Big news

I haven't posted in forever! Sorry. But seriously, I've been soooo busy. With what you ask? Buying a HOUSE! That's right, Seth and I are Homeowners!! Whoa. I'm still not sure its sunk in 100%. It was allot (ALLOT) of work getting everything done, and that's why I haven't had time to blog. But even if I had had time, I still wouldn't have because it wasn't official and if the deal fell through and I had to write a follow-up "Never mind about that house thing I wrote about yesterday" post, it would crush me. But now its official because we closed on Wednesday and I'm so. freaking. excited!! Stacy and I were talking today about how, when there's something really big to talk about, its sometimes hard to articulate how you're feeling about it in a blog. Some bloggers are so good at that (like her and her), but when I'm really worked up about something, all I can ever manage to type is "this is SO great" or "this is really cool" or "OMG this is awesome"...or I revert to my old standby/cop-out: "I can't tell you how (insert emotion - usually 'excited' or 'upset') I am about this." So I'm just going to post allot of pictures! Here goes.



This is IT (!!!)...a 1950's rancher made of stone from East Tennessee. See the glass breezeway to the left of the house? That's the walkway between the kitchen and the garage, which is not a garage anymore, but a "3rd bedroom" (according to the real estate agent) that is Seth's new band room! I'm so happy that he finally has a place to set up his drums and guitar and play music in. I'm also really happy that Ruby finally has a yard!



This yard is begging for a hammock...and horseshoe pits, and some awesome metal or concrete 50-year-old outdoor furniture.

As soon as we finished closing on Wednesday, we picked up Ruby and a pizza and headed for our new pad. Here I am opening the breezeway door for the very first time as a homeowner:



And here's the first meal we ate in our new house:



Papa John's and PBR never tasted so good.




That last picture if of the giant chocolate key that our title agent gave us after we signed our names a million times.

Overall the house is in really good condition, but of course there's tons of stuff that we want to do to it before we move in in a month -- paint all the walls, paint the kitchen cabinets & replace the hardware, and the biggie...pull up all the carpet and refinish the floors. Has anybody ever done this? The big sander machine is a little intimidating, but I know we can do it and I definitely know it'll be worth it once we're finished. As we make progress, I'll be posting all kinds of before and after pictures, and asking for suggestions too. No more recipes on this blog for awhile - for the next few months it'll be the My So-Called Decorating/Refinishing/Painting Blog.

That's all for now! I hope everyone has a great 3-day weekend (ps. Ryan and Jeannette, there's a parking garage roof in Knoxville that'll be missing you on Sunday...sack lunches won't be the same without you).

An Ode to Summer

Summer has been getting a bad rap these days, and all because of a little heat wave we've been experiencing for the past couple weeks. Well dear Summer, I still love ya, and in an attempt to convince you to stay around a good while longer (and while I'm at it, to come back early next year), here's an ode to you.

Because of you, I don't have to wear socks everyday for months at a time, which is great because socks make my feet feel trapped.

Because of you, I don't crave all the heavy, unhealthy food that I normally crave but try to avoid...a big plate of beautiful veggies is all I really want or need.

Because of you, I can be ready to leave the house in mere minutes because the only decision I have to make is which tank top and skirt to throw on.

Because of you, the days are long enough for me to be able to have a personal life after I leave the office at 5pm instead of being trapped on the couch under a blanket every night because its pitch black and freezing by the time I get home.

Because of you, I'm getting regular exposure to the sun and I am therefore in a better mood from the vitamin D.

And finally...because of you, a trip to the ice cream store is the perfect date...cheap and fun and just what the doctor ordered after a long, hot, wonderful summer day.

Yea Summer!

Austin Powers moment

Occasionally at work, when my boss and I are working on the same project or issue, we yell back and forth between her office and my cube. Definitely a little rude to my cubemates, I'll admit, but they do it all the time, plus 2 out of 3 of them are not nice to me at all, so I feel justified in a yell now and then. Well, today I had a question for my boss about this guy that I was doing a report on, and this is the conversation we yelled back and forth:

Boss: What's his ID number?
Me: 1234567
Boss: And what's his name?
Me: Johnson. Harry Johnson.
Boss: What was that?
Me: HARRY JOHNSON!

I can't believe no one else started to giggle in their cubes, because I sure did. While I like the work that I do, I don't like allot of the people, and sometimes its hard and a little lonely to spend 40 hours a week here. So any comic relief I can get makes all the difference :)