Another busy couple of weeks...and things won't slow down for awhile!

Well yet again lots has happened since the last time I posted updates on the blog. And, as you can tell from the countdown on the right side of this page, we are rapidly approaching the date when we will close and get to move into our new house. I think it is starting to sink in that we will be moving out of the trailer. We have piles of boxes here right now. That is our project for next weekend - pack it all up and put it in the storage trailer for about a month.

Here are some pictures of the house from over the past few weeks:

Living room - as you can see the fireplace tile was installed. There will be a wood mantle around the fireplace and a matching wood ledge at the top of the bumpout so we can (ok, so I can) put decor up there). The Fesers, who are doing our cabinets, are also constructing the mantle and ledge to match.

As you can see from the pictures, they have also installed the door and window casings. I love the white - it make all the colors "pop." The baseboard trim will also be white.

Living room windows:
Laundry
Master Bedroom

Hallway niches - the bottoms of them will also be painted the darker color, but the painter hasn't completed that yet.
Looking from the living room toward the entry/hallway/2nd bedroom/den:
Dining room:
Entry way:
Master bathroom - as you can see, they installed the tub deck and whirlpool tub. Incidentally, the brand of the tub is JASON. I need to find something with "Sara" as the brand to equal that out somewhere in the house.

The exterior of the house as of Friday, 9-12-08. It's pretty much done now on the outside except the pillars will have a white casing and they have to install the coach lights. I love how the rock turned out with everything!
Close-up view of our front porch/patio area:
Little Grandma, Mom and Dad came out to see the house on Friday night with us after Dad's birthday party and decided to check out the front porch! :)
The cabinets in the bathrooms will go in this week and the painter will continue painting all the casings around the doors and windows and some other detail work. I think they might also install the flooring in laundry room and guest bathroom and the flooring and tile in the master bathroom, but don't quote me on that. I think the electricians will be in this week also.

Next week, Jay and a few of his buddies are going to install our hardwood floor in the living/kitchen dining rooms, the entryway/hallways and in the master bedroom.

That's basically the house update! Our "goal" is to close/move in on October 17, so just over a month and we'll be in our new home! :)

As you can tell by the title of this entry, we have had a busy, but good, couple of weeks. Here are some of the highlights:

Last weekend, I got a text from a friend that I went to law school with that he and his girlfriend were en route to a wedding in New Salem, of all places, and that he wanted to see if Jay & I would meet him out to have some supper and catch up. I bet I hadn't talked to him in almost a year. It was a nice surprise to hear from someone out of the blue. We did meet him out along with Jake and spent a few hours visiting and catching up.

Last week, we had Micaela's birthday party on Tuesday. As you know from my prior blog entry, she turned 13. I still can't believe that!

Here are a few pictures from the party:

The birthday girl with Gabe & Riley:
The family singing "Happy Birthday" to Micaela:

Little Grandma and Mom:
The family watching Micaela open presents:
Me with the birthday girl - my niece/goddaughter:
Thursday was our friend Trav's birthday so we met him out for awhile that evening, which was fun. I graduated high school with Trav so it's fun to reminisce about high school days. Trav is one of those friends that I kind of knew in high school but got to be good friends with later on in life. That has happened with a few people I knew in high school. It seems you get out of that high school environment and are able to get to know people better. At least that's my opinion!

Friday we had yet another birthday to celebrate - my dad's. (His actual birthday is Sept. 16). However, my parents took off to Hawaii for a couple week trip on Saturday morning so we had his party Friday evening before they left.

Here are a couple pictures of Dad ("Papa Ron") with the grandkids:

On Saturday, I got up bright and early to drop my parents off at the airport for their flight to Hawaii. Then, I came into work from 7:00am until about 11:30am - when I was rescued from working by Sandy and Lyndsey, who called about meeting them at the Street Fair, which is right out the front door to our office building. Val and the girls were already there so we all met up to have some lunch and to wander around to look at all the booths. We also stopped in a couple downtown stores and I bought a few things for the house at one of those stores. (Look out, house decor shopping has officially begun!) It was fun to do some shopping with Sandy and Lyndsey!

After that, I went over to watch Micaela's cross country meet. I have heard through my brother that she averaged about 8 minute miles which is awesome! That's better than I could do - I know that!!

Jay's softball team had a golf outing and fish fry on Saturday afternoon and well into the evening, which meant that the beagles and I ended up with a girl's night in. I ended up renting a "chick flick" ("Juno") which I had been wanting to see for quite some time. (Jay wasn't so keen on watching it). I thought it was really good - well worth it!

Sunday I got into work again for awhile and then took the beagles to the annual Shaggy Shuffle. This is the 3rd year I have participated in it. I love it - there are always tons of dogs around and it's just a fun atmosphere! Plus, it's for a good cause. I have to work on getting more donations in future years, but have been able to raise some money each year. It benefits the Central Dakota Humane Society, which is a no-kill non-profit animal shelter. My brother's family got their dog from CDHS.

Tom was able to join me for the walk. We're proud to say I think we came in with a strong 2nd & 3rd place finish with the 2-mile course. (Too bad we don't get medals - haha!) Tom took the "difficult" dog to walk - Jerz. She seemed determined to finish in the top 5, doing her usual pulling on the leash while walking. I had Bailey who is probably the easiest dog to walk, unless there is something or someone that makes her skiddish. Jerz also managed to dive into a big bowl of puppy treats which were sitting on the end of a table at one of the treat/water stations along the way. She has no shame! Oh well, we had the ladies who were at the table laughing over that!

Here are a few pictures from the event:

Jerz & Bailey pre-"race":
A picture of the crowd with all the dogs before the walk began:
Tom got a picture of me walking the dogs at the start:
Tom walking Jerz:

After the walk, our volleyball team had a scrimmage scheduled, which was good practice for our season which starts on Wednesday of this week. Thanks to Robyn and her team and the others that came to scrimmage with/against us - we needed it! Our team got moved up a division after tying for first in league last year, so we need some good competition to get ready for the season!

Jay did dishes for possibly the 2nd to last time last night. I think out of anything about the new house, he is most excited about having a dishwasher!

We ended up "having" to sell the trailer to our landlord, who denied the application from the guy who was going to buy our trailer, that I had referred to in an earlier blog entry. While we were not happy with the way the landlord handled the whole situation, at least as of next Monday, the trailer will be sold for the same price. As I mentioned earlier we are packing/moving/cleaning throughout this entire upcoming weekend, so we can get out of there!

Jay has been in there for a long time, and while he is ready to move out, there are a lot of memories in there from all the years he has been there. But, it's time for us to move into a new home, our first house. I didn't know how excited I would be to move when the time came, or what emotions I would be feeling. I know I have been sad every time I've moved out of a place (which has been several places since I graduated high school). Sometimes, those memories just get me! In the 2+ years I have lived at the trailer, we have had some pretty fun times. We have gotten through some pretty tough times as well. I studied for the bar exam twice while living there. It's the only home Jerz has ever known and it's been the home in which Bailey got her chance at a better life (since she came from an abusive home before we adopted her from the pound). I know Jay has many more memories from there. I'm sure they will all come flooding back as we pack everything up this weekend and walk out of there for probably the last time. It has served it's purpose, and then some, over the years. If those walls could talk...

So it really is "bittersweet" - this whole moving process. I can say that I am really starting to get excited to begin making a whole new set of memories in our new home. Every time I go out there, it feels more and more like home to me.

I know this was a long post and I'm not sure when the next one will happen. Work and everything related to moving will be taking up a lot of time in the next couple weeks., so we will see!

Have a great week everyone!