FOR SALE!!

Okay, this is my third post of the day, but it is the one I am most excited about! Our house is finally on the market! It is well overdue since we move in less than a month, but because Michael and I are the worst procrastinators in the world better now than later I guess. Anyone interested? :)

By the way, I ran a poll on the blog about 2 years ago about what color to paint the front door and might I say that the red turned out GREAT!! Thanks everyone for your votes and help. Love it!

I have a dream...

My parents have had a few homes built over the years (around four that I can remember) and would often buy catalogs filled with house plans from many different styles: victorian, florida-spanish style, one-story rambler, craftsman, etc. For as long as I can remember, I would grab one of these catalogs and lie on my stomach and imagine myself walking through the houses, locating great little corners to read books,deciding whether a bathroom was too small to be shared between two bedrooms, and imagining if a back porch was large enough to enjoy in the middle of summer. I love houses. I love the way they make a family complete, they give a sense of safety, peace, and serenity as well as ownership.

Now that we are selling our house I have been thinking about my dream of one day taking a sad dilapadated house and restoring it to something beautiful, charming and warm again. I want to take something that is full of history and make it into something that everyone can enjoy and I would love to take that house, preferably Victorian, and run a bed and breakfast in it. I would love to share it with others and show the pride I have in accomplishing something that was hard, time consuming and inevitiably worth it just to take one house off of my "Oh it would look so beautiful fixed-up" list that I have in my head.

Since we have done so much in the 98-year-old house that we have been living in here in Cincinnati for the past five years, I thought I had had my fill of fixing up a house, but now I know that was only a small taste of what I have been dreaming of.

We have done so much, or atleast I have with the help of a lovely, if not sometimes cranky and unproductive husband. I've not only painted EVERY room in my home (sometimes twice) but I have also installed tile in the kitchen with my mom's help on the floors, countertops and backsplash, (THANKS MOM!!!!) put crown molding up in the living room and dining room, put chair rail in the dining room, painted the floors upstairs, retiled and regrouted the bathroom tile, painted my front door "Posh Red" and a million other little projects that have taken me to Lowe's sometimes three and four times in a day.

My dream is still there in the back of my head and I know there is that pretty victorian house out there just like this one that is waiting for me to show it some TLC. Now the only thing left to do is find it and convince Michael that it is worth the time and money.

Cross Country

Well, Michael leaves today for Utah. He will be taking his car the 24 hour drive to make it in time for his 10-year High School reunion and wow, did I have a fun time packing it up for him. It only took me four hours, a major headach and a messy house to pack his car full of everything we won't be needing until we move to California.

He's going to leave his car at his mom's in Utah and then fly back to Cincinnati so that he can turn around and make the 36 hour drive with me to California in a about three weeks.

So, he'll be gone for a few days enjoying himself and performing his stand-up routine at his reunion (yes, Michael if you didn't know performs stand-comedy a little on the side) and I'll have the lovely task of cleaning out the garage and getting our home ready for an open house on Sunday. I guess him driving roughly 6o hours back and forth across the country makes me feel less abandoned. :)

Kidney Donation on "The Today Show"

This is a really great story that I wanted to share with everyone who was interested. It was covered on "The Today Show" this morning and it is especially worthwhile because our friend Jordan Brough is one of the features in the story. It tells of how many people are in need of kidney donations to survive and how many strangers reached out and donated because they wanted to help people in need. This is not a simple surgery, by the way, and required 2 hospital days for Jordan and a bit of recovery time, but I'm sure it is someth ing that both he and the woman he donated to will remember for the rest of their lives.

Jordan, you are awesome and such a giver to those in need! You're an inspiration!

Whip up something Great!

I just had to share this really great website with anyone who is crafty and even for all of you who are just like me and aren't quite so crafty! It's called whipup.net and is chock full of amazing ideas for lazy day craft making.  It is such a wonderful resource blog that compiles some of the best craft ideas from individual's blogs into one website. I can't wait to move to California and have some spare time to whip up some really great things.  Some ideas I'm excited about making: 

a passport holder

a peasant blouse from an old men's shirt

a polka dot quilt

First on my list will be to buy a sewing machine so I can actually make all of these great things!

Europe and Back...

So, It's been few weeks since we have been back from our long-awaited trip to Europe and with so much to do to get the house ready to sell, I haven't had much time to post, but I just couldn't put it off any longer.  We went to Germany, Austria and Italy for a couple of reasons; to visit my parents who have been serving a mission for our church for the past year as well as a graduation trip for Michael and me.  We went to so many places so fast, I don't think I can really  cover everything in less that 3000 words, so I will just post the pictures and let them speak for themselves.  Some captions will be provided for further explanation.  I hope you enjoy!  

One of the many, many castles we saw along the Rhine River in Germany.  We saw at least 12 of them! They were so beautiful, even the ones that were in ruins.

Michael and me at one of the castles in Germany.  You can also see another castle behind us through the huge doorway.

Michael and me in Munich, Germany

Me and Tish! (Michael's twin-sister, who we went to Europe with.)

All four of us, excluding my parents, at the top of the pathway to the Neuschuwanstein Castle in Bavaria.  Tish, Trevor, Me and Michael.

The Hohenschuwangau Castle

Innsbruck, Austria.  Absolutely Beautiful!

Michael waiting at the train Station.  I think in total we took nine trains!!

Venice

Michael and me in the Piazza de San Marco, Venice, Italy

The Cinque Terre region of Italy.  We stayed in Vernazza and I think this was my favorite part of the entire trip.  It was amazing!

Along our four hour hike through the Cinque Terre.  Michael and I ended up seeing all five towns.  They were adorable!!  You can kind of see one behind us...

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre

After a long walk across Florence and up multiple stairs we were rewarded with this amazing view of the city!

Michael sitting down in the middle of the Piazza sketching.  Classic.

One of the beautiful Florentine Piazzi.

The Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

The Colloseo. 

Rome, Italy

Michael and the Roman Forum

The Pantheon

The Sistine Chapel at the Vatican City.  If you look closely, you can see Adam and God in the painting.  Fabulous!

One of the ruins found in Rome.  Yes, it's a foot.

The Trevi Fountain.  This was our very last night.  :( But what an amazing experience!!!

Happy Fourth of July from Rome

Since we weren't in the United States on the Fourth of July we decided to celebrate while in Rome, Italy the best way we knew how.  With a good ol' great American Hamburger and a Coke.  Thanks McDonald's for helping us feel like American's on Independence Day.  We could not have done it without. (Well, actually we could have...)

FYI - Pictures and stories from our Europe trip coming soon!

Graduation from The University of Cincinnati

So, Michael and I have officially graduated from the University of Cincinnati and we are truly enjoying our summer and having a lot of fun! We leave for Germany tonight and it is off to Italy on Sunday and we will be sure to post plenty of pictures when we get back, but I had to post these graduation pictures before leaving.

Michael was the only one of us that actually walked in the Ceremony on the 13th of June and I sat in the stand and took pictures but I was sure to buy my tassel so I could atleast wear a cap and take part in all of the fun afterwards!

Michael now has a Degree in Architecture from UC's DAAP Program and I have mine in English Literature from the Arts and Sciences Department, hence the signs.

Pizza e Gelato! Il Più Delizioso Cibo!

I believe that my first meal when I arrive in Italia in a little less than two weeks will look something like this...


True Italian pizza and a heeping helping of the most delicious gelato that beats American ice cream hands down. Now, if only I could find a way to bring some of this home with me to Ohio. I guess I will just have to eat as much as I can while I am there!

Michael and I leave for Europe in exactly two weeks and I can't wait!  I have been looking forward to and planning this vacation for the past year and a half with Mike's twin sister, Tish, since the four of us, me, Mike, Tish and her husband Trevor, will be going together.  We fly into Frankfurt, Germany to visit with my parents for a few days, where they have been serving a mission for the church, and then we head down to Italy where we will be visiting Venice, Florence, the Cinque Terre region and Rome.  I would love any suggests for great restaurants, parks, gelati spots that we could visit on our trip.  I sure hope the past year of taking Italiano at UC will pay off at least a little bit!  Ciao and any suggestions would be great!

Mr. Tilney!

I'm looking forward to reading some really great books this summer and I've decided to pick up where I left of from last August and finish the rest of Jane Austen's novels that I never read. I took a really great class a year and
a half ago on Jane Austen and her books but we only had time to read four, so I now only have Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park left to read.









To get me ready and in the Regency mood, I've rented Northanger Abbey and watched it with my niece Aubree. This is definitely one of my favorites of Jane Austen's novels and I do believe that Henry Tilney is my favorite of her male protagonists... Oh, and the 2008BBC version of Northanger Abbey only makes me enjoy him even more. Just imagine his wonderful facials expressions in the movie as an added appeal to his charm, an early 19th century Jim Halpert character who becomes even more cute with each smirk he gives!

Sometimes...

Sometimes life just makes me want to smile. I had one of these moments today. Nothing specific, just the thought of how happy I am right now and how wonderful my life can be. It made me smile.