Sorry, Mom

Can you find what's wrong with this picture?

I'd really like to audit this class

I just want access to the printing press. And because their Printmaking 1 includes SCREENPRINTING. Which I would very much like to learn.

Merry Christmas (Eve)!!!

We arrived in Kalispell yesterday around 4pm. After emptying the car (according to Eric we packed enough stuff to hike the Himalayas), we had some DELICIOUS chicken soup and set straight to work on making cat bow ties. Yes, you heard me right. Cat. Bow. Ties.

Here is Mom laughing her head off that she is sewing Cat Bow Ties.

Here are the finished products.

Our cat is basically like James Bond now.

Here he is as Lord Burlington. Regal as ever.

Here he is in the guise of the infamous Colonel Bubble-Trousers. Adam would be proud.

He actually doesn't even hate wearing them. He runs around and attacks things like he normally would. I'm amazed. Just in case you're wondering, we didn't get the sewing machine out solely to make ridiculous cat things. We also finished a skirt I'd been working on for AGES, and Mom fixed Eric's ski pants. And then we worked on a puzzle. Though that didn't require the sewing machine. Ryan sends my parents a puzzle every Christmas and this year it's a doozy. It's 4ft by 3ft and 3000 pieces.

Look at that puzzle-making concentration

So far, I'd say vacation is going pretty well. It's 11 o'clock and I'm still in my pajamas. Who can complain about that?

New Bits

I haven't posted in a while, but here are a few new things around our house.....

A nice new toilet....

...vanity.....

...and did you notice the floor?!

Ta da! All we have to do now is get a mirror, hang some towel hooks, and....tile the shower. But did you notice the floor?!

Ah, the floor.

We also got Eric's BIG LEBOWSKI RUG!!!!! It really ties the room together.

I think it will end up in our fireplace room, but for now, it's quite nice right where it is. And Kristi - notice that it is NOT white or "biscotti" colored! Miraculous!

Sneak Peak

I  haven't posted in a while because I was hoping that our bathroom project would be done quickly and I could post it all at once. Well, that hasn't happened. Eric had to work a couple of weekends and we decided to go to Denver suddenly, so that killed three weekends of work time which has dramatically extended our timeline. However, the last few days have been very productive. Here is our bathroom before the weekend:

Eric had finished the plumbing and framing and set the tub.

Here is our bathroom after the weekend:

Not the best pictures, but the point is that the backer board is up and patching the walls is coming along nicely.

Eric took Friday off and put the fan in that morning; I got off work early and we spent HOURS wandering around Home Depot, and then went home and Eric spent hours putting up backer-board while I feebly attempted to patch holes in the walls.

This is the work Eric has done so far (not counting demolition):
plumb tub
plumb shower
frame walls
place tub
install drain
install fan
put up backer-board
mud walls
sand walls
mud walls
sand walls

This is what I have contributed:
occasionally hand Eric tools
mud walls
sand walls
make enchiladas
perfect circle stencils (which my computer made)

Fortunately our love is not works-based.

Let's look at progress pictures again.

I am getting really excited. And every time I walk in the bathroom (to hand Eric a tool and then quickly exit) I get more and more so. It is looking like a bathroom! Or at least a room with walls! It is nearly to the point where I get to make it pretty! I hope I don't screw it up after all of Eric's hard work.

Here is what we have left to do:
one more day of sanding/mudding
level floor
seal shower with water-proofing stuff
tile floor
tile shower
paint
place toilet
place vanity
pick out & hang light
pick out & hang mirror
buy shower curtain rod
hang shower curtain (and then convince Eric to let me get a new one)
hang art?
buy spider plant (obviously the most important step)

Wow. When I write it down it seems like a lot. Tiling is going to take for-ev-errrrrrr. Eric assures me, however, that we are close to the finish line. My next post should show a completed, beautiful bathroom! Fingers crossed.

Incredible IKEA

I may have a new Mothership.

Cat House

Mr. Cat is now a man. Actually, the opposite of that. He got neutered on Monday. Now, I dislike going to the vet almost as much as he does; the employees there seem unable to talk to humans, and they definitely judge those who don't have a car carrier for their pets. Therefore, the only time they talk to me is when they're telling me I need to get a carrier or asking for money.

Needless to say, neither I nor The Admiral were looking forward to our Monday morning vet appointment. After sitting around watching Sunday football and listening to me rue the fact that I had to go to the vet the following day, Eric decided that making a crate could potentially solve my veterinarian woes.

And it worked. How could it not because....how awesome is this crate?!?! 

Eric cut the big bits...

...and I drew and cut the little bits

off to the vet!

No more excuses, trees, or tile

If you've ever been to our house, you'll notice that we aren't quite....organized yet. Partly because we don't have furniture in which to put many of our belongings (read: Brianna's art supplies, papers, and half-completed projects), and partly because we've been storing some things for friends of ours. Well, this weekend, our friends picked up their belongings and, as a result.....we still aren't quite organized. Eric was great and got the garage in order (yay for both cars now being inside!) but I haven't held up my end of the cleaning efforts. I have no more excuses though, so hopefully I'll get it in gear soon.

Perhaps a bit cheesy that I'm posting a picture of our garage, but seriously, look at that!

Our two car garage now holds two cars!

We also spent time chopping down trees this weekend. Eric finally came around to my point of view that we need to raze all our overgrown trees and bushes. This will take ages at our current rate of one tree per weekend, but even the few we've removed so far have made a huge difference.

In our tree removal efforts, Eric and I have very different roles. I chop them down to the roots and haul the branches to the dumpster while he has the hard part - digging out the roots. Sometimes I feel bad that I can't do more in renovating the house so when I find a project that I am able to help with, I like to get right on it! For example, Sunday morning before church I woke up and started chipping away tile in preparation for the bathroom makeover. Yesssss! One step closer to making it great!

Before I began, I was a little worried about damaging the bathtub, but after seeing the exact same one in a giant heap of junk at the recycling center, I decided that it did not so much matter.

Artsy Fartsy

Last night....I hosted "Craft Time" at our house and.... it was a riot! I admit, I was a little nervous about it - partially because I always get nervous when people come over to our "under-construction-lack-of-furniture-and-as-a-result-not-that-clean" house and partially because having a "craft party" made me feel a bit like a nerd, but the ladies that came were so gracious and a LOT of fun. We drank wine, snacked on lovely cheese and bread and nuts, chatted, and then finally got around to our projects. I would definitely do it again! Especially with these girls!!

Pam's DELICIOUS bruschetta

Discussing Chrissie's embroidery

Pam learning of Portlandia's "Put a Bird on it"

Hanna's...uh....potholder...?

Boom. Done.

Finally, a finished project! Our entryway is complete!

Thank you Nick for the GORGEOUS trim pieces and thank you sexy husband for gettin' 'er done! It looks so much better!

After seeing the sad little (surprisingly expensive) trim we bought at Lowe's, our friend Nick gave us some walnut to use instead. He put them in his magic wood machine to make them nice and smooth, beveled the edges nicely, and even donated polyurethane and wood filler to our cause. You can't have better friends than that!

Every time Eric gets down on the floor to work on things....Hurley Burly comes along to play....

 

It's so great! And it's going to be so much greater after we refinish our floors. Gorg!

BMIUNF

Thank you mom for all you are and do! I love you!

Bahaha

My boss dropped his keys in the toilet which means that a) I haven't been able to use the bathroom all day & b) I periodically hear one yell to the other, "do you see them yet?" as they fish around in the plumbing.

Which is Best?

Black?

White?

or Black & White bathroom floors?

Stinking Awesome Vacation

Ok, so here's a really quick run down of our amazing GRAND CANYON VACATION!!!!
Day 1: Flight to Vegas; stay at Hilton

 Day 2: Get up, hang out, then limo ride to In-n-Out Burger for lunch.

Adam with the limo driver

In case you didn't catch that - WE TOOK A LIMO TO IN-N-OUT BURGER. A LIMOOOOOO!! Hahaha!

Drive to Marble Canyon, night at Cliff Dwellers Lodge

Day 3: Board the raft and begin floating!!!! There weren't a lot of stops this day - a lot of floating and enjoying rapids.

Sunrise at Cliff Dwellers' Lodge

Day 4: Rafting!

Our home for a week

Hike up to the "mystery skeleton." Which isn't even there anymore.

Giant cave! So cool!

From inside the cave

Hike up to some food storage thing. I didn't go.

Food storage thing

Day 5: This is the day I figured out that the pad they gave us to sleep on was less comfortable than the ground. Slept much better after that realization.

Our guides: Tim & Jeff

At Phantom ranch. Only flush toilet on the trip. I went twice.

I knew it! Flash flooding is a legitimate concern!

Camp for the night

 Day 6:

Breakfast at the campsite

What?! They have these in the Grand Canyon?!

Hiking to another little waterfall by our campsite.

Catching water droplets

View of the campsite

Day 7:

View as we hike

Pictographs

 

Rick braving the cold

Everything is so big!!!!

 

 

 

 

Eric and Tim taking a break

 

 

Camp for the night

My changing room

One lady on our trip made us paint a toenail in preparation for the biggest rapid the following day. Whatever.

Dinner! Tuna steaks! Did I mention how great the food was on this trip?

Day 8: Our last day on the river :(

Eric's favorite stop. So gorgeous.

Look at this water!!!!!

Tunnel to next set of falls

Day 9: The Helicopter Ride and trip back to Vegas.

Here it comes!!

I'M IN A HELICOPTER!!!!!!

I was too busy screaming to take many pictures

Thought I was going to die on this airplane...

....but I actually fell asleep right away

Day 10: Back in Vegas....I have no pictures. I'm pretty sure we slept a LOT.
Day 11: Mark met up with us and we headed for Hoover Dam.

Eric was so excited to see this thing

On the penny slots later that night

Big winner!

Day 12: consisted of us wandering around, killing time while we waited for it to be time to go to the airport.

Eric's winnings from the roulette wheel

Putting money on the ponies

The end. That was not as quick as I thought. It was fun though. Even with the lack of showers and toilets in the Grand Canyon. Definitely AWESOME.