Family Fun

Here are some highlight's of my family's recent visit.

Their trip began by helping move from the apartment to the house.  As you can see it was tiring for everyone involved.

But not so much for Thomas, who was eagerly organizing the electronics' cable cords.

Eating hibachi and catching zucchini:

Dad getting sake.  "More sake more happy!"

We spent a day in Philly...

Kyle stretching before his run up the steps.

We ♥ Joe's cups!

Frisbee in the park.

Poor Rosie has an ulcerated eye--thus the reason for the cone.

We also spent a day in NYC.

As you can see Dad is thrilled with NYC.

Plans didn't quite go as hoped.  We got caught in a downpour and ultimately had to run to the nearest subway station.

But it was too late.  We were soaked.

But finally the sun came out and we were able to dry off a bit and take a stroll through Central Park.

And then we get caught in a second storm!  This time we were able to wait it out a bit until the rain lightened up, and didn't get nearly as soaked.

 But, after nearly a two-week stay, the family had to head back home.  

I am so thankful that everyone was able to visit.  I promise next time there won't be nearly as much work involved! :)

I will be posting some house-updates pretty soon...

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♥ Natalie

Tough times...

Another fun discovery at the house today.  Okay, so maybe it's not a stash of cash, but I see this as a good sign too.  I found this laying in our front yard.  Sorta random, but this reminded me to maintain hope and faith.

Unfortunately the cookie was nowhere to be found.

House update:  finally got the flooring delivered, and hopefully in about a week this will be installed!

More updates soon...

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♥ Natalie

It's Not Everyday...

...that you stumble upon $1000

But today was MY day!

This is one of those stories that I hear about and always think why doesn't that sort of thing ever happen to me.  But out of the blue, I finally got my story.

This morning I was pulling up the old, disgusting carpet in the house.  It just so happened that I accidently knocked off the end of the baseboard heater in our guest room.  I grab the end piece and started to put it back on the heater, where lo-and-behold there inside the heater is a wad of money!  And not just a few Jacksons, but more like a bundle of Grants that added up to $1000 (!!!)  

Apparently the lady living here previously liked to stash her cash.  So of course my next step was to go through EVERY baseboard heater in the entire house! Unfortunately that was the only dough I found--but hey I won't complain!  And now I know to keep my eyes open out for other possible hidy holes.  The possibilities are endless in the basement...so now when I get bored I can go for my very own treasure hunt!

This discovery couldn't have happened at a better time for us.  We are redoing the flooring, which is currently a combination of bright red shag, blue shag, stained beige standard carpet, snagged and stained berber carpet, yellow tile (only about 2 or 3 square feet) and 3 different types of peeling linoleum.  So the floor desperately needs updated, and we have been having bad luck with Lowe's and their hidden costs of flooring and installation.  Here's a few examples of the current floor.  I can NOT wait to show you the after pics...but that may be longer than originally planned...  [FYI, I strongly discourage the use of Lowe's for installation services.]

The berber in the living room isn't so bad, but the blue and red carpets must be at least 30 years old.  And few things disgust me more than carpet-even new carpet.  I hate it.  That's why we are trying to install laminate hardwood flooring throughout the ENTIRE house.  I had to tell the installation guy this about 6 times.  He couldn't believe I was doing the entire house in the laminate hardwood, but he doesn't understand the level of my hatred for carpet.  Few people do.

This is my goal.  My dream floor.  Pet friendly.  Stain resistant.  Allergen reducing.  Durable.  Attractive.  Ahh, laminate.

Currently I am working on painting all of the walls and trim (I also now hate trim with a passion too) while taking breaks to work on my vegetable garden.  I would so much rather work on my garden than paint.  I will show some pictures of my garden-in-progress later this weekend.

Also...only NINE days till my family arrives!!!  :D

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♥ Natalie