More Work on the House

Once we finished working on the stone (which was around Memorial Day last summer, making our stone project last almost exactly a year), it was time to move on to covering up the hideous blue siding with our nice, new Desert Tan siding.

 

We skipped the front facing wall because we were still figuring out the window situation (were we going to buy new windows???), and so we moved on to the wall going to the porch:


For awhile we had a tan and blue house:


Here's my dad working on the lights on the porch. Originally, we only had one light on the porch, which was kind of dim, and really didn't help you see from the driveway to the front porch. We added two more lights (the fixtures match the ones on the garage), and I really like how nice and bright it is now.


We still sort of have a tan and blue house, but the only wall we have left to do on the front of the house is the bedroom wall (with the windows--WINDOWS will get their own post sometime in the future!). When that wall is done, the house will look good from the street! :) (Only our neighbors on either side will know that the siding isn't done yet.)

Working on the House

 

So, there were some twists and turns in our journey to finish the stone during the summer. First, we had to remove lots of crappy siding from the bottom 3.5' of the house, and replace some of the gross insulation. We also had to replace some of the rotten foundation because it hadn't been very well protected for the previous twenty years. We put up a ledge for the stone for safety (we didn't want to do all this work just to have stone fall off the wall!).


When we turned the corner to start working on the wall going towards the porch, the wall was a bit bowed, which caused more issues.



And then it was finally time to start actually putting stone on the wall...



(With the magic of technology, we'll skip many months ahead to a finished product...)

And there was much rejoicing when the final stone was in place!

Yummy!

Last summer we bought a charcoal grill so that Mark could expand on his meat grilling techniques. We made Persian kebab quite a few times, so that Mark could practice! :) We made all beef and a beef/lamb mix. (We even ground our own lamb with a KitchenAid meat grinder accessory for my mixer.) You can see how nice the kebab is looking with the pretty flames!

 

Since the winter weather has been keeping us more inside, we haven't been grilling, but Mark has lately been trying to perfect his steak cooking. He made some with bacon on top last week that was AWESOME! (Sorry, no photos available at this time--just imagine the 2nd best steak you've ever had and add delicious bacon on top.) Unfortunately, because we're doing it inside, and not chargrilling it, it doesn't quite have the taste that is our favorite, but the steaks are turning out really good (really, the best home-cooked steak I've had so far).

Coney Island

So, over the summer I took a short trip to NYC and then VT to help drive Mariel to start graduate school. While in NYC, we went to Coney Island, which was the first time I had ever been. It's a fun little area. We walked around some of the rides and a few, we took a walk along the boardwalk and got our feet wet in water.



I also had lunch from the original Nathan's hot dog:


It was a pretty good all-American meal!

ScrapFest 2011!

I just found out about ScrapFest this summer, and was very intrigued. Mark was nice enough to go with me and keep me company, even though he's not a big scrapbooker (although, I would say that he is a little more of a scrapbooker now because of ScrapFest). Here we are standing in line for one of the make and takes at a vendor booth:

 

The weekend was full. We arrived early Thursday afternoon, checked in at our hotel, and went to the Mall of America (MOA) for registration and to scope out the place. (That afternoon was really the only time I looked around the mall, although Mark had more opportunities to look around.) (The pictures below are some of the things I made at make and takes or workshops:)


Mark did the kick-off crop with me in the Rotunda at the MOA, which I thought was a lot of fun with lots of giveaways and snacks and drinks, and a fun Indian table-mate who was scrapping her wedding from twenty years ago (I thought she was our age, but she said she was forty!).


Because I didn't know what I was doing and didn't sign up for any workshops before we arrived for the conference, on Friday morning I had to get up early and go register for whatever workshops I was interested in and were still available. There was a whole registration snafu with the Archiver's website going down and the only IT guy being in the hospital, but finally after 45 minutes they got the paper registration going and I signed up for three workshops, one of which started just a few minutes later.


The rest of our weekend at MOA was divided up between make and takes, workshops, dinner, and resting in the evening. I learned a lot about tools, product, and techniques at the make and takes and workshops.


Having ScrapFest in the MOA is kind of ingenious in two ways: 1. you collect a lot of primarily white, middle-class women in a shopping mall (I don't like to go mall shopping that much, but after being there for four days, we bought some stuff), and 2. you walk around all these vendor booths or do a workshop, find out about some cool product or tool, and then )of course!) go up to the Archiver's on the 3rd floor and buy that item. I don't know how much money that Archiver's made, but I'm sure it was a lot for one weekend!


Anyway, I had a lot of fun, and I'd definitely like to go back again, although I don't think I'll be able to get Mark to participate as much in the future. If you're a scrapbooker, I definitely suggest you go and try it out!


(This make and take (above) I've already used in a scrapbooking project!)

A Canoeing Type of Summer

So, a couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to have Jessica come back from CA and visit for a week. It was very funny to have her around, because she kept talking about how lush the vegetation was (compared to the desert, where there is no grass and "real" trees--as she said), and how all the buildings/houses look different and unique (instead of all the same with the same adobe-style brick). On one of the days we ended up going on a short canoe ride down the Huron River. Here's Jessica in her kayak just floating along and enjoying...her phone.

 

Here's the rest of us soaking in those sun rays! It was a beautiful day, and it was hot, but not on the water. And you couldn't even tell we were canoeing in Ann Arbor. It was so green, and there were so many trees, you would have thought we were out in the wilderness instead.


Here's a photo as we neared the end of our canoeing for the day. Just beyond that bridge we took the left fork and ended at Gallup Park.


And here's a family of geese and goslings we passed (one of many families, and we passed many duck as well). When we used to run at Gallup Park, I remember how the park would almost be overrun by geese! But these guys are cute--as long as you don't get too close. :)

New Fridge!

So, ever since we bought our house, I have been wanting a nice new french door fridge. And after two years of waiting, we finally got one!

 

It was on sale, so that should make my mom happy (can't ever buy anything full price!). Our old fridge was only 19 cu. ft., so we actually used a 2nd (small) fridge (like the kind you use in your dorm room) as well. Our new one is now 25 cu. ft., so we have so much extra space! It's a bit ridiculous, actually. The thing is much deeper than our old fridge, and sticks out quite a bit further than our kitchen counter/cabinets. I'm hoping when we finish remodeling the kitchen it won't be as noticeable.


In fact, the new fridge is so big, that it seems rather empty still! (Although, that could be in part due to the fact that we need to go grocery shopping.) Our new fridge also has fancy features like an ice maker in the freezer and filtered water in the inside of the fridge. :) AND, supposedly our new fridge will only cost $49/year to run, since it is energy star rated!