House Update

So here it is a picture of our dream house! It's only been three weeks since we signed our purchase agreement and so many decisions have already had to be made. Aghh! Corey finds these decisions fun, me on the other hand find them 65% stressful / 35% fun. I will find it fun the night I can stop dreaming about carpet colors...

We have been busy determining which structural changes to the house (windows, floor plans, etc.) and options we want. We are finished with the following selections: brick, siding, trimming, front door, and shutters colors; cabinet type and stain; counter tops; appliances; interior and exterior lighting; security system; low voltage wiring; etc. Now if I only got the carpet colors and wood floors taken care of I would be happy!

More updates than you ever wanted to know to come...

Long Overdue Update and BIG News

Geez, it's been almost two months since we last posted to the blog. I swear I don't know where the time goes... I will try to recap as much as I can remember and then give an update on what is currently happening in our lives.

Work has been extremely busy, hectic and stressful for Corey and I the past two months. For a while I didn't even know what it felt like to work at normal 8 hour day - I was lucky to work a 12 hour day at minimum. Working that much gets old quickly!

The quote, "Working for the Weekends" has definitely been our motto for this Summer! The weekends of July and August have been packed with fun activities with our families!

JULY -->

• Corey's younger cousins, Stephanie and Amanda, came in town from Arizona for two weeks to visit. Stephanie and Amanda had never been to DC so Jackie, Bob, Lindsay, Tony, Maddie, Stephanie, Amanda, Corey and I went site seeing on Saturday, July 21st. It was an absolute beautiful day and not that hot either!
• On Friday, July 27th, we went to see the Phantom of the Opera at the Kennedy Center with Uncle Mike, Aunt Lura, Cassie & Seth. The performance and our seats were incredible! On Saturday we went site seeing in Georgetown and DC for the day.

AUGUST -->

• Friday, August 10th, 28 of our family and friends including us (Grandma; Mom and Dad; Uncle Mike, Aunt Lura, Cassie and Seth; Uncle Chris, Aunt Stacy and Campbell; Uncle Dave, Aunt Traci, Hannah and Isaiah; Jean and Ed Clark; Jeanie, Lee, Jessie and Allie; Eddie, Tina, Ashley and Lucas; Aaron; Troy and Whitney and Allie's friend Megan) went to Kings Dominion for the day. It was extremely hot but there were minimal lines so I think the heat kept a lot of people away for the day. It was a lot of fun for everyone! The highlights were: Aaron on the Volcano; Cassie, Campbell and Allie on the Water Canyon; Grandma and her scooter; Isaiah and the Taxi Cab roller coaster; the parents having as much fun or more as the kids; skunks; and so much more! Next year I recommend we go to Busch Gardens and Water Country USA for a weekend.
• On Saturday, August 11th, we headed to the Washington DC Zoo with Grandma; Mom and Dad; Dave, Traci, Hannah and Isaiah; Cassie & Seth. The highlights of the day were the armadillo, prairie dogs, elephants, manual wheelchairs, and fruit smoothies.

• The third week in August Corey took a MANcation with Park, Jake, Bat and Damien to celebrate their "30th" Birthdays. Corey will need to blog about this... OR Maybe it's what happens on mancation stays at mancation. =)
  

• This past Saturday we helped Uncle Mike and Aunt Lura move Cassie into her dorm room at University of Maryland - College Park. It was the hottest day of the year, Cassie's room is located on the top floor of the dormitory (8th floor) and she forgot her fans! As you can imagine the heat was absolutely unbearable and miserable. It was so hot that Uncle Mike and Corey experienced B.S. Are you wondering what B.S. is? Take a look at the picture below. It was hard work getting her moved in but we had a lot of fun! Good luck Cassie!
• Yesterday, Bob and Jackie came to our house with a bottle of champagne and took us out to dinner to celebrate . Are you wondering what we were celebrating...

Finally to the BIG news...Corey and I signed a purchase agreement on August 24th to build our very first HOUSE!!! The builder is estimating the house could be finished by March/April timeframe! So the next 7 to 8 months are going to be very exciting for us! Our new street address will be Porch Light Drive - doesn't that sound like "home sweet home".

Here is a picture of us at our home site with the SOLD sign!

Cancun Mexico : June 20 - 27, 2007

We're back from Cancun, Mexico! I have been a slacker with posting to the blog - sorry! It's taken me a little longer to get back into the swing of things...

We had a wonderful time in Cancun with my parents even though we had some minor mishaps. Let's just say we have decided my dad is a jinx and we created the game "What's going to happen today?". With that said we never let anything ruin our trip! We had a blast!Our trip started off with the United computer outage that delayed our flight for two hours on the tarmac at Dulles Airport. The central computer that was down provides the pilots with the plane's weight and center of gravity so they can determine which flight pattern they should take. This was a little unsettling for my parents since this was my dad's very first flight and my mom's second. The United crew were very accommodating and friendly - they opened the cockpit for the passengers to met the pilot, they passed out snack packs and drinks and started the movie. Dad hit it off with the pilot and stayed in the cockpit for 45 minutes chatting away. He was comforted that the pilot was not drunk or sleepy. Haha!

The flight went smoothly and we finally arrived at Royal Club Solaris Resort in Cancun, Mexico! The weather was beautiful and very hot. Corey and I were excited to be back to the resort since this was the exact place we had been known as the "Honeymooners" 2 1/2 years ago and it's a wonderful place for my parents to celebrate their 30th Wedding Anniversary.Our week consisted of: Snorkeling at Dolphin Discovery - Isla Mujeres, Riding the Sub Sea at AquaWorld, Carlos and Charlies, watching Sea Turtles lay their eggs, tequila volleyball, reading, relaxing, napping, shopping, playing cards, drinking and eating. Mexico is definitely the life! Our theme song for the week was HoldYaHead.

To view more pictures click here - Cancun 2007

Mexico here we come...

We are off to Mexico to celebrate Mom and Dad's 30th Wedding Anniversary! Congratulations Mom & Dad! We love you!

Girl's Night - My Birthday Celebration

For our monthly girls night the ladies out did themselves with the planning, down to every small detail, for my birthday celebration. Lindsay and Erin even decked me out in a "birthday girl" tiara and sash, dangle earrings, leis and Marti Gras beads.
We had dinner, drinks (lots of drinks), yummy cake, presents and danced the night away at PJ Skidoos. It was a blast! I smiled and laughed the entire night! I couldn't imagine better company to celebrate with - Lindsay, Erin, Walker, Kim, Lori, Lisa, and Janet. You girls rock - thanks for everything!

PS - my calves killed me the next morning!

Grass, Trees and Bees are not my Friends

So today I had my appointment with the allergist at Allergy Care Center.

Allergy test results:
I am allergic to 28 out of the 102 items they stuck in my arm and that does not include bee venom (now I require an epi-pen).

The Allergist stated that most people are only allergic to one or two things but no not me - 28 things. So the diagnosis is allergy shots twice a week until I get into maintenance mode whatever that means. In addition to the shots I have to take allergy pills, eye drops and a nasal spray twice daily.

Tomorrow I am off to the eye doctor...

The Overdue Blog Post

So, I kind of got myself in a little trouble since I didn't blog about the rest of last weekend...



Last weekend instead of making the 5 1/2 hour drive back home on Saturday after Dad's baseball game, we were lucky enough and thankful that Uncle Dave invited everyone to his house in Hurricane (which is 15 minutes outside of Charleston) to spend the night.



We got to spend the afternoon playing with Isaiah in the backyard in the sprinkler and his moon bounce. As you can see from the picture below Isaiah is a ball full of energy - he never stops! He is more fun every time we see him and I can't forget to mention that he loves his Uncle Steve and Aunt Kathy! It's more like an obsession! Haha!



Uncle Dave and Traci thanks for letting us stay at your beautiful house - we really appreciate it! We loved that we got to spend extra time with everyone!

West Virginia AA Baseball State Runner-Up

On Saturday Corey and I began our journey to Charleston, WV at 4 am for Dad's baseball game. We stopped in New Market to pick up Aaron and in Harrisonburg to pick up Grandma. After a 5 1/2 hour drive we arrived at Appalachian Power Park for my dad's first appearance in his coaching career to the WV baseball state championship game. Grafton High School had not made it to the State Tournament in baseball in 28 years.

Dad even had his own personal cheering section: Grandma; Aaron; Eric & Krystal; Uncle Greg; Uncle Gary; Rod, Charleen & Alex; Uncle Dave, Traci, Hannah & Isaiah; and of course Corey and myself. If you are wondering where Mom was - well she is the official score keeper so she was in the dugout with the rest of the team. It was great to have so many members of the family turn out to support my dad and cheer for his team. I know my dad really appreciated it!

It was a close game and could have gone either way but sadly Grafton came up short losing to Herbert Hoover 3 - 1. This was Herbert Hoover's first State Championship in school history for any sport. State Runner Up is definitely nothing to turn you nose up at - it's a huge achievement! It's a long hard road to the State Tournament and we are very proud of my dad and his team!

Here's a picture of ourfamily - Aaron, Mom, Dad, Me and Corey

TV reports of the game:

• http://www.wdtv.com/news/sports/7808777.html?video=YHI&t=a

• http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=24636

More pictures can be viewed at:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=167768144/a=11808959_11808959/t_=11808959

My Dad's a TV Star

My dad's baseball team has made it to the West Virginia AA State Championship game for the first time in school history. It's a big deal! So as you can imagine all the local tv stations and newspapers want to interview my dad and his team- so it's official, my dad is a tv star! Check out his interviews:

http://www.wdtv.com/news/sports/7757382.html?video=YHI&t=a
and
http://www.wdtv.com/news/sports/7757382.html?video=YHI&t=a

Please think of us and send your good mojo/vibes on Saturday morning when his team plays for the State Championship. Corey and I wouldn't miss it for the world! Go Bearcats!

Dad, we are proud of you and love you very much!

Yard Work = Allergies

Corey and I have already received our first letter from the HOA regarding our yard, even though I am not sure it counts since the letter inside the envelope was addressed to another neighbor and the house photographed was not ours. Gotta love HOAs!

Anyhoo, we decided to be proactive and productive on our day off and do yard work. I know this should not be that much of production with the size of our yard, but Corey hates yard work (or maybe its manual labor, not sure - just kidding) and my allergies do not allow me to be outside too much this time of year.

After Corey mowed the lawn, we pulled the weeds and mulched the flower beds. I think I sneezed 25 times in a row (and that is not an exaggeration) and to think the pollen count was only medium yesterday. Hmm...might be time to pay a visit to the allergist for a check up and stronger medicine.

All of our neighbors have planted gorgeous flowers around their house, so I really wanted to do the same. However flowers equal pollen so probably not the smartest idea I have every came up with. So, I compromised and planted to small planters filled with annuals for the front steps.

Cassie's Graduation Party

Yesterday, Uncle Mike and Aunt Lura threw Cassie a graduation party at their house in Cresaptown, MD. Cassie will graduate from Allegany High School this coming Wednesday.The party was for family only - which was nice since we got to have Cassie all to ourselves. Attendees were: Grandma; Jean & Ed; Jeanie, Lee and Allie; Edward, Tina and Lucas; Uncle Chris, Aunt Stacy and Campbell; Uncle Dave & Isaiah; Garney and his girlfriend; Carl and Nathaniel; Mom, Dad and Aaron; Charles and Kitty; Carol; Eddie, Pat, Erin and Mike; Corey and I; and, of course, Uncle Mike, Aunt Lura, Cassie and Seth. We had a smorgasbord of food which included all our family favorites: fried chicken; seven layered pea salad; cowgirl beans; green beans; macaroni and cheese; deviled eggs; fruit salad; veggie tray; macaroni salad; buffalo chicken dip; baked beans; grape tomatoes, onions and fresh mozzarella; vegetable pizza; brownies and chocolate/yellow marble cake.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous for an outdoor party! Perfect weather for swimming or relaxing by the pool, jumping on the trampoline, Ladder Golf, playing basketball, breaking a pinata and/or catching up and visiting.

In addition, Cassie got great gifts for her college journey: an ipod alarm clock; a guardian angel; towels, wash clothes and hand towels; a wooden graduate picture frame; ramen noodles; cash; and a laptop, printer and all its accessories. Congratulations Cassie! We are very proud of the woman you have become! We love you and will always be here for you!

Good luck at the University of Maryland next year!

More pictures can be viewed at: http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=157720017/a=11808959_11808959/t_=11808959

Girl's Night at Border Cafe

Friday was our monthly girl's night at Border Cafe. Lindsay, Walker, Erin, Allison (Walker's little sister in AST), Tawnya, Becky and I were in rare form to get our drink on. After a long week at work, dealing with kids, etc. - whatever the reason may have been we were definitely ready for a girls night, margaritas, and lots of fun. Unfortunately, the band/group that we stumbled upon last girl's night and loved, Andrex Fox, switched days (now Thursdays) and the new group on Fridays is the Allen Scott Band. Don't get me wrong the Allen Scott Band is very talented and their music sounds like a funky DMB/rock/soul mix. However, they play all original stuff so unless you are a groupie it is hard to sing along. We really wanted to hear cover songs so we could sing along....do you think a girls night on Thursday night would be bad? With that said, the margaritas were tasty as always and the conversation and company was fabulous. Thanks girls for a great night. I had a blast! Here's to next month's girls night!

Favorite Quote of the Week

This conversation took place when Corey, Maddie, Emmet and I were sitting around the table while Maddie was eating her lunch. Corey asked Maddie, "Are you and Emmet pals?" and Maddie answered, "Yes Unc Corey. Good pals."Awww, the love between cousins...even if it is a 2 year-old child and a cat.

Corey's Birthday Celebration #47

Last Saturday Bob, Jackie, Lindsay, Tony and Maddie came to our house to celebrate Corey's 30th Birthday. I know you are thinking how many celebrations does the man get, but I guess when you turn "30" you deserve at least a birthday celebration for each decade.

Bob and Jackie were a bit delayed arriving due to Bob's three hour nose bleed, so we kept the partying and drinking to a minimum for Bob's sake...

Actually, it was a fun and low key celebration - we ordered Chinese food from Wong Kok, Tony and Lindsay taught us a new card game Hand and Foot , and we watched the Mets / Yankees game. Lindsay made her to die for Chocolate Trifle per Corey's request - it was delicious! We put candles in the trifle desert, but while we were singing Happy Birthday Maddie blew the candles out right under Corey's nose. So Corey missed his opportunity for another birthday wish. It was pretty comical.

Corey received new tailgating accessories for his birthday: bbq tools, orange and blue bowls, a UVA Cooler, UVA chimenea and an orange lantern. He also got the DVD Prestige, UVA indoor basketball hoop set, cash and a nifty Visa gift card. I think he did alright for himself - not too shabby!

I am officially announcing Corey's birthday month has come to an end....
AND
mine has begun! HAHA!

Wyoming Inn, Jackson Wyoming

I wanted to give the Wyoming Inn some free publicity - even if it is only on our blog. But hey the best advertising tool is word of mouth by customers and referrals, so here we go - Corey and I give our word that if you stay at the Wyoming Inn you won't be disappointed. The hotel was absoultely incredible - the staff were very friendly and helpful, the rooms were clean and beautifully decorated, breakfast, cookies and soup were delicious everyday, the price was very reasonable - just an all around great place to stay! I never would have been able to pull off Corey's birthday surprises (resturants, whitewater rafting, birthday cake, champagne, etc.) if it wasn't for their help, recommendations and advise.
Here are pictures of the lobby and our room:

We will definitely be back to Jackson Hole in the near future and we plan on staying at Room #116 Wyoming Inn again!

Rafting on the Snake

Yesterday we went rafting down the Snake River with Jackson Hole White Water. The morning session was a 13 mile scenic trip on calm water, and there was plenty of wildlife to be seen, mostly of the bird variety.


After a lunch break and time to change into wetsuits, we loaded on a bus for a 30 minute ride further down river to the canyon section of the Snake where the rapids are located. AJ was a little nervous about the idea of white water rafting, but we ended up having so much fun and would both love to do it again! I even took a voluntary dip in the 35 degree water, but the Polar Bear Club probably has a rule against wetsuits:) Sorry, no pics since we didn't get a water-proof camera, but here we are looking pretty sexy afterwards...


AJ had dinner reservations at the Snake River Grill in Jackson Town Square. Food, wine and atmosphere were excellent. I thought the evening was winding down until we got back to the hotel room, and AJ had another surprise up her sleeve...


Today we'll do a little shopping around town and have lunch at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, a famous landmark in Jackson. Our flight out isn't until 4, so we have most of the day left to enjoy. This has been an incredible trip and a wonderful birthday. Thank you so much for all of the thought and planning you have put into this AJ, I love you and couldn't have asked for anything more!!

We'll post plenty more pics when we get home...
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=157722183/a=11808959_11808959/t_=11808959

Happy 30th Birthday Corey!

Corey's the big 3-0 today! Happy Birthday, baby! I love you more with each day passing. This birthday trip has been amazing! I love experiencing new things and places with you! Can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with you...though this one is going to be tough to top.

Corey's giving his new gang sign above - "30".

Yellowstone

Yesterday we made the drive up to Yellowstone. The south entrance to Yellowstone is about an hour drive from Jackson, and then another hour(after 20 photo opp stops) brings you to the 'southern loop' of Yellowstone. The southern loop is a 100 mile circle of road that includes stops for Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone among other things. If you haven't been, one of the best features of Yellowstone is the abundance of 'turn-outs' along the road. You can count on a 30 meter long lane every 1/4 mile or so, giving you a place to swerve when you slam on your brakes after spotting wildlife or yet another majestic view.

The extent of geothermic activity in Yellowstone is amazing. Geysers, hot springs and sulphur springs for miles and miles, but the lovely rotten-egg smell that accompanies the sulphur springs gets a little old...


As for wildlife, we have now seen chipmunks, marmuts, squirrels, mule deer, elk, antelope, moose, bison and a grizzly bear!!

I was standing about 50 feet from this guy for a few pics, and told AJ I think I'll shoot for a new career with National Geographic:)

Good thing AJ was staying alert behind the wheel...

Today we'll be on a whitewater rafting trip. The morning session is in calm water so we can take pics, then we break for lunch, and then the afternoon in Class 3 rapids. Should be a blast!