So long, farewell

We closed on the sale of our home today. As I was packing and moving for the last two months, I thought about the things I'd miss the least.

The view from my windows

(adios townhome community)...

...and my "backyard."

But I will dearly miss my fabric cornice...

...and my closet. I stored extra furniture in this closet it was so big.

And I had it all to myself.

Farewell first home.

Timmmmm-berrrrrr

Remember this? A picture of my house before the Tree Doctor came to take out trees and trim up the others. Voila! Now you can see the house from the curb. We still have so much landscaping to do, but at least we can see the house to make a plan for bushes, flowers, and grass!

Florida Pictures

We went to Grayton Beach with Dan's extended family last week. It was H-O-T, but we were blessed to have a house right on the beach with a pool!

It took Lydia a few days to warm up to the sand and waves, but she was really enjoying it by the end of the week. Other things she enjoyed were her Uncle Ben (she has a huge crush on him and preferred him to both me and dan!), ice cream sandwiches, and cousins Grant and Sydney.

Lydia wasn't really a water girl before we went to Florida. She didn't even really like bath time. But she saw this pool and had to jump in! By the second day she was jumping into daddy's arms, dunking her head, and flying up in the air. Dan is thrilled to have a pool lover!

As with most family gatherings, it was the food that brought us together! On the nights we ate it, Ben did all the cooking! We had spaghetti night, taco night, and seafood night. Ben doesn't do anything half way, all the meals were amazing...my favorite was the marinated grilled shrimp.

In a family picture attempt, we took some shots with the water in the background. Ladies, you know this means the wind was blowing my fair towards the front of my face. I wish it would have stopped for just one second! We did get some cute shots though!

Happy Father's Day

Front Door

So I've had to make gobs (very specific measurement) of decisions about the house lately. Since I don't know what I'm doing, I'm nervous about picking out the "wrong" thing. When the contractor told me to pick out a front door, I started sweating. THEN he mentioned clearance doors at a builder's supply place. Sale? I can do a sale! It took me all of 5 minutes to select a door.

I know I'll probably pass out when he asks me what color stain to use...but I'll worry about that when I get there. For now, I'm just enjoying the pretty glass design on my new door.

Demo

Come on in...the house is open. Really...just crawl under the window; we dug a trench for you! Actually, the plumbers jackhammered through the foundation to replace the old pipes. It's a mess.

Dan is checking out a wall that needs to come down. Darn, it has pipes in it. We'll have to redirect those to another wall so we can open up the entrance to the family room.

Here's the ceiling (roof, rather) in my master bedroom. The spot in the middle of the photo is a load bearing point without any support. That explains the sagging ceiling! Glad we discovered this so it can be fixed before I sleep underneath it!And this used to be a bathroom. It's going to be a walk in closet soon!

Now we are just waiting for the permit approvals for the remodel plans. Hopefully the next house pictures show new walls etc.

Nick's Wedding

Nick Degenstein (Dan's high school friend) and Sarah Hodge were married this past weekend in Tulsa. We enjoyed our weekend (Lydia stayed behind with my mom) and had fun catching up with high school friends and "swimmer parents."

Me, Lindzi Timberlake, Sandra (my mother in law), and Maureen (Lindzi's mother in law).

We had a three hour break between the ceremony and the reception. After trying to find something to do in Tulsa, we eventually found a shaded parking place at the reception and took naps in the car. Dan was passed out.

I'd never seen this idea done before, but it was a huge success! Here is a picture of the instructions. You just take your picture in the photo booth, keep a copy of the pics for yourself, take a copy to a page for a memory book for the couple, and write a little note next to your pic. Some people got really creative. The photo booth was the most popular spot!

Dan loves to dance. Me, not so much. I warmed up to it eventually. Good thing too, the dancing lasted for hours. Here's a funny pic of Dan making moves on me!

The happening dance party.

This is the best part. Nick has a large extended family. 35 (and several of this number small children) of his relatives hired a coach bus and drove from Wisconsin for the wedding. After the reception, they changed into pjs and loaded on the bus to drive through the night back home. Isn't that the nicest thing? Was I glad I had a hotel room waiting for me instead of a coach bus!