213henry.blogspot.com

2010-03-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure that Zach owes me a pair of these when he gets home. I've been dealing with a few messes while he's been gone (lucky timing on his part) so I think it would be well deserved. We'll see if he agrees. If I ask...

2010-02-21T06:56:00.000-08:00

I finished reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan yesterday and all I have to say is READ THIS BOOK. It will change the way you eat. [I was going to say that it will change your life because really, it will, but that sounded too melodramatic. Trust me, I'm never melodramatic.] I don't know what took me so long. In my defense, I actually eat pretty well. Well, maybe just okay but better than much of the population I'm sure. We've tried to be cognizant of what we eat simply because is seemed like the right thing to do but without a whole lot of research to back it up. Our meals are heavy on the vegetables, light on the meat. Any beef that we eat is farm raised locally. We don't eat out much. But, and this is a big but, we can, and should, and need to do more. So we will.

I've started researching CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) in the Richmond, VA area. CSAs are basically subscription farming. You pay a set amount at the start of the growing season, usually winter to early spring, and then recieve fresh food from the farm(s) every week once harvesting has started. They're everywhere, just do some searching. The ones I've found in the Richmond area are listed below. I can't vouch for quality, obviously, but it had to be better than what you get from the grocery store.

Agriberry CSA Farm Berries
Ault's Family Farm Pork, Lamb, Chicken, Egg
Avery's Branch Farms Raw Milk
Dominion Harvest Produce, Eggs, Cheese, Bread, Meat
Edible Old Dominion Produce, Eggs
Fertile Crescent Farm Produce, Honey (maybee)
Frog Bottom Farm Produce
Horse & Buggy Produce Produce, Eggs, Meat, Trout, Poultry, Baked Goods, Dairy
Rural Virginia Market CSA Produce, Eggs, Cheese, Chicken, Honey, Pasta
Victory Farms Produce

This is heavy stuff. Sorry. I'll try to lighten in up in the future!

2010-02-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

Background: I'm a really big fan of bacon. So much so that I can't think of many meals that wouldn't be better with some bacon on the side. It's a sickness. Zach knows this and gives in to my bacon cravings way more than is healthy. Also, I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day; it's just too commercial/cheesy for me to enjoy. A a result, Zach and I don't do much although I should admit we are big fans of discounted candy on the 15th!

That said, I caved this year and bought something for Zach. I feel a little bad for doing a V. Day gift but it was way too appropriate to pass up. I picked up one of the "I love you more than bacon" buttons below for him. He'll get it in a few weeks since he's traveling at the moment. Maybe I can pretend it wasn't related to V. Day?

I was tempted to buy bacon earrings too but I somehow held myself back. Talk about showing self-restraint!

2009-10-31T08:55:00.000-07:00

How did I not realize that I hadn't posted the second part of our vacation?! Too much work, I guess. Life is exhausting and it doesn't seem to be slowing down... I need to get used to it.

Arches National Park/Canyonlands National Park
Moab, UT
Kokopelli Inn, 5/5
We loved Moab, everything about it. If it weren't so far away from everything I think we'd want to live there. And run a funky little hotel, like the Kokopelli. It was tiny (8 rooms), cute, and so darn fun!

Arches was by far our favorite National Park and that's really saying something because we liked most of the places we went. The hikes were great, the scenery was spectacular and the crowds weren't too bad. We spent 2.5 days here and could have easily stayed longer. The visitors center at Arches couldn't have been better. It had been recently renovated and it showed. The hikes in Arches were great although we tried to do them in the morning and evening; afternoon temps in August are pretty brutal. While here we saw Delicate Arch, Double O Arch, Landscape Arch, and more that I've forgotten or am too lazy to look up the names for.

Canyonlands was less impressive. Honestly, if you don't have the time to go backcounty in this park, my advice would be to skip it. The overlooks weren't that great when compared to the others we saw on this trip and it just paled in comparison to Arches. By this point I was starting to realize that canyons just don't amaze me the way I thought they might. I like getting "up close and personal" with the scenery instead of stopping at (or hiking to) scenic overlooks. Now I know!

Our plan after Arches/Canyonlands had been to drive down to Arizona and do some kayaking on the Colorado River. We decided to change our plans last minute and drive over to Colorado to catch an additional park.

Mesa Verde National Park
Cortez, CO
Super 8, 1/5
I'm trying really hard to come up with something good to say about this hotel. The best I can come up with is that it didn't have bed bugs. And was cheap. And we managed to sleep there. I guess that means it could have been worse.

Mesa Verde was great for a park I'd heard almost nothing about. Totally different from the other parks we visited (history instead of geology) but a lot of fun. Thousand year old cliff dwellings are awesome, and who doesn't love a good mystery?! The fact that this civilization lived and thrived in this area and then just disappeared is way interesting. Interesting is actually an understatement; it was pretty awe-inspiring and I'm not even a history buff. Not even a little. We were both really glad we nixed the kayaking in favor of this park. And we got a chance to see our favorite family of strangers again. They really added something to this trip! If you happen to know them in real life, say hi!

We stopped at four corners on the way to Page. Yes, we know that it's not actually in the right spot and yes, it is a total tourist trap. But go anyway because it's neat to pretend!

Page, AZ
Quality Inn at Lake Powell, 3/5
The hotel was fine. A little more dated than one I'd normally go with but Page didn't have too many decent hotels that were reasonable priced to choose from. It was clean and there was a free breakfast.

No national parks here, but we did get a chance to go to Glen Canyon Dam. Big. Wow. I'm not a huge proponent of hydroelectric power so Zach had to keep giving me dirty looks on the tour as I was muttering insults towards the tour guide. I'm sure he couldn't hear me. Much. After that we hiked into Lower Antelope Canyon and, even though the Navajo charge an arm and a leg to go in, it was worth it. It lives up to all the pictures you see! It was a quick way to part with $$ but worth it. Be sure to appreciate the coal-fired power plant in the distance when you emerge from the canyon. It really adds to the natural beauty ... and also explained all the haze I'd been seeing. Needless to say, this gave me another topic to rant about as we hiked back to the car. We also got to see a horseshoe bend in the Colorado River. Spending 24 hours in Page was perfect; anymore than that and we would have been bored so we were glad we had added in Mesa Verde the day before.

Grand Canyon National Park
North Rim, AZ
North Rim Lodge, 4/5
Staying in the park was neat, but not something I'd pay extra to do. At the North Rim it's the only option though, so that's what we went with. It was neat to stay in a little cabin. Rustic for sure, but that's the North Rim as a whole.

I have to say that the Grand Canyon fell far short of my expectations (and I didn't realize that I had expectations!). It was just ... boring. The hikes weren't as awe-inspiring as the ones we did in Zion/Brye/Arches/everyotherpark. I think I said "Okay, now what?" about 30 minutes after we got there. We did take a mule ride into the canyon while we were there. We had to do something to fill the day and I did enjoy that. Sort of. I enjoyed it more than I would have enjoyed sitting in the cabin. Thanks Ben and Flex for carrying our lazy butts down into the canyon! I'm sure it was the high point of your day too! Really, this park was just not our favorite and it wasn't because there was anything wrong with it; it was just too slow-paced for us. They can't all be winners. But I did get to see a bronze statue of Brighty (of Brighty of the Grand Canyon fame). That was the best part of this park. Seriously. I even had my picture taken with him.

And with that, the trip was just about over. We spent another night in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand again but this time we were exhausted. We did some walking around but we just wanted to crash. Overall we were really happy with the trip. The things we'd do differently aren't things we could have known before taking the trip. We timed things pretty well and I think we'd both recommend this trip to, well, everyone!

Out West, part 1

2009-09-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

So, one month after we got back from vacation, it's time to post some pictures. I had the grand idea of posting a crazy elaborate recap but lets be honest, if I haven't been able to do it in the last month chances are really good that I'm just not going to find the time. Such is life. The vacation was awesome. I'd do it again in a heartbeat and change very few things about the trip. We loved Hawaii so much last year and this trip surprised me as being equally great in a totally different way. It's really impossible to pick out my favorite things because it was all so foreign. That part of the US is so different from what we're used to on the east coast. Surprisingly, I think that I liked it better. I'm more partial to rocks than to foliage so I guess it would make sense.

Las Vegas, NV
Las Vegas is Las Vegas; I'm not sure what to say! We had as awesome stay at the MGM Grand and managed to get upgraded to a sweet suite - it was a nice way to start the vacation! They had some pretty wallet-friendly packages available while we were there so we ate and played and drank for less than an Econo Lodge room. And I managed to win $50! We were almost sad that we only stayed for one night.

Zion Nation Park
Springdale, UT
B&B: Under the Eaves, 3/5
The B&B was nothing amazing but it was priced competitively and included breakfast at Oscars, a restaurant right next door. It was worth it for the breakfast alone. I'm still craving the vegetarian omelet and the fresh guacamole that came with every meal. I'd almost go back for that alone...

Zion was fun although the weather on the second day could have been better. We hiked Angels Landing on the first day we were there and it kicked out butts. It was worth it but jet lag + crazy switchbacks on the trail = a really tired Felicity at the end of the hike. The views were amazing but it was a trail to hike with caution; a hiker had fallen and died the day before we arrived and it wasn't hard to imagine falling at several spots along the way, especially towards the end. We were careful though and lived to tell about it.

On the second day we hiked the Narrows, a hike up the Virgin River. We rented shoes and hiking poles at one of the outfitters it town so we were a very attractive looking pair. Fashion aside, I can't imagine hiking in flip flops or bare feet (which we saw people doing) and the pole kept me from falling several times. Money well spent. I wish that I had loved the hike but I didn't. The weather was unseasonable cool that day,the 60s in southern Utah in August (shouldn't happen, every other day was in the low 100s), and it was dreary. Our pictures didn't turn out well because the lighting was so dim in the canyon and we were really too chilly to take out the camera during much of the hike anyway. I think I'm glad we did the hike but I think it would have been 100x more enjoyable on a hot, sunny day. You can't win 'em all. We did meet a family that we'd run into several more times on our trip; they were fun and friendly and looking for each other ("Hey! It's you again!") in the various parks became a game of sorts.

The drive out of Zion towards Bryce was so cool; I wish we'd had an extra day to do some exploring on that side of the park. The rock formations were amazing and I kept bugging Zach to pull over so I could run around looking at them. I have a new found appreciation for sandstone and I liked it pretty well before - it was probably in my top 10 for favorite rocks. I think it's up at 2 now. (And I'm not ashamed that I have favorite rocks.)

Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce, UT
Hotel: Best Western Bryce Canyon Grand
Nice hotel. Really new; I think it had only been open for 1-2 months. The room was clean and modern and the free hot breakfast was just fine. Of the few hotels around Bryce Canyon, this is the best option by far.

Bryce Canyon was great. We did two long hikes while we were here: the Fairyland Loop and a combination of the Navajo/Queens Garden/Peekaboo trails. We liked the combination hike better but both had spectacular views. They felt very similar though so in hindsight we could have done one less and left a day earlier. Bryce was uber expensive so cutting a day off would have saved quite a bit of money. Both of the trails we did we're relatively empty compared to the ones we had done in Zion. They were both longer though (6.5 and 8.1 miles) so that may have had something to do with it. Hiking among the hoodoos was great and they're very photogenic! I did manage to get a wicked sunburn though.

Capital Reef National Park
Torrey, UT
Sandstone Inn, 1.5/5
Worst hotel of our trip. Actually, there's a tie in that category. It was bad but there we very few options in Torrey. It wasn't dirty but it was very, very dated. It just didn't have a nice feel to it. We survived; it was only for one night.

I didn't expect to like Capital Reef all that much; it's a new park (formed in the 70s) and I didn't know much about it. We only planned one full day here and for this trip that was enough but I would like to go back. There's a lot to see in this park if you go off-roading so we'll rent a 4x4 next time and explore. This park has some unique features, namely the orchard in the middle of the park. Mormons settled here in the late 1800s and planted an amazing variety of fruit trees. The last residents moved away in the 1960s but the fruit trees remain and the park service maintains them. You can eat the fruit off of the trees for free and they also make it into pies that you can buy in the park. The strawberry-rhubab was my favorite although the cherry was good too.

Escalante-Grand Staircase/Calf Creek National Recreation Area
We stopped here on the drive to Arches and did the Lower Calf Creek Falls hike. It was a nice way to break up the drive and it also ended up being one of our favorite hikes (who am I kidding, I say that about all of them). Hiking to a waterfall seemed so strange in a desert but it was great! The water was freezing and I'm in awe of the [insane] people who jumped in. There were some really great campsites along the creek and it would have been nice to spend the night here.

2009-08-08T13:21:00.000-07:00

Updated house pictures, finally! We leave for vacation on Monday so the house is relatively clean and I wanted to document the occasion. I'm really happy with the way things are coming together.

Entry:

We need storage wherever we can find it (remember: no closets in the house) so the dresser, courtesy of Salvation Army, was a great addition to the hall. It stores dog leashes and toys, candles, and our collection of board games.

Living Room:

I.love.this.room. We're finally starting to spend time in here! When we first moved in we basically lived in the two upstairs rooms; one was our bedroom and the other was everything else. It was time to change that so we moved the couch downstairs and with it came the tv. That move also allowed us to turn the upstairs room they came from into a spare bedroom. No pictures of that though, it's our staging area for packing.

Kitchen/Dining Room:

The only real change here is the color. It was a taupe shade before but that never felt right. The room never gets direct sun so it always felt shadowy (new word?). The yellow really warms it up and also looks great with the cabinets.

Bathroom:

My second favorite room! We regrouted part of the floor and put in a new vanity. When we moved in we modified a dresser and used that as a sink cabinet but it was never quite right (looked better in the magazine than it did in real life). So we changed it. Hooray, IKEA! The vanity is actually three kitchen cabinets that we modified (kitchen cabinets are deeper than bathroom vanities) and we made a concrete top for it. We're thinking about doing concrete counters in the kitchen so this was our trial run. It went super smoothly and I love how it turned out. It increased out storage exponentially and I love the pull-outs in the right cabinet.

2009-07-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

I love coming home. I spent the last week at a conference for AP teachers and while it was extremely informative, interesting, and worthwhile, it just wasn't home. It's been a while since I slept in a dorm room and boy, I had forgotten how uncomfortable those beds are! And don't even get me started on the food... Now we're off to PA for a quick family reunion and then back to VA on Monday or Tuesday. I need to post some updated photos because the house is rapidly being transformed into something in which a sane person would want to live. That is good, since we may be looking for a sane person who wants to live here in the not-so-distant future... More on that later!

2009-07-04T17:40:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!

So much for a holiday - we spent the morning sprucing up the front porch instead of lazing around relaxing. Our flags are out, the hanging planters (I love IKEA!) are up and the floor has been painted. And I have the sunburn to prove it! It was worth the work though and after spending two weeks on vacation I really didn't need a day off. Yet.

Here's the porch prepainting. The brown is not quite the shade we were looking for but it's worlds better than the peeling gray paint that was there!

2009-07-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

We're home! Aside from spending too much time in the car, we had a great vacation! I ate boiled peanuts on the drive down and the drive back so I was a happy traveler. (I used to think they sounded gross when I lived "up north" but after moving south I've been converted. They're great!) I love going away but really, there's no place like home. Charleston, St. Augustine, and Orlando were all fun but pulling up in front of our house on Sunday was the best. The time away from everything let me relax but it also gave me the motivation I need to [hopefully] finish some projects around the house that have been dragging on for way, way too long. Finally!

Charleston, SC

Lodging: Doubletree Inn and Suites Historic District, 4/5*
Excellent location (really, couldn't have been better) but the walls were a little thin.

I had never been to Charleston before and I was so, so happy that it met my expectations! The weather was stifling but that's the south in the summer. You get used to it. The houses and buildings were just as impressive as they look in pictures and really, the pics don't do them justice. We'll definitely go back.

St. Augustine, Fl

Lodging: Best Western Seaside Inn, 3.5/5*
The bed wasn't too comfy but the location made up for it. We were right across from the beach and had a great view.

I was looking forward to St. A quite a bit. I love old buildings, obviously, and the beach and St. A has both of those! Unfortunately, it didn't wow me. I've discovered that I'm not a huge fan of Spanish-influenced architecture. Who knew?! The seafood was awesome though and it gave us a few days to veg on the beach when it got too hot to explore. This is probably not a town we'll return to but it was worth a visit.

Orlando, Fl

Lodging: Winsdor Hills Townhouse, VRBO# 53572, 5/5*
Perfect location. Modern amenities, super comfortable beds, clean, spacious, in a gated community. Really, everything we could have wanted.

Orlando was Orlando, incredibly touristy. We only go when we get free tickets, that's my excuse! It is fun though, and the house we stayed in was great - the pool in the yard made everything alright. Disney was crowded and the Magic Kingdom was a total letdown; I remember liking it so much more. The rest of the Disney parks were much better. I think Epcot was my favorite (Soarin' was amazing), although Hollywood Studios (love Rock n' Roller Coaster) and Animal Kingdom (disappointed in Expedition Everest but Finding Nemo: the Musical and the Lion King made up for it) were both close behind. We did Universal while were were there too. It was fine and not as crowded as Disney but by then we were tired of rides and ready to come home. I have to say that Univeral has nicer scenery. In terms of appearance, it beats Hollywood Studios hands down.

2009-05-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

Oh, summer vacation, you can't get here soon enough! We're down to one month of school left (that's 19 school days, not that I'm counting) and then it's three months of freedom! We've been planning our summer excursions for the past few weeks but it's time to kick it into high gear since the time is drawing near. Planning is at least half the fun for me but sometimes you need to stop weighing the options and just book it! We're planning two long trips this summer: Florida for 16 days in June and then Nevada/Utah/Arizona for another 15 days in August.

We're doing the Florida trip on the cheap; actually we're only doing it because it's cheap. Disney is offering free 5 day tickets to service members who were activated during 2008 and discounted tickets to their family members. We also won two 7 day tickets to Universal Studios and decided to combine the two offers into one very long amusement-park-heavy vacation. We're not huge Disney/Universal fans; they're too commercial and we hate wasting money doing things that we've already done before (we did Disney in 2002 during their last military offer) but the price was too good to pass up. We invited my parents and sister to do Disney with us since they haven't been down in almost 20 years. We're leaving right after school is out and will spend one day in Charleston, SC and two day in St. Augustine, Fl on the way to Orlando. We rented a townhouse for the first 8 days while everyone is there and will move to a hotel for the last four. We're trying to plan a few days away from all the madness too - maybe one to the Gulf Coast and another to Homosassa Springs to see manatees. It'll be fun.

I'm really looking forward to our trip out west; too bad we have to wait until August! We're going to visit Las Vegas (nickel slots!), Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Monument Valley, and the Grand Canyon North Rim. I'm not quite done planning this one, but it's getting there. It may not have the tropical allure of Hawaii, but this vacation should be just as amazing as the one we took last year.

June, July, and August - the three best months of the year!

2009-03-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

Spring! The weather this weekend was pretty nice so in addition to running errands and wasting time we took the opportunity to do some work in the front "yard" yesterday. We planted three holly bushes along the back retaining wall and put in some smaller plants along the sidewalk. We also took advantage of the sales at Home Depot to grab some mulch for $.99/bag. We have about 15 bags left so I guess we need to work on the flowerbeds along the driveway now.

All winter we've been planning and practicing to run in the Monument Ave. 10k in Richmond next weekend. Live bands, cheering crowds, and 30,000 other people running just sounds like fun. Unfortunately Zach ended up with an Army engagement next weekend and I'm not too keen on doing the race by myself so we ran our own version of the 10k this morning instead. We treked over to the Petersburg National Battlefield and ran from one end to the other and back again. I know that 6.2 miles isn't all that far, but I haven't done much running since early college and it was nice to have a reason to get back in shape. My time was okay, 71 minutes (with hills!) but next year, assuming the Army doesn't interfere and I don't lose my motivation, I'd like to do it in under 60 min. Zach's pushing for a marathon but I'm not quite sure I'm ready to commit to that!

2009-03-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

I love snow days! Zach and I both had a free day today and we made the most of it. We spent the morning exploring Pburg in the snow - not something we get to do very often. We had about 4-5 inches of snow here which is enough to get me out of school for two days and turn the town beautiful! With the temperatures warming up later this week it won't stick around long enough to look nasty. That's really the worst part of winter snow, I think - the way it looks after it's been plowed.

2009-02-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

Things have been quite on Henry St. This past weekend brought us unseasonably warm weather (welcome February!) and we took advantage on in on Sunday with a walk around town. Zach gave me a Diana F+ camera for Christmas and I took it along to try out for the first time. I'm fully prepared for an ugly first showing but it was fun anyway! I love taking pictures and the Diana is so simple to use; it's a big change from the dSLRs Zach and I both play with on a regular basis. I have four pictures left on the roll and I'm really looking forward to developing it and seeing how things turned out. And, to tie this in to my 101 list, hopefully I'll get some shots from the Diana that are worthy of hanging up around the house. Our walls have been bare for long enough!

2009-01-20T05:18:00.001-08:00

Great weekend, I loved having the extra day off. We did everything we had planned (movies, thrifting, cleaning, organizing, eating) and had a good time doing it! The perfect ending to the weekend would have been waking up to snow this morning but it just wasn't meant to be. I love living in southern Virginia but I didn't realize just how rare snow would be. I miss it, in moderation. Winter doesn't really seem like winter without snow. I know it's only January 20 and there's plenty of time for snow to make an appearance but I'm not holding out much hope. Last year we had a dusting. Once.

On the home front, one of our finds this weekend was a dresser for the front hall. I was looking for something to increase our storage space and I managed to find it. I love our house, really, but the lack of closets is just getting more and more evident and frustrating. Our newest addition should help the situation for the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to get it spruced up (and filled up) quickly. We also have some armoire ideas for the upstairs but those will have to wait until spring. I can't wait!

2009-01-04T11:19:00.000-08:00

The holidays went great - food, family, and fun. We had great visits with my parents and Zach's and got to see some of our favorite family members too. It's sad that they're over but in some ways it is nice to get things back to normal as well. Some ways. Sleep in my own bed is grand and a person can only eat so much candy before it starts to show! Now that we're back home the Christmas trees need to be taken down along with most of the decorations and tomorrow it's back to school. That's the downside to normal, I suppose. There's always spring (and spring break!) to look forward to!

2009-01-01T07:51:00.000-08:00

101/1001 Updates:

4. Give everyone a thrifted Christmas present
So.much.fun! This just may become a tradition with my side of the family! Some gifts were serious and some were funny but all were appreciated (I think...). We managed to score the following items for a little bit of nothing:

Hawaiian Shave Ice Maker, new
Paper Shredder, new
Coffee Roaster, new (and by far our best buy!)
Book of Mensa Brainteasers
Book on the history of religious morality
Caller Id Display
Smore Maker, new
Ice Cream Ball, new
Buzz-Word Game, new

9. Pick out books for my Science, Lit & Society course
I was well on my way to having my books selected just to find out that the course has been canceled. Not a big deal, I wasn't that thrilled about teaching it anyway.

12. Make calamari
Turned out great! We'll tweak the recipe a bit next time but there will definitely be a next time. No more excuses to order it as an appetizer since it's much cheaper to make ourselves.

42. Potluck at school
Also turned out great. My dad has always had potlucks at CV with the other teachers in the sci. department and I decided that we needed to do the same thing down at Matoaca. A friend and I co-organized it and it was definitely a hit (and made us look good too - we're such team players)! We're planning to to it again in the spring.

43. Mail Christmas cards before Christmas
Done.

49. Paint bookshelves
Done.

50. Organize books
Done. And we have way, way too many books on our must-read shelves.

77. Read 50 books in 2008
I did it (although counting my hydrogeology texts may have been a bit of a stretch). It was nice to be able to keep track of what I'm reading and know when I'm consuming too much chick-lit. I'm planning to do it again in '09. Here's how the 2008 list looks:

1. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophia Kinsella, B
2. Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson, C
3. Midwives by Chris Bohjalian, B+
4. Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters by Allen S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa, C
5. To Have and To Hold by Jane Green, B
6. The Doctor's Wife by Elizabeth Brundage, B-
7. Miss Understanding by Stephanie Lessing, F
8. Open House by Elizabeth Berg, B
9. Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig, A
10. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson, C
11. Babyville by Jane Green, B
12. Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale, Jr, B
13. How I Learned to Cook by Margo Perin, C
14. I Don't Know How She Does It by Alison Pearson, B
15. The Man Not Taken by Jennifer Wiener, C
16. The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares, A
17. Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gillman, B
18. The Appeal by John Grisham, A
19. Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult, B
20. Rumspringa: to be or not to be Amish by Tom Shachtman, B+
21. sTORI Telling by Tori Spelling, C
22. Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult, A
23. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, C
24. The Day The Earth Caved In by Joan Quigley, B
25. Unseen Danger: A tragedy of people, government, and the Centralia Mine Fire by David DeKok, B
26. Centralia by Deryl B. Johnson, A
27. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks, C
28. The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld, B
29. The Beach House by Jane Green, C
30. The Mr. and Mrs. Happy Handbook by Steve Doocey, B
31. No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark, C
32. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos, B
33. Can You Keep A Secret by Sophia Kinsella, B
34. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, B
35. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, A
36. Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg, B+
37. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, A
38. The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank, B
39. The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank, A-
40. The Pact by Jodi Picoult, A-
41. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, A-
42. The Dead & The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer, A-
43. Animal Farm by George Orwell, B
44. Honeymoon With My Brother by Franz Wisner, B
45. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, A
46. Body Surfing by Anita Shreve, B+
47. Hydrogeology
48. Groundwater Hydrology
49. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, B
50. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, B

2008-12-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

I finished writing our annual Christmas letter but I have to admit that I'm not that happy with it. Admittedly, we're not huge fans of the tradition but we see our extended family rarely enough that a letter makes sense and at least some of them seem to appreciate it. We usually try to keep them funny and as far away from "our life = perfection" as is humanly possible but we just didn't have anything funny to report! The high points in our year were New Orleans and Hawaii; we couldn't leave the trips out of the letter but the tone just felt off once we wrote about them. I'm assuming that people won't be too critical and if they are, oh well. Now I have to finish the Christmas cards and get them in the mail...

Dear Everyone,

Another year, another Christmas letter. 2008 has been a fairly uneventful year for us in that we have no new houses or pets to report. Maybe next year. We continue to live in Petersburg, VA and work on our ever-changing house. It’s coming along nicely and maybe by next year we’ll be able to tell you that it is done! Then again, maybe not.

We have discovered that one of the benefits of living and teaching in this part of the south is the lack of snow days. That results in a long spring break with endless possibilities. We could have worked on our house during that time but decided to travel to New Orleans instead. We spent six days eating beignets and sightseeing. For the record, our sightseeing consisted mainly of walking off the beignets we had just eaten and looking at other people’s old houses. We’re like parents who go out to eat without the kids and then spend the entire time talking about them… It was great! We were happy to see that, for the most part, the city has recovered from Katrina and were unhappy to head back home. We solved that problem by leaving again.

Zach spent most of the late spring and summer in South Carolina attending Drill Sergeant School. He graduated in August and we decided to head to the beach. We spent two weeks vacationing on Oahu, Kauai, and Hawaii. It’s impossible to describe how cool it was but we had an amazing time and look forward to returning. During the time we were there we swam, hiked and hula-danced like the uncoordinated people that we are. Zach learned to surf (he recommends it), and Felicity learned that she was horribly allergic to orchids (she doesn’t recommend it). Overall though, it was a great way to end the summer.

As for our day-to-day lives, Felicity continues to teach Earth Science and has started to work on her master’s degree. Zach continues to strip paint and do whatever it is that Drill Sergeants do. Toby and Moira have adjusted well to city life and enjoy harassing the neighborhood cats, mailman, and the occasional homeless person. They have it good and so do we.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2009!

2008-12-04T05:01:00.000-08:00

In-Progress:
4. Give everyone a thrifted Christmas present
I still need a gift for either my Mom or Dad, but everyone else has been taken care of! I've even managed to score 4 presents for Zach, 2 of which are brand new. We had originally planned to only do this for my family - aren't they lucky! - but decided to include each other in the fun. It's been a fun project but it also helps to reinforce the idea that gift-giving isn't about spending $ on a gift but about the thought that goes into it.

7. Sew a tree skirt
I have everything cut out and pinned together, I just need to cut the interfacing and start sewing. The same goes for the stockings I'm making. I'm really hoping to get them both done this weekend. Really. I don't want to wait until the last minute to finish and be unable to enjoy it.

Completed:

8. See the new James Bond move in the theater

We really, really liked it. Quantum of Solace was different for a 007 movie but both Zach and I enjoyed it. I'm liking Daniel Craig as Bond. Actually, I'm liking Daniel Craig in general! The theatre popcorn wasn't too bad either.

14. Cook Thanksgiving dinner

A success! Thanksgiving went smoothly and the food was delish. We even managed to get our main Christmas tree decorated while the food was cooking! Now if I could just finish up #7 so that I can put presents under it...

31. Buy bedside lights

This one has been more modified than completed. I found new lamps for the living room so the lamps that were down there are now residing in our bedroom. They look good although I'll need to repaint them at some point. Either way, the point was to get bedside lights in our room and we've managed to do that.

53. Find somewhere to donate my magazines
Goodwill again! They'll sell what they can and recycle the rest. That works for me.

2008-11-25T16:44:00.000-08:00

So in honor of Thanksgiving I thought that a few moments of reflection on things I am thankful for would be appropriate.

1. Family
As I get to know more about the family lives of my friends, I have come to realize just how lucky both Zach and I are in this regard. Our families aren't perfect and we certainly have issues with them on occasion but overall we have supportive parents/siblings/relatives and know that they care about us. I wish that was true for everyone.

2. Friends
I'm finally starting to make some close friends! I've had friendly acquaintances for a while but no one that I felt really "got" me. That's changing this year and it's such a good thing! I have girls that I chat with on the phone and friends at school that are always up for sushi on Friday!
3. Being Married
This was Zach's contribution to my list and he followed it with "I'm surprised we're still together!" Uh, what?! After thinking about it, I agree with him although the sentence does sound harsh. Being married isn't easy. I think it comes naturally to some people but I'm not one of them. I'm a perfectionist and I can be very, very demanding. That isn't fun to live with and then add in Zach and his own character traits that sometimes clash with mine. We truly like each other and I can't imagine being with someone else. I'm thankful that we've made it this far!

4. Petersburg
I love our house, our neighborhood, and our town. I even like the crazy homeless man with Tourettes who goes through our trash as long as he doesn't do it before 5 am. I'm really satisfied with where we live and it feels like home. I love that we're starting to get to know Richmond better and I'm really glad that we've found an awesome Goodwill to stalk. I love that we're close enough to our families to make a weekend trip if we really want to. I do miss large amounts of snow in the winter (last year we got a dusting. once.) but I'm willing to put up with that.

5. Being a Family of 2 (+ 2 dogs)
For now I'm immensely glad that it's just the two of us. I can't imagine doing what we do with offspring (although I recognize that people with children say the same thing about life without them). Our travels and housing adventures are so much fun (and so much work) that I can't see myself putting them on a back burner. Maybe someday but at 27 and 27 we're just not there. I'm quite happy to spend all day with kids and then send them home! Lets hope it stays that way for a while longer!

2008-11-15T16:42:00.000-08:00

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Start Date: 1 Nov. 2008
End Date: 30 July 2011

Finish this list
Take a yoga class
Read 101 books
Give everyone a thrifted Christmas present
Make bath bombs for Mere
Make homemade deodorant
Sew a tree skirt
See the new James Bond move in the theater
Pick out books for my Science, Lit & Society course
Make fried pies
Figure out my favorite kind of sushi
Make calamari
Cook 20 new veggie recipes
Cook Thanksgiving dinner
Stop drinking soda for 1 month
Make a Polish meal
Go meatless for one week
Go to a climbing gym
Buy new wedding rings
Donate a gift to Toys for Tots
Donate 101 items to Goodwill
Take photos of my hometown
Go away for a weekend
Compile a list of birthdays/addresses for family members
Find a local vet
Lose 5#
Learn the name of the neighbor who likes our dogs
Make the spare bedroom a real spare bedroom
Finish the upstairs bathroom
Find nightstands with drawers
Buy bedside lights
Paint the front hall
Organize my craft & sewing supplies
Pick out my work clothes everyday before bed for two weeks
Have pro pictures taken
Visit Patrick County
See Tom Petty again
Take the train to DC
Print photographs
Frame and hang pictures
Get involved in local politics
Potluck at school
Mail Christmas cards before Chirstmas
Volunteer
Go to my 10 year reunion
Make a new friend
Play Scrabble
Play Trivial Pursuit
Paint bookshelves
Organize books
Go to the gym every other day for 1 mos.
Update my driver's license
Find somewhere to donate my magazines
Get a pedicure
Find a dentist in VA
Break in my Birks
Compost more
Recycle more
Use only cloth grocery bags for 1 month (and hopefully develop a new habit)
Read a photography book from cover to cover
Take photos at least once a week
Recover couch pillows
Renew teaching license (even if I stop teaching)
Visit the Richmond Science Museum
Visit Centre Hill Mansion
Visit the Pburg Historical Society
Visit the Siege Museum
Go to see live music 3 times (0/3)
Find a new bathroom vanity
Install invisible fencing
Plant grass in the backyard
Landscape front flower bed
Find armoire(s) to store clothing
Make an upholstered headboard
Redo the wood floors
Go camping in the Aztek
Read 52 books in 2008
Pick out a backsplash for the kitchen
Concrete counters for the kitchen
Finish renovating the downstairs by Easter'09
Finish renovating the entire house
Learn another language
Take dancing class
Buy a bike
Take the GRE
Do one pullup
Go to church every Sunday for 1 month
Sew a dress for myself
Wear it in public
Run a 5k
Register to vote
Visit 5 places in VA we've never been
Get a passport
Use it
Visit the southern hemisphere
Redeem credit card points
Go one week without spending any money
Open a Roth IRA
Start saving for a summer home
Save 10$ for every item I complete
Save 20$ for every item I don't complete

2008-11-06T15:32:00.001-08:00

Halloween? Done.
Hydrogeology Midterm? Passed!
Election? So ovah!
What next?

Thanksgiving and then Christmas! I love them both but I really can't wait for December to roll around! I'm getting anxious to decorate the house. We put up a rather sad tree last year but didn't do much more. The house was in too much chaos to put forth the effort. To make up for it we went a little overboard at the after Christmas sales last January and now have a decent stock of decorations to put up and absolutely no reason to not go all out this year. I'll have to pull everything out of the attic over the next few weeks and survey what I have. Thanksgiving is late this year so I want to be ready to roll after we watch the Macy's Parade! I guess I could always start addressing Christmas cards if I get too anxious... Or I could finish planning my Thanksgiving menu. And paint our bookshelves downstairs. Or help Zach with our storm windows. And finish lining the curtains. But what fun is that?!

2008-10-29T17:38:00.000-07:00

Hooray for fall! I love the crisp air and watching the leaves as they start to change color. Zach and I went for a hike last weekend and enjoyed what will probably be one of the last warm days we have. The leaves aren't at their peak yet but they're getting there. The color changes don't seem to be as dramatic down here in Virginia. We're heading up to PA for a really, really brief trip this weekend and I am hoping we'll be treated to some nice scenery along the way.

We've been busy for the last month and things don't seem to be letting up quite yet. We started of our "busy season" with a Black Crowes concert in Richmond. It was awesome but I paid for it the next day - I'm too old to go out like that on a school night. I was running on caffeine the next day and also half deaf! No worries though, I'm fully recovered. We also had Zach's parents down over Columbus Day weekend and spent several weeks finishing up house projects and preparing for their visit. As for the upcoming events, we're going home this weekend as I mentioned before. We have bachelor & bachelorette parties in two weeks, a science department dinner on the 19th, a wedding on the 22nd, and then Thanksgiving is here. We're hosting for my family again this year which is loads of fun (really!) but requires some advance planning. We're going to be busy.

One of the projects we've managed to finally get to and finish is curtains for the front door. We wanted to add something to provide both privacy and also give us a little bit of a barrier from the cold; single pane glass just isn't that energy efficient. Out came the sewing machine and after a few evenings of work we had solved the problems. They're awesome! They aren't perfect but the issues are a result of my inexperience. I've never done lined curtains before! My next attempt, which I need to get started on soon, should look even nicer.

Before:

After:

2008-09-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

As a teacher, I like summer for obvious reasons. Even so, I was happy to see fall arrive today at 11:44 am. I love the crisp air, falling leaves, fairs, and apple cider. And my birthday!

We spent the weekend up in PA visiting the family and going to the Bloomsburg Fair. It's a tradition. We spend the entire day walking around and gorging ourselves on delish but bad for you food. Pierogies, bleanies, halushki, halupki... I didn't realize until I moved to VA that some of those foods were very regional. How can people not know what pierogies are?! They sell Mrs. T's at WalMart! Broaden your horizons, people. You're missing out! Regardless, we got our fill of ethic foods for a while. We also picked up three cases of locally bottled soda. Catawissa Bottling Co. still use glass bottles that are refillable. I love the retro/green vibe I get when I drink them. Who wouldn't want to drink blue (or red, or white) birch beer from an antique glass bottle?

2008-09-07T06:01:00.000-07:00

It's strange to think that one month ago today I was laying on Waikiki beach while Zach surfed in the ocean. We've been home for two and a half weeks and I'm finally getting around to posting about it. The vacation was awesome (jet lag was a little less awesome...) and I think we'd both go back in a heartbeat. We spent four days on Oahu, four on Kauai, and 5 on the Big Island and loved each one. It's impossible to sum up our trip in one post without turning it into a book. Zach and I both wrote down our highs and lows for each island so I'm going to post that along with a relatively brief description. Relatively brief. And if you haven't been to Hawaii yet, start planning and go! You're missing out!

Oahu
Honolulu was much more metropolitan than I had anticipated. I knew it was a city, but it was a real city in the middle of the Pacific Ocean! We stayed in Waikiki at the Aqua Palms and Spa. Great hotel, great location. We were about one block from the beach and could see it from our balcony, if we looked between two other hotels. That's the price you pay when you don't want to pay the price at the oceanfront resorts. Waikiki Beach was great and the ocean was so blue. That was true everywhere. I've been spoiled now; I can't see myself going back to the Jersey Shore! We rented a Jeep (so fun!) and Zach now thinks having one here at home would greatly improve our lives. I'm not so sure about that!

Highs:

Visiting Pearl Harbor & Punchbowl Crater. Both were beautiful and touching.
Climbing Diamond Head. The views were amazing!
Surfing (Zach) and swimming (Fel) at Waikiki.

Lows:

Kualoa Ranch Movie Tour. A huge waste of money and a total letdown. We were so excited to see where portions of Lost were filmed and the driver blew right past it!
Fel's Orchid Lei. A pretty tradition, right? All the tourists are doing it... Well this person (Fel) is allergic to orchids and didn't know it until this trip. I got a rash worse than any poison ivy I've ever had (and I've had more than my share, darn sensitive skin) that lasted until after we were home. It actually put a damper on the trip for me because of the constant itching. Horrible.

Pearl Harbor

Punchbowl Crater/National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

Diamond Head

Kauai
Our four days here were awesome, itching aside. Kauai was the opposite of Honolulu - no tall buildings here! Everything was green and lush and the tropical plants were amazing. It's a much more outdoorsy island and we took advantage of that. We stayed in an ocean front condo at the Kaha Lani in Lihue. I can't imagine having a better view!

Highs:

Chickens at the beach! There were so many chickens on Kauai. They escaped from their pens during the hurricane in '92 and have been roaming free ever since. They're everywhere, so they're obviously thriving!
Looking at the ocean from our condo and watching the sunrise.
JoJo's Shave Ice in Waimea. It's better than ice cream and the flavor combinations were endless!
Snorkeling. I had never gone before and it was an amazing experience.

Low:

Traffic. We were only stuck in traffic once and it was due to road paving, but we were stopped for over an hour. It definitely put a damper on our visit to the north coast.

Waimea Canyon

Na Pali Coast

Coconuts!

The Big Island
From the moment we landed in Kona it was obvious that this island was different. And big. The lava fields were amazing - such a big difference from the greenery on Kauai. We explored the north shore on our first day and then spent one night at the Kona Tiki in Kona. The hotel was small (maybe 12 rooms?) and was from the 50s. It was kitchy but fun and right on the ocean. We fell asleep to the sound of the waves. I was actually concerned that they'd keep me awake - that's how close we were (and how loud they were)! We drove around the east and south shores on our second day and then went to the national park where we were staying. Our final three days were spent in and around the park.

Highs

Watching spinner dolphins from the balcony of our room in Kona. Wow!
Coffee Tour. The tour guide was both informative and entertaining and Zach loved sampling all the roasts they had. 100% Kona coffee is worth every penny. Maxwell House just doesn't cut it!
Staying in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park at Kilauea Military Camp. The cottages are ridiculously cute and are reserved for military members. The setting it like a mini base! We could have spent an entire week there and not gotten bored. It made it easy to access all of the sites within the park and we were less than an hour from Hilo.
Hiking to see the lava flowing into the ocean at sunset. Amazing, amazing views and well worth the hike in the dark. It was just a fun experience all around.
Eating fresh fruit. We went to the Farmer's Market in Hilo where we had fresh passion fruit, papaya, pineapple, and sushi (yeah, from the market!). We at it in a park by the ocean and just enjoyed the experience.

Lows

Kona. Our hotel was really cool (our balcony was 5 feet from the ocean, max) but the town itself was way too touristy. It felt like any other beach town to us. We loved some of the sights we saw on the west coast and it was a central place to stay on our first night on the island but it wasn't that special. Hilo had a much cooler vibe.
VOG. Volcanic fog. It was pretty bad on the west coast and gave the days a dreary feel. It was a stark contrast to the blue skies we had everywhere else. Several of the hikes we had wanted to do were closed because of this. Volcanoes are unpredictable so you have to take it in stride. I'd have been much more depressed if Kilauea had stopped erupting all together!
Leaving.

the view from our room in Kona

Mauna Loa

Black Sand Beach

Lava Flows

Pu'u O'o Vent

My one real regret is how much we packed into the trip. Strange regret, no? We did everything we wanted to but that kept us moving all.the.time. It would have been nice to spend more time relaxing on the beach and doing nothing but we didn't want to eliminate anything from our itinerary. Next time we'll relax just a little more. Next time!

2008-07-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

One year ago:

Today:

Nothing is complete and there is still a lot left to do (and redo in some cases - thank goodness the rug was cheap!) but it's better than it was last July. It's been a fun and often frustrating ride.

2008-07-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

I usually try to relax on Sundays, enjoying some time away from the endless projects around the house. Not so much today. Being home alone is dull so sometimes Sunday projects are necessary. Anything I can do to keep myself occupied is a good thing!

The stairs when walked down them this morning (along with some dog eye candy):

and the stairs when I walked up them tonight:

In an ideal world, the stairs would have remained unpainted. I don't expect perfection from wood that's 152 years old and I can deal with bits of paint embedded in the grain. And I really hate when to see scuff marks on white risers! Unfortunately, the top 6 stair are made out of a different type of wood than the other 13. We tried staining them to match but it didn't even come close. Out came the paint.

2008-07-19T18:12:00.000-07:00

I like making lists. Zach makes fun of me, but it helps me stay organized and gives me some goals to work towards. I love crossing items off of my list knowing that I accomplished something. That said, here’s my list. Some of the items are house related, some are definitely not. Oh well. I’d like to get everything (ha, wishful thinking!) on it done prior to leaving for vacation since I’ll be back in school right after we get home. Not much down time around our house!

~~find a one piece bathing suit to take to HI~~
find “disposable” shorts for HI (nothing that I’d feel bad about ruining while we’re hiking, etc.)
~~buy a larger camera bag, backpack syle~~
~~buy a new camera lens (haven’t decided about this one for sure. It would be nice to have a telephoto before we leave, but it isn’t a requirement.)~~ I went ahead and ordered a lens. Now it just needs to get here in time...
~~paint the trim and wall along the stairs~~
~~paint the outside wall in the kitchen~~
~~take updated pics of the kitchen~~
organize the laundry room
laundry, laundry, laundry (washed and folded. I seem to have a bad habit of washing it, drying it, and then leaving in the the dryer until I need something. Not good.)
clean the house and suck up the wads of dog hair that inhabit every corner of every room
take a load of unwanted stuff to goodwill
find someplace to donate my millions of magazines. the library, maybe?
weed along the front and side of the house
paint the porch steps (maybe, if I can find the paint.)

I know there’s more, so I’ll just add to this as it comes to me.

One small step.

2008-04-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

We finally put down some pavers at the bottom of our front porch. No more muddy feet (for us or the dogs) when it's raining outside! It is hard to tell in the photos, but the paver color matches the old bricks around our house really well. They wrap around the side of the porch which gives us a handy, if less than fashionable, place to keep our dumpsters. We've also been working on our front lawn, all 30 sq. ft. of it. It's not much but anything is better than crabgrass.

Lest anyone think we've been shirking around the house, we have been tackling several interior projects. The stair rail is nearing completion as are the bookshelves in the living room. Hopefully we'll have both of those completed by the end of April with pictures to follow.

Home again, home again.

2008-04-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

I don't have time to post a long update right now, but I did want to put up some pictures from our New Orleans trip. We had an awesome time, as always, and look forward to returning in the not-so-distant future! We took a ridiculous number of pictures while we were there, something like 548; dueling DSLRs we are. I'll update this post later with a detailed trip recap but for now, New Orleans in 10 photos (plus 1).

In front of the Creole Queen

The Natchez

Muddy Mississippi
It was surprisingly cold; I stuck my foot in briefly.

@ New Orleans Museum of Art

Live Oaks in the Garden District

Royal St.

Water Meter

Rodrigue Gallery
Almost brought one home. Too bad our bank account was about 50k too low...

St. Louis Cathedral

Random picturesque courtyard

Felicity on Felicity St.
Unfortunately, the street was a bit ghetto.

"Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez"

2008-03-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

Let the good times roll! Vacation days are wonderful! I have off school until March 31 and plan to enjoy every child-free moment in front of me! I love these long spring breaks that schools get in the south; up north we had Good Friday off and sometimes Monday but that was it. Back to school on Tuesday. Having an entire week off seems so indulgent but also refreshing! I love it!

Zach and I could have spent our time accomplishing something around the house but instead decided that we needed to get away, both mentally and physically. With that in mind, we dug out the credit card and made ourselves some reservations. Early tomorrow morning we're jetting off to New Orleans where we'll be spending the next 6 days surrounded by other people's projects! The weather should be gorgeous and we're thrilled to be leaving everything, even if it is only for a few days.

We're staying at the New Orleans Hilton Riverside. We're right on the Mississippi River and are within walking distance of everything we want to do/see/visit.

I know we're going to have an excellent time. We'll be back on Thursday with some excellent pictures and hopefully we'll be ready to get back to work! Happy Easter!

Slaving away. Or not.

2008-02-25T17:58:00.002-08:00

Things continue to move along, although much of the recent work has been either behind the scenes or just not worthy of photographs. We did manage to complete the mudroom/bathroom addition over the weekend and that is a momentous occasion! Two toilets in one house - what a luxury! Here's the house as of this afternoon:

From the kitchen, looking into the mudroom and bathroom. Yeah, the bathroom will eventually get a door. It needs to be stripped and painted before it goes up.

The door which will eventually lead to the deck. Right now it's about 8 feet above the ground. Watch your step!

Bathroom. The color isn't quite so gray in real life. It has a bit more brown in it than is showing up in the pictures. The shelves on the wall (3$ @ Ikea!) are definitely a work in progress, I just wanted something on them for the pictures.

Bathroom again. The mirror suddenly looks ridiculously small to me in the picture but I can't say I want to go out and hunt down another one. It does the job for now.

And the most recent project: bookshelves for the living room. And crown molding. And deciding if I really like the paint colors with my fabric. Yay.

Happy Christmas to all...

2007-12-19T19:11:00.000-08:00

We're getting ready to head up north for Christmas break; back to the land of temperatures below freezing. While I'm looking forward to visiting with friends and family, the colder temperatures do not appeal to me at all! Remind me of what I said when July rolls around!

We haven't done much work on the house since Thanksgiving, at least nothing that makes for a good picture. We've been dealing almost daily with our mortgage company as we refinance from a construction loan into a conventional 15 yr. mortgage. Had all gone according to plan we would have closed the beginning of Dec. We're now hoping for sometime in January! To make a long story short, the first assessor appraised our house at a laughably low amount and then refused to modify his numbers when mistakes were pointed out. The second is unwilling to sign off on the appraisal because the city (mistakenly) told him we were zoned industrial. Uh, no.

In the midst of all this fun, we did find the time to decorate for Christmas, at least a little. You can also note the crown moulding (hooray for Zach - it makes the whole room look a bit more like a ... room!) and the curtains that I sewed for the windows. Both are relatively new additions. We also have four boxes of Christmas decorations stacked downstairs in the living room, and we only managed to put up a few of them. There's always next year...

Thanksgiving comes to Petersburg

2007-12-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

We had the fun of hosting Thanksgiving this year, and while we spent much of the week getting the house ready for visitors, or getting the house as ready as it could be, we ended up having an excellent, if busy, holiday weekend. Felicity's parents were down on Wed. & Thurs., spent Fri. morning shopping, and Zach's parents came down Fri. afternoon - Sun. We had a good time and enjoyed showing off Petersburg's good side as well as heading out to Williamsburg. Oh, and our Thanksgiving dinner turned out really well - Meredith has already requested that we cook for Christmas too! These are our most recent kitchen/dining and living room pictures. We've been focusing on energy efficiency for the past two weeks. No pretty pictures to show from that work, but hopefully our electric bills won't be too astronomical...

Late November

2007-12-03T17:32:00.000-08:00

The removal and addition of the addition. Yeah.
Cold weather and winter are coming, so what do we decide to do? Tear off the addition out back and rebuild it. It makes for a cold kitchen (when the addition opens into the house).

Just so you remember, this is what we started with.

We removed both the porch and addition and then expanded the addition to include a half bath as well as a mud room/pantry. This one is still a work in progress but it's getting there. The roof went on after these pictures were taken. It has also been plumbed and wired and the tile floor is almost in.

September/October/early November, continued.

2007-12-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

Living Room
We (pronounced Zach) put up chair rail in the living room and painted the walls. If we could just get around to stripping all of the woodwork in the entire house...

Exterior Changes
We worked together with our neighbors (also renovators) to put in a driveway with off street parking behind our houses as well as paint the exterior of our house. As someone who teaches about rocks, I'm happy to report that our driveway is made out of granite. Now you know. There are a few details of both projects that need to be finished, but they can wait for spring and warmer weather.

September/October/early November

2007-12-03T15:59:00.000-08:00

So what has happened between August (when the last pictures were taken) and now, December 2007? Plenty, and yet not enough! I'm going to try and get this blog up to date, so we're going to skim through the last 3 months.

Bedroom
School started after Labor Day, so we were semi-settled in the house by that point. I (we) spent the first month of school sleeping on an air mattress on the floor. One of the teachers at school asked if Zach and I liked to camp, and after thinking for several seconds I said no, but only because it's too close to our everyday life! Sad, but true.

Bathroom
We also managed to get our bathroom to a working state. It was actually a real pain getting everything to come together. Our floor tile was backordered, and then we were one box short. The tub faucet was missing a piece and therefore only dispensed cold water (not as bad as it sounds when you consider the temps. down here in Aug./Sept.), and finally the fact that the plumbers switched our hot and cold water lines. At this point everything has worked out, but it caused a good amount of stress and some choice words to be directed at some "innocent" Home Depot employees.

Kitchen
We were also focusing on the kitchen since eating out was getting to be a bit dull and also a strain on the wallet. The fact that we had volunteered to cook Thanksgiving dinner for Felicity's family was no small incentive either. It actually went together really smoothly and we're happy with how it looks. It wasn't exactly what we were going for in the beginning (we wanted darker cabinets with a plain slab door) but it turned out nicely, we think.

The dog days

2007-10-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

Fast forward to August. We were living in the house full time now. The goal was to get it to a livable state(livable to us being different than livable to most people - indoor plumbing and a working outlet were the main requirements) by the time I (Felicity) started back to school. We spent most of the summer showering at the YMCA and using our neighbor's bathroom, so indoor plumbing alone would have been a huge improvement. Needless to say, this was Crunch time.

The Beam
The kitchen wall was finally removed, and the supporting beam was put in place. This was one of the few things that we hired out. Seeing as how it supports the second floor of the house, we didn't really want to mess around with it. Oh, and it's 16 feet long.

Insulation
We attempted to insulate what we could while the walls and ceilings were down in most of the rooms. Hopefully we won't be too shocked when the heating bills start arriving this winter...

Drywall
We also hired out the drywall and plaster work. Not that 11.5' ceilings don't sound fun to drywall, really they do, we were just running out of time. And energy. The temperatures spent about a week at 115F, taking the heat index into account. And it was humid; we're on the coastal plain and about three blocks from the Appomattox River. That's hot and steamy. For those of you in PA, you can't even begin to imagine it. And you're lucky!

Notice that the drywaller is wearing not one, but two sets of stilts. Our ceilings are that tall. We actually had two companies turn us down because of the height. Pansies.

And somehow, in between all that work, we managed to find time to play in the dumpster!

Moving along

2007-10-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

By this point (late June/early July) all the plaster had been removed and the rough wiring/electrical/plumbing had been installed. My dad and Zach did the wiring and did a (for the most part) stellar job. They were actually offered jobs by the electrician who installed our electrical panel. At least they have a skill to fall back on...

Wires and Plumbing
Yeah, wires and plumbing. Nice stuff. Much nicer than what we removed.

Basement Stairs
We're now able to take the stairs to the basement without fearing for our lives!

Laundry Hook Ups
I'm stoked about having our laundry room upstairs. Now if only it had walls...

Bathroom Floor
We (and by we I mean Zach and my dad) pulled up the wood flooring in the bathroom and replaced it with plywood since we are planning to tile it. The wood was used to patch the floor in several rooms where it has been damaged.

The renovation begins

2007-10-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

The following pictures were all taken the last week of May. It's hard to believe that it has been that long.

Front
Notice the lovely and very full dumpster out front. We went through, oh, approx. one million of them while we were working. I'm glad to finally be rid of it!

Front Hall
There used to be a doorway leading in to what is now the kitchen. It looks so much better opened up.

Kitchen
This was taken in the kitchen. The partial wall on your left was taken out and a beam went in its place (it's a load bearing wall).

And finally, along with multiple mice and rats, this was found in the living room ceiling... Yeah, the ceiling. We think it's a mummified cat. I can't imagine how badly a cat would smell while decomposing...

Exterior Changes

2007-10-03T13:22:00.000-07:00

Progress! The exterior painting is 90% complete! We'd be at 100% if it had not rained most of today. It looks awesome; no more flaking gold paint! The dumpster was also picked up today so the front of the house is looking much better. Several people have actually stopped to comment on how nice it looks (while that might sound strange to most of the world, it's a pretty common occurrence down here; we renovators are a friendly but nosy bunch). We're no longer an eyesore! I'll upload the exterior shots ASAP.

2007-09-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

Prior to us taking possession of the house, the previous owner had the front porch rebuilt. It ended up looking really nice (although it is currently serving as a place to sit paint cans and drop cloths). The original porch would have looked like this, had it lasted for 151 years. It has a great standing-seam metal roof too, but that isn't visible in the picture.

We also found some names carved into the brick on the outside of the house. I'm assuming they're old ('43) and it just adds some character to the house. I can imagine that little Rufus' mother was not happy to see his name there!

Second Floor

2007-09-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

Same layout as the first floor. In addition to the two main rooms, there is also a room in the front of the hall and one in the back. The the front hall room will become the bathroom and the back hall room will be the laundry room.

Bathroom
This is a large room (about twice the size of our bathroom in Stuart). It's about 7x11, but the window limits how we use the far wall.

Front Bedroom Fireplace
I don't have a picture of the front bedroom, but it's a mirror image of the back room. Like each of the other main rooms, it has a fireplace. (That's right - do the math. Six fireplaces, but only four of them have their mantles. The basement fireplaces were a bit more utilitarian, as that's where the winter kitchen used to be.)

Back Bedroom
I believe that this picture was take from the front room. There is a door that connects the front bedroom with the back. It isn't a feature you'd find in a modern home, but we're planning to keep it.

Interior Pics - First Floor

2007-09-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

Because the exterior wasn't enough to scare us away... The majority of these pictures were taken the first two times we came to see the house. We showed these to very few people while we were mulling over the purchase - not that we don't value your (collective) opinions, we just didn't value them in this regard! Kathie lovingly referred to it as a crack house (how she knew we'll never know ... we didn't tell her!) and we were pretty sure that summed up how most people would feel about it. Obviously we didn't listen, since here we are now.

213 Henry Basics: The ceilings in the house are about 11 feet high, first floor windows are 8 feet tall, and second floor windows are 6 feet. Each of the floors has a hall with two large rooms off it. On the first floor we'll use the front room as a living room and the back room will be a dining room/kitchen.

Front Hall, Stairs

Front Room, from hall
Unfortunately, we were not able to save the curtains. Such a loss.

Back Room
Note the lovely floor furnace in this room.

Looking into Front Room, from back room

The doors separating the front and back room are massive; they're about 8 feet tall.

Back Hall, from back room
This picture was taken looking into the back portion of the hall. The strange wall visible around the opening was taken down, opening up that area. It's not original, and only about 5 feet high.

First Impressions

2007-09-24T17:46:00.001-07:00

These pictures were taken in early spring when we first started looking at houses. She doesn't look like much, but we were pretty interested in her from the beginning. We still are!

Front
Back

The last 6 months in a nutshell.

2007-09-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

April
After three years of county living, we decided that a change was in order. For a myriad of reasons (some of which escape us now) we put our house on the market and chose Petersburg, Virginia as our destination. Within weeks we had a contract to sell our old house and after several scouting trips, an offer in on our new house. We were busy.

May
We closed on the new house in mid-May and quickly relocated Zach. He began to demo much of the house and meet with the people who would become our subcontractors. Felicity stayed behind in Stuart (with Toby and Moira) to finish up the school year.

June
After a week at the beach, it was back to work for both of us. Zach and Tony (Felicity's dad) spent 7 days replacing the wiring in our house while Felicity was busy teaching summer school at CV. June also saw the rough plumbing go in as well as the rough HVAC.

July
The house in Stuart closed on the third, so we're back to owning only one home again. All of our worldly possessions were moved into storage while work on the house continued. In case you're thinking of a visit, Petersburg in July is hot. Hot. While perspiring profusely, we managed to continue much of the work that had been started in June. Both the electrical and plumbing work passed their respective city inspections. Our only major structural change was completed also, with the removal of the wall separating our kitchen and dining areas.

August
Move in time! Sort of. We moved into our neighbors house (thanks guys!) and slept on their floor while continuing to work on the renovations. The drywall was hung and the plaster walls were repaired, professionally thank goodness. We also had the metal roof recoated. Vic, Tony, and Meredith also joined us for a weekend of fun sanding and sealing the floors. In addition we managed to get the bathroom to a functional state (running water! even if it was cold!) and hook up several light fixtures. What a difference! It also made getting ready for work much easier, as Felicity started school towards the end of the month. Not having to shower at the YMCA? Priceless!

September
So far this month (with the end in sight) we've managed to paint every room, hang every light fixture and hook up the water heater! Appox. half of the electrical outlets have been hooked up with the rest nearing completion. The HVAC work has also been completed. Our kitchen cabinets have been installed (DIY, thankyouverymuch) and the appliances are all in place and working. Both our satellite tv and DSL were hooked up this month also, so we've had the luxury of wasting time again! How we had missed it!

Rest assured that you haven't missed out on all of our work. There is still much to come. And, most importantly, pictures will follow in the next post.