board that I assume is not actually keeping score of anything. But you never know, those sports types are pretty competitive! So after being blown back by the world of sports magazines...let me put it this way, Socktopus and Fun Finger Food for Four Year Olds would be topics that need a glossery. So after walking through ESPN, we went into the cave of prepress. It is this tiny little room filled with computers and scanners and people..and I am pretty sure a colony of Gnomes lives under one of the desks! But I finally got to put a face to the people I talk to every day. Jackie is my primary contact person. She use to be known as the "new Kelly." But she has her own identity now. Most of that was PTSD from Kelly's departure. We have had some therapy, heart to heart talks, some prozac and we have all adjusted. Ha ha....seriously though Jackie kicks ass!

Dana and I had a great trip. We spent a lot of time talking about what my world will be like without here....sad, but manageable. I miss her terribly, but doing fine. Thankfully she comes into the office periodically, so I get to see her. =)

Well, check out the photos, sorry they were so long in coming.
Oh yeah, and if you are wondering about the random Grand Central photos....it was my first time there. So I was being a total tourist! I just couldn't help myself.
=)

Pics from ASU Orientation

2007-08-26T20:22:00.000-04:00

Ok, here is my group! Starting from me, is Kyle, Ryan, Matt, Mike and Seo. This is the group of people who I will be working with for the next two years....and what is even better is I really like them! They are all smart and fun and I had a great time with them in Arizona and they have all already proven themselves to be invaluable team memebers.

This is our team picture. If you are wondering what we are doing, well, we are stepping on Kyle. Well, Seo and I are stepping on Kyle. If you are wondering why we are doing this, we are simulating the time when Kyle got escorted off a plane by the TSA. It was our unusual fact about our group that we shared with the class. But it was a really fun picture! Plus I get to step on Kyle, I am sure he did something to deserve it! LOL! just kidding....or am I????

Now these pictures are from our team building activity. Uh, yeah. So we had to come up with a musical medely and dance and sing to it. We did sing "We like big butts" by the always wonderful, Sir Mix-a-Lot...hence the booty shaking picture. We of course screamed "you gotta fight for your right"...hence the emphatic fists in the air. There was some Britney Spears, I think that is the "coy" finger on the cheek pic of me. Hey, it may not have been our finest hour, but at least we didnt sing nursery rhymes like most people! LOL!

These are some pics from the class room. All of us working together...yes on the floor. Honestly, it was the best place to be! Me asking, what I am sure is a brillant question * wink * And of course our group working fabulously together!

This is us at the closing lunch, wearing casual clothing again and being far too relieved that our case competition was over!

Here is a class photo. This is the gold group, which is half the class. The other half is called the Maroon group, but since I am not in that pic I didnt post it. Its my blog and I can be vain like that if I want to * wink *

You can always go back and read the Arizona blog from July to get some other details, but these were the pics sent to us from the school. Fun stuff! And now I am off to study for my first final!

Adam and Jen's trip to Mass

2007-08-23T22:41:00.001-04:00

Adam and Jen's visit was awesome! We had such a good time with them, I just wish it could have been longer. Oh well, we will see them soon for Thanksgiving!

On Sunday night, Cassie and her parents (who were visiting) and her boyfriend Nick all came over for a BBQ. It was a lot of fun. We ate, we drank and we were generally merry...especially once we broke out the marshmellows!

On Saturday we took them to the Ceilidh House (pronounced Cay-lee). This is an Irish pub started by one of Dave's professor. The food is amazing and the atmosphere is great! We also ate, drank and were merry! Very Irish of us!

While we were at the pub, we were entertained by the strangest group. So I made a little video, because words can't really describe this band. Enjoy...

From Crackle: Irish Band

Oh yeah, Adam did some work too. He did an amazing job on our tries. Now they are all healthy and happy and you can even walk underneath them and not have to duck! What a burly guy!

After a little bit of tree trimming, we decided to eat, drink and be merry..in front of a fire. Do you see the theme for the weekend! We had a great time! I wish we were doing it all again this weekend!

Thor and Janet in Salem

2007-08-23T22:31:00.000-04:00

Friends of mine from NM, Thor and Janet did a trip up the east coast this summer. So while they were on my side of the world, I met up with them in Salem. With them came their daughter Kari,whom I adore, and there friend Peter. He is from England and came over to spend time with them and make this trip. I really enjoyed meeting him.
It was so much fun to spend time with them walking through the Witchey mecca! We had great food and a great time. I wish they were here now. Well...at least I have the pictures.

How could we not go to the witch museum? I have expected to see wax effigies of me and my friends!

Ok, so neither Thor nor Janet were thrilled that I took these pictures, but at least I got pictures of them! Until now, my picture of thor was him with his hand in front of his face!

See, the new one is a much better likeness!

This is Kari in front of a very cool, and spooky, train set.

We went and ate at a great restraunt on the harbor called Finz. So we had to be silly with the fish out front...but the food was very yummy!

30th Birthday!

2007-08-23T22:28:00.000-04:00

My 30th birthday was a small celebration, well, before our big celebration for both Dave and my 3oth's at the end of June. But the first celebration was small, just Cassie, Dave and myself. Cassie made me a beautiful cake and we had a great time....I had to capture the cake for posterity!

Albuquerque trip in May

2007-08-23T22:24:00.000-04:00

Yeah, so it has obviously been a while since I have done anything with my pictures. So lets start with the trip I made to Albuquerque in May. It was wonderful as you all know. I had a great time seeing friends and family...and here are the pics! And yes, that is Mom in a climbing harness!! Michael, Mom and I at El Pinto Restraunt and Patrick covered in Mosky.

Pics from Arizona

2007-07-22T16:07:00.000-04:00

Here are some pics from the campus. I love this water feature. This is basically where we spent our time, well in the buildings surrounding this water feature.

These were some fun things in the hotel. I got a big kick on how they fanned everying, even the toilet paper! And the cup cover says "Because sometimes you need a cup of coffee to go downstairs to get a cup of coffee" Wow, was that ever true!

Here are two of the people I met, and a picture of me. The first is Kirsten. She lives in Wisconsin. The second is Brenda, she lives in Phoenix and works for Boeing. Brenda then took a picture of me enjoying a margarita during the complimentary happy hour at the hotel.

This is my group! Starting at the front is Ryan, Mike, Kyle, Seo and lastly Matt. Not the best pic, but the program is sending us our formal pics they took.

Bathroom Dreams

2007-07-14T19:43:00.000-04:00

So we are plumbing...by we, I mean Dave....the bathroom! I can't wait to take a bath!!

Here are pictures of what we have done so far. And for those of you who are not plumbing experts, these pictures mean we have water running to the tub, though no faucets yet, and we have a drain that drains right into the sewer and everything! AMAZING!!!! The dream of taking a bath will soon be a reality. And yes, I did try to get Dave to smile, but he was resitant.

I did, however, get him to give me a smoochie!

Sunroom

2007-07-14T19:31:00.000-04:00

Finally the pics of the sunroom are posted! Yippee! This is a very akward room to take pictures in, so to give you an idea of what the big wall looks like, I stiched together 3 pictures to make it into one. This is why it has a bit of a fish eye appearance and istn completely lining up. I assure you it is only the picture...and not the wall itself. The wall is straight, not fisheyed and everything lines up beatifully! This room is the first room completely finished! This will be our office, as you can see by the desk in the corner and our guest room...as you can see by the bed. We hope to replace the bed with a pull out couch and bring in some bookshelves and hang pictures on the wall. But we cant ask for too much at once now can we! LOL!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!!! I posted close ups on the trim so you could see what a beautiful job Dave did. We expanded the windows by 1 foot. They were 5 feet tall and the new windows are 6 feet. We ripped off all the cedar shake on the inside and rewired. I LOVE this room.

As a quick reminder to what it looked like before..behold!

Garden Beds

2007-05-18T15:04:00.001-04:00

Ok...so this wont be very exciting. But I have built some garden beds in the back yard and here are the pictures of them! I am very excited, but I know that the excitement is primarily limited to me...oh well, I share never-the-less!

Dinner

2007-01-01T13:34:00.000-05:00

And finally, the festive dinner.

After a busy day of opening gifts, drinking coffee and eating whatever we could find, we did manage to cook a christmas dinner. The turkey looked beautiful. The potates were masterfully mashed and the yams were carmelized to perfection....

When Bows go Bad

2007-01-01T13:32:00.000-05:00

Here is what happens when your presents get control!

More presents!

2007-01-01T13:14:00.000-05:00

Here is the last of the present opening. This is a video of the "red" opening. For those of you who dont know what this means, I will fill you in. Aunt Linda decided to have a themed christmas present opening this year. So she bought all presents from the Gap's "red" line, which donated 1/2 of all profits to help fight aids in africa. This is the video of us opening the red gifts.

Here is the group shot of all of us in our red clothes. Mine and mom's shirt say "Inspi(red)," Jen's says "Sco(red)," Adam's say's "Hamm(red)" and Dave's is a white hoody that is obviously good for flashing!

And here we all are with our christmas presents...or at least as many as we can hold!

Christmas Presents

2007-01-01T13:05:00.000-05:00

On Christmas morning, rubbing my sleepy eyes, I walked down the stairs to see that Santa and his family had visited our tree. Even Cow was excited!

Once all the sleepy eyed people got coffe and a bagel and OJ and more coffee and cigarettes and more coffee and a pastry, we started opening the stockings. And what did we find but candy pooping christmas animals!

So after our animal entertainment, we dove right into the presents! Well, after some more coffee and food of course! But then, right into the presents!

Adam and Jen looking so cute on the couch, next to a fat chicken whose bum is practically falling off the couch. Dave and I next to the gift Trish and Randy gave to us. Of course we look much better in the framed picture! The third pic is Ray and Meridith looking at the present Dave and I gave them for Yule.

Here is Adam getting very excited about opening a gift...and then him wearing the cashmere present!

Here is Dave opening...and then wearing his fabulous cashmere sweater! We love the cashmere santa!!!

And here is a horrible pic of Adam, Jen, Dave and myself wearing "We love our old house" shirts! and it's true...we do love our old house!

And here is a picture of my feet wearing very comfy slipper from Patrick! ummmm....warm feet!

Adam and Jen

2006-12-29T08:45:00.000-05:00

Adam and Jen arrived on Saturday night after a grueling 2 hours in line at customs on the border...yuck! But they looked fabulous of course! I was so happy to have them here. Adam and I haven't spent a christmas together since we were teenagers! It was just so wonderful to have mom and Adam and Jen here. The house was wonderfully full of people, voice, love and wine! What more could you ask for!

Here are some pics of Adam and Jen having a traditional christmas fair...chinese food!

Yankee Candle

2006-12-29T08:27:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we went to Yankee Candle. For those of you who dont know. Yankee Candle is the worlds largest candle store. Their store is beyond huge. They sell candles, ornaments, train sets, kitchen ware, cooking supplies, home and garden decorations, and more. The place is overwhelming...and pretty cool. We went ornament shopping there, some of those you can see in the video:

There is a room in Yankee, filled with christmas trees that actually snows on you! And it is real snow...it melts and is ice...well, snow! So it snowed on us while we were there. Actually that is the only time it snowed on us while mom was here. Ok, on wednesday, we got some snow in the am, that quickly went away...but really, that didnt count!

So here is mom and I at Yankee Candle, and yes, I know these are aweful pics.

Yule

2006-12-29T08:22:00.000-05:00

Mom's first day here was filled with Christmas Tree shopping. We went to this cute little tree farm out in Bernardston and found a sweet tree. It was fun finding our tree, though the weather was spitting at us.

That night was Yule, so my friends Thalia, Lydia and Dimitri came over and helped us decorate the tree and drink and eat and generally be merry! It was a lot of fun! Thought I think miss cow was the most excited about the tree!

Mom comes to visit

2006-12-29T08:14:00.000-05:00

Mom came to visit! Finally! YAY!!!

She arrived last thursday night. Her flight was fine with the exception of missing her connection in Atlanta. But she arrived in one piece in Hartford at 10 pm. She slept in the sun room, comfortably and warmly. Here are some pics of the sun room as it was getting finished and the living room before the mass arrival!

Yes, those are 8 ft long boards in the living room. That is where I was, and will be again, doing the staining. You can see the insulation in the background behind Dave, and the general chaos that was. The fan is newly installed, with its beautiful medallion and the floor recently painted. The room looks very good! We did not get a chance to finish the trim before mom's arrival because Dave cut open his hand on a piece of glass and needed 5 stitches. He is healing up well, though his hand is still sore.

By the time mom arrived. The living room was clean. The sunroom had a bed and a desk in it. 3/4 of the baseboard trim was mounted and we had a little space heater to suppliment the heat. All in all, it was quite nice...for a room still being worked on!

Working like a mad woman

2006-12-11T17:17:00.000-05:00

So I have been working like a mad woman..which means that the house still looks like a construction site exploded...but it also means that we are getting closer to having this done! WOO HOO! So what did I do you ask? well here goes:

I have hung drywall. Mudded, sanded, primered and first coat painted the sunporch/guest room. I have also painted the ceiling and sanded the floor. We pulled the front panel off the underside of the sunporch (this is outside) and I got to crawl underneath there...and that was disgusting on a whole new level! But since I am small I get the pleasure of playing in the dirt. So I crawled underneath, we stapled in some insulation and put plastic underneath the whole thing.

While we have been doing the attic remodeling we have been removing blow-in insulation from the floor. Which has then been put in large garbage bags, which have been residing on the upstairs porch and a couple other random locations. Well, once we had the underside of the porch opened up, we have been shoving these bags of insul under there. This does 2 wonderful things: 1) it gets rid of a lot of garbage! and b) it insulates underneath the sun porch. This is a fabulous use of recycling. About half the underside was filled so when the other half of the attic is emptied out, it will go under the other half of the sun porch!

I also did some burning of scrap wood, sucked and mulched leaves, unloaded wood for the fireplace (so we finally have wood for the fireplace and I can stop buying stupid little bundles from the grocery store) and it is official...the pellet stove works!!!

So here are some pics of me sanding the drywall...looking entirely a mess! Plus a couple of pics of the sunporch windows which Dave installed and are beautiful 6 foot tall and triple pained!

Lincoln and Vietnam

2006-11-28T08:59:00.000-05:00

The Lincoln Memorial has always been one of my favorites, no big surprise since that is the time I use to study. But he was stunning at night. It is quite imposing walking next to the water and slowly approaching the memorial, this huge building atop tall stairs just presiding over everything. It seems to put you in perspective of the world. We also saw the vietnam wall at night. I really appreciated seeing it at night, it seemed to change the way in which you view the wall. During the day it is so big and in many ways overwhelming, hard to take it all in, which of course is part of the point. At night, you cant really see the whole thing, you just get the impression of it. I found that because you had to take in each panel one at a time that it forced a more individual experience, less overwhelming and more solemn. It was a really nice experience.

WWII Memorial

2006-11-28T08:51:00.000-05:00

The World War II monument was probably the most affecting of all the monuments. It was so beautiful and serene. It really made you stop and reflect and appreciate.

The Washington Monument

2006-11-28T08:45:00.000-05:00

So this is obviously the Washington Monument and one pic of the Capital Building. We were walking the mall at sunset so the capital and the monument were colored by the sunset, it was beautiful. Then we made it over to the monument at night and saw it lit up. Quite beautiful at night. Of course, because it was night time I couldnt get the obligatory distance shot of Dave pretending to hold the monument...this is something for which I am sure he is glad!

Natural History Smithsonian

2006-11-28T08:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, so if you ask me what most of these stones are I couldnt tell you...but they sure are pretty! The purple on is amethyst...I know that much. But the sparklies are my favorite things to see...though I didnt get to see the Hope Diamond, Dave did though...but I think he avoided catching the curse. (The Curse of the Hope Diamond)

And I had to get the pic of the elephant in the entrance...even if it is a crappy photo.

Air and Space Smithsonian

2006-11-28T08:33:00.000-05:00

The first pic, I am sure you all recognize, is the lunar lander. It is strange to see it up close because the whole thing looks like it is covered in gold and copper foil wrap....and in reality, it is!

The two people in the picture that you are saying "hey, who are those people?" are Rae and Cav.

Then there is the pic of them in thermal imaging, because I like to have thermal images of all my friends!

And of course Dave in front of a plane. Well, what do you expect, we were at the AIR and space museum, we had to get a plane pic.

Washington DC

2006-11-28T08:25:00.000-05:00

As I am sure most of you know, Dave and I went to Washington DC for thanksgiving. Our friends, Rachael (Rae) and Jaimie (Cav) live there and we decided to spend thanksgiving with them. Rae and I graduated Smith together:

This is us at the Ivy Day Parade.

Rae is currently going to Georgetown getting her masters in complimentary medicine and will be going to med school (school to be decided) next fall. Cav is her boyfriend, whom she met while at Smith. He basically has my job, just in video rather than magazine! So they are both fabulous! and we had just a fantastic time visiting them.

Rae cooked dinner and did a wonderful job. The turkey was great but the biggest hit of the night were the yams...yum yum.

So the following posts are us in DC! Oh yeah, and my favorite metro stop...Foggy Bottom! I am sure you can guess why!

Beercap Airhockey

2006-11-03T18:52:00.000-05:00

Beercap Airhockey

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The epic game of bottlecap hockey between Adam and Dave!

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Arm Wrestling

2006-11-03T18:51:00.000-05:00

Arm Wrestling

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Here is the first of what might be an annual thanksgiving tradition of arm westling...and I caught the whole thing on video..and yes, it is another bad video!

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Death and Pixies

2006-11-02T08:21:00.000-05:00

Good Post Halloween everyone! Well, I thought I would share our costumes. I was a dark pixie type creature and Dave was...well, simply, he was death! Unfortunately I have been sick since this past weekend, so we didnt celebrate it up as we might normally had, but we still had fun. I wore my costume to work on monday and Dave wore his all night for the trick-o-treaters!
Death cooking eggs!

Happy Samhain

2006-10-31T09:05:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween and Happy Samhain to all! I hope you have a wonderful day! Tonight remember to walk around with Jack and his lantern. Light a fire, eat an apple and welcome the new year!

Bright Blessings

Turkey Day

2006-10-12T18:24:00.000-04:00

So turkey day finally arrived. Josh tricked me into peeling potatoes before I had my first cup of coffee...that was the trick...no coffee, I wasnt quite aware of what I was agreeing to! HA! Just kidding, but I did peel 8 pounds of potatoes...and mashed them. But Kristina and I did a bunch of the cooking and Cary brought the turnips and a fabulous squash maple bisque.

So here is the group chatting and drinking before the meal. Since it was so beautiful, we actually got to sit outside.

Here is the beautiful table that Aunt Linda set. Kristina did the flowers...and she says she cant arrange flowers. To this I say PISH!

And now for some family...why are you taking a picture of me, can't you see I am trying to eat..shots!

Hanging Out Canadian Style

2006-10-12T18:20:00.000-04:00

Before there was turkey...there was hanging out! So here are some pics of us bums bumming around.

Wendell has found a new sport...mountain climbing!

We made it!

2006-10-12T16:29:00.000-04:00

Well, we made it into Toronto safely and soundly! On friday we had a wonderful time hanging out with the grandparents. They took us to lunch and shopping...I just love to be fed and clothed! It was great spending some time with them. Then we headed off to the Bookies. On the way into Toronto, there was a full moon next to the CN Tower, so I grabbed a couple of not terrible shots.

Then it was time for mad celebration of Aunt Linda's Birthday and massive admiration of her new diamond ring...which well all promptly tried to steal...'cause that is just the type of family we are!

Yes, we were actually there!

2006-10-12T16:27:00.000-04:00

Finally, here are some pics of Dave and I at the falls. Some nice woman took our picture. Oh wait...that nice woman was me!! HAHAHAHA! No, just kidding. A very nice woman did take our picture so that people would believe that we actually did go somewhere together! HA!

Going over in a barrel!

2006-10-12T16:24:00.000-04:00

Dave pondered, on the way to the falls, "why do people want to go over them in a barrel? or in anything for that matter. I just dont get that desire." Well, after a close up look, we get that desire. The falls are just amazing...and looking over the edge...some part of you does want to go over in something bouyant!

Niagra at Sunrise

2006-10-12T16:23:00.000-04:00

Here are the pics of the sunrise! This was magnificient! I was completely blown away...and I never wanted to leave. Especially because the hotel room had a bathtub big enough for four! So I made sure to go swimming in it before we left! But how much more beautiful can you get!

View from a Window.

2006-10-12T14:58:00.000-04:00

The drive up to Canada was beautiful. The leaves are all turning...although Massachusetts seemingly has the best color, but peak is this weekend, NY and Toronto have another week or 2 before peek. But beautiful none-the-less. This is a pic from the truck while we were driving.

The first night we stayed in Niagra. When we were driving in, the sun was setting and a full moon was rising. In the morning, the sun rose over the falls and right into our room! It was amazing!

Here is the view from the room.

Everything is coming along!

2006-09-29T08:26:00.000-04:00

This is the outside of the house with the walls for the new bathroom built. I dont know when it will get painted...but at least you cant see through the walls! And the stairs are the stairs going into our bulkhead..with a door that closes and seals out mud! Now all that is left is the bulkhead door and we are done!

Here is the sunporch. Dave has been ripping off the cedar shake, which as you might remember was covered in an under the sea themed paint job, some of the remainders you can still see. We are tearing this room apart to put in the new windows! 6 six foot tall triple pained windows! WOW fancy! You can see the windows stacked by our dining room table. And yes the ceiling is still painted like a sky...but that will change. Oh yeah and all our lovely insulation which is currently sitting in the living room! We live in a construction zone!

Here is the progress on the bathrom. The first picture is of where a wall use to be. Dave tore that down, you can see the hole in the floor from where it was. The second and third pictures are the framing he did around this newly formed hole and the fourth picture is the lower half of the hole showing the floor all patched up. The blankets over the window and the other hole in the wall, where a door use to be, are for privacy. Yeah, its pretty ghetto, but it will be fixed shortly!

Pulling Nails

2006-09-24T13:39:00.000-04:00

This is the mess we have made in the backyard! And it just keeps growing!

Here are the boys putting up the walls for the new bathroom. The second picture you can see the hole for the window. And the last two are the completed walls and the new window! The bathroom is on its way!

Here is me pulling thousands of nails out of the wall! This wall was covered in cedar shake, so there is a nail for almost every shingle! Lots and lots of nails! I made Dave take a picture of me doing work on the house so all you people out there would believe that I am doing more than just taking pictures!

Albuquerque Trip

2006-09-06T08:17:00.000-04:00

The trip to Albuquerque was great! I got to see my mom and hang out with her all weekend! I also saw Trish and Randy and some friends and had an all around great time. Below are the group shots at Trish's house.

Then some sista lovin'!

and finally belated birthday presents!

Bathroom Window

2006-08-28T19:48:00.000-04:00

Here are some shots of the walls being put up. So we tore them down on Saturday and put them right back up on sunday! But the big excitement happens to be the amazing video.

So CLICK HERE to see the amazing movie!

Windows in the Attic

2006-08-27T11:13:00.000-04:00

The first three pics are new windows. The small one is an actual new window from the Depot. It slides open. It looks beautiful from the outside. The other two windows, the picture windows are our old patio doors! Can you believe they went from crappy crappy patio doors to beautiful picture windows!! I just love them! The pic of the floor is the blown-in insulation that we are ripping out, and were filling the cinderblock with. The wall is the insulation we are putting in the attic and the boards on the wall are the floor boards sanded down. It will look real perty.

Below are the picture windows from the outside of the house...see, dont they look nice!

Attack of the Morning Glory

2006-08-27T11:01:00.000-04:00

So my plan of distracting people from our ugly porch is working! We have become overrun! But they sure are pretty. Plus I thought it might be nice to see the front of our house, and something not torn up. Our whole house isnt a construction area...just most of it!

The Bathroom is Falling: Saturday

2006-08-27T10:33:00.000-04:00

We have been working long and hard on the bathroom. This is what we did on Saturday:

This is the bulkhead/foundation under the bathroom expansion. The bulkhead wall is built and we are in the finishing stages of that. The Wood pieces connecting the house to the cinder block wall is the crippler and that is now complete with insulation and tarpaper, ready to be shingled.
We had to do this so we could tear down the walls and put in the bathtub, otherwise it would fall through the floor when you filled it with water...and no one wants that!

These pics are kind of hard to tell what is going on. The first and the last, I am standing in the former stor-room (where the bathroom is being expanded into) The 2 pics below are before shots. Basically I ripped out everything in the stor-room. The first and last pic, where you can see the bathroom, there was a window there. The door and door jam have been removed. Plus now you can see how pretty the bathroom is looking! Ooo...don't you just love the blue!

Here is Dave ripping out the cedar shake shingles off the wall!

This is what we finished with...a big hole in our house...again! Yup the walls were completely torn down, and you can look right into where the window was and straight into the existing bathroom. That is Ray and Dave on the platform. And yes they are working at night...the neighbors love us! So the bathroom has become a little less private than it was before, but we are hoping for walls on Sunday!

Bricking yourself in!

2006-08-23T08:23:00.000-04:00

So, I came home yesterday to find Dave bricking himself underneath the house. I was a little odd to say the least. So was my response to pull him out? Was it to call for help? Nope...it was to grab the camera! I though...I have to get a picture of this! HA!

So here are the pics of Dave bricking himself under the house with Ray watching on the sidelines.

Work Work Work...continued

2006-08-22T08:34:00.000-04:00

Ok...so here is one of the really big projects we have been working on! WE HAVE FRENCH DOORS! Yes, the rumors are true. The horrible, difficult to open, ugly, can't lock them, sliding glass doors are gone! Now we have these beautiful french doors that are almost done being painted!

Here is a quick reminder of what they looked like before:

Now, here are the doors, obviously in the middle of being painted pre-installation.

And now...a hole in the side of our house! Well, we did need some ventilation! HA! Dave and Ray had a very interesting time ripping that hole in our house. Nothing is simple when your house is 113 years old.

This a panel from the patio door they took out. We are taking these and turning them into picture windows to use in the attic. Dont worry there will be tons of pictures when that happens. But I think it is a brillant reuse of perfectly energy efficient glass!

And now....the door! Yes, we are still painting it...hence the blue tape. I will post a picture when it is totally done so you can see the beautiful final product!

Work Work Work

2006-08-22T08:24:00.000-04:00

So we have been doing a lot! and I mean a lot! Here are some pics of what has been going on...with more to come because this only covers two of our projects!

First and definately not formost. But if I tell you about the foremost, you wont really pay attention to this one, and this one will be AMAZING, just not yet. Right now it is the start of amazing! Ok...getting with the pics:

The first pic is the outside back of the sunporch. We ripped out the window, reinstalled it, built a screen onto it (which is the part on the right) and am now repainting. The second pic is the same window on the inside, obviously in the repainting process. The window on the ground on the left is the piece that will fit in the screen area and slide back and forth. This window is now sealed and weather proof. We have the entire rest of the room to do...but at least this one is almost done!

Adventures of the Bulkhead

2006-07-30T12:43:00.000-04:00

Hello the world!

Ok...more like hello to the five or six people who actually read this! hehehe...you could be the whole world. Anyway, shall we digress. We have made some huge progress on the house. Ray's dad finally came out with his tractor so we could rip apart our bulkhead. We had to do this in order to be able to move forward with the bathroom renovations. The part of the house sticking out without any support (you will see this in the video) is where the bathroom is being extended into. We didnt remove the support, there was none there to begin with...yeah, nice huh?! But we also have to rebuild our bulkhead. SOoooo..we are now in a position to do this. Check out the movie...and yes I mean movie! This is not just some stinking video...

Click here!

So far...

2006-07-04T16:17:00.001-04:00

So this is a video of the work we have done so far on the bathroom. We have done a lot of work on it this weekend and I thought I would record it so you could take a looksie!

Enjoy...Click Here

Also...since I was in the videoing mood. I took a video outside of the backyard and the window I have been working on...check it out here.

And yes...I know I currently look like ass...but, I have been working on the house. What, you expect me to do my hair and make-up for that...please. I am not the kind of girl who hammers in high heels and lipstick...I get my hands dirty and usually the rest of me as well....enjoy the videos!

So far...

2006-07-04T16:17:00.000-04:00

My Birthday

2006-06-08T08:06:00.000-04:00

Thanks for all the calls and email! They were all fabulous. Well, here are the pics from last nights festivities. I warn you, these are rated R. Yes the cake is a pair of breasts! Courtosey of my friend Sheasa who turned her amazing baking skills towards something really challenging....a pair of pirky ones at 29! HA!

Dave's Birthday

2006-06-02T07:58:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Dave! Well most likely we are having a Gemini Birthday Party since there are so many of us Gemini's....but I thought we could at least celebrate Dave'd b-day with a fun cake. So, I made him a pirate cake...I blame it on Disney! But is was fun...it even has little pirates!
The people with Dave are our friends: Sheasa, Lane and Dublin (the child).

Playing in the fountain

2006-05-29T22:05:00.000-04:00

So my friend Lydia came into town this weekend for her 5 year reunion...and while she was here we decided to celebrate her return in a truly Smith way, by jumping in the fountain in the science quad. Here is the video of this momentous occasion. Click Here!

2006-05-27T18:49:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone....so we are growing up...I know...sniff....we finally got curtains! The bedroom no longer looks like a dorm room! So here are the before and after:

Morning Glories and other Ammenities!

2006-05-01T21:03:00.000-04:00

So I have been on an insane morning glory planting binge! Well, I had a lot of seedlings that needed to be transplanted...so transplant I did! Above you can see that I painted the right side planter...so now we look a little more balanced. But I have also added a cedar trim to seperate our new morning glories from the "lawn" Ok, we know the lawn is sad...but it is seeded we swear!
So one day it will be lush and green! And the morning glories primary function is to act as a decoy from the aweful porch. So instead of people saying...wow that is a unfortunate porch are you going to redo that..they will say something like...nice flowers...then we will know our plan is working! (twiddling fingers deviously)

Ok, this pic, in all its wonderful ambiguity, is actually newly planted morning glories at the base of our maple tree. We hope that they will grow up the tree. The second pic is the rock wall we are building around said tree...very English garden!

These next few pics are off the back yard, with the leaves actually growing! See we are no longer winter barren. And one is the hanging petunia basket on the back porch, of which I have 2.

New Truck Old Truck

2006-05-01T21:00:00.000-04:00

So, most of you know....Dave got a new truck. This is a joyous event! and a sad one. He had to say goodbye to his old baby duelly! This pic was taken the day we traded it in...
But he traded it in for a beautiful Dodge Dakota!

In the Big Apple!

2006-05-01T18:51:00.002-04:00

Ok..so these aren't the most exciting pictures, but the event was pretty thrilling. This is a pic of me underneath the ABC sign at the ABC building. We went there on friday for the launch of the new mentoring program...of which I am a mentee. I met my mentor, who is the head of the IT department, and think we will be doing some pretty amazing things. It was pretty cool just flashing my Disney badge and getting to walk straight into the ABC building...yeah...thats right....I've got connections! Well...my badge does at least!

Oh...and this sign was just funny!

Front of the House

2006-04-18T08:16:00.000-04:00

Ok...I know it has been a long time coming, but here is the front of our house! Ooo...pretty!

2006-04-18T08:09:00.000-04:00

This is the planter we created on the front of the house. This one also wraps around the side. Although this one is unpainted, it will be painted soon. You can see the white creeping over to that side of the house on the trellis which was just recently brown and blue. I like the white much better.

This is the otherside, already painted with my extra petunias sticking their heads above the edge. We like the white because it ties the house in with the windows. And now with the white going all the way across it creates a nice flow and continuity.

P.S. My fabulous friend Sheasa painted some of the lattice with me...in her Easter best no less!

So in case you didnt notice in the above picture, the lawn....not so much of a lawn. That is because Ray has been diligently tearing it up! We are starting from scratch! This is him tearing up the "garden" on the side of the house.

2006-04-18T08:07:00.000-04:00

This is the front entry to the house...which will eventually be torn down because it is definately not Scottish (...and for those not familiar with that particular reference..."If its not Scottish, its crap!")
But I have pretty hanging baskets with petunias on either side of the steps, so that looks nice. They are flowering madly. I cant wait to have a cascading waterfall of flowers!

Gardening with the Gnomies!

2006-04-18T08:02:00.000-04:00

Ok...so spring is finally coming to Massachusetts! We have small leaf buds on all the trees and our beautiful flowering trees are driving peoples allergies crazy...although they are very beautiful. So we have begun our gardening project, at least in the front.

First we pulled out that very large yellow bush Dave is preparing to punch. We were going to dig it out, but thought we would let the truck give it the old college try. Wonderfully, it popped right out. The reason we are getting rid of this bush, despite its pretty yellow flowers, is because it brings bee's and smells bad and was too close to the foundation. And everyone has them and who wants to look like everyone else anyway!

We Have a Wall!

2006-04-18T07:57:00.000-04:00

We have a wall in our bathroom! This is truly amazing. Now dont get too excited, its only one wall, but more will be soon to come! We even have electricity! I no longer have to have a lamp plugged into an extension cord running from our kitchen to light the bathroom. It is so wonderful.
Ok, so the first pic is Dave working on the wiring. The second pic is the light bar we just installed. Isnt it so very nice! We are very proud of this fixture, there was a lot of deliberation. I will try to get a nice close up picture of it so you can see the detail. The last pic is Dave in our Edison blessed bathroom!

New Cabrio

2006-04-06T08:32:00.000-04:00

So...I have a new car. I know, I cant believe it either! It is a VW Cabrio, 1999, black with a cream interior...and yes it is a convertable....and no I did not trade in the jeep. But I love my new cutie car. It is my first "adult" car...it even gets good gas mileage! But here is a picture of me with my new cabrio after Dave dropped it off at my work. See how fun it is! Plus I got a haircut, not that you can really tell in this photo.

Coffee Maker

2006-03-20T18:54:00.001-05:00

Ok...so the pics of me are horrible. For those of you who don't know, I am sick right now...that is my excuse! But this is our new coffee maker. It has no caraffe! The little circular guage is like a gas guage, but for coffee with an E and and F to indicate cup level left! Yup we are in love and highy caffinated!

Coffee Maker

2006-03-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

We have a runner!

2006-03-18T14:54:00.000-05:00

...and I dont mean that in a jogging sense. We just installed the carpet runner on our stair. The pictures below show the rug, and its various bends, of which we are very proud...and us working on it. I hope you enjoy the pics...soon will be pics of the bathroom, which is moisturizing for its facelift as we speak!

2006-03-18T14:53:00.004-05:00

Still working hard...man carpets take a while!

2006-03-18T14:53:00.003-05:00

Dave working hard!

2006-03-18T14:53:00.002-05:00

Dave and I, working on carpet...obviosuly we are working hard!

2006-03-18T14:53:00.001-05:00

Ray and Dave working on carpet

2006-03-18T14:53:00.000-05:00

Hallway bend

2006-03-18T14:52:00.003-05:00

Bend of carpet

2006-03-18T14:52:00.002-05:00

from hall, down stair, onto platform

2006-03-18T14:52:00.001-05:00

stair, off platform, into our bedroom

2006-03-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

down the stairs

2006-03-18T14:51:00.002-05:00

bend in carpet on platform

2006-03-18T14:51:00.001-05:00

stairs off platform into upstairs hall

2006-03-18T14:51:00.000-05:00

Stairs

Pics!

2006-03-03T10:12:00.000-05:00

Pictures after moving in!

Hello the First!

2006-03-03T08:08:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Ok, now some of you saw my post on the friendster blog, but this one should be better. Now you can respond to what I post, and of course you know me, I love feedback. For those who did not read the friendster blog, I am doing this so everyone can see what we are doing with the house and what is going on here in Western Mass. I will be posting pictures as often as I can. The first batch of pics I am posting are from when we walked through the house for the first time with our realetor. Meridith wasn't with us, so we took pics of it to show her what the inside of the house looks like. Note, inside of the house. She knew what the outside looked like, so I didnt think to take that picture. But I will put a nice on up of that soon.

Ok...talk soon. If you want to see the walk through photos, click this link:
http://laurenarmstrong.blogs.friendster.com/photos/house_viewing/index.html