off to pittsburgh!

we're headed out to PA today to kim and steve's wedding. also in our plans is my first trip to punxsy (yay!), eating italian food (mmm..), visiting with dave and maureen and baby owen (who's probably now considerably bigger!), going to the 'O' (Original Hot Dog Shop) for my birthday, and getting to see John and Linda's house for the first time :)
on the house update, we've turned in our apartment keys, but still have many many boxes to unpack! loving the neighborhood though :)

A Marriage by Michael Blumenthal

You are holding up a ceiling
with both arms. It is very heavy,
but you must hold it up, or else
it will fall down on you. Your arms
are tired, terribly tired,
and, as the day goes on, it feels
as if either your arms or the ceiling
will soon collapse.

But then,
unexpectedly,
something wonderful happens:
Someone,
a man or a woman,
walks into the room
and holds their arms up
to the ceiling beside you.

So you finally get
to take down your arms.
You feel the relief of respite,
the blood flowing back
to your fingers and arms.
And when your partner's arms tire,
you hold up your own
to relieve him again.

And it can go on like this
for many years
without the house falling.

hip hip hooray!

we spent the weekend with cassie and mike, had a wonderful time :) cassie and i did some dress shopping (sorry, those pics are passworded until after the wedding!), we of course spent time in the parks, and even were able to take them downtown orlando and to winter park! it was a busy busy weekend, but it was so great to see my sister- i wish all our families could live so much closer! i'll just keep holding out for a "beam me up scotty" machine for christmas i guess ;)
in other news, we have our house!!! closing went off without a hitch (thanks sarah!) and lastnight, nate and i celebrated by using the new grill (thanks john and nina!) for a tasty dinner of hot dogs and beer :) is there a better way to celebrate? i think not.
i can't even describe what it felt like to back down the driveway and think, wow... i live here!
john (nate's dad) will be here tonight to help us pack and move which will be a huge help. tonight, nate's going to cut the grass while i clean the house - tee hee :)

escrow: e-s-s-c-r-o-e

when i was in 5th or 6th grade, i was in a spelling bee (as i'm sure many of us were!) in my memory, i was doing pretty well.... until ... they rolled out with the word "escrow"
.
.
eh? es-wha? i'd never even heard of the word and i certainly didn't know how to spell it. turns out, i overcomplicated it. it's quite phonetic. (i don't think the above is how i spelled it, but i know it was incorrect!)
with that in mind, we close this friday, which is incredibly exciting :) escrow and all. cassie arrives on wednesday, we're headed to a better than ezra concert wednesday evening, wedding dress shopping thursday evening, mike arrives on friday morning, then nate and i will sign more papers than we ever thought possible! we're planning a minimalist bbq on friday evening with mike and cassie before showing them the orlando sights all weekend :)
next tuesday, nate's dad arrives to help us move- which is going to be an incredible help! we're trying to get organized to he doesn't arrive to a total mess! :)

my new favorite travel website

is www.kayak.com - it searches all the other sites and i love the search functions :) try it out for your next trip :)
in other news, we had a wonderful time in PA! i posted pics a few days ago. if i could spend every morning of my life on the porch of the river house, i would! it's so nice waking up there- and this weekend, it felt like fall! kicked up my pumpkin cravings again (i was just starting to get into a key lime groove down here in florida!)
more later, but right now, i'm going to bed!

i want to live in the house already!

now! i feel like i'm just biding our time at the apartment until we can:

1. use our grill (now waiting patiently in storage)
2. let the dog out the backdoor instead of walking her downstairs every morning, afternoon, and evening
3. blare music while i cook :)
4. have lots of rooms to fill! not with babies yet though parents, calm down! just furniture for now :)
5. have people over for a housewarming party
6. put in cool new floors
7. ride our bikes to the trail after/before work

i can't wait ;)

ernesto's a comin'!

"Bands of heavy rain and high wind from Tropical Storm Ernesto began lashing South Florida this afternoon, sparking a wave of school, government and business closures across Central Florida.Ernesto is expected to run up the center of the peninsula overnight, bringing the tropical storm across the Orlando area Wednesday afternoon and evening. The storm, once a hurricane, continues to have maximum sustained winds of 45 mph today, but is expected to strengthen before hitting Florida tonight with winds in excess of 60 mph.
Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia, Polk and Brevard counties already have decided to close public schools on Wednesday, while Lake County will close an hour earlier than its usual early-release time on Wednesday.Some local colleges, most courthouses, and a few businesses also will be closing, but local theme parks said they plan to be open."

hurricane? party?

so as ernesto looms closeby, the city appears to be gearing up for a hurricane. it's interesting, in some ways, it feels a lot like waiting for an impending snowstorm but in others... not the same at all. this morning on our drive the hotels had their marquis(s?) advertising evacuation rates- all tourists have been kicked out of the keys it seems.
if it hits big, apparently everyone gathers at a safely constructed house for a hurricane party- fun twist for a pretty scary and serious event! but i'm all for it, i'd much rather be in a house than in our second story apartment if one hits.
supposedly we could see ernesto come this way wednesday evening or thursday, our area is considered high to moderate risk currently. we'll keep you updated though! :)

i posted pictures...

but i'm going to add captions soon -- so check back ;)

hello from dallas!

i'm sitting in julia's studio in dallas and we're a flurry of activity this morning (after sleeping in until 10:20!) ashlea's headed out for a run, nate's going on a coffee run, jules just jumped in the shower, and i'm blogging!
let's see... what has happened since i last blogged? oh! we had some wonderful visitors :) nate's parents were here last weekend and we had a fantastic time. i finished phase one of a looong project and was pretty tired on friday- what a lovely surprise to come home to a tasty smelling apartment and a set table! after dinner in (thanks nina!) and some tasty desserts, we headed out to downtown disney for some sightseeing and shopping.
the next morning, we headed to the beach! venice as usual :) we spent some time in the shops and grabbed milkshakes/floats/sodas before heading out to the beach- but it's a good thing we did because venice beach had red tide. i'd never even heard of this and for those of you that haven't you'll have to do with my explanation- algae presence somehow surges in the water, consuming all the oxygen and depriving the fish of it. this results in tons of dead fish washing up on the beach. as soon as we got near the beach, it stung our eyes and made us cough.
not to be deterred, we headed north slightly to nokomis beach! there it was present, but not too bad so we sunned, but didn't swim. then we had a tasty italian dinner out.
sunday back to the beach, but this time, siesta key! it was beautiful with fine white sand and warm warm water (87 degrees!) we hung out there most of the day before swinging back to venice to pick up cleo and heading home. their trip went be entirely too fast, but at least we'll be in PA at the end of the month and will see them again soon!
this past week, i've started helping cassie plan for an august 2007 wedding in sedona and nate and i had some nice relaxing evenings :)
i think that's it for now! oh and p.s., nate and i have been married for six months as of yesterday :) my my how time does fly!

sparky's engaged!

cassie and mike are engaged as of yesterday! :) so far, i have a blurry cell phone picture of what looks to be a gorgeous ring and am waiting for more :) congrats to them! and three cheers for more wedding planning!!

home inspection?

check! we had a great a thorough home inspection today- nate followed him around and learned A LOT! he ran the dishwasher, oven, flushed the toilets, plugged something funny into all the outlets, poked and prodded in the attic, etc. he found a few minor things, but overall said it's a great house :) it was great fun- i entertained myself while they were busing nosing around by taking tons of interior photos about the house :) check them out on our photos page.
thanks for all the comments about the house! we're so excited to have visitors and can't wait to figure out what to do with all those bedrooms!

happy birthday sparky!
cassie is the big 2-7 today!

yay! we have a house!

here it is! it was actually the original one we put an offer in on -- we're so excited! :) and we close september 15th! start planning your visits :)

phooey!

no house! well, at least not that one... they weren't willing to deal- oh well! :) more fun walking around in other people's houses anyway... stay tuned for our real estate adventures and thanks for the well wishes ;)

i'll give you... $10, a breath mint, and this piece of lint in my pocket

for that house! so it's been a blogging while, but we've been busy! nate and i made an offer on a house yesterday which we're really excited about and are currently in negotations ;) pictures to come if and when it's ours!
other goings on are i have a huge four-week long study at work and i'm in week two- if anything, that's the biggest reason i've dropped off the face of the blogging earth ;) but things have been great :) we had some friends in from punxsy both last weekend and this most recent past weekend and got to spend some time in the parks and at dinner with each.
nate's be-all, end-all of adult life has arrived- not marriage, not his own home, not a full-time job, but his very own brand spanking new leather chair ;) he's been smoking a pipe and playing the master piece theatre soundtrack ever since! no, not really, but it's a funny mental picture, eh? :)
oh, and you've probably forgotten by now, but the 'island of inappropriate clothing' is disney, and here's why: if you happened to be in an early morning canoe race, and then needed to be in acceptable business clothing but happened to forget an important required item such as ... say... pantyhose, you'd be up a creek without a paddle. seriously- there is nothing for miles where one could purchase business acceptable clothing! in a nutshell, i forgot my pantyhose the first day of canoeing practice, and then next day forgot them AGAIN, and the next day remembered the pantyhose but managed to leave my shoes at home- i was a mess! but it all worked out and i got dressed okay so no worries ;) think that's all for now :)

blog candy

so i have a new design :) even though m was the only one cool enought to both notice AND comment. way to go bloggers... way to go ;)
but if you're interested despite all evidence to the contrary, here's the site i pulled the template from: http://blogger-templates.blogspot.com/ they have some cool ones :)
ps: stay tuned for a mildy entertaining story about a lack of pantyhose and island of inappropriate clothing. actually... that makes it sound more entertaining than it really is, so don't get your hopes up!

photos updated!

i added 3 galleries to july ;) thank you, that is all. you can now return to your regularly scheduled weekend!

happy 3rd of july!

(almost the 4th!) :) i have a very important announcement to make. after living in disarray for quite sometime, nate and i finally unpacked completely! that is to say... there are no visible boxes in our living spaces. take it for what you will and note: living space does not include closets! :)
tomorrow we're having friends over for the 4th -- we'll be missing the ivey celebration :( but hope to fill the day so we don't sit around thinking about the great party we're missing! so we're going to kick off the day with a breakfast of refried beans and fried potatoes and a little mario (like the good old days at my dad's house!) :) and then start preparing to grill and swim and then possibly go in search of fireworks! should be a full day :)
have a safe and happy fourth!

Falling in Love Is Like Owning a Dog

by Taylor Mali

First of all, it's a big responsibility,
especially in a city like New York.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you're walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain't no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breaths
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn't like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Somethimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you're all wound up and can't move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.