The Way We Were

Along with the vacation pics, Shelton and Liz sent a few pics from our college days. It's hard to believe that it's been five years since we graduated. The pics made me a little nostalgic for our college days.

This was Bond Night in November of senior year. We all dressed up as James Bond characters and went to see the latest Bond movie on opening weekend.

'Bond' and his Bond Girls.


This was the night after Nate and I got engaged. We went out with nearly every one of our friends that night and we couldn't tell a soul that we were engaged because my candlelight wasn't until the following night. It was one of the longest nights of my life!


The boys as various Bond characters.


Nate and Shelton enjoy their martinis shaken, not stirred.



Hope you Erskine kids enjoy the walk down memory lane! I think the whole Bond weekend was one of my favorite weekends ever. What was your favorite Erskine memory?

More Vacation Pics

Shelton and Liz sent us a CD of their pictures from Jamaica. Aside from all the fun that we had, this is a great reason to travel with another couple - now we actually have pictures of me on vacation! I only appeared in about three of my own vacation pics. Here is proof positive that I had a fantastic time in Jamaica.

On our way to the resort. Can you tell we're happy to be on vacation?

Paradise.


Enjoying a night at the martini bar.


Liz and I both confessed to way over-packing for the trip, so how is it that we end up wearing the exact same color on the exact same night?


They caught this sweet picture of us waiting on them before dinner. Aw.



The rest of the pics are posted on Flickr. Thanks for sharing your pics, Shelton and Liz! We miss you guys!

Christmas in August

We took a drive out to the house last night to check out this week's progress. I knew they were doing a lot of work but I was overwhelmed at how much had been done in just three days. Everywhere we looked there was something new. Look, more brick! Look,
actual doors! Look, wood floors! Look, a fireplace mantel! It was like Christmas in August. I was practically giddy!

The brick is done. The neighbors said it was three long days of the fastest brick-laying they've ever seen - it's just a TON of brick!


This was the first time we have ever seen the garage doors pulled down. We actually walked in through the front door for the first time. The garage was full of door frame material (it was too dark to get a picture but there was a lot of it!). The electrical for the carriage lights is pulled out and ready for the lamps to be put in.


They are about half way through installing our beautiful cabinets. You can't really see it very well but they have also laid the floor in the foyer, living room, dining room and kitchen. It is all covered up with packaging paper to keep it nice. If you look very hard you can kind of see it around the edges of the cabinet. I was a little concerned about how the cabinets and the floor would work together but I think that I am going to like it.


The rest of the kitchen cabinets waiting for installation.


I'm dreaming of a cozy winter night with a good book and a dog in my lap. :)
(And that's the kitchen island counter top propped against the wall.)


They are maybe two thirds done with the door frames and doors. This is the pantry door in the kitchen and the door on the right, further back, is the coat closet. Just past that coat closet door is the door to the garage.


The banisters are installed on the stairway and around the loft (this is the loft). They will be painted all white.


There are a mess of bricks sitting in the front yard and I made Nate put five of them in the trunk of my car. I would have taken more but Nate was being most uncooperative. He didn't understand why we needed more than one. You just never know when you might need an extra brick!



As always, these are just the highlights. Check out the rest of yesterday's pics at www.flickr.com/photos/unwraplife

The Little Wife

43 As a 1930s wife, I am Average Take the test!

My friend Becca posted this funny test yesterday. Surprisingly, I scored pretty decently as a 1930's housewife. I think my cheerful morning disposition must have scored me some extra points because I definitely do not dust or clean or do anything remotely housewifely on a regular basis!

It's a brick house!

The brick laying crew worked a twelve hour day Saturday and they are still only about half way done! Man that's a lot of brick! We are very pleased with the color though. It seems a little more brown than we expected but I think when they put the siding on this week the red will come out a little bit more.




The painter started on Friday. When we visited Sunday, only the loft and the master suite weren't painted. The ceiling was plastered sometime in the last week, too. I am not quite sure why they do the ceiling first and then spray paint the walls, because there is Mushroom Cap paint all over the beautiful white ceiling! But seeing as how they do this every day, I will trust that they know what they are doing. :)




We also got to spend a little more time with the neighbors to our left, Ray and Renee. Ray was out grilling hamburgers when we pulled up on Sunday. We told him we had just come from the late service at White River Christian Church (where they attend) and thanked him for the recommendation. He mentioned that they were going to be starting a Small Group in the neighborhood if we were interested in attending. So we went inside for a few minutes to trade phone numbers and they also took us on a tour of the house (the same floor plan as ours). This was the first time we have actually seen a completed Georgetown and we left even more excited than we were before! Not only do we get a beautiful house but we couldn't have picked nicer neighbors.

House update

This week is a big week at the new house and next week will be even bigger. They have been drywalling since the end of last week and finished up yesterday. We went out Monday night and what a difference a little drywall makes!! The whole house just lit up inside and the rooms seemed suddenly bigger with the white drywall. It is so crazy how your perspective changes as the house progresses. We knew immediately that we would have great afternoon sunlight in the living room, but now that the walls are up it's even lighter and brighter than we thought. The bedroom closets especially seem bigger now too.

We had the first damage on the house right before we left for vacation. They busted a window in the master bedroom when they installed the garden tub.


The painter is priming the walls today and the brick guy is supposed to start tomorrow. Then through next week we will be getting flooring, siding, cabinets and trim. My mind was spinning when Cameron and Park read off the list! You can expect lots of new pictures all through next week. With so much going on, it will be hard for me not to run out there every day!

Sometime next week Park will finally be able to give us a completion date. Hard to believe that less than two months ago it was just a big hole in the ground.

Standing in the kitchen looking into the living room.

Standing in the living room looking into the kitchen.

The crew was still drywalling when we got there. How cool is this?

Nate checks out our bricks.

We're baaa-aaack!

Miss us?

Well, we are back from our fabulous week in Jamaica. We have been back for five days but it already feels like the vacation was a lifetime ago. This week has been hectic and I don't foresee life slowing down any time soon!

Where to start to catch up on the last two weeks? Hang on, here we go...

The Friday before we left for vacation, we went to Symphony on the Prairie for 'James Bond Night'. Nate, of course, was pumped for a whole night of James Bond theme songs. The symphony was fabulous and the vocalist was pretty impressive. It was a nice way to start our time off.

Enjoying the show with Weez, Buster and E-bit.

Do we look happy to be on vacation or what?

On Saturday morning we packed up the pups and headed down to Knoxville. It was cheaper to fly out of Knoxville than Indy AND our wonderful neighbors volunteered to reopen puppy daycare and keep the monsters for the week. Even Lola's 20 minutes of carsick puking couldn't put a damper on our excitement! The puppies were beside themselves with excitement to see Clint, Gwen and Big B. It was nice to spend a little while catching up with them.

Sunday we got up at the crack of dawn (well, actually early than that!) for our flight to Charlotte. By sheer coincidence, Shelton and Liz had the same flight from Charlotte to Jamaica so we got the party started a little early at the Charlotte airport.

Just a few hours later, we were FINALLY in Jamaica. The resort was an hour and a half ride from the airport, basically on the other side of the island. We packed ourselves onto a bus and hung on through the insane ride around the coast. The drivers there are seriously crazy! They drive on the left side of the road, or the middle of the road, or the oncoming lane, depending on what suits them at the time. And they drive entirely too fast for the mountainous conditions. Fortunately, we had quite the distraction in another passenger (nickname: Barbie) who kept up a steady stream of random questions through out the drive.

We're here!! Waiting for the ride to Whitehouse.

We stopped half way there at the Travel Halt (rest stop), for a bathroom and beer break. Apparently, there are no open container laws in Jamaica!!

The resort was beautiful (and kid-free!) and our rooms had views of the pool and the beach beyond. We spent most mornings on the beach and the afternoons lounging by or in the pool. After a very stressful summer, it was so nice to just chill and hang out with friends.
The boys hit the waves. Little did we know that there was DANGER lurking in those waters. The very first afternoon I got stung on the leg by something vicious. It hurt like crazy. The next day I had to be coaxed back into the ocean, with Nate making fun of me for being such a baby. No sooner did he get it out of his mouth than he got stung on the arm by the same thing!! Suddenly he wasn't laughing anymore. That thing really hurt!

Enjoying ice-cream after dinner.

Getting their kayak on.

Hanging out in the pool.

A nice lady stopped and offered to take a picture of all four of us enjoying our books on the beach.

Man, we miss these kids.

The week flew by too fast and before we knew it, it was Saturday and time to head home. We had a little travel drama on the last leg of the trip, with a short delay out of Charlotte but we made it back to Knoxville in one piece and with all our luggage!

We are sad that the trip is over, but we're already looking forward to Tampa and the Red Sox game in September.

To see more pics of our trip, check us out on flickr at: www.flickr.com/photos/unwraplife/

Jamaican me crazy!

VACATION TIME IS FINALLY HERE!! We are off to Jamaica early, early tomorrow morning. Keeping our fingers crossed for good weather and easy travel (none of my usualy travel luck, hopefully!). Talk to you all in a week!!

Just call me 'Four Eyes'

I have always hated wearing glasses. When I first got them in the fifth grade, I used to hide them in a tree on my way to the bus stop so that I wouldn't have to take them to school. I seriously hated those pink plastic glasses. I tried several times in high school to wear contact lenses but was squeamish about putting my finger in my eye; I remember one particularly traumatic experience when Katie had to peel the contacts from my eyeballs after high school graduation. Then in college when Nate and I got engaged that was the kick in the pants I needed to finally get over it and wear contacts. I was not going to walk down the aisle wearing glasses and I wanted to see Nate's face the whole way down the aisle.

Now, after five years in contacts, my glasses rarely see the light of day. The last time I tried to wear them they gave me a headache because the prescription is so out of date (I last replaced them sophomore year of college - eight years ago!). So last week I bit the bullet and visited the eye doctor to get new glasses.

I decided that since I rarely wear them anyway I could afford to be a little adventurous in my selection; if I hated them, I could just never wear them out of the house. I have always admired the girls who wear funky glasses but was never brave enough to try it myself. I bit the bullet and chose some funky maroon frames. I am SO in love with these glasses I am actually PLANNING to wear them out in public; like 'standing-in-the-closet-trying-to-find-the-best-outfit-to-show-off-my-glasses' kind of planning. They're like a whole new accessory for my wardrobe!


Sorry about the glare. I couldn't figure out how to make it go away, but you get the basic idea.

The Nerd Center

On Saturday we went to see The Dark Knight. It was one of the best movies I have seen recently. I know a lot of you who read this haven't seen it yet so I won't spoil it by doing a whole review, but it totally lives up to all the hype from recent months. Heath Ledger is down right maniacal and I hope he is at least nominated for an Oscar for this performance. On a side note, if Katie Holmes is smart, she's kicking herself for having turned down this movie.

After the movie we went to check out the house. The whole roof is on and the shingles are sitting up there waiting to be put down on Monday. They have already installed the 'guts' of the fireplace and started the HVAC and insulation. We should get electricity and plumbing roughed in this week. Cameron said he expects drywall to start going up in about a week. We have been told that drywall takes about 10 days is the most boring part, so we will be glad to miss most of it while we are on vacation.

This is the view of our house when you turn onto our street. Pretty nice!!

All of the windows and the exterior doors are in.

The fireplace is hooked up. I cannot wait to use the fireplace this winter!!

The guest bathroom tub is sitting in the living room.

The framework for the garden tub in the master bath has been put in. Another thing I am looking forward to using!!


Today we dropped the puppies off at the groomers and then went to not one but TWO libraries, or as Nate like to call it, the Nerd Center. Nate has officially become a library Nerd. When his parents were here for the Fourth, his dad and I were talking about a book series that we both like to read (the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child) and it was suggested that Nate might like it since it's a little Bond-ish. Nate, of course, scoffed at the notion that he might like ANYTHING that I read. But lo and behold, last week he asks if I have one of those books his dad was talking about. He took it with him on his business trip and then read most of yesterday afternoon until he finished it. He tried to oh-so-casually ask if I might have another book (like I wasn't going to notice that he TOTALLY LIKES A BOOK THAT I RECOMMENDED). Sadly, I don't because I borrow all of my books from the Nerd Center for which he teases me mercilessly. So today we were off to the Nerd Center to find Nate a book. But not just any book, it must be the first book in the series , which of course has already been checked out. I tried explaining that the books are all stand-alone and they don't have to be read in order, but to no avail. He simply must have the FIRST book and that is all there is to it. So we are off to the library in Noblesville to see if they have it. Again, he is disappointed I finally convince him that one of the other books will be just as good and I promise to put a hold on the first book for him. Nate has officially become a card-carrying NERD who borrows books from the library. (Please feel free to make fun of him the next time you see him).

Only seven more days until VACATION in JAMAICA. We just found out today that our friends are on the same flight from Charlotte to Jamaica, so we get to start the party even earlier than we thought!

Sound off!

Ever had a particularly bad day at work? Happens to me more often than I would like lately, but this website always gives me a good laugh. Look up your employer to see what people are complaining about at your company. Some of the comments for my company were laugh-out-loud funny. (Of course, I don't suggest you do this on company time!)

www.jobvent.com

Countdown

Only 10 more days until we are sipping strawberry daiquiris in Jamaica.

Raise the roof

Today was our meeting with Park, the guy in charge of building our house. We have waited almost a month for this meeting and re-scheduled it twice. Our meeting was set for 3:00, Nate was coming home to pick me up at 2:30. At 2:15 the phone rings; it's Nate, sick as a dog, calling to say he's coming home to go to bed. I ended up going to the meeting alone, while Nate attempted to sleep off whatever tummy bug he's managed to pickup.

The meeting wasn't really as exciting as we thought it would be. Park is very nice, much younger than I expected. But the meeting was mostly a recap of information we already knew, like our plot plan and our electrical layout. He expects to be able to give us a completion date in about three weeks and thinks he'll be done in September. Cameron assured me that we wouldn't have to close until October since that is what our contract says. If the house really is done early, I don't know how we'll be able to resist closing early! Guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

After the meeting, I headed back to the house to check out the roof progress. No action shots though because the guys were already done for the day. But we DO have a roof! It's mostly up, except for a little tiny patch up front by the eaves. But it looks awesome! The second floor was much easier to distinguish with the roof on. Not sure why that makes such a difference, but it did. They also put in most of the windows and doors.

Only a little more roof to go:


The front door will be painted Musket Brown later.




Nate is feeling a little bit better after his nap, some ginger ale and a little TLC. Hopefully he will sleep it off and be all better in the morning.