Thank You

Both of my grandfathers served in the military. Neither of them talked much about it - Poppop (Mom's Dad) was a little more open about it, and Grandad (Dad's Dad) only talked about it once - just before I was supposed to study in Europe for a semester. He told me the name of the street he was quartered on while he was stationed in Paris and that I needed to walk the Champs Elysees and see the Arc de Triomphe.

I cried when I stepped off the subway and realized that the street my hostel was on was on Rue de La Chapelle, the same street Grandad stayed on.

I was honored and humbled as I toured Normandy, thankful that both of my grandfathers were injured prior to D-Day because they both were to have been there. (the picture above is one I took at the cemetery at Normandy - France gifted the land to the USA to bury their soldiers and after almost 4 months in Europe, it was good to be "home" as I walked those grounds)

Thank you, Poppop, Grandad, and all who have and do work so hard to keep this country free.

A Wonderful LONG Weekend

Mike and I were busy organizing our new room. It's not done yet but it's getting there. I don't know where I got it in my head that because we'd have a nice "new" room to put things in, we could still fit the same amount of space but have it more organized. Not quite the case but it looks prettier! :-)

We also got flowers for the deck and I have 7 tomatoes on my plants! Yay!

Day 4 and Thankful Thursdays

They'll be done tomorrow! They have to spray the ceiling, put a second coat of stain on the trim, and put the baseboards down. Yahoo!

Today I'm thankful for:

• the surprise rain we got this afternoon
• the basement almost being done and getting to put my house back in order soon
• the three day weekend ahead
• the three tomatoes I have growing on one of my plants (this is a big accomplishment for me) :-)

Days 2 & 3 With the Contractors

I'm a little bummed - the contractors said it would take 3-5 days to finish the basement room and it's going to take the full 5 days. I'm ready to paint the room and more importantly, I'm about to go nuts because I'm so ready to have our house back in order. But, patience is a virtue so here's the room after day 2:

And after day 3:
And here's our house with all of our bushes in bloom. I don't know what the bushes by the door with the white flowers are but they smell heavenly.

On a completely unrelated note - I think this is such a fun idea (but don't think I'd be willing to shell out $100 for): http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/inspiration/custom-made-stamps-to-remember-the-first-days-117814

Day 1 With the Contractors

The contractors are done with day 1 - I'm amazed at how quickly they work!

There are a few places that the paint I just put down on the floor came up because of the wood they had in there - I didn't think the paint would come up that easily or I would have waited to paint. Oh well, I can touch up or just might leave it be for some character. We'll see.

Two more days until I can paint!

Day Something...

The contractors start on the basement room tomorrow. I'm so excited to have the room done and everything back in order that I can hardly stand it. In the mean time, our house is covered in plastic.
Now to enjoy the last of the weekend and watch the best of country celebrate one of the best - Brooks & Dunn.

Oh, and we're going to Europe this fall!

Thankful Thursdays

I'm thankful for:

• warranties
• a quiet weekend
• my family coming (hopefully) in a few weekends

Day 2

Day two of the basement renovations and the floor has its first coat of paint!

In Two Weeks

Whew, we had a long but good weekend. Friday and most of Saturday were spent getting ready for a baby shower I hosted for a friend. I only got one picture during the shower and that was of the food...

Moving on to the title of this post - we're finishing the last room in our basement. Here's a before shot. Yikes!
Here's the basement bedroom filled with some of the stuff we had to move out of the room in preparation for painting the floor this week and the contractors to dry wall, etc. next week.
Another shot of the basement and the temporary home for the rest of the stuff...
The empty room! The wet spots are from us mopping to get ready to paint the floor. We're going to use the room as a work/craft/storage room and decided not to carpet the room for the time being. I cannot wait for it to be done, to have the house back in order, and have an awesome room to decorate and play in!

Eat More Chikin

Whoo hoo! I'm pumped.

http://blogs.kansas.com/haveyouheard/2010/05/11/chick-fil-a-management-responds/

Thankful Thursdays

I'm thankful for:

• the amazing thunderstorms we've had the last few days. God is amazing.
• the fact that a three day weekend is just two weeks away.
• my husband who keeps me laughing and smiling when I need it most.

One of my Favorite Things

Thunderstorms

Happy Mother's Day!

Love you, Mom!

This Should Be Interesting

The weathermen are predicting some nasty storms here tomorrow... it'll be interesting and I'm excited for what could be the first significant storm of the season. (If you spent any significant amount of time growing up in "Tornado Alley" you'd understand why storms can be rather intriguing. You spend so much time in the basement hiding from them that you get to a point you're more interested than scared.)

Dear Heavenly Father, I am humbled by awesome power but ask that if this storm is as big as our small minds can anticipate and comprehend, that you keep everyone safe. In Your name, Amen.

Thankful Thursdays

I'm thankful for:

• a weekend with no big plans
• friends that got to come visit
• bike rides with Mike

Cruisin'

Mike and I FINALLY got bikes.

This is mine, a Diamondback Serene:

Mike put a basket on the front of it for me so that we can pick up milk on a ride if we want to and so that Lily can come with us every so often.

This is Mike's (the Lamborghini Urbano):

Mike put a pedometer thing on his so we know how fast "we" are going, how far we've ridden, etc.

If the bikes and mentioned accessories don't give you an idea of how we feel about biking, I don't know what does. At least we're having fun riding bikes together. :-)

Long Time No Post

Hello, blog world!

I took a little blogging hiatus, somewhat intentional and somewhat not, but much needed either way.

I don't have any pictures of anything but some highlights of the last few weeks have been:

• Mike's Mom visiting
• Successfully completing a big shin-dig for work
• the end of AWANA for the summer
• getting the basement bathroom fixed - FINALLY!
• my dear friend, Bev, coming to visit with her fiance (and we found my bridesmaid dress)

Maybe I'll get better at blogging again soon...