Monday, June 29, 2009

Our First Major Project!

So on June 19, despite overcast skies, Sarah and I completed our first major project: a new shed. Well, WE didn't complete it, but we had an installer come and put it up for us!

The location of the new shed. Our old shed was sitting on the easement, so we couldn't just tear the old one down and put the new one up. But Sarah likes the new location.










The floor is put in place. I took all the pictures from our kitchen window so I didn't appear to be a freak.











The side walls go up.













Up go the front and back walls.













The roof goes up!













Almost done....



























We've already put our things from the old shed into the new one. In fact, it almost seems that we should have bought a larger shed to begin with!
















And here is the finished product. We'll be painting it later in the summer to match the house.

Now I just have to finish taking down the old shed!

Friday, June 19, 2009

What happens in Vegas...

So at the end of March, Sarah and I FINALLY got to go on our real honeymoon, a trip to Las Vegas. It was the first time for either of us to go to Sin City, and we had a blast!

The approach to the airport. We think the bright line of lights is the Strip, but we saw a lot of spots of light, so it's hard for us to be certain.












Our room. Nothing fancy, but we were on the top floor, so we had a great view!












And this is the view! We never closed the curtains because at night the lights were amazing and in the morning the sun woke us up!











A view of the swimming pool. Most of the newer hotels are all enclosed...even the pools. But the Flamingo is older and actually had an outdoor pool. Unfortunately, the only day Sarah let me not do something from the moment we woke up until the moment we went to sleep it was barely 70 degrees! Thanks, Sarah!







The hotel has a flamingo habitat. You can actually walk through it and watch the feeding several times a day.











At the Venetian, you can take a gondola trip outside the hotel. The weather was nice, so we took advantage of it. If you go inside, they have canals in the mall part of the hotel that offer the same trip.

One thing about the hotels: Most of them had ceilings painted to look like the sky. It was a pretty good likeness, but it made me wonder why, other than the summer heat, you would want to be cooped up all day inside a building!



Vegas features a Ghirardelli store where you can buy the chocolates as well as have some of their home-made ice cream. We stopped there, and enjoyed the antics of this little pigeon who kept walking back in! It was amazing how domesticated many of the birds are!








One of the parts of our vacation package was a tour of the Hoover Dam. Now I've always seen the pictures of the dam, but never really understood the magnitude of the structure. This is us after the "dam" tour.









This is one of the four or five turbines that, when activated by the water from the dam, generate electricity. This turbine was down for maintenance, and you can actually see a maintenance worker inside!









After 9/11, the two-lane road that goes over the dam between Nevada and Arizona was shut down. It was gradually re-opened to people who are going to the dam, and those vehicles have to stop at a checkpoint to be inspected.

This picture shows a suspension bridge that is under construction to connect the two states in a more direct route. Currently, the semis have to go about 30 miles out of their way to get between the two states. You couldn't get me to work on that road!


One of Sarah's co-workers in the Freshmen Center recommended this place for good Italian food. Luckily, it was just around the corner from our hotel.

The food was AMAZING! you got a decanter of wine with your meal, salad, bread, and cappucino with the meal. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!






Overall it was a great week! We saw the Bergere Follies on Monday (four days before closing their 49-year run), Bette Midler on Tuesday, Cirque du Soliel's "O" Show on Wednesday, and the impersonators on Thursday. We couldn't take any pictures in the theatres, but they were well worth seeing! We hope to go back someday for two or three days to see some more shows and do more!

Cassidy's Baptism

k, so I'm fulfilling my promise to you my two readers (and I'm one of them!) to update the blog with what's been going on. The first is Cassidy's baptism.

The priest is preparing Cassidy for baptism by explaining what baptism is all about. Meanwhile the rest of us were wondering how she would react when she was dunked in the font.












....and in she goes! Surprisingly, she was quiet, and even seemed to enjoy the little bath!



















After the baptism, Cassidy was anointed with chrism to confirm her membership into the church.

Monday, May 25, 2009

The Name Says it All!

Wow, so I haven't posted ANYTHING since January! I have meant to post, but as the title of the blog goes, it's been a busy summer. However, I promise that in the next three weeks I'll catch you up on what's been going on. In fact, here are the posts that I'll do:

1. Theatre
2. Vegas
3. The House
4. Personal Musings

Stay tuned!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Surviving the Cold

I need to get better at posting about issues closer to when they happen. Here are some pictures of how our greyhound, Frieda, dealt with the cold.


Frieda likes to be tucked in with blankets!













Frieda wore her jacket around the house for a couple of days to keep extra warm!



















Frieda has taken to snuggling between the bed and wall, on top of a pillow. Believe it or not, she had the blanket on her when she was on her actual bed in the room, but moved here with the blanket still on!









By the end of the weekend, the jacket came off and Frieda celebrated! She actually sleeps like this sometimes!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The Aftermath, Part 2

Ok, so I know I'm a little late with the pictures of Galena, but finals got away from me. Here are some highlights!


Galena, IL, is the home of former President US Grant!

















Sarah really wanted to see his home. This is it. It took us over an hour to hike through hills and snow, only to find that it was right around the corner from where we started!














Galena is a very hilly place (well, most of that corner of the state is!). This is a view from the top of the city looking down. Some truly beautiful views that we don't have here by the big lake!









How do you get from the top of the city to the bottom? Well, there are these loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong stairs that you can travel. Sarah and I took them. I nearly ended the marriage because she made me do this! This is the view from the bottom.






And...pant, pant, pant...is the...pant...view from the top!















This is the view as you drive into the historic downtown area. For those of you who remember the show Murder, She Wrote, I kept waiting for Jessica Fletcher to come riding by on her bike waving to us!







This is the Dowling House, where Grant learned he was elected President. At least we think it is the Dowling House; there was no sign labelling it as such. It seems like it's being used as a regular residence. How interesting would it be to live somewhere where something historical took place?








This sign welcomes you to a small, volunteer-run art store, and the only place in town where there are public restrooms. Look closely at the sign, though; do you see a spelling "oops"?

Monday, January 5, 2009

The Aftermath

Ok, so that title doesn't reflect the mood of what it's like being married, but the first few days feel like the quiet AFTER a big storm. The wedding was beautiful, with no glitches. After we got up the next morning, we drove to Galena, Illinois to go to a bed and breakfast to relax. Having never been to one before, I didn't know what to expect. I did make the reservation, and I was excited about the jacuzzi in the room and the seven-course meal that we had, but we honestly felt like we were a million miles away. No more stress about the wedding, no more worries about paying for things, we could finally be married and relax. So here are some pictures of our 52 hour honeymoon (and yes, 52 hours can feel like a WONDERFUL honeymoon!):


The outside of the Goldmoor. The door on the right goes to the restaurant, and the door in the middle goes into our group of suites.











The building has a grand hall that leads to four separate suites. Ours was lucky #13.












An overall view of the room. The bathroom was HUGE, and just off to the right was our little kitchenette!











Our jacuzzi. They provided the bubble solution to make it nice and foamy!












As part of our honeymoon package, we received a bottle of champagne, two flutes, and chocolate-covered strawberries. YUM!

















A warm, freshly-cooked breakfast was served each morning. We just called, and it came up in 15 minutes. And yes, this is how they set it up for us!









A look at the Mighty Mississippi. This was our view from our kitchenette, though the camera worked better when we were standing outside. A horse stable is just below us for horse riding in warmer weather.









This was a superb place to spend a couple of days, and it didn't cost much more than a nice room at the Holiday Inn (believe me, we stayed at both!). Check them out at www.goldmoor.com.

Coming later this week: pictures of a long but fruitful day in downtown Galena!