Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Be Back Before You Know It!

Yep, we're on vacation!!!  We've been gone since last Thursday and we'll be coming back this Friday.  (Hence the lack of posts on this here ol' blog.)  So far, we've spent two nights at Massanutten resort where we took a time-share presentation (we didn't buy, I'm way too cheap for that), went mountain biking and went to a driving range.  After that we moved to a campsite along the Shenandoah  River.  There was a big WVU game the night that we moved to the campsite... and we had no TV!!  So, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings, which was filling up fast because there was also a UFC fight at the same time as the game.  We had to get there early to get a seat, so we spent 5 hours in the restaurant.  Let's just say, I felt like I had to leave a mighty generous tip to the waitress whole took great care of us the whole time.  The next day, back at the campsite, we set off on our 18 mile kayaking trip.  We did 10 miles the first day, ended at our campsite and 8 miles the second day.  Yikes... that's why I'm so tired!  After coming back from the second day float, we packed up camp and headed to Williamsburg.  In fact, that's where I'm sitting now, looking out the window at some horses :)  Now we have 4 days to chill out and relax.  Just what I need after all that physical activity!  I'll be back with a new post next week, but right now I gotta get me some breakfast! ;)

-Brooke

Monday, September 19, 2011

Business in the Front, Party in the Back

Oh yeah, from my title are you thinking of some sweet, sweet mullets?
Like this one....
Photo from here.

Or who could forget the lady mullet...

Photo from here.

Now did they know how to do hair or what!?!

Sadly, the reason for the title isn't because Chris is getting a mullet of his own... or me either for that matter.  Actually, "business in the front, party in the back" is how we hope to one day describe our house!

I'm about ready to share a pic of our house that is a little embarrassing to say the least.  We've been focusing all of our time/energy/resources on the front yard.  The front is about 2 acres of flat with our house being at the very back.  The house goes over the hill, the first floor being level with the front yard, and the basement going over the hill.  The front yard is FAR from finished.  When we first decided to build here, our property was nothing but woods.  We had a logging crew come in and log what we wanted to be our yard.  (We still have plenty of woods, we have ten acres and about 3 of them are clear.)  Well... when they log your property, they take the big logs, but leave all the tree tops laying there.  Not to mention the stumps!!  We've been here for a year and 1/2, and we're still having bonfires and diggin' up stumps!  Granted, we don't do much burning when it's summer.  Fire when it's 90 degrees out= heat stroke.  We actually got all of the stumps out and planted grass right in front of the house so we would have some kind of a yard, but we haven't had much luck gettin' it to grow.  Grrr... I hate rocks/ mud/ dirt!  But enough about the front yard... now to the poor, neglected back yard. Sadly, here's a picture of it.


As you can see, we don't have doors or windows in our basement yet, and we have piles of construction materials still back here from building.  There's still some excavating that needs done and grass needs planted.  Oh, and watch that first step out of the top door, it's a doozy! (Don't worry, we have a key lock on the inside and out so no one can open it without a key.)

Being so high up makes for a great tree house feeling in the kitchen.



It feels like your living in the trees.  That would be quite a drop from the door though... and it wouldn't be a soft landing.

(Yes, that's a squash that was too soft, so I just threw it out the back... I know... lazy)  

Trust me, we may not have much done, but we have big plans... now are you ready for some mad Photoshopping skills???  Well, you won't see any here, but I tried.  First comes the windows and doors.



Looking a lot better already!  Then we need grass, decks, trees, and.. oh yeah.. a pool!!!


I know, the editing is really bad, but at least it gives a general idea.  We're gonna have an upper deck with a screen room at the far end.  That deck will have steps (not pictured) that go down to the lower deck that will lead to the pool.  Of course, we're going to put a deck around the pool, and add a whole lot of fun furniture.

Hmm... so where are we gonna to get a pool this size?  What did we do last weekend?

We got a pool!!  Actually, we got a free pool!!  One of Chris' co-workers was getting rid of his pool and said if we took it down, we could have it.  Oh yeah baby!  I might actually be tan next year....
Here are some pics of the actual pool.




It's 15' x 30' and 4' deep.  We had planned on buying a pool next year, but it wouldn't have been anything like this, we were planning on one of the $300 pools from Sam's Club.  

So, we're putting the pool away until the Spring.  We have lots and lots of work to get done on the back yard before then.  I'll keep you updated as we go through this torture journey.  Yay!!  Business in the front, PARTY in the back!!

Very sad side note- up until yesterday, we had a very sweet little goat that was keeping the back yard clear.  We'll miss you Ecko.


-Brooke

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Let's Go....Mountaineers

Hey guys!  I'm not gonna be able to post much this week, my great uncle Emmett has passed away.  So, I'm heading out of town for the funeral.  Our family appreciates your prayers.  I'll be back Friday with a new house post, promise. Today, instead of my usual, I thought I would share some pics of the WVU game last weekend.  I know, I know, pictures of other people's lives... boring... at least my mom will want to see :)

On game day, the population of Morgantown, WV explodes from around 30k to around 80k.  It's ca-razy!!   If you're not going to the game, you can basically forget about doing anything else in Morgantown that day, traffic is a nightmare.

Since WV has no pro teams, WVU is our pride and joy.  The whole state shows love, unless we're playing Marshall (our in-state rival) then the state is divided.

Until this year, when the players came out onto the field, they ran through this helmet.  New coach= new traditions, so now it's outside the stadium where yahoos like me can get their pic with it.  Look at those muscles... I think I could take some of those football players in a fight.


The pilgrimage to the stadium. 



Pre-game show.  We have an incredibly talented band.  Everytime I see 'em I'm amazed.  Look at the state of WV formation!

Here come the boys!!  Let's get this thing going.

Since the game was on September 10, the half-time show was all devoted to America.  It was pretty cool.


Fly-over!

The band made different formations for the different branches of the military.  This one was for the air force.




It was a good day with the hubster. Did you do anything exciting last weekend?

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