What's sparkly and is worn on your left hand??

Yep, you guessed it. We're engaged! I picked it out and knew that Phil bought it and was expecting it around the 1st week of September. So, when the 2nd, 3rd and 4th week of Sept. went by I started to wonder if the ring people had forgotten about us. Then finally, on the 14th of October I got my ring! We were getting ready to go eat at our friend's house and Phil casually (with a big grin) asked me if I'd like to take my ring. Yes!!! Of course I do! We didn't tell our friends, we made them spot it. Next it was the text to several friends and a trip to my parents. Now by trip I mean 2 blocks away :o) We have picked May 15 for the big day. We decided not to have a ceremony for more reasons than one. I am so glad, as this means a lot less stress! I found a casual wedding dress at www.target.com for $39.99 and I love it! So far in the planning we have found so many bargains and will be able to pull this thing off for less than $3,000. I have had a lot of fun planning and picking out decorations. I should have it all planned soon and will be able to sit back and wait.

Shelley Jenson took our engagement pictures last Saturday at Ward Meade Park in Topeka. They should be online soon and I can hardly wait! I think Phil actually smiled and he even told me that they were pretty painless. This is coming from a guy who HATES to have his picture taken. Our photographer was really easy-going and I think this helped.

That's all for now.

October has great things in store

We have a couple weekends to work and prepare for Oct. 17th and 18th. On the 17th our friend Mike is willing (and a little excited I think) to bring his trailer and his new demolition tool and help us tear out the old bathroom and bedroom to make it one big bedroom (our master BR). This will be followed by a trip to the dump with thousands of pounds of junk and then building a new closet in that room. Hopefully our sheetrockin buddy will be available soon after and we can get this room in working order. We are so lucky to have such great friends! This has saved us so much money. We've been able to trade electric work for our (more Phil than me) tile talent. Our plumber was a friend of my brothers and worked very cheap and then a few handy-men willing to dive into the destruction part. Both of our family's have rolled up their sleeves and helped as well.

On the 18th we're taking our annual pumpkin patch trip with the Tarbutton side (mom's side). We have found a great patch close to home that has a horse and trailer to haul us to the pumpkins. Grandma LOVES the horses and even gets to sit up front and lead them! After this we'll do a weiny roast. We can say we only do this because Grandma Donna makes us, but we all know we enjoy it. I love family traditions! I really hope our family traditions continue because my dear grandma has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. She has her good days, but on many days she gets confused and just isn't quite herself. She is also very hard of hearing, so this makes it more difficult for her to keep up at family events. She is an amazing woman! It is because of her that we do the bunny hop in the front drive every year at Easter and the 12 Days of Christmas-with actions, every year. She's a retired RN and they say nurses are the worst patients...THIS IS SO TRUE!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Dig in!

We are really close to digging into the next room! We will be tearing out lathe and plaster as well as the old bathroom. This stuff is such a mess! For those of you that have never worked with it, the process goes something like this: 1-Get your face mask and steel toe boots on 2-Grab a hammer and pry bar 3-Beat the crud out of the wall and watch out! 4-Get your pry bar behind the slats of wood that are under the plaster and start prying. Note: These slats of wood are only about an inch wide and they cover the entire wall. This is a messy, tediuous, time-consuming task.

Phil has made a To-Do list that needs to be done before, but we're close. Once his sweet dump-bed trailer is complete and road-ready (I'll post pictures when it is and you'll be jealous;o), the trim around the shop is painted, and the room is cleaned out, we'll be ready to (sheet) rock and roll...I know, I'm rediculous :o)

Phil built a temporary wall in what will be the living room. We're moving everything that's in the back bedroom to this room. I started moving my clothes in there last night...that's a week-long job for sure...This is a good time to make a trip to Goodwill.

Observance of the day

So I just saw a guy go into the bathroom with his newspaper AND coffee...What do you guys do in there? The paper, I could see, but the coffee! Speaking of bathrooms, have you ever noticed the brand of most bathroom stall doors? It's Hiney Hiders tee, hee, hee :o)

So I have some exciting news...

And I can't tell anyone yet. Stay tuned for that life-changing event! In the meantime, I'll update you all on the house remodeling journey. We bought our house in October of 2007. Since then we have gutted and redone the spare bedroom and dining room. We tore out the old house (yes they built a new addition around the old house...not sure of the thinking there). In that space we, and I mean WE, have built 3 rooms in that space. I have leared to run a saw, air nailer and many other power tools. Just call me Ms. Vila! In those rooms we have a laundry room (unfinished, but usable), a bathroom (all finished) and a mudroom (not done yet). Our next project was to paint the outside. After many arm wrestling sessions at Home Depot we finally decided on colors! We chose light sage green, sauteed mushroom shutters and doors, and smoke white trim. Phil says it looks like a big easter egg, but it's growing on him. I on the other hand LOVE IT! We still have 1 more coat to put on the shop and once that's done, back inside we go! We need to agree on tile and then we'll redo the kitchen floor. I'm really excited for this considering the flooring in there now is ugly lanoleum that's peeling up. After that we'll start gutting the master bedroom. When I say gutting, I'm talkin tearin out lathe and plaster down to the bones. We will also have to move some walls because the old bathroom will now be part of the bedroom. We will also have to move the walk-in closet (which Phil tried to make smaller-I threatened him after this comment). With a little help from friends we have done all of this remodeling by ourselves, with no loans (except a little one for foundation work). I'm so proud of us!