Our House is Looking More Like a Home

I went by our house today for the first time in almost a week, and was pleasantly greeted by many changes. On the outside the concrete was poured for our driveway, front porch and back patio. The inside was even better! All of the cabinets have been installed in the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room. The light fixtures are all up and running, and the walls are all painted! By the end of this week the floor and counters should be finished. All that leaves are some closet shelving, sinks, toilets and appliances! And to top it all off, our lending agent was just able to lower our interest rate by a full percentage point! That's going to lower our payment by about $130 a month and lower our closing costs by almost $1500!!! Yipee!

My large, open kitchen minus countertops and appliances.

This is the molding that is above all the windows and doors. Very nice! :)

All of our light fixtures are satin nickel finish with alabaster glass. This is our dining room light.

Our new neighbors are pretty friendly. They keep to themselves and are usually quiet, except for the occasional BAA BAA!

This Week's Progress

With Thanksgiving this week, not a whole lot was done at our house. We do now have a garage door and a lock on the front door, so no more free roaming around. Once we know that the garage door opener is working then we'll get the code so Skip and I can still get in. Also this week, the inside walls were painted and all the window trim was put in. The builders are anticipating being done the week of December 15th, so just a few more weeks and we should be signing the papers!!! I've slowly begun packing, and that's what my weekends will consist of for the next few weeks! The timing will work perfectly though because we'll get to move in while I'm on Christmas Vacation! We just need a few dry days so the rest of the concrete can get poured.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I know I have a lot to be thankful for :)

Crapple Cup

I received a link for the following article from Amy today...HILARIOUS! Any Cougar fan will appreciate what it has to offer...what will you be doing this weekend? I particularly like #5 :)

How to survive Saturday's 'Crapple Cup'
11/18/2008
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS / Associated Press
You are a die-hard Cougar or a rabid Husky, and your annual schedule revolves around the Apple Cup. Until this year, when the two teams are so bad that watching the game might be hazardous to your health.
But how can you spend Saturday in a meaningful way that keeps you away from the television screen or out of Martin Stadium in Pullman?
Some suggestions:
1, Starting at noon, bake pumpkin, apple and pecan pies from scratch for Thanksgiving. Those who are particularly frustrated can wring the neck of a turkey, in honor of their football team.
2, Remember that it took 101 meetings for the Apple Cup to get this bad.
3, Take a closer look at your 401(k) statement, which is probably doing better than either team this year.
4, Replay tape of WSU's Sept. 20 win over Portland State, the only victory either team has had this season.
5, Search Internet for low-cost movers to help Washington coach Tyrone Willingham, who has been fired.
6, Search Cheney for the playbooks that WSU coach Paul Wulff must have left in his old office at Eastern Washington.
7, Replay tape of WSU's 41-35 win in 1997 that sent Cougars to the Rose Bowl.
8, Slip across the border to Moscow to attend the North Dakota State at Idaho basketball game.
9, Be grateful that Washington finishes the season at Cal and WSU at Hawaii, meaning no more home games.
10, Watch some real Western football with BCS implications, such as Brigham Young vs. Utah or Boise State vs. Nevada.

And Now We Have...

paint, gutters and drywall! Early in the week our house had the gutters installed and all the trim was painted. By Friday the exterior paint was done and the inside was drywalled! All that's left to do on the outside is the stone work and concrete pouring for the driveway, front porch, and garage. Things should move along pretty well on the inside now too!



Thanks dad for the pictures!








Our living room and front door

Looking into the master

Kitchen with bathroom, laundry room, and pantry

Our House Looks Like a House

At least from the outside! The siding was put up last week, and the insulation has been installed inside. As soon as we have a dry day, the outside will be painted. Our paint colors will look similar to what the house looks like right now. The colors you see right now are the colors of the primer used on the siding. Our front door will be a dark olive green, and the stonework around the garage will be dark stone with some flecks of color.

I recently made my first purchase for our new home...a satin nickle wastebasket! Skip and I went to Linen's and Things for their liquidation sale, and that was the only thing that struck my fancy. I have started buying curtains after looking and looking and looking. There are just too many darn choices out there!

Our House is Coming Along!

These are the most recent pictures of our new house! This week they put the roof on and the windows in, as well as the plumbing pipes and the duct work. Soon we'll be meeting with the builder to choose our colors and other options! I'm really hoping that we'll be able to get moved in during Christmas break, assuming that the weather cooperates when it comes time to paint the house and pour the driveway!

Our Next Step

You are looking at what our new kitchen will look like in just a few short months! Skip and I had an accepted offer on a house today, and we are filled with excitement AND anxiety! A few months back we visited an open house for a new development. We really liked the houses, but the lots were terrible. So later we found out that the same builders were starting a new development at another location. Their first house in this new development is the one that Skip and I really liked, and the lot is much better. So we started playing the real estate game and finally settled on an agreement today! They started building the house a few weeks ago, and today the roofing was completed. With all the nice weather we have had, they are ahead of schedule and *should* be finished with the house by the end of the year! We've been taking pictures of the building process 'just in case', so those will be going up on my blog soon! I'm so excited that we'll be watching our first home materialize, and we'll have a say on some of the details. So now I have something exciting to blog about! I just hope that this journey isn't filled with too many bumps, and we can get into our house smoothly!

A Lesson in Math

This evening I was flipping through channels on TV when I came across a debate between our current state superintendent, Terry Bergeson and her opponent, Randy Dorn. The topic was the math WASL and changing the standards that students must meet in order to graduate from high school. Now, I'm against the WASL and think that it is not a good indicator of a student's knowledge. And Randy Dorn agrees with me. But anyway, back to the debate. Randy Dorn spoke about how our math curriculum needs to include calculations, which right now it doesn't. In Terry Bergeson's response, she spoke about how she had spent "1,000,000 hours talking with math folks about standards." So in my own curiosity, I wanted to find out just how long 1,000,000 hours was. With my handy calculator, I punched out the number to find that 1,000,000 hours is equal to about 41,666 days, or 114 years. She's been doing a lot of talking! I think this just goes to show the importance of math and the ability to add.

666 Strikes Again

No, I don't worship the devil. I am a little concerned about Skip though. It all started when I met him. The number 666 seems to follow him around. The first thing is that the last three digits of his Safeway club card are 666. There have also been the numerous times that we've made a purchase that has a total with 666 or 999 in it. (Remember, we live in Washington, so buying something for 9.99 doesn't count because of sales tax!) The craziness doesn't end there! When I started working at La Center, my lunch account number became 6667.

So that brings me to today. Skip had taken his new truck in to get Lo Jack installed and was given a rental car to use for the day. With his work schedule right now, he sleeps until about 8 or 9 at night, so I was put in charge of taking the rental car back and picking up his truck. When I walked out to the parking lot to jump in the rental car, I noticed the keychain had a 666 on it. So I checked out the license plate, and this is what I saw.

Warning for Parents with Little Boys

Yesterday I was driving along through a neighborhood after looking at a potential house to buy. I was driving nice and slow, enjoying the breeze through my open window when BAM, something hit my car. I slammed on the brakes (which isn't that dramatic when you're going 20 MPH) and turned off my car. Just then I spied two little boys crouched under a tree, with a big pile of rocks in front of them. As I got out of my car, the denial began. I checked the side of my car, and what do you know, there were some nice, new scratches in my driver side door. I walked the boys over to my car and made them look at the damage. By then their mothers had arrived on the scene, and I figured out just why these boys thought it was okay to throw rocks at moving cars. Neither mother really seemed to care, although the one with the guilty boy did give me her information so I could bug her insurance company to pay for my car to get fixed. So the lesson here, if you have little boys with good aim, make sure you don't have big rocks in your front yard! Or just raise them right to respect people and their property!! :) (As I know any friends reading this blog would do!)

Skip's New Truck

Big Red (Skip's old red truck) is on it's deathbed, so last weekend he went out and bought a new truck. It's very bright blue, and it's a really fun truck to drive. I never liked driving Big Red, but I certainly like driving this one! I just might be more willing to give up the Honda once in while!

Sausage Fest

Skip and I went to our first ever Vancouver Sausage Fest today at St. Joseph's. I've seen the bumper stickers on cars since I can remember, but never really knew what it was all about. So we braved it today and weren't dissapointed! There was plenty of yummy food and a beer garden with wide screen tv's showing NFL games. I wanted to go play bingo too, but Skip wasn't into that. Also, it was such a nice day to be outside! Next year I'm getting the girls together so we can go play bingo!

Sad day to be a coug...

66-3, need I say more?

3 Days Down...

...177 to go! Okay, so I'm not really counting down the days yet! School started this week and I've had three days so far with my new kiddos. After the last two years of screamers and scratchers, I'm so happy that I have a "normal" class so far this year. Of course, only having 22 kids (I had one move to Tennessee) really helps too! These kids can already to so much more than my last group so I'm really looking forward to all that we can accomplish this year! And they are all just so gosh darn cute! Anyway, I'm sure this will all change the day that I get a new student, but for now I'm enjoying not being drained at the end of the day. Now I have a long weekend to catch up on sleep and take in some football! Go cougs!

Lazy Days of Summer

Hi all, I noticed I haven't posted at all in August so I guess it's time for an update. I've been spending my time at home cleaning out closets and our spare bedroom. Skip went scuba diving last weekend up in Puget Sound, which he was anxious to do since he got his cast removed last month. Of course I've been staying up way too late watching the Olympics! I haven't really gotten into the Olympics since I was a kid, but I enjoyed watching swimming and gymnastics this time around!

I'm most excited about our possibility of being homeowners in the near future! We are STILL renting and I'm so ready to get a place of our own! We've met with a real estate agent and are meeting with a lender this weekend to get the ball rolling! Skip and I went to an open house at a new construction site and it was really fun just to go look through houses!! It makes me anxious to think about all of the responsibility that comes with having a house, but it would be worth it! So we'll be sure to keep you updated on how things are going :)

It's back to work for me this Friday, with the kids starting next Wednesday. I can't believe summer vacation is almost over :( But I'm excited to meet my little kiddos, which is one of my favorite parts of the year! As of now I only have 23 students, but I usually end up with at least a few more when the year begins. It's still better than the 27 I started with last year.

Alaska=Fun!!!

Skip and I recently took a trip to Anchorage, Alaska to visit my grandparents. The one week we stayed was full of fun, but not even close to being long enough. Alaska is a beautiful place, I was in awe everywhere we went (maybe with the exception of downtown!) Around here we might see a deer or coyote walking along the road...in Alaska we saw several moose out and about. I can't even describe how amazing this vacation was, and we can't wait to go back!

Grandpa and Betty Sue loading up the 4-wheelers and getting the camper ready for our weekend camping trip to Sutton.
Their cat, Hemi, makes himself comfortable. This cat is so sweet and loving!
Here I am getting my quick instruction before taking off for our first ride.
Betty Sue taking it easy!
Sharing a great moment with grandpa! I really enjoyed the time we had together!

Muddy 4-Wheeling!

On Saturday morning we took off on our first ride. We went through just about everything you can imagine...mud, rivers of mud, rivers, grass and gravel. It was an awesome ride!

Here Skip and Grandpa cross the river. I waited patiently on the sidelines.
All the mud clogged up the radiators, so we stopped at this lake to clean up a bit. There were some people gliding peacefully in their canoe...until we came along and interrupted their quiet.

Waterfall Ride

After some lunch we set out for a second ride up to a waterfall. It was a VERY difficult ride, but I trusted my family to keep me safe!

This was about halfway up the trail where we stopped for a breather. If it wasn't so cloudy, I'm sure we could have seen on forever...
The infamous waterfall! We were just about to the top of the mountain so I'm not sure where all the water was coming from (most of the snow melt was gone.) The water was mighty cold!
Me and grandpa heading back from the waterfall.
Another scenic moment :)

Summer in Alaska

This is what the sky looked like when we got back from our second ride of the day. It was just after 10PM!! The sun doesn't set during part of the summer, and while we were there the sun never set. It was so weird waking up during the night and having no idea if it was 2AM or 8AM!

Musk Ox Farm

We visited this musk ox farm, and these babies were the closest we got to any of them.

Yummy Chocolate!

We stopped by the Alaskan Wildberry Chocolate Factory for some sweet treats! Each of these bricks of chocolate weighs 10 pounds. You can buy them for $49 (then pay $100 to pack it home in your suitcase!)

Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center

Thank goodness for fences!!

Up close and personal with this friendly moose.

This eagle had been found out in the forest and had been shot in the left wing. It's wing was amputated, so he'll live the rest of his life in this cage.

Skip really liked this photograph of a musk ox with it's baby, so I bought it for him for his birthday. As I was in line to make my purchase, a guy behind me said, "Thanks for buying that picture." I asked if he was the photographer, and he said that he was. He photographs the animals in the conservation center to sell in the gift shop. Every penny that he makes goes to helping the animals at the center.

Whittier Bay

Whittier Bay is a very small village that is popular among fisherman, ferries and cruise ships.

Pictures cannot do this place justice!

The only road out of Whittier!

Audra Anne

On our way out of Whittier, we stopped to visit the Audra Anne, a 110' yacht. My grandpa had worked on the engines a few years back, and I was lucky enough to spend a weekend on it when it was docked in Bellingham, WA.

Portage Glacier

On our way back from Whittier Bay, we stopped at the Portage Glacier Visitor's Center. The glacier is cradled in the valley of the mountains. About 40 years ago, the glacier reached all the way to where I was standing.
Skip's holding a piece of the iceberg that made it to shore.
Another cold iceberg!

Skip's Birthday Dinner

To celebrate Skip's birthday and our time in Alaska, my grandparents took us to the Double Musky Inn for dinner. The restaurant is tucked up in the woods near the ski slopes and is very popular among the locals. The food was delicious, and Skip managed to finish all of his 16 ounce pepper steak! I think the best part of the meal was the dessert, and since everyone at the table ordered something different, we tried it all!!

Skip's feeling a little full after dinner!

Time to Say Good-bye

The morning that we left, Hemi was helping me pack our things. I just think he wanted to come home with us, but I don't think my grandparents would agree!