Life Adventures

In 2008, soon after moving into the house, we replaced the faulty chair rail moulding in the den and replaced with large square and small square moulding. We still had the hole above the fireplace for the TV that we wanted to get rid of.  In 2016- I wanted to mirror the same square theme to frame the hole on top of the fireplace.  We did lessen the indention of the hole so that it was not so large, but still allowed a focal point for interest.  So this is what we ended up with: In Dec 2018 - Jan 2019 during the kitchen renovation, we decided to go ahead and improve the den floor by laying hardwood.  The Berber carpet was really looking drab.  We chose a toffee color hardwood.  While I prefer the darker hardwood, we don't get a lot of direct sun at the back of the house.  Event with the toffee color, the dark wood furniture and dark color of the couch made the room look a little too dark.  So, I updated the look with a new...

We've been without a fridge in the kitchen for 10 years, a microwave for 4 years, and finally the left side of the sink started leaking.  It seemed like putting off a kitchen remodel any longer didn't make much practical sense.  I would have rather had a longer time between projects, however, we know that for any resale in the future we needed to upgrade the kitchen. The current kitchen is builder grade oak cabinets without any moulding accents.  We plan to paint the cabinets white (Mountain Peak Benjamin Moore color).  The knobs are oil rubbed bronze, and I'm adding pulls to the drawers.  The white appliances will be replaced with stainless steel. The island has already been shortened to 4 inches (it was 8 inches high).  The bare wall on the back of the island will be filled with moulding that mirrors the larger and small squares in the den. The sink will be replaced with a new stainless steel with half-rise divider.  The faucet will be ...

This was our second or third year attending this event.  For 2 nights, one in Dec and one in Jan, dogs are allowed.  Last year Logan was with us.  This year the baton was passed to Gracie and she made her first visit.  The lights were just as good this year, even though there were some differences.  But my favorite - the fountain - was still there and remained my favorite. New to us this year was taking dogs into the conservatory.  There we saw the decorated tree and a few exhibits. We walked around the big lake, and saw a few other greyhounds.  The lights across the lake looked like a little city.  One of the buildings was decorated in a pretty purple this year. On the other side of the gardens was a stroll through the woods and around a smaller lake.  The light in the woods surrounding a small bridge was another favorite. Frye got the most attention.  Gracie made friends with a Corgie at the refreshment a...

One of our favorite trips we've had as a family over the years is the trip to Carova - a 4x4 only beach area - where we stay at Running on Faith.  Our first trip was in Dec 2008, then we returned in Dec 2009, May 2010, and December 2010.  When we bought the RV, we stopped coming, only to return now, 8 years later. View in 2018 The crew at the house 2008 Same house 2018 Me with Logan on the dune 2010 Me on the same dune 20018 with the new crew - Braddock and Gracie After Logan passed, we were desperately trying to find out where to go to finally take a vacation this year and get out of the house - like we had done when we lost Phineas and Noel.  The difference in the past, however, is that the trips were already planned.  We had a tentative plan to do something in November on the way to the Concord trial, but decided to make something happen now.  We debated whether to return to Running on Faith or go to Cape Hatteras.  It came down to ...