House - Week #5

These house updates are really for my mother, as well as other family, who is serving a mission in California.....so she can keep up with the progress. And also as a kind of journal to track the building of our home. Please bare with us. I know this can get boring for a lot of you. This week they continued the framing and actually started on the 2nd floor. We are so blessed because our builder actually figured out a way to add some sq. footage to Alysa's bedroom and closet.....somehow. So that will increase the overall sq. footage of the house. Mark and I (we think......HOPE) got the hardwood and carpet picked out and will be concentrating on the tile next. We also got the brick, rock and front door picked out, as I mentioned earlier. Thank goodness!! That was a headache!! Next week we are meeting with the cabinet guy to lay out the kitchen (mostly) and other cabinetry, select a color and order. Let us pray the weather holds out 'til we're in the dry!

Good Days

One thing I absolutely LOVE to do is to laugh......laugh so hard you can hardly catch your breath or laugh at something that you just can't stop and every time you think about it, you bust out laughing again. Well, today was one of those days. I got so tickled in Pilates class today, I didn't think I could make it through. Then, when I think of what I got tickled at, I crack up all over again. It's wonderful!! Another good thing was I had friends there laughing along side me, which just made the experience all the more fun. Other great things about today are: Perry called from Iraq (only about 1 month left!!), the weather is fantastic, I'm getting excited about going to the Virginia Tech football game-and other football events here in Kentucky and we're having an early Thanksgiving-style dinner tonight. Plus, I got new pics of my grandson, Briley, and my neice's, Raney, senior picture and we finally got the "brick/rock/front door" dilemma solved. So many exciting things going on all around. I'm lovin' it!!

Thanksgiving in September

That's right.....with the cooler temperatures, it's been reminding of me of fall and all the holidays (and holiday food) that comes with them. I've been working up a good taste for cajun turkey, cornbread dressing and the trimmings. But I've been trying to hold off because I wanted to include the missionaries in on our "feast". Well, today's the day!! I've got cajun turkey, cornbread dressing, red potatoes (with butter and parsley, of course) and lima beans. The only thing missing is the sweet potatoe casserole (which we just had a few weeks ago) and deviled eggs. Oh, and we're having cheesecake for dessert. Boy am I gonna' hate myself tomorrow! But for today, the house is smelling heavenly with all the different aromas floating in the air. Can't wait for Thanksgiving!!

House - Week #4

This was week 5 in the building of our new home. They've enclosed the crawl space, layed the flooring for the 1st level and even got some walls up. I'd say they've been quite busy. It's looking as beautiful as a barely begun home can. We're thrilled with the progress. Here's what she looks like after this week.

Another Storm

Well, it's a beautiful day here in Kentucky. Blue skies and sunshine......picture perfect. I'm tickled to live in such a beautiful area with rolling hills, pastures and giant old barns. But my heart is with my family and friends in Texas and Louisiana as they await the trauma from Hurricane Ike. I'm thinking there is a great number of them that will opt not to evacuate this time around because they've barely returned home from Hurricane Gustav's mandatory evacuation. Even though the hurricane actually landed in Galveston, the effects will stretch both north and east, where most of my peeps are. My heart goes out to all of them and the hardships and headaches they face well after Ike has come and gone. Any and all prayers, along with mine, are greatly needed and I know would be appreciated as well. Love and prayers to all.

New House Pics

Front, from street

A few new pictures of the house, as it goes up. You won't be able to see a lot of change. But they've done dirt work and started the actual construction. They say we should have walls this week sometime. Exciting!!!

Rear, South Corner, This is the crawl space below the house.

Rear, North Corner, Crawl space below the house.

Quick Run Through of Events

This past week has been a bit of a blur, being shortened by the Labor Day holiday. I will hit on the highlights.

• Last Saturday was my birthday (we won't say which number). The day started off with presents and breakfast in bed.....frosted mini wheats in a bowl so big it took all three of us to finish! This was followed by a call from Perry, my grandbabies and their sweet parents, Wes and Wendy, and then other family members. We did some running around and ended up at Red Lobster for dinner.
• Sunday was church and then friends and visiting teachers over for our usual batch of chocolate chip cookies.
• Monday was Labor Day. We went to Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill with a another family of friends. We took a horse drawn buggy tour of the village and heard the history of the Shakers. Very interesting. It was a beautiful day, completed by having this and another family over for dinner. Mark grilled the most tender, mouth watering steaks I have eaten in a long time. We also had sweet potato casserole, fruit salad, rolls and cucumbers & tomatoes. Deslicious!!! Oh! And the dessert - cheesecake and home made fudge! Needless to say, we were all stuffed!!
• Tuesday, Alysa was sick from all she ate the day before. So she stayed home from school and we got things done around the house.
• Wednesday & Thursday were normal days. Thursday evening, me and the girls went out AGAIN for Cari's birthday. A group of 6 went to Cheddar's for dinner and talked and laughed so hard, I'm sure people thought we'd been drinking! It was great!!
• Friday - nothing to report.
• Saturday - Today - Mark is in real estate class all day, Alysa and I are going to Lexington for some girl time and to eat at Red Robin, since she didn't get to go for my birthday girls' night. Then she's going to a birthday party and Mark and I will take in a movie.