Hello Primer White!

We have finally arrived at the part of the home improvement process that I have been waiting for.  We finally got to put roller to wall and prime the office, guest room, hall bathroom and upstairs hallway.  It is a small step, but it is visable progress and I am so excited.  The next step will be to find a paint color and get normal colors on the walls.  Goodbye to the combination of two tone blue, aqua with gold, alternating blue and orange, and mauve paired with brown carpet!  I have a feeling I will not miss them at all!

Linens Meeting

Mike and I went to the Vandiver the other night and met with their in-house wedding coordinator, Chasi.  She is amazing.  So sweet, energetic and incredibly helpful.  With everything else going on, we thought we were a little bit behind in the wedding planning department.  However, she made us feel so much better about everything and even gave us a renewed excitement about jumping back into the planning process.  We have some decor and theme ideas which we can't wait to explore. But next up, finding a DJ.

MawMaw

My grandmother has always been a great source of happiness in my life.  Although I did not see her very often, the time I spent with her always made me smile and dread the trip home.  She was always supportive every step of the way, from dropping everything to stay with us after my mother's funeral, to being overjoyed when I called to tell her I was getting married.  She was diagnosed with lung cancer and she fought with great courage.  I visited her after her final round of treatment and she had nothing but smiles for us.  When the cancer eventually spread, she went with grace, surrounded by her loved ones.

MawMaw -  December 21, 1930 - January 20, 2011


Until I see you again....

*Snow Place Like Home*

Mazi watching from the safety of his perch.

I absolutely love the snow.  Last year’s back-to-back-to-back storms had me beyond elated.  The fact that I had a couple of snow days and got to stay home to enjoy it made it that much better.  While this year lacked the “big one” we certainly got a few storms to remind me why I love this area and can’t imagine a winter without the peaceful white blanketing of snow all around.  Yes, the seemingly weekly systems that only left enough accumulation to be annoying, and the passing storms did make it inconvenient at times and definitely ruined most of my weekend plans, I still can’t help but get giddy every time I see it start to flurry.

Mike out early to clean off both cars.

Being in a new house in a new neighborhood, Mike and I didn’t know quite what to expect this Winter.  Would we lose power?  How long would it take to have the surrounding roads passable?  Did we really have to shovel the sidewalk that winds around our house which seems so much longer than everybody else’s?  Well, we quickly found out that we luckily keep our power throughout the storms and that whoever is contracted to plow our neighborhood is incredibly fast to get it cleared (a little too fast in my opinion since it negates the “I couldn’t get out” excuse).  Plus, I found out that my fiancé is amazingly thoughtful and gentlemanly as her brushes off and de-ices my vehicle most mornings.

We had a lot of fun this winter and enjoyed taking pictures of the new house covered in snow.  Below are a few.

Standing in the middle of the street taking pictures (instead of shoveling).

Out back.

Bonus! We found that having my dad's trailer taking up half the driveway meant we hardly had any driveway to shovel!

The epitome of coolness.

Lots and lots of snow!

And for those of you who are civically minded and curious, we did shovel the sidewalk…most of the time.

The Ponies Have FINALLY Moved

My move to Delaware has really not been complete until now.  Teddy and Gretta have remained in Maryland while I searched for a suitable new barn and coordinated their move.  Driving the 2 hours to see them in Taneytown, MD and the 2 hours home was taxing, and the thought of any kind of emergency coming up with them while I was so far away kept my anxiety level high (well, higher than normal). Enough was enough and I was determined to get them up here asap.  I drove almost 200 miles over two weekends to look at 13 barns trying to find a place that my ponies and I could feel comfortable at, and as importantly, one I could afford.  Not knowing the area and having limited horsey contacts made things a bit difficult.  Luckily, Mike’s sister, Laura, was super helpful and had some advice as well as a few suggestions of  some places to check out.  After a lot of thinking and mapping and even a pros/cons list, I ultimately decided on a barn in West Chester, PA.  This wasn’t any barn.  Not only is it relatively affordable, but the people seem great and it is absolutely beautiful.  It is located on a historic estate that served as the site of the Battle at Brandywine during the Revolutionary War.  After some research I found out that the hill the estate is located on was the resting point of British and German soldiers where they took tea time while Washington’s Continental Army formed a defensive line a mile away.  The British Army eventually finished their picnic and overcame the Americans who had to retreat, re-form, and then retreat again.  (Thank you Google for all of your internet wisdom and history lessons.)  Anyway, the estate land is gorgeous and the bank barn from 1790 is a great place for Teddy and Gretta to spend their nights.  Part of me is hoping the family adopts me so I can live there.

After many delays due to weather and my hauler’s (aka my dad’s) schedule, we finally were able to move the horses on January 9^th.  I was nervous about the trip 1) because the horses have not been trailered that far before and 2) because I’m always a nervous wreck when it comes to moving them.  Teddy and Gretta loaded and trailered like pros and I even relaxed enough to snap a couple pictures during a quick rest stop (a rest stop that I wish I could blame on anybody else, but was completely at my request).

Are we there yet?

Of course the homemade tackbox had to come along too!

Teddy settled in nicely as soon as he saw food while Gretta was more skeptical and took a bit longer to
adjust.  After I was convinced they would last the night, I left them in their cozy new stalls and promised to be back the next day to check on them.  Over the next few days Gretta went on a hunger strike for some reason, but she is now eating more regularly and seems happy.  At least I think she is happy.  She has returned to her “I could care less about you” sort of attitude and is back to chasing Teddy around the field.  Meanwhile, Teddy is still enjoying every meal and relishes in eating throughout the day.  Obviously, Teddy takes after me :)

Here are some pictures of the new place.

Osbourne Hill Farm

The silo that I worry about side swiping.

Teddy and Gretta's new field

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Next door neighbors again. Notice Teddy in the background, probably looking for food.

Teddy, still looking for food.

Kitchen Progress!

We are making progress on the kitchen, slowly but surely.  Sections of the walls needed to be removed, outlets had to be installed or moved, electric wire needed to be run, the floor had to be leveled, drywall had to be put back up and spackled and the lovely green stripes had to be spackled and sanded.  For a list that only takes up a few lines, it has certainly taken us a while to get to everything.  Our weekends have been full of hard work and we try to spend some weeknights to getting odds and ends done.  I definitely miss peaceful weekends spent catching up on tv and going out to dinner with friends, but I miss having a kitchen even more!  Mike has been great at devoting nearly all of his free time working.  Ocassionaly he lets me drag him out for a fun dinner out every once in a while- and the fact that we get to eat something not made in the microwave is an added bonus.

New walls are so pretty, especially when it means we are making progress!

The new sink wall complete with green board.

Mike goes a little overboard with the spackle!

Even more spackle and lots of floor leveler.