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!